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Monday, May 20, 2013

Guest Post: The Truth Behind a Legend by D.E.M. Emrys


Have you ever met a legend? I have. I've stood on the walls of a doomed-to-fall fortress with men too old, too young, and women who fight like lionesses; I've been chased across enemy territory by wild beasts, but rescued by a deformed cripple who was turned on by everyone he has ever known yet he still cared; I've gone behind enemy lines to cut the head from the snake’s body; I've met killers who would turn on country and kin, who have committed the most violent of acts, yet they would sacrifice themselves for the sake of children; and I have fought and fallen besides heroes. I am a soldier, and I have ‘been there, done that’, but these are legends. And the first legend that I met was not a soldier. He was a writer and his name was David Gemmell. 

David Gemmell was a fantasy writer. That’s the truth of it. He was and still is regarded as the British ‘King’ or ‘Father of modern heroic-fantasy’, a title worthy of his legendary status. To eleven year old me the big-daddy-of-heroic-fantasy was a fireside mythmonger. But behind every legend there is a human being, and you couldn't get more human than David. For all his renown, David was simply known as ‘the big man’ to his fans and readers. 

I picked up my first Gemmell novel when I was eleven, back in 2001. At the time I hated reading, so much so that I was classed under ‘special measures’ at school. So when my mother gave me £5 pocket money in a book shop as a last attempt at kindling an interest in reading, she fully expected me to pick-up a pack of stickers or a Pokémon magazine at best. Needless to say she was shocked when I chose a novel, let alone something from the adult ‘Fantasy’ section. Thinking back on it, I’m surprised that my mother didn't tell me not to waste the money – me being me, at first sight I honestly only wanted the book for the cool picture of the axe on the front. I’m eternally grateful that mum didn't talk me out of it. 

That novel was ‘Legend’. 
An eleven year old with an adult fantasy novel? Spotty pre-teen vs. violence, cursing, death, sorrow, tragedy…and courage, love, friendship, too. Above all else David Gemmell wrote passion. I laughed and I cried. I discovered a world where men stood against death – and in many ways life – not because they had to, but because it was the right thing to do. I wanted to be like one of these men. (Or women for that matter! Gemmell also catered to the strong female archetype. The character Virae from Legend will always have a place in my heart. As a boy, when I’d rather wipe a bogey on a girl’s back than play kiss chase, to have strong female role models was a real eye-opener. Though I still didn't play kiss chase.)

Gemmell wrote ‘lightly’. Don’t take this the wrong way. He doesn't skim on detail nor does he info-dump pages of history in a single go. His voice is light as it’s easy to read, so easy in fact that eleven year old me who didn't EVER-want-to-read finished ‘Legend’ in a single night. My mum wasn't impressed with the bags under my eyes, but she was speechless that I had actually read a book, let alone in a few hours. 

I was young and impressionable, and Gemmell’s stories cast a spell over me. Where most teens my age had sports stars or pop sensations for idols, I had the heroes and heroines of Gemmell’s books. I was not alone in my fascination. One reader reportedly saved a woman from being attacked by two men, all because of Gemmell’s influence. If there’s one thing that has stayed with me over the years, it’s a code. A code of warriors, ‘The Iron Code’, something that Druss the Legend said. Something that Gemmell wrote. 

“Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men." 
"Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil." 
"Never back away from an enemy. Either fight or surrender. It is not enough to say I will not be evil. Evil must be fought wherever it is found.” 

When asked by one of my fellow soldiers how we should act in Afghanistan, I showed him this quote. Need I say any more? 


In 2006 two men, whose words I valued the most, both passed away. My father and David Gemmell. Sounds odd to put both of them side-by-side like that, and please don’t mistake me for being cold-hearted towards my father for comparing him to a writer I never met, but when you’re a sixteen year old boy going from school to college to real life, you sometimes need a steer. 

My father was an engineer, but he was also a fighter. He fought mental illness for much of his life. Writing this is already making me a little…well, you know. My father battled the worst bout of his illness in 2006. I do not condone nor condemn what he did, but in November of that year he took his own life. In his eyes, rather than let the illness take what little he had left, he went down fighting. My father always did right by my sister and I. Whenever I read a Gemmell novel the Iron code would come to mind, and I would immediately think of my father. That was how he lived. I wanted to be a fighter. Like my father and like the characters that Gemmell created. So I joined the army. This is when fantasy became reality. 

Gemmell’s stories are real as real can be. He knew what he was writing about. Gemmell’s characters aren't knights in shining armour that ride in at the last minute to save the day. They’re normal everyday people like you and I. They had heart. Gemmell might never have stood on the front lines of a battlefield, but somehow he encompassed even the minute details of conflict. That’s because he wrote with heart. He didn't just write about the implications of two countries, kingdoms, or even empires going to war with each other, he wrote about the human element of each individual in the press of humanity. Armies weren't faceless ranks of soldiers, they were men and women with dreams, hopes, fears and problems of their own. 

It’s a testament to Gemmell that people like me want to write about him. Though my scant few words will never do the justice that the big man deserves, when you think about it, if a soldier-reader-writer wants to spin up an article over someone he’s never met, it’s something special. Gemmell left a legacy behind him. 

This legacy is something that if you are a fantasy reader you've almost definitely encountered, even if you didn't realize it. Renowned writers such as James Barclay, Conn Iggulden and John Gwynne  credit  Gemmell as an influence. There’s a whole generation of writers who at one point have read a Gemmell book, and now write with a semblance of his influence. And now David’s wife Stella, who also finished Gemmell’s last book 'Fall of Kings’ after his passing, has released her debut novel ‘The City’. 


Stella’s dedication in ‘The City’ simply says: 

 ‘For Dave, of course.’ 

That sums it up really, doesn't it? 

And I can’t forget, The David Gemmell Legend Award. Divided into three categories: Ravenheart (best book jacket/cover), MorningStar (best newcomer to the fantasy genre), and Legend (best release of the year), the DGLA is an annual award that celebrates fantasy literature in the name of Gemmell. It’s highlighted the successes of writers like Helen Lowe, Joe Abercrombie, Elspeth Cooper, Peter V Brett, Trudi Canavan, Glen Cook, Kate Elliott, the list goes on and on. And the best part about it? It’s done by votes from you and me, the readers, because as many who knew Gemmell will testify, the readers are the ones that mattered most to him. After all we’re the little guys that made it into his stories. 

David Gemmell wasn't just a writer. Nor was he just the British Father of Heroic Fantasy, or a figurehead for the genre’s popularity. David Gemmell inspired me to write. Me, a little guy. A dumb soldier who didn't want to read as a child. Talk about a square peg and a round hole! We've all got dreams of our own, and it’s safe to say that though I’m only a self-published author now, one day I aspire to reach the nominations of the DGLA. Heck, all this because I read a book when I was a child. 

I’d like to thank Mihir for inviting me to sum up my thoughts on David Gemmell on this esteemed blog. I could have rambled on all day (as you can see) about the big man, but if there’s any single way to put it all into words (without stealing Stella’s – which I thought were perfect!) it’s this: 

David Gemmell. Legend. 

Lastly here are a few thoughts/comments from some authors who label the big man as an important influence and my thanks to them for their time and contributions:
Marc Lawrence, ‘Prince of Thorns’, DGLA Morningstar nominee 2012: 

"Gemmell captured what I loved about fantasy in the 80s and felt I’d outgrown, but somehow repackaged it in a way that still appealed. That’s something I owe him considerable thanks for. There’s a fire in Gemmell’s work that keeps me reading, keeps me involved. He is in fact the only author I've ever taken the trouble to find out more about." 

John Gwynne, ‘Malice’: 

"David Gemmell set a new bar in fantasy. When most fantasy was full of shining hero's and black and white causes, David smashed an axe into the genre and chopped down that wall. His flawed characters, gritty worlds and fast-paced plotting were fresh and exciting, and a re-read of them today proves that they still are. My personal favourite is 'Sword in the Storm,' but he was so prolific with never a slip in quality that it is almost impossible to choose a 'best of.' He is, beyond all doubt, a legend, and 'Malice' would have turned out a very different book without him." 
Helen Lowe, ‘Heir of Night’, winner of the DGLA Morningstar award 2012: 

"Growing up, so many aspects of David Gemmell's novels “spoke” to me: the grand sweep of the stories and their sense of contending light and dark, the way the characters’ choices are so often around sacrifice and duty, yet friendship and love are always the heart of the story. And yes, I then wanted to write stories 'just like that' myself."

Stan Nicholls, ‘Orcs’, chair of the DGLA: 

"Dave Gemmell’s greatest influence on me was as a man, and as a friend. You have to understand that his fiction wasn't some kind of artifice; it was a genuine expression of his personality and beliefs. He really did lay great emphasis on honour, loyalty and the desire of decent people to try to do decent things, while acknowledging that none of us our perfect beings. It was how he tried to live his life, and he imbued his characters with those qualities."
James Barclay, ‘Dawnthief’ and Chronicles/Legends of the Raven, DGLA nominee: 

"The greatest inspiration was the man himself, not his work. To sit with Dave Gemmell for an evening was to realize that every word he spoke was laced with the passion and belief that filled his novels. He didn't imagine it, he lived it."


AUTHOR INFO: D. E. M. Emrys. Author. Soldier by day, Soldier by night - Writer in between. Knows war to write war. David Emrys, known as D to his friends, is a serving soldier and author.

Growing up with the heroic tales written by authors such as David Gemmell and James Barclay, D was inspired to write stories of his own. After joining the army D used his free time to focus on his dream of sharing shelf-space with his idols.

D lives where the army send him, but home is in Chelmsford with his fiancé. They say that behind every great man there is a woman pulling the strings, but she lets him dance to his own song whilst being the perfect partner in step. D claims that his books would not have been written without her.

David Emrys is not his real name. Nor is D.

Official Author Website
Read my review of From Man To Man by D.E.M. Emrys
Read David's review of The Grim Company by Luke Scull

 NOTE: David Gemmell cover montage courtesy of Alaa_Mk_2020. David Gemmell picture courtesy of WFC 25 and Patricia McKillip. All author pictures courtesy of the authors themselves.
12:00 AM | Posted by The Reader | | Edit Post
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

"Adam Robots" by Adam Roberts (with comments by Liviu Suciu)

Order "Adam Robots" HERE

I read most of the stories from Adam Robots in their original venue - having an Adam Roberts story makes an anthology generally an automatic buy, assuming reasonable price and availability - so it took me a few months to buy this one as I oscillated between "even a few newer Adam Roberts stories are worth the price" and "I am already spending so much on books not to be able to justify this one."

On finishing Adam Robots, I would say that it is definitely worth the money as it is arguably the most diverse, inventive and overall excellent author collection I've read in a long time with a few stories as good as anything in their category - never could differentiate between short story, novella, novelette beyond the obvious if it is close to a novel, it's a novella and if it's one page it's a short...

A few comments with links to more when I talked about the story in cause at another time:


1: The best of the best, stories that are at the top of the genre:

The Imperial Army - military space opera a la Adam Roberts; while the main conceit is similar to the one in Exultant by S. Baxter, the story is chock full of irony and goodies

Anticopernicus - first contact and the Fermi Paradox a la Adam Roberts; wrote more in its review on original publication

Shall I Tell You the Problem With Time Travel?  - time travel and the atomic bomb; crazy ideas but excellent storytelling that makes one suspend the disbelief

Thrownness  - Multiverse/many worlds QM


2: Excellent stories that would be the highlight of any volume:

Adam Robots - Adam and another Adam rather than Eve in paradise

A Prison Term of a Thousand Years  - long lived humans and what the world does about them; if usually the "scientific" ideas the author uses as main conceits are far fetched to put it mildly, the content here struck me as much more plausible than say the way Peter Hamilton deals with long lived humans...

The World of the Wars - HG Wells reinterpreted

Constellations - dogma and its questioning on an alien planet

Review: Thomas Hodgkin, Denis Bayle: a Life - review of imaginary books; love this stuff when done well

Wonder: A Story in Two - sense of wonder a la Adam Roberts so not quite what one would think


3: Very good and enjoyable:

Godbombing - riff on religious wars and Christianity; Adam Roberts' piece in Aeon makes a good counterpoint to this

The Mary Anna - Kipling for the 22 century and in verse too;  appears also in Jack Glass

Dantean - as expected from the title

The Chrome Chromosome - short from the perspective of a sort of chromosome, though not the usual one


4: Stories that are an ironic take or a straight-out parody on various tales and which try too hard to fully succeed, but are still quite good:

S-Bomb - short and stringy, tries too hard for gross out funniness

ReMorse® - wonder drugs parody

The Time Telephone -calling from the future and the paradoxes thereof

The Man of the Strong Arm - future criticism of early sf

The Cow - famous children story retold in 8 lines (!)

Pied - sfnal zombies and the like


5: Stories that just failed to impress me that much, though still readable:

Woodpunk - riff on the "original on publication topical steampunk"; forced and it shows, so generally pointless and a little boring

Me-topia -creation envisioned by Adam Roberts; again forced and not that interesting

And tomorrow and - Macbeth somewhere; never cared about Macbeth, so could not care about this

The Woman Who Bore Death - sort of fantasy Roberts; could be interesting at longer length but here came as disjointed and pointless

12:00 AM | Posted by Liviu | | Edit Post
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Saturday, May 18, 2013

“The Cats of Tanglewood Forest” by Charles de Lint (Reviewed by Casey Blair)

Official Charles de Lint Website
Order “The Cats of Tanglewood Forest” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE

I don't often read children's fiction that isn't YA, but one look at the recently published The Cats of Tanglewood Forest was enough to convince me that this was a good idea. Yes, I judged the book by its cover, and it worked out very well for me.

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest was written by the renowned Charles de Lint and illustrated by Charles Vess. Apparently, it's a further exploration of a picture book they wrote and illustrated together a decade ago, A Circle of Cats. I'm glad they decided to expand it.

Not only is The Cats of Tanglewood Forest beautifully written and illustrated, the book itself is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I'd had this book when I was little, but even as an adult it's still wonderful.

The story is, on one level, whimsical, although I think that the idea that all cats are magic explains more than it doesn't.

I love how much agency Lillian had, that her decisions defined her story and that she simply would not allow herself to be fit into an easy categorization. If there is a moral of this story, it is to consider our choices carefully, because actions have consequences: not good or bad, necessarily, but that our choices shape our lives and our world. And I think that's a wonderful message to send, but the book isn't that explicitly didactic. Like the best children's fiction, there's a lot going under the surface when you stop to look. Mostly you don't, though, because you're distracted by other things, like a girl having an adventure and magical cats.

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest delivers on every level.
12:00 AM | Posted by Robert | | Edit Post
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Friday, May 17, 2013

“Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters” by Chuck Wendig (Reviewed by Casey Blair)

Official Chuck Wendig Website
Order “Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE

Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters, released on May 7th, was my first introduction to Chuck Wendig's writing, and I didn't really know what to expect. Now I can't wait to read more.

This is the first of a new urban fantasy series from Abaddon Books. The similarities to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods are hard to miss, but don't be fooled: Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters is a whole different animal. The tone, the pacing, the characters, all of it, and honestly, this story is just plain fun. Dark, sometimes horribly creepy, but fun.

Wendig really has a gift for mood. He absolutely nails dialect, which is so easy to mess up, and I loved how he used sentence structure and tight POVs to bring the reader into the chaotic or violent scenes. I should probably mention that if you have difficulty with graphic imagery and profanity, then this book is not for you. I don't think either was gratuitous, but there was quite a lot.

The author did a great job of making extremely dangerous choices seem perfectly reasonable, as if, given who those characters are, the choices they make are the only ones that make any possible sense, and being that truthful to human nature is especially important in a story that has so much bizarre going on.

I love how Wendig captured the capriciousness of gods, and the resilience of humans despite, or because of, any odds. The Coyote sections are absolutely perfect, and I snickered all the way through. I really appreciated that he didn't show favoritism to the more famous mythologies (I weary of supposedly pantheistic world-building that dwells on the Olympians). There are some enormous cosmic things going on in this story, but Wendig doesn't really give you time to process the implications because they're already punching the protagonist in the face. And even though this reads like a fun, plot-driven story that doesn't dwell on the philosophical side so much, you know the he understands what matters:

“It's always in the myths. The legends. The history. The stories. The stories have secrets. They tell the truth, even when it's a lie.”

I have very little to nit-pick with Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters. The ending was a little abrupt for me, but it does keep with the character of the book. And the protagonist makes all kinds of Casey cracks for a character whose name is actually Cason, but I suppose I'm predisposed to notice that. =)

So I was happy to learn that Unclean Spirits: Gods and Monsters isn't the end for this series, and happier still to learn Chuck Wendig has another new book, Blue Blazes (May 28, 2013 via Angry Robot), coming out in just a few weeks.
12:00 AM | Posted by Robert | | Edit Post
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Thursday, May 16, 2013

“Rogue Descendant” by Jenna Black (Reviewed by Casey Blair)

Official Jenna Black Website
Order “Rogue Descendant” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE

Rogue Descendant, published at the end of April, is the third of Jenna Black's latest urban fantasy series (she's written a few, all worth checking out), the Nikki Glass or Descendant series. This is one of those world-building structures where Greek mythology features heavily, though there are some other cool mythologies as well. Essentially, the gods have descendants, and if a mortal descendant kills an immortal one, they gain immortality and some magical powers related to whatever deity they're descended from. How our protagonist came by her seed of immortality is part of the matter of book one, Dark Descendant, but the fact of the matter is that all unwanted, Nikki has to learn how to live in the world she's joined and with the powers she inherited from Artemis. Unfortunately, while she's beginning to deal with the former, there is no movement on the latter.

This bothers me. In book one, of course Nikki wouldn’t know how to use her powers; she was too busy trying to survive to start exploring them. Book two rolls around and that no longer holds up; when her approach in book three is still pretty much, "Oh, I feel like we should turn this way for no apparent reason IT MUST BE MY HUNTING POWERS,” I have suspension of disbelief problems. In fairness, Nikki seems to find this ridiculous as well, but she doesn't seem inclined to do anything about it. She can come up with ways for other characters to explore their power, but her own she ignores until she needs it and then vainly wishes it worked better. Possibly a comment on human nature, but I find it tiring.

There's also no net movement on the romance front — it's still well-handled, but it leaves off in pretty much the same place as the last book. I can deal with that, though. What concerns me is that the climax of all three books has involved a final confrontation with Nikki and Anderson, the head of their non-Olympian-descended-exclusive band who is not the love interest, against an external threat, and now this book has been dropping hints that we are going to have a love triangle on our hands, and I hate love triangles.

However, excepting the fact that all the immortal characters seem to be easily swayed by circumstantial evidence when they're supposed to be experienced enough with Byzantine plots to know better, they do all behave in horribly logical and often twisted ways given what they did know and who they were. Konstantin's son is a refreshingly complicated sort-of-villain, and the lingering problem of Emma has been resolved. In theory. Jenna Black is great with character consistency and emotional responses to traumatic events, be they personally painful or physically, that really resonate as true. It must be said that Nikki is very inventive about not relying on magic or immortality to save her, and understanding her limits makes scenes a lot tenser than they would be if she knew how to use her magic and depended on it. I burned through this book, which is always a good sign.

And yet, I'm disappointed in this installment. Rogue Descendant wasn't painful to read by any stretch, but there's no character growth, no romance development, no exploration of the protagonist's abilities, and no particularly revealing information about the world. I feel like this whole book was in order to set-up the characters' huge problems in the next book. It's very plot-centric, and I want more from a story than just events unfolding.
12:00 AM | Posted by Robert | | Edit Post
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

"Incarnation" by Emma Cornwall (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)






OVERVIEW: In the steampunk world of Victorian London, a beautiful vampire seeks out the author of Dracula–to set the record straight . . . If one is to believe Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire tale, Lucy Weston is Dracula’s most wanton creation, a sexual creature of the night who preys on innocent boys. But the real-life Lucy is nothing like her fictional counterpart—and she demands to know why the Victorian author deliberately lied. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she’s determined to track down the very fiend who transformed her—from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires, to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness, and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme.

Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy must battle her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she must make a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—what it means to be human

FORMAT: Incarnation is a novel that combines steampunk, supernatural, Victorian London, mystery, and adventure elements into one. It stands at 352 pages and was published September 2012 by Gallery Books.

ANALYSIS: Incarnation weaves a unique combination of steampunk, adventure, mystery, and vampires into an elegantly written standout novel. Literally from the first chapter readers are thrust into a steampunk Victorian London world where vampires secretly run amuck, but the public is none the wiser.

This may sound like the setup for just any old vampire novel, but it isn't. The first chapter of Incarnation starts off with a rather detailed description of what it would feel like to mysteriously wake up as a vampire. Readers are introduced to Lucy Weston as she awakens buried deep underground with a wooden stake driven through her chest. She has no idea how she got there, why she is like this, and immediately starts digging herself out of her own grave.

After Lucy Weston valiantly digs herself out of her grave, she works to piece together the memories she has of her former life. She discovers that a newly published novel, Dracula, contains what appears to be a rather accurate, yet slightly fictionalized version of her death and she vows to get to the bottom of the story. This quest to find out what happened to her, why she appears as a main character in a novel, and why she has a sudden craving for blood pushes her deeper into the underground world of the supernatural.

Incarnation is an absolute amazing novel. It was fast paced, yet didn't let things, such as character development or plots falter in favor of a faster pace. All of the characters readers encounter in Incarnation are extremely fleshed out, especially Lucy. It is as if readers almost become Lucy as they read the novel.

The style of writing in the novel is slightly different than most vampire/supernatural novels. Incarnation takes on a slightly dark, poetic style of writing compared to a sassy, in your face style. This style might not work for everyone, but it really helps set the tone and pace of the novel.

I have to admit this novel had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Every scene just seemed to get better and better, and I kept wanting and craving to read more. I really think this had to do with the fact that this novel details a young woman's adventure in finding herself and discovering who she really is. However, unlike most of us, this young woman happens to be a vampire and discovers herself with the help of several members of the supernatural community.

While Incarnation is filled with the typical vampires, there isn't one thing 'typical' about the plot. There are fresh, unique twists and turns at every corner. This novel is filled with adventure, mystery, and romance. Yes, there is a little romance, but it doesn't overpower or overshadow the plot.  

The one slight issue I do have with Incarnation is the way that it ended. I don't believe the ending could be considered a cliffhanger, but the door is definitely open for more novels in the future.

In the end, Incarnation was a wonderful, amazing read. While it wasn't totally what I expected (a typical vampire/romance novel), it turned out to be so much more and an absolute delight to read.

12:00 AM | Posted by Cindy | | Edit Post
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

"The Tyrant's Law" by Daniel Abraham (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu and Mihir Wanchoo)





INTRODUCTION: The Tyrant's Law is the third installment of Daniel Abraham's Dagger and Coin series after The Dragon Path and The King's Blood. For a description of the series' universe, I refer to our reviews of the previous books linked above and for the blurb, to the Amazon link to avoid immediate spoilers. However the review below necessarily has spoilers for what came before...


ANALYSIS (Mihir): I would be lying if I didn't mention that this book was heavily anticipated by lots of book bloggers, including me. Daniel Abraham since the start of this series has become more and more of a fantasy writing star. His debut series had established his writing credentials but with the Dagger And The Coin series he has really established himself as an epic fantasy writer. This series is a proper visitation of medieval epic fantasy tropes but with the author's slant. 

 The story is now firmly in the middle of the planned arc of five books and we open with Kit and Marcus who are taking their journey together to destroy the Spider goddess and all those who would worship her. Kit and Marcus have their hands full as they covertly try to reach where Kit became an apostate. The second thread opens up with Cithrin who is now apprenticed to another Medean bank but far away in and she discovers that she has a lot to learn about banking as well as inter-personal relations. Clara Dawson is slowly becoming what she was accused of previously but slowly decided to save her nation by betraying it. Lastly we have Geder who is learning more about his role, the fate of Antea and the function of spider priests and vagaries of fate vis-a-vis his personal life. 

 These are the POV characters since the last book barring one-off prologue ones and a rare epilogue-ish one. Daniel Abraham has kept a tight hold of his story and his refusal to exponentially increase the POV list has helped this series tremendously. This narrow focus helps center the story and now that the story is slowly evolving beyond the confines of traditional fantasy. It has become an absolute pleasure to read. Last time around I had mentioned that the story needs to be a bit more epic, well with the prologue and the climax of the story; the author really swings the epic part back into the story. So far we have only heard about what happened in the past but within the pages we get a very solid look at what could have possibly happened. This was my favorite part of the book as the author easily shows what lies ahead and it is mouthwatering to say the least. Characterization has been Daniel Abraham’s signature as world building has been Brandon Sanderson's forte and he continues to allow his characters to evolve naturally without it seeming to be convoluted. Geder, Cithrin and Marcus are the main POV characters however the others share remarkable page time and thus every chapter pushes the story arc significantly and keeps the readers entertained on all levels. 

 This book clearly takes a look at the journey trope with this being explored by Marcus and Kit. I enjoyed this section of the story the most as Daniel Abraham subverts this trope and  then makes the reader confused as we can never guess where their thread is going. For me their thread was the most lucrative plot thread this time around. Also I was looking forward to the meeting between Marcus and Yardem especially after the second book but the event was not much of a showdown. Also this book does another spectacularly is that it brings into play some characters from the first book as well as the legends which were talked/discussed in the first book. So readers that don't recall the previous story, I would suggest that a re-read of the first book might be of vital importance. 

 I don’t think I had any complaints with this book as it doesn't suffer from the middle volume syndrome and offers a near complete story but of course ending in such a fashion for you to hunger for the penultimate volume immediately. Maybe another drawback could be that readers expecting all out action and mayhem may not find it as for majority of the book, the characters are often scheming or traveling to new places. This perhaps can be something of a deterrent for readers expecting an action-packed story-line. 

 Overall I'm highly impressed with Daniel Abraham and his storytelling efforts. This series is his version of epic fantasy and is a spectacular one. For folks who have to discover him, kindly do so at the earliest as the Dagger and the Coin quintet is epic fantasy handled by an exquisite writer who is at the top of his writing game. The Tyrant's Law is a very good book and also manages to upend the scales of the over all story arc significantly, making the wait for The Widow's House (4th book) a very hard one. Highly recommended for series fans.

 ANALYSIS (Liviu):  To give a taste of where The Tyrant's Law and more generally Dagger and Coin sits, I offer here a choice early quote with the name of the characters removed though for anyone familiar with the earlier volumes, it iss easily guessed who is talking with whom. This is the fantasy version of science clashing with religion and is representative of the partly ironical, partly serious but always contemporary tone of the books:

“That can’t be right, can it?” **** said.
***** raised querying eyebrows.
“The three-year fire,” **** explained. “A fire that went on that long would have left a layer of ash all over the world. And there are cities that stood where they are now since before the dragons fell.”
“If it must be, it must be,” **** said. “But the fire years are truth.”
“But there are forests in Northcoast that have trees older than that. Not many, maybe, but I read an essay about how you can tell the age of a tree by the number of rings, and it said the largest of the redwoods in Northcoast—” 
There is a lot of universe expansion, quite a few twists and turns including one that I really did not expect and that plays well with the fantasy tropes and of course the superb characters we know from the previous volumes. The structure is still of 4 alternating pov's and finally Marcus gets to truly shine, though I greatly enjoyed each storyline as they complement and intersect well.

The other main strengths are the literate style of the author which makes for smooth transitions between pov's and the narrative energy that compels one to turn the pages until the end. While the ending is another "to be continued", we get a bonus snippet from the next installment, The Widow's House.

If there is one thing that lessens the impact of this series is the structural decision of the author to imbue his world with modern ideology (hey ho everyone prefers diversity until the spider priests and their "universal conformity" and racial cleansing agenda we start seeing in this volume) which of course in an ironic, and at a guess I would say unintentional though of course here I could be wrong, way, illustrates precisely the main weakness of "live and let live", namely that when genocidal but charismatic and pseudo-secular baddies come, most people do not see a reason to oppose them if they are not their target (see Communism, Nazism, etc...).

In our modern world there are structural reasons why "live and live" is workable though of course it's way too early to tell for how long - mostly the ability of technology to deliver only when combined with a relatively free society as the ultimate failure of communism showed, but in any pre-industrial world only tradition and faith were bulwarks against such and the series essentially lacks both, with only the doomed Dawson as embodiment of tradition but with a notable lack of serious religion, making the spider priests takeover a cakewalk...

 
12:00 AM | Posted by Liviu | | Edit Post
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Monday, May 13, 2013

GUEST POST: Stepping Off the Map of the World by Charlotte E. English


Hello, you may remember me from the Drifting Isle Chronicles discussions in April. I've been asked to talk to you about some of my other books, and I thought I’d begin with my most popular series to date: the Draykon Series. These books consist of a blend of high fantasy and mystery, all set in an alternate world. It’s this alternate world that I’m going to talk about the most, as I think it’s the most distinctive feature of the books. 

When I say “alternate world”, I really mean it. A lot of fantasy books (including some of my own) create fantasy nations by basing them on real-world places, past or present. This approach has a lot to recommend it (not the least of them being that it’s easier to build a world this way). But I've always read fantasy fiction for escapism. I developed this taste years ago, at a time when it was imperative to get away from the real world as much as possible; and the stories I loved the best were the ones that made me feel as though I’d stepped off the map of the world altogether. As a child, one of my favourite stories was Alice in Wonderland; what could be better than a trip through a world where flowers and animals talk? 

It’s the sense of wonder that I love, the feeling that I've wandered so far from reality that anything could happen. But over the years, I could never find enough books that really satisfied my wishes. I wanted truly different alternate worlds, the crazier the better. So when I began working on Draykon—which went on to become my first completed novel—the very first thing I set about doing was building a truly crazy world. I was writing for the pure fun of it, so I simply took the restraints off my imagination and waited to see what happened.

The world I ended up with—or part of it—is called The Seven Realms, and those realms became progressively stranger as I went along. The result is a series of places where many of the natural laws of our own world don’t apply; perhaps the biggest alteration I made was in kicking out the traditional day/night cycle. Two of the Seven Realms are kept in perpetual daylight through the use of arcane magic; three are kept in permanent darkness; a sixth has a natural day-night cycle; and the seventh, Orlind, is a mystery entirely, for no one has seen it in many years. This of course means that some of my people have never seen the darkness, while some are wholly nocturnal. 

Linked to these realms—terra firma, if you like—are two other, much more nebulous areas (or planes of reality, we could say that instead). The Upper Realm, with its multiple suns, is always sun-drenched; the Lower Realm is always dark. These two places are changeable in ways that the Seven are not. Deeply unpredictable, they cycle through infinite variations. In the Lowers, you can be standing in a moonlit meadow one moment, and drowning in the ocean the next. In writing these, I was reminded of another set of books I used to love: Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series, does anyone remember those? At the top of the mysterious Faraway Tree there was always a different land; you never knew what might roll around next. 

But unlike the lands at the top of the Tree, my Uppers and Lowers are not entirely impervious to influence. They can be changed, at least to a certain extent, and the uncovering of these particular mysteries is an important part of the story in Draykon. In fact, the series is full of mysteries: the mystery of a strange and mesmerizing new gem puts the Daylander Llandry Sanfaer into danger when she happens to stumble over it; the mysteries and dangers of the Lower Realm may be too much for Darklander Eva Glostrum, in spite of all her wit and wiles; and the mystery of the realm of Orlind must be solved, no matter how dangerous that long-vanished place may be. 
With so many mysteries and so many strange characters, events and places, the series is full of surprises. It’s hard to guess at what will happen on the next page, in a world where anything can happen. I went into invention overdrive when writing that first book, and created virtually everything anew; after all, why stick with apples and oranges, cats and dogs when I could have nara-fruit and rosuis blossoms, muumuks and olifers? This level of invention is hard on me as a writer, and a little hard on the reader, too—it stretches the imagination very thoroughly, and gives me a great deal to keep track of—but I think it is infinitely worth the extra effort. The world of Draykon is like nothing else, full of wonder and mystery, and I love every minute that I spend mucking about within it. 

At the moment the series stands at three books, and it is complete at that. But I am frequently asked for more stories, and I’d like nothing more myself than to spend another few months exploring the Seven Realms and seeing what happens next. I’ll be returning to the world later this year to write a follow-on series; there will be a new story and new characters, though many old friends and familiar faces will be making their appearances as well. There are dozens of mysteries still to be uncovered in my weird and crazy world, and I can’t wait to get started.


Order Black Mercury HERE
Order The Kaiser Affair HERE
Order The Machine God HERE
Read Melissa's Review of The Kaiser Affair
Read Qwill's Review of Black Mercury
Read FBC's Review of The Machine God
Read Drifting Isle Chronicles Multi-Author interview
Read The Drifting Isle Chronicles - A new way to tell new stories ( A guest post by Joseph R. Lewis)
Read When Collaborating, Say Yes! (A guest post by Meilin Miranda)
Read On Machines And Talking Birds (A guest post by Charlotte E. English)
Read The Kaiser Affair - A fantasy thriller and travelogue to The Drifting Isle Chronicles (A guest post by Joseph R. Lewis)

 AUTHOR INFORMATION: Born in the historic city of Lincoln, UK, Charlotte now lives in the heart of windmill country in the Netherlands. She has a degree in Heritage, and her interests include books, crafts, cooking and social history. She likes to write whimsical, colourful tales full of character and humour.

NOTE: Author picture, book covers and Draykon world map courtesy of the author herself.  
12:00 AM | Posted by The Reader | | Edit Post
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Sunday, May 12, 2013

"The Five Acts of Diego Leon" by Alex Espinoza (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)




"For readers of The Chaperone and The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, a thrilling, unforgettable novel about an unusually gifted young man who leaves Mexico for Hollywood in the late 1920s, determined to pursue his dreams-no matter the cost.

July 1917, Mexico: Orphaned by a fever that took his mother's life and a civil war that left his father a broken man, 11-year-old Diego Leon is sent to the provincial capital to live with his aristocratic grandparents. There, they try to forge a new identity for young Diego, rewriting his past and grooming him to take over the family business. The only relief from this suffocating life are his warm, kind music teacher and her son, from whom Diego is inseparable. 
 
But when his grandparents force an engagement with a woman he doesn't love, Diego finally snaps, leaving his fractious country behind. He heads for Hollywood, where silent films are just transitioning into "talkies," and Prohibition is in full swing. But thousands of miles from home, in a land full of people out for themselves, will Diego ultimately find the love and acceptance he seeks? In this moving novel about ambition, love and identity, Diego Leon discovers that living your dreams can come at a cost."


The Five Acts of Diego Leon is a very intriguing novel with an excellent last half after a scattered beginning that almost kept me from reading it. There are books where throwing the reader into the "deep" and then going back to the "real start of the story" can be confusing sure, but usually there is a good reason for that since the first few pages are so important. The Five Acts of Diego Leon is just a perfect an example where the use of that technique would make it a stronger novel, since following a chronological order makes for a very boring and narrative wall hitting beginning 100 pages or so.

Luckily my habit of reading random pages from a book that sounds interesting but whose beginning is a slog, just to see if there is a "hook", worked so I got really interested in the story of Diego Leon on about here:

"November 1928
His payment was enough to cover the rent, plus a little extra, so he used some of his earnings to purchase a pair of plus four trousers, argyle socks, a new shirt, and a tweed checkered flat cap to wear on his date with Fiona. That night he showered and dressed and adjusted his tie in the mirror. He placed the flat cap on his head, turned, and walked out the door, whistling all the way down the steps."

After that I read the remaining part of the novel in one sitting and then got back and read the beginning too, though the story really doesn't get interesting until Diego skips on his arranged marriage and that should have been the first page of the novel imho...

Anyway, The Five Acts of Diego Leon turned out to be quite a good story and the narrator who while confused about his identity - he gets his break in Hollywood by having a (gay) affair with the boss of a studio, though also having earlier encounters with both women and men, and similarly wanting to fit in LA, he also desired to keep his Mexican identity and his "regular" name and story while the studio bosses wanted both a "conqueror name" aka Diego Cortes and a glamorous background to market him as a star - becomes very interesting after that first blandish half.

The last 100 or so pages and the series of events leading to a great ending - which may or may not signal a new beginning, so do not expect things to be neatly tied up with a string - are superb and the book is worth reading for that part only.

Lots of topical stuff regarding the Latino and Mexican experience in the US, the various responses of various people to it, so all in all The Five Acts of Diego Leon is a highly recommended novel with great narrative energy once it settles down.

12:00 AM | Posted by Liviu | | Edit Post
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