Fantasy Book Critic

A Shore too Far/Manus-Pennings (A+, r, FBC)
Dancing with Eternity/Lowrie (A++, m, FBC)
Manhattan in Reverse/Hamilton (A, r, FBC)
Cold Fire/Elliott (A++, m/r, FBC)
Pattern Scars/Sweet (B, r, Gr, FBC tbd)
The Islanders/Priest (A+/A++, m, FBC)

The Lovers' Dictionary/Levithan (A+, m, Gr)
All Men of Genius/Rosen (A++, r, FBC)
Touch of Power/Snyder (A+, r, Gr, FBC Dec)
The Beginning of Infinity/Deutsch (non-fiction but very associational) (A++, m, Gr)
The Traitor's Daughter/Brandon (A+/A++, m, FBC
Heirs of the Blade/Tchaikovsky (A++, m/r, FBC)

The Time in Between/Duenas (A+, r, FBC)
The Cold Commands/Morgan (A++, m, FBC)
1Q84/Murakami (A++, m, FBC)
Warlock's Shadow/Deas (A+, m, FBC)
Solaris Rising/Whates (ed) (A, m, Gr, FBC soon)
Firebird/McDevitt (B,m, Gr)

Here I will keep a continually updated post with the 2011 releases I've read with rating (see below), link to Goodreads mini-review/first impressions, link to FBC review when available. For each book I will include in the brackets the way I obtained it - publisher/author review copy (r), or by myself (m). In a few cases I first got the book for myself on its release, only to later get a review copy, so I will mark those books as m/r.

I plan to include only sff/related books - related is a broad term for me and anything I find of interest and I would review here if time/energy would allow counts; in general this means that mainstream novels count while non-fiction mostly does not.

The other main exclusion is that only English language books will be included (I read Romanian, French, Italian, Spanish, the last two languages much slower though, so the book in cause better be an A++ potential one), though this one is rarely restrictive since for obvious reasons of availability, the non-English books I read tend to be older.

As for the controversial issue of ratings, I find them useful as a rough guide as long as they are consistent and meaningful, so I will give a short key for my system which is based on two criteria: book type and how much I enjoyed it.

Generally speaking an A rating means a book I enjoyed end to end regardless of its type. An A+ are the special A books that have an extra something *for me* so in an abstract objective way - whatever that means - they are the same as A books but they have this extra zing - many times first books in the series qualify for newness, while second books which may be better technically do not since they do not expand enough the universe of the series.
In a few occasions, I rate A+ books of A++ potential that fell a little short of "blow me away" though they were still excellent.

A++ depends strongly on type since much fewer books are eligible there - essentially the "heft" novels, epics, adventures that are part of big-picture series so in a way I consider them together with the books that came before or the few rare "truly blow me away" standalone non-epics like last year's Aurorarama or Room. Both the A+ and A++ ratings are very personal, while the A rating is more generic.

B's are books with A+ or higher potential that I mostly enjoyed and read end to end but with which I had significant issues.

C's are books with A potential that were so-so to meh, I generally fast-read them after a while to see what happens but without really caring and which I will avoid sequels to if any. In rare cases, C's can be A+/A++ level books that disappointed me a lot, but had enough to keep me in the series for one more book.

D's are books that I did not care for but I fast read just in case I find a "hook entry" which would get me involved. Sometimes they can be truly disappointing A+/A++ level books with nothing that I cared for in them.

F's are the few books I strongly disliked but I still fast-read them only for the "North Korean movies syndrome" - so bad to be amusing on occasion like the examples HERE.

"Not for me" are books that just did not click with me and I have no current plans for a later try; time and energy are limited while the quantity of available books is truly staggering...

Current Ranked List of A++ level -top - 2011 Releases (18)
Current Unranked List of More Highly Recommended 2011 Releases (32)

The A+/A++ ratings and the lists composition/ranks may change as time passes since there are books that impress me a lot on first read but drop fast from my memory, while others stay with me much longer than I expected. These two lists above are partly time-feedback, partly a short-cut... For many books below, the FBC review will come in due course closer to the publication date and the links will be updated then, so I marked such as Goodreads (Gr) for the current link and FBC to be posted (tbp) in the future.

* Thera is technically a 2010 novel, but being published late in the year and being so awesome, it's included here

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

"Another Pan" Another#2 by Daniel & Dina Nayeri (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

Visit Daniel and Dina's Official Website Here
Order Another Pan from Amazon Here

Overview: Wendy and John Darling are attending high school at the prestigious Marlowe School. Marlowe attracts the richest children from New York society. While the outside of Marlowe appears to be just an ordinary school there is something more lurking in the shadows.

An Egyptian exhibit has made its way to Marlowe. Within that exhibit is the mysterious book known as The Book of Gates. It is believed that The Book of Gates contains a magical element that will transport any individual who speaks the magic words to ancient Egypt. Wendy and John come across the mystery that the exhibit contains while cataloging and cleaning up various elements within the exhibit.

Coinciding with the exhibit’s arrival, a charismatic RA appears by the name of Peter. Peter is on a quest to find The Book of Gates and search for the elements that will make him immortal. Unfortunately, another individual is hot on The Book of Gate’s trail and is looking to prevent Peter from gaining immortality.

Peter will use Wendy and John Darling’s knowledge to help him achieve the elements he needs to achieve immortality and live forever. It is up to Wendy and John to not only help Peter but protect Marlowe from the evils of the ancient exhibit.

Format: Another Pan is the second book in the Another series. It is a YA novel filled with magic, mythology and a unique twist on the Peter Pan story.It can be read without reading the first book in the series. Another Pan was published by Candlewick Press.

Analysis: If someone walked up to me and told me that there was a book that involved a loose interpretation of Peter Pan and a mixture of Egyptian mythology and artifacts I would have probably laughed. The two sound so different that they would be a disaster in a story. However, Another Pan proved me wrong.

Another Pan takes a very loose approach to Peter Pan. There is just enough influence for those who like Peter Pan to appreciate the influence it has on the story without it turning into a disaster. There are the Lost Boys, a boy who tries to fit in, Peter looking to never grow old, a man with a ticking watch and a few other Peter Pan influences that really make the story shine. In fact, I found the subtle hints of Peter Pan to be the best element of the novel. One of my favorite parts was when Peter would get upset there would be "happy thoughts" texted to him. Which was a very unique part of the story.

The whole Egyptian artifacts and mythology section of the story really added a unique twist to the story. While the Egyptian artifacts and mythology played a major role, the reader wasn’t left out of the story. Everything was explained which was a major bonus as many stories that use mythology assume the readers have previous knowledge of the mythology.

The characters within Another Pan were all detailed and fleshed out. Everyone had multiple sides to them and the authors really take the time to develop them so that readers really feel as if they know the character. Though I wasn’t a huge fan of John at times. I felt he was immature and frustrating but then again most 13 year old boys can be at times.

Overall, I was amazed at what Another Pan had to offer. There is plenty of action and adventure to keep the reader entertained but there is also a solid, unique plot element that will amaze any readers. The creative take off of Peter Pan was done tastefully and will attract any fans of the classic novel.

2:20 AM |

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Spotlight on February Books

This month we are featuring 36 books. There were considerably more new sff releases but we tried to limit ourselves to a reasonable number and we chose the books most in tune with what's discussed here.

The release dates are US unless marked otherwise, though for books released in the UK and US in the same month but on different dates we use the earliest date without comment and they are first edition unless noted differently. The dates are on a best known basis so they are not guaranteed; same about the edition information. Since information sometimes is out of date even in the Amazon/Book Depository links we use for listings, books get delayed or sometimes even released earlier, we would truly appreciate if you would send us an email about any listing with incorrect information.

Sometimes a cover image is not available at the time of the post and also sometimes covers change unexpectedly so while we generally use the Amazon one when available and cross check with Google Images, the ultimate bookstore cover may be different.

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“Blackveil” by Kristen Britain. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“In Fire Forged” by David Weber. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“The Sea Thy Mistress” by Elizabeth Bear. February 1, 2011.
“Leviathans of Jupiter” by Ben Bova. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“Messiah” by S. Andrew Swann. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“Rising Tides” by Taylor Anderson. Release Date: February 1, 2011.

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"License to Ensorcell" by Katharine Kerr. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“Autumn: The City” by David Moody. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“Trouble and Her Friends” by Melissa Scott. February 1, 2011 (Reprint).
“The Illumination” by Kevin Brockmeier. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“Midnight Riot” by Ben Aaronovitch. Release Date: February 1, 2011.
“King's Justice” by Maurice Broaddus. UK Release Date: February 3, 2011.

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"Tyrant: The King of Bosphorus" by Christian Cameron UK: February 3, 2011.
"Lex Trent: Fighting With Fire" by Alex Bell. UK: February 3, 2011.
“Point” by Thomas Blackthorne. UK Release Date: February 3, 2011.
"Son of Heaven" (Chung Kuo recasting, book 1) by David Wingrove February 3, 2011.
“Journal of a UFO Investigator” by David Halperin. February 3, 2011.
“The Sea Watch” by Adrian Tchaikovsky. UK Release Date: February 4, 2011.

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“The Heroes” by Joe Abercrombie. Release Date: February 7, 2011 (US Debut).
“Deep State” by Walter Jon Williams. Release Date: February 7, 2011.
“The Scar-Crow Men” by Mark Chadbourn. Release Date: February 8, 2011.
“The Floating Islands” by Rachel Neumeier. Release Date: February 8, 2011
"A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. February 8, 2011
“Hyenas” by Joe R. Lansdale. Release Date: February 15, 2011.

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“The Desert of Souls” by Howard Jones. Release Date: February 15, 2011.
“Tourquai” by Tim Davys. Release Date: February 15, 2011.
“Down to the Bone” by Justina Robson. UK: February 17, 2011.
“The Crippled God” by Steven Erikson. UK: February 21, 2011.
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages” by Tom Holt. February 21, 2011.
“Grail” by Elizabeth Bear. Release Date: February 22, 2011.

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“Cloneworld” by Andy Remic. Release Date: February 22, 2011.
“The Remembering” by Steve Cash. Release Date: February 22, 2011.
“The Raven Queen” by Jules Watson. Release Date: February 22, 2011.
“The Griffin’s War” by K.J. Taylor. Release Date: February 22, 2011.
“Gideon’s Sword” by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. February 22, 2011.
“The Iron Thorn” by Caitlin Kittredge. Release Date: February 22, 2011.

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Monday, January 31, 2011

"Encrypted" by Lindsay Buroker (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Read 50% of Encrypted HERE
Order "Encrypted" HERE (Kindle)or Smashwords (HERE)
Official Lindsay Buroker Website

INTRODUCTION: "Encrypted" is another indie novel I found out about through a review inquiry; the author actually let us know about her series debut The Emperor's Edge and while I liked its blurb/excerpt and asked for a review e-copy, I also noticed her other novel Encrypted which tempted me so much that I bought it on the spot and read it soon after.

Of course I plan to read The Emperor's Edge too - it starts great with the same engaging style of Encrypted - so in a month or so, I should have a review of that one here too, but for now I will talk about Encrypted since it resonated with me quite a lot and I want to explain why - the essential reason is because of its very close similarity in spirit and style with one of my all time favorite duologies.

Encyrpted is set some 15-20 years earlier in the same universe of The Emperor's Edge and it is a standalone with mostly different characters, though one of the main characters from the latter one appears here too in a pretty important role, so from that point of view it makes also a great introduction to the universe.

"Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst. But they’re not there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest steamship.

Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail... "

OVERVIEW: Encrypted is set on a secondary world with a mix of paranormal stuff like telepathy and teleportation and early industrial tech.

There is a militaristic empire - Turgonian - that shuns magic and which faces the "magicians" of Nuria, the "mysterious" scientist from the formerly neutral and pastoral islands of Kyatt who helped the Nurians once the empire offered the islanders a deal it would not take no as an answer on, Tikaya Komitopis, a socially awkward woman with a talent for languages who breaks the Turgonian codes leading to their containment and reluctant truce, the mysterious artifacts that prove deadly in the Turgonian capital forcing them to kidnap Tikaya from her peaceful island and try and convince her to help them, the prisoner known as Five on the Turgonian ironclad that speeds towards the frozen wastes were the artifacts had come from, the Nurian saboteurs and later the expedition to find the artifacts and the surprises it encounters.

As you can see from this overview, substituting "paranormal" with advanced biotech and the one-world of this book with a multi-stellar polity and you get something that resembles in spirit the superb pre-Miles dulogy of Lois Bujold that starts with Shards of Honor and more than once when reading Encrypted, I thought the comparison apt in quite a few ways.

While today "Encrypted" fits under secondary world fantasy mainly for its elements of paranormal, for most of sff's history it would have been considered pure-sf since teleportation, telekinesis and telepathy have been staples of sf for a long time, so this is a book that should appeal to both lovers of fantasy and sf.

ANALYSIS: Why read Encrypted?

The first reason is that the novel is written in a very fast, page turning and fun way, alternating action, discovery with great dialogue especially between Tikaya and Rias - as this is the name the prisoner known as "Five" gives her once they get to know each other - but with several other compelling characters, most notably Bocrest, the Turgonian commander of the ship and expedition, the "good" corporal Agarik vs nasty sergeant Ottotark and later the young boy/assassin Sicarius, personal representative of the emperor and a familiar acquaintance of Rias and Bocrest.

As the main lead of the novel, Tikaya carries it well end-to-end and she makes a very compelling heroine - an almost genius philologist in her mid-30's with a talent for languages and patterns, neither beautiful, nor graceful but with a talent for bow shooting and courage and wit to match, while the Turgonian men around her - whether resenting or even hating her for her role in their defeat in the war, being neutral, or being friendly and more - offer a great contrast and variety. Rias slowly develops from the almost savage Five to the charismatic war-hero he used to be and later in the novel he almost takes it over, while Sicarius - who seems to be the main lead in The Emperor's Edge 15-20 years in the future -is excellent in his role of enigmatic boy-assassin here.

So despite starting as the enemies and with their militaristic and patriarchal culture to boot, the author's portrayal of the Turgonians is quite nuanced, while Kitaya's supposed allies the Nurians actually want to kill her - maybe for good reasons from their point of view - and this reversal of roles and expectations was another reason I enjoyed the book.

The expedition, its discoveries, the mysterious runes and deadly artifacts are also very well done combining the familiar with twists that were partly predictable, partly surprising, but that never failed to entertain, while the action builds up with both physical and psychological components until the excellent finale. I would not want to spoil more about the core of the novel since a large part of the enjoyment of the book lies in trying to figure out what's what before the heroes experience it...

Encrypted (A+) is a fun romp, an adventure in the Lois Bujold Barrayar spirit, with a clear ending though ample scope for more and which I highly recommend if you like your sff fast, page turning with action, mysteries and a dash of romance.

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Saturday, January 29, 2011

More Upcoming and Current 2011 Books of Interest, Gene Wolfe, Aliette de Bodard, Ian Whates and Lavie Tidhar (by Liviu Suciu)

Here are four more 2011 books that I have just got and have started reading from. All read very well so far and together with the several previously mentioned titles (Morden 2, Locke, Hodder) will hopefully be finished by me in the next several weeks with reviews coming along.

Three of these four are books two in series that debuted in 2010 and were all reviewed and recommended by me in the 2010 summations posts, while Home Fires seems to be another mind-bending winner after last year's Sorcerer's House, another one reviewed here and appearing in the recommendation post mentioned.

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While unrelated to The Sorcerer's House (FBC Rv) and set in a strange but also familiar future, this one starts very exciting with a conversation between the main hero and a "dead woman", resurrected - for a fee of course, paid monthly as long as Skip wants the resurrected woman to hang around - at his behest as a "gift" for his reunion with his soon-to-return fiancee after relativistic effects made decades pass for him and years for her... If this does not sound mind-bending enough, the blurb for Home Fires which is available right now, offers more goodies:

"In a future North America not quite crumbling but somewhat less than utopian, Skip and Chelle meet and marry in college. But Chelle has to do her term of military service against aliens many light-years away. Twenty-five years later, thanks to the time-dilation effect, she is a still-young but convalescent combat veteran. Skip is a wealthy businessman. And they are still in love. Unfortunately, when they take a Caribbean cruise to celebrate, they run into pirates, politics, aliens, and Murphy’s Law running wild.."

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Another current book and direct sequel to Servant of the Underworld (FBC Rv), I only had a chance to browse the first 5 pages of Harbinger of the Storm since I got it yesterday, but it seemed to still have the magical writing that made me enjoy a lot the author's debut last year. The same setting and first person narrative and picking up when the first one ends. Here is the blurb for more:

"THE AZTEC EMPIRE TEETERS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION.
As the political infighting starts within the imperial court, Acatl, High Priest for the Dead, makes a macabre discovery in the palace: a high-ranking nobleman has been torn to pieces by an invocation - and it looks like the summoner belongs to the court itself..."

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City of Hope and Despair is coming in late March from Angry Robot and from the quick browse I did yesterday seems to be a direct sequel to the excellent City of Dreams and Nightmares (FBc Rv) though set somewhat later since the main hero seems to be now part of the establishment so to speak. Another ultra-promising novel to keep an eye on, while if not done so, go and try the first installment which was also the author's novelistic co-debut in 2010 alongside the superb The Noise Within (FBC Rv) - that's another one whose sequel, The Noise Revealed, will come soon from Solaris this time and which I will try to get and read it asap...

"A SECOND VISIT TO THAIBURLEY: THE CITY OF DREAMS, THE FABLED CITY OF A HUNDRED ROWS.

Dark forces are gathering in the shadowy depths, and the whole city is under threat. The former street-nick, Tom, embarks on a journey to discover the source of the great river Thair, said to be the ultimate power behind all of Thaiburley. Accompanying him are the assassin Dewar and the young Thaistess Mildra. It soon becomes evident that their journey has more significance than any of them realize, as past secrets catch up with them and unknown adversaries hunt them... to the death! "

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Camera Obscura which is coming from Angry Robot in late April is set in the same wonderfully realized alt-Victorian world with "Les Lezards", automatons and a mix of historical personalities and famous period characters from Jules Verne to Professor Moriarty belonging to the cast, where The Bookman (FBC Rv) made a splashing debut last year. This one seems not to be a direct sequel though since from my quick browse the characters seem to be different; on the other hand it starts very, very intriguingly too, while the blurb speaks for itself with the allusions to other famous period stuff...

"CAN'T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL. The mysterious and glamorous Lady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city - and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself."

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

More 2011 Notable Upcoming Novels: The Samuil Petrovitch trilogy by Simon Morden (by Liviu Suciu)

I have vaguely heard of Simon Morden, mostly through his - informative, polite and avoiding the self-important smugness of others there - comments on Torque Control and possibly other related sites, so I was partly intrigued when his Samuil Petrovitch trilogy - Equations of Life, Theories of Flight (check the blurb at your peril since it is quite spoiler-ish for Equations of Life), Degrees of Freedom (for this one I am staying away from the blurb until I finish Theories of Flight) was announced from Orbit to be published in consecutive month releases, March-June 2011.

To be honest, the blurb below sounded a bit like a try at reviving the dated and almost dead cyberpunk of the 90's, so it was only of middling interest, but I really liked the way Mr. Morden expressed himself in those comments and Equations of Life became a higher priority for me than it otherwise would have been.

So when Orbit released an advanced copy of Equations of Life, I got it and I really got hooked on opening it, so I stayed way too late to finish it, while Theories of Flight from which I read some 50 pages so far, is my next read, the first thing when I get some decent chunk of continuous reading time. I will have full reviews in due time, close to the publishing dates, while for now only some thoughts, so you know to keep an eye on this series since the first volume was superb and the second starts as good as the first.

"Samuil Petrovitch is a survivor.
He survived the nuclear fallout in St. Petersburg and hid in the London Metrozone - the last city in England. He's lived this long because he's a man of rules and logic.
For example, getting involved = a bad idea.
But when he stumbles into a kidnapping in progress, he acts without even thinking. Before he can stop himself, he's saved the daughter of the most dangerous man in London.
And clearly saving the girl = getting involved.
Now, the equation of Petrovitch's life is looking increasingly complex.
Russian mobsters + Yakuza + something called the New Machine Jihad = one dead Petrovitch.
But Petrovitch has a plan - he always has a plan - he's just not sure it's a good one."

On the surface the combination of standard cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic stuff seems both done to death and already dated, but this book just grabs from the first page and never lets go and this is due to the style of the author and to the superb characters he creates:

Petrovitch first and foremost (young almost-genius physicist, radiation scarred and with a weak heart that may kill him at any sustained effort), but the whole cast with Inspector Chain (the detective that investigates the attempted kidnapping and related stuff), Sonja (the girl in the blurb), Madeleine (a big and strong young nun/bodyguard, member of a military Catholic order that has license to go armed and protect priests and churches from attacks), Sorenson (a dodgy American businessman and technologist), the very wealthy businessman/gangster/(read the book to find out what more) Oshicora (an ultra-traditionalist Japanese who tries to recreate the now sunken under the waves Japan at least virtually, Sonja is his daughter with his English wife who is presumed dead in the disaster that overtook Japan), his various minions (all Japanese survivors too), rival gangster Marchenko (a Stalin worshiper and a gangster boss far-second to Oshicora in influence, who orders the kidnapping, provides lots of comic relief) and his minions, Epiphany (Pif) Ekanobi, Petrovich's fellow (true) genius scientist on the verge of proving a GUT and many more (assorted gangs, cafe owners, the priest protected by Madeleine...)

Set in the 2020's in a future alt-hist diverging from ours in 2002 or so with Armageddon coming around that time - more about it is in the stories available free online HERE and which seem to be more-or-less in tune with the novels - in the London Metrozone which is essentially the main governable part of England at the time, the book reads in many ways like a combination of JC Grimwood superb cyberpunk alt-histories (RedRobe, Remix) with a dash of PF Hamilton Mandel series - this one less in setting or tech, but more in general "feel".

Fast, furious, well written and with great, great characters and as good as gets in the subgenre...

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"The Heroes" by Joe Abercrombie (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Order "The Heroes" HERE
Official Joe Abercrombie Website
Read FBC Review of "The Blade Itself" HERE
Read FBC Review of "Before They Are Hanged" HERE
Read FBC Review of "Best Served Cold" HERE

INTRODUCTION: Bursting upon the epic fantasy scene with his superb First Law trilogy, Joe Abercrombie became the "perfect" representative of the "new gritty" epic fantasy for me and his books have not disappointed so far. Best Served Cold was a top 5 sff of mine in 2009 so The Heroes should have been one of those "beg for an advance review copy" books that I use every spare minute to read when I get them..

Well, there was a hitch, namely the fact that the blurb made it clear the novel is about a battle and while books like that have a storied tradition - I have recently read one such, fittingly called The Battle by Patrick Rambaud and part of a trilogy to boot, that has won one of the ultimate literary prizes in the world, the Goncourt prize in France in 1997 - they do not really excite me that much since they are limited in scope. A battle is a battle is a battle...

On finishing The Heroes, I found myself conflicted - the book is very well written, maybe the best technically of the author so far and with all the stuff I came to expect from Mr. Abercrombie; it even transcends somewhat its limited setting but I still wish it would have been about more as he clearly has shown he can do it in his First Law trilogy and in the superb Best Served Cold. I came from The Heroes feeling I read a side episode in a saga - a long one at over 500 pages - but something that will later be regarded as a minor part of it.

The following will contain spoilers for the First Law trilogy and for Best Served Cold so be warned!

OVERVIEW: Technically a standalone, The Heroes takes place some four years after the end of Best Served Cold and eight years after the First Law trilogy and features many characters from there, though there are several new ones too. I believe that while you can read this one independently, the experience is considerably enhanced if you have read First Law before since a lot of undertones, motivations and general background come from there. The Best Served Cold references are less important except in Bremer van Gorst's case, but that backstory is fully told in due course.

The general outline in a nutshell is that after Black Dow took over the throne of the North at the end of The Last Argument of Kings, the Union objected since it had a deal with Logen Ninefingers and the intervening years saw low-level conflict between the Union troops and their "loyalists" allies led by the Dogman and the Northern clans under Black Dow and his carls.

But now the Union feels the drain in money and resources, the Gurkish are stirring, Styria did not go the way the Union wanted, so the orders came to finish the independent Northmen at all costs, hence a major battle is in the offing. Of course Black Dow has his allies too, while recently returned Caul Shivers is even more savage than usual as his right hand man and "enforcer"...

In the background, young "Prince" Calder, "renowned" as a coward and treacherous plotter and who had escaped execution so far only because his father-in-law is a powerful clan leader and to a lesser extent because his older brother accepted Dow's rule and settled as one of his major carls, wants to survive and just maybe claim want he regards as his heritage, Bremer van Gorst wants redemption for the happenings four years ago at a Styrian party and Finree dan Brock (nee Kroy, the daughter of the Union Army's commanding officer) wants to advance the fortune of her husband who is maybe the nicest character of the author, though of course he is marked as a famous traitor's son. Old warrior Craw and comic-relief corporal Tunny add a grunt's eye view of the events.

The major leaders, Black Dow, Caul Shivers and Bayaz dominate the pages in which they appear, but overall I would say that Calder, Bremer and Finree are the main "heroes" of the novel and they are all done superbly. We even get the famous internal monologues of the author from Bremer's perspective and those are one of the major highlights of the book.

ANALYSIS: "The Heroes" showcases everything I liked in the author's first four books and while there is a certain predictability to some of the things that happen, there is enough new to keep one happy. The heroes are definitely not that heroic, the prophecies may not quite happen as foretold, everyone gets their say and action and of course there is grit; true grit here as in mud, blood and sweat...

The novel transitions seamlessly between the various pov's and locations while the timeline is roughly chronological with the necessary backstory inserted at the right moments.

From an action point of view, The Heroes has the expected vitality and the battle scenes that constitute the core of the novel are vivid, though the individual combat scenes, including one for the ages that probably best represents the author's take on the fantasy tropes he partly reinforces, partly subverts, were more memorable for me.

The intrigue - especially in Finree's machinations on behalf of her husband and in Calder's attempts to improve his status - was also on par with the author's best and the expected quips kept coming, with Bremmer's monologues maybe not quite as entertaining as Glotka's but close...

The Heroes flows well and despite its heft is a novel one finishes fast since the pages turn by themselves, so from all "check the boxes in reviewing" points of view, an outstanding novel which gets my A++ highest rating; but still, its intrinsic limitation in content left me wishing for a wider scope novel and feeling that in the grand scheme of the First Law universe this one will be just a minor side novel...

12:01 AM |

Posted by Liviu |

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