Review: Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

Doroga and Kitai of the Marat learn that the mysterious creature they encountered at the wax forest was in fact a Vord queen. The vord are an ancient enemy who always threaten to consume everything in their path. The nest of Vord divides three ways and at great cost the Marat are able to destroy one. When they realize that the queen herself is on Tavi's trail Kitai is despatched to watch over him and Doroga travels to the Calderon valley to warn Amara, Bernard and Isana. Meanwhile Tavi has problems of his own. A mysterious attack from across the sea has left the First Lord comatose and Tavi has to ensure that his political rivals do not learn of the situation or the realm could be thrown into a bloody civil war.

The story is roughly divided into two; what is happening in the Calderon Valley and what is happening at Alera Imperia. The first is more an out and out war story and the latter more political espionage. This was a clever split and gave a different flavour to proceedings.

The world-building is decidedly mixed. There are some interesting revelations about the Marat and the Vord, the introduction of a race of wolf-like creatures known as Canes and hints at more of the wider world. I was however disappointed at the lack of description of Alera Imperia and it is difficult to get any sort of feel for the capital.

Pacing is fluid throughout and Butcher's is exceptionally adept at writing frantic battle scenes. Character wise there are some interesting developments that hint at a layer of complexity, especially for Isana and Fidelias. These are however are kept largely in the background and I would have liked to see them pursued further.

Overall Butcher delivers are well-paced novel with some of the better battle scenes I've read in some time, I would have still liked to have seen a bit more in terms of character development and world-building. 7.75/10.

Review: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay

After a dishonourable treaty ceded land he had fought and bled for to the enemy Blaise of Gorhaut left his home. He becomes a mercenary in the fertile lands of Arbonne where he is quickly caught up in local politics and a bitter feud between two of its lords. When Blaise's father plans an invasion of Arbonne, intent on destroying them for religious differences Blaise is caught in the middle.

While not as detailed as in some of his other works Kay world building is as always impressive, with the rich politics, history and cultures making the world come alive. The characters are complex and believable and I especially enjoyed the subplot with potential love interest Lisseut. It was rather removed from the central plot and hinted at what might have been. Pacing is very well controlled throughout.

Overall as we have come to expect Kay delivers a masterpiece once again. 8.25/10.

Review: The Duchess of the Shallows by Neil McGarry and Daniel Ravipinto

Duchess is an orphaned teenager eking out a living in the fog-shrouded city of Rodaas. Her world is turned upside down when she receives a coin and her foster parents boot her out of their home. The coin also represents an opportunity; the chance to join the Grey a secret-society of spies and thieves. The task set before Duchess is more perilous than she first realized but she is determined to join the Grey for the security it represents and the chance to learn what really happened to her family.

The world-building in this novel is impressive, with Rodaas’ politics, history and religions considered in depth. Rodaas was a city discovered intact by the current inhabitants after the previous occupants were removed by a mysterious catastrophe. The inhabitants are strictly divided along class lines with bloody revolutions shifting the situation somewhat in recent history. More impressive is that the authors managed to incorporate this information in a way that adds to Duchess story rather than taking focus from it, neatly avoiding the problem of 'info-dumping'. The greatest strength of this novel is the focus on duchess story and her character, her hopes, dreams and fears are well considered. This focus ensures that the action remains fast-paced throughout.

Overall The Duchess of the Shallows is a fast-paced, focussed and well written novel. 8.25/10.

Review: Canticle by Ken Scholes

The birth of Rudolfo's son and heir to the Ninefold forest is imminent and several heads of state have converged to honour his first born child. During the feast a group of magicked assassins attack and kill several dignitaries including Hanric, the marsh queen’s shadow ruler. This forces young Winter to publicly take the throne. Rufolfo is inexplicably left untouched. Amid the turmoil Jin Li Tam gives birth to Jacob but the child is sickly, the result of the powders used to enable his conception. Rudolfo is left with no choice but to seek out Jin's father in hopes of a cure, a man he swore to kill when next they met. Meanwhile another metal man has arrived bearing news about a hidden library which stores all of the knowledge lost with Windwir's fall. Geb and Isaac are despatched to find it. Petronus and Li Tam are searching for an outside threat that they believe is responsible for Windwir's downfall, however people close to them may already be compromised.

Scholes does an excellent job of infusing an atmosphere of tension throughout the novel. I loved the frustration of the characters as they realized their choices were already anticipated by an overarching outside influence. Like the first novel Scholes’s pacing is spot on throughout and he uses multiple POV's shift and short sharp chapters to good effect. World-building is solid throughout as well without encroaching on the plot.

Overall Scholes certainly improves on his impressive debut. 8.5/10.

Review: Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

Hammond arrives in Australia with a message for Laurence and Temeraire. The government has decided to reinstate Laurence into the Aerial Corps provided they agree to undertake a mission to Brazil and attempt negotiate a peace between the Tswana, who have come to recover what slaves they can, and the Portuguese. After some soul searching they agree but the trip to South America may not be as smooth as they would have hoped.

Like the previous volume Tongue of Serpents this book reads like a bit of a travelogue at times. I think the main problem is a lot of the tension from the earlier books is missing and I never believed that the characters were in any real peril. The conclusion is also a bit of a non-event and it almost feels like Novik is simply passing time in this volume and the last. The charm of the characters is still evident so there is still enough to keep fans of the series interested but I doubt it would win anyone else over.

Overall like its predecessor Crucible of Gold lacks a spark that made the earlier books so compelling. 7/10.

Review: The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe

Five years have passed since the events of the first book and Malian and Kalan have gone into hiding. The heralds Jehane Mor and Tarathan arrive at the city of Ij during the grand festival of masks. There they find Haimyr minstrel of the house of night who attempts to solicit their aid in finding Malain as he refuses to believe that she is dead and the house of night needs her now more than ever. The heralds decline the offer and soon find themselves in a cat-and-mouse game of survival as an unknown force assassinates the members of the heralds guild across the city. Meanwhile a cartographer master Carrik has had to evade outlaws to reach a keep in the wilderness and fulfil his commission. Things at the keep however are not as simple as they seem.

The problem with a lot of middle books is that after the success of a debut novel the author tries to replicate the formula verbatim and delivers something too similar to the original. Lowe neatly side steps this problem. Her second novel has a very different feel and atmosphere to the original and I loved the change of pace and espionage feel to the opening with the heralds. With most of the action taking place away from the wall Lowe introduces us to some other interesting places in Haarth and the peoples and cultures are well realized and very believable. Malian and Kalan are also different people and certainly more mature than five years ago and Lowe moves very much away from the coming of age hero story in the original.

Overall Lowe second effort is stronger than the very good original and one of the better middle books I’ve read in some time. 8.5/10.

Review: Infinite Devotion by L.E. Waters

Maya continues delving into her pasts lives. This time she explores the incarnations of misunderstood noblewoman Lucrezia Borgia in Renaissance Italy, a young stowaway on a doomed Spanish invasion of Britain and Count Redmond O’Hanlon a robin Hood-like outlaw in Ireland. Linking the three lives is Maya's soul’s attempts to learn the lesson of devotion.

Like the first book the concept is a clever one that allows the author to set multiple short stories in different time periods. Again the time periods concerned are well researched and have an authentic feel to them.

The links between the lives and the interconnected lesson Maya's soul must learn were better explored than the first book which was an area I was looking for improvement. Pacing however is not quite as good. The Lucrezia's story and the beginning of the stowaway story lagged a bit. Luckily the pace picked up considerably through the middle of the second story and I thought The O'Hanlon one was very well balanced and the highlight of the three.

Overall Waters delivers a good read. Links between lives and hence the overarching story are better conveyed but pacing does suffer at times. 7/10.