Review: Legend by David Gemmell

Ulric has united the many tribes of the Nadir people and seeks to invade the Drenai lands. The Drenai had been following a policy of appeasement seeking to negotiate with the Nadir and had thus allowed their army to dwindle. The fate of the Drenai lies at the fortress of Dros Delnoch where an insufficient force, an incompetent general and a dying earl must seek to hold. The Earl sends a message to his old comrade Druss, a legendary warrior now in his sixties. Druss heeds the summons even knowing it will mean his death as he fears dying toothless and alone but can he still be the legend men remember? Ruk is a former army officer who seeks to stay clear of the conflict but following a chance meeting with the earl's daughter leads him to fall in love with her and draws him to the fortress.

One of the most notable features of this novel for me was one many would not expect;the byplay between the characters. Amusing at the right times, without being silly and destroying the mood and often offering some rather clever insights into the human condition. Pacing is fast and often action packed.

One thing however I think could have been improved upon is the development of Ruk's character. In the beginning he is dead set against being involved in the coming war and yet in no time he has accepted his fate. I found it quite unbelievable that he wouldn't try to avoid his fate or a least rail against it. It almost like there are two different characters with not enough linking the two.

Ulric is a very convincing villain. Far from being a cartoon one-dimensional villain who muses on how history will view him and has his people's welfare at the foremost in his mind. I found the observations of some of the other characters into his motives very apt.

I am not a fan of point of view shifts in the middle of a paragraph and found it disconcerting at various points in this book.

Overall Gemmell's first novel was fast-paced, action packed and some very interesting interactions between characters, despite a few flaws. 8/10.

Review: The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Scattered across an inhospitable sea linked only by airships working on a few safe currents are a number of island kingdoms. Over recent years a wasting disease has gripped these kingdoms causing crops to fail, fishing areas to run dry and even slowly killing people. Two of these kingdoms are seeking an alliance through marriage to offset these problems. However nobody knows that prince Nikandr of Khalakovo has contracted the wasting putting the alliance into jeopardy.  As part of the celebration the Dukes of the other kingdoms arrive in Khalakovo, almost immediately the grand duke is attacked by a summoned spirit and killed. Nikandr is tasked with finding the culprit, the lead suspect is autistic child who has a strange affinity with Nikandr. Nikander believes the boy is merely the puppet of a shadow group with sinister motives and his strange powers may in fact hold the key to dispelling the wasting.

Beaulieu's world building is impressive with cultures, history and magic integrated seamlessly. Initially I found his characterization impressive with representatives from the various groups portrayed with complex motives. However as the story progressed much of this was pushed to the side with a number of characters ending up as one-dimensional cartoon villains. This stems from the novels biggest problem; mistimed pacing. Everything feels far too rushed and interesting events and character progression loses a lot of significance. Rehada's  shifts in view points I felt was particularly unbelievable in such a short amount of time.

Overall Beaulieu's world building is highly impressive and his story is intriguing and original, rushed pacing however robs this novels of key elements that could have made it great. 7/10.

Review: Farlander by Col Buchanan

Ash belongs to a religious order of assassins, who offer protection by seeking vengeance on anyone who slays someone who bears their talisman. However he is aging and combined with a debilitating disease his time as an active member of the order, the last thing he values, is coming to an end. In a moment of desperation Ash makes a deal with a hallucination of the head of his order; Ash can remain in the field as long as he agrees to take on an apprentice. Nico is a young man who has lost his way, he ran away from home after his father deserted the family and he couldn't stand the men his mother attempted to replace him with. However in the heart of a besieged city Nico struggles to survive and in a moment of desperation he attempts to steal the purse of a stranger. A stranger who has plans for him. Meanwhile the holy matriarch son kills a women under the assassins protection placing them in a difficult position. Do they fulfill their obligation and risk being destroyed by an empire or lose their purpose?

I enjoy character driven stories and Farlander is certainly driven by the two main protagonists and the bond that forms between them. Fight scenes are well constructed and fast paced and the plot contains some very clever and well disguised twists. The support cast are solid if slightly underdeveloped in a few cases and the world-building is solid an unobtrusive.

Overall Buchanan delivers a solid, character driven debut. 8.25/10.

Review: Song of the Ice Lord by J. A. Clement

The Ice Lord's armies march across the face of the known world intent on nothing but destruction. Lodden, a talented inventor, is among the survivors gathered on the Skral Islands, the last bastion against the Ice Lord's advances. He must put aside the loss of his hand and accept a world-view very different from his own in order to try and salvage something before it is too late.

I enjoyed the world-building with a number of differing cultures thrown together. Lodden comes from a society very similar to ancient Greece or an idealized version of it whereas the Skarl's are more similar to Vikings. Although Clement does explore the aspects of these very differing cultures thrown together I think it would have been interesting to get a perspective from a character who didn't find it as easy to adjust.

Much of the middle period of the book is spent building, planning and waiting for the Ice Lord's advances. This could have lead to the pacing dragging but Clemet cleverly avoids this by having the characters relate tales from folklore which I enjoyed thoroughly.

While most of the main characters are believable I did find some of the support characters lacked depth. The addition of a few unnecessary points of view during the finale of the book could have been avoided.  

Overall good world-building and some memorable main characters make for a solid read. 7/10.

Review: Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Tough Times All over by Joe Abercrombie: Set in the back streets of Sipani and follows a mysterious package as it changes hands several times through some rather dubious means. Clever way to get through a lot of different characters, some old favorites and some new ones. The way Abercrombie builds up characters in minimal words is impressive. 8/10.

What do you do? by Gillian Flynn: Arguably the best story in the collection. Follows a con-woman pretending to be psychic who is contracted by a woman to cleanse her home after her step-son exhibits some disturbing behavior. The best realized character in the collection and a very clever plot twist. 9/10

The Inn of the Seven Blessings by Matthew Hughes: A rogue is hijacked by an almost forgotten god to rescue his last follower. Good world-building. 7/10.

Bent Twig by Joe R. Lansdale: Two men try to rescue the drug-addicted daughter of one of their significant others. Impressive voice and wonderfully realized characters. 8.5/10.

Tawny Petticoats by Michael Swanwick: Scifi. A pair of conmen take on a female partner for a daring caper. Well developed world-building and memorable characters but the ending was highly predictable. 7/10.

Provenance by David W. Ball: An art dealer is contacted by a likely thief about selling a painting. This one didn't really work for me. Pacing was well off and the characters left me feeling flat. 5/10.

Roaring Twenties by Carrie Vaughn: Two women enter a magical club looking to make an alliance with the patron. The best piece of short fiction I've read by Vaughn. Appropriate atmosphere and believable characters. 8.25/10.

A year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch:  A retired gang is tasked with stealing a street. A fun blend of sci-fi and fantasy. I would love to see Lynch write more in this setting. 8.5/10.

Bad Brass by Bradley Denton: A thief/relief teacher gets mixed up in an odd musical instrument fencing incident. Very cool lead character and original story. 8.5/10.

Heavy Metal by Cherie Priest: A modern day warrior is tasked with investigating a strange spirit haunting and killing in lake in a small former  mining town. Steady enough but lacks the punch in the finale most of the others in the collection have had. 7.5/10.

The Meaning of Love by Daniel Abraham: A young rogue has to find away to free a slave girl who has caught the eye of the exiled prince she is protecting and has fallen in love with. Engaging lead character, solid world bundling and clever finale. 8.25/10.

A Better Way to Die by Paul Cornell: A man in the military is forced to confront a younger version of himself from an alternate dimension. Didn't stand so well on it's own and the characters felt flat. 6/10.

Ill Seen in Tyre by Steven Saylor: A philosopher and apprentice purchase a book of magical spells one of which is said to make the user invisible. A fun and fast paced tale although the ending was a tad predictable. 7.5/10. 

A Cargo of Ivories by Garth Nix: A magical puppet and a knight have to try steal a collection of ivories before the gods within awake. Another fun one with a predictable ending. 7/10. 

Diamonds From Tequila by Walter Jon Williams:An actor who career hinges on his latest project finds himself in a dilemma when the leading lady dies. Fresh take on the premise and an engaging and believable lead character. 8.5/10. 

The Caravan to Nowhere by Phyllis Eisenstein: A bard with the ability to teleport travels with a caravan on exotic drug run through the desert. Well paced and well developed characters. 8/10.

The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives by Lisa Tuttle: A female sleuth and sherlock holmes like partner take on a curious case assigned to them by a little girl. Amazingly developed 'voice', engaging plot and solid characters. 9/10.

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman: A rogue loses his lucky coat and is caught by an arch-nemesis. Another engaging voice, quirky characters and world-building. 8.75/10.

Now Showing by Connie Willis: Set in the near future a college student is reunited with the boy who walked out on her in a world where the cinema has become an encompassing experience. Another original take with clever twists and structure. 8.75/10.

The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss: Follows Bast, who trades secrets and favours with local children at the lightening tree. Fun and I enjoyed the small-scale feel. 8/10.

The Rogue Prince or, a King’s Brother by George R.R. Martin: A prequel to Martin entry into the Dangerous Women anthology. Like that tale it is structured as a historical narrative. Also like that tale this feels like a phoned in effort by Martin. Doesn't really use the theme to any degree and while the subject matter is interesting in itself it's not inspired writing by any means. Time for Martin to stop adding his own entry to these anthologies or do it properly. 6/10.  

Overall a strong collection. 8.25/10. 
  

Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Katsa is graced, highly-skilled in a specific activity. Her grace is killing and is used by her uncle King Randa to brutally enforce his will. This leads to her being something of an outcast. Katsa resents being used as a weapon and the world where competing  kings play their games without regard for the common folk  but can't openly defy him. Instead she forms a council of like-minded individuals to do what they can for the people. On one such mission Katsa rescues an old Lienid man who turns out to be the grandfather of the princes of Lienid. This leads to  Katsa meeting with Prince Po the youngest of the princes, and a graced fighter himself ,who wants to discover why his grandfather was kidnapped and who did it.

The strongest point of this novel is that it is very much character driven. Katsa's journey of self-discovery takes center stage and I particularly enjoyed the way Cashore showed the way Katsa upbringing effected the choices she makes and the way she reacts to events.

World-building is solid and I liked the concept of graces, especially how they are often mis-perceived.

Pacing was initially on the slow slide but gets into it's stride about a third of the way through the book.

Overall Cashore delivers a strong character driven novel. 8/10,

Did not finish: The Madness of Hallen by Russell Meek

Being from New Zealand myself I am obviously excited when I come across a New Zealand author writing in the fantasy genre. However that also means when I come across something that doesn't quite work I am doubly dissapointed.

Meeks writing style itself causes problems right from the get go. There is a major issue of telling rather than showing. This is exasperated by the frequent point-of-view shifts, often within a paragraph, which makes things very disjointed and prevented me from being immersed in the story.

The plot  itself is pretty standard from what I read with two brother's in an isolated mountain village whose parents are involved in some mysterious dealings. I can't really add much further as I couldn't get past page 60.

Sadly I found this one adhered to many of the negative stereotypes of self-published writing. While I am loathe to add a rating having only finished a fraction of the book I'd say it was heading for a 3 or a 4.