Haern the Watcher is, without a doubt, my most popular character. I’ve had fans name their Skyrim characters after him, received numerous pleadings for more books featuring him, and even one man say if he wasn’t gay already, he’d go gay for Haern. I’ve written eight books now featuring him, yet to be honest, I screwed up terribly when I devoted a trilogy just to him.
It’s not that he can’t carry the story. No, the problem is that the focal point for his entire character arc, that of his rebellion against his father’s desire to mold him into the heir of a criminal underworld, gets settled outside the trilogy. Imagine if Luke and Vader, after the end of Empire Strikes Back, never saw each other again. This is my own fault in writing a prequel, of course, and I love my fans for having as much fun with the third book, A Dance of Death, as they did. The first book involved Haern’s emotional revolt against the underworld, the second detailing him fully grown and physically attempting to overthrow a culture of crime (think Batman and Gotham City). The third book took Haern away from his city, to face a copycat that exposed the dangers and hypocrisy of killing to create peace. My hope was the third, in focusing on just who and what Haern represented, and why he fought, might provide a satisfying conclusion.
But for a lot of readers entering into the trilogy prior to reading the Half-Orcs, I got the same response over and over: when does Haern confront his father? Why this side story? Generally I gave them a lame response and pointed at the Half-Orcs, but even then, there was one major problem: I wrote the climactic confrontation before ever going into detail with Haern’s backstory. Perhaps I’m just far too harsh a critic of my own storytelling, but in hindsight I feel I didn’t do it justice. I didn’t do it big enough!
Not anymore. With the Watcher’s Blade Trilogy, this is my chance to push everything to a head. I’ve got three different series taking place in the same world, and I’m tying them all together. This is my Avengers, if you will, my Justice League. Those who have stuck with me through the various storylines are going to be in heaven. The previous trilogy established these characters, and now with this one, I get to play. Haern and his father will get the confrontation I’ve always felt they, as well as my readers, really deserved. One where the whole damn city nearly burns down from the conflict, and there’s a dozen factions in the background trying to manipulate things their way.
Blood of the Underworld is my way of getting things started, and hopefully catching up any readers who are new to my world. In the Half-Orcs, two brothers nearly destroyed the world. In Shadowdance, a son rebelled against his father. With the Watcher’s Blade, I’m hoping for a nice mix of both in terms of scope and consequence, and I’ll gladly welcome anyone else to come along with me and enjoy the ride.
Assuming they don’t mind a few slashed throats along the way, of course!!!
AUTHOR INFORMATION: David Dalglish was born in Missouri and graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a degree in Mathematics. He is the author of the popular Half Orcs series, The Shadowdance trilogy and The Paladins series. He has previously worked as a manager and as a para-professional for Spec-Ed students. He lives with his wife and children in Missouri.
Official David Dalglish Website
Read FBC's Review of “A Dance of Cloaks”
Read FBC's Review of “A Dance of Blades”
Read FBC’s Review of “A Dance of Death”
Read FBC’s Interview with David Dalglish
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
The Reader |
"Kully knows some things you don't learn at school. She
knows the right way to roll a cigarette and pack a suitcase. She knows
that cars are more dangerous than lions. She knows that you can't enter a
country without a passport or visa. And she knows that she and her
parents can't go back to Germany again. But there are also things she
doesn't understand, like why there might be a war in Europe--just that
men named Hitler, Mussolini, and Chamberlain are involved. Little Kully
is far more interested in where their next meal will come from and the
ladies who seem to buzz around her father. Meanwhile she and her parents
roam through Europe from country to country as their visas expire,
money runs out, and hotel bills mount"
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "Child of all Nations" by Irmgard Keun, translated by Michael Hoffman, is a novel I found about at Goodreads after reviewing some recent translations; a check of
the sample and the first few paragraphs were just irresistible for me
and I bought and read the book in an evening.
"I get funny looks from hotel managers, but that’s not because I’m naughty; it’s the fault of my father. Everyone says: that man ought never to have got married.
At first they treat me as if I was a rich lady’s Pekinese. The chambermaids make kissy mouths at me and little mwah mwah noises. The maître d’ slips me postage stamps, which I save, because I might be able to sell them later. The man in the lift lets me press the button to our floor, and he doesn’t interfere, much. And the waiters brandish table-napkins at me in a friendly sort of way. But all that comes to an end when my father has to leave to raise money, and my mother and me are left behind, and the bill still hasn’t been paid. We are left behind as surety, and my father says we’ve got as much riding on us as if we’d been fur coats or diamonds.
Then the waiters in the hotel restaurant no longer brandish their napkins in that jolly way; instead they flick them at our table. Mama says they do it to clear the crumbs away, but it looks to me more like what you do to keep away pesky cats that have their eyes on the roast."
"I get funny looks from hotel managers, but that’s not because I’m naughty; it’s the fault of my father. Everyone says: that man ought never to have got married.
At first they treat me as if I was a rich lady’s Pekinese. The chambermaids make kissy mouths at me and little mwah mwah noises. The maître d’ slips me postage stamps, which I save, because I might be able to sell them later. The man in the lift lets me press the button to our floor, and he doesn’t interfere, much. And the waiters brandish table-napkins at me in a friendly sort of way. But all that comes to an end when my father has to leave to raise money, and my mother and me are left behind, and the bill still hasn’t been paid. We are left behind as surety, and my father says we’ve got as much riding on us as if we’d been fur coats or diamonds.
Then the waiters in the hotel restaurant no longer brandish their napkins in that jolly way; instead they flick them at our table. Mama says they do it to clear the crumbs away, but it looks to me more like what you do to keep away pesky cats that have their eyes on the roast."
And so it goes, and Kully's narration of her European and later even American wanderings interspersed with quotes and letters from her father continue at a fast clip in the same funny, somewhat ironic style which shows the insecurities of the child that has no home and the despair of the exile grown-up artist and writers who paradoxically have only reputation to sustain them so they need to live expensively to maintain their credit, while scrambling to pay their latest bills and staying just ahead of the creditors on scarcer and shorter temporary visas.
No wonder that for most suicide became the only rational option - a little research about the book and the people hinted at during Kully's narration shows that clearly - and death is always accompanying Kully who for the most part makes a game about it. But not always as the following paragraph shows:
"Grown-ups were trying to tell me how it’s possible to go to heaven. I hate it when people have such a low opinion of children that they think they’ll believe anything they’re told. What person in their right mind would stay in the world with worries and strife if he could be in heaven instead, and it not even cost any money?
Nor do I believe that bad people go to hell. Bad people are much too canny to do bad things if they knew they would go to hell as a result."
Like EM Remarque's better known novels of exile, this novel had a visceral appeal to me and that trumped the occasional niggles - the narrative stalls here and there and Kully's voice seems a bit too "wise" on occasion.
Noting
that the book was written in 1938, there clearly could not be any
definite ending to it, but still as we turn the last pages we are left
with the hope that somehow Kully and her family will find their safe
"port", though we rationally know that their travails are only beginning
as Hell is just getting unleashed in its full dimension across most
Europe.
Highly, highly recommended.
Highly, highly recommended.
"David Chance, the
unknowing offspring of a long-forgotten experiment that produced
genetically engineered child geniuses, learns terrible secrets about his
own conception and discovers the horrifying course that human history
is taking."
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I find it hard
to say how many times I have read Brain Child - I would guess that the recent April 2012 reread was my
7th or 8th, but possibly more, though it was the first after
the 4 year intensive sff reading/reviewing here at FBC, so I was curious how the novel will
stand versus more modern sff - and the book still stands tall so to
speak deserving its place on my all time favorite list - place that also covers
the rest of the retro-near-future Australia sequence of George Turner
comprising The Destiny Makers, Drowning Towers, Genetic Soldier and the
posthumous Down There in Darkness.
Brain Child takes place in a sort of retro-future
Australia of the 2040's with climate change, overpopulation and no
Internet, but the power of the narrative, the extraordinarily compelling
style of the author, the superbly drawn characters and the twists and
turns of the story spiced with a few nuggets of eternal wisdom (power
corrupts, who do you trust to watch the watchers etc) make this a
top-top sfnal novel.
The story seems straightforward - in 2002 the government created super-babies of which 3 (quadruplet and related in-between like sort of cousins) groups of two girls, two boys A, B, C survived; group A turned to be good at science and group B at art but outside a few social dysfunctions they were within normal human parameters and were released at 18, while now in the 2040's they are reclusive and working for the government in group A case and just reclusive in group B case.
David Chance, young upcoming journalist raised into an upscale orphanage - under the population laws extra children born without permits become charge of the state and are raised in orphanages and of course the rich people's "indiscretions" get better orphanages - gets summoned by Arthur Hazard (of group A, not to speak of the pun of the surnames plus the letter D in David) who declares that he is his father though not by intention as he was experimenting with sex when 18, a girl wanted to keep hold of him etc...
The story seems straightforward - in 2002 the government created super-babies of which 3 (quadruplet and related in-between like sort of cousins) groups of two girls, two boys A, B, C survived; group A turned to be good at science and group B at art but outside a few social dysfunctions they were within normal human parameters and were released at 18, while now in the 2040's they are reclusive and working for the government in group A case and just reclusive in group B case.
David Chance, young upcoming journalist raised into an upscale orphanage - under the population laws extra children born without permits become charge of the state and are raised in orphanages and of course the rich people's "indiscretions" get better orphanages - gets summoned by Arthur Hazard (of group A, not to speak of the pun of the surnames plus the letter D in David) who declares that he is his father though not by intention as he was experimenting with sex when 18, a girl wanted to keep hold of him etc...
So David did not get
aborted as the girl concealed her pregnancy and he is the only
known child of the groups, while now he has to undertake the mission
he was raised for and subtly influenced from young age when his
existence became known to Arthur and the government (so his education was subtly directed to turn him towards
journalism etc). After a bit of recriminations and feeling upset, David is hooked on the mission and the adventure starts.
The mission? Well, remember group C; they were true posthumans, super-powerful, unknowable and the humans in charge got scared and kept them isolated, but at age 18 one of them, Conrad escaped to unknown hereabouts; returning a few months later he conferred with his group - nobody knows what about since once Conrad returned his group, which until them accepted the humans surveillance and later harsh interrogation up to torture, now isolated itself and accepted only one nurse as point of contact - and then they committed suicide - they just stopped living. However, Conrad tantalizingly mentioned a "legacy" to the nurse and only a few like Armstrong, the scummy politician that originated the project and who kept that nurse on his private payroll and the Hazards knew about that...
The mission? Well, remember group C; they were true posthumans, super-powerful, unknowable and the humans in charge got scared and kept them isolated, but at age 18 one of them, Conrad escaped to unknown hereabouts; returning a few months later he conferred with his group - nobody knows what about since once Conrad returned his group, which until them accepted the humans surveillance and later harsh interrogation up to torture, now isolated itself and accepted only one nurse as point of contact - and then they committed suicide - they just stopped living. However, Conrad tantalizingly mentioned a "legacy" to the nurse and only a few like Armstrong, the scummy politician that originated the project and who kept that nurse on his private payroll and the Hazards knew about that...
Said
legacy may have to do with human immortality or at least control of DNA
and genetics, while David is also nudged to find out what happened to
Conrad in his months away and why group C committed suicide on return. Just awesome and with so many twists and turns and a "jaw breaking" denouement that is still powerful on the 8th reading or so.
All George Turner's books mentioned above in this sequence are superb, still relevant and highly readable though Brain Child is still the one that stayed with me the most.
All George Turner's books mentioned above in this sequence are superb, still relevant and highly readable though Brain Child is still the one that stayed with me the most.
INTRODUCTION: Together with Alan Furst's historical novels about the immediate pre-WW 2 period, David Downing's John Russell novels which start on New Year's day 1939 in Zoo Station and so far cover the period up to New Year's Day 1946 at the end of Lehrter Station are big favorites that combine superb historical fiction - atmosphere, characters - with a dash of intrigue and action. Here is the blurb and more about it below.
"Paris, November 1945.
John Russell is walking home along the banks of the Seine on a cold and
misty evening when Soviet agent Yevgeny Shchepkin falls into step
alongside him. Shchepkin tells Russell that the American intelligence
will soon be asking him to undertake some low grade espionage on their
behalf—assessing the strains between different sections of the German
Communist Party—and that Shchepkin’s own bosses in Moscow want him to
accept the task and pass his findings on to them. He adds that refusal
will put Russell’s livelihood and life at risk, but that once he has
accepted it, he’ll find himself even further entangled in the Soviet
net. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Shchepkin admits that his own survival now depends on his ability to utilize Russell. The only way out for the two of them is to make a deal with the Americans. If they can come up with something the Americans want or need badly enough, then perhaps Russell will be forgiven for handing German atomic secrets over to Moscow and Shchepkin might be offered the sort of sanctuary that also safeguards the lives of his wife and daughter in Moscow. Every decision Russell makes now is a dangerous one."
Shchepkin admits that his own survival now depends on his ability to utilize Russell. The only way out for the two of them is to make a deal with the Americans. If they can come up with something the Americans want or need badly enough, then perhaps Russell will be forgiven for handing German atomic secrets over to Moscow and Shchepkin might be offered the sort of sanctuary that also safeguards the lives of his wife and daughter in Moscow. Every decision Russell makes now is a dangerous one."
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Lehrter Station is the
fifth John Russell novel and it was still captivating and making me want the
next installment asap - and there will be a next and probably as many as the market
will bear since there is so much stuff that's going on and as the hero
puts it:
"Rather to his surprise, he felt more sanguine about his new espionage career than he had when the Soviets first came to call. Wondering why, he realized what had changed. While the Nazis had flourished, he’d had no ethical room for manoeuvre. Helping them, or hindering their enemies, were not things he could live with. Or not with any sense of self-worth. But that black-and-white world had vanished with Hitler, and the new one really was in shifting shades of grey. He could make arguments for and against any of the major players; in helping one or the other he had no sense of supporting good against evil, or evil against good. If, in personal terms, Yevgeny Shchepkin was almost a kindred spirit, and Scott Dallin someone from a distant unfriendly planet, he had no illusions about Stalin’s Russia. And though American help was his only way out of the Soviet embrace, that didn’t mean he wanted a world run by money and big business"
Coming back to the book, first let's note that the blurb is wrong since it's London November 1945, John and his extended family (Effi - his longtime German actress girlfriend who missed escaping with him from Nazi Germany in late 1941 and spent the rest of the war in Berlin acting the part of an old woman and working for the underground that tried saving Jews and regime opponents, Rosa - their 7 year old Jewish "adopted" daughter assuming of course that her father is not to be found in the ruins of Germany, Paul - his 19 year old son and scarred veteran of the Reich's army, Zarah - Effi's sister married with a former mid/high ranking Nazi bureaucrat presumed dead or arrested, Lothar - her 11 year old son) are living in modest circumstances there, though Zarah and Paul are adapting better, while John is sort of blacklisted by the British press and Effi wants to act again (noting that while she did not act in a movie since 1941, she acted for her life in Berlin 1941-1945).
The first Soviet team (ironically the NKVD team, Dynamo) to visit the UK (and mostly trashing the British footballers on home ground) brings Yevgeny Shchepkin and his sinister boss Nemedin to London with an offer John Russell cannot refuse as trading atomic secrets to the Russians for his family above while understandable at a personal level can still lead to the gallows or the electric chair depending which of the two countries he is citizen of gets to try him; though of course Yevgeny wants out too so they form an alliance and John starts playing the double agent role though it is not yet clear for whom yet as the quote above notes...
"Rather to his surprise, he felt more sanguine about his new espionage career than he had when the Soviets first came to call. Wondering why, he realized what had changed. While the Nazis had flourished, he’d had no ethical room for manoeuvre. Helping them, or hindering their enemies, were not things he could live with. Or not with any sense of self-worth. But that black-and-white world had vanished with Hitler, and the new one really was in shifting shades of grey. He could make arguments for and against any of the major players; in helping one or the other he had no sense of supporting good against evil, or evil against good. If, in personal terms, Yevgeny Shchepkin was almost a kindred spirit, and Scott Dallin someone from a distant unfriendly planet, he had no illusions about Stalin’s Russia. And though American help was his only way out of the Soviet embrace, that didn’t mean he wanted a world run by money and big business"
Coming back to the book, first let's note that the blurb is wrong since it's London November 1945, John and his extended family (Effi - his longtime German actress girlfriend who missed escaping with him from Nazi Germany in late 1941 and spent the rest of the war in Berlin acting the part of an old woman and working for the underground that tried saving Jews and regime opponents, Rosa - their 7 year old Jewish "adopted" daughter assuming of course that her father is not to be found in the ruins of Germany, Paul - his 19 year old son and scarred veteran of the Reich's army, Zarah - Effi's sister married with a former mid/high ranking Nazi bureaucrat presumed dead or arrested, Lothar - her 11 year old son) are living in modest circumstances there, though Zarah and Paul are adapting better, while John is sort of blacklisted by the British press and Effi wants to act again (noting that while she did not act in a movie since 1941, she acted for her life in Berlin 1941-1945).
The first Soviet team (ironically the NKVD team, Dynamo) to visit the UK (and mostly trashing the British footballers on home ground) brings Yevgeny Shchepkin and his sinister boss Nemedin to London with an offer John Russell cannot refuse as trading atomic secrets to the Russians for his family above while understandable at a personal level can still lead to the gallows or the electric chair depending which of the two countries he is citizen of gets to try him; though of course Yevgeny wants out too so they form an alliance and John starts playing the double agent role though it is not yet clear for whom yet as the quote above notes...
The offer included John getting back into journalism and Effi back in
movies, both of course back in occupied Berlin and the story moves there
and continues to a very good ending point a few months later for what is the
first of hopefully many postwar novels.
Here is another memorable quote:
"The war had only been over six months, but the British and the French were already irrelevant – there were only two real powers in the city, or in the wider continent. And as luck would have it, he was working for both."
The journalism part starts involving the Jewish underground routes to Palestine and trips to Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia and the kicking of the local Germans back to the Reich, but as usual the book is about atmosphere and the author is just a master at that recreating Berlin late 1945 and its myriad inhabitants, transients and occupants superbly; there are a few loose threads from older novels that are finally tied here (the fate of Miriam Rosenthal and of Rosa's father occupy John and Effy for most of the book), dangerous gangsters, ambiguous allied officers and of course the "jobs" John has to do for his American and Soviet masters...
While the usual danger moments and suspense occur here and there, the novel is mostly historical fiction that lives and breathes through its characters, mainly John and Effi who split the pages between them.
As mentioned the novel ends at a good stopping point and I am really looking forward to the next installment as new storylines are introduced, new loose ends develop and new secondary characters of interest appear in addition to many secondary characters from the previous 4 novels.
Excellent stuff and highly recommended.
And to end, another great quote that now looks to the future and has John and Albert Wiesner (whom John helped escape Nazi Germany through his Soviet connections after his eminent Jewish physician father has been murdered by the Nazis in 1939 and Albert assaulted some Gestapo officials and became a fugitive, while later John helped his mother and sister emigrate to London using this time his UK intelligence connections - note that here it is still late 1945, so the state of Israel is still in the future) discussing the future of the surviving European Jews:
"‘Says who? I didn’t think you were religious.’
Albert grinned. ‘I’m not.’
‘I don’t think you can use the Bible as a title deed,’ Russell insisted.
‘Some people do. Like the Europeans who conquered the Americas – being in touch with the right God made everything okay.’
‘You don’t believe that.’
‘I think that’s what will happen.’
Russell thought about that. ‘Maybe it will,’ he conceded. ‘A friend of mine suggested emptying Cyprus – the Greeks to Greece, the Turks to Turkey – and then giving it to the Jews. Lovely beaches, good soil, not that far from Jerusalem.’
Albert propped his head up on one arm and gave Russell a look. ‘We already have our homeland.’
‘Yes, I expect you do.’
‘And I’ll tell you something else,’ Albert said. ‘I understand why the Poles are expelling the Germans from their new territories. And I understand why they’re making it impossible for the Jews to return. If my friends and I have our way, the Arabs will all be expelled from Palestine. Anything else is just storing up trouble for the future.’
‘That will put a bit of a strain on the world’s sympathy, don’t you think?’
`Once we have the land, we can do without the sympathy.’"
INTRODUCTION: Last Will is a book that came out
of nowhere for me. I saw it recently on Net Galley and being in
the mood for a change of pace I checked a sample and enjoyed it enough
to request a review e-arc, but I never expected the wonderful engaging
experience Last Will provided or the fact that I simply could not put it
down once I idly opened it to see where it will fit in my reading
plans.
"Bernie Raleigh is a failure at nearly everything he touches. Nobody
notices a loser, and after being kidnapped for ransom as a child, Bernie
has spent his adult life trying to avoid being noticed. That's
impossible now that he's inherited his grandfather's enormous fortune.
The inheritance comes complete with a mansion, a lot of obligations, and
a very problematic housekeeper named Meda Amos. Beauty queen, alien
abductee, crypto-Jew, single mother--Meda is all those things, and she
may be the only person who can help Bernie survive his new and very
public life."
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Last Will's blurb is reasonably accurate as it goes but it does not convey the power and richness of the book:
Bernie,
now 30 and moonlighting as an assistant librarian in Kansas city, last
male scion of a very rich family, returns to the childhood mansion when
his grandfather dies and leaves him his billions, but said childhood
mansion is also the place where Bernie was abducted for ransom as a 9
year old - at the local school more precisely - and where the events
that shaped him in the retiring and frightened man of today took place, in addition to the tragic accidental deaths of
his "golden boy" older brother and of his father, deaths which his estranged
mother somehow blames on him - or maybe not blames directly but in the "why my idiot son survived when my husband and my very promising first born did not?" indirect way...
We slowly discover his peculiarities but Bernie's voice is very compelling and he is fundamentally a good man:
"I believed Meda’s mother. I don’t mean that I accept the notion that aliens came to our planet and took Muriel into their space ship. Although I don’t dismiss that idea as impossible, it seems like the least likely of several possibilities. I believe something happened to her, something that made her feel taken away from herself, something that returned her not quite as she had been.
I was nine, nearly ten. They were waiting for me as I walked home from school. I was taking a shortcut through the city park, and someone called my name. Amy waved at me. She was a blonde girl who had worked for my parents as a maid for a while. I had a little crush on her. I remember that she asked me about Robby. When I told her he was sick at home, she looked upset. I followed her gaze to a battered van parked up the hill, where the path widened into a little lane that eventually emptied onto a side street. There was a man leaning against the van watching us. Amy’s boyfriend, Joel."
At the mansion he meets Meda who is an early 20s local exotic looking beauty with facial scars that somehow make her even more compelling - the ugly history of those is recounted later in the novel - from a weird downscale family living in and out trailers, single mother of a toddler, working as assistant housekeeper for her aunt, now the domestic help in charge of Bernie's mansion. Tough minded and knowing that "sleeping with the boss" is unlikely to lead anywhere but to social opprobrium and heartbreak, Meda walks a fine line between humoring the immediately lovestruck Bernie and keeping him at a distance, but as her good looks tend to attract the local tough boys, she is slowly attracted by Bernie's goodness and loneliness; of course a lot lies between them, from his peculiarities, to both their histories to the social gulf...
"He was a nice guy, but I didn’t know what it was about, his being so eager to help me out, and then paying for lunch and a movie. I figured it was about sex, because it’s almost always about sex. During the movie, I thought about how I felt about that. Even though he definitely wasn’t my type, he wasn’t bad. He was too tall and he wasn’t handsome, but he had a nice face, with those sad dog eyes and his crooked nose. I liked that he was so polite, and it didn’t hurt that he had money. Except he was a disaster waiting to happen, being who he was, being my boss, being so sad."
Last Will is one of the most
charming and uplifting book I've read in recent years - last year's
The Lover's Dictionary and 2010's Thera are other similar books I greatly
enjoyed - while staying very grounded in "reality", though of course
both Bernie and Meda who alternate first person
narration - with few interludes from Bernie's aunt who functions
as an outside/back story POV - are quite unlikely themselves, but the
skill of the author is such that both just stood out, took over and made
me not able to put this book down once I opened it. The alternating narrative structure dealing with the same events from Bernie or Meda's
perspective works very well and I think it is a key to the book's
success.
The secondary cast of characters - especially Meda's
family - are also very well drawn and the small town feel is authentic
and not glossed over in any way. A special mention goes to Meda's mom,
Muriel whose "alien abduction" stories are both pathetic but also a way
to cope with her not-so-easy life as Bernie understands the best. Despite their very different situations, Bernie's abduction as a child
and what happened then, all recounted at key parts of the book and
essentially defining him, coupled with his parents and most of his family's low
regard for him, made him closest psychologically with Mureil, while Meda
generally tough minded resembles her more practical grandma and aunt who
kept the family going.
The storyline is not particularly complicated, though there are a few surprises here and there, but that is beside the point as Last Will lives in Bernie and Meda. The back stories are quite important and the way they are inserted leading to the final piece of the puzzle that explains some of Bernie's stranger peculiarities like his inability to sleep with someone else - sleep as in sleep not sex btw, where Bernie is reasonably normal, though of course with some strangeness there too - fit very well the general structure of the book.
Overall Last Will is a top 25 novel of mine that I expect to reread across the years when needing a funny, smart and ultimately very uplifting novel.
Order the Book HERE
Read an Excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Ben Galley was born in 1987 in the British Isles. As a child, exposure to the works of Tolkien and Greek mythology helped fire his imagination and left him with a great desire to spin his own stories. Ben wrote the first book as a DIY project and since then has written several self-help blog posts and also offers consultancy services for the same. He’s currently hard at work with the next book.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: His name is Farden. They whisper that he’s dangerous. Dangerous is only the half of it. Something has gone missing from the libraries of Arfell. Something very old, and something very powerful. Five scholars are now dead, a country is once again on the brink of war, and the magick council is running out of time and options.
Entangled in a web of lies and politics and dragged halfway across icy Emaneska and back, Farden must unearth a secret even he doesn’t want to know, a secret that will shake the foundations of his world.
Dragons, drugs, magick, death, and the deepest of betrayals await. Breathtakingly vast, chillingly dark, brooding and dangerous, The Written will leave you impatiently waiting for the next adventure… Welcome to Emaneska!
FORMAT/INFO: The Written is 420 pages long divided over nineteen chapters and an epilogue that is spread over four parts. Narration is in the third-person, majorly via the protagonist Farden and a few one-off character POVs. This is the first book in the Emaneska series.
December 1, 2010 marked the e-book publication of The Written and it was self published by the author. Cover design is provided by Mikael Westman.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The Written is a debut book that I had no clue about but thanks to Mark Lawrence, I was clued to its existence. Usually it’s said never judge a book by its cover but in this case, I was ready to make an exception. The understated cover really drew my eye with its stark color usage, so in this case I was ready to make an exception. The book blurb didn’t really do justice or give any idea about the plot content. But I was truly curious about what this book would be about.
The book is set in the world of Emaneska, a land of old magic and dragons and in this world are the mages called the Written. The curious thing about them is the presence of certain written words on their back that is supposed to be unique to each individual. One such individual is the protagonist Farden who is said to be one of the strongest crafters of their type of magic as well as one of the scariest people around. He’s also a bit aloof and shares his weird skills with a vampyre who loves history and older legends. His idle life is restructured due to events happening in the city of Arfell wherein a precious book containing several dark legends is stolen and no knows exactly who did it. Fingers are pointed at the dragons with which a current shaky stalemate has been achieved but all is at stake as the book needs to be reclaimed to save the world from ultimate chaos.
The author has a very distinct style of writing about his world, it is a world cloaked in mystery and one whose legends are not exactly the whole truth but there’s no one to confirm or deny it. The world’s layers are slowly peeled and the reader is as confused as the main protagonist as he’s faced with mysteries at every step. The pace of the story is another plus point as things are constantly happening that will propel reader onward, the pace never lets up and this also mirrors the rising tensions in the plot. Going on to the main protagonist, Farden as a character is supposed to be this big, bad and scary mage who has every one spooked. However the reader never gets the feeling entirely based on his actions as through out the story he often stumbles and falters in his path. Perhaps the author’s efforts to present him as a dark, badass warrior mage haven’t quite come out as envisioned by the author. I as a reader felt that he lacked that special factor that is so thoroughly advertized in the blurb and through out character conversations.
One good thing about the book is that there are certain twists that will surprise the reader by genuinely coming out of the left field, the story however doesn’t quite live up as it often takes a predictable route. A good example of this would be how the story unfolds towards the discovery of the villain however what happens in the end is what really makes the reader excited for the next book. The characterization is definitely a plus but the author has work cut out for him in the forthcoming books as there are some characters that are interesting however don’t get much page time and therefore they only enchant the reader for a little time.
I was thoroughly intrigued by the revelations about the world’s magic system and back history however it wasn’t thoroughly explored in this book and this could be done purposefully by the author since this is his debut and the start of the series. Lastly the book also has some good action sequences that show the twisted imagination of the author and the final sequence involving dragons is probably the highlight of the climax besides the end twist. Overall this book does have its shortcomings but it also has some silver points to it that make it stand out and fill me with hope for the sequels, I’ll be looking forward to the Pale Kings, as it promises to one up its predecessor and also provide a through background about the world’ s history. As a reader I can’t ask for more…
I was thoroughly intrigued by the revelations about the world’s magic system and back history however it wasn’t thoroughly explored in this book and this could be done purposefully by the author since this is his debut and the start of the series. Lastly the book also has some good action sequences that show the twisted imagination of the author and the final sequence involving dragons is probably the highlight of the climax besides the end twist. Overall this book does have its shortcomings but it also has some silver points to it that make it stand out and fill me with hope for the sequels, I’ll be looking forward to the Pale Kings, as it promises to one up its predecessor and also provide a through background about the world’ s history. As a reader I can’t ask for more…
CONCLUSION: Ben Galley’s The Written shows a spark that is admirable, the talent might not match the execution entirely but it's there and it will be heartening to see how this young author manages to learn and hone his craft with the upcoming books, I’ll definitely be taking an interest in them to follow through and see how he develops his skills.
INTRODUCTION: Mary Gentle has written a couple of the most memorable sffnal novels I've read, namely the two alt-history novels A Sundial in the Grave: 1610 and Ilario, both deserving a place on my all time "more favorites list". She also has written the somewhat (in)famous Orthe duology of which the final volume Ancient Light courageously follows the logic of the story to its more natural conclusion, rather than the more standard "it'll be alright in the end" that even last year's Embassytown - which follows the same kind of story - presented. So any new novel by her is a priority for me and I've been impatiently waiting for The Black Opera since it was announced a few years ago.
Here is the blurb which is generally accurate though it does not really convey the richness of the book:
"Naples, the 19th Century. In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, holy music has power.
Under the auspices of the Church, the Sung Mass can bring about actual miracles like healing the sick or raising the dead. But some believe that the musicodramma of grand opera can also work magic by channeling powerful emotions into something sublime. Now the Prince's Men, a secret society, hope to stage their own black opera to empower the Devil himself - and change Creation for the better!
Conrad Scalese is a struggling librettist whose latest opera has landed him in trouble with the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Rescued by King Ferdinand II, Conrad finds himself recruited to write and stage a counter opera that will, hopefully, cancel out the apocalyptic threat of the black opera, provided the Prince's Men, and their spies and saboteurs, don't get to him first. And he only has six weeks to do it."
Under the auspices of the Church, the Sung Mass can bring about actual miracles like healing the sick or raising the dead. But some believe that the musicodramma of grand opera can also work magic by channeling powerful emotions into something sublime. Now the Prince's Men, a secret society, hope to stage their own black opera to empower the Devil himself - and change Creation for the better!
Conrad Scalese is a struggling librettist whose latest opera has landed him in trouble with the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Rescued by King Ferdinand II, Conrad finds himself recruited to write and stage a counter opera that will, hopefully, cancel out the apocalyptic threat of the black opera, provided the Prince's Men, and their spies and saboteurs, don't get to him first. And he only has six weeks to do it."
ANALYSIS: While Ilario and 1610 were clearly sfnal, The Black Opera is fantasy-nal as it has souls, returned dead, ghosts and music as magic. It is also lighter and the least "serious" of the three with action that resembles an operatic plot in many instances. I am not that familiar with opera terminology and customs but I enjoyed the parts set into its world - bare-bones plot - bad guys want to use a special opera to bring down society for the greater good of course, good guys have to write/compose/perform a "counteropera" to stop the bad guys, though of course things are subtler in many ways.
The main characters of the book are part of the opera world in a role or another with a few kings, emperors, cardinals and soldiers added in since we are in sff hence we deal in saving the world and they are quite vivid and stand out with different personalities.
The action takes place by and large in the 1820's South Italy - home of the opera after all - though there is some backstory and some detail about the rest of the world. As mentioned above the operatic touch means that the novel balances between over-the-top fun and more serious stuff, but the author's skill is such that it is always a pleasure to read as the dialogue is crisp and funny - with occasional touches of subtlety and depth - and you slowly get to care about the characters and their fate. In traditional operatic mode there are powerful emotional scenes - while Mary Gentle's storyline twists and turns quite a lot.
If there is a weakness beyond the general lightness, "this is a story and it cannot be truly real" and of course assuming that the balancing act mentioned above works for you - I would say it is the choice of Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as the focal point of the movers and shakers of the action which of course makes sense from an opera point of view but not really from a sffnal point of view so to speak.
The main characters of the book are part of the opera world in a role or another with a few kings, emperors, cardinals and soldiers added in since we are in sff hence we deal in saving the world and they are quite vivid and stand out with different personalities.
The action takes place by and large in the 1820's South Italy - home of the opera after all - though there is some backstory and some detail about the rest of the world. As mentioned above the operatic touch means that the novel balances between over-the-top fun and more serious stuff, but the author's skill is such that it is always a pleasure to read as the dialogue is crisp and funny - with occasional touches of subtlety and depth - and you slowly get to care about the characters and their fate. In traditional operatic mode there are powerful emotional scenes - while Mary Gentle's storyline twists and turns quite a lot.
If there is a weakness beyond the general lightness, "this is a story and it cannot be truly real" and of course assuming that the balancing act mentioned above works for you - I would say it is the choice of Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as the focal point of the movers and shakers of the action which of course makes sense from an opera point of view but not really from a sffnal point of view so to speak.
Overall The Black Opera is a highly recommended novel for 2012 but its ultimate lightness will keep it from my top of the year.
Order the book HERE
Watch the book trailer HERE
Read an excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated from Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway. Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry as a freelance accountant for several international law firms. She now operates her own accounting firm in the Washington DC area, where she lives with her husband, two daughters and two terrible dogs. When not working on taxes, she is hard at work as the Director of Publicity at Novel Publicity and penning her next novel.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Forced to witness the cruelty of the Morality Police in his home city of Elih, Turkey, Recai is called upon by the power of the desert to be the vehicle of change. Does he have the strength to answer Allah's call or will his dark past and self doubt stand in his way?
Pulling on his faith in Allah, the friendship of a Jewish father-figure and a deeply held belief that his people deserve better, Recai Osman must become The SandStorm.
In the tradition of books by Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, Shadow on the Wall tackles issues of religion, gender, corruption and the basic human condition. Beautiful and challenging, this is not a book to miss.
FORMAT/INFO: Shadow On The Wall is 197 pages long divided over five parts and an epilogue. Narration is in the third-person via Recai Osman, Hasad Sofaer, Rebekah Sofaer, Darya, Isik, Fahri Kaya, Maryam the nurse. This is the first book of the Sandstorm Chronicles.
April 17, 2012 marked the e-book and paperback publication of Shadow On The Wall by Fighting Monkey Press. Cover art is provided by Damon Za.
ANALYSIS: Shadow On The Wall is a book from an author that I had no clue about. We received a query letter about it and the book’s blurb along with its exotic setting heightened my interest in it. I was curious to see how the author would portray Islam within the confines of the superhero and urban fantasy subgenres. It was also marketed as literary fiction and this was also a plus point in consideration for me choosing it.
Shadow On The Wall is set in the city of Elih in Turkey and is set in modern times, however the exact year is never given. The reader is rather suddenly introduced to the main protagonist Recai Osman who is trapped into the desert outside the city of Elih with no precise recollection of his presence. He however tries his best to survive and is rescued by Hasad Sofaer, an Indian jew who takes him in his home and with the help of his daughter Rebekah tries to nurse him back to health. Things are going on a smooth keel however they soon turn dastardly as members of the RTK political party make an appearance in Hasad’s village and the twist of fate that triggers Recai’s heroic odyssey occurs. The story then skips three years and we are re-introduced to Recai as he comes back to Elih. This time however he’s not the person he was before and he will come across many characters that will lead to the rise of the sandstorm. There's also the other characters that are introduces such as Darya, Isik, Maryam and Fahri who share the page presence and further introduce twists in to the plot through their actions and plans.
Pavarti’s book is quite different than what I thought it would be, for one the author has really tried to focus on the minutiae of individual actions that further cascade down into horrific as well as benevolent events. I believe the author was trying to showcase the actions of fate as well as personal choice thereby giving both black and white sides to characters that we read about. The characterization of the book is the highlight of the book as the author gives us a veritable slice into the lives of myriad characters, both honest and devious, both male and female. While Recai Osman is the main character, the author also dwells into the life of secondary characters to present a wholesome side of life in the city of Elih. There are some strong parallels between Recai and Bruce Wayne however the author makes it very clear that Recai is not the same man as the Dark Knight. He however does share similar prejudices against those who have been corrupted.
Secondly the author’s prose draws in the reader into the story and life that is so suffocating in the city of Elih under various sanctions and constrictions placed by those in power, the reader will feel the pain felt by the characters and therefore their actions and motivations become that much more clear. Lastly the author has to be thoroughly commended for her research and background details in several Islamic sayings and fashion which she has described in the book, from the spellings to the greetings and customs, the author manages to get all her ducks in a row and this adds to the richness of the culture showcased within.
While all the wonderful points of the book do help, there are some facets to it that might affect the read for some readers. Beginning with the pacing which is a bit uneven and causes the read to falter a bit in the start and the middle of the book to a certain extent, while this is very subjective I felt that it did occur enough times to stifle the read. Another point of contention is that the author never really reveals what occurred to the main character that lead to his eventual transformation. I felt that this could have been explored more or at least a bit more exposition would have definitely helped explain the genesis of the story’s central character. This is also offset against the fact that this is the first book and therefore the authorial plan might be to reveal more as each volume progresses. Lastly the book I felt tries a bit too hard to showcase its literary side and this perhaps offsets the thriller aspect of the story.
CONCLUSION: Pavarti Tyler’s book is quite a mix up of styles and genres however one thing is true about it that the author has taken some pains to chalk out the story and flesh out the characters. Shadow On the Wall does it best to raise questions about the role of religion, gender, faith and society which I believe was the author’s purpose. Give it a read if you wish to explore a different culture and a different type of superhero.
Official Author website
Read FBC's Review of Armageddon Bound
Read FBC's Review of Resurrection
Read FBC’s Review of At The Gates
Read FBC interview with Tim Marquitz
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Absence makes the heart grow fonder?
Not when you're the Devil's nephew. An unexpected message gives Frank the answer he's sought for years--Where did God and Lucifer go?--but the knowledge brings its own dilemma as inter-dimensional war looms, threatening to engulf the Earth.
Tasked with the planet's defense, Frank scrounges for a plan and finds a piece of his past better left behind. If the aliens don't kill him, what he learns just might!
FORMAT/INFO: Demon Squad: Echoes Of The Past is 189 pages long divided over twenty-five chapters. Narration is in the first-person, exclusively via the protagonist Frank “Triggaltheron” Trigg. This is the fourth book in the series and it would not make much sense for new readers to jump into the series with this book.
April 24, 2012 marked the e-book and paperback publication of Demon Squad: Echoes Of The Past and it was self published by the author. Cover art is provided by Jessica Lucero.
ANALYSIS: Nearly three years ago I happened to come across a book called “Armageddon Bound” and it proved to be a thrill ride with some ferocious wit that would make most people blush or chuckle depending on their disposition. It was a debut that marked Tim out among the many debutantes of 2009, since then I have kept an eye for further books in the demon squad series to follow the misadventures of Frank Trigg, Lucifer’s nephew and all-round screw-up. He’s a character that endears himself to you as much as hangovers do, but eventually one does manage to gain a soft spot because of his inherent goodness that might be found after some real deep soul searching.
Echoes Of The Past begins a bit after the events of “At The Gates” and past readers will know how it ended, so the reader is immediately clued into what is happening and the most primal of mysteries about this series is given a resounding answer, namely what happened that lead God and Lucifer to have a sit-down and then disappear to unknown places. Readers clamoring for an answer will get the desired explanation and then we get to see Frank as he returns to his home however another nasty surprise awaits him and this time it’s the government. And that’s just the beginnings of his troubles as remnants of the war to topple heaven make their way towards Frank as do alien entities that have previous connections to his lineage. This book basically deals with a lot of revelations and answers for Frank and the reader and finally the author manages to end the book with a cliffhanger that manages to upend the one featured in Resurrection. This book will leave you utterly hanging and clamoring for book V.
To begin with, in regards to the previous three books, Echoes of the Past is a vastly different book. It is more introspective and deals with a lot of revelations, secrets and intricacies of this universe. For a reader invested in these books, this is the payoff however be warned that this is not the penultimate book of the series and so akin to LOST, these answers while satisfying will lead to more questions gleaned from those very answers. Thematically this book is about identity and the quest to find it. Frank has always wondered about his past and recent events occurring the past books have escalated that need. In this book he finally gets an avenue to explore those needs however the answers he finds might not be the ones he thought they would be. If you didn’t emphathize with Frank before, you’ll definitely do so after reading this one.
This book also has more than its share of plot twists, I would go so far as to say that this one is the most twisted of all the Demon Squad books. While previous books did have the twists, none of them were so caustic as these to Frank. After all the recent deaths in the previous two books, the author does continue the trend not in number but in terms of important personage. I was very much surprised by the turns of the plot as the author constantly kept on switching tracks and thereby made the ending that much more unpredictable. Characterization-wise this book is the most accomplished of all however it focuses solely on Frank. With these books Frank has always been the sole narrator, but with the last two books, the focus was widened on the side character cast however with this one the scope is again narrowed down to Frank. This kind of narrative while having its plus points also makes it a problem if the reader doesn’t connect with the story. However with Frank, the reader is always left stunned with the amount and importance of information revealed and this just makes the next book that much more enticing especially when Frank reunites with those that have wronged him.
The only things that went against the enjoyment factor was that the book ends on a massive cliffhanger and combined with the expectation of things to come, that makes the wait for the next book hard. The second point would be that the book also has revelations that gives answers but further creates questions that will leave the readers perplexed. But both these issues are minor ones and wouldn’t affect the overall reading experience.
CONCLUSION: Tim Marquitz takes a new direction with the fourth book that showcases improvement on all authorial fronts. This is another great entry in the Demon Squad series, if you haven’t started it yet then you should definitely do so. This is one of those series that has almost been under most readers radar. Tim Marquitz continues his excellent run and makes this book another standout volume.
Official Author Website
Read FBC’s review of Ex-Heroes
Read FBC’s review of Ex-Patriots
Read an excerpt HERE
Order the book HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Peter Clines was born and brought up in Maine, he moved to California when he grew up and worked in Hollywood for a number of years. He has also been a prop master for several movies and TV shows. He has written reviews for the Cinema Blend website as well as for the Creative Screenwriting magazine. He has previously interviewed many famous film personas such as Frank Darabont, Paul Haggis, Kevin Smith, George Romero, Akiva Goldsman, David Goyer, Mark Herman, Nora Ephron and many others. He currently lives in Southern California.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Six months ago, the world ended.
The Baugh Contagion swept across the planet. Its victims were left twitching, adrenalized cannibals that quickly became know as Junkies. Civilization crumbled as people created isolated safe havens to hide from the infected... and the possibly-infected. Now, as society nears a tipping point, lives will intersect and intertwine across two days in a desolate city.
THE JUNKIE QUATRAIN is four tales of survival, and four types of post-apocalypse story. Because the end of the world means different things for different people. Loss. Opportunity. Hope. Or maybe just another day on the job.
FORMAT/INFO: The Junkie Quatrain is 100 pages divided over four titled stories, and an introduction. Narration is in the third-person for all sections. Readers can read the stories in any order. January 13, 2012 marked the e-book publication of The Junkie Quatrain via Permuted press. Cover art is provided by Zach McCain.
ANALYSIS: There’s an interesting back story to The Junkie Quatrain by Peter Clines. Permuted Press had recently concluded a deal with Audible and invited Peter to write a few short which were to be included as bonus content. Peter agreed and set out to write four loosely connected stories that would resonate with the reader (or listener in this case). The stories can be read in the order they appear or as he suggests in the introduction, to read them after shuffling dice to determine the order of reading. I however didn’t follow Peter’s advice and decide to read them in the order they appear.
The first story that appeared in my reading list was “Codependent” It focuses on Holly, a ragged but tough survivor, who has been travelling to reach a certain direction towards a destination. She has walked nearly hundred and forty miles and is looking for her familial connections, what she doesn’t bank upon is companionship. The story is quite a stark one as Holly is consciously trying to avoid the “Junkies” the term coined for the zombie-like humans that have been afflicted with a certain virus. She is trying to be tough as she searches for what she wants. The trouble is you can’t always depend on the company you keep.
The second story is called “Predator and Prey”, it’s also set around the same time as the first story. The focus of the story is “the outsiders” a group of people among several groups that used to travel from sanctuary to sanctuary, this story focuses on a relative big group that travels and collects certain things for a select group of people. This time it’s a task for the US military that requires them to retrieve a certain object. What they don’t know is that this time around there might be something more than human that crosses their path.
The third story is titled “Confidentiality” and is also set around the same time as the first two stories however in truth is a prequel to all the stories as it gives us the most of the back story about the world, its current junkie problem and its possible origin. The story is centered on Dr. Sam Clemens who gets pulled from his residency in Seattle and is dropped into Los Angeles for an emergency meeting. He doesn’t exactly know what’s it about but the reason for the journey might be something that will reveal what really happened six months ago.
The last story is “Strictly Professional” and it deals with a guy called Quilt, he has been extremely successful as a mercenary and he has accomplished all of it by being strictly professional. The end of the world because of the rise of the junkies has thrown a spanner in his schedule however Quilt has managed to adjust his perspective and yet remain a prized asset for the people who wish to hire his services. He however finds out that some things go beyond professionalism and he has to decide how much of a professional he will be.
These four stories are set in the same geographical region circa Los Angeles and occur nearly in the same time duration (of roughly two days), the sequence however is different and will be apparent to the readers once they read them however the sequential timeline is third, first, second and fourth. I believe this order will be most helpful for the reader to glean most of the actual happening of the overall saga. These stories follow a Rashomon-like pattern of being connected to each to other; the characters are what bring the stories alive. Each story deals with a set of characters that shine in their stories and draw the reader in. The author does his absolute best with characterization and like his debut series; this makes the story that much more special. The reader feels encompassed in a dying world, which is similar to the world introduced in the Ex-Heroes trilogy but this one is a world of normal humans who have to do extra ordinary things to simply survive. The stories are deceptive as they draw the reader in and manage to surprise the reader with their twists. The reader will be clued in to each story as the threads slowly unfold and readers are given hints about each story as well as the world.
The drawbacks about these stories are that while the author does his best to provide a complete picture, the reader is left a bit clueless about the final outcome of the world and the characters introduced in the stories, this bit will cause some dissatisfaction as the reader will want to know more and demand some closure. The threads left hanging are what cause the most amount of discord among the readers. Perhaps the author might also want to explore what happened beyond the eventual outcome of the book. I for one would love to read more about the characters and the world created.
CONCLUSION: Peter Clines absolutely shines in these experimental short stories, thereby showcasing his awesome talent which was prevalent stories in the Ex-Heroes series. Give these stories a read if you happen to love zombie stories or thrillers or LOST. The Junkie Quatrain is a must read if you haven’t read Peter Clines yet and if you have, then you definitely know why you ought to read this one as well.
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