Giveaway - David Chandler's A Thief in the Night

I still haven't read the first fantasy novel by David Chandler, Den of Thieves, but it's on my to-read pile.  The novels of his trilogy, named The Ancient Blades, will all be out in a quick succession, with the first book released on July 26th, the second (A Thief in the Night) on September 27th and the last one, Honor Among Thieves will be out on November 29th.

This is indeed David Chandler's first fantasy foray since he is also known as David Wellington, an author of 'adventurous fiction' (horror...).  Thanks to Harper Voyager (HarperCollinsPublishers), you could win a mass market paperback edition of his second book, A Thief in the Night.  You only have to send me a mail (contact on the right) with your name and address and "Chandler" as the subject.  The giveaway is open only for the US. I'll pick up the winner on October 7th.

Here's the blurb by the way :

Circumstance made him a criminal. Destiny may make him a hero.

As a thief, Malden is unparalleled in the Free City of Ness, and happy there. But by saving the life of the knight Croy, Malden has bound himself to an ancient, noble brotherhood . . . and he now possesses one of only seven Ancient Blades capable of destroying demons.

Malden fears accompanying Croy and the barbarian Mörget on their quest to dispatch a foul creature of nightmare . . . nor does he want to disturb the vengeful dead. But with an assassin on his heels, the young cutpurse is left with no choice. And there is the comely sorceress, Cythera, to consider— promised to Croy but in love with Malden—not to mention the fabulous treasure rumored to be hidden in the depths of the demon’s lair . . . 

A round of covers

Four new covers for our viewing pleasure.. or displeasure.  Here comes Tchaikovsky, Dyachenko and Fultz.

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To follow up on three weeks ago when the cover art unveiling of the first two novels of the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky in paperback edition took place, here comes the next two novels, Blood of the Mantis and Salute the dark.  The artist behind the work is Alan Brooks again and I included the previous UKand US covers.

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Next up is The Scar by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko from Ukraine.  The novel will be on February 2012 and is the second novel in a series called "Wanderers Cycle" who is said by the authors to stands strong for itself. It won an award for best original fantasy novel published in Russia in 1997.  Here's the beautiful cover art and the blurb :

Reaching far beyond sword and sorcery, The Scar is a story of two people torn by disaster, their descent into despair, and their reemergence through love and courage. Sergey and Marina Dyachenko mix dramatic scenes with romance, action and wit, in a style both direct and lyrical. Written with a sure artistic hand, The Scar is the story of a man driven by his own feverish demons to find redemption and the woman who just might save him. 

Egert is a brash, confident member of the elite guards and an egotistical philanderer. But after he kills an innocent student in a duel, a mysterious man known as “The Wanderer” challenges Egert and slashes his face with his sword, leaving Egert with a scar that comes to symbolize his cowardice. Unable to end his suffering by his own hand, Egert embarks on an odyssey to undo the curse and the horrible damage he has caused, which can only be repaired by a painful journey down a long and harrowing path. Toria, the woman whose fiancé Egert killed, hates Egert, and is saddened and numb, but comes to forgive the drastically changed Egert. 

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Finally, Orbit launched the cover art for Seven Princes by John R. Fultz. This is the first novel in an epic fantasy trilogy (the author's debut) named Books of the Shaper.  The illustration was done by Richard Anderson.  Here it is with the blurb :

An ancient sorcerer slaughters the King of Yaskatha and his court before the unbelieving eyes of the young Prince D’zan. From that moment the fugitive Prince is driven by one thought – he must regain his father’s stolen throne. The lives of six foreign Princes are tied to D’zan’s fate as he seeks allies for his cause.

In a land where Men and Giants battle side by side against ancient monsters and terrifying sorcery, only one thing is certain – war is coming.

Prince of Thorns Review

Prince of Thorns is the debut novel of Mark Lawrence. The author's project is a trilogy named The Broken Empire. The book was released at the beginning of August and the follow-up will be called King of Thorns.

Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse. From being a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.

Prince of Thorns is a first person perspective novel with a protagonist quite unusual, the young prince being genuinely sick in his mind and being clearly aware of it.  You may have read Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie and if it's the case, you are accustomed (or at least you experienced it) to a main character smashing his way through the country in a quest for vengeance, or plainly said, lethal retribution. In Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath's case, it's not simply brutal justice that is the source of his disturbed and disoriented vendetta, but mixed up within the drama, is the goal to become King in his own right or even Emperor (I think I guessed the title of book 3), at any human cost. 

The boy genius is thirteen, skilled in many ways through experience on the road with his band of brothers or even from some kind of unknown source.  This type of 'hero' would be hard to follow or feel empathy for but with a harsh cruel past behind him already, his actions seem more legitimate even though they cannot be condoned  It's undoubtedly interesting to read about a protagonist like that, going on that road with a twisted perspective; it doesn't come to life very often. However, I have to admit it can be perturbing.

So, Brother Jorg is unforgiving.  That statement alone couldn't be representative enough without some context. I know you probably have already read about a villain in a story who decides to talk about his schemes to his victim before killing him.  Jorg Ancrath is the complete opposite.  The young ruthless and impulsive mercenary reacts, act and think after. To his credit, it's what keeps him alive and gives him an edge from more typical characters. He even manages to generate sympathy toward the protagonist 'friends' or should I say 'brothers'. That feat has to be credited to the author's writing.

The narrative Mark composed for his book is furious, sometimes frenetic, sometimes resolute. The action is fast and constant, without having a break-neck pace but with a satisfying dose of flashbacks to explain the coming of this harbinger of death seeking power. The plot is moving at a stupendously perfect rhythm, without being too descriptive and skipping the going from point A to point B when it's not essential, this being actually an achievement since it could be seen as carelessness toward the 'complete' telling of the story to the reader but it's not. Jorg being the way he is, he deserves a writer who can get into the action and synthesize.

An example you ask?

“So . . .” I looked around them, real slow-like. “So, the Baron knows where bandits such as ourselves will be going, and he knows the way we’ve got to go.” I let that sink in. “And I just lit a bloody big fire that tells him and his what a bad idea it’d be to follow.”
I stuck Gemt with my knife then. I didn’t need to, but I wanted it. He danced pretty enough too, bubble bubble on his blood, and fell off his horse. His red face went pale quick enough.
“Maical,” I said. “Take his head.”
And he did.
Gemt just chose a bad moment.

The world building and history of the society depicted in the novel was a kind of mystery to me.  After a few paragraphs I stumbled into the word 'Jesu' and several chapters after 'Plato' and 'Roma'... I was dumbfounded. My question were answered soon enough as Mark's world is a deviation or an extrapolation from a nuclear crushed version of our world. That aspect is skillfully used in the book with some funny discoveries of ancient technology and a couple of plot twist-bending elements. There's magic too.

The 'epigraphs' at the end of each chapter with insights on the brothers of Jorg's company are also a nice touch. To resume or illustrate by opinion, if I would have to make a quote for the book, it would probably read like this : "Prince of Thorns will blow your eyes out of your socket.  This is not a tale for the soft of heart.  The hero is the villain everyone with a dedicated vengeance in mind wants to be.".

Technically, the Ace cover is cool looking, maybe too much 'fantasy-hooded-like' but nice anyway. However I would have preferred a more gory cover art. A good looking map of the world is present in the book and here. The hardcover edition of the book stands at 336 pages.

Prince of Thorns review score :

Characterization............. 8.5 /10
World building............... 8.5 / 10
Magic system................. 7.5 / 10
Story.............................. 8.5 / 10
Writing........................... 9 / 10

Overall (not an average) 8.5 / 10

Enjoy!


Mark Lawrence page

Covers for Deas and Redick

Two new covert art, or maybe artwork since it's not the final result yet, surfaced recently, the UK art for the next dragon novel by Stephen Deas, The Black Mausoleum and the fourth novel in Robert V.S. Redick series, the Chathrand Voyage, The Night of the Swarm. Both novels should be out by Spring 2012.

From Stephen Youll who also made the covers for Deas' US novels :

From Edward Miller, who painted the illustration and also worked on previous covers for Redick books in the UK. I hope they will change the font of the title...

A Dance with Dragons review

It finally saw the light of day back in July 2011. After six years in the making, A Dance with Dragons, the fifth volume in A Song of Ice and Fire is out. The road to completion for George R.R. Martin was not an easy one and it's now time to analyse the result. I was so eager to read about all the character I grew to love and the games they are playing for power.

The future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance. In the east, Daenerys, last scion of House Targaryen, her dragons grown to terrifying maturity, rules as queen of a city built on dust and death, beset by enemies. Now that her whereabouts are known many are seeking Daenerys and her dragons. Among them the dwarf, Tyrion Lannister, who has escaped King's Landing with a price on his head, wrongfully condemned to death for the murder of his nephew, King Joffrey. But not before killing his hated father, Lord Tywin. To the north lies the great Wall of ice and stone -- a structure only as strong as those guarding it. Eddard Stark's bastard son Jon Snow has been elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, but he has enemies both in the Watch and beyond the Wall, where the wildling armies are massing for an assault. On all sides bitter conflicts are reigniting, played out by a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves.

First of all, I have to say that I did enjoy A Feast for Crows even though only half of the PoV from the previous books were present. Some storylines like Brienne's 'trek' were mostly boring but in the end, the Iron islanders, the Dornish Prince family, Jaime and Arya were still compelling enough to keep the book entertaining, bringing worthy new pieces to the set and making the story advance though in a less flaunting way. At any rate, Mr. Martin writing was still first-class. But the potential problem creeping up in Feast is also daunting Dance and all the future books, maybe George is spreading the tale too large, adding to many players in the game of thrones.

At the beginning of Dance, I was mostly eager to read about Jon, Davos, Barristan Selmy and mostly, Tyrion. But in the end, curiously, that's not really where the most interesting chapters come from.  Let's look at the PoVs.

Tyrion. The Imp's speech is still full of crude and sarcastic comments I was craving for but his moods are not at the highest.  His storyline is a long trek where he encounters many inspired characters, from new unexpected players to a good old acquaintance. On the other hand, if I would transpose his narrative to a less interesting character, I'm not sure I would have been satisfied with it. In the same line of thoughts, Jon doesn't have the most thrilling adventures, he sees less action in the physical sense of the term. However in his case, I understand pretty well all he has to go through and even though he wants to keep out of the way when the affairs of the southern kingdoms reach him, at least he tries to remain true to himself and be a good Lord-Commander.  The same could be said for Daenerys. Both of them are learning to rule in their own ways and that doesn't always create suspenseful moments but there are never out of character.

Besides Dany, the old Kingsguard, Ser Barristan Selmy finally gets his time on stage and it felt good to be behind his eyes, George knows who to pick up as the right perspective for a thread. Too bad he is surrounded by so many hard to remember names. Bran story is not getting any clearer in my opinion but his couple of chapters serve to bring him up to pace with the rest of the cast. Furthermore, one of the best parts of the author narrative is Theon's comeback.  You'll understand why I'm using the comeback term when you read the book but let's just say that I never thought that I could feel pity and even almost cheer for the guy anymore but in Dance, he's the one that bring the most emotions for me aside from the ending.

Taking all of this into perspective, the book is not a complete success for me but a satisfying novel nonetheless.  I'm truly happy to have the chance to read again about all these great characters and I know that the pace of George books is often very slow, that the descriptions are rich and in abundance, that every time the author gets the opportunity, he will describe all the food they are eating but I would have thought that more would happen throughout all those pages.  Maybe that's a collateral damage caused by hype... or the result of the split novels.

Moreover, I didn't remember reading so often about recaps (I'll explain) from the characters.  I won't name them in fear of spoiling something but in the case of several protagonists, we follow them wandering the countryside or on the sea for several chapters but then, when something interesting happens, we are told about it in reminiscence from the implicated character perspective instead of experiencing it 'live'.  I think the novel would have benefited from more chapters about those important events instead of the road to get there with a swift recap... Hopefully, many of these proceedings are meant to put the pieces in place and they are in the end great plots with enough twists.

Near the three quarters of the book, some PoVs from Feast make a couple of 'cameos' or even have their storyline resumed for a couple of chapters. This feel a bit weird at first since the characters from the start the book are pushed aside for several chapters in a row but when reaching the end, a feeling of fulfillment comes to the surface.  The overall tale then feels more focused and tightly structured. Add to that the events happening in these last chapters and I felt like the Song of Ice and Fire resumed in all its pending glory.

Feast and Dance could be seen as bridging novels.  In both of them, there's less clashing of armies and less epic battles but the war aftermath of Storm of Swords can't really get back to speed faster.  I understand why the book is written this way and the sense of dragging I've explained doesn't eclipse the masterful storytelling I experienced.

I don't think I really have to talk about world building after five books. The world created by Martin is simply amazing and in Dance, the history behind the alliances and betrayals of old is expanded, the religion of R'hllor is making more noise and the Free cities/Valyria parts of the continent are explored further, Westeros feels less isolated.

Winter has finally come and even though the road to reach it was not a perfectly scribbled endeavor, I think that it was worth the wait. The scope of things to come is mesmerizing.

Technically, the Bantam Spectra cover, the one at the start of the review is good looking and almost all of the alternative covers are generic but nice enough. All the maps necessary, from beyond the wall to the Dothraki Sea are present, which is really really appreciated. The hardcover edition of the book stands at 1040 pages with obviously, all the family trees.

A Dance with Dragons review score :

Characterization............. 8 /10
World building............... 9.5 / 10
Magic system................. 8 / 10
Story.............................. 8 / 10
Writing........................... 8.5 / 10

Overall (not an average) 8 / 10

Enjoy!


George R.R. Martin page