Review: The Weaver's Lament by Elizabeth Haydon

For a thousand years the allied states of the Cymrian alliance have been at peace. However, tensions are on the rise. The Bolg are being short-changed in trade and Grunthor, the sergeant major who has arguably the best trained army in history at his disposal, is not afraid to cross the border and collect the short fall. Having such a well-trained and restless army on their doorstep leaves Ashes and the military leadership of his alliance very uneasy and a misspoken word leads to tragic consequences.Ashes and Achmed are pitted against each other and Rhapsody is caught in the middle.

 Ashe is beginning to show the signs of age while his wife Rhapsody seems as young as ever. Ashe fears dying and losing Rhapsody and of losing control of the dragon that dwells with him. As a result he begs Rhapsody to help him transform into a dragon like  his father did before him, something Rhapsody  fears will cost Ashe his soul. their relationship is tested more than it has ever been in a thousand years.

I found the previous volume in this series to suffer from severe pacing issues and most notably some big moments, that had been built up for several books, were highly rushed. Thankfully the series finale does not suffer from this issue and some really big moments get the time they deserve to really shine.

Time has been a central theme across the series and the decision to set a book a thousand years after the previous events was an inspired one. Having some long-lived characters and some seemingly eternal creates an interesting conflict when faced with other characters who are not blessed to the same degree. Ashe in particular is handled well and having him develop an almost 'grumpy old man' side was well worked. His legitimate fear of losing Rhapsody combined with his somewhat irrational and selfish reaction to it makes for an emotional conflict. I would have liked to see more of Grunthor's perspective as he alone of the three has had to deal with the loss of children that have aged faster than him.

The choices that face Rhapsody, Ashe and Achmed and the brilliant foreshadowing of their consequences reminded me of some of the all time classic tragedies. Both beautiful and so very sad. My only minor gripe is I would have liked to have seen Ashe's reaction when faced with the full consequences of his actions.

The plot itself brings the books into line with the original trilogy (and to an extent the short story as well) more than we have seen in a long time. The mix of well realized and beloved characters, their relationships  and subtle humor at the right moments that have made this one of my all time favorite series are all present.

The Symphony of Ages could have ended with the previous book but I'm glad it it didn't. This is the finale it truly deserved. 8.75/10.

Review: The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

With the surface of the world teeming with deadly monsters humanity has sheltered high above in massive spires. Trade and communication are effected through airships, powered by energized crystals, though so is espionage and warfare. Captain Grimm commands airship Predator. Years before he was drummed out of the Albion navy as a scapegoat for political reasons and now acts as a private merchant in a cold war of sorts with a rival spire. After the predator sustains massive damage in an action against a much more powerful airship, Predator is forced to return for repairs that Grimm simply can't afford.

Bridget, daughter of a noble house that has fallen on hard times, is sent to the Albion guard to complete her mandatory service, accompanied by her cat and friend Rowl himself a prince of a feline house. There her inexperience in dealing with other nobility quickly leads her into a dual but receives the aid of Gwen and Benedict members of a very important house. During the duel Spire Albion is attacked by warships of Aurora. Bridget and her friends and Captain Grimm and his crew both distinguish themselves in the attack and bring them to the attention of the monarch who sends them on a mission to aid the Etherealist (read magician with a price) Ferus and his apprentice Folly. The attack was a distraction for something more sinister.

Unlike Butcher's most famous work the Dresden Files this novel is told from a third person perspective and Butcher does an excellent job in creating a number of distinct and interesting points of view (though I found Bridget's first chapter made her feel much younger than she actually was but that is a minor gripe). This includes a cat, with a very different view on the world, and a character whose magic has made her suffer a social disorder (more on that later). Butcher includes point of view chapters from Auroran characters which explains their (reasonable) motivations and fleshes them out nicely. I'm glad he did this as it prevented them from being one dimensional or portrayed simply as 'bad guys',

The world-building is excellent, with lots of showing how things work from the way characters perceive the world around them rather than long paragraphs of unnecessary intrusive information.
Magic comes with a price with each character who utilizes it effected by a social disorder. Technology is steampunk-like but powered by vat-grown crystals and society is Victorian era-like.

Overall Butcher delivers a refreshingly character-driven novel. 8.5/10.

Review: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

The City of Elendel is threatening to boil over. Industrial advances are keeping some of the city's workers unemployed while forcing others to work ridiculous hours. Wax and Wayne are called to investigate the strange murder of the governor's brother's among a massacre of the city's criminal elite. Wax is convinced that someone or something is intent on destroying the city and when Wax catches sight of an old enemy, who he knows is dead'  he realizes things maybe personal.

Biggest plus for me in this book is the world-building. Taking a look at a world hundreds of years after some very important events gives an excellent opportunity to look at the impact of these actions and this is certainly evident from the religious and social aspects of the society represented. Another area Sanderson excels in is demonstrating the impact of technological advances on this society.

Character development is both superb and seamless with all of the major characters getting fleshed out. The plot moves along at a decent clip with the odd surprise thrown in.

An ongoing issue with Sanderson is his efforts to incorporate humour into his books. In this series it is often through the character of Wayne and unfortunately Sanderson has no idea how to incorporate this subtly. I found Wayne antics distracting at the beginning but gradually it starts to fit a bit better into the story.

Overall delivers most of Sanderson's usual strengths (and the odd flaw). 8.25/10.

Review: Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

The Kingdoms in the Northern Continent are becoming nervous as the Autarch, the god-emperor of Xi's, has consolidated his hold on the Southern continent and is seeking new conquests. King Olin of Shadowmarch sought to unite the Northern Kingdoms in alliance of protection against this threat but was captured by the bandit ruler of Hierosol who demands a considerable ransom for his release. Olin's heir Prince Kendrick attempts to hold Shadowmarch together but tragedy thrusts his two younger siblings to prominence. Briony is tired of being judged on her gender is determined to show her worth while her twin brother Barrick is plagued by nightmares that make him question his sanity. Meanwhile the Twilight people, fairy folk driven off by humans centuries ago, have plans to take back what was taken from them.

 Like many of Williams books the pacing of the novel, especially in the beginning, is exceedingly slow. However it is well worth persisting with. Williams is able to create a brooding atmosphere throughout which kept me turning the pages. World-building is solid and while the characters might seem to adhere to genre stereotypes at first glance they are very well developed.

Overall pacing issues aside Williams delivers a very strong, character-driven novel. 8/10.

Advent Ghosts 2015: Elf

“Elf!”

            Santa called the entire multitude of workers crammed into the workshop ‘elf’ but Elf knew he was being addressed. He hunched his misshapen shoulders as Santa loomed over him examining the Furby he’d been stuffing. After an eternity Santa grunted and thundered on. Elf sighed and rubbed his elongated ears. They’d been normal once but Santa “Claws” had a grip like an enraged crab. Elf dismissed the thought before it drew Santa’s ire. Santa always knew.

“I won’t be naughty again!” A boy screeched as the reindeer herded him inside.

Elf tutted, had he truly resembled this strange creature?

Review: Codex Born by Jim C. Hines

Isaac Vianio's life is back on track,he is adjusting to his relationship with dryad Lena Greenwood, accepting the fact she has another relationship with Nidhi Shah and has taken on a mentor role to a young libriomancer who has a unique new ability. When Isaac and Lena are called to investigate the murder of a Wendigo they quickly stumble onto something more. A group Gutenberg thought he destroyed years ago is resurfacing and they have plans for Lena.

The magic system was very well thought out and constructed and I was happy to see Hines addressing new areas, such as e-books, and how they are incorporated into it. Lena was the most intriguing character from the first book and each chapter begins with a short extract on her own thoughts on her life. This cleverly shadowed a concept introduced in the book; whether you could incorporate enough key events into a book to recreate a person.

The mix of humour and addressing serious issues is again well balanced and I feel like Hines is definitely maturing as a writer.

Overall another clever, character-driven offering from Hines. 8.5/10.

Review: Stands a Shadow by Col Buchanan

For decades the city fortress of Bar-Khos has held the armies of the empire of Mann at bay. Now the Holy Matriach plans to lead a pincer force herself to finally crush the resistance. However there are dangers she does not expect. Ash, the aging and ailing Roshun assassin, seeks vengeance for his slain apprentice Nico. With nothing left to lose Ash is a very dangerous man. Meanwhile Che, a trained killer of the state, is assigned a secret mission; kill the Matriach if it looks like she will flee from battle, However disgusted at his own part in the destruction of the Roshun order Che is far from stable.

I really enjoyed the character-driven nature of the previous volume, especially the contrast between Ash's world-weariness and Nico's naivety. To an extant that contrast is still there but not to the same degree and the story has definitely moved to focus more on the larger events taking place. This is demonstrated by the more political focus in the early part of this volume. While this does keep things interesting I did feel sometimes the plot meandered unnecessarily.

My one criticism from the previous volume was that the supporting cast were underdeveloped and I'm glad to see that the author has made some very strong steps in rectifying this.

Overall a solid read which expands on the first volume but lacks a bit of it's character-driven focus. 8/10.