New map - The Crimson Empire from Marshall's A Crown for Cold Silver

Behold, in all it's glory, the map for Alex Marshall's A Crown for Cold Silver, electronic edition. In fact, it must be in the retail edition of the book, both electronic and physical but I only have the ARC in both formats... Anyway, here's a link for the map and cover creation process from the talented hand of Tim Paul (cover and map) and the direction of Orbit books Lauren Panepinto. It's a nice contender for my best map of the year!

Creation process

It was added to the index.

On the AFR Radar

In my upcoming 2015 releases I posted at the start of the year, I forgot at least one novel (for now...), that should have been on my radar. Seth Dickinson, who wrote short stories and for different video games, is releasing his first novel in September 2015, an Epic Fantasy book titled The Traitor Baru Cormorant. I really like the title and as you'll see when you read the blurb, it looks quite intriguing.

Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people-even her soul. 

When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, overwrites her culture, criminalizes her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to swallow her hate, join the Empire's civil service, and claw her way high enough to set her people free. 

Sent as an Imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn, another conquered country, Baru discovers it's on the brink of rebellion. Drawn by the intriguing duchess Tain Hu into a circle of seditious dukes, Baru may be able to use her position to help. As she pursues a precarious balance between the rebels and a shadowy cabal within the Empire, she orchestrates a do-or-die gambit with freedom as the prize. 

But the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines.

K.J. Parker identity reveal

We now know officially the identity of renowned Fantasy author K.J. Parker, who wrote with this pseudonym since 1998. Parker's real name is Tom Holt, the British writer. Pornokitsch posted the news with the consent of Orbit books today.

Holt wrote the following books under the pseudonym (and some short fiction):

The Fencer trilogy

Colours in the Steel (1998)

The Belly of the Bow (1999)

The Proof House (2000)

The Scavenger trilogy

Shadow (2001)

Pattern (2002)

Memory (2003)

The Engineer trilogy

Devices and Desires (2005)

Evil for Evil (2006)

The Escapement (2007)

Other novels

The Company (2008)

The Folding Knife (2010)

The Hammer (2011)

Sharps (2012)

The Two of Swords, serialized novel (April 2015)

Savages (July 2015)

As you can see, The Two of Swords will be serialized in three novels, available now.

Do you care about K.J. Parker real identity?

Have you read some of Tom Holt books?

Half the covers

Joe Abercrombie posted earlier this week the cover for the UK edition of the third books in his Shattered Sea series, Half a War. The book will be released this summer.

Even if the Subterranean Press edition of the first book of the series, Half a King was clearly the best, even my favorite cover of 2014. Aside from that edition, here's a recap of the UK and US covers for each books, presented with the help of a juxtaposition!

Half a King

Half the World

Half a War

So, what do you think, who's got the best covers? UK or US?

SCy-Fy interviews.... me!

SCy-Fy, the blog of S.C. Flynn, is doing a series of interviews starring bloggers. The latest entry in his series is none other than me!

It was nice being the interviewee, thanks Stuart.

Click here for the interview!

A Fantasy Reader sixth birthday!

AFR turned six today!

Thanks again to all visitors, followers, bloggers, readers, authors, commenters, poll respondents, map lovers and Fantasy aficionado!

Cheers!

The Crimson Campaign review

The Crimson Campaign is the second novel in Brian McClellan flintlock Fantasy series, The Powder Mage trilogy. The series started with Brian debut back in 2013 with Promise of Blood, a book that I enjoyed a lot. The next and final novel, the Autumn Republic, was released earlier this year (February 10th) by Orbit books. 

'The hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions' Tamas's invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies, and no hope of reinforcements. Drastically outnumbered and pursued by the enemy's best, he must lead his men on a reckless march through northern Kez to safety, and back over the mountains so that he can defend his country from an angry god. In Adro, Inspector Adamat only wants to rescue his wife. To do so he must track down and confront the evil Lord Vetas. He has questions for Vetas concerning his enigmatic master, but the answers might come too quickly. With Tamas and his powder cabal presumed dead, Taniel Two-shot finds himself alongside the god-chef Mihali as the last line of defence against Kresimir's advancing army. Tamas's generals bicker among themselves, the brigades lose ground every day beneath the Kez onslaught, and Kresimir wants the head of the man who shot him in the eye.

First, here's a recap of my review of the previous book:

Promise of Blood is a solid debut.  With the world and magic system set in place, I think that McClellan can now work extensively on the characters and story, which will certainly give us an even better novel next time. The author's prose is simple enough, straightforward and without unnecessary artifices but could use some more editing. Clearly, Flintlock Fantasy has found a promising new voice.

So, is McClellan still a promising new voice for Flintlock Fantasy? He sure is, however, the second book isn't giving the series a higher standard as far as I'm concerned. The story and character development are interesting enough but the novel is marginally less entertaining and captivating than the debut. It falls into some the bridging novel 'traps' and wouldn't stand really well on its own (not really a problem) but some threads present sufficient novelty to keep it refreshing and bodes well for a worthy finale for some characters.

We're still following the legendary Adran leader Tamas, his son Taniel Two-Shot, the weary detective Adamat and sometimes the young maid Nila. As far as the inspector's concerned, I wasn't always drawn in by his performance in Promise of Blood, his thread standing slightly on the sidelines, and this time, his journey's essentially a personal vendetta against the mysterious Lord Vetas. I struggled with some of it as it was hard for me to feel empathy toward him but at least, his ramblings created an opportunity to bring back the Privileged Borbador to the front (love him) and to uncover a deceit involving the political and military leaders of Adro. I'm not sure why Ricard Tumblar is still giving a damn about him.

Taniel is coping with the aftermath of his encounter with a God and his almighty follower Ka-Poel still watches over him. Sadly, we don't learn much about her and even if Gods are involved, they have stalled (that's one of the traps I'm talking about). In the mist of this delay is the battle between the Kez invaders and the defending Adran army. Taniel eventually comes to his senses and ensues a series of spectacular fights, self-degrading but justified rebelliousness against authority and this time around - again - the Powder Mage doesn't feel like a match for his foes. Still, I can't say that I didn't silently cheer for him. His day in the sun was long in coming and it was about time.

Meanwhile, his father is caught behind the enemy lines, with an insufficient force, fleeing from the Kez. Tamas finally has to prove what he's capable of on the battlefield, against all odds. Unlike many military books, I could grasp the situation easily and his plan felt brilliant in the circumstances. But the best part of it all was all along the road. Surrounded by his son's ex-fiancé Vlora, the taciturn and competent Olem, his brother in law and even an ex-love interest, everything's in place for a public airing of dirty laundry. Now that's a nice piece of work for the author. Tamas even managed to look really cool when fighting by himself and showing what a veteran Powder Mage can do. McClellan should focus even more on the aspects creating the originality of his world.

Aside from Adamas, even if she doesn't have the spotlight often, I could also add Nila to the list of less compelling protagonists. I hope that her role becomes more meaningful in the future for she's kind of boring right now... if it wasn't for Borbador, she would have been more than a drag. Moreover, I know that some readers mentioned that there's a lack of female PoV or even presence and I admit that's its kind of true. McClellan could work on this aspect for the good of his story even if I think that he shouldn't be blamed for it.

And then, one of my problems in the Crimson Campaign is with the 'villains'. We discover the background of the inscrutable Lord Vetas, but with all the means at his disposal and his many skills, in the end he didn't prove his competence. This can also be said for some subordinates of the God Kresimir and the mutants he creates.

With world building and the magic system clarification out of the way, the author had the liberty to work on the political contest in Adro, the Kez invasion and develop the characters further. While, as I have mentioned while analyzing the different protagonists, there are some nice scenes and overall storylines, the Crimson Campaign has a middle book syndrome and this forced the author to postpone important events (maybe not forced but it felt like it at times for me). Some resolutions could have helped but ultimately, I enjoyed the read.

I don't think that McClellan is reaching the level of quality of Brandon Sanderson or Brent Weeks, who I compared him with for Promise of Blood. However, The Powder Mage trilogy shouldn't be picked up solely for it's 'sub-genre' its a good series and Brian has a potential that I hope will be exposed more thoroughly in the last book.

Cover: For a second time, great job Orbit!
Release date: May 6th 2014
Map: Oh yes, several of them that you can find at the index, all by Isaac Stewart
Number of pages: 596 pages hardcover edition
Acquisition method: Physical copy courtesy of Orbit books
Other: No...

I liked...	Was disappointed by...
Tamas having to prove himself in combat and being emotionally tussled	The stalemate between of the mighty forces, good or bad
Taniel's storyline but mostly for the second half of the book	The plots of Adamat and Nila
The pace and load of action sequences	The 'villains'...

The Crimson Campaign review rating :

Brian McClellan's page
Promise of Blood review

On the AFR radar... late...

I loved Anthony Huso's first novel, The Last Page. I loved it so much it was my best novel of 2010. However, the follow-up was a disappointment. Still, I was eager to see what was next for the author. I'm a little late but back in March, he released a new e-book, called Bone Radio.

Here's the blurb:

Two brothers attempt to escape their crumbling world by using reclaimed technology so strange it allows them to communicate with each other across the boundaries of life and death. Bone Radio is set in a post-apocalyptic landscape unlike any other. The New Union is a nation where old is new and new is old. Superstition, politics and genetically modified beasts taint a countryside that is both familiar and unsettlingly bizarre.

Care for a dose of weird?

A Crown for Cold Silver extract and update

With the release of Alex Marshall's ''debut'' right around the corner (A Crown for Cold Silver will be out April 14th) I picked up the ARC to try to post a review soon after its release. With more than 50 pages in, I have to say that so far, it looks like a solid ''debut''.

I also searched for a map of Marshall's world (it would be of great help) and it's still not available online. However, it will be posted soon by Orbit.

Aside from the extract, which I hope will give you a nice enough taste of what were looking at, I found out that: "Alex Marshall is a pseudonym for an acclaimed author who has previously published several novels in different genres.". That's why I put quotation marks on the debut...

So far, I wasn't able to find out who Alex Marshall is. Anybody knows?

Anyway, here's the link for the extract (it includes 7 chapters):

CrimsonEmpire

April releases

April 2015 isn't the most prolific month in term of Fantasy releases (as far as my picks are concerned) but Alex Marshall eagerly awaited debut will be available.  Aside from my spotlight, you might also be interested in a new Feist novel and might be willing to give The Unremembered another shot in it's definitive author edition (isn't that a bit of a stretch?).

The King of Ashes, book one of the War of the Crown series by Raymond E. Feist (April 7th)

The Unremembered - Author's definitive edition - Vault of Heaven book one by Peter Orullian (April 7th)

What will you read this month?

***

The Warring States
 The Wave Trilogy book 2
Aidan Harte
April 1st

After the rout at Rasenna, Concord faces enemies on all fronts, and nobody believes that the last surviving Apprentice is equal to these crises – but Torbidda didn’t become Apprentice by letting himself be manipulated. 

While Sofia is struggling to understand her miraculous pregnancy, the City of Towers grows wealthy. But it’s not long before the people of Rasenna start arguing again, and as the city falls apart once more, Sofia realises she must escape Etruria to save her baby. 

When prophecy leads her to another cesspit of treachery, the decadent Crusader kingdom of Oltremare, Sofia begins to despair, for this time she can see no way out… 

***

A Crown For Cold Silver

Alex Marshall

April 14th

An outstanding, game-changing epic fantasy debut featuring an unforgettable female warrior. 

FIVE VILLAINS. ONE LEGENDARY GENERAL. A FINAL QUEST FOR VENGEANCE. 

Twenty years ago, feared general Cobalt Zosia led her five villainous captains and mercenary army into battle, wrestling monsters and toppling an empire. When there were no more titles to win and no more worlds to conquer, she retired and gave up her legend to history. 

Now the peace she carved for herself has been shattered by the unprovoked slaughter of her village. Seeking bloody vengeance, Zosia heads for battle once more, but to find justice she must confront grudge-bearing enemies, once-loyal allies, and an unknown army that marches under a familiar banner. 

A CROWN FOR COLD SILVER is an outstanding epic fantasy debut featuring an unforgettable warrior.

***

Clash of Iron

Iron Age book 2

Angus Watson

April 14th

LEADERS ARE FORGED IN THE FIRES OF WAR 

Iron Age warriors Dug and Lowa captured Maidun castle and freed its slaves. But now they must defend it. 

A Roman invasion is coming from Gaul, but rather than uniting to defend their home, the British tribes go to battle with each other -- and see Maidun as an easy target. 

Meanwhile, Lowa's spies infiltrate Gaul, discovering the Romans have recruited British druids. And Maidunite Ragnall finds his loyalties torn when he meets Rome's charismatic general, Julius Caesar. 

War is coming. Who will pay its price?

***

Greatcoat's Lament
Greatcoats book 2
Sebastien de Castell
April 28th

Falcio val Mond is the first Cantor of the Greatcoats. Trained in the fighting arts and the laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom and then began fighting among themselves.

The horrifying murder of a duke and his family sends Falcio in a deadly pursuit to capture the killer. But Falcio soon discovers his own life is in mortal danger from a poison administered as a final act of revenge by one of his deadliest enemies. As chaos and civil war begin to overtake the country, Falcio has precious little time left to stop those determined to destroy his homeland. 

Greatcoat's Lament is a dark swashbuckling tale of idealism and betrayal in a country crushed under the weight of its rulers' corruption. It is the second book in the Greatcoat's series that began with Traitor's Blade.

***