Review: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

After months of campaigning in the north the Union army is instructed to be bring the war with Black Dow to a swift conclusion. The two sides converge on an unimportant valley where a forgotten ring of stones (the heroes of the title) rest on a hill. Bremer Dan Gorst a disgraced swordsman and former guard of the king now occupies a redundant office of king's adviser to the war. Gorst seeks either redemption or his own death making him a threat to both sides. Prince Calder, the son of the former King Bethod, is convinced that the new king Black Dow wants to see him dead. He wants nothing to do with the fighting itself but sees an opportunity to gather allies and try to oust Dow. Curden Craw is a veteran of countless battles. He follows the old way and wants to do the right thing. Dow is his chief but Calder is like a son to him and he finds himself caught between the two. Corporal Tunny of the union's first battalion knows what war is all about; how to survive it and do as little as possible. Which is why being saddled with a bunch of raw recruits is a bothersome irritation he could do without. Beck is the son of a famous named man who died at the hands of the Bloody Nine. He is tired of life on the farm and wants to make a name for himself. But he way just get far more than he bargained for. Finree's husband is a good man, weighed down by the deeds of his father he tries to make his way through life with bravery and by doing the right thing. Luckily Firnee is around to balance him through her own ruthlessness and ambition to see that he gets what he deserves.

The first law trilogy was Abercrombie's epic fantasy Best Served Cold was his fantasy thriller and The Heroes is definitely his fantasy war novel. While there are big names on display here Abercrombie does spend a lot of time looking at war from the common soldiers point of view. There are a couple of sequences where Abercrombie will switch POV's along a line on both sides as characters kill each other off which I thought was brilliant and did a great job in building sympathy for both sides. Adding to this was the fact that the actual cause of the war is never discussed in depth although it's obvious it is merely a battleground for Bayaz and his enemies larger battle.

Abercrombie has an uncanny ability to built interesting and unique POV's for his characters and Gorst and Calder were my two favorites by far. Again Abercronbie is able to inject a degree of grim humour into proceedings which ensures that the narrative doesn't get to bogged down with all the violence. The pacing in this one was certainly the tightest we've seen from the author, not surprisingly as the story is centered on the events of a single battle.

Overall this another case of Abercrombie doing what he does best. Highly recommended. 9/10.

Review: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams

At the conclusion of the first book Reni and!Xabu having finally entered into the computer-simulated world of otherland had met Sellars, the man who left them clues to get onto the network, plus a group of other people in the same situation, namely having loved one's in a mysterious coma. The meeting was disrupted when Dread, an agent of one of the grail brotherhood, killed Atesco the owner of the mayan-like virtual world they were in. The group was able to escape in the confusion but unbeknownst to them Dread is disguised as a member of their group. The group are soon scattered and forced to make their way through a series of virtual worlds where the consequences of even the slightest mistake could be deadly. Meanwhile Paul Jonas, a mysterious man trapped within the network, memory begins to return and he finally begins piecing things back together.

Like the first book Williams has succeeded in developing a cast of interesting characters with very distinct viewpoints. Most of the action takes place within the virtual worlds and Williams has come up with a few doozies;A cartoon kitchen, an ice age, a warped version of Oz to name just a few. The few scenes in RL (real life) are dedicated to new characters Olga, an online actress who stars in a children's serial and Ramsey the lawyer of Orlando's parents. These two characters seem to have stumbled on a connection between Olga's show and the coma children are falling into but Williams keeps a tight lip on this, just offering tantalizing glimpses. I enjoyed the mystery element that was added by having Dread disguised as one of group and I must admit had fun sifting through the clues William's left to his identity.

There was just one tiny issue that bothered me. Having grown up in Durban, South Africa I was impressed with how well he portrayed the region in the first book. Everything from the layout and the atmosphere was spot on. In this book Renie's father Long Joseph catches a lift with an Afrikaans truck driver, who when speaking says Yah a lot. Ja is the Afrikaans word for yes and is spelt quite differently. A minor blemish I know but after all the obvious research Williams has put in it was a notable oversight.

Overall Williams has once again delivered an interesting read. 8.5/10.

Review: The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker

Having survived the siege of Caraskand the Holy War now has an open road to the city of Shimeh. Kellhus has been proclaimed as a prophet and now has total control of the war. Achamian has finally revealed the existence of Kelhus to the other mandate sorcerers but has decided to aid the prophet and teach him the gonsis. Having been humiliated Conphus is exiled by Kelhus but an unexpected turn of events may make him an even bigger factor than before.

The third volume is definitely more psychologically driven than it's predecessor. Cnaiur has seemingly finally succumbed to his madness and Achamian is forced into a position where he has to confront the very fabric of existence. Bakker does an excellent job here and I found it utterly fascinating watching these character's deepest thoughts unfold. I doubt it is for everyone but needless to say I'm impressed.

Pacing was an area in which Bakker controlled the narrative extremely well. For the first two thirds it moved steadily, and with the arrival at Shimeh and the inevitable confrontations it quickened. Bakker switched here to short, sharp view point changes that gave a frantic feel to proceedings. While some of these confrontations were given a good chance to develop, ie Kelhus and Moenghus others felt too rushed. The Cnaiur-Moenghus meeting was over in two pages and after all the build up this was disappointing. Granted that Bakker's has envisioned this trilogy as part of a larger whole I still think it could have benefited from a more solid conclusion.

Overall Bakker once again delivers a satisfying read, though a more definite conclusion would have been welcome. 8/10.

Review: The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes

Having finally learned of her uncle Robert's coup of her father's throne Anne Dare sets about gathering a force strong enough to challenge him. However there are those who may wish to use Anne as a figurehead to further their own ambitions. Strange forces are at play and Anne begins to realize that she and her unique new powers may be pawns in a much larger game. Stephen meanwhile is embroiled in a rather delicate situation of his own. Forcibly separated from his companions the foundations of his understanding of the world is tested again as he learns that different factions are in operation in the church. Stephen finds himself charged with the task of recovering the dairy of Virgenya Dare herself. Aspar and Winna set off to try rescue Stephen. This soon turns into a fight for their own survival when a chance encounter with Fend and a woorm lead to them being poisoned by the beast.

Keyes uses the same technique as the previous two installments of ending most chapters on a cliff-hanger before switching view points. Again I feel that this works well in terms of pacing and you can't really complain about it when the next chapter addresses an earlier cliffhanger. The focus is very much on Stephen, Anne and Aspar on this book with Muriele and Leoff, and to a lesser extent Neil and Casio taking back seats. All three characters are forced to confront aspects of themselves that they don't necessarily like.

Having laid the ground work in the first two novels Keyes takes this one in a bit of a different direction; turning some aspects on their head. Where before it seemed obvious where good and evil lay in these books I'm now left wondering whether the 'good' characters are in fact doing the right thing and visa versa with the 'evil' characters. I am certainly anxious to see where Keyes takes this in the final installment.

Overall yet another strong offering from Keyes. 8/10.

Review: On Dark Shores 1: The Lady by JA Clement

Life for Nereia, an orphaned thief living in the port town of Scarlock, has never been easy. Her parents died when she was in her early teens leaving her to raise her toddler of a sister, Mary, on her own. Nonetheless her inner strength as always gotten her through, allowing her to escape selling herself into prostitution and keeping her sister safely under the radar of Copeland, an uncle of sorts who controls all underground activities in Scarlock. When Copeland rediscovers Mary years later he tries to use her as leverage to force Nereia to participate in his latest scheme. Nereia decides to take Mary and run but Copeland won't let them go that easy, and has more depraved parts to his soul than even he himself suspected.

Clement's greatest strength as a writer is her characterization. It is amazing how well she can breath life into a character, revealing their every nuance in a minimal amount of words. The frequent point of view changes were cleverly used as well to create an even pacing throughout. The world building in this novel was also done well and believable through an almost minimalist approach. Initially the POV characters kept a very insular view, well suited to people who have never left a small town. While some of the other, more traveled characters, later on in the novel left some very tantalizing hints about the larger world that I would very much like to see followed up in future work. My only issue with this novel was the lack of a solid ending. While there is a conclusion of sorts to this chapter in Nereria's and Mary's lives there was a touch too much focus on setting the stage for the next book. This is however a minor blemish and could probably have been eased by shifting the order of a few view points.

Overall Clement has produced a tight, well written debut that whets the appetite for future installments. 8/10.

Review: The Warrior-Prophet by R. Scott Bakker

Following the events of the last book; the holy war now stands united and begins it's march against the heathen Fanim intent on liberating the holy city of Shimesh. Anasûrimbor Kellhus a Dunyain monk posing as a prince begins to make his move to take control of the holy war and bend it towards his own goal of finding his father. A goal made much easier by his training which enables him to read people and use their own passions to influence them. Kellhus asks Drusas Achamian, a mandate schoolman, to act as his teacher. Achamian is convinced that Kellhus is the harbinger of the second apocalypse and possibly mankind's last hope. The situation severally strains Achamian as he is caught between alerting his fellow schoolman or aiding Kellhus, either course could cause the doom of humanity. Kellhus' actions attract the attention of the consult who have their own plans for the holy war and exert influence through their skin spies who have replaced real soldiers and nobles and they decide that Kellhus needs to be removed.

As the title suggests Kelhus and his development into a messiah like figure is the crux of this novel and the plot line that the others all dance about. The preceding novel setup the characters and history of the world enough that the narrative moves very smoothly throughout this novel. All of the viewpoint characters, including dozens not named above, all have their own agendas and the intersection of these and the political maneuvering that ensues is fascinating. A number of large scale battles are fought as the holy war marches on and it is here where Bakker shines. These battles are told from a god-like perspective which almost makes the holy war seem like a character unto itself.

In sum all of the things Bakker did right in his debut he does again here and the quickened flow of the narrative makes this a touch better than it's predecessor. 8.75/10.

Review: Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes

Lenk is a man with his fair share of problems. He is short, his hair has already turned white despite his youth and he is an adventurer; a profession despised everywhere. Not just an adventurer but the leader of a band of adventurer’s who all seem intent on killing each other. The band in question's latest job is escorting an esteemed clergyman, easy enough until a band of eloquent pirates attacks the ship they're on. Even the pirates are confused when a band of fishmen led by a strange demon steal a tome from the priest. Not just any tome but one with the power of releasing demons back onto the earth. After some negotiation Lenk and his band are charged with retrieving the tome from the seemingly invulnerable demon. To top it all off Lenk is beginning to hear a voice in his head telling him to kill...

After the first chapter I began to wonder if this would work; the byplay with the rather eloquent pirates and the infighting between Lenk's companions was interesting but seemed a bit over the top. Could Sykes flesh out his characters and make them more believable? The answer is a resounding yes and the development of the characters is definitely Sykes strong suite and the real focus of the book, which helps when the plot does get a bit over the top. All of Lenk's band has some really strong personal issues that Sykes works through and all are well done. Well all of them except for the possible exception of the priestess Asper. Given the revelations that are presented later in the book I would have liked to have seen this shadowed earlier on as it didn't quite gel for me.

The World building aspect was a bit erratic. While I am intrigued by the non-human races introduced I found it odd that the some of the more educated members of the band didn't know the Rega are virtually extinct.

Pacing is an issue Sykes has come in for criticism for, though I feel this is largely unfounded. While the initial confrontation on the ship did take up a around 160 pages what many reviewers have failed to note is that the font size is large, making it closer to about 70-80 odd pages in an average book. More importantly not once did I feel this section dragged. The last part of the book on the other hand could have been culled a bit.

Overall Sykes has produced a strong debut, with some interesting characters that develop interestingly across the book. I hope he fleshes out the world a bit more in subsequent books. 7.25/10.