This is part of the Fantasy Hive's SPFBO 5 review of our semi-finalists, you can read the full piece here.
They say "You cannot judge a book by its covThis is part of the Fantasy Hive's SPFBO 5 review of our semi-finalists, you can read the full piece here.
They say "You cannot judge a book by its cover," but... Wind's is a very fine cover that immediately forecasts subject matter and conflict both: see the domed shape in the foreground, and the crescent moon resting atop it? On the smaller domes are crosses, two of them, perhaps reflecting the dual Christian fates at display in the book, Orthodox and Catholic. Here’s the main conflict we will face, at one of its bloodiest phases, the First Crusade. To the left and to the right are ruins of the Old World — they come into play.
An excellent composition, that much is certain. Whatever shall we say for the rest?
Lukas’s flaws made of him a character I invested heavily into; to Theo’s note that he’s pompous and proud, I nod with affirmation; I would argue, however, that to reconcile to the hard times Lucas has fallen upon any faster than he did wouldn’t be realistic. The world of the eleventh century lacks social mobility — a lesson beaten into Lukas again and again. To learn it quickly would go against who he is, exactly because Lukas comes from a place of the greatest privilege in the seventh century. The notion that he would be treated as anything less than his position in that other time demands is as alien as the notion of a knight dueling with a peasant would be to a Frankish nobleman.
As for our young Turk, Ayla is a phenomenal character whose arc is nothing short of breathtaking — for many different reasons. Her conflict, her need to make a difference before the hour of her death, her relationship with Lukas (and his with her) made for one of the most believable, memorable and downright likeable characters I’ve come across in a while.
Saint-Gilles is great fun, but I liked Bohemond even more — his is a fascinating story of ambition, success and failure, and Rowntree captures that well. He might lean towards the villainous due to our limited perception of him through Saint-Gilles, but the man is very much a tragic hero in his own narrative, and his ambition…well, off you go to Wikipedia, then.
Indeed, it’s difficult to divorce many of these characters from the historical records we have of them — and that should be the greatest compliment to Rowntree. This isn’t just great low fantasy; it’s brilliant historical fiction, down to the verisimilitude of the dialogue these characters use. Brilliantly-captured is the conflict between the leaders of the First Crusade (also known as the Princes’ Crusade, which should tip you off to the strength and egoes of the personalities involved).
A main question of Christianity is that of predestination. In Islam, a similar concept exists – Qadar. Predestination is hotly contested by various theologians and religious scholars; but for the purpose of this, I’ll look to the Calvinist doctrine. The Calvinist Westminister Confession of Faith states that God “freely and unchangeably ordains whatsoever comes to pass.” The Islamic philosophical school of the Jabariyah held to a similar belief: “that humans are controlled by predestination, without having choice of free will” (as per Wikipedia).
It might be hard on the modern reader to accept the concept of predestination, for it eschews the notions of individual human agency which are the foundational blocks of modern Western society. But this is a different society in a world far removed from the one we know, and it’s on this basis that I disagree with Beth about this late twist’s necessity. It is a brutal, painful moment to read; but it is a brutal and painful world where the force of the individual cannot overcome the weight of prophecy. This twist is one final brush in the Abrahamic fresco that Rowntree draws for the reader, and, ugly as it is, it’s a very fine finishing touch which unifies the fantastic with the religious motifs.
The understated magic, I’d argue, is a great boon to Rowntree’s rendition of the First Crusade. The influence of sorcery is just out of sight, but it defines no small amount of what is going on. It’s this influence that propels Ayla on her path, and it is direct sorcery that propels Lukas forwards in time. True, only a few moments will stun with overwhelming displays of it, but magic is imbued in the very DNA of this story. Rowntree banks on the notion that less is more, and that’s a calculated risk that pays off dividends — if she had embraced the use of greater feats of sorcery throughout, this would no longer have the merits it does as historical fiction; the faithful rendering of the Princes’ Crusade would’ve turned very different indeed.
My favourite quote has to be this one:
They were on opposite sides of something much, much bigger than themselves. Something that had begun before either of them was born, and would go on long after both of them were dead. Something that not even love would conquer.
He reached out, slowly. All the generations of this war weighed on his back, and Lukas felt as ancient as the hills. Gently, he took Ayla’s hand in both his own and pressed it to his bowed forehead. When he looked up, there were tears in her eyes.
Better to leave it all unsaid.
In the span of picking our finalist, I have argued to the effect that it’s not the quantity of magic that matters but its quality. I struggle to judge this book harshly because it has chosen a minimalist approach towards its fantasy elements. In the fragmented response to some of what Rowntree has done here, you, dear reader, should see a writer whose authorial decisions are — whether you like or dislike them — brave. Despite the possibility of creating dissent in the readers of her work, Suzannah Rowntree has told the story she set out to.
You have to respect that, one way or another. ...more
Originally published over at booknest.eu for SPFBO 4.
Symphony of the Wind is impressive in its scope, a novel that’s intricate in its characters and aOriginally published over at booknest.eu for SPFBO 4.
Symphony of the Wind is impressive in its scope, a novel that’s intricate in its characters and ambitious in its worldbuilding; more impressive is the fact that it’s Steven McKinnon’s first self-published book. Ambition, McKinnon certainly does not lack.
The biggest compliment I can throw at McKinnon is this – reading Symphony reminded me of the first time I picked up Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon; the action starts early on and it hardly ever lets up. McKinnon throws us readers deep into a world that feels fully formed though unknown and he’s not afraid to let us sink or swim on our merit. He’s provided the tools to dig deep into a fictional world that runs on ignogen, a material that’s as unstable as enriched uranium; its myriad applications make the dangers of its extraction and use worthwhile, however.
I haven’t read such an interesting twist on steampunk since Senlin Ascends (though no two stories could be less alike). Symphony of the Wind is a story of rebellion, of corruption and the excesses of power and religious zeal but more importantly – of men and women struggling in the dark, attempting to make it out into the light. Thank all things dark and evil that it’s 660 pages, else I don’t know how the author would’ve tackled as much as he did as well as he has.
McKinnon writes well. I tell you, he does! His prose is elegant and visual; reading some of the action scenes in the later half of Symphony was like getting shot after shot of adrenaline right into my spinal cord. One high stakes chase scene in particular, as well as a secondary villain by the name of Pierro, made for a spectacular sequence that had me cheering for heroes Serena and Gallows throughout. And Pierro…rarely have I disliked a large chap as much as this one. I just wish someone smacked his big stupid face with a brick!
Speaking of Pierro, Symphony’s villains are a memorable lot, and one that I loved to hate every step of the way. Again, I’ll draw a parallel with Malazan; none of these bad people are evil for evil’s sake. It’s either fate or purpose or...okay, there’s a pair of villains that’re just led my vainglorious personal ambition and greed for power, as well as an absolute psychopath that’ll give any Resident Evil 2 player a flashback to Mr X, but—BUT—about half the villains of the novel truly believe that what they’re doing is for the best. That’s the stuff of truly memorable fantasy villains.
What didn’t mush quite well enough for?
Gallows, one of our two main PoV characters, was somewhat polarizing. At times, I really liked him but at others, he seemed overwhelmingly judgemental of the behaviour of other characters, or their skills, when he was guilty of similar behaviour or worse. There’s an argument to be made that this makes him more realistic but there was a little something that bugged me about the sudden switch from badass action hero to judgy lad.
Several of the characters and their PoVs played a small enough part that they didn’t leave an impression. It was almost as if their existence were a reason for major protagonists and antagonists to have further connections to one another, reasons to push them further into conflict. I can’t help but feel that McKinnon is compelled to show where every thread of the story eventually goes in detail; sometimes, less is more.
One more thing worth mentioning is, there was something off with the speech of a couple of the characters. Too many ‘reckon’-ings perhaps, a few too many interesting characters given cliched military jargon and other choices in vernacular that were used without nearly enough measure. From this point onwards, I can only see Steven McKinnon improving. He’s set up a world I’m excited to read more about, characters I want to follow, and though I dislike a few things, these don’t take away from the enormous amount of enjoyment and thrills I got in my time with Symphony of the Wind.
My score for Symphony of the Wind is an 8 out of 10 for SPFBO 4, and 4/5 stars on Goodreads! I can heartily recommend this to: • Anyone who loves well thought-out fantasy with wonderous world-building; • Dark stories that’ll get darker; • How-to guides to nearly successful dictatorships; • Cool leads, cooler antagonists; • I’m serious, you’ll just want to punch, claw at and stab all the villains! They’re just so sleazy and nasty, all of them! • So much excellent action! Gunpowder, treason and plot! Plots. Multiple plots. • And more! Prob’ly! ...more
I am very impressed with Craig Schafer’s Sworn to the Night. Coming into this, I’d never read any of his previous books; I’d not even come across his I am very impressed with Craig Schafer’s Sworn to the Night. Coming into this, I’d never read any of his previous books; I’d not even come across his name up to receiving this novel for review as part of 2018’s SPFBO. I was oblivious to the fact that Sworn to the Night is the beginning of a third series set in a shared world between Schafer’s other works. Reading it, I didn’t at any point feel I needed to be familiar with previous novels, even if familiarity with one particular side character by the name of Daniel Faustus (the main character in his own series), would have given me a greater degree of context.
Sworn to the Night’s story kicks off in a familiar enough way to anyone who has viewed a police procedural show All the staples of the genre are present – a main character cop with issues forcing her to take what should be a normal case personally; a loyal partner trying to keep her reigned in, a sagacious best friend/roommate, and a captain who demands the badge and gun of his best detectives (incidentally, the same main character spoke mentioned earlier, along with her partner). Our disgruntled detective is a woman with a tragic past by the name of Marie Reinhart, and she is the first part of the absolutely fascinating duo of main characters Sworn to the Night introduced me* to.
The second half of this dynamic duo goes by the name of Nessa, an anthropologist obsessed with the study and practice of witchcraft. She is also somewhat mentally unhinged, a condition for which Nessa is heavily medicated by her personal therapist. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a successful businessman (the son of a U.S. senator with a bright future ahead of him), Nessa feels like her control over the direction of her own life is slipping away. Until, that is, she comes face to face with a certain NYPD detective.
The relationship between Nessa and Marie fascinates me. It’s the emotional centre of the book and, though it has been criticized by some, the romance between these two women worked for me, and I say that without reservations. The dynamics of this relationship and how it changes both the main characters as they take their first steps in its exploration was something I didn’t expect to like as much as I did.
An aspect of this story I love is the structure – framed after classic fairy tales, this is instead a modern dark fable, compelling and not for the faint of heart. By additionally embracing some of the longest held conventions of the detective thriller, Craig Schafer delivers a subversive story that delves into the fantastical and the dynamics of love and loyalty, as well as the ever-fascinating conflict between law and chaos.
One issue I had that took away from my otherwise stellar opinion of this novel has to do with the ending, which at the last moment was rendered far less consequential than I originally thought after reading through the culmination (which is something truly wonderful, let me tell you). I suspect Schaefer was following his grander design for the trilogy as a whole but having read only this instalment of the series, I can’t help but feel that it was a cheap way of recycling certain villainous characters further down the line.
The quality of writing is exceptional; Craig Schaefer is a stellar example of excellence in indie authorship, his skill in the calibre of Ben Galley, Benedict Patrick, Josh Erikson and many, many others. Schaefer shows an excellent grasp on narrative voice; all his point-of-view characters come across as unique. Characterisation is indeed strong in this one.
My final score for Sworn to the Night is a 9 out of 10. It’s a solid read, with minor pacing issues at the beginning and a disappointing conclusion that took away from what was otherwise one of my most pleasant reads over the last few months. After having read this book, I can only say, I can’t wait to read the follow-ups!
You’ll enjoy this novel if:
*You're a fan of urban fantasy; *You enjoy reading novels filled with characters that share deeply fascinating connections; *You like witches, chaos, the winds of change; *You like to be taken by the magic of the moment, on a glory night; *You're looking to join weird cults only open to the 1%, and find yourself in desperate need of a useful how-to guide; *And more! Prob'ly.
*If you’ve read one of Schaefer’s previous series, you might actually have come across these two characters....more
I had no clue what to expect when I spent a credit to pick Hero Forged up on Audible. It was one of those impulse buys we all make, influenced by a twI had no clue what to expect when I spent a credit to pick Hero Forged up on Audible. It was one of those impulse buys we all make, influenced by a tweet by Esme Weatherwax of lovely book blog “The Weatherwax Report” fame. Without a doubt (and I usually have plenty of doubt, trust you me!), Hero Forged is a purchase I’ll be forever thankful I made. It’s one hell of a journey, and I’ll say just enough about it to sharpen your appetite!
Gabe Delling is a swindler, a cheat, a petty criminal or as he calls himself, a professional con artist. He goes through his different personas the same ways most of us geeks go through Batman t-shirts, and his transformations are uncanny! Gabe’s greatest weapons are his quick wit, charm and intelligence, and he uses them to…fairly acceptable ends. Swindler he might be but Gabe is far from amoral; as a result, he’s not exactly swimming in money. Quite the contrary, in fact: at the book’s opening, our poor protagonist is struggling to keep his head over the water. Then, a job appears and it might be his one shot at paying the mounting bills. Of course, it goes terribly, apocalyptically wrong!
Unfortunately for Gabe, he gets involved in a world that is so much more complex than anything he’s prepared for. A world of gods and monsters, all of whom fall under the umbrella term “Umbra”. And quite possibly the worst of them all is stuck inside Gabe’s head. I’m sure you see all the potential for this going wrong already…This is the story of Gabe trying his damnedest to survive with a being of unfathomable power intent on breaking the mortal whose body he resides in. Makes Gabe’s light, upbeat personality even more impressive, doesn’t it?
The side characters are a treat. Heather is a succubus tied to Gabe through a crazy twist of fate I won’t spoil but the relationship between the two is so incredibly rewarding throughout the novel. She’s clever, unscrupulous and ridiculously sexy – which is on par for the species – but she’s also possessed by a heart that isn’t wholly black. Big praise for her kind, I reckon. (To all our succubus readers, I apologize; I mean no offense!) In truth, Heather’s a delightfully complex character, whose development is a thing of great beauty. She’s also described in a unique way, with an emphasis placed on her scent. There’s also a secondary villain, Gwendyl, married to, and working towards the freedom of her husband, the bloke inside Gabe’s head. She’s not too pleased about the present circumstances, as you might imagine.
Pacing, action, worldbuilding – all these are done very well indeed. The world is, like in most urban fantasy, like our own on the surface. All the differences lie just underneath. Some familiar concepts, mainstays to the urban fantasy genre, as well as some interesting new ones, none of which I thought were bad or trite.
Josh Erikson’s audiobook narration is brilliant! I didn’t expect he’d do as great a job as he did, but all his voices are on point, including the very melodramatic (but fittingly so) god of evil, Acamana. Every character has a unique voice, and if Josh weren’t such a good author, I’d be half-inclined to press him into the audiobook narration business! But alas, urban fantasy would miss one of its finest new voices if I did that, and we can’t very well have that, can we?!
My score for Hero Forged is a 4.5 out of 5, which I round up to 5 on whatever starred site demands it! I would also like to decry the fact that Hero Forged didn’t reach the final stage of this year’s SPFBO. To my mind, it is most certainly deserving of being amongst these ten finalists.
You should read Hero Forged if: • You enjoy snarky, light, likable main characters; • you’re a sucker for character development; • you’re an urban fantasy fan OR curious about the genre; • you’re a lighter fantasy fan in general – yep, there’s plenty to appreciate even if urban isn’t your cup of tea, per se; • you’ve got an evil god in your head, and are trying to get some help with that; • you are an evil god, and you’re looking for a how-to and/or how-not-to guide on dealing with and possessing mortals; • and more! Prob’ly.
I’m also introducing a new section to my reviews: The Song! The Song for this book is Short Skirt / Long Jacket by Cake, possibly because it seems like the kind of song you’d sing to a modern-day succubus; possible, too, that it’s been stuck in my head for ages and I need to inflict that upon you, dear reader! ...more
Series: Book of the Ancestor (#2) Length: 407 pages Genre: Dark fantasYou can watch the video version of this review here: https://youtu.be/bSIleN01sCc
Series: Book of the Ancestor (#2) Length: 407 pages Genre: Dark fantasy
How I’ve longed to return to Nona’s story in the year and several months since I read Red Sister. Time and opportunity conspired against me–until this summer, when I read through the second Book of the Ancestor in two sittings. A return to Sweet Mercy was most welcome. Following a time-skip, I was happy to be reunited with Nona and company. Things were both the way I remembered and different. Nona’s breezy temperament and cheery attitude have not changed in the least–except for the voice in her head, of a devil made of violence and darkest desires. Forced to carry within herself thе devil Keot, Nona has to come to grips with her darker urges. She is either to embrace self-control or risk becoming no different than some of the foes she faced down in the previous novel.
Yet Keot is not all bad: “She’d come to think of him as a broken thing, part of a mind perhaps, filled with fragments of knowledge, occasionally useful as the shards of a pot can be, offering a sharp edge but no good for holding soup” (188). All of this is to say, you can find use for and even grow fond of even the darker aspects that linger within yourself, and there are moments where parasite and host bonded in intricate and unwholesome ways. The demon makes a valuable addition to the mammoth cast of supporting characters Nona befriends, threatens, crushes or otherwise engages with. (That’s a lie, it’s only ever one of the first three.) Zole, the four-blooded “Chosen One,” steals the spotlight repeatedly, both by exhibiting frightening competencies and by slowly revealing layers of herself hidden behind a mask of stoicism.
Sister Kettle and Ara and Darla don’t make it easy for Zole, mind. Always the deadly Sister of Discretion, Kettle goes to every length to help a Sister in need; Ara and Darla, meanwhile are not only the best friends our girl Nona could hope for, they’re also great at a party. Even a certain traitorous cur from Red Sister makes a most memorable appearance.
Abbess Glass made for an excellent secondary PoV character; I might be wrong when I write this, but I have a lingering suspicion her chapters in this book made a much larger chunk of Grey Sister than they did the previous book. Of all the older generation of skilled martial artists and deadly poisoners Lawrence has introduced in this prayer of nuns (or however you’d call a group of them), it might just be the Abbess I am fondest of. Glass plays the most elaborate political games just as she did in the previous novel, her machinations far-reaching and promising deadly consequences. It’s all sharp falls and epochal leaps in the deadly arena of politico-religious games with Glass, and I wouldn’t change this fierce lady for anything or anyone. (“She’s so old, she must be fifty!” a young Nona Grey exclaims at one point, to the bemusement of everyone over twenty.)
Set-pieces, ambitious battles, monsters beneath the deepest rocks, endless barbs across monastery and royal court alike, and camaraderie to warm your heart. Grey Sister has much I loved, and much worth celebrating. Little surprise there – in my experience, Mark Lawrence delivers page-turners without stop.
On a side note, this has been the most inconsistent I’ve been with how I approach a series in forever. I read Red Sister on my kindle, grabbed a trade paperback of Grey Sister, and I’ve had an audiobook of Holy Sister sitting around forever now, so I’m very likely to finish the series with that one. Long live diversity in material conditions!
Banebringer might very well be my favourite debut novel of 2018.
Carol A. Park’s first novel deserves a whole lot of attention for its solid characterBanebringer might very well be my favourite debut novel of 2018.
Carol A. Park’s first novel deserves a whole lot of attention for its solid characters, worldbuilding, romance and an impressively deep and deliciously complex magic system! These are the aspects of Banebringer I will be expanding upon during the length of this review, so sit tight and enjoy!
Banebringers (or Gifted, as they prefer to be called) are the chosen of the old, sacrilegious gods of the land, blessed (or cursed) with amazing powers. Invisibility, pyrokinetics, darksight and water manipulation, healing abilities and so much more, they are all gifts of the patrons to their Banebringers. And that’s just the start – this isn’t just elemental magic; it’s also blood magic. When a Banebringer bleeds, their blood quickly turns to aether, a silvery substance that can be used by another Banebringer to reproduce the abilities of the first. And just in case that’s not enough, if one of those remarkable Gifted is killed, their death opens up a tear in reality, which summons a most horrible, terrible no-good monstrosity, whose badness and horribleness is directly proportionate to just how much the Banebringer in question has used his powers over the span of their life. It’s an interesting system. Park uses it with imagination and does plenty I didn’t see coming, and for that, she gets the highest marks!
The first of the two leads in this novel is the assassin Sweetblade, who also goes by the name of Ivana and will soon be getting a prequel, called—you guessed it—Sweetblade! I hear it’s shipping out in December, and I’m looking forward to reading it. The second lead is Vaughn, our resident Banebringer, a young nobleman’s son who is dogged by his old man at every step as he tries to navigate around a world that fears and hates him. Sounds a bit magically X-Men, doesn’t it, and that might be why it appeals so much to me. I’ve ever been a gigantic sucker for a marginalized people trying to survive against an unjust world.
The dynamic between Ivana and Vaughn starts off at a pretty antagonistic level, which makes their partnership of convenience that much more fun to read, and I feel that I should give yet more props to Carol Park for the spin she gives on a relationship we’ve all read dozens of times. She makes the love-hate relationship between our two leads feel fresh again, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. Both characters are flawed, scarred and very, very human, and the conflicts they face give both of them memorable character arcs, which are nothing to sneer at. This is one of those novels where we can definitely talk about character agency.
The romance and worldbuilding are also nothing to sneer at, and neither are the supporting characters. From an antagonist whose connection with both Vaughn and Ivana is very personal, to a Banebringer leader forced in a tight spot by his constituency, to a spy and confidant with a good sense of humour, this novel has quite the colourful cast.
This is the first in a series of planned novels, though I don’t know whether this’ll be a trilogy or not. The ending is self-contained enough not to bother anyone, at any rate. What I would suggest is you get yourself a copy at the price of $3.99, and you spend a few days reading through it; you’ll be sure to enjoy it!
I’m happy to give it five stars on Goodreads, and a sky-full of in my heart!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Banebringer in return for an honest review! ...more
When I read ‘They Mostly Come out at Night,’ the first in Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld novels, I was well impressed with what he did. I haven’t had tWhen I read ‘They Mostly Come out at Night,’ the first in Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld novels, I was well impressed with what he did. I haven’t had the good fortune of reading up on the second and third books set in that world, but I would be little surprised if the fourth one isn’t the best one yet.
When I spoke at length about ‘They Mostly…’ in my previous review, I was quite vocal about one particular plot twist that came off both as predictable, and immersion-breaking. I’m glad to say, ‘The Owl Queen’s Court’ is bustling with one twist after another and not one of them will spoil your experience. As a matter of fact, the final chapter is packed with twists and turns, all of which thrilled and surprised me with the direction in which they took the fantastic main characters, Bradan and Nascha.
It’s difficult not to draw parallels between Patrick’s first novel and this one, for the sole reason that his skill has blossomed so. My respect for the author’s skill in weaving fairy tales and myths to create a memorable world has only grown. This time around, the connection between the folk tales after each chapter and the events of these chapters is more evident—and packs more of an emotional punch because of it.
And what of the main characters? Bradan is the son of Lonan, the first Yarnsworld novel’s protagonist and everyone’s favourite super-powered madman in this one. Bradan has always wanted to be a hero, a young man whose desire is to crawl out of his father’s shadow and burn much brighter. It’s not a selfish desire. Bradan’s first and foremost thought is always of the denizens of the Magpie’s forest, and his loyalty to and desire to protect the people makes for an interesting moral core to the story, and places him smack in the middle of the conflict between two powerful god-like entities – the Magpie Spirit and the Lady.
That’s one side of the conflict. For the other, we have Nascha to thank for. A servant girl blessed with the Owl Spirit’s gifts but poisoned all her life to suppress them, Nascha is someone I grew to like an awful lot because of the amount of character growth she goes through in the span of this novel. From a cowardly servant, Nascha grows into a brave and powerful young woman whose decisions speak of a great deal of agency of the character. From a damsel in distress saved by a charming Gentleman Fox (it’s a long story), Nascha grows to a hero I was beyond excited to read about. And her enemies are no joke – a Titonidae nobleman intent on ending Nascha’s life for her white hair, which signifies her blessing from the Owl Spirit, and an affronted lover, intent on vengeance, blessed by another of the Great Spirits. Add these to the abovementioned mix, and what you end up with could be a down-right mess. . . but thanks to Benedict Patrick’s skilful juggling of these plot threads, and more, the end result is a story which engrosses for hours and hours, with its compelling characters, rich world and several moral dilemmas, which get resolved in unexpected ways.
Do I have any pet peeves? You bet! None of them will I discuss here, since they mostly go into spoiler territory, and I am unwilling to spoil a single twist in here – and besides, none of these pet peeves takes away from my enjoyment, nor did they affect my reading of the novel in any way. I was never pulled away from the book – always, instead, immersed in the world.
And I dare say, you will be too.
I give this novel a 9 out of 10, or a 4.5 out of 5, which I am happy to bump to a 5/5 on Goodreads! This is a very fine book, and I hope you’ll give it a chance. You don’t need to have read any of the other Yarnsworld novels either, though ‘They Mostly Come Out at Night’ certainly provides a lot of context.
My closing thoughts? Take heed, all ye edgy writers of fantasy and fairy tales: This is how you write a dark story without a whiff of gratuitous violence! In all seriousness, Benedict Patrick has tapped into something riveting with this mixture of dark fantasy and darker fairy tale, and his Yarnsworld universe is well on its way to earning recognition well beyond what it has so far garnered.
‘In the Shadow of the Owl Queen’s Court’ was released on September 26th, and I’m really pissed off I didn’t finish it until two days later; but life gets in the way sometimes. I got an ARC of this along with the first one, from the author, in return for an honest review. ...more
DISCLAIMER: I received an e-ARC of Priest of Bones in return for an honest review.
I’ve never taken up reading so many books I knew next to nothing aboDISCLAIMER: I received an e-ARC of Priest of Bones in return for an honest review.
I’ve never taken up reading so many books I knew next to nothing about as in the past half-year. This new way of reading for me has proven itself a most positive experience– I’ve discovered a number of fantastic new authors, indie and ‘mainstream’ alike! Sure, now and then I’ll read a book that is mired in errors, bad characterization and worse, but I find myself excited about so many novels to come from all these new names!
The latest book among the number?
Priest of Bones. This may be my very favourite discovery of 2018, so far. Like a lightning bolt from clear skies, Peter McLean’s first book in the War for the Rose Thorn trilogy struck me without warning and has left one hell of a memorable afterimage.
Now, I’ve never seen Peaky Blinders, but apparently, this novel is inspired by the BBC series, and if that means something to you, you’re all set, and you can save yourself the tedious amount of text the rest of the review is, and safely pre-order a copy of Priest of Bones. To me, all that means is, I really need to see Peaky Blinders because a show that inspires a work like this must be something truly exceptional.
A warning to all you ladies and gents who cannot deal with dark fantasy; this novel is quite violent. The violence is not gratuitous, and it always serves a point, adding to the story rather than being there for violence’s sake, which is what matters most to me.
The setting of this book I would describe as a mixture of grimdark and Low Fantasy. Magic, while existing in the world and playing a small role in it, is more of a side-note. While powerful and terrifying, it is a rare thing, and mostly unexplored by our main character. Just about all the characters in Priest of Bones are gritty, visceral, and down to earth ex-soldiers.
The plot is simple enough: Tomas Piety is a priest, a soldier and the leader of a criminal group called the Pious Men. Tomas returns home from war with his squad of soldiers, along with his brother, to find his criminal empire overcome by a new organization with ambitions that go well beyond anything the Pious Men imagine.
The character of Tomas Piety carries this story really well. He’s ruthless but principled, unwilling to cross certain lines – rape, the distribution of drugs, sampling the merchandise without paying for it. Piety’s first-person PoV does a fantastic job, chiefly because Tomas is one of the most interesting characters – at first, portrayed as somewhat emotionless, the story digs into the psychology of this man. A very well-explored theme is PTSD, or shellshock. The horrors of the war our characters return from will pop up time and time again. Like Y’Gathan or Pale did for the Bridgeburners in Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen, so did Abington forge and break these new Pious Men.
This book has so much to love – visceral skirmishes between a dozen fighters, quick and brutal, executed flawlessly thanks to Peter McLean’s clean, easy-to-read prose. Spies, intrigue, a splice of magic, even a healthy shot of politics. Varied characters in the crew– Bloody Anne, Sir Eland the (False) Knight, Fat Luka, Billy the Boy, they’re all interesting, damaged beyond repair, and memorable. And if you were hoping for despicable characters—just you wait until you meet Ma Aditi, and a few others, besides!
You’ll enjoy this book if you’re into
Bands of likeable crooks; *A fantastic main character, who sees the world very much in grey but has a line he won’t cross; *Gang warfare; *Really, did I mention the exceptional characters all around? *The smell of a world’s early industrial era; *Well-paced stories; *And More! Prob’ly.
I am happy to throw in a 5/5 star rating on Goodreads, and my Filip’s Read of the Month badge on the bottom of the mountain (or at least large hill) of accolades this lovely wee novel deserves! I’m extremely excited to read the next book, whenever that one is due to be released.
Now I have to acquaint myself with whatever Peter McLean’s previous series is. If its quality is anywhere near as good as this, it’ll be a treat....more
Brian McClellan’s Sins of Empire was among the finest novels published in 2017. I came to it blind, not having read Brian’s I missed my train station.
Brian McClellan’s Sins of Empire was among the finest novels published in 2017. I came to it blind, not having read Brian’s first Powder Mage trilogy, unfamiliar with a world that, soon enough would come to be one of the most treasured fictional realms I’ve ever resided in. I recall opening Sins of Empire up for the first time, on a train from Milano to Monza where I was living in March 2017. I’d bought the book on something of a whim, after glancing through a review on this very subreddit. It’s a short trip, from Milano to Monza, barely twenty minutes.
And I missed my train station.
That’s the sort of magic Brian McClellan works into his writing. You forget everything but the page you’re on, and then there’s the next one, and the next one, and the one after that. His Powder Mage work is escapism at its finest, and it’s enchanting and addictive. Why, then, did it take me more than a year to get to Wrath of Empire?
The answer is simple enough – in preparation for Wrath’s release, I might’ve accidentally overdosed. A few short days before its release date, I took it upon myself to read the original trilogy. And boy, did I read it. It took me three days – and the better part of three nights – but I went through that trilogy like a ravenous ghoul through a cadaver. I lived in that universe, and every time I breathed in, I caught a whiff of saltpetre and gunpowder. And like a powder mage who has taken in too much of the stuff, I might have somewhat burnt myself out. When the book came out, I bought it…but I didn’t yet feel the need to read it. The months went on by, until…I needed another hit of gunpowder.
And by Jove, what a hit it was.
Wrath of Empire is explosive. It’s grand, it’s bloody and brimming with action; further, it is a fantastic representative of what I’ve come to think of as the new age of heroic fantasy, gritty and seeking to affect realism but ultimately hopeful even at its bleakest. How does Wrath succeed in this? Through what is arguably McClellan’s greatest strength, his characters.
Whether they are the leading protagonists or supporting characters, Brian’s characters are exceptional, all pushed and pulled by conflicting motivations such as duty and personal feelings, for example. Vlora Flint continues to be one of my absolute favourite women in fantasy, whether she’s showing her tactical prowess or exceptional powder mage abilities. Every minute spent sharing her headspace was a delight and nothing less, and her closing scenes in this novel inspired me to dig deep into heroism in today’s fantasy -- both Vlora and Ben have given me a solid string of breadcrumbs to follow down on the topic of heroic character, but I'm getting ahead of myself with all the excitement.
Ben Styke is one of those characters much of whose power rests on a reputation of cold-blooded murder and a yearning for chaos. Thinking back on it, he’s got a few things in common with Abercrombie’s infamous Logen Ninefingers – but the difference between the two is, I think, that Styke shows through Wrath that he has changed his ways and left much of the bloodthirst and aimless cruelty behind. Not that he’s not one nasty sunuva… but only for good reason. Ben shows mercy more than once, to people the “Mad Lancer” of old would have slaughtered without a moment’s hesitation. He is conflicted, asking himself challenging and difficult questions that his monstrous former self never would have.
These were not times, he decided, that he would judge any man for acting in fear.
Michel is a spy. It’s funny but I actually remember his sections in Sins the least out of the three characters’. Funny, because he is supposed to be someone who shouldn’t come to mind, someone you don’t look at twice. I’d like to imagine he’d be comfortable with me not remembering much of his part in the story so far, at least at first. The shift in Michel’s story is that the man who is most comfortable operating in the shadows is forced to take center stage – given a secret mission by Taniel Two-Shot, he is forced to become a “turncoat” to the Blackhats (the secret police he spent a few years infiltrating, to mixed success in Sins), “defecting” to the Dynize invaders that now hold the city of Landfall. This places him, a non-Dynize, in the spotlight, creating a whole lot of challenges that neither he, nor many of us readers could ever have expected. It’s fascinating, and allows Brian to show the Dynize culture from an insider’s perspective; the intrigue, the political fractures in the empire make the terrifying new enemy from the end of Sins of Empire much more human.
A character I much enjoyed, the merchant Vallencian who, if memory serves, had a moniker something along the lines of the Ice King, only appeared for an all too short a scene. I’m looking forward to seeing him again in Blood of Empire!
I could go on and on. Taniel Two-Shot is as glorious and horrifying as you might remember him from the first Powder Mage trilogy; I miss him as a point-of-view character but watching him from Vlora’s perspective is nothing to complain about. The distance between him and Vlora, a lot of the pressure from Sins has dissipated now that their goals are aligned; seeing the friendship between them is great. As great as the depth of emotion between Vlora and Olem, another Powder Mage trilogy veteran. Olem remains the smart-mouth, tough sergeant at heart, even if he’s Vlora’s second-in-command. Poor guy, though – a number Vlora pulls on him towards the end of Wrath is going to be…hard to live down. Ka-Poel, our favourite Dynize witch, powerful enough to turn gods into mush, is even more terrifying than before, too! There’s a lot of that going on – power progression with her feels well deserved and I’m deeply interested to see how her character arc progresses further. So many other characters deserve a shout-out: Lindet, Ibana, Styke’s foster daughter Celine, Ji-Orz…and a dozen other named characters – at least!
The action demands some praise. The skirmishes between Vlora’s Riflejacks and the Dynize, between Ben Styke’s cuirassiers and dragoons versus their Dynize counterparts, are all deeply tactical, well-researched and thought out, and expertly described. Whenever Ben or Vlora join the fray, combat turns bloody, dirty and downright cathartic. Like Sanderson, Brian McClellan’s writing gets better and better and his action writing never ceases to steal my breath away.
The antagonist of this trilogy seems to be Ka-Sedial, the leader of the Dynize invasion forces. He is a dastardly fellow whose depravity knows no bounds. Michel’s storyline in particular does a lot to show how dangerous this old man is in his quest to create a new god for his people, using the Godstones, magical artefacts which frame the story.
This is such a good read. I don’t think, after all this, you’d be surprised to find out that I give this novel a score of 5/5 on Goodreads, an 11/10 in my heart, and my full-hearted recommendation.
You might want to read this if:
*You love flintlock fantasy; *You are looking for a character-driven story with tight plotting; *You love action, whether in great big scales or in small ones; *Unique, well-thought-out, “hard” magic systems tickle your fancy; *You really enjoy reading about your favourite main characters getting shot. A lot; *And More! Prob’ly.
This piece of excited blubbering about Brian's novel was adapted from my review over on booknest.eu. Thanks for reading!...more
The Blood reveals a few missing pieces about Maika Halfwolf’s family and our young protagonist’s complex relationship with her mother, while it also answers several mysteries first set up in volume one.
What did I like about this volume the most? I think it was the revelation of the full scope of the power the Ancient within Maiko used to posses, as well as the relationship he had with the infamous Shaman Empress. I won’t spoil it because I don’t wanna feel guilty all day after posting this review but…
One of the most visually stunning characters introduced in this volume is a fox Ancient, imprisoned within the island on which Maiko hopes to find answers about the nature of the god inside her. What Takeda has done with Greybeard, as Maiko affectionally calls him, is everything you can hope to ask from an expert comic book artist. His cold, almost eyes, the guarded expression, the proferred piece of gold in his hand, they tell us readers more about this ancient arcanic than the first few dialogue bubbles do!
Revelations aplenty — who’d have ever thought that our Lovecraftian monstrosity, this god abomination that has consumed one of Maika’s hands already, has a heart? The nature of the gods is touched upon as well, with a sibling of our monstrosity introduced through flashbacks.
Maika herself continues to shine. Whether she’s exchanging verbal blows with pirate captains or very real ones with a variety of creatures intent on ending her life, Maika responds blow for blow at anything coming her way. Monstress wouldn’t be what it is if it didn’t throw some tough curveballs Maika’s way — illusions, drowning, emotional bombshells — but our girl does her tiger uncle Seizi proud. What tiger uncle, I hear you ask? I ain’t saying more!
And of course, there’s always Kippa, affectionately called Little Fox by Maiko. She’s a source of light much needed in even the darkest moments Monstress’s plot throws our way.
This is a solid second act that continues to do everything that Volume 01 did right — theworldbuilding astounds, characters grow and evolve and the art– oh, the art! There’s a reason why this series won an Eisner for best multimedia artist AND for best cover last year. I’ll occasionally open up The Blood just to take in the art and let me tell you, it does not lose its appeal one bit.
The Blood is good, dear reader. It’s damn good. Worth every cent of your money and every minute of your time. Buy it, read it, enjoy the hell out of it. I know I did, and I am looking forward to what comes forward!...more
To steal some of my favourite Glen Cook words from the first Black Company novel: Port of Shadows is misery curdled, but also new and interesting. TheTo steal some of my favourite Glen Cook words from the first Black Company novel: Port of Shadows is misery curdled, but also new and interesting. The series of events in-between these covers are like a bottomless well filled with murky water. For a week now, I’ve amused myself plumbing this latest Glen Cook novel’s shadowy depths, trying to isolate fact from fiction, legend, and myth. No easy task, for the book’s damn author deals with the history of his fictional characters as a mad jester would, fully intent on confusing and providing no answers whatsoever on the one mystery I care about, above all others: just what is the deal with the Senjak sisters?
If you’ve read the original Black Company trilogy, Senjak will doubtlessly be familiar to you – it is the last name not only of the taken known as Soulcatcher but also of the Lady herself. The dynamics in the Senjak family have fascinated me for the whole duration of my two-year long romance with The Black Company series. Port of Shadows mercilessly strings the reader along in building a series of assumptions that will often go against the assumptions built in previous titles of the series. Alas, Glen Cook has never been one to say things outright, and I fear many of the questions we seekers of truth have, will remain unanswered.
But that’s enough bitching and moaning from me, at least on the topic of the Senjaks. Let’s talk about Port of Shadows in a wider context!
The first thing I should mention is, it’s been nearly a month since I flipped this novel closed, and I’m still unsure of what to make of it. There’s a really solid beginning there, which recaptures in full the magic of the first Black Company novel, courtesy of those familiar cast dynamics. Everyone’s back – the Captain, in his customary bad spirits, Croaker’s oldest pal Elmo, and everyone’s favourite trio of mildly competent wizards, One-Eye, Goblin and Silent. I can hardly believe how well Glen Cook has managed to recapture the voices of the Company core personnel, thirty-four years after the release of the original. That’s an achievement no one can take from Cook, and proof of his skill.
Some continuity sloppiness is to be expected with a book whose plot happens between the first and the second chronicles of the Black Company. That’s not too much of an issue for me – I’m familiar with the writer’s desire to add something that didn’t account in said writer’s original plans of the multi-faceted story they wanted told. If Cook had written this as the second instalment of his series all these years ago, I could see a lot of what happened in Port of Shadows being referenced to and feeling somewhat more meaningful than it does by the time I finished with it, knowing the events won’t ever be referenced again… unless the
A new Taken takes (no pun intended) the central stage here, and her name is Mischievous Rain. Or is it? Perhaps it’s Tides Elba, a young woman whose face is much too reminiscent to that of the Company’s employer, the Lady. If you’ve read previous Company novels, you’ll have guessed by now that Company Annalist Croaker will have some issues keeping it in his pants around this particular lady.
The prose? Tight and familiar, and very much what I’ve come to appreciate from Cook. “The air was still and nearly chill now that the rain had gone away. A hint of corrupting flesh tainted the air of imperial Dusk.”
What I have issue with is the ending. In its defence, it has to balance not completely decimating the continuity of the series while giving something akin to a resolution. I didn’t like the resolution too much, I’ll be honest. The other issue I have has to touch upon several sections of the book which are misogynistic beyond what even a squad of cut-throat mercenaries would tolerate – sections, which make even me, a guy who rarely shies away from violence and grim subject matters, cringe and look away, embarrassed. Yes, with the plot what it is, I can see what Cook was trying to accomplish but I cannot get on board with it, not on some of the creepiest aspects of the Port of Shadows. I won’t even get into the details, since it’s going to take a while; but hey, if you really want an in-depth investigation into this weird, uncomfortable subject matter which might involve the discussion of mass rape of magical clones, let me know in the comments below, and I might end up writing an academic paper on just how weird it is.
I enjoyed a lot of this book, but I can’t overlook the fact it made me uncomfortable at several different points, and it left me scratching my head at the end of the book, and not in exactly the same way as previous books in the series. Glen Cook experimented with a lot of interesting ideas, and while I enjoyed the inception of many of them, the eventual payback wasn’t all there. I feel genuinely uncertain on how to score this. Do I give it three stars (out of five)? Four? Screw it, I’ll give a score of 3.5/5. Port of Shadows…It’s good, it’s not, and it’s really bloody confusing!
Oh, and I really loved Croaker's demon kids. They're a big part of the reason I still had a lark during the latter third of this book!
Pre-Review Blah-Blah: Trying to make up my mind about this one. Not sure about the final score yet, but the review is forthcoming....more