Saturday, February 20, 2010
"The Night Fairy" by Laura Amy Schlitz Illust. by Angela Barrett (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)
Author/Illustrator Information: Laura Amy Schlitz is the author of the 2008 Newbery Medal winning book, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, illustrated by Robert Byrd. She is also the author of various titles including: A Drawned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama, and The Bearskinner, which is a retelling of a Grimm fairy tale.
Angela Barrett, studied at the Royal College of Art in England. She is one of Britain's most well known illustrators. Her illustrations can be found in over 24 books for children. Some of the titles where her art can be found are: Beauty and the Beast, The Emperor's New Clothes, Through the Tempests Dark and Wild: A Story of Mary Shelley, Creator of Frankenstein, and Rocking Horse Land and Other Tales of Dolls and Toys.
Overview: Night fairies are fairies that are most alive and vibrant at night, they are acorn size. Flory is a young night fairy who was born just before midnight. She was born with the prettiest wings. As she is learning to become accustomed to the world a bat mistakenly thinks she is a bug and tries to eat her. Although this bat was unsuccessful, Flory must now learn to live life and survive without her wings.
Without wings, the world is very dangerous. Animals and objects that weren't normally a threat now become a threat to Flory. Flory learns that to survive she must do whatever it takes. She selfishly talks a small squirrel into helping her out with various daily chores. Until one day, Flory runs into a situation that'll change Flory's outlook on the world and her attitude.
Format: The Night Fairy is an illustrated children's/middle reader book. It stands at 121 pages, with water colored illustrations. It is being published by Candlewick, and will be available Feburary 23, 2010.
Anaylsis: Children are fascinated by little things. Be it small creatures, or little humans. Add fairies to that mix of little things and you have a book that almost any child will fall in love with. The Night Fairy brings to life a small backyard world that is filled with adventure and excitement for little night fairy, Flory.
The Night Fairy grabs readers attention with the cover. The beautifully drawn pictures that go beyond the cover really help supplement the story. The cover has such a mix of beautiful colors and really give the reader an idea of what size little Flory is. Although the story is wonderful, I truly believe the pictures make this book that much more special.
Laura Amy Schlitz does a wonderful job in bringing to the readers mind a tiny little world that is made up of every day objects. The story takes place in a human's backyard. Anything and everything is described perfectly to draw out the imagery of this world. As an adult I didn't have a problem imagining the world, or problems with the size of the fairy. For children this will be delightful, and really help them engage with the story.
The storyline also includes a bit of humor that I believe really allows adults to enjoy the story just as much as the children who enjoy the story because of the fairy/little world aspect.
Schiltz takes her little fairy, Flory beyond the pretty puffed up fairies that everyone seems to think of right away. Instead Flory as a character is strong, both mentally and physically, and quick witted. However, Flory has faults. She's very selfish and really only out for herself. It was nice to see the character grow over the short period that readers were introduced to her, and it was amazing to see such detailed character in such a small book.
The Night Fairy is really a story that can easily be read aloud to children. The addition of the pictures really makes this a story that can be shared by parents and children. There aren't many story that are made just for reading out loud, and this is one that can be done as such.
There are two incidents that occurred within the book that I wanted to discuss. The character Flory, is a tiny bit aggressive. It wasn't a hindrance to the story, but Flory does appear to want to stab things with her dagger a little too quickly. At one point in the book it was mentioned she would like to stab something in the heart. Going along with this thought there was also a small section describing a praying mantis, and it describes it biting little Flory's neck and eating her body and head. These two areas of the book make me think that it won't be for every child, however if the story is read aloud (which I recommend) then these parts can easily be skipped over without it ruining the story.
Overall, the combination of a delightful story and such intricate pictures really brought this story and Flory's world to life. The Night Fairy may appear small in both size of the book and number of pages, but it contains a wonderful story that both children and adults will enjoy.
Angela Barrett, studied at the Royal College of Art in England. She is one of Britain's most well known illustrators. Her illustrations can be found in over 24 books for children. Some of the titles where her art can be found are: Beauty and the Beast, The Emperor's New Clothes, Through the Tempests Dark and Wild: A Story of Mary Shelley, Creator of Frankenstein, and Rocking Horse Land and Other Tales of Dolls and Toys.
Overview: Night fairies are fairies that are most alive and vibrant at night, they are acorn size. Flory is a young night fairy who was born just before midnight. She was born with the prettiest wings. As she is learning to become accustomed to the world a bat mistakenly thinks she is a bug and tries to eat her. Although this bat was unsuccessful, Flory must now learn to live life and survive without her wings.
Without wings, the world is very dangerous. Animals and objects that weren't normally a threat now become a threat to Flory. Flory learns that to survive she must do whatever it takes. She selfishly talks a small squirrel into helping her out with various daily chores. Until one day, Flory runs into a situation that'll change Flory's outlook on the world and her attitude.
Format: The Night Fairy is an illustrated children's/middle reader book. It stands at 121 pages, with water colored illustrations. It is being published by Candlewick, and will be available Feburary 23, 2010.
Anaylsis: Children are fascinated by little things. Be it small creatures, or little humans. Add fairies to that mix of little things and you have a book that almost any child will fall in love with. The Night Fairy brings to life a small backyard world that is filled with adventure and excitement for little night fairy, Flory.
The Night Fairy grabs readers attention with the cover. The beautifully drawn pictures that go beyond the cover really help supplement the story. The cover has such a mix of beautiful colors and really give the reader an idea of what size little Flory is. Although the story is wonderful, I truly believe the pictures make this book that much more special.
Laura Amy Schlitz does a wonderful job in bringing to the readers mind a tiny little world that is made up of every day objects. The story takes place in a human's backyard. Anything and everything is described perfectly to draw out the imagery of this world. As an adult I didn't have a problem imagining the world, or problems with the size of the fairy. For children this will be delightful, and really help them engage with the story.
The storyline also includes a bit of humor that I believe really allows adults to enjoy the story just as much as the children who enjoy the story because of the fairy/little world aspect.
Schiltz takes her little fairy, Flory beyond the pretty puffed up fairies that everyone seems to think of right away. Instead Flory as a character is strong, both mentally and physically, and quick witted. However, Flory has faults. She's very selfish and really only out for herself. It was nice to see the character grow over the short period that readers were introduced to her, and it was amazing to see such detailed character in such a small book.
The Night Fairy is really a story that can easily be read aloud to children. The addition of the pictures really makes this a story that can be shared by parents and children. There aren't many story that are made just for reading out loud, and this is one that can be done as such.
There are two incidents that occurred within the book that I wanted to discuss. The character Flory, is a tiny bit aggressive. It wasn't a hindrance to the story, but Flory does appear to want to stab things with her dagger a little too quickly. At one point in the book it was mentioned she would like to stab something in the heart. Going along with this thought there was also a small section describing a praying mantis, and it describes it biting little Flory's neck and eating her body and head. These two areas of the book make me think that it won't be for every child, however if the story is read aloud (which I recommend) then these parts can easily be skipped over without it ruining the story.
Overall, the combination of a delightful story and such intricate pictures really brought this story and Flory's world to life. The Night Fairy may appear small in both size of the book and number of pages, but it contains a wonderful story that both children and adults will enjoy.
12:01 AM | 
Posted by
Cindy |
Friday, February 19, 2010
"Salute the Dark" by Adrian Tchaikovsky with bonus first peek at its US cover by artist Jon Sullivan (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)
Official Shadows of the Apt Website
Order "Salute the Dark" HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of “Empire in Black & Gold”
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of “Dragonfly Falling”
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of “Blood of the Mantis”
Read Fantasy Book Critic's Interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky
INTRODUCTION: As I mentioned in my Anticipated 2010 Books post, the Shadows of the Apt series has become one of the most complex fantasy series I am currently reading in terms of the number of characters, geographical spread, technological acumen and magical powers. A series that features chemical WMD's at one end and magical WMD's at the other, with anything from small planes and big airships, paratrooper assaults and aerial dogfights, repeating crossbows and armored vehicles to the personal gun-like sting ability of the Wasp Kinden, duels and gladiatorial combats that are as good as anything we see in historical fiction and the mind bending magic of the Moth and Mosquito Kinden is bound to be complex, and the wonder of it is how the pieces fit together in a smooth whole.
I had extremely high expectations for Salute the Dark and not only they were fulfilled and more, but the manner in which that happened by essentially concluding the main threads started in Empire in Black and Gold, so that these four books read like a finished series, surprised me and raised my expectations even more for the next book The Scarab Path which vaulted to become one of my three top anticipated books of the summer.
For a more detailed overview of the series universe, our reviews of earlier books provide synopsis, while the author' site has lots and lots of goodies, including maps, drawings of various Kinden, essays on them and the history of the world, character lists and to top it all lots of free short fiction set in the Apt universe.
As a remainder, the Apt series will start being published in the US next month by Pyr (Amazon has it listed already as in stock despite its March 23 official date) with the first three books coming in successive months, while Salute the Dark is tentatively scheduled for the fall 2010. Lou Anders has kindly provided us with an exclusive first peek at the US cover of Salute the Dark and I include it below for your viewing pleasure. The illustrator of the cover is Jon Sullivan.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "Salute the Dark" stands at about 480 pages and it follows a lot of POV's in different locations, including Stenwold in the Collegium and the Commonweal, the Ant Kinden main characters (Balkus, Parops) at Sarn, Salma and his "ragtag army", Thalric, Che, Achaeos, Nero, Taki, Totho, Drephos, Seda and of course Tisamon, Tynissa and Felise. Pretty much everyone important and surviving from the previous volumes appears, but do not get too attached to anybody since this book's content reflects the title and is brutal and dark. The novel is an epic fantasy tale of war, intrigue, technology and magic.
ANALYSIS: I looked at "Salute the Dark" from two points of view. The obvious one is how does it relate with the rest of the series in regards to storyline, world-building and character development. But then we have to see how does it fare from a stylistic point of view considering the huge cast, multiple threads and the need for smooth narrative shifts.
In a highly anticipated and engrossing novel like this, on my first read I *need* to know what happens, so I immerse myself in the story and its world and unless "narrative walls" appear that slow my enjoyment, I rarely consider the second point above consciously. However on reread(s), all the subtler aspects of the book start registering and "Salute the Dark" impressed me to no end there, since all the little hesitations from "Empire in Black Gold" and to a lesser extent "Dragonfly Falling" disappeared and Mr. Tchaikovsky showed he mastered the art of managing an epic almost to perfection.
Characters and threads get the needed amount of story and no more, so while sometimes I wished there was more of this or that, on the whole the book reads "lean and content-full" despite its length. It is true that Blood of the Mantis showed this smooth transition between POV's too, but that was a much shorter book with three definite and separate threads, while here quite a few stories intertwine and separate or converge.
On the "series" front, Salute the Dark is just awesome because it ties up most previous threads and it expands its universe in several ways, while many characters have their most powerful moments of the series by far. Geographically the expansion is somewhat less than in Blood of the Mantis and more of a rounding of the known universe, but technologically and magic-wise we get a serious escalation as mentioned in the introduction.
The novel's title is apt - so to speak - since "Salute the Dark" is brutal with the characters who are treated mercilessly as befits persons caught in total war, while the atmosphere is tensioned and menacing almost end to end, keeping me to the edge until the final denouements. No more "miraculous by authorial sleight of hand" escapes here, the logic of combat and the weight of numbers show and even the most skilled fighters can only overwhelm so many enemies. Avoiding spoilers and assuming you have read the first three books, go and check my interview with the author and find a lot of hints about the fates of various heroes.
The following excerpt is almost perfect for the book's tone:
"The machines of war are turned on your own people. Your friends are loyal to you, and they shall die for it, or be scarred through, and never to recover what they once were. Blood is born of blood, welling up between the trees, beneath the gold lightning. Ancient evils brought to light, the dead tradition of the life-drinkers remade, and armies marching under a standard of black and gold and running red. A pillaging of the past for power, so that even the worst excesses of the old times are dug up. The worms of the earth! I see the worms of the earth feasting on all our corpses. Autumn leaves, Stenwold Maker. So many that you shall not see again. They fall and fall, the leaves of autumn, red and green and black and gold.’"
I would not want to spoil some of the most powerful moments of the book but there are so many including personal combat, cavalry charges, mystic foretelling of the future, escape from crucifixions in the nick of time, weapons of mass destruction, land battles, air battles, intrigue and assassinations or tentative of such, but the prize goes to the gladiatorial combats and especially to the climactic one that has all the intensity of the best from Spartacus on...
Salute the Dark fulfills the promise of the Apt series and brings its first part to an excellent conclusion, while starting new threads to be explored next. An A++ based on my three reads of the book so far and vaulting to the top of my 2010 fantasy novels.
Note: For "series completists" books 1-4 can be said to form sort of a complete series so go read them.
Jacob Asher Michael is the author of Buddha's Thunderbolt (Read FBC's review here). Fantasy Book Critic's reviewer Mihir Wanchoo was able to interview Michael on many topics ranging from who his inspirations for writing are and what inspirded him to write such a unique story as Buddha's Thunderbolt.
Fantasy Book Critic would like to thank Jacob Asher Michael for agreeing to interview with us.
So could you tell us about yourself, your background, how you came on to the path of a writer and your journey towards publication.
I am a kid from suburbs who got into writing music, and ended up having had some success as a lyricist. Then about ten years ago, I read a book called Catastrophe by David Keys about the environmental changes that forced the Huns and Saxons to migrate after the fall of the Roman Empire. From that, I came up with an idea for a graphic novel about a Buddhist monk taken east to Europe with the Huns. I took courses, found other writers, and twenty-seven drafts later, I had a novel.
What were the books you think helped get you hooked on reading and thereby get you started on to this path?
Cat’s Cradle and Kerouac’s On the Road were both favorites of mine, and I may be the only person on earth who thought Moby Dick was a page-turner. All these stories deal with an outsider taking a strange journey with a cast of oddballs. That was what I ended up writing about.
How do you go about writing Buddha’s Thunderbolt, did you have a concrete outline from the beginning to the end or did you have a vague idea which ended up with you finishing this uncredulous tale? More specifically what school of writing is your preference [Outlining, Freewriting] and is there an example of a character developing into something that you never expected?
I always knew how the story would begin and end. The middle was the hard part. I have been a songwriter for years, and if I can get a good first line and a good last line, I can usually finish the song. So initially, I wrote it like a song. Although I never had a formal outline, I did have a sense for where Merlin needed to travel. I had to get him from Britain to India, to China and back to Britain. That required a series of stories. I also followed the Arthurian legends, but threw in some new characters, in part to add more women’s voices. One new character, Thumbs the hunchback, started out having a minor role, but I kept finding reasons to make him reappear. He ended up being Merlin’s doppelganger. While Merlin was a moral man who did unethical things, Thumbs was a con- man with a heroic side.
How would you classify Buddha’s Thunderbolt in terms of genre [I have heard of it being described as Buddhist fiction] What would you say to a new reader to give your book a try?
I took a course from sci-fi writer Gregory Frost, whose courses I highly recommend, and he told me to write first, then figure out the genre. I like to think of BT as a surrealistic historic fiction. I suppose the term “speculative fiction” would work as well. Anyone who likes quirky stories with lots of twists, would like BT.
When you began writing Buddha’s Thunderbolt did you plan it to be a standalone or is there any possibility of a sequel to it?
I originally had no plan for a sequel, but now I am writing one. In this story, King Arthur is not killed at the battle of Mount Cam, but is captured by the Saxons, and eventually travels east to China. I am merging his story with legends from Persian, the Silk Route, and China. I also have a prequel outlined about Atilla the Hun’s African Dwarf, in which Merlin plays a prominent role.
As far as plot settings go, the Arthurian mythos has been used wide spread by many, many authors. What made you think of choosing it for the basis of your plot? What parts have you incorporated in your tale and what parts did you choose not to?
I originally just wanted to write a story about a Buddhist stranded in Roman Europe. I half-jokingly described it as “a Buddhist in King Arthur’s court.” My sister Ann said that if I made the main character Merlin, the book might actually sell. From there, I did some research about the Arthurian tales, and I decided to focus on the bits that had some sort of historical possibility. So the dragons dropped out, but the Saxons stayed in.
What specifically was your intention behind writing this tale and what research did you undertake while writing about it?
I suspect it would take years of therapy for me to figure out what my intention was. But one of my goals was to present historic figures and events in a way that we could relate to today. I spent ten years writing and researching. What I find intriguing about the 4th and 5th Centuries is that the Western World regressed, and people stopped writing. As a result, you can only get scraps of reliable information. This is nice for me as a writer, because it leaves me huge gaps to fill.
The main narrator of your tale is Merthen[Merlin] amidst all the characters of the Arthurian saga, what made you focus on Merlin alone as the primary focus of this tale?
Among the Arthurian characters, Merlin’s origins are most murky. If I wanted to have someone travel to India, Merlin was the one who could do it. In a way my approach was quite like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, with just one character out of place.
Who are the people who can lay claim to being your literary idols and which books are your favorites amongst the many genres that you read in?
Kurt Vonnegut is pretty much the Zeus in my pantheon. I also like Redmond O’Hanlon who documented his travels in Into the Heart of Borneo and In Trouble Again. I like the way he describes exotic cultures in a way that shows they are just folks like us.
What do you do when you are not writing or reading books? What are your other hobbies?
I write songs and perform music with a reggae-samba band called the Flying Mangos. And for my real job, I work as environmental and open space land planner for Chester County, PA. I write guidebooks and plans for local governments, which is actually a good way of keeping up my writing chops.
What led you to the choice to write this book using the third person narrative considering it’s your debut. How difficult/easy was it? What's your idea in the debate between using first or third person narratives in any story?
I originally wrote it in the first person, then the third. My biggest problem was that I had to describe some rather obscure historical stuff. Everybody knows what a knight looks like, but the ritual scars on a Hun’s cheeks take some explaining. These explanations kept bogging down the pacing, so I finally rewrote BT using third person omniscient where the narrator only knows what the main character knows. This worked perfectly. I only recently found out that the Lord of the Rings was written that way.
What books have recently impressed you the most? What are you currently reading? What titles are you most looking forward to?
I am currently reading Musicophila by Oliver Sachs. Next on the list is the Shamena: The Persian Book of Kings written in the 10th century.
Usually stories with an Arthurian-Merlin setting often deal with magic and violence as was the original mythos, your story is a rather clever departure from these aspects, what would say to readers looking for the same over here as well? How do you justify your take on these events?
There is indeed a great deal of violence in most ancient legends and modern popular books. Since I was trying to write Buddhist fiction, I was not keen on glorifying violence. Besides, every story I ever heard from a Vietnam vet was very un-glorious, and they saw the real deal. So I decided to make all my violence clinical and kind of gross. Buddhism is all about transforming unpleasant suffering, so I wanted to make sure the suffering was unpleasant. I got rid of magic because I wanted my Merlin to be different from all the rest. That book has already been written.
This book has also won first prize for Science Fiction and Fantasy at the 2006 Philadelphia Writers Conference. Could you recant the events which lead to this momentous event and its ramifications for your professional career?
I simply mailed in my manuscript and was amazed that I won. I wandered the streets of Philly in a joyous daze, and found myself walking down a completely empty street, until a line of women on motorcycles slowly drove up behind me. Turns out it was the beginning of the gay pride parade. All joking aside, that award significantly helped get my e-mails answered when I contacted agents. I put it in a frame. It was a greatly needed encouragement. I recommend all starting writers hit the conferences.
In closing, any last words for our readers and what we can expect from you next?
I have a few more novels sketched out in my mind. One is about the Miami Indian Chief Little Turtle, and another is about six inch-tall aliens who eat hair and sleep for twenty-three hours a day. The last is a retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph in which Pharaoh has dreams about locomotives and overhead telephone lines.
Fantasy Book Critic would like to thank Jacob Asher Michael for agreeing to interview with us.
So could you tell us about yourself, your background, how you came on to the path of a writer and your journey towards publication.
I am a kid from suburbs who got into writing music, and ended up having had some success as a lyricist. Then about ten years ago, I read a book called Catastrophe by David Keys about the environmental changes that forced the Huns and Saxons to migrate after the fall of the Roman Empire. From that, I came up with an idea for a graphic novel about a Buddhist monk taken east to Europe with the Huns. I took courses, found other writers, and twenty-seven drafts later, I had a novel.
What were the books you think helped get you hooked on reading and thereby get you started on to this path?
Cat’s Cradle and Kerouac’s On the Road were both favorites of mine, and I may be the only person on earth who thought Moby Dick was a page-turner. All these stories deal with an outsider taking a strange journey with a cast of oddballs. That was what I ended up writing about.
How do you go about writing Buddha’s Thunderbolt, did you have a concrete outline from the beginning to the end or did you have a vague idea which ended up with you finishing this uncredulous tale? More specifically what school of writing is your preference [Outlining, Freewriting] and is there an example of a character developing into something that you never expected?
I always knew how the story would begin and end. The middle was the hard part. I have been a songwriter for years, and if I can get a good first line and a good last line, I can usually finish the song. So initially, I wrote it like a song. Although I never had a formal outline, I did have a sense for where Merlin needed to travel. I had to get him from Britain to India, to China and back to Britain. That required a series of stories. I also followed the Arthurian legends, but threw in some new characters, in part to add more women’s voices. One new character, Thumbs the hunchback, started out having a minor role, but I kept finding reasons to make him reappear. He ended up being Merlin’s doppelganger. While Merlin was a moral man who did unethical things, Thumbs was a con- man with a heroic side.
How would you classify Buddha’s Thunderbolt in terms of genre [I have heard of it being described as Buddhist fiction] What would you say to a new reader to give your book a try?
I took a course from sci-fi writer Gregory Frost, whose courses I highly recommend, and he told me to write first, then figure out the genre. I like to think of BT as a surrealistic historic fiction. I suppose the term “speculative fiction” would work as well. Anyone who likes quirky stories with lots of twists, would like BT.
When you began writing Buddha’s Thunderbolt did you plan it to be a standalone or is there any possibility of a sequel to it?
I originally had no plan for a sequel, but now I am writing one. In this story, King Arthur is not killed at the battle of Mount Cam, but is captured by the Saxons, and eventually travels east to China. I am merging his story with legends from Persian, the Silk Route, and China. I also have a prequel outlined about Atilla the Hun’s African Dwarf, in which Merlin plays a prominent role.
As far as plot settings go, the Arthurian mythos has been used wide spread by many, many authors. What made you think of choosing it for the basis of your plot? What parts have you incorporated in your tale and what parts did you choose not to?
I originally just wanted to write a story about a Buddhist stranded in Roman Europe. I half-jokingly described it as “a Buddhist in King Arthur’s court.” My sister Ann said that if I made the main character Merlin, the book might actually sell. From there, I did some research about the Arthurian tales, and I decided to focus on the bits that had some sort of historical possibility. So the dragons dropped out, but the Saxons stayed in.
What specifically was your intention behind writing this tale and what research did you undertake while writing about it?
I suspect it would take years of therapy for me to figure out what my intention was. But one of my goals was to present historic figures and events in a way that we could relate to today. I spent ten years writing and researching. What I find intriguing about the 4th and 5th Centuries is that the Western World regressed, and people stopped writing. As a result, you can only get scraps of reliable information. This is nice for me as a writer, because it leaves me huge gaps to fill.
The main narrator of your tale is Merthen[Merlin] amidst all the characters of the Arthurian saga, what made you focus on Merlin alone as the primary focus of this tale?
Among the Arthurian characters, Merlin’s origins are most murky. If I wanted to have someone travel to India, Merlin was the one who could do it. In a way my approach was quite like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, with just one character out of place.
Who are the people who can lay claim to being your literary idols and which books are your favorites amongst the many genres that you read in?
Kurt Vonnegut is pretty much the Zeus in my pantheon. I also like Redmond O’Hanlon who documented his travels in Into the Heart of Borneo and In Trouble Again. I like the way he describes exotic cultures in a way that shows they are just folks like us.
What do you do when you are not writing or reading books? What are your other hobbies?
I write songs and perform music with a reggae-samba band called the Flying Mangos. And for my real job, I work as environmental and open space land planner for Chester County, PA. I write guidebooks and plans for local governments, which is actually a good way of keeping up my writing chops.
What led you to the choice to write this book using the third person narrative considering it’s your debut. How difficult/easy was it? What's your idea in the debate between using first or third person narratives in any story?
I originally wrote it in the first person, then the third. My biggest problem was that I had to describe some rather obscure historical stuff. Everybody knows what a knight looks like, but the ritual scars on a Hun’s cheeks take some explaining. These explanations kept bogging down the pacing, so I finally rewrote BT using third person omniscient where the narrator only knows what the main character knows. This worked perfectly. I only recently found out that the Lord of the Rings was written that way.
What books have recently impressed you the most? What are you currently reading? What titles are you most looking forward to?
I am currently reading Musicophila by Oliver Sachs. Next on the list is the Shamena: The Persian Book of Kings written in the 10th century.
Usually stories with an Arthurian-Merlin setting often deal with magic and violence as was the original mythos, your story is a rather clever departure from these aspects, what would say to readers looking for the same over here as well? How do you justify your take on these events?
There is indeed a great deal of violence in most ancient legends and modern popular books. Since I was trying to write Buddhist fiction, I was not keen on glorifying violence. Besides, every story I ever heard from a Vietnam vet was very un-glorious, and they saw the real deal. So I decided to make all my violence clinical and kind of gross. Buddhism is all about transforming unpleasant suffering, so I wanted to make sure the suffering was unpleasant. I got rid of magic because I wanted my Merlin to be different from all the rest. That book has already been written.
This book has also won first prize for Science Fiction and Fantasy at the 2006 Philadelphia Writers Conference. Could you recant the events which lead to this momentous event and its ramifications for your professional career?
I simply mailed in my manuscript and was amazed that I won. I wandered the streets of Philly in a joyous daze, and found myself walking down a completely empty street, until a line of women on motorcycles slowly drove up behind me. Turns out it was the beginning of the gay pride parade. All joking aside, that award significantly helped get my e-mails answered when I contacted agents. I put it in a frame. It was a greatly needed encouragement. I recommend all starting writers hit the conferences.
In closing, any last words for our readers and what we can expect from you next?
I have a few more novels sketched out in my mind. One is about the Miami Indian Chief Little Turtle, and another is about six inch-tall aliens who eat hair and sleep for twenty-three hours a day. The last is a retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph in which Pharaoh has dreams about locomotives and overhead telephone lines.
Official Liane Merciel WebsiteOrder “The River Kings’ Road” HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: “The River Kings’ Road” is Liane Merciel’s first novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: When a gruesome massacre wipes out the border village of Willowfield, including a visiting lord and his family, the fragile peace between the rival kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr is immediately threatened.
But the dead lord’s infant heir has survived the carnage—a discovery that entwines the destinies of Brys Tarnell, a mercenary who rescues the helpless and ailing babe; Odosse, the peasant woman whose only weapons are wit, courage, and her fierce maternal love; Sir Kelland, a divinely blessed Knight of the Sun called upon to unmask the architects behind the slaughter and avert war between ancestral enemies; Bitharn, Kelland’s companion on his journey whose feelings for the Knight may ultimately be his undoing; and Leferic, an Oakharne lord’s bitter youngest son whose dark ambitions fuel the most horrific acts of violence.
As one infant’s life hangs in the balance, so too does the fate of thousands—while deep in the forest, a Maimed Witch practices an evil bloodmagic that could doom them all...
CLASSIFICATION: “The River Kings’ Road” is a traditional, medieval European-influenced epic fantasy in the vein of Greg Keyes’ The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone, David Farland, and early J.V. Jones.
FORMAT/INFO: “The River Kings’ Road” is 384 pages long divided over twenty numbered chapters and an Epilogue. Narration is in the third person via Brys Tarnell, Odosse, Bitharn, Leferic, and Albric Urdaring. “The River Kings’ Road” comes to a natural and satisfying stopping point, but is the first volume in a new fantasy series set in the world of Ithelas.
March 9, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “The River Kings’ Road” via Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.
ANALYSIS: One of the things I love best about reading fantasy is the scope and diversity that the genre has to offer—a scope and diversity that is only limited by the imagination of writers. That said, there’s just something comforting about the familiar, whether it’s reading a book by your favorite author, re-reading a favorite novel or series, or reading a book that reminds you of something you read in the past. This is exactly how I felt when reading Liane Merciel’s debut novel, “The River Kings’ Road”...
From top to bottom, “The River Kings’ Road” will be instantly familiar to anyone well-versed in fantasy literature. The setting is classic medieval European, complete with fiefs, kingdoms, knights, sellswords, peasants, bandits, sword/melee/archery competitions, brothels, inns, taverns, etc. The characters are all recognizable types (the practical mercenary, the peasant with dreams far above her station, the lord who believes he would make a better leader for his people, the woman skilled in archery, a knight bound by his duty to his lord) with clear-cut good and evil figures, although the author does inject some ambiguity into Brys, Leferic and Albric. The story is full of familiar tropes and themes including warring kingdoms, fratricide, the undead, honor, guilt, redemption, sacrifice, committing acts of evil in the name of the greater good, and so on. The magic system relies on the blessings of gods—Celestia for the Sun Knights, Kliasta for the Thorns (practitioners of bloodmagic). And the writing, while competent as a whole, lacks a distinctive voice and tends to follow a formulaic pattern right down to the multiple narratives, predictable world-building, and setting up events for the rest of the series.
Yet for all of its familiarity, I really enjoyed reading “The River Kings’ Road”. The plot was fast-moving, entertaining, and acessible while also managing to throw a couple of unexpected curveballs at the reader. The setting is well-realized and hints at a much larger and interesting world. I cared about the characters. And I finished the novel wanting to know what happens next. In short, even though “The River Kings’ Road” fails to bring anything new to the fantasy genre, I liked what I saw from Liane Merciel’s debut, and believe the book is a promising start to what could be a fun and engaging new fantasy series...
AUTHOR INFORMATION: “The River Kings’ Road” is Liane Merciel’s first novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: When a gruesome massacre wipes out the border village of Willowfield, including a visiting lord and his family, the fragile peace between the rival kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr is immediately threatened.
But the dead lord’s infant heir has survived the carnage—a discovery that entwines the destinies of Brys Tarnell, a mercenary who rescues the helpless and ailing babe; Odosse, the peasant woman whose only weapons are wit, courage, and her fierce maternal love; Sir Kelland, a divinely blessed Knight of the Sun called upon to unmask the architects behind the slaughter and avert war between ancestral enemies; Bitharn, Kelland’s companion on his journey whose feelings for the Knight may ultimately be his undoing; and Leferic, an Oakharne lord’s bitter youngest son whose dark ambitions fuel the most horrific acts of violence.
As one infant’s life hangs in the balance, so too does the fate of thousands—while deep in the forest, a Maimed Witch practices an evil bloodmagic that could doom them all...
CLASSIFICATION: “The River Kings’ Road” is a traditional, medieval European-influenced epic fantasy in the vein of Greg Keyes’ The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone, David Farland, and early J.V. Jones.
FORMAT/INFO: “The River Kings’ Road” is 384 pages long divided over twenty numbered chapters and an Epilogue. Narration is in the third person via Brys Tarnell, Odosse, Bitharn, Leferic, and Albric Urdaring. “The River Kings’ Road” comes to a natural and satisfying stopping point, but is the first volume in a new fantasy series set in the world of Ithelas.
March 9, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “The River Kings’ Road” via Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.
ANALYSIS: One of the things I love best about reading fantasy is the scope and diversity that the genre has to offer—a scope and diversity that is only limited by the imagination of writers. That said, there’s just something comforting about the familiar, whether it’s reading a book by your favorite author, re-reading a favorite novel or series, or reading a book that reminds you of something you read in the past. This is exactly how I felt when reading Liane Merciel’s debut novel, “The River Kings’ Road”...
From top to bottom, “The River Kings’ Road” will be instantly familiar to anyone well-versed in fantasy literature. The setting is classic medieval European, complete with fiefs, kingdoms, knights, sellswords, peasants, bandits, sword/melee/archery competitions, brothels, inns, taverns, etc. The characters are all recognizable types (the practical mercenary, the peasant with dreams far above her station, the lord who believes he would make a better leader for his people, the woman skilled in archery, a knight bound by his duty to his lord) with clear-cut good and evil figures, although the author does inject some ambiguity into Brys, Leferic and Albric. The story is full of familiar tropes and themes including warring kingdoms, fratricide, the undead, honor, guilt, redemption, sacrifice, committing acts of evil in the name of the greater good, and so on. The magic system relies on the blessings of gods—Celestia for the Sun Knights, Kliasta for the Thorns (practitioners of bloodmagic). And the writing, while competent as a whole, lacks a distinctive voice and tends to follow a formulaic pattern right down to the multiple narratives, predictable world-building, and setting up events for the rest of the series.
Yet for all of its familiarity, I really enjoyed reading “The River Kings’ Road”. The plot was fast-moving, entertaining, and acessible while also managing to throw a couple of unexpected curveballs at the reader. The setting is well-realized and hints at a much larger and interesting world. I cared about the characters. And I finished the novel wanting to know what happens next. In short, even though “The River Kings’ Road” fails to bring anything new to the fantasy genre, I liked what I saw from Liane Merciel’s debut, and believe the book is a promising start to what could be a fun and engaging new fantasy series...
Official David Louis Edelman Website
Order “Geosynchron” HERE (Read Inside Available)
Read FBC Review of Multireal HERE (contains an overview of Infoquake too)
INTRODUCTION: For a general introduction to the author and the series, including a very detailed setting overview you can check my review of Multireal, so I will focus here on Geosynchron only. I will try to avoid most spoilers for the previous volumes, but I strongly recommend to read them or at least read the author 's detailed synopsis if you are new to the Jump 225 universe, or if it's been a while since you went there.
When I prepared my list of books to look for 2010 and thought about what I expect from each book there, "Geosynchron" got these lines:
"Natch, "Multireal" and the rest of the great characters in this mind blowing near-future sf disguised as far-future sf in a carefully worked out chronology that feels dated after only two-three years, so fast the "real life" is becoming sf-nal, Geosynchron is another must read that I plan to get to in the near future. I have reviewed Multireal and discussed Infoquake in the process too, but as mentioned the social-media part of the Internet has been growing so rapidly in the past two-three years that there is a very "now" vibe for the series and it should be looked more and more as near-future sf."
So despite that I loved Infoquake and Multireal a lot and I strongly recommend them - great world building, characters, action - and considering that their one failing is an essential "uni-dimensionality", where one trait of the contemporary world - in this case the 2000 like cut-throat commercial (mostly tech) competition - is amplified to a high degree and in the case of Multireal "the product" is made into an arbiter of the fate of humanity by the way the Jump 225 universe was built - I was somewhat apprehensive as the words above clearly indicate, but Geosynchron transcended all that and it truly made me exclaim: more, more, more!!.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "Geosynchron" stands at about 500 pages of which the actual novel takes about 450, divided into six named parts, while the rest offer a synopsis of what came before and a lot of cool extra details including a Glossary, a Timeline and more background on places/groups/events that become quite important in this last installment of the series. As in the previous two novels, the narration is third person and follows several POV's, including Natch, Jara and Horvil. Geosynchron is the most distributed of all the three novels in everything - number of important characters, locations of the action or threads.
Geosynchron is best described as epic sf with the ultimate direction/fate of humanity at stake. The novel has a great ending too despite using a plot element I usually dislike - here it's both technically justified and appropriate.
ANALYSIS: Geosynchron is a novel of resolutions; from earlier installments we know about several conflicts - for the control of the Council, for the control of the Natch/Surina corporation and "Multireal" and of course ultimately for the "fate of humanity" or at least the immediate direction of it; pulling up some surprise "aces" from the sleeve, the novel not only manages to ratchet the tension in all of these conflicts, but expand their scope to fully include the other factions - Islanders, Pharisees, Orbital Stations and even some surprising ones - on the way to the final showdowns.
Another big strength of Geosynchron is its geographical spread; we get to experience first hand the Islanders homeland and some Orbital Colonies while Pharisees representative and some other factions become quite important; to top it all we get a "view from space" from the entities implied in the title.
Regarding the world-building and implications of "Multireal" - the product - the author manages to add some twists and turns as well as being completely consistent with what came before.
The character arcs continue in a natural way, with Natch becoming one of the most remarkable recent heroes in sf; in a way you could call the novel "Natch's apotheosis". While I also liked the portrayal of Jara, Horvil, the two opposing council leaders and quite a few others, the one character that sort of disappointed me here was Brone; especially towards the end he became a caricature of the ambitious, embittered but subtle villain of earlier times. It can be argued that the ratcheting of pressure and fast pace of events could lead there naturally, but I felt the author did not establish that and the novel reads like he needed that type of villain for contemporary ideological reasons; Brone feels like a 2008 villain taking society down for his own selfishness, but as the publishing date of the novel is 2010, not to speak of the hope of it being read for years to come, that was a less than optimal choice.
Building on the events of Infoquake and Multireal and indeed closing the important threads left open there and having great endings for the main characters arcs, Geosynchron achieves a rare feat for a trilogy ending volume, namely it takes the series one level higher, beyond mundanity to true sense of wonder sf, so it finally plays on the level of the masters of modern sf like A. Reynolds and PF Hamilton, rather than the smaller - however technically accomplished - field of "smaller ball, mundane, one trick wonder" sf. An A+ and so far the best core-sf novel I've read in 2010.
I hope that for his next project, Mr. Edelman will let his imagination run wild and use his great world building and characterization skills shown in this series to create a true sense of wonder series to remember for ages. Jump 225 ends on that note for sure!
Order “Geosynchron” HERE (Read Inside Available)
Read FBC Review of Multireal HERE (contains an overview of Infoquake too)
INTRODUCTION: For a general introduction to the author and the series, including a very detailed setting overview you can check my review of Multireal, so I will focus here on Geosynchron only. I will try to avoid most spoilers for the previous volumes, but I strongly recommend to read them or at least read the author 's detailed synopsis if you are new to the Jump 225 universe, or if it's been a while since you went there.
When I prepared my list of books to look for 2010 and thought about what I expect from each book there, "Geosynchron" got these lines:
"Natch, "Multireal" and the rest of the great characters in this mind blowing near-future sf disguised as far-future sf in a carefully worked out chronology that feels dated after only two-three years, so fast the "real life" is becoming sf-nal, Geosynchron is another must read that I plan to get to in the near future. I have reviewed Multireal and discussed Infoquake in the process too, but as mentioned the social-media part of the Internet has been growing so rapidly in the past two-three years that there is a very "now" vibe for the series and it should be looked more and more as near-future sf."
So despite that I loved Infoquake and Multireal a lot and I strongly recommend them - great world building, characters, action - and considering that their one failing is an essential "uni-dimensionality", where one trait of the contemporary world - in this case the 2000 like cut-throat commercial (mostly tech) competition - is amplified to a high degree and in the case of Multireal "the product" is made into an arbiter of the fate of humanity by the way the Jump 225 universe was built - I was somewhat apprehensive as the words above clearly indicate, but Geosynchron transcended all that and it truly made me exclaim: more, more, more!!.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "Geosynchron" stands at about 500 pages of which the actual novel takes about 450, divided into six named parts, while the rest offer a synopsis of what came before and a lot of cool extra details including a Glossary, a Timeline and more background on places/groups/events that become quite important in this last installment of the series. As in the previous two novels, the narration is third person and follows several POV's, including Natch, Jara and Horvil. Geosynchron is the most distributed of all the three novels in everything - number of important characters, locations of the action or threads.
Geosynchron is best described as epic sf with the ultimate direction/fate of humanity at stake. The novel has a great ending too despite using a plot element I usually dislike - here it's both technically justified and appropriate.
ANALYSIS: Geosynchron is a novel of resolutions; from earlier installments we know about several conflicts - for the control of the Council, for the control of the Natch/Surina corporation and "Multireal" and of course ultimately for the "fate of humanity" or at least the immediate direction of it; pulling up some surprise "aces" from the sleeve, the novel not only manages to ratchet the tension in all of these conflicts, but expand their scope to fully include the other factions - Islanders, Pharisees, Orbital Stations and even some surprising ones - on the way to the final showdowns.
Another big strength of Geosynchron is its geographical spread; we get to experience first hand the Islanders homeland and some Orbital Colonies while Pharisees representative and some other factions become quite important; to top it all we get a "view from space" from the entities implied in the title.
Regarding the world-building and implications of "Multireal" - the product - the author manages to add some twists and turns as well as being completely consistent with what came before.
The character arcs continue in a natural way, with Natch becoming one of the most remarkable recent heroes in sf; in a way you could call the novel "Natch's apotheosis". While I also liked the portrayal of Jara, Horvil, the two opposing council leaders and quite a few others, the one character that sort of disappointed me here was Brone; especially towards the end he became a caricature of the ambitious, embittered but subtle villain of earlier times. It can be argued that the ratcheting of pressure and fast pace of events could lead there naturally, but I felt the author did not establish that and the novel reads like he needed that type of villain for contemporary ideological reasons; Brone feels like a 2008 villain taking society down for his own selfishness, but as the publishing date of the novel is 2010, not to speak of the hope of it being read for years to come, that was a less than optimal choice.
Building on the events of Infoquake and Multireal and indeed closing the important threads left open there and having great endings for the main characters arcs, Geosynchron achieves a rare feat for a trilogy ending volume, namely it takes the series one level higher, beyond mundanity to true sense of wonder sf, so it finally plays on the level of the masters of modern sf like A. Reynolds and PF Hamilton, rather than the smaller - however technically accomplished - field of "smaller ball, mundane, one trick wonder" sf. An A+ and so far the best core-sf novel I've read in 2010.
I hope that for his next project, Mr. Edelman will let his imagination run wild and use his great world building and characterization skills shown in this series to create a true sense of wonder series to remember for ages. Jump 225 ends on that note for sure!
Official Ari Marmell Website
Order “The Conqueror’s Shadow” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Ari Marmell, a graduate of the University of Houston with a Creative Writing degree, has several shared-world short stories and novels in publication including “Agents of Artifice” (Magic: the Gathering). “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is the author's first wholly original novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda.
Yet just when ultimate victory was in his grasp, Rebaine faltered. His plans of conquest, born from a desire to see Imphallion governed with firmness and honesty, shattered. Amid the chaos of a collapsing army, Rebaine vanished, taking only a single hostage—the young noblewoman Tyannon—to guarantee his escape.
Seventeen years later, Rebaine and Tyannon are married, living in obscurity and raising their children, a daughter and a son. Rebaine has put his past behind him, given up his dreams of conquest. Not even news of Audriss—an upstart warlord following Rebaine’s old path of conquest—can stir the retired warrior to action.
Until his daughter is assaulted by Audriss’s goons.
Now, to rescue the country he once tried to conquer, Rebaine once more dons the armor of the Terror of the East and seeks out his former allies. But Davro has become a peaceful farmer. Seilloah has no wish to leave her haunted forest home. And Khanda . . . well, to describe his feelings for his former master as undying hatred would be an understatement.
But even if Rebaine can convince his onetime comrades to join him, he faces a greater challenge: Does he dare to reawaken the part of him that gloried in cruelty, blood, and destruction? With the safety of his family at stake, can he dare not to?
CLASSIFICATION: Combining lighthearted humor and graphic violence with both traditional fantasy tropes and trope-breaking twists, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is what would happen if you took Dungeons & Dragons and crossed it with the writing styles of David Eddings and Joe Abercrombie...
FORMAT/INFO: “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is 448 pages long divided over twenty-eight numbered chapters, a Prologue, and an Epilogue. Narration is in the third-person via several major and supporting characters, but the book mostly focuses on Corvis Rebaine. “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is self-contained, but a sequel is expected to be released the following year.
February 23, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “The Conqueror’s Shadow” via Bantam Spectra. Cover art provided by Larry Rostant.
ANALYSIS: In addition to his experience with shared worlds, Ari Marmell also has an extensive history writing for role-playing games, and it shows in his Bantam Spectra debut, “The Conqueror’s Shadow”, which is rife with such common fantasy conventions as demons, ogres, gnomes, conquering warlords, sorcerers, mercenaries, spellbooks, magic weapons and armor, haunted forests, vampires, et cetera. Normally this kind of a fantasy novel wouldn’t hold my interest for long, but “The Conqueror’s Shadow” has several things going for it which made reading the book a pleasurable experience...
For one, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” never takes itself too seriously. Instead, Ari Marmell understands that his book is teeming with fantasy tropes and uses every opportunity to poke fun at the aforementioned tropes or to turn them on their head like Corvis Rebaine who is depicted as a villain in the prologue, only to be revealed as the novel’s hero. On top of that, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is one of the more humorous fantasy novels you’ll find thanks to the incessant banter of the characters:
/You tell him, you raging font of fury, you!/
“How many times do I have to order you to shut up, Khanda?”
/At least one more, obviously./
The only problem I had with the humor is that it can be overly lighthearted, especially when compared to how graphic some of the book’s violence can get. After all, I find it a bit disorienting when the author doesn’t use words like ‘shit’ or ‘bastard’, but has no problem with exploding bodies...
Secondly, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is a well-written novel. Characters may lack depth, but are extremely likable; prose is crisp; the pacing is terrific; the story is well-executed apart from a couple of missteps; and the author strikes a nice balance of humor, action and epic fantasy. Of course, this isn’t too surprising since Ari Marmell already has extensive experience as a writer, but for his first completely original novel, I thought Ari nailed it on the head writing-wise.
Thirdly, I loved the interludes that precede every chapter except for the first one. Primarily in the form of flashbacks, these short interludes—usually 1-3 pages long—not only provide insight into the book’s many different characters (Corvis, Tyannon, Davro, Seilloah, Valescienn, Audriss, Jassion, Duke Lorum, Nathaniel Espa, Rheah Vhoune), their relationships with one another, and the motivations behind their actions, but they also offer a refreshing break from the main narrative, and I eagerly looked forward to reading each new interlude.
Finally, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is just a lot of fun to read. Part of it’s because of the lighthearted humor, the likeable characters, and the engrossing action, but it also has to do with the novel’s accessibility. Basically, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is the kind of novel that is easy to pick up and get started, and even easier to get lost in. Plus, the book has the potential to appeal to a wide range of different readers, including fans of Dungeons & Dragons-type fantasy, humorous fantasy, and fantasy with a twist. Best of all, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is self-contained. Sure, there’s supposed to be a sequel next year, but “The Conqueror’s Shadow” possesses a definite beginning, middle, and end, and leaves the reader completely satisfied. Which is refreshing in this day and age when the fantasy book market is dominated by multi-volume epics and cliffhanger endings...
Negatively, I already mentioned the characters lacking depth and the couple of missteps with the story’s execution, but there are also issues with a plot that requires little brainpower to follow, world-building that is practically nonexistent, and undeveloped themes. Fortunately, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” gets away with such shortcomings because of the type of book it is. Too much world-building, characterization or in-depth thematic discussions, and the novel's level of enjoyment would probably have lessened.
CONCLUSION: In the end, Ari Marmell’s “The Conqueror’s Shadow” was a major surprise. After all, based on the comparison to David Eddings—an author I’ve outgrown; the talk of humor, which I only like in moderation, especially in fantasy; and the author’s background in shared worlds—a genre that I admit holds little appeal to me; I wasn’t sure I would enjoy reading “The Conqueror’s Shadow”. But I did. Very much. In fact, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is one of the most enjoyable fantasy books that I’ve read in a long time, and I sincerely hope Ari Marmell serves up more of the same in his next novel...
Order “The Conqueror’s Shadow” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Ari Marmell, a graduate of the University of Houston with a Creative Writing degree, has several shared-world short stories and novels in publication including “Agents of Artifice” (Magic: the Gathering). “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is the author's first wholly original novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda.
Yet just when ultimate victory was in his grasp, Rebaine faltered. His plans of conquest, born from a desire to see Imphallion governed with firmness and honesty, shattered. Amid the chaos of a collapsing army, Rebaine vanished, taking only a single hostage—the young noblewoman Tyannon—to guarantee his escape.
Seventeen years later, Rebaine and Tyannon are married, living in obscurity and raising their children, a daughter and a son. Rebaine has put his past behind him, given up his dreams of conquest. Not even news of Audriss—an upstart warlord following Rebaine’s old path of conquest—can stir the retired warrior to action.
Until his daughter is assaulted by Audriss’s goons.
Now, to rescue the country he once tried to conquer, Rebaine once more dons the armor of the Terror of the East and seeks out his former allies. But Davro has become a peaceful farmer. Seilloah has no wish to leave her haunted forest home. And Khanda . . . well, to describe his feelings for his former master as undying hatred would be an understatement.
But even if Rebaine can convince his onetime comrades to join him, he faces a greater challenge: Does he dare to reawaken the part of him that gloried in cruelty, blood, and destruction? With the safety of his family at stake, can he dare not to?
CLASSIFICATION: Combining lighthearted humor and graphic violence with both traditional fantasy tropes and trope-breaking twists, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is what would happen if you took Dungeons & Dragons and crossed it with the writing styles of David Eddings and Joe Abercrombie...
FORMAT/INFO: “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is 448 pages long divided over twenty-eight numbered chapters, a Prologue, and an Epilogue. Narration is in the third-person via several major and supporting characters, but the book mostly focuses on Corvis Rebaine. “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is self-contained, but a sequel is expected to be released the following year.
February 23, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “The Conqueror’s Shadow” via Bantam Spectra. Cover art provided by Larry Rostant.
ANALYSIS: In addition to his experience with shared worlds, Ari Marmell also has an extensive history writing for role-playing games, and it shows in his Bantam Spectra debut, “The Conqueror’s Shadow”, which is rife with such common fantasy conventions as demons, ogres, gnomes, conquering warlords, sorcerers, mercenaries, spellbooks, magic weapons and armor, haunted forests, vampires, et cetera. Normally this kind of a fantasy novel wouldn’t hold my interest for long, but “The Conqueror’s Shadow” has several things going for it which made reading the book a pleasurable experience...
For one, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” never takes itself too seriously. Instead, Ari Marmell understands that his book is teeming with fantasy tropes and uses every opportunity to poke fun at the aforementioned tropes or to turn them on their head like Corvis Rebaine who is depicted as a villain in the prologue, only to be revealed as the novel’s hero. On top of that, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is one of the more humorous fantasy novels you’ll find thanks to the incessant banter of the characters:
/You tell him, you raging font of fury, you!/
“How many times do I have to order you to shut up, Khanda?”
/At least one more, obviously./
The only problem I had with the humor is that it can be overly lighthearted, especially when compared to how graphic some of the book’s violence can get. After all, I find it a bit disorienting when the author doesn’t use words like ‘shit’ or ‘bastard’, but has no problem with exploding bodies...
Secondly, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is a well-written novel. Characters may lack depth, but are extremely likable; prose is crisp; the pacing is terrific; the story is well-executed apart from a couple of missteps; and the author strikes a nice balance of humor, action and epic fantasy. Of course, this isn’t too surprising since Ari Marmell already has extensive experience as a writer, but for his first completely original novel, I thought Ari nailed it on the head writing-wise.
Thirdly, I loved the interludes that precede every chapter except for the first one. Primarily in the form of flashbacks, these short interludes—usually 1-3 pages long—not only provide insight into the book’s many different characters (Corvis, Tyannon, Davro, Seilloah, Valescienn, Audriss, Jassion, Duke Lorum, Nathaniel Espa, Rheah Vhoune), their relationships with one another, and the motivations behind their actions, but they also offer a refreshing break from the main narrative, and I eagerly looked forward to reading each new interlude.
Finally, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is just a lot of fun to read. Part of it’s because of the lighthearted humor, the likeable characters, and the engrossing action, but it also has to do with the novel’s accessibility. Basically, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is the kind of novel that is easy to pick up and get started, and even easier to get lost in. Plus, the book has the potential to appeal to a wide range of different readers, including fans of Dungeons & Dragons-type fantasy, humorous fantasy, and fantasy with a twist. Best of all, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is self-contained. Sure, there’s supposed to be a sequel next year, but “The Conqueror’s Shadow” possesses a definite beginning, middle, and end, and leaves the reader completely satisfied. Which is refreshing in this day and age when the fantasy book market is dominated by multi-volume epics and cliffhanger endings...
Negatively, I already mentioned the characters lacking depth and the couple of missteps with the story’s execution, but there are also issues with a plot that requires little brainpower to follow, world-building that is practically nonexistent, and undeveloped themes. Fortunately, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” gets away with such shortcomings because of the type of book it is. Too much world-building, characterization or in-depth thematic discussions, and the novel's level of enjoyment would probably have lessened.
CONCLUSION: In the end, Ari Marmell’s “The Conqueror’s Shadow” was a major surprise. After all, based on the comparison to David Eddings—an author I’ve outgrown; the talk of humor, which I only like in moderation, especially in fantasy; and the author’s background in shared worlds—a genre that I admit holds little appeal to me; I wasn’t sure I would enjoy reading “The Conqueror’s Shadow”. But I did. Very much. In fact, “The Conqueror’s Shadow” is one of the most enjoyable fantasy books that I’ve read in a long time, and I sincerely hope Ari Marmell serves up more of the same in his next novel...
A day or two ago I have seen Jeff Vandermeer's list of 2009 recommended books at Locus Online. It's an excellent list imho and while I have started and not yet finished - but plan to sooner rather than later - several of the books there (Palimpsest, Red Tree, The Sad Tale of Brothers Grossbart, Last Days, The Other City) - and I did not like Boneshaker though Robert did like it quite a lot, while I thought Far North good but not as great as Mr. Vandermeer thought, the overall quality of the novels recommended is astonishingly high and books like Yellow Blue Tibia, The Babylonian Trilogy, The Other Lands, Best Served Cold, The Steel Remains deserve all the praise Mr. Vandermeer lavishes on them.
I linked above to all FBC reviews of the works mentioned, some written by Robert, some by me, some joint by the two of us, so you can see our takes; the list motivated me to bump up the "started to read later" ones in my reading queue, so I finished Mercury Station by Marc von Schlegell today and will go on to Palimpsest too. Go and check out this list!!
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As it happens, I have bought Marc von Schlegell's debut Venusia on publication in 2005 or so but somehow I completely forgot about it for a long time, until Mr. Vandermeer's earlier review of Mercury Station motivated me to both buy this one and read Venusia. The following is my very short-take on Venusia from Goodreads:
"Venusia truly made my head spin and I felt dizzy though sitting on a bench when I was trying to imagine the landscape of the novel.
I enjoyed it overall - weird is too banal a word for this one - both in style (modernistic a la MJ Harrison) and in content (from sentient plants to multidimensional twisting of reality) - the drawback is that you have to immerse yourself and not nitpick."
Well, today I finished Mercury Station and while I am far from being able to write a coherent review and I invite you to read Mr. Vandermeer's one linked above which gives you some - but only some - idea about what the novel is about, I have to say that this one is closer to what one would call "essential sf" than things usually labeled such; it is innovative in so many ways, and while Venusia was weird but with a sort-of-clear-plot/action and I have not decided yet if Mercury Station truly makes sense plot-wise, the things thrown in almost casually from a chrono-dynamics theory, to Quantum computers, to Medieval imagery and action combined with 22nd century Solar System intrigue, all in a package that will make you a bit dizzy but still compel you to turn pages, should make this one a must for any sf-lover. Highly, highly recommended!
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In a smaller tidbit, my count of read novels from my 2010 Anticipated List reached 19 out of 90+ and I have 4-5 more in the reading queue so to speak; I put short takes/ratings for all 19 in the updated post linked above, while we have seven full FBC reviews from them so far with at least 3 more planned this coming week, and 2 more next week. Despite the mixed online reviews, I still rate The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman as top alongside The Folding Knife by KJ Parker, with Black Hills by Dan Simmons and City of Ruin by Mark Newton very close there too.
Congratulations to James Winslow who won an autographed copy of Altar of Eden by James Rollins in our contest!
A big thank you goes to James Rollins for providing such a great contest.
Thank you everyone that entered! Happy Reading!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
"Things We Didn't See Coming" by Steven Amsterdam (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)
Order "Things We Didn't See Coming" HERE (Read Inside available)
Official Steven Amsterdam Website
INTRODUCTION: "Things We Didn't See Coming" is a book that I did not see coming so to speak. I just found out it by the mere chance of seeing a copy in the Fiction New Releases section of a B&N and picking it up since the cover was sort of interesting. Next I read the blurb and I thought, ok let me just open it though it's highly unlikely I will be interested since post-apocalyptic fiction is only very occasionally for me, but to my surprise I liked the first pages well enough to browse more and then I started getting mesmerized by its style; I got a copy the same day and the book turned to be another big positive surprise for 2010.
FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION:"Things We Didn't See Coming" is a sfnal collection of nine chronological stories that follow the unnamed narrator through the slow collapse of civilization starting with computers going haywire and the "interdependence" breaking down, continuing with a stark separation between "city people" and "rural folk", and then disasters due to rain, plague, drought, fires...
It stands at about 200 pages but it packs a lot, so I had the feeling I read a much longer book. Despite its seemingly gloom and doom content the book is entertaining and a very surprisingly pleasurable read. Quiet and with no dramatics, this is more literary sfnal fiction at its best.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Since the book consists of nine sequential episodes in the narrator's life that can also be read more or less independently being complete in themselves, I will follow my general story review format and give a short excerpt and analysis for each.
1:What We Know Now
For the first time, Dad is letting me help pack the car, but only because it’s getting to be kind of an emergency.
The narrator at 14 on New Year's Eve 1999-2000 and the beginning of the "troubles". The one pure mainstream story, it seems a later addition for the sake of completion but the last story connects back here and illuminates it.
2:The Theft That Got Me Here
The new pills seem to be helping. Her eyes droop less. Grandpa’s not optimistic, but that’s not news.
The narrator at 16 living with his grandparents in a city that's isolated by manned barricades from the countryside; when grandma has a lucid day and grandpa is depressed since the city is taking away his driving license, the three of them manage to escape the city and have a romp in the countryside; of course city folk are not welcomed there...
The true beginning of the book in many ways and partly comic, partly tragic but always excellent.
3:Dry Land
A rain horse is a horse that’s been sensitized to travel in downpours without complaint.
The best story of the book follows the narrator at 23 working for the "land management" agency that evacuates people from the countryside following months of continuous rain; when a mishap happens and he is forced to seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned house, he discovers a mother and daughter that want to be together more then they want to survive. Powerful and with a great twist ending.
4:Cake Walk
Margo walked off this morning, as soon as the sun started warming up the ground, leaving me to dig up something else for us to eat.
The narrator is about 26 now in the first of the 3 Margo stories that follow his relationship with a practical girl who is willing to do anything to survive and prosper in the "new world"; here, they are hiding in a desert-like scape after they left the city following a plague, when an infected man happens upon their tent, while Margo had gone on a trek in the morning with their only gun.
5:Uses for Vinegar
That could only be her.
Set some 2-3 years later in a burnt out town, the narrator is a bureaucrat dealing with the relocation of the dispossessed folk there when Margo and her current boyfriend appear; still "in love" with her, the narrator is willing to follow Margo away, but is she coming or not?
6:The Forest for the Trees
I’m on the terrace of the main campus, in a recliner doing my work, the screen propped on my lap, my shirt off.
Several more years passed and now there is some resemblance of order; a rich girl turned politician and Senator representing a large part of the country becomes the narrator's and Margo's latest patron...
These three stories are the heart of the collection and they are all superb though they lack the power of "Dry Land" to some extent; the narrator has to answer the question: what price is he willing to pay for survival and for love?
7:Predisposed
All I did was ask Jeph if he would help collect branches for a roof repair today.
Narrator at 36, weary of the world and taking refuge in an isolated commune as security specialist and guardian of the only child alive there, the 14 year old teen Jeph; the first of three shorter, vignette-like stories that deal more with moral questions than with the narrator's place in the world at large; plague, privatized medicine with cures for the cash payers, long waiting lists for the rest; a good story but less polished than the previous ones.
8:The Profit Motive
This is an era of violence.
Several more years passed and now there is another attempt at rebuilding the civilization after a truce in the local wars was "signed"; still idealistic, the narrator goes to ask for a position to help bring normality back and he has to take a test that quickly becomes weirder and weirder; another superb twist ending, but the story would have benefited by being slightly longer.
9:Best Medicine
I leave them badgering the nurse in the cafeteria. All I want is to appreciate the volcano alone, without the whole needy-crowd thing.
The narrator at 40, running a small business as a private tour guide for the terminally ill; here we get more background and a connection with the beginning, while the ending is another superb one.
All in all "Things We Didn't See Coming" is a gem of a book that will stay with you for a long time and I strongly recommend it for anyone who wants an interesting but a bit unusual book that is very well written and has an endearing narrator who never loses his humanity despite all that happens.
Friday, February 12, 2010
"The Silver Skull: Swords of Albion" by Mark Chadbourn (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)
Introduction: Mark Chadbourn is the critically acclaimed author of over 16 novels and a non fiction book. He is best known for his series The Age of Misrule, The Dark Age, and Kingdom of the Serpent. He is also known for his stand alone novel, Lord of Silence. Mark Chadbourn is a two time winner of the British Fantasy Award.
Overview: Will Swyfte is a man known for many talents, amongst these talents are sword fighting, adventure seeking, and one of England's greatest spies. His tales against the forces that protect Spain and the king, have made him a national hero to the citizens of England and one of the most recognizable people in all the world.
So why have a spy that everyone knows who he is? England has crafted this image in an effort to put at ease the people of England. The citizens don't realize what is really going on. Will Swyfte is really fighting not against the Spanish but against another menacing force.
In the darks of night, Swyfte and his friends are fighting a dark war against the forces of the Faerie. These Faerie folk have preyed on the likes of mankind for many years. They have spread all throughout England and the world. England has decided that it is time to fight back against such evils and try and rid themselves of the devastating effects that having these evil forces living within the country has on many people.
What may look to many people as a simple fight against two countries: England and Spain. Is really a fight against good and evil. The Faerie folk align themselves with the people of Spain in order to indirectly make moves against England, whom they feel have wronged them many years ago.
Silver Skull starts with England holding a mysterious prisoner hostage. One evening some unknown group breaks into the Tower and releases this secret man from his cell. Unbeknownst to the people who are guarding this prisoner, he is the most dangerous weapon that anyone can have in their procession. He is wearing the Silver Skull, a gadget that when aligned with the proper elements can spread devastating diseases and plague throughout the whole country. It appears as though the enemy may have gained possession of the prisoner, so England calls in Will Swyfte.
Swyfte and his close friends go on an adventurous quest to not only retrieve the Silver Skull but to also sift to the bottom of why the Faeries have chosen this point in time to step up their attacks on England.
Swyfte plays a dangerous game of deceit and illusions that is filled with many lies, adventurous, secrets and murder. The main thing to remember is that not everything and everyone is what they appear to be!
Format: Silver Skull is a historical/adventure fantasy novel. It stands at 425 pages, and is the first in a series of books. It was released November 24, 2009 by Pyr.
Analysis: The Silver Skull is a perfect combination of great material and characters, a realistic portrayal of Elizabethian England, and of course the mysterious Faerie Folk that make up the myths that are so popular today. With all these elements wrapped up in one novel I had very high expectations for the Silver Skull, and those expectations were certainly met.
The first element that stuck out in the Silver Skull was the amount of research that Mark Chadbourn has put into this novel. It's very easy when writing a historical novel to glance over little facts when researching and just get the broad picture of what happened in that specific time frame. Chadbourn not only researched and used the broad history but also included many little details, right down to the proper color of the Mary Queen of Scots undergarments when she was facing her trial and beheading. It really makes the reader appriciate the amount of time and effort put into the novel, and is one of the key factors that made this book so enjoyable.
Along with the research is the realistic portrayal of Elizabethian England. Chadbourn has the imagery down to an art. The descriptions of the lifestyle of those that aren't lucky enough to be royalty, and the conditions that they are living in are very realistic and not glossed over. In a time when from dusk to dawn people stayed out of the streets and away from the shadows for fear of what is hiding there, Chadbourn really made each description of the areas come to life right in front of the reader and made that reader understand the atmosphere of that time period.
Another factor that was most enjoyable were the moments of adventure that popped up throughout the story. There is a lot of world building, and background presented, but its the moments of fighting and running from the enemy that'll bring the reader to the edge of their seats. At one point within the novel there is a chase scene involving horse and carriages, between Will Swyfte and the Enemy. Chadbourn brought out the gravity of the situation presented in the chase, but also put the reader right there in that carriage.
The fighting between the English ships and the Spanish armada is another real gem of the book. The ship battles were so realistic that I feel very unfortunate to not have seen those mighty Spanish ships in action.
Silver Skull is not without it's faults and quirky problems.
When first picking up the novel, it took a while to get into it. Not because the characters, or theme weren't interesting. Instead there seemed a sense of not having read a previous novel. The main character, Will Swyfte often refers to past events that I was unsure would be explained later in the reading or if it was just a reference to the past. The presentation of the character is also rather quick to the reader, there didn't feel like there was much of an introduction and instead it took a bit of time to really grow attached to Will Swyfte. Again this could have been because to get a full appreciation for Will, the reader has to understand the events and what Will is really up to and that part of the novel is developed midway through.
Another slight area of confusion in the first part of the book was the referral to the enemey, and The Enemy. Although these two fighting forces have the same name, they are completely different areas. The Enemy is the Faerie folk that most of England knows about but doesn't talk about, and the enemy is Spain. This at first might be a bit confusing to readers as the Faeries as an Enemy really don't happen until later in the novel and it can be quite easy to get lost if the right amount of attention isn't paid to the context the word is used in.
In the end, I was wow'd by how much I enjoyed Silver Skull. After the slight stumble with the first 50-80 pages, it was a book that was almost impossible to put down and kept my attention the whole way through. The second book in this series is an absolute must read and I really wish it were available right now. It'll be interesting to see where the Faerie folk end up and what's happening in that world. Mark Chadbourn is such a descriptive, well thought out writer that it'll be intriguing to see where he takes readers and Will Swyfte with his next novel.
Overview: Will Swyfte is a man known for many talents, amongst these talents are sword fighting, adventure seeking, and one of England's greatest spies. His tales against the forces that protect Spain and the king, have made him a national hero to the citizens of England and one of the most recognizable people in all the world.
So why have a spy that everyone knows who he is? England has crafted this image in an effort to put at ease the people of England. The citizens don't realize what is really going on. Will Swyfte is really fighting not against the Spanish but against another menacing force.
In the darks of night, Swyfte and his friends are fighting a dark war against the forces of the Faerie. These Faerie folk have preyed on the likes of mankind for many years. They have spread all throughout England and the world. England has decided that it is time to fight back against such evils and try and rid themselves of the devastating effects that having these evil forces living within the country has on many people.
What may look to many people as a simple fight against two countries: England and Spain. Is really a fight against good and evil. The Faerie folk align themselves with the people of Spain in order to indirectly make moves against England, whom they feel have wronged them many years ago.
Silver Skull starts with England holding a mysterious prisoner hostage. One evening some unknown group breaks into the Tower and releases this secret man from his cell. Unbeknownst to the people who are guarding this prisoner, he is the most dangerous weapon that anyone can have in their procession. He is wearing the Silver Skull, a gadget that when aligned with the proper elements can spread devastating diseases and plague throughout the whole country. It appears as though the enemy may have gained possession of the prisoner, so England calls in Will Swyfte.
Swyfte and his close friends go on an adventurous quest to not only retrieve the Silver Skull but to also sift to the bottom of why the Faeries have chosen this point in time to step up their attacks on England.
Swyfte plays a dangerous game of deceit and illusions that is filled with many lies, adventurous, secrets and murder. The main thing to remember is that not everything and everyone is what they appear to be!
Format: Silver Skull is a historical/adventure fantasy novel. It stands at 425 pages, and is the first in a series of books. It was released November 24, 2009 by Pyr.
Analysis: The Silver Skull is a perfect combination of great material and characters, a realistic portrayal of Elizabethian England, and of course the mysterious Faerie Folk that make up the myths that are so popular today. With all these elements wrapped up in one novel I had very high expectations for the Silver Skull, and those expectations were certainly met.
The first element that stuck out in the Silver Skull was the amount of research that Mark Chadbourn has put into this novel. It's very easy when writing a historical novel to glance over little facts when researching and just get the broad picture of what happened in that specific time frame. Chadbourn not only researched and used the broad history but also included many little details, right down to the proper color of the Mary Queen of Scots undergarments when she was facing her trial and beheading. It really makes the reader appriciate the amount of time and effort put into the novel, and is one of the key factors that made this book so enjoyable.
Along with the research is the realistic portrayal of Elizabethian England. Chadbourn has the imagery down to an art. The descriptions of the lifestyle of those that aren't lucky enough to be royalty, and the conditions that they are living in are very realistic and not glossed over. In a time when from dusk to dawn people stayed out of the streets and away from the shadows for fear of what is hiding there, Chadbourn really made each description of the areas come to life right in front of the reader and made that reader understand the atmosphere of that time period.
Another factor that was most enjoyable were the moments of adventure that popped up throughout the story. There is a lot of world building, and background presented, but its the moments of fighting and running from the enemy that'll bring the reader to the edge of their seats. At one point within the novel there is a chase scene involving horse and carriages, between Will Swyfte and the Enemy. Chadbourn brought out the gravity of the situation presented in the chase, but also put the reader right there in that carriage.
The fighting between the English ships and the Spanish armada is another real gem of the book. The ship battles were so realistic that I feel very unfortunate to not have seen those mighty Spanish ships in action.
Silver Skull is not without it's faults and quirky problems.
When first picking up the novel, it took a while to get into it. Not because the characters, or theme weren't interesting. Instead there seemed a sense of not having read a previous novel. The main character, Will Swyfte often refers to past events that I was unsure would be explained later in the reading or if it was just a reference to the past. The presentation of the character is also rather quick to the reader, there didn't feel like there was much of an introduction and instead it took a bit of time to really grow attached to Will Swyfte. Again this could have been because to get a full appreciation for Will, the reader has to understand the events and what Will is really up to and that part of the novel is developed midway through.
Another slight area of confusion in the first part of the book was the referral to the enemey, and The Enemy. Although these two fighting forces have the same name, they are completely different areas. The Enemy is the Faerie folk that most of England knows about but doesn't talk about, and the enemy is Spain. This at first might be a bit confusing to readers as the Faeries as an Enemy really don't happen until later in the novel and it can be quite easy to get lost if the right amount of attention isn't paid to the context the word is used in.
In the end, I was wow'd by how much I enjoyed Silver Skull. After the slight stumble with the first 50-80 pages, it was a book that was almost impossible to put down and kept my attention the whole way through. The second book in this series is an absolute must read and I really wish it were available right now. It'll be interesting to see where the Faerie folk end up and what's happening in that world. Mark Chadbourn is such a descriptive, well thought out writer that it'll be intriguing to see where he takes readers and Will Swyfte with his next novel.
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