Elitist Book Reviews

I've been thinking about the concept that lies at the crux of this review for quite a while now. I've come across it a couple times in the recent past--the most recent while watching Disney's Frozen--and each time my realization as to why I wasn't enjoying the story as much as I should have been eluded me for quite a while. Hopefully I've learned something about this concept after having seen it in action for the third time.

BLOOD AND IRON is the first in a new fantasy series by Jon Sprunk and feels like a step in the “larger” direction after his Shadow Saga novels. This novel immediately felt bigger to me, as the story being told was about large-scale wars, and nations, and phenomenal cosmic powers (bonus points for the reference on that last one...).

The story begins with Horace--a soldier from the west--in the midst of a storm at sea, and en route to a war with the foreign Akeshians. Instead of war though, he finds his way to solitary capture, enslavement, and then to opulent establishment. This due to the fact that he's a latent sorcerer, and comes into power after coming to this new land.

Also at the forefront of the story is Jirom, an ex-mercenary from far-off Zaral, that is biding his time as a gladiator until he can find his way to freedom. Quickly though he meets Horace and is affected by him in a way that he can barely describe. Their meeting and time together is brief, but after they part he finds himself seeking out this man from the west.

Two women also share some of the page time, although considerably less than Horace and Jirom. Byleth, queen of Akeshia, and Alyra, her hand-maiden and court spy for forces outside of the reigning nobility.

The strengths of the novel are easily the amount of action and overall pacing. These are strengths that Sprunk brought from his previous novels. The dude knows how to write action. The story jumps from one scene to the next and there's always something happening. If I'm being honest, some of the action near the beginning of the book felt a little forced. With Horace getting overly angry and lashing out without thinking about what he was doing. Almost like something was driving him to be angry, and I was hoping that it wasn't just the author needing to throw some more action in. A couple times I was pretty surprised when Horace's captors didn't just off him, as other slaves around him were getting some pretty steep punishments indeed. Still, good action, good pacing.

Something that Sprunk improved on in this book over his previous trilogy was his descriptions. There were very few times when I was reading and wouldn't know where a character was, or who was in a scene. Especially some of the more large-scale descriptions about the countryside through which Horace traveled while getting to his ultimate destination were well-done. They portrayed a good sense of scale for the world in which the characters reside.

World-building was completed on a similar scale, although not in quite as much detail. There is some sense of history and larger battles being fought between forces both external and internal to Akeshia. This aspect could definitely have been better and would have been the perfect fit to Byleth's character, if more time had been spent with her.

One of the weakest aspects of the book was the magic system. Horribly cliched: earth, wind, fire, and air-based magics, with a bit of a void-magic to boot. Even though there is time for Horace to be taught, for him to develop his powers (which is good--I hate it when newbies are never really newbies), the magic falls completely short of being anything approaching interesting. Only very basic ideas about how the magic is controlled are approached, and it felt like anything he could come up with could feasibly be whipped out at a moment's notice. The magic saves Horace's bacon repeatedly with him having no notion of what he's doing or how he's accomplishing it. Quite frustrating.

The crux of the problems with this story falls to a single issue: this story doesn't belong to Horace. It is, in fact, Queen Byleth's. In much the same way that the story in Frozen belongs to Elsa (Think about it--if you've seen it. Whose choices does every significant branch of that story turn on? Elsa's. Also, it's no coincidence that the story is based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen. Aka: not Anna.), the story told in BLOOD AND IRON belongs to Queen Byleth and not Horace.

And yet, Horace is ostensibly the main character, as he gets the most face time in the book. Even the summary on the back of the book focuses on Horace and the changes that he's going to make to Akeshia. The really difficult part is that Byleth gets so little POV time that it's hard to even realize that it's her story until nearly the very end. Even more difficult is the fact that Horace and Jirom don't even feel like secondary characters, because they're not directly influencing anything to do with the main story line. Instead, they end up feeling kind of like cameras, sent to show us what is happening along the way. Horace hangs out with Queen Byleth and we see what she is doing and what is going on in court, and Jirom hangs out with a group of rebels and we see what they are doing in the battle against the ruling nobility. This makes Horace and Jirom boring, even if we do see lots of action and interesting things through their eyes. Alyra was a great secondary character though, with her own motivations and fears, that interacted with the queen's story at a very basic level.

Although I gave this one a fairly low rating overall, I think that things could totally be saved by addressing the single issue of who the story belongs to. There are some really good aspects of this novel and others that show marked improvement over previous books. I mean, come on. If Disney can make a mistake like telling a story from the wrong character's perspective, then I think anyone can. The important part will be the process of learning from the past and doing better next time, and that is something that I think Mr. Sprunk has proven that he can do. Because he's done it with every book he's written. Progress and improvement are hallmarks of the best.

Recommended Age: 16+, profanity and violence
Profanity: Somewhat sparse, but it can got strong a few times
Violence: Crazy violent during the battles and gladiator fights
Sex: Some implied relations, no scenes though

BLOOD AND IRON

Helen thinks she can't do anything right. Of course those realizations are all after the fact. Take, for example, the marriage to her husband Alastair six months ago. At the time it was the best possible thing for her, and she even thought she could grow to really love him. But lately she's discovered he's not who she thought he was.

A lot of that is due to his new involvement with Copperhead, a group of men who want to rid the city of fey and dwarvven. Completely. In IRONSKIN, Helen discovered the dangers of the fey personally, so her fear is genuine. But she's still of the "live and let life" philosophy and finds Copperhead's methods alarming.

In a desire to be useful, Helen agrees to help her sister Jane convince the fashionable ladies of society that keeping the fey faces that make them beautiful actually put them in danger. But will she mess this up, too?

Set in an alternative England of the early 1900s, you can jump into COPPERHEARD without having read IRONSKIN. It's a fun series with interesting characters and a well-plotted mystery. The first book was told from Helen's sister Jane's PoV, but here she takes a back seat. I especially enjoyed Helen's PoV voice, her wry observations, and her personal struggle to understand herself and the people around her. She's not as feisty as other heroines, but that doesn't make her contributions insignificant. Rather like Eff Rothmer in THE FAR WEST; but where Eff is thoughtful and conscientious, Helen is determined and competent...if rather vain. The secondary characters were well-drawn and fun to read, particularly the flamboyant Eglantine and her menagerie of hangers-on.

The one thing I wish I knew more about was the fey. There's more here about the Great War than in IRONSKIN, but the story doesn't expand much beyond talking about a Fey King (there used to be a queen) who punishes fey by ripping them apart and leaving blue vapor bits around town. Fey energy is used for lights and other devices. We do learn that fey can take over a person who has fey on their body...say a fey face like Helen and the society ladies. And how magic in her face gives her emphatic abilities. Fortunately there were enough details that the story made sense.

Connolly deals with themes of racism, women's rights in marriage/divorce, and suffrage with a subtle hand. She blends these issues in a story about women who are capable in a world that would pass them by. And by the end you will see Helen for the heroine she doesn't know she is.

Recommended Age: 14+
Language: None
Violence: Some; one scene is more amusing than scary
Sex: Vague references

Find this series here:

IRONSKIN

COPPERHEAD

It took me a while to catch on to this series by Elizabeth Bear.  I'd seen reviews when the first book, RANGE OF GHOSTS, came out, including here at EBR (see that review here).  I even saw the second book in the series, SHATTERED PILLARS, come out and also reviewed here (see that review here).  The books started to sit in my mind a bit.  It took a while, but they sounded like something I needed to be a part of.  So late last year I finally got RANGE OF GHOSTS (loved it), and for Christmas I received SHATTERED PILLARS (fantastic) so that I could be ready to go when the last volume STELES OF THE SKY came out.

I got STELES OF THE SKY in the mail and tore into it.  I was excited to spend more time with the fabulous characters that Elizabeth Bear had created.  This is one of those series that starts off pretty simply.  We followed Temur on his journeys.  We watched him find Edene and love her.  We watched the wizard Samarkar save Temur's life and start to journey with him.  For the first book it seemed that this was mostly Temur's and Samarkar's story (with occasional interludes from the bad guy, Al-Sepherthe, and Edene).  SHATTERED PILLARS expanded the series and we grew to know more about Hrahima the Cho-tse tiger (a very cool character), and Hsuing the warrior priest with a vow of silence.  I mean, it just kept getting better and better.

I can happily say that STELES OF THE SKY wrapped up the series nicely for me.  The stories build into one another flawlessly.  Bear leads us through this wonderful land at a brisk, but even pace that never left me confused.  There are some big great scenes in this one, scenes that I was really waiting the whole series for.  I left feeling sad that I wouldn't get to spend more time in this world with these characters.  That's what series are all about really, right?  We find a world that just entrances us, characters that are fun to read about and see what they are up to.  One book won't satisfy us so we need more, we need duologies and trilogies and ten book massive series just so we can go back again and again (like vacationing in your favorite spot over and over again).  This is a fun vacation spot to enjoy folks.  I wish I had a brochure to show you all that this trilogy offers...but you'll just have to stick with the reviews here at EBR for now until you buy the novels yourselves.  I would tempt you into it with beautiful vistas, and stunning moments.  The people you'll meet!  The sights you'll see!  You're just gonna have to take my word for it I guess.

The only problem I had with this last book (and it's a small thing in relation to the whole) was strangely enough, the lack of Temur.  He was the character I started with.  He was my first and most important window into this world, and as much as I enjoyed the other characters (and I really did) I kind of missed Temur in this one.  It felt like he got shoved to the sides for a bit of the book and I wanted to experience some of these events through his eyes.  I wanted to see it and feel it with him.

I nitpick.  This series is really great.  It took me awhile to catch on but hopefully you (my dear readers) are smarter than me and already know what I've just finished figuring out.  THIS SERIES ROCKS!

Age Recommendation: 16+
Language: There are a few words, a scattering of F words (less than 10 I think) and little else
Violence: Never described in much detail even in the battle scenes
Sex: Mentioned a few times, never shown in detail

Here are your links so you can enjoy the series as much as we do here at EBR:

RANGE OF GHOSTS
SHATTERED PILLARS
STELES OF THE SKY

HALF A KING by Joe Abercrombie is one of the most hyped novels of the year. Check out some of the author blurbs and you'll see what I mean. Patrick Rothfuss, Rick Riordan, Robin Hobb, and Brent Weeks are among the fantasy heavyweights heaping praise on the novel. When Abercrombie first announced HALF A KING I was anxious. He's my second favorite author and my very reason for returning to the fantasy genre, but I couldn't see how well his brutal wit and grim perspective would translate to a YA novel. You'll no doubt notice that this review has been filed under "Books We Love," but it didn't start out that way.

HALF A KING is the story of Yarvi, the younger son of the king of Gettland. With only one good hand Yarvi has chosen to embrace the path of a minister rather than that of a warrior. The murder of his father (the king) and brother (the natural heir) sees Yarvi ascend to the throne. He is looked upon with contempt by his people for a perceived weakness, but he takes an oath to avenge his family regardless. Betrayed in his quest for vengeance Yarvi must use the greatest and only asset at his disposal (his mind) in order to defeat his enemies and reclaim what is rightfully his.

Because I read this on my Amazon Kindle I was able to track my progress through the novel in percentages. It was also in percentages that I noticed HALF A KING gradually improve. I will openly admit that I was underwhelmed by the first 20-25% of the novel. Yarvi had all the makings of a true Abercrombie hero. He was unconventional and bore a physical handicap and he had suffered as a result. Still, Yarvi had a vanilla flavor that matched the rest of the beginning of the book. The setting of HALF A KING, the Shattered Sea, is has the trappings of a "Viking saga" (as author Myke Cole points out in his blurb) but there's little to differentiate this world from any other generic Norse-inspired fiction, save for the religion. The beginning fifth of the novel is too YA for my liking, it's like HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON without dragons. It doesn't read like Abercrombie. It reminded me why I was reading books like THE BLADE ITSELF when other kids my age were still carrying around the latest Charlie Bone book. And yet...

"What can you think about a cause," muttered Jaud, "when all the decent folk stand on the other side?"

And yet it gets better. I continued reading because Abercrombie has never failed me before. The further I got into the novel the easier it became to forgive the bland opening. With each new conflict Yarvi encounters he became more and more compelling. It got to the point where I started thinking of him as Yarvi Sevenfingers or The Bloody-Seven (no small compliment given I consider Logen of The First Law Trilogy my all time favorite character). In Yarvi exists the literary-DNA of Abercrombie's former protagonists, and still he manages to stand on his own merits. He may not be a great warrior but he is a formidable thinker and the lessons he learnt from his mother (the queen and treasurer) and the king's minister (his mentor) frequently pop up over the course of the novel. Yarvi matures over the course of HALF A KING, growing from naive boy to wise man in a short amount of time. It is an extremely satisfying character arc, one of Abercrombie's best.

"What is the world coming to when an honest man cannot burn corpses with suspicion?" asked Nothing.

The other characters come to distinguish themselves as Abercrombie characters as well, especially Sumael, Shadikshirram, and the man they call Nothing. Sumael channels two of Abercrombie's extremely strong female characters, Ferro (The First Law Trilogy) and Shy South (RED COUNTRY). Shadikshirram brought to mind the fan favorite mercenary captain Nicomo Cosca (BEST SERVED COLD). And then Nothing...well I won't ruin that for anyone. Yarvi forms strong bonds throughout the book, assembling quite a band of misfits on his quest. The cast is colorful and tinged with the sadness that permeates Abercrombie's work and makes for such believable characters.

The plot is largely reactive throughout the novel but once the final third kicks HALF A KING is impossible to put down. Updating my companions as I read the novel I went from "not impressed" to "getting interested" to "not bad" to "hooked" and finally "bravo!" There are a series of twists and betrayals -- the first is predictable but the rest will shock you. The violence so common in Abercrombie novels is toned down. Combat takes a backseat to cunning and negotiation, though it is by no means absent. As always the case when he writes fighting, the edges are sharp and there are no winners...only survivors. Losses present new opportunities and victories are generally Pyrrhic. There are consequences for each and every action and it is this that Abercrombie expresses so well above all other genre writers. Even his YA novel has elements of Greek tragedy and moral ambiguity, understated though they may be in the midst of his other work. This and humor. The wit on display is as dark and sharp as ever, and this is what finally won my affection.

Starting out I was not a fan of HALF A KING. I saw my worst fears for the book realized but I stuck with it and my patience paid off. I wish that the book had been written twice the length as some scenes seem to end abruptly and I would have appreciated more world building. But HALF A KING isn't a novel about setting so much as it is about character, and character is something it has an abundance of. It is also perhaps the most film-friendly Abercrombie book to date. Given the current popularity of movie adaptations of YA books I can see this one getting the big screen treatment (and what a breath of fresh air that would be in the midst of all these yawn-inducing dystopias). I would hesitate to call HALF A KING a masterpiece (and it's still not my favorite Abercrombie novel) but I love it anyway. It starts out like a typical YA novel but transforms into something much greater. I can see this being a gateway drug for new readers. And who knows, HALF A KING is but the first in a trilogy and the end of the novel sees some interesting developments on the horizon.

Recommended Age: 14+
Language: Nothing worse than you get on prime time television.
Violence: The level of detail in the violence is on par with THE HUNGER GAMES though there is considerably less of it and the consequences are far greater.
Sex: There's some hand holding, that's about it.

Want HALF A KING? Order it here.

In FIREBRAND (EBR review) we met the Sithe brothers Seth and Conal. They were exiled beyond the Veil to the world where full-mortals live, as part of a promise to their queen that they would find the bloodstone. By the time BLOODSTONE begins, four hundred years have passed, and Leonna, Conal's mother, is coming to the conclusion that they will never find what they're looking for, that it doesn't exist.

After FIREBRAND's exciting introduction to the series, BLOODSTONE had a lot to live up to. While not as good as the first book, this continuation of the story isn't afraid to take us where the hard decisions have led Seth and Conal on their quest to be free of Kate NicNiven's control.

The great thing so far about this series is its forward momentum and fascinating characters. In FIREBRAND it was Seth's PoV, but here the narration has broadened to Finn (Conal's niece) and Jed (mortal; Finn's friend and son to Seth's lover). At first I found it annoying because I like Seth's narration and it took the majority of the book to understand why the extra PoVs--and teenagers at that--were necessary for the storytelling. Still, Seth is the one whose PoV carries the story: how he views people, his sense of loyalty to his brother, and his often poor decision-making skills. And the strange thing is that even though I hate some of his choices, I still completely understand why he makes them. He is a fascinating person who wavers between bad-boy and sentimental loyalist. Finn and Jed's stories aren't as crucial as Seth's, but they're still interesting. Jed is a bit of a wild card since he's full mortal, and even though he's tied to important characters, ultimately he's powerless. His character arc is the biggest in the novel, but it was painful to watch him flail about in a situation he had no control over.

There's an unfortunate four-hundred year gap between books, which hinders a fleshed-out setting in favor of a fast-paced story, and as a result we don't learn more about the Sithe world, magic, and the Veil. Not that these tidbits aren't important to the story. The Veil makes the Sithe forgettable to mortals and this makes Finn's high school existence miserable. Adding to her teenage angst is the death of her father, a grieving mother who leaves her to be raised by secretive uncles (who are forbidden by their mother to tell her about the Sithe world), and her witch of a grandmother whose search for the bloodstone occupies her time (because if she doesn't focus her attention she'll want to kill herself to follow her dead husband).

However, the surprises in store do make up for what we miss in the world-building--Phillips takes the story in an unexpected direction. We start out in the mortal world, but most of the action takes place in the otherworld, where Conal teams up with his old comrades-in-arms, Kate NicNiven (the Sithe queen) continues to manipulate events to her advantage, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Seth, Finn, and Jed all come to discover that even when they try to make the right decisions, there's no guarantee the results will be what they expect. Phillips weaves these shadowy characters into a complicated and twisty story in a way that is thoroughly engulfing, leaving us with the question of: What will happen next? Because by the end you will want to know.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: A couple handfuls
Violence: Fairly frequent; gory details sometimes glossed over
Sex: Referenced

Find the first two books of the Rebel Angels here:

FIREBRAND

BLOODSTONE

Noon Onyx is a waning magic user--the same magic used to control the demons who won Armageddon. Her magic is not what's extraordinary, it's that she's a woman with an ability that manifests only in men. In the series' first book, DARK LIGHT OF DAY, Noon had to come to grips with her ability and be trained so she wouldn't be a danger to herself and others.

As her schooling progresses, Noon has improved--even if her control still isn't what it should be. But even as a maegester-in-training there is a lot expected of her. First off is that despite a pacifist philosophy she must be willing to kill the demons who transgress the law. The other is to accept a student of waxing magic as her protector. But as someone who doesn't plan to seek out dangerous situations, she finds this exercise pointless. That is, until she's sent on her first assignment to the Swallows, a swamp region where the locals complain of disappearances and blame their own demon protector as the culprit.

FIERY EDGE OF STEEL is told from Noon's straightforward point-of-view narrative. She's been raised in a privileged household, but even that has its own problems considering the magical ability of her parents, and especially her father, the head of the Demon Council. Noon knows she'll never live up to her father's expectations and she's determined to be her own woman. But as a future maegester she's under the direct influence of the Demon Council. Even by the end of the book I wasn't really sure what I thought about her. She wasn't too whiny, annoying, or unrealistic, but she was still meh for me.

I liked the secondary characters much better. There's the mysterious Ari Carmine, her boyfriend and partner on their assignment to the Swallows. There's Rafe Sinclair, the laid-back waxing magic user who's assigned to guard her, but Noon can't seem to get him to cooperate like she wants him to. There's Ari's guardian waxing magic user Fara, who exclusively uses glamour to cover her true appearance. Even the ship's captain is fascinating. The mystery of these people is unraveled throughout the book, and I found their quirks more interesting than even the main character's.

The setting is what makes this book shine--it takes place after Armageddon, only it wasn't the host of Heaven who won, it was the demons. That doesn't necessarily mean that demons rule the world, but it does mean they live openly among humans; fortunately humans have been given the ability to seek justice on demons using their magic. Sometimes it was weird to have this half-medieval, half-modern setting, with jeans and t-shirts, espressos, swords, scripture, and magic spells. The concept is interesting and the way Archer displays for us the landscape, people, and magic all work together well.

However, despite a fun setting and interesting characters, it was the story itself that held back my giving an unhesitating endorsement. Which is too bad because all of the elements are there. Well, except maybe for the meh main character, but she's fine as a narrator so it didn't bug me too much. It's that I had a hard time knowing where this story was going. Like Homer's The Odyssey, FIERY seems to be mostly about the journey (not that I'd compare them as equivalent in literary terms)--Noon and Co. spend three-quarters of the book trying to get to the Swallows. Maybe I'm being too nitpicky, but I waded through an extended focus on the tedium of traveling and study, waiting for Noon and her entourage to arrive in the Swallows where the real crescendo of action should happen. As a result, the ending didn't have the building action it needed to give it real significance.

I continue to find myself--even a couple of weeks after finishing it--thinking about the magic and demons and angels. The plot? Not so much.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Not that I remember
Violence: Scattered fighting with demons, but without gory detail
Sex: An undetailed scene; otherwise implied or referenced

Find this series here:

DARK LIGHT OF DAY

FIERY EDGE OF STEEL

You were first introduced to Isabella Camherst in A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS (EBR review) in what Steve called a fantasy version of Downton Abby...kinda. I would also like to point lovers of Novik's Temeraire series, and even those who enjoy Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series, to this exciting new world Marie Brennan has created.

THE TROPIC OF SERPENTS begins three years after NATURAL's fateful expedition to the mountains of Vystrana. Isabella agrees to a second expedition, but this time it's a further-flung journey to study species on the continent of Eriga. It's a good thing she loves dragons because anyone with less passion would have given up by now considering the deck stacked against her: Isabella's family disapproves of her adventures, even scientists must deal with local politics, and the climate is not only oppressive it's dangerous. The mountains of Vystrana tested her strength, and now the jungle known as the Green Hell will test her resolve.

Along for this expedition is Mr. Wilker, the only recurring character to appear with consistency. If you recall in NATURAL, Isabella and Mr. Wilker didn't get along much, but here they have to rely on each other and come to a mutual agreement. There is also Isabella's mechanically gifted friend Natalie, who has to escape her family in order to join the expedition. There are various locals and a big-game hunter who stirs things up a bit, but on the whole the story is about Isabella and her experience. As a result the secondary characters don't go into much depth, but Isabella is such a fascinating person and her description of people and events is entertainment enough.

The locale is more in-depth here compared to NATURAL, but there are a lot of place and race names to keep track of. I mentally attempted to parallel the place/race with real-life equivalents, but that only gave me a headache. And there's a lot of politics: the local king, settlers from Isabella's country, locals who live in the swamp, and those who live on the other side of the swamp/river, potential invasions, foreigner meddling, etc. We have a lot to learn about Isabella's world.

Personally I wanted to skip all that for the dragon hunting. Fortunately, despite this front-heavy information, once all that is out of the way we get into the story itself. It's worth pushing through because it does matter to the story, and fortunately Brennan doesn't make it boring. And there's plenty of dragon information to whet one's appetite. Once Isabella arrives on Eriga we begin to get a better feel for the politics and culture, and as the story unfolds everything makes sense.

Brennan's prose and storytelling are a pleasure to read, compelling, delightful, and entertaining. Just like Downton Abby. Definitely worth your time.

Recommended Age: 15+ (my 15-year-old daughter loved the first book and snatched up this one as soon as it arrived)
Language: Very little
Violence: Peril (human and animal related) and off-screen deaths
Sex: Vague references

Find this enjoyable series here:

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS

THE TROPIC OF SERPENTS

One hundred years ago Telsharu was imprisoned after a failed attempt to kill the emperor. Telsharu still lives, and in the opening pages of THE TALE OF TELSHARU, he secures his escape from prison in order to finish the quest he began all those years ago.

Xansul, the youngest son of a noble house, secretly leads a group of rebels who struggle for freedom against a tyrannical emperor. He risks his own life and the future of his freedom fighters when one night he sneaks onto the palace grounds to test the security.

ShianMai, the emperor's youngest daughter, wants only to gain her father's favor, and works via politics to bring down the rebels by exposing their sympathizers and leadership. But her naiveté puts herself and those she loves in danger.

Daryun and Aisina operate their own martial arts training school in the mountains far north of the Imperial City, but even that remoteness doesn't shield Daryun from his duty to aid the empire when the famed prisoner Telsharu escapes.

Sure TELSHARU borrows from well-known stories like The Scarlet Pimpernel, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and even Kung-Fu Panda--but then Mechling and Stubbs turn those stories on their heads, taking the familiar and breathing into it new life. It's a good thing, too, because the opening prologue and chapters felt a little quaint and even silly, the prose too self-aware (even by the end when I was used to the prose's rhythm, I still stumbled over some of the phrasing), the setting rather ordinary and full of unfamiliar words. But what will grab you here are the characters and the very difficult circumstances in which they find themselves.

Told in a rotating third-person PoV between Daryun, Aisina, Xansul, ShianMai, and Telsharu, we come to appreciate their distinct personalities: Daryun's humble strength, Aisinia's determination, Xansul's sense of justice, and ShianMai's innocence. These are their strengths and their weaknesses. I enjoyed each couple's relationships with each other, how they support each other, and become better people by knowing the other--it is these characters who will carry me to the sequel. Even the villainous Telsharu's actions and motivations were choreographed with an empathetic hand.

The setting is a pretty standard Sho-gun Era meets Ancient China. However, the authors weave more details into the story about martial arts itself, the different disciplines, how warriors incorporate it into their own lives. This knowledge isn't tacked on, it's an integral part of the story. Even the way demons are introduced into the story feels seamless and natural. The fights had a sense of detail about how true fights worked, and as a result they felt real and visceral, even if flashy at times (not necessarily a bad thing).

The pace is consistent throughout the novel, the plot moving forward at a steady clip, with enough twists and tension to suck you into what at first seems a borrowed story, but eventually evolves into something more. It didn't go where I expected it to, and by the exciting end I was drawn into the disastrous choices the main characters make--for good reasons or for bad--and the equally disastrous consequences. I'm interested in seeing how the Tales of the Seventh Empire series continues.

Recommended Age: 14+, it would actually be a great book for young teen boys who like ninjas and whose parents want to keep their books clean
Language: None
Violence: A fair amount scattered throughout; blood, death, torture, but lacking grisly detail
Sex: None

Find this book here:

THE TALE OF TELSHARU

The sequel recently came out:

THE SCOURGE OF NARAK

Seth MacGregor is Sithe, and lives in their realm beyond the Veil, apart from full-mortals. Abandoned by his witch mother, he lives in his father's clan as an outsider, unruly and wild. He idolizes his older brother, Conal, who will inherit their father's captaincy of their dun/village.

Conal is loved by many, which draws the irritation of their queen, the beautiful but cruel Kate NicNiven. And when Kate exiles Conal to the human world, Seth chooses exile, as well.
In the human world it's the end of the sixteenth century, when superstition and religious upheaval lead to brutal witch hunts. When Conal and Seth draw the attention of a new priest in town, they decide to return to the Sithe and risk Kate's wrath.
FIREBRAND surprised me because the cover looks like your average corny fantasy. Fortunately it's more than that. Tautly written, the prose is lovely yet not flowery. If you're a fan of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles (if you love traditional fantasy, Cornwell's historical fiction series is worth reading) or even Mary Stewart's Arthurian series, FIREBRAND has the same feel--setting up the world and a people in a way that builds on each other.

The first person PoV character Seth is a complicated man. We follow him from his youth as he struggles to hold his own among a hard and warlike people. He's hot-headed, dark tempered, and utterly loyal to Conal. Philip did a great job portraying a young man in a culture foreign to ours, yet she was also able to make it feel real to readers. Seth's narration of those around him shows an ability to understand people, even if he doesn't like most of them.

The differences between the Sithe and human worlds felt pretty basic, which is really my only complaint with FIREBRAND (hopefully this will be remedied with sequels)--although these differences are enough for now to make the prejudices between the people believable. The straightforward story moves between Seth's father's dun, Kate's underground court, and the human world, and it was easy to visualize the places and people.

The strength of FIREBRAND is Seth himself and the story of his life and how much his brother Conal influences it for the better. It's easy to see why Seth idolizes his brother and is willing to sacrifice his own well-being in order to follow him. A lot of the story does revolve around what Conal does, which made me wonder why Seth was the PoV narrator, but I'm willing to see where the series goes. They spend the story of FIREBRAND at the mercy of Kate and the world around them, until they finally take matters into their own hands in an exciting final chapter that turns their world upside-down.

FIREBRAND is a quick read and would be appealing to many different readers, teenagers and adults alike.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: A mere handful of instances
Violence: Bloody battles, yes
Sex: Implied and referenced but nothing on-screen

Find this good start to the new Rebel Angels series here:

FIREBRAND

It's been a while, hasn't it? If you are like me, you've read Scott Lynch's first two novels several times while eagerly awaiting his THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES. There have been very few novels that I, personally, had anticipated as much as this one. I guess the real question is whether or not the wait was worth it?

For me, yes. I'm a patient sort for the most part. There are so many amazing novels to read that waiting doesn't bother me as much as it used to. That, combined with the knowledge that Lynch was facing some pretty severe personal issues, made me not care too much at the oft delayed 3rd novel in the Gentlemen Bastard Sequence. It's been five years since RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES, but now that the novel is here, I find I hardly care about that wait.

Here is my one and only warning. If you haven't read both THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA and RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES, don't read this review. I can't help but spoil a few things from those terrific novels here. That's it. You've been warned.

THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES is a very different novel from the previous two. It picks up pretty much right where RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES leaves off with Locke being poisoned. He has very little time to live, and Jean is doing his best to find a way to cure his friend. This leave Locke ripe for the manipulating, which the Bondsmagi of Karthain promptly do. They want Locke and Jean to rig an election for a certain political party in Karthain. Their opponent is none other than Sabetha, Locke's ex-lover whom he still loves.

What is promised here is a story of politics, manipulation and corruption on a massive scale. I was definitely intrigued. Except we really don't get much of this.

THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES really isn't about manipulating an election (though some of that comes into play). This is the Locke and Sabetha story. They story of how they met. How their relationship grew. How they finally became lovers. How they react to each other after not seeing each other for five years. Buried under everything, this is a love story and a tragedy. If you can't accept that, this novel will be a disappointment to you. I figured out this piece rather quickly, so I was able to enjoy the novel for what it was, and enjoy it I did. Immensely.

The questions that have always plagued me since first reading THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA centered over who Locke really was, and who Sabetha really was. They have always been more than just normal people, and I wanted some answers to those questions. They way this is all told is through a series of flashbacks (as usual in a Scott Lynch novel) to the time before Sabetha left the Gentlemen Bastards, and then the current political events in Karthain. The flashbacks cover a time when the whole of the Gentlemen Bastards are packed off by Father Chains to learn stagecraft. As usual, it all goes wrong.

The previous novels in this series have all had some grand scheme that Locke and Jean were trying to execute. THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES is a bit different in this regard. The big scheme is actually fairly limited to the flashbacks, and the political machinations devolve mostly into elaborate pranks (with the exception of a beautifully maneuvered finale). As such, the tone of the novel feels more like the main characters are just reacting to events rather than proactively setting and enacting large-scale schemes.

I don't want you to think I didn't like the novel. I did. In the end I loved it. It was paced far better, and was infinitely more cohesive than RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES. It just didn't go into the politics as much as I would have liked, and the characters were less active than in prior novels.

That said, I have come to the conclusion that Lynch is one of the most engaging wordsmiths in the business. His writing is captivating. I loved just reading the words, and the way he structures his chapters. It is extremely hard to pull of meaningful flashbacks in a novel, and this novel is half flashback--indeed I would say the flashback story is of far more importance than the current story.

The other thing I love is how consistent the characters are from book to book. This isn't to say they are stagnant, because they do learn. The Locke Lamora from THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA is a radically different character from the one he is in the REPUBLIC OF THIEVES. It's the logical reactions that Jean, Locke and Sabetha have that make them real. It's how their progression is consistent and, again, logical. They are never out of character, and that takes tremendous skill as an author.

I should also mention that within the flashbacks Lynch even created an original play. The play--titled The Republic of Thieves, of course--obviously is a window into the Gentlemen Bastards, and into the Locke/Sabetha relationship. It's awesome, but you can see how everything in the novel is focused on those two.

So what does this novel accomplish for the series? It's a question I asked myself frequently after finishing the book. In reality, it's pure setup. It sets up a super-villain of sorts. It sets up Locke and Sabetha with very real context. It moves Locke and Jean from the mess and tragedy at the end of RES SEAS UNDER RED SKIES into the next phase of the series. It gives us teases as to how bad things are going to get for Locke. In some ways the novel accomplishes little, while in other ways it accomplishes a ton.

Whether or not you will like the book will depend--wait for it--entirely on you. I loved it. The novel is a far more personal novel, and I really appreciated that tone. There aren't many novels out there that can compete with THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES.

Recommended Age: 18+
Profanity: Tons. Just like the last novels.
Violence: When it happens, it is brutal. But this novel has far less than previous volumes.
Sex: There are actually a few scenes in this book. They don't get too explicit, but there is some detail. Additionally there are a lot of vulgar references throughout the novel.

Stop screwing around and buy this series:

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA
RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES
THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES

Dresediel Lex--desert city of 16 million--is dependent on reservoirs to provide its citizens with water, so when a demon infests a crucial supply it's Caleb who's sent to solve the problem. While there Caleb stumbles across the wild Mal, a cliff runner in the wrong place at the wrong time who escapes before he can question her. Could she have witnessed the arrival of the demon or was her presence more nefarious?

When Caleb reports his findings to his boss, the King in Red (skeletal Craftsman, owner of  Red King Consolidated, de facto ruler of the city Dresediel Lex), he's also tasked with figuring out the cause of the infestation. Was it a mistake or was it intentional? Fingers point to none other than Caleb's father, the last priest of the city's old gods and leader of the True Quechal terrorists. Despite his estrangement from his father, Caleb isn't convinced it was him and decides to go looking for the missing cliff runner to find out what she saw--a task easier said than done.

What follows those dense beginning chapters of set-up reminds me of the big black pyramid that's the heart of the city of Dresediel Lex: brick by brick Gladstone's story builds in intensity until you're left gasping for air by the time you reach the top.

Gladstone's first novel, THREE PARTS DEAD (EBR review), introduced us to this fascinating world of gods, Craftsmen, and even the cities themselves--these books are urban fantasy, legal thrillers, steampunk, and epic fantasy all rolled into one novel.  TWO SERPENTS RISE isn't a sequel to the first novel, but since it is set in the same world there is a sense of continuity. You don't have to have read TPD to understand TSR, but it wouldn't hurt and TPD is a novel worth reading.

TPD was a debut novel, and had hardly anything for me to complain about it was so well written. Gladstone's second novel is even better. My main complaint in TPD was the PoV issues arising from the omniscient-style narrative, but since TPR is told almost exclusively from Caleb's viewpoint it's a non-issue here. Also, the main character of TPD didn't have much of a character arc, but here Caleb is a very fascinating character who struggles with the choices he's made. He may not be a Craftsman, but his father hasn't left him powerless; he's full of contradictions and yet his actions make sense. I particularly enjoyed reading his conversations with his friend Teo--they're snappy and she really makes Caleb look at himself more objectively.

Like in TPD, here the city is an important element of the story and the King in Red holds Dresediel Lex together by the skin of his teeth (if he had skin). It has its slums, its former gods and their believers who won't give up, industries--and of course the great pyramid at the center where the King in Red does business, but where sixty years ago the priests of the city sacrificed people to satisfy their hungry gods. We follow Caleb as he goes to work, tracks Mal, and tries to do his job in a city that's wild, dangerous, and beautiful.

The story is a complicated one with twists and turns, the novel moving forward almost effortlessly despite the mountain of information Gladstone throws at you. There were a few things that still confused me, however, because they were left unexplained, and sometimes I had a hard time following his description of important events because they were less literal and more impressionistic. Fortunately, despite these glitches, TSR was very fun to read because of its creativity and imagery. By the end Gladstone doesn't disappoint, having spent the entire book building up to the moment when everything collides. I'm very interested in seeing Caleb's next story.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: Not many, maybe 5 instances
Violence: Some blood and gore, but infrequent
Sex: One scene without detail

Find this book here:

TWO SERPENTS RISE

And the one that came before it (in case you missed it):

THREE PARTS DEAD

I love Kickstarter so much. There has been such a surge in good boardgames, RPGs, and Anthologies thanks to the crowdfunding website. I thought I'd share a link to one of the newest Anthologies on Kickstarter, NEVERLAND'S LIBRARY.

From their Kickstarter page, here is the goal of NEVERLAND'S LIBRARY:

The goal of this project was to create a fantasy anthology based around the theme of Rediscovery. Blending established, and lesser known authors, we hoped to capture the reader’s imagination and bring them back to a time when they first discovered their love of fantasy fiction. For readers who haven't already fallen in love with the genre, we hope to offer immensely entertaining bite-size stories that will pull people in and inspire their imagination!

I love it. I love the idea, and I fully support it. This project has some extremely talented authors involved in it, including Mark Lawrence, Marie Brennan, Miles Cameron & Jeff Salyards (plus a ton of others).

There are five days left on the project, so hurry and get in on it. It's already funded, so you are guaranteed to get some fantastic pieces of short fiction in this anthology. Here's your link to the Kickstarter:

NEVERLAND'S LIBRARY - A FANTASY ANTHOLOGY

As a bonus, I have an excerpt from Jeff Salyards' story. It's a prequel piece about the lead character, Braylar Killcoin, from his Bloodsounder's Arc series.

My sister had long dark lashes that would often hook together to form a net in front of her eyes, and she would blink furiously to free them, eyes rolling white like a frightened horse. And this seemed to happen more frequently when she was excited, as she was when we stood before the tomb. I was looking around the mound, into the woods, trying to see if anything was coming upon us. This wasn’t the first time we’d broken into graves, but it would be our last. Together at least.

The Vorlu believe that each of us goes on a journey in the afterlife, that everyone should be outfitted according to our deeds and station. A babe is buried with a wooden toy in the hollow of a young tree, tarred in, so the two might grow strong and old together. A priest is laid in the earth with his bones and runes, staff and oils. A warrior, his war gear: spear, axe, shield, what have you. But a warlord—a leader of men, a pillager, a great man—he’s either burned in a pyre or buried in an underground vault in his helm and mail, armed with his finest sword, often accompanied by his horse, and his crypt is filled with fruit and meat, milk and mead, furs, coin, hunting horn, drinking horn, bow, glass, musical instruments, perhaps even a slave or two. Everything he would need in the afterlife to pass the time in comfort. A rich grave, indeed. And just the kind we stood in front of.

My sister, Soffjan, looked at me, eyes dark and alert, the cromlech of our ancestors leaning this way and that in the dying light, our breath beginning to show in the air. She looked at me, at the tomb, and then laughed. “Grandfather never did much like company.” I had misgivings, but I deferred to her that night, as I did regularly when we were growing up. She suggested our first robbery two summers before. It had always been graves from villages far off, but we couldn’t go much farther without our absence being noticed, and if someone from another tribe caught us at our business, the punishment would be death. If someone from our own tribe caught us, we figured we’d be publicly flogged or made to clean smegma for a year. And while scraping the prick of an unwilling stallion was deterrent enough for most, it wasn’t quite enough to put us off.

We stood in front of the mound, a pebble cairn as tall as a man with a layer of white quartz around the entrance shining bright as snow, and seeing nothing in the darkening woods, we moved the carved slab blocking the entrance. It wasn’t overly heavy—presumably fear of hobgoblins or spirits kept intruders at bay—and after looking at each other briefly, my sister and I entered the grave and waited for our eyes to adjust. The outlines of things would be enough—most of the tombs are constructed the same way, so we knew what to expect. We passed through the antechamber, crept into a corbelled passageway that led down to the burial chamber and all the goods contained therein.

There, we were completely blind. Most cats would have thought better and retreated at this point. I moved slowly, but I couldn’t help bumping into some jars and a bowl. Soffjan hissed, but it was hard to tell from where. And then I heard her stop moving and draw in breath. I asked what happened. She didn’t answer. I tried again. “What, what is it? Tell me!”

She said, “He’s here.”

Every so often I run through the list of books I've recently read and try to find follow-ups to those I liked. The sequel to Edward Lazellari's debut novel AWAKENINGS (EBR review) was one that pestered me for what seemed a very long time. I kept looking for something but never saw any news about a sequel. And then Steve plopped it in my lap, and I was absolutely floored when I realized that it has been less than a year since the debut. In all fairness, having a newbie author get a 500+ page fantasy novel out within a year is actually, in my opinion, quite decent. I guess some part of me was just really looking forward to this one.

THE LOST PRINCE is the second book in the Guardians of Aandor series, which is, not surprisingly, going to be a trilogy. This book picks up almost immediately after the end of AWAKENINGS. One of my complaints about that first book was the fact that the story just seemed to stop, and this quick pick-up kind of reiterates that. Looking at things from this side the first two books should probably just be tackled as a single 800-page novel. But seriously, what kind of publisher would have picked up a 800-page debut? Answer: none. Score one for Lazellari.

The plot for the book is surprisingly simple: find the prince. There are the good guys that want to return him to Aandor; there are bad guys who want to inflict death upon him; and there are the nebulous types who are in it for their own reasons. Prince Danel is the prize. But how can a book that is so simple be so great? Well, as they say: the devil is in the details.

All of the previous characters from AWAKENINGS are back plus a few new ones. Cal MacDonnel, the married New York cop who now knows he's from a noble house, engaged to another woman, and captain of the guard in the fantasy realm of Aandor. Seth Raincrest, the porn photographer who is actually a wizard in hiding is having trouble casting any spells. Daniel Hauer, the 13-year-old accidental murderer of his step-father and heir to the throne of Aandor. Honestly, I could go on for a while with all the characters in this book. Suffice it to say that there are a bundle and they were actually all done quite well. Characterization is one the of the many shining aspects of this book. All sorts of them get point-of-view time: good guys, bad guys, traitors, neutral parties. Each of them were great.

Although, the sheer number of characters frequently got in the way of me being able to follow all of them and keep them distinct from one another, especially with regard to the “bad guys”. This also made the beginning feel like it was moving really slow. It took a good 20% of the book before I felt like the story was progressing. This was due to a bundle of new POV characters and catching up all of the current characters to where we were in the story. The middle half was a great ramp-up though, and by the time the last third to fourth of the book hit, things were really moving.

The end of the book was crazy good. I remember stopping once and finding myself standing in line at the grocery store with my jaw hanging open and realizing that the line had moved a good long ways since I had last noticed. But even with all of the really cool action and back-and-forth between the various parties as they try to find the prince and finally end up converging on him (REALLY good stuff there), the place where Lazellari completely outdid himself was in staying true to each of the stories of the individual characters. It's the individual characters that drive this story.  Seth's redemption story was especially good for me.  Just solid.

There is one factor that I have to point out that might be a big sticking point for a lot of people and that's the sexual content. The issue is that it involves the prince, who is as you may or may not remember is supposed to be 13 years old. As with all of the other character stories in the book, the time spent with these interactions is significant and detailed. And yeah, it bothered me. The glorification of the deeds was especially evident and overdone. I have no idea why this needed to be in the book. There isn't a lot of extraneous stuff at all in the story, and I can't help but expect that the prince's escapades will come back to bite him at a later date (and thus make these sexual interactions important to the plot of future books), but it all really stuck out like a sore thumb and in my opinion was significantly more than necessary or wanted.

It seems ludicrous to me that Lazellari is writing books that are this good this early in his career. And apparently he's still got a full-time job external to writing to boot. Will be exciting to see where he goes with things once the harness comes off and he can really spend his time writing. Watch this guy. I expect big things to come.

Recommended Age: Adults
Violence:  Not a lot of bloody violence, but most of it is with swords (fantasy world, remember?) so it can get graphic at times
Profanity:  Strong but fairly infrequent
Sex:  Frequent references by one character (porn photographer) and a couple strong scenes involving the 13-year old prince.

Find this amazing debut series here:

AWAKENINGS

THE LOST PRINCE

I'm not usually a proponent of breaking the rules, but very occasionally allow myself an indulgence. When I first picked this book up, I knew I was asking for trouble. My wife actually accused me of choosing it because I wanted something to pick to pieces, and that might have been slightly true. But only a little. It's more likely that I chose it because occasionally I'm just a glutton for punishment.

THE NIGHT CIRCUS is Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, and I actually felt kind of bad for a bit when I found that out after structuring this entire review. I really don't like knocking down newbies. Even ones that are getting a ludicrous number of places--including People and USA Today--to lavish her with laud, and praise, and honor.

The “story”, such as it is, surrounds a very particular kind of circus that is only open during nighttime hours and contains all sorts of fantastical tents and acts. Within this backdrop, two very old men with a high level of magical prowess each train a student to participate in a game of skill where there will only be one winner. This is complicated though, when the two students fall in love. However...

Describing this book with that summary (one that is very similar in content to the one used to promote the book) is almost as large a travesty as me deciding to list the book as being within the fantasy genre. Because although the concept of the game is probably the most prevalent of the few ideas in the book, very little time at all is actually spent on it.

Instead, the chapters revolve around two things: giving background information on the multitude of characters and waxing verbose through descriptive surroundings (including all of the circus tents). The students don't even know who each other are. Neither of them knows the rules. They just do their thing with regard to the circus and hope that they come out well for them. Finding any kind of actual plot line was incredibly difficult. I really had to laugh though, when I read one part of the Q&A on the NIGHT CIRCUS Amazon page:

Q. What was the most challenging aspect of developing this story?
A. It didn't have a plot for a very long time. (Read more...)

Yes, there's more to that quote (and feel free to follow the link and read the rest. It's about a third of the way down the page), but this portion not only contains the crux of the entire response, it succinctly wraps up my thoughts on the story as a whole: there was no plot. It was simply an idea. An idea that was avoided and disregarded and talked around. There was no point to the novel. No excitement. No anticipation. Instead, it was a very pretty, empty shell of a book that absolutely stymies the logical portions of my brain that say, “Honestly. How can anyone find this stuff good?”

Readers who like to read pages and pages of descriptions and character history (but mostly descriptions), dig in. You'll love this one. Those that like actual story, like us, will find this book a great waste of their time.

Recommended Age: 15+
Violence:  Someone dies after being stabbed
Profanity:  One F-word, just like the obligatory single offering in nearly every PG-13 movie of the 90's -- otherwise, I can't remember any at all
Sex:  One short scene with moderate detail

The Night Circus

When you first novel is THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, you've made things very difficult on yourself. Scott Lynch's first novel was incredible. So incredible that it set the expectations for RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES incredibly high. I remember reading RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES and feeling a bit disappointed. Why? Because it wasn't the best novel ever, of course. How could I expect anything less after reading the first novel? It wasn't fair, and now that I've finished a re-read, I have a much better point of view on the novel than I did originally.

Let's face it, shall we? While RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES isn't as good as THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, I feel that it is still an amazing novel and better than 99% of the stuff out there in the Fantasy genre. It's just that RED doesn't blow LIES out of the water that has people feeling the disappointment.

Now I know what you're thinking. "But, Steve," you muse. "RED does have problems, right? You aren't just ignoring them because you love LIES so much, are you?" Indeed, RED does have some issues, and no, I'm not ignoring them.

RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES begins just after THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA leaves off. Locke is in a bad way physically, mentally and emotionally. Jean is dealing with Locke's inability to cope with the guilt he (Locke) feels after the events in Camorr. This portion of the story is told in flashbacks while we read the "current" part of the story of Locke and Jean trying to pull a heist on a gambling establishment called the Sinspire in Tal Verrar. While LIES was more of a novel about confidence schemes, RED is more Ocean's Eleven...at least in the beginning.

And this is perhaps the biggest issue people--including myself--have with RED.

The book starts out promising a heist novel and then switches gears 1/3 of the way into the novel...into a pirate novel. This does two things. First, it gives the novel an impression that it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. Second, when the pirate parts start, the pacing of the novel is restarted completely from scratch. It isn't a permanent reboot within the novel as we revisit the heist here and there, but any time the novel shifts from pirates to casinos, the pacing restarts. Honestly, it feels like the heist story was what the novel was intended to be, then Lynch realized there wasn't enough meat here for a full-blown story.

That said, it's not like either of the portions of the story are bad. Not in the least. I loved the heist story. I loved the pirate story. It was the odd juxtaposition of the two that threw me off initially when I first read the novel several years ago. Upon a second read, this didn't bother me near as much, and I could just enjoy the novel. And I have to say, the sea battles in RED are thrilling. As usual, Lynch's action scenes are chaotic and well described. It still amazes me how people don't talk about Lynch's ability to write action.

What Lynch still excels at in RED is his sense of the characters. While Locke and Jean have just a shaaade too much false conflict, I love their interaction. I love the banter they have between themselves and with the other, side characters. Speaking of side characters, I love both Zamira Drakasha and Ezri Delmastro. Lynch writes them so well. I love the little quirks, and the major character defining elements to each of them. They mesh so well with Locke and Jean, and so it makes the ending of the novel that much more powerful.

On my second read-through I read RED as if it were a tragedy, and for some reason that made me enjoy the novel quite a bit more. There were some points that still made me tear up even though I knew they were coming. That's good writing. Good characterization.

Scott Lynch is such an amazing writer. There are moments where he easily approaches a literary lean, but then others where it's almost pulp. Horror in some places, with good comedy in others. Happiness mixes with tragedy. It is in these contrasts that Lynch sets himself apart from his peers.

RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES isn't as good as THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, but how many novels are? Seriously, think about that for a minute. RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES is still a fantastic novel, and it holds up exceptionally well upon multiple reads.

My re-read of the series has concluded and I'm convinced that this is a must read for every fan of Fantasy. If you haven't read Lynch's work thus far, now is the perfect time to start. THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES is set to come out next week (10-10-13).

Recommended Age: 17+
Profanity: Tons. Just like the first novel.
Violence: Definitely. Throats are cut, dudes are stabbed, fires consume people.
Sex: It's talked about, but never shown in detail.

Get the novels here:

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA
RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES
THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES

I know, I know. The book is old. You already know I love it. But here's the thing, THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES is finally about to be released. Before I jumped into Scott Lynch's newest, I needed to go back and revisit both THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA and RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES. So I'm taking the opportunity to share my thoughts with all of you discerning readers. This of this as a re-read review.

I'll be blunt up front and share what you should already know. THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA was one of my favorite books ever when I read it for the first time five years ago. I accidentally ended up with a review copy of it when I worked for Waldenbooks. The novel sat on my shelf for about a year, untouched. It had a cover that made me think it was some sort of weird, literary fantasy romance novel. I actually began reading it by accident. I blindly pulled the novel off the shelf, thinking I'd grabbed the latest R. Scott Bakker novel, and flipped to the first page. It was fairly obvious from the opening paragraph that I'd grabbed the wrong novel. But I kept reading. And reading.

And reading.

I loved it. Ever freaking word of every line. By this point I had already left the book store since it was a toxic environment perpetuated by the idiotic members of Borders' executive management (sorry, mini rant over). I had very few outlets to express my love for the novel. We've been very vocal here at Elitist Book Reviews about our love for the novel, but perhaps you want to know why? Perhaps you even want to know if THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA holds up after a subsequent read (or a third in my case).

First things first. THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, to me, is even better now than when I first read it. I appreciate it more. The ensemble cast of Locke Jean and the rest demand a reader's attention. This isn't a book you can just skim through like many novels in the Fantasy genre. Everything adds character, whether to the main characters, the villains, or the city of Camorr.

The novel follows Locke Lamora and his small gang as they execute a confidence game--or a long con if you prefer--on one of the rich and powerful couples in the city of Camorr. As you'd imagine, things go sideways, and a bigger threat to the city itself emerges. Locke and his crew are forced into the upheaval.

What I like so much about the way Lynch tells the story is that we jump back-and-forth in time as we glean bits from Locke's and Jean's past and how those moments relate to the current situation in the city. The timing of these flashbacks with either elevate the tension of the current timeline, give the reader a hint at how Locke and the gang will resolve an issue, or serve to maximize comedic impact. Make no mistake, THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA is profane and violent, but it also hysterical when the situation calls for it. This balancing act of emotions is by far one of the most impressive things Scott Lynch is able to pull off in the novel.

The city of Camorr, and its denizens, is a character unto itself. I love the way Lynch paints the contrasts of the city. The good, the decadent, the bad, and the atrocious. These opposites and all the blendings in between are shown in terms of lifestyle, food, clothing, neighborhoods, language...everywhere. It makes the city feel alive in a way that few authors manage.

I think what gets lost in people's musings on THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA--and on Scott Lynch in general--is how well he does action. I wouldn't consider him the best in the business, but Lynch crafts his action extremely well. I'm never confused as to who is present in the scene, and to how things are happening. Additionally, I particularly like how Locke isn't exactly good at fighting. Not even close really. It adds humanity to a character who has other talents.

In all, this is the type of book that any author should strive to write. And it Lynch's first. This was my third time reading THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, and it was even more entertaining this time as the first time I turned its pages. If you get a chance, listen to the book on audio. It is narrated by Michael Page, and it's completely amazing.

I'll review RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES next week to conclude my re-read. Then I'll be delving into my review copy of THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES.

Look. If you aren't reading this series, you're doing it wrong. There isn't anything else out there truly like it. THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA remains one of my favorite novels of all-time. I can't possibly recommend it more highly.

Recommended Age: 17+
Profanity: All sorts. It never feels out of place though. This will likely turn off quite a few readers. This is just a heads up.
Violence: Quite a bit. Lots of throat cutting. This is a really bloody book.
Sex: Nope. It's mentioned and talked about, but never shown.

Here are your links to pick up the book, and the rest of the series:

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA
RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES
THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES

Have you ever wondered what a fantasy version of Downton Abbey would be like? I'm not gonna lie, I've watched every episode of the show. I like it quite bit. And yet every time I watch an episode I can't help but wonder what it would be like in a fantasy setting. It wouldn't be too different, which would allow it to retain the charm while still imparting that fantastical sense of wonder.

Earlier this year, after catching up on Downton Abbey, I picked up Marie Brennan's A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A MEMOIR BY LADY TRENT. As soon as I began reading I thought, "This is exactly what I've been asking for!" Don't misunderstand me, the entire novel isn't spent in a manor or anything, but it's the attitudes of the characters that make me draw the comparison. DRAGONS is a fantastic novel that should appeal to any readers of Victorian-esque fantasy. It has all the character and cultural charm of those shows where propriety and manners are of the utmost importance. But DRAGONS is also about following your dreams, regardless of your lot in life.

So what is DRAGONS actually about? Well, the title gives away most of it. The novel is told in a memoir format from the PoV of Lady Isabella Trent as she grows up, gets married and goes on an adventure. The entirely of the story is centered around her love for dragons. From her obsession with them as a child, to her first adventure in a foreign part of the world (note: it's not our world). Brennan does a remarkable job of allowing the reader to see and feel the wonder Isabella experiences in her encounters with the beasts. It is this strong female lead that allows the novel to succeed. While all the side characters are fine, none of them really shine - which is to be expected in a "memoir".

The story, while interesting, isn't actually the main focus of the novel. There is enough there to keep a reader going, but much of the world is glossed over due to the PoV. Again, this is a "memoir". We get only as much of the story as what the Lady Trent considers worthwhile and important. This is equally appropriate and frustrating. Brennan hints at such a deep world, but the PoV of the story just brushes off a lot of it with, "But you can read about that in another memoir." Hopefully this means we'll get more stories set in the world so we can learn more about it all.

As you read the book, story points are punctuated by illustrations courtesy of Todd Lockwood. While I'm not a huge fan of his art depicting people, no one can deny the guy is amazing with dragons. The illustrations throughout the book are fantastic, and really add to the whole package. In fact, the book as a physical product is incredibly well done. If I were an author, I'd be super jealous of the overall production of this novel.

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS benefits from the sum of its parts being far greater than any individual piece. The characters are fun and interesting. The story has enough mystique to keep patient readers satisfied. I guess it comes down to the novel feeling...comfortable. Yeah. Comfortable. In every way, when I would sit down to read DRAGONS, I felt like I was truly taking a break. It's rather hard to describe, but hopefully you get my meaning. Depending on the type of reader you are, you may want to pick this novel up. This is not an action-filled novel. Don't even expect the same level of action as you see in Brennan's prior novels, like WITH FATE CONSPIRE. This is a cozy novel meant to help your imagination roam for a time.

Recommended Age: 15+
Profanity: Not really. Some very minor instances.
Violence: Very, very little. It all has to do with PoV, but it's handled well.
Sex: Not really.

Take a chance on this novel. Here's your link:

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A MEMOIR BY LADY TRENT

******
Update: 7-25-13

We have two winners!

David Wiebe
Frank Jarome

Congratulations! We'll get your information over to Pyr so they can send you the books.

******

Here we are again, faithful readers! Another giveaway!!!

This time around we have fiction set in the Warmachine/Hordes universe. For those of you who don't know, Warmachine/Hordes is a tabletop miniatures skirmish game that pits armies of humans, monsters, and giant steam powered robots against other similar armies. There is also an RPG set in the same world, THE IRON KINGDOMS RPG. Now Privateer Press (the company that makes Warmachine/Hordes), has taken the leap into original fiction both with their own self-published line of ebooks under the name Skull Island eXpeditions, and also through a partnership with Pyr.

As a huge Warmachine fan, this fantastic news.

So today, thanks to the generosity of Pyr SF&F, we are giving away a couple copies of IN THUNDER FORGED, by Ari Marmell. Here are the rules:

1)  Anyone can enter. We are giving away two books, one in the US, and one outside the US. Again, a HUGE thanks to Pyr for doing this!
2)  Send an email to elitistbookreviews[at]gmail[dot]com with "Giveaway! In Thunder Forged" as the subject, and your name and mailing address in the body.
3)  We'll pick the winners at random and post the results early next week.

That's it! I can't tell you how excited I am about fiction in this universe. Here are some links so you can get into Warmachine/Hordes game in a variety of ways, and remember, Praise Menoth!

The Book:
IN THUNDER FORGED by Ari Marmell

Tabletop Game:
Warmachine Two-Player Battle Box
Hordes Two-Player Battle Box

Skull Island eXpeditions ebooks:
Instrments of War by Larry Correia
Moving Targets by C.L. Werner
The Way of Caine by Miles Holmes
The Devil's Play by Dave Gross
Dark Convergence by Dave Gross
The Butcher of Khardov by Dan Wells

RPG:
THE IRON KINGDOMS RPG

And get in on the Warmachine: Tactics Kickstarter!!!
WARMACHINE: TACTICS

As a last bit, here is a portion of the first chapter of IN THUNDER FORGED.  Enjoy!

Glaceus 4th, 605 AR
Leryn, Llael

The casual observer might never even have known the nation was at war.

The sun had fallen off the world’s edge more than an hour ago, and still the streets were, if not bustling, certainly a far cry from abandoned. Men and women scurried about their business, wrapped in gaudy coats and vibrant gowns against winter’s insidious caress. Most were human, but the occasional fabric-swaddled figure, too short for the Ryn ethnic majority but too broad of shoulder for errant children, suggested a late-night dwarf. They tromped across a carpet of fresh snow, their finery gleaming in the radiance of wrought iron streetlamps. Some of those flickered with gas-fed flame, others with an alchemical luminescence far steadier yet somehow less comforting.

Each citizen nodded, curtsied, waved, or exchanged brief witticisms with the next, all dependent on the passerby’s social status—or at least, the social status implied by the quality and cleanliness of his attire. Voices swirled over-head, blown by the winds, kicked into flurries almost choral in their harmo-nies. One might have overheard discussion of the Lord Regent Glabryn’s latest scandals, the squabbling amongst the Council of Nobles, the winner of last week’s derby, or the recent performance of Oswinne Muir’s newest opus, An Orgoth Goes a’Courting.

One would not have heard mention of the expanding western front, of the shadow of Khador slowly darkening the face of Llael. One would have seen nobody acknowledge the brittle edge to jests, the tremor in the laughter, or the occasional reverberating clang from beyond the outer walls, the ponderous step of a patrolling warjack.

No one spoke of the war. No one acknowledged their fears.

It would have been gauche.

One particular couple, elbows intertwined, shuffled quickly, seemingly eager to catch the misty plumes they exhaled with every breath. He was regal, buttoned up tight in high-collared greatcoat atop an emerald vest, his iron-gray hair swept back in a style that not only acknowledged the receding hair-line, but haughtily dared anyone to comment on it.

She was wrapped in brilliant scarlet and gleaming gold, a beacon as radiant as any of the streetlamps. A fox-fur stole was her only concession to the nighttime chill. Hair the hue of a lion’s pelt fell in perfectly curled ringlets around a face that was just too round to be called classically “patrician.”

She was also, at best, half the gentleman’s age. That, along with the fact that she gazed at him adoringly with eyes like dark-brewed ale when she wasn’t busy laughing at his witticisms, might have gone a long way toward explaining his obvious fervor to reach their destination.

They drifted past several structures, each boasting a magnificent façade of stately columns and arched windows—all deliberate modern echoes of the architecture of centuries past. And then they arrived, ducking through one deep doorway to stand in a hall of lush carpeting and glowing chandeliers. Some herbal treatment of the fixtures—or, perhaps, of the pipes, or the gas itself?—imbued the burning fumes with a vaguely floral aroma.

The gentleman beamed, even puffing his chest out, at the dazzled coo wafting from his companion’s lips. “This is just a taste,” he offered. “The actual amenities are even more impressive. My suite occupies a full half of the fifth floor.”

“I can hardly wait to see it,” she said in a breathy tone. His own breath caught in his throat, as he wondered if her offhand comment might suggest what he hoped it did. Placing his free hand on the slender arm resting in the crook of his elbow, he led her toward, and then up, the sweeping stairs.

“Goodman Tolamos,” she began right around the third floor.

“Please, please. ‘Lyrran,’ dear Garland, by all means.”

“Lyrran,” she corrected, paying for his given name with another heart-stopping smile. “I don’t think I quite understand . . . This place is marvelous, but why keep an apartment? Surely a man of your success and your means could afford a home—an estate!—of your own?”

“I could,” Lyrran admitted. They’d reached the fourth floor, now, and he struggled to hold up his end of the conversation and continue walking without sucking in ragged gasps between. Not as young as you used to be, old fool.

Then, with another glance at Garland’s upturned face, And you’re going to need your strength . . .

“I could,” he repeated after what he hoped was a discreet wheeze. “But I often spend late nights in my workshop, and I’m no great admirer of the dormitories the Crucible makes available. I decided that living within a few minutes’ walk of Thunderhead was worth the inconvenience of dwelling in a building I don’t own.”

Of course, had I known then that the only deluxe suite available was on the fifth bloody floor . . . !

They stepped from the landing, Lyrran again leading, and stopped at a massive door of hardwood, intricately inlaid with abstract leaf patterns.

“Just a moment, my dear.”

Lyrran tugged a small chain, setting off the faintest tinkling beyond. The butler—a tall, thin, dark-haired fellow who more or less resembled every other butler the world over—had barely opened the door before his master was whispering instructions. The manservant glanced over at the woman, back at his employer. Then, with neither expression nor gesture, he squeezed past them and headed, at a stately saunter, toward the staircase.

“He keeps a small private chamber on an upper floor,” Lyrran explained. “And my other servants rarely work this late. We should be able to converse undisturbed.”

“Oh, my. Goodman Tolamos, do you feel that’s entirely proper?”

“I . . . Ah, I . ..”

“Your man is discreet, at least?”

“Of course!” Lyrran hoped he didn’t sound as relieved as he felt.

“Well, that’s all right then, isn’t it?” Garland breezed past him with a faint giggle. “Wine?” she asked.

“My dear, please! I’m your host, you should allow me to—”

“Nonsense! Sit, rest. I’ll be just a moment.” Then, her voice slightly more distant, “Um, perhaps two moments, then. My, this is a big place . . .”

Lyrran briefly wondered if the entire magical evening had been a setup so he might be robbed—then shrugged, shut the door, and lowered himself care-fully into an old leather chair. He was in no position to stop her if she were a thief; too tired to chase her, and though he carried a double-barreled holdout in his vest, he couldn’t imagine shooting the woman . . . Still, he breathed a silent lungful of relief what she reappeared, a wine goblet in each hand. “No trouble finding anything?” he asked, half-amused, half-chiding.

“Oh, no! Your home is laid out so sensibly, I felt like I knew where to look for everything!”

Lyrran smiled and accepted the libation. “To Llael,” he offered, raising his goblet—the closest he meant to come, tonight, to acknowledging the war. “To Llael.”

Hmm. The gentleman suppressed a scowl as the wine washed over his tongue. She may have found everything, but she doesn’t remotely know how to choose a proper vintage! This has almost gone bad . . .

“But then,” Garland was saying as she daintily wiped at her own lips with a kerchief, “I suppose you’d have to be meticulously organized, working with all those awful tinctures and powders and whatnot. I don’t imagine you’d want to grab the wrong one of those!”

“No,” Lyrran agreed with a chuckle. “You really wouldn’t.”

“For instance,” Garland continued, “can you imagine if I’d chosen the wrong powder to mix in your wine? Or just dropped in a pinch too many? Why, you could be dying right now, instead of just growing sleepy. That would be a tragedy, wouldn’t it?”

“I . . . What?” Why was his tongue suddenly so thick, as though it wore its own winter coat? He blinked, and now not only were there two Garlands, but they—and the room around them—ran like a wet watercolor.

“Now, then,” Garland said, “we haven’t a great deal of time, have we?” Hiking up her skirts so she could sit, she settled in Lyrran’s lap. The old alchemist knew he should be excited by that—would have been, only a few moments before—but he was having trouble remembering why.

“So,” she continued, tapping a finger almost playfully against his lips and peering into his blinking, unfocused eyes. “Before you’re off on your little snooze and forget that this entire evening ever happened, let’s discuss Thunderhead Fortress. And the Golden Crucible.

“And, if you happen to have made the fellow’s acquaintance, a gentleman by the name of Idran di Meryse . . .”