Review

Review: THE PROVIDENCE OF FIRE by Brian Staveley (Tor)

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StaveleyB-CUT2-ProvidenceOfFireUKAn excellent sequel to The Emperor’s Blades

War is coming, secrets multiply and betrayal waits in the wings…

The Annurian Empire’s ruling family must be vigilant, as the conspiracy against them deepens. Having discovered her father’s assassin, Adare flees the Dawn Palace in search of allies. But few trust her, until she seems marked by the people’s goddess in an ordeal of flame.

As Adare struggles to unite Annur, unrest breeds rival armies – then barbarian hordes threaten to invade. And unknown to Adare, her brother Valyn has fallen in with forces mustering at the empire’s borders. The terrible choices they face could make war between them inevitable.

Fighting his own battles is their brother Kaden, rightful heir to the Unhewn Throne, who has infiltrated the Annurian capital with two strange companions. While imperial forces prepare to defend a far-distant front, Kaden’s actions could save the empire, or destroy it.

Coming so soon after my review for the first book in the series, it’s a little tricky to think of how to write this review. Most of what I loved about The Emperor’s Blades is true for The Providence of Fire: Staveley’s writing and storytelling are great, his characters interesting and nuance. However, all of these elements have improved for this second novel. If you haven’t read Staveley yet, then you are missing out. This is a must read series. Continue reading →

Review: THE EMPEROR’S BLADES by Brian Staveley (Tor)

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Staveley-1-TheEmperorsBladesUKA superb, must-read debut epic fantasy

The circle is closing. The stakes are high. And old truths will live again…

The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire in turmoil. Now his progeny must prepare to unmask a conspiracy. His son Valyn, training for the empire’s deadliest fighting force, hears the news an ocean away. And after several ‘accidents’ and a dying soldier’s warning, he realizes his life is also in danger. Yet before Valyn can act, he must survive the mercenaries’ brutal final initiation.

The Emperor’s daughter, Minister Adare, hunts her father’s murderer in the capital. Court politics can be fatal, but she needs justice. Lastly Kaden, heir to the empire, studies in a remote monastery. Here, the Blank God’s disciples teach their harsh ways, which Kaden must master to unlock ancient powers. But when an imperial delegation arrives, has he learnt enough to keep him alive, as long-hidden powers make their move?

There was much hype around The Emperor’s Blades when it was released last year. Naturally, being the ornery and difficult fellow, I decided to wait. And wait. As the weeks passed, I became distracted by other things and other new books. Then I moved to Canada. After the arrival of the sequel, The Providence of Fire, I decided I had waited long enough, and started reading The Emperor’s Blades (wow, that was one long, convoluted tale that was utterly unimportant and uninteresting…). And then I kept reading. Well into the night, multiple times. With only a couple of niggles, I can sum things up thus: Believe the hype. This is a great novel and the beginning of something special. Continue reading →

Review: DEATH AND DEFIANCE by Various (Black Library)

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Various-Death&Defiance(HH)A collection of Horus Heresy novellas

Words alone can no longer convey the horrors of the war that now grips the Imperium. In what should have been an age of enlightenment and glorious triumph, instead warriors on both sides reel from the twin agonies of betrayal and bloodshed. The hatred of a sworn foe, the ire of a primarch, or the unholy wrath of a daemon-lord – none but the mighty Space Marines can hope to weather such torments unscathed…

Death and Defiance is the latest anthology from Black Library – originally, it was only available as a hardcover (possibly at the Black Library Weekender?). The short stories it contained were recently made available through the publisher’s website as individual eBooks. Naturally, given my addiction to Horus Heresy fiction, I snapped them up right away. On the whole, it’s a very good collection. Surprisingly, though, my favourite author featured did not deliver the best story (in fact, it was by far the weakest). Continue reading →

Review: KAREN MEMORY by Elizabeth Bear (Tor)

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BearE-KarenMemoryUSAn interesting Weird West adventure

“You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I’m one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It’s French, so Beatrice tells me.”

Hugo-Award winning author Elizabeth Bear offers something new in Karen Memory, an absolutely entrancing steampunk novel set in Seattle in the late 19th century — an era when the town was called Rapid City, when the parts we now call Seattle Underground were the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes bringing would-be miners heading up to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront. Karen is a “soiled dove,” a young woman on her own who is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable’s high-quality bordello. Through Karen’s eyes we get to know the other girls in the house — a resourceful group — and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts into her world one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, seeking sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, who has a machine that can take over anyone’s mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap — a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

This is the first novel by Elizabeth Bear that I’ve read. Lauded far and wide, throughout the SFF online community, I had very high hopes for Karen Memory, a weird Western adventure/crime story. It mostly lived up to them. There’s much to like in the novel, certainly, but there was one consistent thing that didn’t work for me. Nevertheless, it’s quite an enjoyable read. Continue reading →

Review: THE RETURN OF NAGASH by Josh Reynolds (Black Library)

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ReynoldsJ-TheReturnOfNagashThe beginning of the end

The End Times are coming. As the forces of Chaos threaten to drown the world in madness, Mannfred von Carstein and Arkhan the Black put aside their difference and plot to resurrect the one being with the power to stand against the servants of the Ruinous Powers and restore order to the world – the Great Necromancer himself. As they set about gathering artefacts to use in their dark ritual, armies converge on Sylvania, intent on stopping them. But Arkhan and Mannfred are determined to complete their task. No matter the cost, Nagash must rise again.

The Return of Nagash is the first novel in Black Library’s momentous Warhammer “event”. Everything in going to change: the forces of Chaos are rampaging across the northern territories of the Old World, and both dark forces in all four corners of the world are gathering, plotting, and on the move. Mankind, elves and dwarves are preparing for the worst, hunkering down, consolidating, beset on all sides. In this novel, Reynolds lays much of the groundwork for what is to come, but focuses of course on the forces of the undead. It is a very good start to the series. Continue reading →

Quick Review: ALL THE OLD KNIVES by Olen Steinhauer (Minotaur)

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SteinhauerO-AllTheOldKnivesUSA very good, slow-burning spy thriller

Six years ago in Vienna, terrorists took over a hundred hostages, and the rescue attempt went terribly wrong. The CIA’s Vienna station was witness to this tragedy, gathering intel from its sources during those tense hours, assimilating facts from the ground and from an agent on the inside. So when it all went wrong, the question had to be asked: Had their agent been compromised, and how?

Two of the CIA’s case officers in Vienna, Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison, were lovers at the time, and on the night of the hostage crisis Celia decided she’d had enough. She left the agency, married and had children, and is now living an ordinary life in the idyllic town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Henry is still a case officer in Vienna, and has traveled to California to see her one more time, to relive the past, maybe, or to put it behind him once and for all.

But neither of them can forget that long-ago question: Had their agent been compromised? If so, how? Each also wonders what role tonight’s dinner companion might have played in the way the tragedy unfolded six years ago.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from All the Old Knives. It’s the first Steinhauer novel I’ve read, despite collecting his Tourist series over the past few years (there are so many series I have to catch up on). This is a slow-burning, engaging novel about a past intelligence failure and the lasting legacy it has over those who were involved. It touches upon themes of loyalty, love and trust. And what some people are willing to do to protect the ones they love, and what can ultimately make them reassess.

Steinhauer’s writing is tight and excellently composed. The characters are well-developed and three-dimensional, each dealing with the fallout from Vienna in their separate ways. The novel moves at a steady pace, and alternates between the perspectives of Henry and Celia. Each recalls their own part in the tragedy in Vienna, slowly giving the reader more of the story. The final revelation is superbly done, and the final chapter is one of the best I’ve read (those final moments!). To begin with, the novel had felt rather slow, but it quickly became apparent that Steinhauer was going for the slow-burn reveal, which ultimately gave the final few chapter real punch. It’s also far more about the impact of the terrorist attack, rather than the attack itself — in fact, we get surprisingly few details about the events in Vienna, and only the few relevant details to the protagonists’ ongoing issues and relationship.

If you haven’t read anything by Steinhauer yet, then this is a great place to start. Highly recommended for all fans of thrillers and spy novels.

All the Old Knives is published by Minotaur Books in March 2015.

Novella Reviews: RETURN TO HONOR by Brian McClellan and FIRE WATER by Jaye Wells (Orbit)

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McClellanB-PM-ReturnToHonorBrian McClellan, RETURN TO HONOR

Vlora takes centre stage

Captain Vlora is a powder mage in the Adran army. Once the favored, adopted daughter of the field marshal, she is now a pariah amongst those she called her family. Her superior officers would like nothing more than to send her to a far off posting and forget about her, but no one is exempt when there is a war – and powder mages are desperately needed.

When a traitorous guard captain goes on the run with information that could harm the war effort, Vlora is sent on his trail. She has three days to find him; she will have to make new friends and test the limits of her skills. Fail, and good soldiers will die. Succeed and maybe, just maybe, she can begin to work her way back into the field marshal’s good graces.

Vlora is a character that has spent most of the Powder Mage series on the periphery: following a moment of indiscretion, she has been ostracised by Field Marshal Tamas’s inner circle. Ever since, she has been suffering under Tamas’s withering contempt, and as Taniel’s popularity grows, so too does her isolation among the troops (powder mage and others). In Return to Honor, which takes place after the second novel, The Crimson Campaign, Vlora is given an opportunity to impress Tamas and perhaps reacquire some of his respect. He tasks her to hunt down a survivor from a battle in the aforementioned novel, to recover the intelligence they believe this traitor has stolen, before he has a chance to sell it to their enemies.

It’s another very good story, too: with Vlora at the centre, we see an alternative perspective on life in the army. The action is limited, but the story is more investigative than war-focused. This is one of the great things about McClellan’s short stories: they do a wonderful job of filling out the edges of the story, away from the battlefront. Return to Honor is a great tale to hold you over until the publication of the trilogy’s finale, The Autumn Republic (published on February 10th). Highly recommended.

Powder Mage Series: Promise of Blood [review], The Crimson Campaign [review], The Autumn Republic

Also on CR: Interview with Brian McClellan; Guest Posts “My Favourite Novel” and “Protagonist Ages in Epic Fantasy“

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WellsJ-PW-FireWaterJaye Wells, FIRE WATER

An early case for Kate Prospero

Rookie cop Kate Prospero only has one more training assignment to pass before she’s officially sworn in to Babylon Police Department. But the veteran cop in charge of the river patrol boat is a salty old guy isn’t happy about playing tour guide to a rookie and seems even less interested in real police work. But while on patrol, they stumble on to what appears to be a floating dirty magic lab. This highly combustible situation might finally be the key to these two unlikely partners finding common ground.

This is the first thing by Wells that I’ve read. And it was pretty good: set very early in Kate Prospero’s law enforcement career, she’s still finding her feet in the role, butting heads with the jock recruits who struggle with the idea of a woman on the force, and therefore don’t take her presence seriously. Not only that, she’s an Adept (magically gifted), which only piles on the prejudices and difficulties she faces on a day-to-day basis. Assigned to accompany a cantankerous, aging police officer on river duty, Prospero finds herself on a case, investigating potion sellers. One thing leads to another, and she finds herself right in the thick of it…

I enjoyed this story — Wells’s prose is very clear and well-composed. The characters are interesting, well-written, and varied. They are familiar types, but don’t feel cliched. The story’s pace is good, unhurried, but not plodding. Overall, I couldn’t say the story excited me overmuch, but it did pique my interest to read the novels (which, thankfully, I have). It reminded me of Stacia Kane’s, M.L. Brennan’s, Kevin Hearne’s, and Jim Butcher’s novels in mood and style (while still remaining disctinct, as do these other authors’ works). If you’ve never read anything by Wells, then I think Fire Water is a great introduction. If you’re already a fan of the author and/or the Prospero’s War series, then I think you’ll enjoy this, too. Recommended.

Prospero’s War Series: Dirty Magic, Cursed Moon, Deadly Spells (Feb.10)

WellsJ-ProsperosWar1to3

Review: SO, ANYWAY… by John Cleese (Doubleday)

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CleeseJ-SoAnywayAn interesting, if surprising biography

Candid and brilliantly funny, this is the story of how a tall, shy youth from Weston-super-Mare went on to become a self-confessed legend. En route, John Cleese describes his nerve-racking first public appearance, at St Peter’s Preparatory School at the age of eight and five-sixths; his endlessly peripatetic home life with parents who seemed incapable of staying in any house for longer than six months; his first experiences in the world of work as a teacher who knew nothing about the subjects he was expected to teach; his hamster-owning days at Cambridge; and his first encounter with the man who would be his writing partner for over two decades, Graham Chapman. And so on to his dizzying ascent via scriptwriting for Peter Sellers, David Frost, Marty Feldman and others to the heights of Monty Python.

Punctuated from time to time with John Cleese’s thoughts on topics as diverse as the nature of comedy, the relative merits of cricket and waterskiing, and the importance of knowing the dates of all the kings and queens of England, this is a masterly performance by a former schoolmaster.

This biography was not at all what I was expecting. For one thing, Monty Python plays a relatively tiny part in the story. Instead of So, Anyway…, this book could easily have been called “The Road to Monty Python”. Despite this, I found it interesting and, after Cleese moved on to his university days, absolutely engaging. Continue reading →

Second Look: THE GREAT BAZAAR and BRAYAN’S GOLD by Peter V. Brett (Tachyon)

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Tachyon Publications will be releasing a new edition of Peter V. Brett‘s first two Demon Cycle novellas, The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold on July 14th, 2015. Naturally, this means new cover art, too (above), so I thought I would re-post my original review from 2011. I’ve updated the review just a little, given that I have since read The Desert Spear and The Daylight War, which I hadn’t at the time. If you’ve been reading CR for a while, you’ll be familiar with the fact that I love Brett’s writing and the series is easily one of my favourites, across all genres. The series is published in the US by Del Rey and in the UK by Voyager. The fourth book in the series, The Skull Throne, is due to be published at the end of March 2015. And I really can’t wait…

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Brett-GreatBazaar&BrayansGold-US2015Two short stories set in the world of the Demon Cycle

From the dangerous world of the Demon Cycle comes the early adventures of Arlen, Peter V. Brett’s quintessential fantasy hero. These exciting origin tales follow Arlen as he learns to navigate a world where the elemental forces of evil conjure themselves from the earth each night.

Humanity has barely survived a demonic onslaught by using magical wards that protect their cities and homes. Only a handful of mercenaries and explorers risk traveling after the sun sets. Arlen, seeking adventure and fortune, is barely protected by the warded armor upon which he has inscribed intricate defensive runes. From a journey ferrying a wagonload of dynamite to a mountain stronghold, to a dangerous mission to recover desert treasures, Arlen faces friends and enemies with a strong arm and a cunning wit.

I won’t give any more synopsis before the break, as I don’t want to offer any spoilers for new readers. So, if you haven’t read The Painted Man(The Warded Man in the US), then I recommend you go an do that immediately, before diving into these.

In this eBook, we get a pair of short stories focussing on one of the main characters from The Painted Man, Arlen Bales. Both of the stories have been released previously as limited editions by Subterranean Press, and are so rare that they’re now selling for $400 in some places! Thankfully, the eBook is way more affordable, so I snapped it (and The Desert Spear) up for my Kindle as soon as I finished The Painted Man.

A superb, short foray back into the world, I really enjoyed reading about Arlen and his early adventures again. These two stories are perfect for fans who need a fix before the next book’s release. Continue reading →

Review: TOUCH by Claire North (Redhook/Orbit)

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NorthC-TouchA triumphant second novel

Your violent death usually triggers the first switch.

Just before your life ebbs away, your skin happens to touch another human being – and in an instant, your consciousness transfers completely to the person you touched.

From that moment on, you can leap from body to body with a touch of the skin. You can remain for a minute, an hour, a lifetime, and after you leave, the host has no memory of the time you were there.

My name is Kepler. I could be you.

For me, the carefree life of jumping between bodies has become a terrifying nightmare. I am being hunted. I don’t know who. I don’t know why. If you’ve read this far, our lives have already touched. Now you are part of the conspiracy too.

Get ready to run.

Claire North’s debut, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, blew me away. It has easily become one of my favourite novels. It was with great anticipation and trepidation, therefore, that I began Touch. I needn’t have worried, though. This is another fantastic novel, one that gripped me from the beginning and didn’t let go. North is my new favourite author. Continue reading →