Monday, January 18, 2010
“The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” by N.K. Jemisin (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)
Official N.K. Jemisin Website
Order “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
AUTHOR INFORMATION: N.K. Jemisin is a career counselor, political blogger, and would-be gourmand living in New York City. “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is her first novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic floating city of Sky by her grandfather, Dekarta, head of the Arameri, the ruling family of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. There, to her shock, Yeine is named Dekarta’s heir.
But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine finds herself thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she comes ever closer to discovering the truth about her mother’s death and her family’s bloody history—as well as the unsettling truths within herself.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate are bound inseparably together . . . for both mortals and gods alike...
CLASSIFICATION: “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is epic fantasy that mixes together court intrigue, mythology, romantic/family drama, and celestial magics. Brought to mind everything from Jacqueline Carey, Lane Robin’s "Maledicte", and Marie Brennan’s “Midnight Never Come” to Gregory Frost’s “Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet”, John Scalzi’s “The God Engines”, Daniel Abraham’s The Long Price Quartet and the Valkyrie Profile video games.
FORMAT/INFO: “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is 432 pages long divided over twenty-nine titled chapters. Also includes a Glossary, a Clarification of Terms, a Historical Record, an interview with the author, and an excerpt from the second book in The Inheritance Trilogy. Narration is in the first-person exclusively via the protagonist Yeine. “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is the opening volume in The Inheritance Trilogy, but acts as a self-contained novel with the book’s major plot points satisfactorily concluded.
February 4, 2010/February 25, 2010 marks the UK/US Trade Paperback publication of “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” via Orbit Books. Cover art provided by Cliff Nielsen.
ROBERT’S ANALYSIS: Every year, it seems like at least two or three novels are hyped as the fantasy debut of the year. Some of these books actually manage to live up to the hype like Scott Lynch’s “Red Seas Under Red Skies”, Patrick Rothfuss’ “The Name of the Wind” or this year’s “Spellwright” by Blake Charlton. Most of them do not. And some books, like N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”, aren’t receiving enough hype...
The best thing about N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is the narrative voice of the novel’s main character, Yeine. Accessible, charming, and elegant, Yeine’s first-person narrative grabbed me from the very first page and kept me hooked throughout the novel with her warm personality, vivid and colorful descriptions, thoughtful insights, and fairy tale-like storytelling:
“I am not as I once was. They have done this to me, broken me open and torn out my heart. I do not know who I am anymore. I must try to remember.”
“My mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. I say that not because I am her daughter, and not because she was tall and graceful, with hair like clouded sunlight. I say it because she was strong. Perhaps it is my Darre heritage, but strength has always been the marker of beauty in my eyes.”
“Once upon a time there were three great gods. Bright Itempas, Lord of Day, was the one destined by fate or the Maelstrom or some unfathomable design to rule. All was well until Enefa, His upstart sister, decided that she wanted to rule in Bright Itempas’s place. She convinced her brother Nahadoth to assist her, and together with some of their godling children they attempted a coup. Itempas, mightier than both His siblings combined, defeated them soundly. He slew Enefa, punished Nahadoth and the rebels, and established an even greater peace—for without His dark brother and wild sister to appease, He was free to bring true light and order to all creation.”
After Yeine’s narrative voice, what I loved most about “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” was its uniqueness and imagination. While parts of the book reminded me of other authors and novels like the court intrigue and sensuality conjuring memories of Jacqueline Carey and Lane Robin; the clashing of mortal and immortal worlds evoking Gregory Frost’s “Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet” and Marie Brennan’s “Midnight Never Come”; and the enslavement of gods bringing to mind John Scalzi’s “The God Engines”; as a whole, N.K. Jemisin’s debut is not quite like anything else that I’ve read before.
Imagination-wise, “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” may play with a number of familiar concepts like succession wars, mortals enslaving gods, and a floating city, but the book is just brimming with creativeness with the Arameri family divided into nobles or servants based on their status (fullbloods, halfbloods, quarters), petitions which gives a country permission to begin a war, Nahadoth’s many different forms (day, nighttime, etc.), and the history between Itempas, Nahadoth and Enefa some of my favorite ideas in the book.
Another area of the novel that really impressed me was N.K. Jemisin’s polished writing. In addition to Yeine’s compelling narrative voice and the author’s vibrant imagination, the prose was skilled, and at times, poetic; the book’s supporting cast was well-crafted and engaging, particularly Nahadoth; world-building, while scarce in some areas, was for the most part, rich and informative; and the story, which is full of riveting twists, revelations and drama, featured excellent pacing and execution, leading to a powerful and rewarding conclusion.
Negatively, there is very little to say. World-building, like I mentioned, was scarce in some areas with the book focusing mainly on the Arameri, the city Sky, and the Three Gods and their children (Itempas, Nahadoth, Enefa, Sieh, Zhakkarn, Kurue), but it sounds like this is an issue that will be addressed in the sequels. Other than that, I wish the author would have further explored Arameri court politics & intrigues, and felt that the book was sometimes overwhelmed by all of the emotional drama going on.
In closing, even though N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” has been on my radar ever since Orbit first announced the title in 2008, the book really took me by surprise. Part of the reason is because the novel hasn’t been receiving the same kind of hype and publicity that other 2010 titles have enjoyed. A lot of it though is because “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is much better than most of the debut novels that I’ve read over the years. Extremely well-written, imaginative, emotionally gripping, and featuring a compelling narrator, “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is an almost-perfect debut that deserves far more attention and could end up being one of the best fantasy releases of the year...
Order “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
AUTHOR INFORMATION: N.K. Jemisin is a career counselor, political blogger, and would-be gourmand living in New York City. “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is her first novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic floating city of Sky by her grandfather, Dekarta, head of the Arameri, the ruling family of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. There, to her shock, Yeine is named Dekarta’s heir.
But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine finds herself thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she comes ever closer to discovering the truth about her mother’s death and her family’s bloody history—as well as the unsettling truths within herself.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate are bound inseparably together . . . for both mortals and gods alike...
CLASSIFICATION: “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is epic fantasy that mixes together court intrigue, mythology, romantic/family drama, and celestial magics. Brought to mind everything from Jacqueline Carey, Lane Robin’s "Maledicte", and Marie Brennan’s “Midnight Never Come” to Gregory Frost’s “Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet”, John Scalzi’s “The God Engines”, Daniel Abraham’s The Long Price Quartet and the Valkyrie Profile video games.
FORMAT/INFO: “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is 432 pages long divided over twenty-nine titled chapters. Also includes a Glossary, a Clarification of Terms, a Historical Record, an interview with the author, and an excerpt from the second book in The Inheritance Trilogy. Narration is in the first-person exclusively via the protagonist Yeine. “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is the opening volume in The Inheritance Trilogy, but acts as a self-contained novel with the book’s major plot points satisfactorily concluded.
February 4, 2010/February 25, 2010 marks the UK/US Trade Paperback publication of “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” via Orbit Books. Cover art provided by Cliff Nielsen.
ROBERT’S ANALYSIS: Every year, it seems like at least two or three novels are hyped as the fantasy debut of the year. Some of these books actually manage to live up to the hype like Scott Lynch’s “Red Seas Under Red Skies”, Patrick Rothfuss’ “The Name of the Wind” or this year’s “Spellwright” by Blake Charlton. Most of them do not. And some books, like N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”, aren’t receiving enough hype...
The best thing about N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is the narrative voice of the novel’s main character, Yeine. Accessible, charming, and elegant, Yeine’s first-person narrative grabbed me from the very first page and kept me hooked throughout the novel with her warm personality, vivid and colorful descriptions, thoughtful insights, and fairy tale-like storytelling:
“I am not as I once was. They have done this to me, broken me open and torn out my heart. I do not know who I am anymore. I must try to remember.”
“My mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. I say that not because I am her daughter, and not because she was tall and graceful, with hair like clouded sunlight. I say it because she was strong. Perhaps it is my Darre heritage, but strength has always been the marker of beauty in my eyes.”
“Once upon a time there were three great gods. Bright Itempas, Lord of Day, was the one destined by fate or the Maelstrom or some unfathomable design to rule. All was well until Enefa, His upstart sister, decided that she wanted to rule in Bright Itempas’s place. She convinced her brother Nahadoth to assist her, and together with some of their godling children they attempted a coup. Itempas, mightier than both His siblings combined, defeated them soundly. He slew Enefa, punished Nahadoth and the rebels, and established an even greater peace—for without His dark brother and wild sister to appease, He was free to bring true light and order to all creation.”
After Yeine’s narrative voice, what I loved most about “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” was its uniqueness and imagination. While parts of the book reminded me of other authors and novels like the court intrigue and sensuality conjuring memories of Jacqueline Carey and Lane Robin; the clashing of mortal and immortal worlds evoking Gregory Frost’s “Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet” and Marie Brennan’s “Midnight Never Come”; and the enslavement of gods bringing to mind John Scalzi’s “The God Engines”; as a whole, N.K. Jemisin’s debut is not quite like anything else that I’ve read before.
Imagination-wise, “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” may play with a number of familiar concepts like succession wars, mortals enslaving gods, and a floating city, but the book is just brimming with creativeness with the Arameri family divided into nobles or servants based on their status (fullbloods, halfbloods, quarters), petitions which gives a country permission to begin a war, Nahadoth’s many different forms (day, nighttime, etc.), and the history between Itempas, Nahadoth and Enefa some of my favorite ideas in the book.
Another area of the novel that really impressed me was N.K. Jemisin’s polished writing. In addition to Yeine’s compelling narrative voice and the author’s vibrant imagination, the prose was skilled, and at times, poetic; the book’s supporting cast was well-crafted and engaging, particularly Nahadoth; world-building, while scarce in some areas, was for the most part, rich and informative; and the story, which is full of riveting twists, revelations and drama, featured excellent pacing and execution, leading to a powerful and rewarding conclusion.
Negatively, there is very little to say. World-building, like I mentioned, was scarce in some areas with the book focusing mainly on the Arameri, the city Sky, and the Three Gods and their children (Itempas, Nahadoth, Enefa, Sieh, Zhakkarn, Kurue), but it sounds like this is an issue that will be addressed in the sequels. Other than that, I wish the author would have further explored Arameri court politics & intrigues, and felt that the book was sometimes overwhelmed by all of the emotional drama going on.
In closing, even though N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” has been on my radar ever since Orbit first announced the title in 2008, the book really took me by surprise. Part of the reason is because the novel hasn’t been receiving the same kind of hype and publicity that other 2010 titles have enjoyed. A lot of it though is because “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is much better than most of the debut novels that I’ve read over the years. Extremely well-written, imaginative, emotionally gripping, and featuring a compelling narrator, “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” is an almost-perfect debut that deserves far more attention and could end up being one of the best fantasy releases of the year...
12:01 AM | 
Posted by
Robert |
There are so many books that come out every year. This is just a highlight of some of the books that I'm looking forward to. I tried to highlight some of the books that my fellow colleagues haven't featured so that we can get a wider range of books.
All blurbs are courtesy of Amazon unless otherwise noted.
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Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (January 26, 2010)
Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible. And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.
Although previously released in the UK it's making it's way to the US this January. I am highly awaiting this story as it seems out of the box. I also really love the cover!
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The Dark Eye's War: Book Three of the Blood of the Southland by David B Coe (February 16, 2010)
A bitter old woman’s curse has set in motion events that have felled innocent lives across an already war-weary land. She has paid the ultimate price, and an end to the curse is at hand, but her evil has created chaos and destruction. Qirsi all across the Southlands are dying from a plague that turns their own magic against them, allowing an Eandi army from Stelpana to boldly march into their territory. But magic has many faces, and the Qirsi aren’t the only ones cursed; even as Stelpana’s force wins battles, an insidious magic has corrupted the spells of their sorcerers, and what began as a military triumph is suddenly jeopardized. The future of the Southlands hangs in the balance, as the deeds of previous generations wreak terrible consequences on both sides in this misbegotten war.
As stated in my 2009 best of series, I loved the Blood of the Southland series. I can't wait to see how this trilogy ends and I'm expecting some really great battle scenes ahead.
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Map of All Things: Terra Incognita Book Two by Kevin J Anderson
After terrible atrocities by both sides, the religious war between Tierra and Uraba has spread and intensified, irreparably dividing the known world. What started as a series of skirmishes has erupted into a full-blown crusade. Now that the Uraban leader, Soldan-Shah Omra, has captured the ruined city of Ishalem, his construction teams discover a priceless ancient map in an underground vault - a map that can guide brave explorers to the mysterious Key to Creation. Omra dispatches his adoptive son Saan to sail east across the uncharted Middlesea on a quest to find it. In Tierra, Captain Criston Vora has built a grand new vessel, and sets out to explore the great unknown and find the fabled land of Terravitae. But Criston cannot forget his previous voyage that ended in shipwreck and disaster . . . and the loss of his beloved wife Adrea, who - unbeknownst to him - fights to survive against palace intrigues and constant threats against her life in far-off Uraba. For Adrea is now the wife of the soldan-shah and mother of his adopted son . . .
Although I never thought that I'd be awaiting what happens in this book I am. After reading the first book I just keep thinking what will happen, what's going on. And that makes it an eagerly anticipated novel.
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The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: the thing Beneath the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss & Nathan Taylor
This is not a book for children. It looks like a children's book. It has pictures. It has a saccharine-sweet title. The main characters are a little girl and her teddy bear. But all of that is just protective coloration. The truth is, this is a book for adults with a dark sense of humor and an appreciation of old-school faerie tales. There are three separate endings to the book. Depending on where you stop, you are left with an entirely different story. One ending is sweet, another is horrible. The last one is the true ending, the one with teeth in it. The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle is a dark twist on the classic children's picture-book. I think of it as Calvin and Hobbes meets Coraline, with some Edward Gorey mixed in. Simply said: This is not a book for children!
It has a girl and her bear. That hooked me the moment I saw the cover. I can't wait to see what this holds and I'm trying very hard not to look at too many pictures because this might just be one of the most exciting books for 2010 for myself and a must read!
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Shadow's Son by Jon Spunk(June 2010)
Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must claim his birthright as the Shadow's Son....
Although it sounds like a regular fantasy I am sure it's anything but. Even if it does have the regular fantasy flare to it I'm still hooked!
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Elves: Once Walked with Gods by James Barclay
The elves have fled to Calius, seeking to escape the overwhelming power of the demonic Garonin. A desperate last stand in their own dimension saved the race but only at the cost of 100,000 elves lost to the Garonin. The elf who led that fight, Takaar, is blamed for the loss and has gone into hiding. Now the weakened elf race is tearing itself apart in civil war, human mercenaries have arrived in Calius and are ripping the continent apart. Only one elf can unite the race. And only one elf believes in him. A young warrior named Auum sets out to bring back the shamed hero and save the elven race. James Barclay's ELVES trilogy will tell the whole story of his immortal elven race, it will appeal to all fans of Tolkien and fantasy - this is a uniquely entertaining take on a fantasy staple for readers new to Barclay. And old readers of Barclay will welcome a return for one of their favourite creations and will also love seeing once of their favourite characters back - the Tai Gethan warriror Auum destined to be one of the Raven.
In my interview with James Barclay he gave a small look at this series and I was hooked. Although I probably would have been hooked even if I hadn't had a look at it. It has Elves which next to Dragons are some of my favorite creatures in the fantasy world.
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The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee (April 2010)
At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war. A young spiritwalker of the Aniw and a captain in the Ciracusan army find themselves unexpectedly thrown together. The Aniw girl, taken prisoner from her people, must teach the reluctant soldier a forbidden talent – one that may turn the tide of the war and will surely brand him an outcast. From the rippling curtains of light in an Arctic sky, to the gaslit cobbled streets of the city, war is coming to the frozen north. Two people have a choice that will decide the fates of nations – and may cast them into a darkness that threatens to bring destruction to both their peoples.
Not something I would normally pick up but I keep getting drawn to this title. I can't wait to give this one a try.
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Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier (May 2010)
Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. The course of Kes’ life seems set: she’ll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer for the village of Minas Ford, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she’s content with that path — or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human . . . or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.
Griffins are almost as good as dragons in my opinion. Book two comes out the month after.
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The Last StormLord by Glenda Larke (2010)
Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It's the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn't get him killed first...
Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous...
The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.
Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...
Another fantasy book that looks to bring some interesting thoughts to the world of fantasy.
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Quest for the Fey Brand: Book Two in the Weirdling Cycle by Mortimus Clay (date to be announced)
I loved the Purloined Boy and can't wait to see what unique aspects Mortimus brings to this series.
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Legends of the Raven Series by James Barclay
A series after the chronicles of the Raven. I'm very excited for the US debut. After Barclay's US debut of the Raven series. I haven't had a chance to dive into all the Legends series but it's a goal of mine this year to finish up the Raven series! Raven to me!
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Dark Age Series by Mark Chadbourn
A series that continues after the Age of Misrule series. I loved that series and can't wait to see what Chadbourn brings to this series.
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Shadows of Apt 1,2, and 3 by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I have had the first book on my book shelf and haven't gotten to read it. The US release of this series by Pyr might just inspire me to sit down and read it.
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The White Shadow Saga: Book Two by A. P. Stephens (October 2010)
After his debut novel of The Stolen Moon of Londor, Stephens brings out his next book. I can't wait to see him grow as an author with this series.
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Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx by James Rollins
I loved the first Jake Ransom book and hope the series continues to live up to what I read the first time.
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The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1) by Rick Riordan
Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.
One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.
The use of the Egyptian gods really does sound like a nice touch. Rick Riordan is known for his Percy Jackson series so this should be an exciting series.
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Spellwright by Blake Charlton
Nicodemus is a young, gifted wizard with a problem. Magic in his world requires the caster to create spells by writing out the text . . . but he has always been dyslexic, and thus has trouble casting even the simplest of spells. And his misspells could prove dangerous, even deadly, should he make a mistake in an important incantation. Yet he has always felt that he is destined to be something more than a failed wizard. When a powerful, ancient evil begins a campaign of murder and disruption, Nicodemus starts to have disturbing dreams that lead him to believe that his misspelling could be the result of a curse. But before he can discover the truth about himself, he is attacked by an evil which has already claimed the lives of fellow wizards and has cast suspicion on his mentor. He must flee for his own life if he’s to find the true villain. But more is at stake than his abilities. For the evil that has awakened is a power so dread and vast that if unleashed it will destroy Nicodemus... and the world.
A debut that I am highly looking forward to. I can't wait to see what this author brings to the world of fantasy.
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Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann (April 2010)
From the Pyr website:
In 1926, America is in a cold war with a sprawling British Empire and mobsters serial killings are occurring all over New York City. It's a time in need of The Ghost, the world's first Steampunk superhero.
The blurb alone sounds interesting. The fact that it deals with the British Empire as an alternate history is a plus too.
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Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery Edited by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan
This is an anthology of some of the greatest authors; Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, Gene Wolfe, James Enge, C.J. Cherryh, K. J. Parker, Garth Nix, Michael Moorcock, Tim Lebbon, Robert Silverberg, Greg Keyes, Michael Shea, Scott Lynch, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bill Willingham, and Joe Abercrombie.
I love this type of fantasy and will be looking forward to see how some of these authors put their spin on the classic S&S type fantasy.
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Emerald Storm and Wintertide (Ryria 4 & 5) by Michael J Sullivan
Another one of my favorite independently published authors is Michael J Sullivan. A review of Nyphron Rising is still in the works but I can't wait to see what is in store as Sullivan is a great story teller and is taking his series to new heights.
All blurbs are courtesy of Amazon unless otherwise noted.
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Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (January 26, 2010)
Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible. And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.
Although previously released in the UK it's making it's way to the US this January. I am highly awaiting this story as it seems out of the box. I also really love the cover!
*******************************************************************************
The Dark Eye's War: Book Three of the Blood of the Southland by David B Coe (February 16, 2010)
A bitter old woman’s curse has set in motion events that have felled innocent lives across an already war-weary land. She has paid the ultimate price, and an end to the curse is at hand, but her evil has created chaos and destruction. Qirsi all across the Southlands are dying from a plague that turns their own magic against them, allowing an Eandi army from Stelpana to boldly march into their territory. But magic has many faces, and the Qirsi aren’t the only ones cursed; even as Stelpana’s force wins battles, an insidious magic has corrupted the spells of their sorcerers, and what began as a military triumph is suddenly jeopardized. The future of the Southlands hangs in the balance, as the deeds of previous generations wreak terrible consequences on both sides in this misbegotten war.
As stated in my 2009 best of series, I loved the Blood of the Southland series. I can't wait to see how this trilogy ends and I'm expecting some really great battle scenes ahead.
******************************************************************************
Map of All Things: Terra Incognita Book Two by Kevin J Anderson
After terrible atrocities by both sides, the religious war between Tierra and Uraba has spread and intensified, irreparably dividing the known world. What started as a series of skirmishes has erupted into a full-blown crusade. Now that the Uraban leader, Soldan-Shah Omra, has captured the ruined city of Ishalem, his construction teams discover a priceless ancient map in an underground vault - a map that can guide brave explorers to the mysterious Key to Creation. Omra dispatches his adoptive son Saan to sail east across the uncharted Middlesea on a quest to find it. In Tierra, Captain Criston Vora has built a grand new vessel, and sets out to explore the great unknown and find the fabled land of Terravitae. But Criston cannot forget his previous voyage that ended in shipwreck and disaster . . . and the loss of his beloved wife Adrea, who - unbeknownst to him - fights to survive against palace intrigues and constant threats against her life in far-off Uraba. For Adrea is now the wife of the soldan-shah and mother of his adopted son . . .
Although I never thought that I'd be awaiting what happens in this book I am. After reading the first book I just keep thinking what will happen, what's going on. And that makes it an eagerly anticipated novel.
******************************************************************************
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: the thing Beneath the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss & Nathan Taylor
This is not a book for children. It looks like a children's book. It has pictures. It has a saccharine-sweet title. The main characters are a little girl and her teddy bear. But all of that is just protective coloration. The truth is, this is a book for adults with a dark sense of humor and an appreciation of old-school faerie tales. There are three separate endings to the book. Depending on where you stop, you are left with an entirely different story. One ending is sweet, another is horrible. The last one is the true ending, the one with teeth in it. The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle is a dark twist on the classic children's picture-book. I think of it as Calvin and Hobbes meets Coraline, with some Edward Gorey mixed in. Simply said: This is not a book for children!
It has a girl and her bear. That hooked me the moment I saw the cover. I can't wait to see what this holds and I'm trying very hard not to look at too many pictures because this might just be one of the most exciting books for 2010 for myself and a must read!
*****************************************************************************
Shadow's Son by Jon Spunk(June 2010)
Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must claim his birthright as the Shadow's Son....
Although it sounds like a regular fantasy I am sure it's anything but. Even if it does have the regular fantasy flare to it I'm still hooked!
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Elves: Once Walked with Gods by James Barclay
The elves have fled to Calius, seeking to escape the overwhelming power of the demonic Garonin. A desperate last stand in their own dimension saved the race but only at the cost of 100,000 elves lost to the Garonin. The elf who led that fight, Takaar, is blamed for the loss and has gone into hiding. Now the weakened elf race is tearing itself apart in civil war, human mercenaries have arrived in Calius and are ripping the continent apart. Only one elf can unite the race. And only one elf believes in him. A young warrior named Auum sets out to bring back the shamed hero and save the elven race. James Barclay's ELVES trilogy will tell the whole story of his immortal elven race, it will appeal to all fans of Tolkien and fantasy - this is a uniquely entertaining take on a fantasy staple for readers new to Barclay. And old readers of Barclay will welcome a return for one of their favourite creations and will also love seeing once of their favourite characters back - the Tai Gethan warriror Auum destined to be one of the Raven.
In my interview with James Barclay he gave a small look at this series and I was hooked. Although I probably would have been hooked even if I hadn't had a look at it. It has Elves which next to Dragons are some of my favorite creatures in the fantasy world.
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The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee (April 2010)
At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war. A young spiritwalker of the Aniw and a captain in the Ciracusan army find themselves unexpectedly thrown together. The Aniw girl, taken prisoner from her people, must teach the reluctant soldier a forbidden talent – one that may turn the tide of the war and will surely brand him an outcast. From the rippling curtains of light in an Arctic sky, to the gaslit cobbled streets of the city, war is coming to the frozen north. Two people have a choice that will decide the fates of nations – and may cast them into a darkness that threatens to bring destruction to both their peoples.
Not something I would normally pick up but I keep getting drawn to this title. I can't wait to give this one a try.
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Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier (May 2010)
Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. The course of Kes’ life seems set: she’ll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer for the village of Minas Ford, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she’s content with that path — or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human . . . or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.
Griffins are almost as good as dragons in my opinion. Book two comes out the month after.
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The Last StormLord by Glenda Larke (2010)
Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It's the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn't get him killed first...
Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous...
The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.
Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...
Another fantasy book that looks to bring some interesting thoughts to the world of fantasy.
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Quest for the Fey Brand: Book Two in the Weirdling Cycle by Mortimus Clay (date to be announced)
I loved the Purloined Boy and can't wait to see what unique aspects Mortimus brings to this series.
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Legends of the Raven Series by James Barclay
A series after the chronicles of the Raven. I'm very excited for the US debut. After Barclay's US debut of the Raven series. I haven't had a chance to dive into all the Legends series but it's a goal of mine this year to finish up the Raven series! Raven to me!
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Dark Age Series by Mark Chadbourn
A series that continues after the Age of Misrule series. I loved that series and can't wait to see what Chadbourn brings to this series.
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Shadows of Apt 1,2, and 3 by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I have had the first book on my book shelf and haven't gotten to read it. The US release of this series by Pyr might just inspire me to sit down and read it.
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The White Shadow Saga: Book Two by A. P. Stephens (October 2010)
After his debut novel of The Stolen Moon of Londor, Stephens brings out his next book. I can't wait to see him grow as an author with this series.
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Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx by James Rollins
I loved the first Jake Ransom book and hope the series continues to live up to what I read the first time.
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The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1) by Rick Riordan
Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.
One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.
The use of the Egyptian gods really does sound like a nice touch. Rick Riordan is known for his Percy Jackson series so this should be an exciting series.
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Spellwright by Blake Charlton
Nicodemus is a young, gifted wizard with a problem. Magic in his world requires the caster to create spells by writing out the text . . . but he has always been dyslexic, and thus has trouble casting even the simplest of spells. And his misspells could prove dangerous, even deadly, should he make a mistake in an important incantation. Yet he has always felt that he is destined to be something more than a failed wizard. When a powerful, ancient evil begins a campaign of murder and disruption, Nicodemus starts to have disturbing dreams that lead him to believe that his misspelling could be the result of a curse. But before he can discover the truth about himself, he is attacked by an evil which has already claimed the lives of fellow wizards and has cast suspicion on his mentor. He must flee for his own life if he’s to find the true villain. But more is at stake than his abilities. For the evil that has awakened is a power so dread and vast that if unleashed it will destroy Nicodemus... and the world.
A debut that I am highly looking forward to. I can't wait to see what this author brings to the world of fantasy.
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Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann (April 2010)
From the Pyr website:
In 1926, America is in a cold war with a sprawling British Empire and mobsters serial killings are occurring all over New York City. It's a time in need of The Ghost, the world's first Steampunk superhero.
The blurb alone sounds interesting. The fact that it deals with the British Empire as an alternate history is a plus too.
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Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery Edited by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan
This is an anthology of some of the greatest authors; Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, Gene Wolfe, James Enge, C.J. Cherryh, K. J. Parker, Garth Nix, Michael Moorcock, Tim Lebbon, Robert Silverberg, Greg Keyes, Michael Shea, Scott Lynch, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bill Willingham, and Joe Abercrombie.
I love this type of fantasy and will be looking forward to see how some of these authors put their spin on the classic S&S type fantasy.
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Emerald Storm and Wintertide (Ryria 4 & 5) by Michael J Sullivan
Another one of my favorite independently published authors is Michael J Sullivan. A review of Nyphron Rising is still in the works but I can't wait to see what is in store as Sullivan is a great story teller and is taking his series to new heights.
JagFun, is the winner of the autographed copy of Armageddon Bound.
Paul Bishop, Chuck Graham, Bryce Lee, Jesse Conrad, and Josephine Marie are the winners of the Ebook copy!
Thanks again go out to Tim Marquitz for hosting the contest.
Thank you to all who entered and tune into Fantasy Book Critic on Monday, January 18, 2010 for another exciting contest.
As mentioned in my continuously updated "Anticipated Novels of 2010", so far I have read 14 of the 90+ titles there. I have reviewed some already and I will present the short summary here as well as links to the full reviews so far, while quick takes are in the post linked above:
City of Ruin/Newton (draft, A+/A++ - still need to read final version), The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms/Jemisin (A+), Spellwright/Charlton (C-), The Bookman/Tidhar(A, full rv), The Desert Spear/Brett(A), Servant of the Underworld/de Bodard(A, full rv), The Left Hand of God/Hoffman(A++, full rv), The Conqueror's Shadow/Marmell(C), The Napoleon Concerto/Mellon(A), The River Kings Road/Merciel (D), Geosynchron/Edelman(A+), Freedom/Suarez(C), Spirit Lens/Berg(A), Thirteen Years Later/Kent(B)
So far The Left Hand of God is still my number one 2010 release read, though of course nine of my Top 10 Anticipated novels are still to be obtained and read by me, there are lots of promising debuts and then there are surprises like the superb The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (FBC Rv). All of the above highly recommended books by me (ranked A or higher) will have full reviews here in due time and of course some already do.
From other recent reads that I have not reviewed yet or do not plan to review, The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming (A-, short take on Goodreads) was interesting and I would recommend it especially if it grabs you from the first pages. Here in the USA and for PC , Kindle or iPhone/iTouch users, Amazon provides a nice extract via the Kindle edition sample.
I also discovered "Legends of the Land" a wonderful series written by Steve Cockayne and of which the superb debut "Wanderers and Islanders" (A+, short take on Goodreads) kept me reading way too late, while the second and third book The Iron Chain and Seagull Drovers are on their way to me and will be read on arrival. I plan to do a series review for this one since it deserves as wide a readership as possible.
Another book that impressed me a lot is the 2009 mainstream release "Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi"(A+) by Geoff Dyer, which I plan to fit in my review schedule for next week alongside Spirit Lens.
The recent mini-disappointments were FreedomTM by Daniel Suarez (C, Goodreads quick take) and Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent (B, Goodreads quick take); after the subtler Daemon (FBC Rv), Freedom devolves into your standard goodies vs baddies thriller; vampire books and me do not really fit and Thirteen Years Later is much more of a vampire book than Twelve in its big picture, so despite being very engrossing and a page turner, I was left a bit cold by it.
Friday, January 15, 2010
"First Lord's Fury: Codex Alera #6" by Jim Butcher (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Jim Butcher is the author of seventeen previous novels. He’s the author of the super successful urban fantasy series, “Dresden Files” which has been made into a television series by the SY-FY channel. “First Lord’s Fury” is the 6th and ultimate volume in the Codex Alera series.
PLOT SUMMARY: Gaius Octavian has been a man of many talents. For the past 23 odd years he has lived a Fury-less life and has learnt to rely on his mental acumen, his physical fortitude and his instincts. For years he has endured many trials and tribulations and each which have taught him many things and made him the man he is today. Battling ancient enemies, forging new alliances, and confronting the corruption within his own ranks, Gaius Octavian has became a legendary man of war-and has laid claim as the rightful First Lord of Alera.
The aging Gaius Sextus has already fallen in battle. Yet his people continue to resist an invading inhuman army. Desperate Alerans folk are even forced to pledge fealty to the Vord Queen to survive, turning their Aleran furies back on their own people. And despite all efforts, the Aleran forces are being ground into dust and pushed to the farthest reaches of their own realm. However, Tavi has returned with vital insights from Canea, home of the wolf-like Canim. He has plans to counter the Vord blitz and, more importantly, believes from personal experience that human intellect & ingenuity are equivalent to fury-born powers. Now events are rushing towards a last stand, where Tavi and the last Aleran legions must formulate a dangerous new strategy, together. For the glorious Aleran civilization is on the brink of extinction as the savage Vord are looking to wipe out humanity from the face of Alera itself, and Gaius must lead his people to the place of his birth to stand against them-using all of his intelligence, ingenuity, and furycraft to save their world from utter desolation!"
FORMAT/INFO: First Lord's Fury is 465 pages long divided over fifty-seven numbered chapters with a prologue and epilogue. Narration is in the third-person omniscient via numerous characters both major and minor and follows all the characters which were present in the previous volumes. There are a few new POV characters introduced in this volume as well. This book is the last volume and concludes the story begun in the Furies of Calderon. There is also a map provided for the first time of the continent of Alera and its surrounding lands as well.
November 24, 2009 marked the US Hardcover publication of First Lord's Fury via Ace Books an Imprint of Penguin books. The UK version will be published on 6 May, 2010 via Orbit books.
ANALYSIS: This review contains spoilers. As it is near impossible to comment on any aspect of this story without giving away any spoilers from the previous 5 books. This review is going on the assumption that if you are reading this book or planning on reading this book you have the previous knowledge of the series as First Lord's Fury will not make any sense if you haven't read the other 5 books. If you do not want the series spoiled, please do not read any further.
Jim Butcher has long drawn out this story over the previous 5 volumes. Almost all of the clues for this eventual climax are there in the previous volumes. Some are laid out in the open and some of the clues appear inconsequential and up until now made very little sense.
This series was apparently created based on a bet by Jim Buther wherein he was supposed to use a fantasy trope. In this case he did using the hitherto fantastical disappearance of the IX Roman legion and utilized it to plot the seeds of the world of Alera. From this premise he utilized the farm boy/prince cliche and readers were introduced to Tavi; the only Aleran who wasn't able to use any fury power, which is inherent in every Aleran-born human. From there readers are lead on a tale where politics,furycraft and human emotions clashed. All of those have lead up to the finale in First Lord's Fury.
For the first time readers get a POV from the Vord queen and her second in command Invidia Aquitainia, who we have learnt in a previous book, has accepted life as a Vord symbiote over her death.
There are other obstacles as well. The Vord seem to be learning all the time, which leads to them advancing in many ways. They have also decided to undercut the human population by offering the an alternative of sorts. This twin action laced plot seems to go on until the first quarter of the book, where on one front Gaius Aquitainus Attis and the remaining high lords are doing their best to make a last stand at a momentous location that is familiar from the first book. While Tavi and his forces are doing their best to join up with them, and on a more personal note Tavi welcomes his new found fury power. Although he is quickly learning that all is not what it seems as an Aleran Fury.
There isn't a moment in which there isn't any action or any movement towards an end to the series. First Lord's Fury ends with a tremendous climax. However not everything is neatly wrapped up, even though the Vord menace is dealt with, the ramifications of the invasion and the eventual disclosures of any type of future are not shown in this volume. Although the tale for the cast of characters that readers have become used to may have ended. This leaves the door wide open for Jim Butcher should he wish to revisit this world in the future.
Jim Butcher has paced this climatic book well. The dialogue and characterization are ever improving and are a real treat to read in this series, with its many different POVs presented. Although this book is filled with many political intrigues and plot twists, the political aspect takes a backseat to the overarching threat. There are many plot twists littered throughout this book concerning both the past and the future of Alera.
In the end, I loved this high octane ending to the saga which began with Furies of Calderon in 2004. In this era of long drawn-out series with massive wait periods between volumes, Jim Butcher has admirably written and finished an epic fantasy sextet. One that is filled with many characters of all shades, lots of political intrigue and with massive amounts of martial and magical action that is equal to the best of them! Now that the series is over, readers can enjoy reading all the books back to back. This is another series which although it features many tropes and cliches presents a pretty cool magic system and an absorbing world structure, that all comes through nicely due to the talented author at its helm.
PLOT SUMMARY: Gaius Octavian has been a man of many talents. For the past 23 odd years he has lived a Fury-less life and has learnt to rely on his mental acumen, his physical fortitude and his instincts. For years he has endured many trials and tribulations and each which have taught him many things and made him the man he is today. Battling ancient enemies, forging new alliances, and confronting the corruption within his own ranks, Gaius Octavian has became a legendary man of war-and has laid claim as the rightful First Lord of Alera.
The aging Gaius Sextus has already fallen in battle. Yet his people continue to resist an invading inhuman army. Desperate Alerans folk are even forced to pledge fealty to the Vord Queen to survive, turning their Aleran furies back on their own people. And despite all efforts, the Aleran forces are being ground into dust and pushed to the farthest reaches of their own realm. However, Tavi has returned with vital insights from Canea, home of the wolf-like Canim. He has plans to counter the Vord blitz and, more importantly, believes from personal experience that human intellect & ingenuity are equivalent to fury-born powers. Now events are rushing towards a last stand, where Tavi and the last Aleran legions must formulate a dangerous new strategy, together. For the glorious Aleran civilization is on the brink of extinction as the savage Vord are looking to wipe out humanity from the face of Alera itself, and Gaius must lead his people to the place of his birth to stand against them-using all of his intelligence, ingenuity, and furycraft to save their world from utter desolation!"
FORMAT/INFO: First Lord's Fury is 465 pages long divided over fifty-seven numbered chapters with a prologue and epilogue. Narration is in the third-person omniscient via numerous characters both major and minor and follows all the characters which were present in the previous volumes. There are a few new POV characters introduced in this volume as well. This book is the last volume and concludes the story begun in the Furies of Calderon. There is also a map provided for the first time of the continent of Alera and its surrounding lands as well.
November 24, 2009 marked the US Hardcover publication of First Lord's Fury via Ace Books an Imprint of Penguin books. The UK version will be published on 6 May, 2010 via Orbit books.
ANALYSIS: This review contains spoilers. As it is near impossible to comment on any aspect of this story without giving away any spoilers from the previous 5 books. This review is going on the assumption that if you are reading this book or planning on reading this book you have the previous knowledge of the series as First Lord's Fury will not make any sense if you haven't read the other 5 books. If you do not want the series spoiled, please do not read any further.
Jim Butcher has long drawn out this story over the previous 5 volumes. Almost all of the clues for this eventual climax are there in the previous volumes. Some are laid out in the open and some of the clues appear inconsequential and up until now made very little sense.
This series was apparently created based on a bet by Jim Buther wherein he was supposed to use a fantasy trope. In this case he did using the hitherto fantastical disappearance of the IX Roman legion and utilized it to plot the seeds of the world of Alera. From this premise he utilized the farm boy/prince cliche and readers were introduced to Tavi; the only Aleran who wasn't able to use any fury power, which is inherent in every Aleran-born human. From there readers are lead on a tale where politics,furycraft and human emotions clashed. All of those have lead up to the finale in First Lord's Fury.
First Lord's Fury, starts off introducing readers to the Vord, who are on the verge of conquering Alera. As the 5th book ended with a very violent end of Gaius Sextus and along side that end was the destruction of the city of Alera Imperia. The citizens of Alera are desperate and the remaining forces are led by Gaius Aquitainus Attis while Gaius Octavius or Tavi, is leading his forces along with Canim from the Canim homeland. It may be a while before he can join forces with the remaining Alerans to fight the Vord. The rest of the cast of the previous books are all here: Amarra, Fidelias/Valiar Marcus, Antillar Maximus, Ehren, Kitai, Bernard and Isana.
For the first time readers get a POV from the Vord queen and her second in command Invidia Aquitainia, who we have learnt in a previous book, has accepted life as a Vord symbiote over her death.
There are other obstacles as well. The Vord seem to be learning all the time, which leads to them advancing in many ways. They have also decided to undercut the human population by offering the an alternative of sorts. This twin action laced plot seems to go on until the first quarter of the book, where on one front Gaius Aquitainus Attis and the remaining high lords are doing their best to make a last stand at a momentous location that is familiar from the first book. While Tavi and his forces are doing their best to join up with them, and on a more personal note Tavi welcomes his new found fury power. Although he is quickly learning that all is not what it seems as an Aleran Fury.
There isn't a moment in which there isn't any action or any movement towards an end to the series. First Lord's Fury ends with a tremendous climax. However not everything is neatly wrapped up, even though the Vord menace is dealt with, the ramifications of the invasion and the eventual disclosures of any type of future are not shown in this volume. Although the tale for the cast of characters that readers have become used to may have ended. This leaves the door wide open for Jim Butcher should he wish to revisit this world in the future.
Jim Butcher has paced this climatic book well. The dialogue and characterization are ever improving and are a real treat to read in this series, with its many different POVs presented. Although this book is filled with many political intrigues and plot twists, the political aspect takes a backseat to the overarching threat. There are many plot twists littered throughout this book concerning both the past and the future of Alera.
In the end, I loved this high octane ending to the saga which began with Furies of Calderon in 2004. In this era of long drawn-out series with massive wait periods between volumes, Jim Butcher has admirably written and finished an epic fantasy sextet. One that is filled with many characters of all shades, lots of political intrigue and with massive amounts of martial and magical action that is equal to the best of them! Now that the series is over, readers can enjoy reading all the books back to back. This is another series which although it features many tropes and cliches presents a pretty cool magic system and an absorbing world structure, that all comes through nicely due to the talented author at its helm.
Official Ali Shaw WebsiteOrder "The Girl with Glass Feet" Here (or read an extract)
INTRODUCTION: "The Girl with Glass Feet" is a book that could easily have escaped my attention without its being mentioned on Niall Harrison's Torque Control blog both in his intended 2010 reads and in the BSFA novel nominations post. Once I found out about it, luckily exactly when the US edition came out last week, a quick read of the excerpt linked above from Amazon made me get it on the spot and I really loved it to the end.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "The Girl with Glass Feet" stands at about 300 pages and follows mostly the two main protagonists' POVs: the girl of title, exuberant, lively, former competition diver Ida MacLaird and strange, introvert, photographer/flower seller Midas Crook, though there are interludes from several other important characters from the misfit/weirdos cast of the novel. A "quest" story with many allusions to and revelations from the past, the novel has two main attractions: the cast of strange characters (of recent novels reviewed here, Her Fearful Symmetry/Niffenegger is the closest in that aspect) and its beautiful life-affirming style.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The premise of this novel is quite arresting: after a short visit to her dead mother's birthplace, the Northern Archipelago of St. Hauda's Land, where strange people live and even stranger things happen, young Ida Maclaird's feet have transformed into glass and moreover, the "glass infection" in her body is slowly spreading. From a chance conversation with secluded island naturalist Henry Fuwa, she believes her "illness" is peculiar to St. Hauda's Land so she has to go back in order to have any hope of finding a cure. Planning to stay at her mother's school-friend house, Carl Mausen who is currently an academic still living on the islands, she meets by chance young Midas Crook, a photographer and flower seller, whose dead father of the same name was Carl's colleague and mentor, while his estranged mother has secrets of her own.
The energetic and brash girl, now reduced to crutches and desperation and the introvert and directionless boy do not seem that great a fit, but when time is short and fate knocks on the door, human companionship takes an added urgency and value.
As in many other novels with fantastic elements that take place in our day, nothing is really explained about those elements, so the "glass infestation" is taken as a given. Also even from the short overview above, it is clear that the relationships between the characters, dead and alive, are quite complicated and several twists are slowly revealed as the novel progresses.
However the most compelling element of "The Girl with Glass Feet" is its superb style: the description of the archipelago and its inhabitants, the interactions between the main characters and ultimately the life-affirming "message" of people coming together in extreme situation and making the most of what's possible for them which reminded me on occasions of the master of such EM Remarque whose novels about unlikely love in times of extreme danger are still the best I've ever read.
If there is one niggle I have about "The Girl with Glass Feet" is that its interesting cast of characters is not fully developed outside the main heroes and to a large extent Carl, while the novel rushes a bit towards its inevitable end. Another fifty or so pages and the novel would have been an A++ for me, but even so it is an A+ and already a contender for a slot in my best of 2010.
Highly, highly recommended and the author became another one to follow and get his next book asap.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "The Girl with Glass Feet" stands at about 300 pages and follows mostly the two main protagonists' POVs: the girl of title, exuberant, lively, former competition diver Ida MacLaird and strange, introvert, photographer/flower seller Midas Crook, though there are interludes from several other important characters from the misfit/weirdos cast of the novel. A "quest" story with many allusions to and revelations from the past, the novel has two main attractions: the cast of strange characters (of recent novels reviewed here, Her Fearful Symmetry/Niffenegger is the closest in that aspect) and its beautiful life-affirming style.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The premise of this novel is quite arresting: after a short visit to her dead mother's birthplace, the Northern Archipelago of St. Hauda's Land, where strange people live and even stranger things happen, young Ida Maclaird's feet have transformed into glass and moreover, the "glass infection" in her body is slowly spreading. From a chance conversation with secluded island naturalist Henry Fuwa, she believes her "illness" is peculiar to St. Hauda's Land so she has to go back in order to have any hope of finding a cure. Planning to stay at her mother's school-friend house, Carl Mausen who is currently an academic still living on the islands, she meets by chance young Midas Crook, a photographer and flower seller, whose dead father of the same name was Carl's colleague and mentor, while his estranged mother has secrets of her own.
The energetic and brash girl, now reduced to crutches and desperation and the introvert and directionless boy do not seem that great a fit, but when time is short and fate knocks on the door, human companionship takes an added urgency and value.
As in many other novels with fantastic elements that take place in our day, nothing is really explained about those elements, so the "glass infestation" is taken as a given. Also even from the short overview above, it is clear that the relationships between the characters, dead and alive, are quite complicated and several twists are slowly revealed as the novel progresses.
However the most compelling element of "The Girl with Glass Feet" is its superb style: the description of the archipelago and its inhabitants, the interactions between the main characters and ultimately the life-affirming "message" of people coming together in extreme situation and making the most of what's possible for them which reminded me on occasions of the master of such EM Remarque whose novels about unlikely love in times of extreme danger are still the best I've ever read.
If there is one niggle I have about "The Girl with Glass Feet" is that its interesting cast of characters is not fully developed outside the main heroes and to a large extent Carl, while the novel rushes a bit towards its inevitable end. Another fifty or so pages and the novel would have been an A++ for me, but even so it is an A+ and already a contender for a slot in my best of 2010.
Highly, highly recommended and the author became another one to follow and get his next book asap.
Order "In the Valley of the Kings" HERE (or use Search Inside for an excerpt)_
INTRODUCTION: "In the Valley of the Kings", the collection of stories and debut by Terrence Holt is a book that most likely would have escaped my attention but for the rave review from Larry from Of Blog of the Fallen. It's true that the cover and title would have made me browse it if I saw it in a bookstore and from there the magical writing inside would have done the rest, but I am not sure how prominently it was displayed when it hit the shelves. One of the best books I read recently and one I will return several times for sure, since despite its slimness as pages go, it packs content and things to meditate about as for a book double its size.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "In the Valley of the Kings" stands at about 220 pages and includes the title novella for about 1/3 of its length with an additional seven stories that range from great to "only" very good; the "fantastic" elements in the stories range from a plague that is caused by a special word, a sentient heart, solar system settings, Egyptian mythology and to top it all, the end of the world, this one fittingly in the last story...
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I will present a short take story by story and I will give some quotes since this book is absolutely great not only for the content of the stories, but for its style/atmosphere and that one is better experienced than talked about. All the stories rank an A++ from me for style and they would make great reading just by experiencing the flow of words, while I found the content of varying degrees of interest, so the ranking below is just for that last.
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"Ο Λογοσ" A+
"What claimed the attention of everyone who saw the child over the three days of her illness was the unmistakable pattern in those marks. They formed a word."
The collection starts with the one "medical" story - the author is currently a practicing MD after teaching literature for many years - very interesting premise and very sf-nal tone here, though of course all done in quite an original manner. I like much less the "plague apocalypse" storyline as opposed to the "cosmic event apocalypse" one - see below the last story - so while I enjoyed this one a lot, it did not rank as high as the three A++ stories. A great beginning to the collection though a slightly misleading one since the rest are quite different as content goes.
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"My Father's Heart" A-
"My father’s heart beats in a glass jar on the mantel, a steady flickering at the edge of my eye. I try to avoid it, but by dinnertime each night I’m staring. Beneath my gaze it pulses, and perhaps it turns a richer purple. From the jar I hear a low, dull, quick sound, persistent as a muffled watch."
This story declares its intent from the first lines above; the "most horror-like" one and the shortest of the collection, it was my least favorite though the heart of the title makes a better "character" than the narrator. This story hits also the one different note as style goes from the rest, reading like your favorite horror story rather than the more original style of the rest.
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"Charybdis" A++
"HERE IS A list of mission control’s euphemisms:
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"Aurora" A+
"And on the Ring I only do not break. I do not vanish: I ride the wheel of it, arms out against the fall. No glittering shards of me disperse. My heart is solid inside me, a steady turning.
*********************************************
"Eurydike" A
"Something terrible has happened Ive looked everywhere but all the rooms are empty I see signs I cannot read not even this Is anyone here Can anyone read this?"
This story starts very interesting with the hook lines above, but it goes really nowhere as external reality goes, being mostly a "horror-like", almost solipsistic kind of tale; not my favorite kind, but I liked it quite well and of course the writing is still so compelling that you do not really need coherence.
*********************************************
In the Valley of the Kings A++
"That there were tombs, great tombs, left undiscovered in the Valley of the Kings, I could not doubt. Long study in the chronicles of Egypt, where history lapses, time and again, into silence, had convinced me: some gaps in the record were not accident. The singular lack of artifacts from a particular period—I will not tell you which—the hush of the chroniclers—the break in the lineage of the Kings: even from a time five thousand years ago when one might think the silences of history outweighed the words, this silence: it spoke to me, insistently, of something withheld. It haunted me, as if out of that silence came a voice I could not hear, and it spoke only to me. But each attempt I made to trace the lineage, each name, each face, each line of evidence I pursued, all, when I traced them back to a certain decade in the Upper Nile, all vanished—cut off, as if the earth itself had swallowed them down."
A novella that has a clear storyline, a mystery and the attraction of the exotic/fabled past, the title story is worth the price of the book by itself. A "doomed" archaeologist this time, trying to leave a mark on the world. Will he succeed? Is he really doomed or is it all in his imagination? Read and find out!
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"Scylla" A
"It was a fair cruise, the seas calm, the winds and currents favoring, the skies so clear the evening star was visible by day. Mornings and evenings low clouds rolled, pink in the sunrise, orange in the west; always they vanished before us. The crew, off watch, hung in the shrouds, where they swung with the long surge of the sea; high in the foretop, Teofilo, the Portygee, sang in his languid tongue. This was in the days before the Law."
This story starts relatively conventionally as above, but then it moves into a very different narrative space, more a meditation on Fate, Change and Death than anything else; as with Eurydike, I prefer stories more grounded in reality than in solipsistic imagination, so I did not like this one as much either, but still very, very good and gripping to the end.
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"Apocalypse" A++
"In the gorge the echoes faded. I found myself listening, hoping there would be no voices. For a minute or so—it may have been ten—we waited. I could hear the kitchen clock tick.
*********************************************
"In the Valley of the Kings" is highly, highly recommended and an A++ for style and A+ for content. Anything remotely interesting for me written by Mr. Holt and is a get and read asap.
INTRODUCTION: "In the Valley of the Kings", the collection of stories and debut by Terrence Holt is a book that most likely would have escaped my attention but for the rave review from Larry from Of Blog of the Fallen. It's true that the cover and title would have made me browse it if I saw it in a bookstore and from there the magical writing inside would have done the rest, but I am not sure how prominently it was displayed when it hit the shelves. One of the best books I read recently and one I will return several times for sure, since despite its slimness as pages go, it packs content and things to meditate about as for a book double its size.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "In the Valley of the Kings" stands at about 220 pages and includes the title novella for about 1/3 of its length with an additional seven stories that range from great to "only" very good; the "fantastic" elements in the stories range from a plague that is caused by a special word, a sentient heart, solar system settings, Egyptian mythology and to top it all, the end of the world, this one fittingly in the last story...
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I will present a short take story by story and I will give some quotes since this book is absolutely great not only for the content of the stories, but for its style/atmosphere and that one is better experienced than talked about. All the stories rank an A++ from me for style and they would make great reading just by experiencing the flow of words, while I found the content of varying degrees of interest, so the ranking below is just for that last.
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"Ο Λογοσ" A+
"What claimed the attention of everyone who saw the child over the three days of her illness was the unmistakable pattern in those marks. They formed a word."
The collection starts with the one "medical" story - the author is currently a practicing MD after teaching literature for many years - very interesting premise and very sf-nal tone here, though of course all done in quite an original manner. I like much less the "plague apocalypse" storyline as opposed to the "cosmic event apocalypse" one - see below the last story - so while I enjoyed this one a lot, it did not rank as high as the three A++ stories. A great beginning to the collection though a slightly misleading one since the rest are quite different as content goes.
*********************************************
"My Father's Heart" A-
"My father’s heart beats in a glass jar on the mantel, a steady flickering at the edge of my eye. I try to avoid it, but by dinnertime each night I’m staring. Beneath my gaze it pulses, and perhaps it turns a richer purple. From the jar I hear a low, dull, quick sound, persistent as a muffled watch."
This story declares its intent from the first lines above; the "most horror-like" one and the shortest of the collection, it was my least favorite though the heart of the title makes a better "character" than the narrator. This story hits also the one different note as style goes from the rest, reading like your favorite horror story rather than the more original style of the rest.
*********************************************
"Charybdis" A++
"HERE IS A list of mission control’s euphemisms:
the burn
the event
the incident
the accident
the unfortunate [all of the above]
the spontaneous ignition
the midcourse miscorrection
the transorbital overenhancement. This one was my favorite, but the one they prefer is “the accident.” I have started to ask them, “Which one?”
And they say I’ve lost my sense of humor."
A tour de force, this (near Jupiter) doomed astronaut's tale is my favorite piece of the collection alongside the title one; there is a lot of stuff packed and the back-story that slowly unfolds has some twists and turns that add to the intensity of the first person narration; I am sucker for this kind of stories and while I read quite a few in a hard sf context (William Barton has some of the most notable "doomed/endangered astronaut" stories I've ever read till his one), "Charybdis" stands easily at the top of the list.*********************************************
"Aurora" A+
"And on the Ring I only do not break. I do not vanish: I ride the wheel of it, arms out against the fall. No glittering shards of me disperse. My heart is solid inside me, a steady turning.
I cannot remember when this was not so."
This story, while a companion piece with "Charybdis" (set near Saturn here) lacks the clarity/hard-sfnal focus of the previous one, so it did less for me, However it's a piece of lyrical writing that mesmerized me and arguably the best of the collection in style, reading almost like a long poem.*********************************************
"Eurydike" A
"Something terrible has happened Ive looked everywhere but all the rooms are empty I see signs I cannot read not even this Is anyone here Can anyone read this?"
This story starts very interesting with the hook lines above, but it goes really nowhere as external reality goes, being mostly a "horror-like", almost solipsistic kind of tale; not my favorite kind, but I liked it quite well and of course the writing is still so compelling that you do not really need coherence.
*********************************************
In the Valley of the Kings A++
"That there were tombs, great tombs, left undiscovered in the Valley of the Kings, I could not doubt. Long study in the chronicles of Egypt, where history lapses, time and again, into silence, had convinced me: some gaps in the record were not accident. The singular lack of artifacts from a particular period—I will not tell you which—the hush of the chroniclers—the break in the lineage of the Kings: even from a time five thousand years ago when one might think the silences of history outweighed the words, this silence: it spoke to me, insistently, of something withheld. It haunted me, as if out of that silence came a voice I could not hear, and it spoke only to me. But each attempt I made to trace the lineage, each name, each face, each line of evidence I pursued, all, when I traced them back to a certain decade in the Upper Nile, all vanished—cut off, as if the earth itself had swallowed them down."
A novella that has a clear storyline, a mystery and the attraction of the exotic/fabled past, the title story is worth the price of the book by itself. A "doomed" archaeologist this time, trying to leave a mark on the world. Will he succeed? Is he really doomed or is it all in his imagination? Read and find out!
*********************************************
"Scylla" A
"It was a fair cruise, the seas calm, the winds and currents favoring, the skies so clear the evening star was visible by day. Mornings and evenings low clouds rolled, pink in the sunrise, orange in the west; always they vanished before us. The crew, off watch, hung in the shrouds, where they swung with the long surge of the sea; high in the foretop, Teofilo, the Portygee, sang in his languid tongue. This was in the days before the Law."
This story starts relatively conventionally as above, but then it moves into a very different narrative space, more a meditation on Fate, Change and Death than anything else; as with Eurydike, I prefer stories more grounded in reality than in solipsistic imagination, so I did not like this one as much either, but still very, very good and gripping to the end.
*********************************************
"Apocalypse" A++
"In the gorge the echoes faded. I found myself listening, hoping there would be no voices. For a minute or so—it may have been ten—we waited. I could hear the kitchen clock tick.
When the silence in the room became intolerable, we both stood to go."
As in Charybdis, this story concerns a subject I read quite a few great hard-sfnal stories about - here it is the end of the world due to an unpredictable cosmic event - Stephen Baxter and William Barton are notable sf authors of such short stories. Of course this collection being more "literature of the fantastic" than core-sf, the story does not explore the unnamed event that will soon extinguish life on Earth, but follows the narrator and his wife trying to cope with their inevitable doom.*********************************************
"In the Valley of the Kings" is highly, highly recommended and an A++ for style and A+ for content. Anything remotely interesting for me written by Mr. Holt and is a get and read asap.
Visit Douglas Preston's Official Website (along with Lincoln Child) Here
Order Impact from Amazon Here
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Douglas Preston is one half of a super-successful writing duo along with Lincoln Child. He has written 5 nonfiction titles and 4 solo fiction titles. He’s also co-written 13 books with Lincoln Child, among which their debut Relic was made into a movie. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine, and has written for other publications such as National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonian, Harper's and Travel & Leisure just to name a few.
PLOT SUMMARY: Wyman Ford, the protagonist from Blasphemy is back. This time he is going back to a place of great personal tragedy, Cambodia, with a mission to locate the source of some beautiful gemstones that don't appear to be of this world.
On the other side of the world in Maine, a meteor lights up the sky on descent to Earth. Abby Sunclair decides to investigate this incident and along with a friend borrows a boat and sets out to find the crater caused by it.
Meanwhile, a technician at NPF, National Propulsion Facility, begins to receive strange data. Data that seems to have no logical explanation, yet! High resolution NASA images reveal an unnatural feature hidden in a crater on the planet Mars. However this feature appears to have been activated and may be a dangerous weapon that could harm Earth.
Wyman Ford and a team of scientists must figure out how to destroy this alien doomsday weapon within the next sixty hours. The only tools that are available to them are in orbit around Mars and they include the Orbiter, the Mars lander on the surface, and several smaller satellites orbiting the Red Planet. None of these objects carry anything that could be considered a weapon and the clock is ticking. Sixty hours and counting!
FORMAT/INFO: The ARC which I received consisted of 368 pages split into 99 numbered chapters with an epilogue. Narration is via third person and through many characters. This book is part of a series focusing on Wyman Ford and follows the events of Preston’s last book, Blasphemy. This tale however is a self-contained one with a proper conclusion and does not require the reader to be familiar with the previous books.
ANALYSIS: Impact begins by exposing the reader to several different threads all of them seemingly different and unrelated to each other.
The first thread leads readers on to Mark Costco, a scientist working at the NPF. He receives a disc of data from his mentor. The information contained on the disc leads him to question his seniors and investigate the meaning of the data.
The second thread opens up in Maine and shows us a small fishing town wherein Abby Sinclair, a college dropout with an arcane interest in astronomy, manages to see a comet while taking pictures. This prompts a search for the crater that puts her and friends in jeopardy.
The third and last thread gives us Wyman Ford who is asked to undertake a mission to Cambodia to investigate the source of the gemstones. He reluctantly agrees and goes to the country wherein his marriage came to a halt.
The readers get to see these three characters take their individual paths as they try to achieve their objectives and understand what is really going on. Wyman finds himself in a region which has remade Hell on Earth, while Abbey finds herself in a race of sorts to find the remains of the comet. Meanwhile, Mark has to deal with his higher-ups, who view his efforts as wasted time and try to redirect him onto tasks of their own choosing.
Douglas Preston takes great care to develop each story thread individually and then make them come together around the middle of the book. The ultimate gel which links all these seemingly unrelated threats together is the heart of the story and is of extraterrestrial origins. The writing and dialogue are all very polished. As are the chapters which come very close to a century.
The end while a bit simplistic is somewhat unexpected. A few discerning readers might also spot some congruences with the ending in one of Lincoln Child's previous solo thrillers. Few readers might also take umbrage that certain characters and situations in the book act a bit out of fashion. However, keep in mind that this is a fiction book and while it's laced with science, which is very real, it does attempt a tiny detour from reality in some aspects. Enjoy it for what it is, an engaging thriller from one of the smartest writers around, and your reading experience will be a good one!
If you are a fan of James Rollins, Matthew Reilly and Clive Cussler or any of Douglas Preston's this book is highly recommended. Impact is another winner from Douglas Preston's imagination. His solo books are finally reaching the lofty standards set up by his other co-authored thrillers.
PLOT SUMMARY: Wyman Ford, the protagonist from Blasphemy is back. This time he is going back to a place of great personal tragedy, Cambodia, with a mission to locate the source of some beautiful gemstones that don't appear to be of this world.
On the other side of the world in Maine, a meteor lights up the sky on descent to Earth. Abby Sunclair decides to investigate this incident and along with a friend borrows a boat and sets out to find the crater caused by it.
Meanwhile, a technician at NPF, National Propulsion Facility, begins to receive strange data. Data that seems to have no logical explanation, yet! High resolution NASA images reveal an unnatural feature hidden in a crater on the planet Mars. However this feature appears to have been activated and may be a dangerous weapon that could harm Earth.
Wyman Ford and a team of scientists must figure out how to destroy this alien doomsday weapon within the next sixty hours. The only tools that are available to them are in orbit around Mars and they include the Orbiter, the Mars lander on the surface, and several smaller satellites orbiting the Red Planet. None of these objects carry anything that could be considered a weapon and the clock is ticking. Sixty hours and counting!
FORMAT/INFO: The ARC which I received consisted of 368 pages split into 99 numbered chapters with an epilogue. Narration is via third person and through many characters. This book is part of a series focusing on Wyman Ford and follows the events of Preston’s last book, Blasphemy. This tale however is a self-contained one with a proper conclusion and does not require the reader to be familiar with the previous books.
ANALYSIS: Impact begins by exposing the reader to several different threads all of them seemingly different and unrelated to each other.
The first thread leads readers on to Mark Costco, a scientist working at the NPF. He receives a disc of data from his mentor. The information contained on the disc leads him to question his seniors and investigate the meaning of the data.
The second thread opens up in Maine and shows us a small fishing town wherein Abby Sinclair, a college dropout with an arcane interest in astronomy, manages to see a comet while taking pictures. This prompts a search for the crater that puts her and friends in jeopardy.
The third and last thread gives us Wyman Ford who is asked to undertake a mission to Cambodia to investigate the source of the gemstones. He reluctantly agrees and goes to the country wherein his marriage came to a halt.
The readers get to see these three characters take their individual paths as they try to achieve their objectives and understand what is really going on. Wyman finds himself in a region which has remade Hell on Earth, while Abbey finds herself in a race of sorts to find the remains of the comet. Meanwhile, Mark has to deal with his higher-ups, who view his efforts as wasted time and try to redirect him onto tasks of their own choosing.
Douglas Preston takes great care to develop each story thread individually and then make them come together around the middle of the book. The ultimate gel which links all these seemingly unrelated threats together is the heart of the story and is of extraterrestrial origins. The writing and dialogue are all very polished. As are the chapters which come very close to a century.
The end while a bit simplistic is somewhat unexpected. A few discerning readers might also spot some congruences with the ending in one of Lincoln Child's previous solo thrillers. Few readers might also take umbrage that certain characters and situations in the book act a bit out of fashion. However, keep in mind that this is a fiction book and while it's laced with science, which is very real, it does attempt a tiny detour from reality in some aspects. Enjoy it for what it is, an engaging thriller from one of the smartest writers around, and your reading experience will be a good one!
If you are a fan of James Rollins, Matthew Reilly and Clive Cussler or any of Douglas Preston's this book is highly recommended. Impact is another winner from Douglas Preston's imagination. His solo books are finally reaching the lofty standards set up by his other co-authored thrillers.
Official Robin Hobb Website
Order “Dragon Keeper” HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
Read An Excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Robin Hobb is the author of the Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man, and Soldier Son trilogies. She is also the author of Wizard and the Pigeons, The Windsingers, and Cloven Hooves, written under the name Megan Lindholm. Her short fiction has won the Asimov’s Readers’ Award and has been a finalist for both the Nebula and Hugo awards.
PLOT SUMMARY: After many years, dragons have hatched again outside the ancient city of Cassarick. But something is wrong with the creatures; each is inferior or deformed in some way, unable to fly, and but a mere resemblance of the powerful, shining dragons of old. As a result, only a handful of the creatures have survived. Even so, tending these stunted dragons has left the people of the surrounding area weary. The Traders Council, the city’s leadership, fears that if the Rain Wilders stop providing for the young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will rampage and destroy Cassarick.
To avert catastrophe, the council rules to relocate the young dragons to a “better location” up river, and residents are recruited to escort the valuable yet fearsome creatures on the arduous journey. Among them are Thymara, a young Rain Wilds girl outcast because of her deformities; Alise Kincarron Finbok, a wealthy and deeply unsatisfied Bingtown Trader’s wife who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know of dragons; Sedric Meldar, Hest Finbok’s secretary and a friend of Alise’s since childhood; and Leftrin, grizzled captain of the river barge Tarman.
Witnessed from the viewpoints of these individuals as well as the blue dragon queen Sintara, “Dragon Keeper” tells the story of a disparate band of humans and dragons as they make their way along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River in search of their new home—the ancient, long-lost city of Kelsingra...
CLASSIFICATION: “Dragon Keeper” is epic fantasy driven by comprehensive world-building and realistic characters. Recommended for fans of Kate Elliott, Jacqueline Carey, J.V. Jones, Lois McMaster Bujold, and of course, Robin Hobb...
FORMAT/INFO: “Dragon Keeper” is 496 pages long divided over seventeen titled chapters. Also includes a Cast of Characters and numerous one-page interludes that appear between each chapter in the form of messages between bird keepers. Narration is in the third person via Sintara, Thymara, Alise, Leftrin, and Sedric. “Dragon Keeper” is part one of The Rain Wilds Chronicles which continues the story from the end of the Liveship Traders Trilogy, but is a standalone tale. Since The Rain Wilds Chronicles was written as a single book, but then split into two volumes, “Dragon Keeper” ends abruptly. Volume two, “Dragon Haven”, is scheduled for publication in the UK/US in March/May 2010.
January 26, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “Dragon Keeper” via EOS Books. The UK edition (see below) was published on June 25, 2009 via HarperVoyager. US ARC provided by the publisher.
ANALYSIS: Robin Hobb is one of my favorite authors, but of all her books, the Liveship Traders Trilogy is my least favorite, so I had mixed feelings about reading her newest effort, “Dragon Keeper”, which continues from the end of that trilogy. Once I started the book though, all of my fond memories—Liveships, Bingtown, Rain Wild Traders, wizardwood, serpents, Paragon, Captain Kennit, the mysterious Amber, etc—of that trilogy came flooding back, and it felt like returning home even though “Dragon Keeper” features new characters and a standalone story. I was also reminded once again of why I love reading Robin Hobb’s novels in the first place.
For starters, I love the characters. Whether primary or secondary, Robin Hobb’s characters are three-dimensional creations with fully developed histories, thoughts, feelings, personalities, relationships, and motives, and the cast of “Dragon Keeper” is no exception. Sintara, Thymara, Alise, Leftrin, Sedric, Tats, Hest, Greft, Rapskal, Mercor . . . each and every one of the humans and dragons that appear in the book are given life, depth, and a sense of realism, which in turn makes it very easy for the reader to know and care about the characters in “Dragon Keeper”. On the flipside, while the main protagonists are likable, well-rounded, and possess their own distinctive narrative voices, they are not very creative and tend to suffer from overly familiar issues like predestined futures, being constrained by tradition, prejudice, sexuality, social outcasts, and finding your own path in life. Plus, the characters in “Dragon Keeper” fall short of such favorites as FitzChivalry or The Fool, although they are much easier to like than Nevare from the Soldier Son trilogy...
Another thing I really love about Robin Hobb’s books is the extensive world-building. While I was already familiar with many of the concepts present in “Dragon Keeper” like Bingtown/Rain Wild societies, serpents changing into dragons, the dragons’ ancestral memories and so on, it was a pleasure revisiting these ideas, especially because of the level of detail the author uses to illustrate the world she’s imagined.
Negatively, the plot in “Dragon Keeper” takes a long time to develop, and when it does, it’s disappointingly simple. Basically, nearly the whole novel deals with the new, deformed dragons who are haunted by their memories of what dragons should be, the decision to find their ancient home Kelsingra, and their journey upriver. That’s it. True, each of the five protagonists have their own reasons for journeying to Kelsingra and have various conflicts to deal with along the way, but they are mainly of a more personal nature with little surprises. There is a subplot involving the dying High Duke of Chalced who is seeking dragon parts to make a concoction to restore his health and youth, but that is still developing by the end of the book. Another complaint I had was with the little messenger bird interludes that, apart from advancing the timeline a few years about 100 pages in, served little purpose.
As far as the novel itself in relation to the other trilogies set in the Realm of the Elderlings, “Dragon Keeper” does stand alone and should be accessible to anyone new to Robin Hobb. That said, I believe readers already familiar with the author’s work, particularly those who have read the Liveship Traders Trilogy, will enjoy “Dragon Keeper” more, especially with all of the little references to the previous trilogies and the familiar characters who either appear in the book or are mentioned in passing (Tintaglia, Maulkin, Selden Vestrit, Malta Vestrit, Reyn Khuprus, Paragon, Althea, Brashen Trell, Clef, Icefyre, etc).
CONCLUSION: In the end, it’s difficult to review a book that is only one-half of the story, but because of characters, prose and world-building that is vintage Robin Hobb; a story that continues to build on the epic mythos established in the author’s previous Elderlings trilogies; and the fact that it’s a new Robin Hobb novel that we’re talking about, “Dragon Keeper” doesn’t disappoint and comes highly recommended...
Order “Dragon Keeper” HERE (US) + HERE (UK)
Read An Excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Robin Hobb is the author of the Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man, and Soldier Son trilogies. She is also the author of Wizard and the Pigeons, The Windsingers, and Cloven Hooves, written under the name Megan Lindholm. Her short fiction has won the Asimov’s Readers’ Award and has been a finalist for both the Nebula and Hugo awards.
PLOT SUMMARY: After many years, dragons have hatched again outside the ancient city of Cassarick. But something is wrong with the creatures; each is inferior or deformed in some way, unable to fly, and but a mere resemblance of the powerful, shining dragons of old. As a result, only a handful of the creatures have survived. Even so, tending these stunted dragons has left the people of the surrounding area weary. The Traders Council, the city’s leadership, fears that if the Rain Wilders stop providing for the young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will rampage and destroy Cassarick.
To avert catastrophe, the council rules to relocate the young dragons to a “better location” up river, and residents are recruited to escort the valuable yet fearsome creatures on the arduous journey. Among them are Thymara, a young Rain Wilds girl outcast because of her deformities; Alise Kincarron Finbok, a wealthy and deeply unsatisfied Bingtown Trader’s wife who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know of dragons; Sedric Meldar, Hest Finbok’s secretary and a friend of Alise’s since childhood; and Leftrin, grizzled captain of the river barge Tarman.
Witnessed from the viewpoints of these individuals as well as the blue dragon queen Sintara, “Dragon Keeper” tells the story of a disparate band of humans and dragons as they make their way along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River in search of their new home—the ancient, long-lost city of Kelsingra...
CLASSIFICATION: “Dragon Keeper” is epic fantasy driven by comprehensive world-building and realistic characters. Recommended for fans of Kate Elliott, Jacqueline Carey, J.V. Jones, Lois McMaster Bujold, and of course, Robin Hobb...
FORMAT/INFO: “Dragon Keeper” is 496 pages long divided over seventeen titled chapters. Also includes a Cast of Characters and numerous one-page interludes that appear between each chapter in the form of messages between bird keepers. Narration is in the third person via Sintara, Thymara, Alise, Leftrin, and Sedric. “Dragon Keeper” is part one of The Rain Wilds Chronicles which continues the story from the end of the Liveship Traders Trilogy, but is a standalone tale. Since The Rain Wilds Chronicles was written as a single book, but then split into two volumes, “Dragon Keeper” ends abruptly. Volume two, “Dragon Haven”, is scheduled for publication in the UK/US in March/May 2010.
January 26, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “Dragon Keeper” via EOS Books. The UK edition (see below) was published on June 25, 2009 via HarperVoyager. US ARC provided by the publisher.
ANALYSIS: Robin Hobb is one of my favorite authors, but of all her books, the Liveship Traders Trilogy is my least favorite, so I had mixed feelings about reading her newest effort, “Dragon Keeper”, which continues from the end of that trilogy. Once I started the book though, all of my fond memories—Liveships, Bingtown, Rain Wild Traders, wizardwood, serpents, Paragon, Captain Kennit, the mysterious Amber, etc—of that trilogy came flooding back, and it felt like returning home even though “Dragon Keeper” features new characters and a standalone story. I was also reminded once again of why I love reading Robin Hobb’s novels in the first place.For starters, I love the characters. Whether primary or secondary, Robin Hobb’s characters are three-dimensional creations with fully developed histories, thoughts, feelings, personalities, relationships, and motives, and the cast of “Dragon Keeper” is no exception. Sintara, Thymara, Alise, Leftrin, Sedric, Tats, Hest, Greft, Rapskal, Mercor . . . each and every one of the humans and dragons that appear in the book are given life, depth, and a sense of realism, which in turn makes it very easy for the reader to know and care about the characters in “Dragon Keeper”. On the flipside, while the main protagonists are likable, well-rounded, and possess their own distinctive narrative voices, they are not very creative and tend to suffer from overly familiar issues like predestined futures, being constrained by tradition, prejudice, sexuality, social outcasts, and finding your own path in life. Plus, the characters in “Dragon Keeper” fall short of such favorites as FitzChivalry or The Fool, although they are much easier to like than Nevare from the Soldier Son trilogy...
Another thing I really love about Robin Hobb’s books is the extensive world-building. While I was already familiar with many of the concepts present in “Dragon Keeper” like Bingtown/Rain Wild societies, serpents changing into dragons, the dragons’ ancestral memories and so on, it was a pleasure revisiting these ideas, especially because of the level of detail the author uses to illustrate the world she’s imagined.
Negatively, the plot in “Dragon Keeper” takes a long time to develop, and when it does, it’s disappointingly simple. Basically, nearly the whole novel deals with the new, deformed dragons who are haunted by their memories of what dragons should be, the decision to find their ancient home Kelsingra, and their journey upriver. That’s it. True, each of the five protagonists have their own reasons for journeying to Kelsingra and have various conflicts to deal with along the way, but they are mainly of a more personal nature with little surprises. There is a subplot involving the dying High Duke of Chalced who is seeking dragon parts to make a concoction to restore his health and youth, but that is still developing by the end of the book. Another complaint I had was with the little messenger bird interludes that, apart from advancing the timeline a few years about 100 pages in, served little purpose.
As far as the novel itself in relation to the other trilogies set in the Realm of the Elderlings, “Dragon Keeper” does stand alone and should be accessible to anyone new to Robin Hobb. That said, I believe readers already familiar with the author’s work, particularly those who have read the Liveship Traders Trilogy, will enjoy “Dragon Keeper” more, especially with all of the little references to the previous trilogies and the familiar characters who either appear in the book or are mentioned in passing (Tintaglia, Maulkin, Selden Vestrit, Malta Vestrit, Reyn Khuprus, Paragon, Althea, Brashen Trell, Clef, Icefyre, etc).
CONCLUSION: In the end, it’s difficult to review a book that is only one-half of the story, but because of characters, prose and world-building that is vintage Robin Hobb; a story that continues to build on the epic mythos established in the author’s previous Elderlings trilogies; and the fact that it’s a new Robin Hobb novel that we’re talking about, “Dragon Keeper” doesn’t disappoint and comes highly recommended...
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