Theft of Swords review

Back in February of 2010, I read the first self-published Fantasy novel by Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Conspiracy.  I wanted to continue reading the series but the second novel in the Ryria revelations, Avempartha, never reached the top of my reading pile. However, when Orbit picked up the six book series to publish as three omnibuses, my attention went back to Sullivan.  Theft of Swords (The Crown Conspiracy & Avempartha) was released at the end of last year and was closely followed by Rise of Empire (Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm) and Heir of Novron (Wintertide & Percepliquis).

Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles—until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.  

Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know? 

As I mentioned, I have already read and reviewed The Crown Conspiracy (here).  Starting from the previous review and by taking account more particularly of the following elements...

[I think the whole series will probably appeal more to me than this instance alone. The fact that it was a short read probably has something to do with it. It's not a fault but it can shorten considerably the time to be immersed in Sullivan's world and appreciate the characters.] 

[I would recommend this book mostly if you intend to read the full series, although I hope to confirm this soon since I have only read the first book so far. This is good old fantasy well executed and just addictive enough to make me want more.]

...for the review of Theft, I will consider the novel as a whole even if you could still read them as two separate books easily enough.

Theft of Swords is clearly set upon traditional Fantasy bases, finding its voice, without embarrassment, in the common tropes. Honorable thieves, an evil clergy reaching into every kingdoms with a dark plan in mind, a lost heir waiting to re-appear, the races (humans, dwarves, elves, goblins...), magical artefacts, etc. If you've grown tire of these foundations for your Fantasy novels, you may think that should stay away from this one but that wouldn't be completely fair. Yes, they are at the core of the book and are not denatured but they don't feel cheesy. As with every book, without pointing out the genre, these elements alone are not an exhaustive list of what is making a book interesting.

Taken separately, the first two books feel more like sword and sorcery adventures than epic Fantasy (though they are clearly marketed as such by making them a trilogy). I think that sword and sorcery enthusiasts will find they share in Theft of Swords even more than the epic crowd. Sullivan mentioned that the books were written with an episodic structure in mind where sub plots would eventually emerge as the main thread, becoming more world-class. In the first book, these kinds of things were only hinted at. However, by the end of Theft, you have a pretty good idea of where the author is heading. Here again, we face an aspect that has some drawbacks. Is the plot too obvious? It's too soon to tell but it seems that were in for a mix of obvious denouements and surprising stratagems.

Character wise, Royce and Hadrian are used as stars by Sullivan. Their narrative is much more developed than the other protagonists and the scenes in which they appear are usually at the center of the action. I already told you that they are gold-hearted thieves but they also serve to bring some cheerfulness to the book. I would compare them to some kind of double act and most of the time they are quite entertaining, with a sidekick and a straight man but with some variations between the roles. They have known each other for a long time but they both still have a shrouded past. In the end, are they compelling enough to withstand the whole story on their shoulders? I think so, but barely.

The people they are scrambling and struggling with also have their value but usually their threads are not long enough to become memorable. In the case of the villains, which I'm not afraid to call so since aside from the thieves, the characters in Sullivan world are in the black and white ends of the spectrum. Generally, for the Church and their subordinate, the depth of characterization is not profound but some exceptions from all this come from Esrahaddon the mage and the Myron the monk. Speaking of which, he is sorely missed from the second part of the tale and I remember saying this about him...

[The use of Myron the scholar/monk reminded me quite of lot of Stephen Daridge (from Greg Keyes's A Kingdom of Thorn and Bone) (and there's this power-hungry behind the scene church...). For "use" I mean as way of helping the characters decipher ancient texts, be a "portable" source of knowledge and produce a good quantity of history for the world. I felt at times that it was overly exploited but in the end it served the worldbuilding well (even though it's still a little thin) and probably helped with the pace since info dumping was not necessary aside from Myron's discussions.]

...and hopefully, the world of Elan that seemed a bit simple became more intriguing with the addition of the old war between the elves and the Novron empire from the mouth of the mage.

Some sub plots and conniving adversaries are present and some twists still come as a surprise but the main ideas are not particularly complex, mostly so for the Church and their ambitions. The narrative also follows the same kind of principle. The pace and action make the flow of the book feel constant and not too expeditious and the dialogues are effective but conventional and the themes approached in the book, righteousness, power, friendship to mention a few are traditional. 

My feeling after reading Crown alone was that it was a good debut but a bit of a clumsy act. With the story of Avempartha annexed to it, that feeling remains but starts to lessen. My hope and my expectations for the rest of the series are greater with Theft as a whole but I don't think that my overall score for the book will go up although some elements like the world building and the story deserve more. One thing is certain though, with one goal from the authors being to creation of a story that makes you want to read more and continue to the end, in this, Michael succeeded. I will surely pick up Rise of Empire.

Technically, I think that the Orbit cover is nice. I liked the illustrations/paintings done by Michael on his self-published books but the new ones really catch the eye. The paperback edition of the novel stands at 649 pages. There's a great glossary at the end of the book and the map of Elan is beautifully detailed and is also available on the web (link at the index).

Theft of Swords review score :

Characterization............. 7.5 /10
World building............... 7.5 / 10
Magic system................. 7 / 10
Story.............................. 7.5 / 10
Writing........................... 7.5 / 10

Overall (not an average) 7.5 / 10

Enjoy!



Micheal J Sullivan page

Game of Thrones - TV-book differences

While listening to every episodes of GoT on HBO for season one and two, I often speculated with my friends about the differences between the TV series and the book themselves.  I read the books too long ago to be really accurate in my perceptions but some of my co-listeners have read them more recently and they are able to point out the dissimilarities, simply for discussion sake, I understand that the series cannot be the same as the book for many obvious reasons...

Then, to help everyone on this topic, IGN posted more detail on these differences.

General 

Season 1

Season 2

Interesting is it not?

Diablo 3 and The Way of Kings

Wondering where I'm heading with this title for the post?

What could be the relation between Diablo 3 and Sanderson's novel?

While playing Diablo 3, I eventually got to the Desolate Sands in the Act II.  At first glance, the ground looked like any salt desert but then I saw the cracks and ravines.  It may not be an amazing discovery, but even if the cracks aren't as deep as those depicted in The Way of Kings, the feeling I got was a close representation of what I had in mind when reading about the Shattered Plains. Sadly, my Monk isn't wearing a shardplate and I'm not fighting some Parchendi but I could imagine it easily! Anyone else agree with me? :)

Various authors updates

In the past weeks, several authors updated the status of their work.  Here's a wrap-up!

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Tom Lloyd signed for new books

Great news for Tom Lloyd, which makes me think that I ought to pick up more of his novels.  The last book (fifth) in his Twilight Reign series, The Dusk Watchman, will be out this summer (August) and the author finally signed a contract for two new books consisting first of mix of stories linked with his saga, called The God Tattoo, and Other Stories of the Land (coming up in April 2013) and a new novel set in a different setting, Moon's Artifice (should be out around summer 2013). Tom seems to be more than happy since the schedule fits his desires.  Here's the blurb:

In a quiet corner of the Imperial City, Investigator Narin discovers the result of his first potentially lethal mistake. Minutes later he makes a second. 

After an unremarkable career Narin finally has the chance of promotion to the hallowed ranks of the Lawbringers. Joining that honoured body would be the culmination of a lifelong dream, but it couldn’t possibly have come at a wrong time. A chance encounter drags Narin into a plot of gods and monsters, spies and assassins, accompanied by a grief-stricken young woman, an old man haunted by the ghosts of his past and an assassin with no past. 

On the cusp of an industrial age that threatens the warrior caste’s rule, the Empire of a Hundred Houses awaits civil war between noble factions. Centuries of conquest has made the empire a brittle and bloated monster; constrained by tradition and crying out for change. To save his own life and those of untold thousands Narin must understand the key to it all – Moon’s Artifice, the poison that could destroy an empire.

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Mark C Newton next book/series

Mark announced some time ago that he had started writing a new series set in a completely different setting. He recently posted an update on his progress (first manuscript is finished) with the first Drakenfeld book, tentatively titled A Death Divine.  The prospect emerging from the details sound more than promising.  Here's a extract of his post but you really should head over to his blog to read more about the process behind the writing of his new novel, a very interesting post.

What’s it about? Well, if I could summarise that in a paragraph, I probably wouldn’t have written a book; so I take it as a good sign that I can’t. Essentially it’s about a guy called Lucan Drakenfeld. He’s an officer for an organisation responsible for enforcing the law that binds a continent, and kings and queens, together in a royal union. It’s pretty much his story – he returns to his home city of Tryum when he receives news of his father’s death, and there’s lots for him to cope with on arrival such as burying his father’s ashes, and he spent most of his life living in his shadow. That’s the backstory. From there, Drakenfeld and his assistant are summoned in the middle of the night to investigate a very high-profile murder, which takes place in a locked room (or locked temple to be precise), where despite hundreds of potential witnesses, no one saw anything related to the killing. From there, all sorts of stuff happens. 

The aesthetics for the world, as you might have guessed from various blog posts over the past year or two, is very much borrowed from the ancient world. The more I examined classical cultures – Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Carthage – I was increasingly surprised. These were staggering cultures, massively more sophisticated than I’d ever realised, and even though they were very distant, they feel uncomfortably close to our own. Fantasy writers often borrow from history, usually the middle ages for the most part, whether it’s a conscious or unconscious act. Using classical culture as the starting point allowed me so much more freedom.

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Guy Gabriel Kay next book - River of Stars

The author announced officially his next novel this week.  The book is titled River of Stars and is the follow to Under Heaven.  The same Chinese influence is present as you can guess if you have read the book.  If you want to watch Mr. Kay himself talk about the novel, here's the link (sorry, I can't share it here).

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Peter V. Brett first draft of A Daylight War

(not the cover)

Peter V. Brett also finished the first draft of his new novel, A Daylight War, the third book in the Demon Cycle series.  I admit that I thought Brett's series was a trilogy. Maybe it was intended so at first but it's actually a 5 book undertaking.  The book should be slightly longer than The Desert Spear.  The book should be out on February 2013 and will be followed by The Skull Throne (tentative title).  Here's the link for Peter post.

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UK Cover for A Memory of Light

AFR Top List - Best Fantasy cover artists

It's list time everybody!!!

You know that I love to talk about book covers and I wanted to share with you my favorite artists behind the gorgeous illustrations that stand proud on the covers of our Fantasy novels filling our shelves.  The list is in no particular order by I admit that on the wall in front of me, there's a signed print of Michael Komarck's Anomander Rake from the cover of Gardens of the Moon. I hope that Kekai Kotaki will soon open up his online store as well..

I chose to present some works from my top 4 and mention some other great illustrators!

Who are your favorite Fantasy books cover artists?

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Michael Komarck
http://komarckart.com/

Subterranean Press limited edition - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

Tor Ebook - Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

Pyr - Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk

Solaris - The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin

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Kekai Kotaki
http://www.kekaiart.com/

Tor - The Unremembered by Peter Orullian

Tor ebook - The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Eclipse - Misericorde by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

Fantom print - Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley

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Raymond Swanland
http://www.raymondswanland.com/

Subterranean Press limited edition - Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Tor ebook - Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Tor - The Return of the Black Company omnibus by  Glen Cook

Wizards of the Coast - Avenger by Richard Baker

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Marc Simonetti
http://marcsimonetti.artworkfolio.com/

Bragelonne - Lamentation and Canticle by Ken Scholes

Bragelonne - The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

J'ai lu - A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

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Michael Whelan
http://www.glassonion.com/

Tor - The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

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Todd Lockwood
http://www.toddlockwood.com/

Tor - Spellbound by Blake Charlton

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Jason Chan
http://www.jasonchanart.com/

Ace - King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

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Larry Rostant
http://www.rostant.com/

Orbit - The Bone Palace - Amanda Downum

Gaming digression - Diablo III is out!

It's been quite a while since I shared about my gaming habits.  However, I have been gaming a lot in the last year (or years... well, for as long as I can remember).  Recently, aside from some Angry Birds time passing, I tackled these:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning : a big deception.  The game is way too generic and the numerous (or maybe I should say gigantic number of) side quests quickly got boring and redundant.  Since I didn't feel much connection with the main story, I eventually put it aside.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: nice but not great.  I enjoyed parts of the first Final Fantasy XIII and the follow-up was probably made mostly to cash in on the huge development costs but at least, they listened to the comments and frustrations from the fans and they made it better, less linear and slightly more in the spirit of the past games. It's still far from the best of the series but it's a commendable attempt.

Legend of Grimrock: now that's what nostalgic gaming is all about.  If you have played games like Lands of Lore or Eye of the Beholder in the past, Grimrock is for you.  I'm not sure what players who haven't played them in the past will think of it but for me, it was a fun ride through the dungeons with all the elements that made the games of old interesting with updated graphics but the same kind of gameplay!

Skyrim: so many hours of pure bliss while killing dragons. I played it on the PS3 and I admit that I had some of those lag problems.  However, they were not worst enough to diminish my gaming experience.  The 80 hours or so of Skyrim I put up were a blast for the RPG fan in me.  Eventually, I tired of the side quests but my thirst for sword clashing and spell casting in a wondrous open world was more than satisfied.

Hero Academy: if you have an iOS device and like strategy, you have to get this game.  It's turn-based over the internet.  I can't stop checking my games to see if someone else has played.  By the way, my username is Psyrake if you want to try me!

I could also talk about Assassin's Creed and Uncharted 3 but let's keep it at that for now.  I think I should put up full posts from time to time when I'll play a game worth talking about in the future.

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And now, for the main attraction, the game to eclipse them all this year, the game we have been waiting for for so long, Diablo 3.  I started playing today, when the servers went back up and so far so very good.  I'll get back to you about it when I have put more time into it but it looks more than promising.

Are you also playing? Which class did you pick (I started with the monk...)?

Not sure yet?  Check this out:

Updates - Jemisin, Williams and Lawrence

Some interesting news need to be shared!

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New series for N.K. Jemisin

The author of the Inheritance trilogy (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms and The Kingdoms of Gods) and the newly released Dreamblood duology (The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun) announced that she sold a new series to Orbit books.  That's great news for the author and more interestingly, the description is particularly enticing:

Been sitting on this for a brief while, but finally got the okay to spill the beans. I’ve sold a new trilogy to Orbit! Can’t tell you much about it yet — it’s the Untitled Magic Seismology Project (UMSP) that some of you have seen me talking about here now and again; that was the reason for the research trip to Hawaii a few weeks back. I’m working on the first book now, but I don’t like talking much about my works-in-progress until they’re more complete. So suffice it to say that this will be a postapocalyptic epic fantasy trilogy, set in a world of seismic magic users and enigmatic nonhumans called stone-eaters. I’m experimenting with writing the kind of trilogy that follows a single character through mutliple books; this is the first time I’ve ever wanted to try doing so. And while the books have tentative titles for now, I think I’ll hold off on sharing those, given my usual track record with titles (i.e., they usually get changed. Lots.) Let’s just keep calling this the UMSP for now. 

So, WOO HOO!! Wish me luck and steady wordcount!

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Mazarkis Williams' Knife Sworn cover and blurb

I really enjoyed Mazarkis Williams debut novel, The Emperor's Knife (my review here), the first book in the Tower and Knife trilogy that was released last year.  In November, the author's second book will be out and here you have the cover art, pretty generic but it looks nice enough, and the blurb:

Mazarkis William's debut novel, The Emperor's Knife, was praised for its exotic settings, gripping intrigue, and vivid, full-blooded characters. Now Williams returns to the sumptuous palaces and treacherous back alleys of the Cerani Empire, where intrigue, passion, and dangerous magic threaten the very soul of a newly-crowned emperor. 

After spending most of his life in captivity and solitude, Sarmin now sits upon the Petal Throne of Cerana. But his reign is an uneasy one. Ambitious generals and restless soldiers want war at any cost. An insidious foreign religion stirs fear among the people and the court. And the emperor's own heart is torn between two very different women: Mesema, a Windreader princess of the northern plains, and Grada, a lowborn untouchable with whom Sarmin shares a unique bond. A natural-born mage, Sarmin also carries within him a throng of bodiless spirits whose conflicting memories and desires force him to wage a private battle for his sanity. 

In times past, a royal assassin known as the Emperor's Knife served as the keen edge of justice, defending the throne from any and all menaces, but the last Knife has perished and his successor has yet to be named. For his own safety, and that of the empire, Sarmin must choose his own loyal death-dealer . . . .but upon whom can be he bestow the bloody burden of the Knife-Sworn?

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Movietime!

Selling the rights of a book for the big screen or the TV isn't the confirmation that it's gonna be a reality in itself (that's probably why it's called "options") but it must start somewhere.  With Game of Thrones receiving the big and successful TV treatment and options like Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon having considerable chances of becoming a movie, one can only hope.  That's the case for Mark Lawrence. The debut author posted this last Friday:

I’m pleased to announce that Stephen Susco, writer of THE GRUDGE, and writer/producer of upcoming films HIGH SCHOOL (June 1st) and THE POSSESSION (Aug 30), has optioned the film and tv rights in Prince of Thorns and the Broken Empire trilogy published by Ace/Berkley in the US and Voyager in the UK.

Great news, I hope that it can be concretized!

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New poll - Completed series follow-up

In past polls, you told me that you loved series more than stand-alone books and you didn't really wait for a series to be completed to start reading it. With this love of Fantasy series in mind, a topic came to my mind and I decided to turn it into my next poll.

When I was a teenager, I remember thinking that The Lord of the Rings should have had a follow-up, another series with the characters I loved so much.  Aragorn's rule could have been in danger from the gathering of the remnants of Sauron lackeys or something like that.  I eventually read almost all of Tolkien's other books but I still had this thought in the back of my mind.  Anyway, it wasn't a realistic idea since the guy had already passed away...

Then I read the follow-up to the Star Wars saga put to movie by George Lucas, the series written by Timothy Zhan, the Thrawn trilogy (composed of Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command).  Even though I thought of these novels as the episode 7, 8 and 9, they were more part of the extended universe of Star Wars than real follow-ups (I know, they were set right after episode 6, so maybe they ought to be considered as such...).

Last year, or maybe the one before, Steven Erikson announced that he was doing two new trilogies set in the Malazan universe after the completion of the Malazan book of the Fallen.  The first book of the first trilogy is The Forge of Darkness which is featuring Anomander Rake thousands and thousands of years before his masterpiece.  The subject matter or time period of the other trilogy is still unknown. No sign of some kind of follow-up for the Malazans...

R. Scott Bakker wrote a superb trilogy named the Prince of Nothing some years ago. In this case, the ending was loose enough with clear perspectives for the future and the author decided to go with a new trilogy following the events of the first (20 years later mind you).  I'm not sure that a follow-up will be possible after the Aspect Emperor but you never know.

Brandon Sanderson also completed a trilogy some years ago, Mistborn.  Here again, the trilogy could have been the end of that particular 'universe' but he decided to get back to it in the form of a stand-alone set in the future of his created world in The Allow of Law.  He also mentioned that he was going to write two more Mistborn trilogies. If he writes the 36 novels he's planning right now, he will be called the master of follow-ups!

Joe Abercombie is in a similar situation.  He wrote the First Law trilogy and then followed it up with two and  soon three stand-alone set in the same universe, Best Served Cold, The Heroes and A Red Country. Will he ever write a trilogy set after the first? It's rumored to be the case...

I could go on and on... but now that you have grasped what I'm hinting at, let's ask the question:

Which series should get a follow-up?

As for the answers, I can't really post a thorough list of all the completed Fantasy series I can think about or find out on the web.  So I went in search of a new way to post polls that will give me the possibility to add your own answer! That's the start of something much better! :)

Still, I decided to put some answer to start the discussion. Here they are:

The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson)

The Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks

The First Law by Joe Abercrombie

None, completed is completed

Let's be clear on some elements.  I know that Mr Tolkien is dead. However, for the sake of this poll, please feel free to include series that can't be written if you want, it's just for fun. Also, I know the The Wheel of Time is not finished yet. Even though it's hard to tell right now if the ending will block all possibility of a follow-up let's assume that it doesn't.  Moreover, some people speculated that a trilogy about the fight for Mat and Tuon for the throne of the Seanchan would be interesting.  Sanderson said that if it sees the light of day eventually it would be from his own hands. I think that the chances are slim... Maybe we will see Harry Potter as an adult before that...

As for your host, my pick is simple, it's the Malazan book of the Fallen.  However, I would not ask for another decalogy. Thinking that Esslemont will be closing some threads for the characters Erikson left behind, the remaining Malazans are the ones I would like to read about.

What's yours?

Return on last poll - Fantasy tropes

The results are in!

I asked you my fellow readers which of the Fantasy tropes you were most tired of and one answer stood out from the crowd: the farm boy saving the world.  I think that most of the contemporary Fantasy authors should be aware of this but if we are still annoyed from time to time by reading about them, it seems that this is a cliché that will be hard to put to rest. Still, there's hope.

That specific trope probably won't make me put down a book but it's a first strike if it isn't well executed. I know that on some occasions, it was cleverly used or originally twisted but generally speaking, I think we can convincingly say: been there, done that! Can we move on?

Among the other answers, the following seven were mostly on par:

• Righteous thieves/assassins 
• Elves/dwarves (or other races)
• Prophecies
• Evil dark lords
• Artifact/sword McGuffin
• Apostrophes/names with G's and K's
• Black-cowled assassins covers

That last entry is probably the least important, mostly so for the authors who don't always have the last word on it.  It's essentially a sign that covers ought to be more varied in term of portrayal but in the end, that doesn't affect the books themselves. The same could be said about the naming scheme but in this case again, I'm not sure you'll really begrudge an author who has a tendency to name someone G'har'Kor Vir'Dantys!

I thought that Righteous thieves/assassins would have gathered fewer votes.  Maybe that's because it's one of the new flavors and it was used to often in too short a time.  As for the others, many of them have been criticized as tropes that need to be explored with care for a longer time.

On the other hand, Empires, 'Unevolved' old worlds and Medievalism got very low scores.  Does that mean that when the foundations of world building, the core and most popular settings in Fantasy are taken into consideration, we still prefer a good old world where ages have past and where mighty figures rule over the masses from their stone castle? I believe that the answer is yes from what you shared with me.  It's probably one of the reasons why we read so many novels in this specific niche of the Fantasy genre. Add to this some elements of creativeness and the table is set, waiting for a host of compelling characters wearing swords and casting spells! :)

So there you have it.  It's only a poll but it ended up being an interesting case to speculate about.

Michael Whelan's A Memory of Light cover

Tor unveiled the cover for the last installment in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light.  Michael Whelan (whose work you have seen on Brandon Sanderson's A Way of Kings) is behind the cover art. The coloring seems to be an homage (maybe not totally voluntary since it's clearly recognizable as a Whelan painting) to Darryl K. Sweet, the artist behind the "infamous" thirtheen previous Wheel of Time covers.  I'm really glad that they chose Whelan and I think he delivered remarkably.  It deserves to stand with all the other covers.

Great!

Songs of the Earth review

Songs of the Earth is the first novel by Elspeth Cooper and the first book in the series named The Wild Hunt. The novel is in the shortlist for the Morningstar Award, the David Gemmell Award for the best Fantasy debut. It is the result of several years of work for the newly published author. The next book is named Trinity Moon.

The Book of Eador, Abjurations 12:14, is very clear: Suffer ye not the life of a witch. For a thousand years, the Church Knights have obeyed that commandment, sending to the stake anyone who can hear the songs of the earth. There are no exceptions, not even for one of their own. 

Novice Knight Gair can hear music no one else can, beautiful, terrible music: music with power. In the Holy City, that can mean only one thing: death by fire—until an unlikely intervention gives him a chance to flee the city and escape the flames. 

With the Church Knights and their witchfinder hot on his heels, Gair hasn’t time to learn how to use the power growing inside him, but if he doesn’t master it, that power will tear him apart. His only hope is the secretive Guardians of the Veil, though centuries of persecution have almost destroyed their Order, and the few Guardians left have troubles of their own. 

For the Veil between worlds is weakening, and behind it, the Hidden Kingdom, ever-hungry for dominion over the daylight realm, is stirring. Though he is far from ready, Gair will find himself fighting for his own life, for everyone within the Order of the Veil, and for the woman he has come to love.

The premise of Songs of the Earth falls directly into the common Fantasy tropes.  Gair is a young magic user who cannot control his gift, or curse if you're on the side of the Church, and is picked up by a wise master.  He eventually becomes the future, or an important tool, for the order of the Guardians in a battle against a former prodigy gone rogue.  These Guardians are the keepers of the Veil, the barrier between two worlds, the Hidden Kingdom being full of dangerous beasts.

Why am I summarizing the book this way you might ask?  Because, as I mentioned, that is the premise of the book, its foundations.  Anyone reading this could make his own idea easily by judging his or her interest in it only by this description. However, what you really want to know is : "Is there's more to it?". I can't deny that we are in very familiar grounds with Songs of the Earth and in some aspects, the author succeeded in straying from the path. Sadly, in others, originality is an unimplemented wish.

Gair is a young, easily influenced man.  He's dedicated, serious and a silent dreamer.  Following him around, my interest in the outcome of his coming of age through apprenticeship grew considerably. He develops relations cautiously with the other members of the Order but they feel genuine, thoroughly so.  Rendering the emotions, reactions and implications behind it all is skilfully phrased and depicted by the author. I would have preferred relationships with more disparate protagonists than a fatherly old master, a young good-humored and affable fellow student and a gruff and pretentious sword-training partner.

On the other hand, there's the two female parts revolving around Gair.  One, Aysha, is his love interest and the other one, Tanith, is a specialist in healing helping Gair on several occasions.  For both of them, Cooper succeeded in writing distinctive parts. She handles Gair's relationships with the two masterfully. In the various instances where they are involved, the feelings of intimacy or longing are truly convincing. Aysha in particular is probably the most fascinating character.  She's a lone woman with a disability and the gift of shapeshifting.  But more importantly, she's opening herself to Gair and the result is a wild and intense ride for the young pupil.

Overall, Espeth Cooper's writing is straightforward.  The action sequences are concisely described and the environment usually feels vivid enough.  Curiously, something else stood out for me when reading the book.  I think that the author likes discussions and more precisely, argumentation a lot. In almost all of the situation where characters disagree or want to make a point, the dialogue persist lengthily until all the possible points of view have been exchanged, creating a certain redundancy. In some cases an interesting kind of divided rhetoric is perceivable. This is more present in the scenes with the Church officials.

Between these Churchmen and the Guardians, the story of Songs is split into two main threads.  They are not really interwoven in term of structure and the way they are alternated, with the less extensive emphasis on the leaders of the Church, breaks the pace of both storyline. They usually don't feel as part of the same book. I hope that she brings them together more adequately in the following book.

The worldbuilding has been polished but here again, it ends up being in the comfort zone.  The historical background is being explored enough but it's still the Church versus the magic users.  Inside the different factions, there's talk of other races and exotic places but there's not much that stands apart.  The magic system is based on classic elements with a touch of creativity in the usage of it in the form of a song and colors.

In the end, I can't say that Songs of the Earth really stood out from the crowd but it was an entertaining read.   I will look closely at the next novel since the prospect of Gair for the future looks promising.

Technically, the Gollacz edition cover (at the top) is simply awesome.  Alas, the Tor edition, the second one I posted, is not really interesting, too generic.  Sadly, there is no map included with the book which would have been a must.  The book stands at 496 pages and the narration of the audiobook, which lasts 16 hours or so is performed by Alan Cordurner, who offered a nice performance.

Songs of the Earth review score :

Characterization.............  7.5 / 10

World building...............   7 / 10

Magic system.................   7 / 10

Story..............................   7 / 10

Writing...........................   8 / 10

Overall (not an average) 7 / 10


Elspeth Cooper page

May releases

This year keeps getting better and better, maybe it will end up being as prolific in great books as last year!

The Black Mausoleum by Stephen Deas had a release date of May back in January but is now slated for an August release. In the US, Orb, Sceptre, Throne by Ian C. Esslemont, his fourth book in his Malazan novels will be out this month (the 22nd).

***

The Killing Moon

N.K. Jemisin

May 1st

In the city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Along its ancient stone streets, where time is marked by the river’s floods, there is no crime or violence. Within the city’s colored shadows, priests of the dream-goddess harvest the wild power of the sleeping mind as magic, using it to heal, soothe… and kill. 

But when corruption blooms at the heart of Gujaareh’s great temple, Ehiru — most famous of the city’s Gatherers — cannot defeat it alone. With the aid of his cold-eyed apprentice and a beautiful foreign spy, he must thwart a conspiracy whose roots lie in his own past. And to prevent the unleashing of deadly forbidden magic, he must somehow defeat a Gatherer’s most terrifying nemesis: the Reaper

***

The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories

byJeff VanderMeer,Ann VanderMeer

May 8th

From Lovecraft to Borges to Gaiman, a century of intrepid literary experimentation has created a corpus of dark and strange stories that transcend all known genre boundaries. Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature.  

Exotic and esoteric, The Weird plunges you into dark domains and brings you face to face with surreal monstrosities. You won’t find any elves or wizards here...but you will find the biggest, boldest, and downright most peculiar stories from the last hundred years bound together in the biggest Weird collection ever assembled.  

The Weird features 110 stories by an all-star cast, from literary legends to international bestsellers to Booker Prize winners: including William Gibson, George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Angela Carter, Kelly Link, Franz Kafka, China Miéville, Clive Barker, Haruki Murakami, M. R. James, Neil Gaiman, Mervyn Peake, and Michael Chabon.

***

The King's Blood

Daniel Abraham

May 22nd

War casts its shadow over the lands that the dragons once ruled. Only the courage of a young woman with the mind of a gambler and loyalty to no one stands between hope and universal darkness. 

The high and powerful will fall, the despised and broken shall rise up, and everything will be remade. And quietly, almost beneath the notice of anyone, an old, broken-hearted warrior and an apostate priest will begin a terrible journey with an impossible goal: destroy a Goddess before she eats the world.

Box of Devotion short review

Last week, I wrote a post about the release of a short story by Anthony Huso called the Box of Devotion.  That story, independently published by Huso, is the first (there should be more of them) tie-in 'tale' set in the same world as the author's first book, The Last Page.  The short only details at 0.99$.

I have read the Box of Devotion and found it quite interesting.  The story may be quite short, only 15 pages (or 5305 words), but that's enough for the kind of account told by Huso. This may be the first attempt for him at short stories but he nailed it right. Here's the blurb:

Set in Anthony Huso's grim fantasy world, this short story takes a look at one night in Isca City's slums, seen through the eyes of a young thug whose street name is Roach. Roach's night is full of adventure -- a kind of broken and dark reflection of the knight's quest wherein he discovers a treasure, secures a magical weapon and follows a spiritual vision toward a final battle to defend his lady's honor. 

Bridging the gap between Huso's two wonderfully weird novels "The Last Page" and "Black Bottle", this story answers the question: What was in that box Sena told Caliph to bury in the bogs? 

So, is the answer to that question really important?  Not that much even though it's intriguing, but the source behind it, the brief adventure of Roach is what's appealing and entertaining here. I think that a collection of several of these ties-in would be a great idea.  Even for a short, my comment on the author's writing skills is still accurate:

In connection with the enriched world building comes a complete new set of creative and complex vocabulary elements and pronunciations and a brilliant technique in term of prose. The author writing is precise with short paragraphs full of clever adjectives and metaphors. A feast for the fan of stylistic devices.

Is it worth the time?  Certainly! 

Box of Devotion review score: 8.5 / 10