Review

Review: THE CRIMSON CAMPAIGN by Brian McClellan (Orbit)

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An excellent middle book – slightly shaky start, but awesome second half & ending

“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.

I really enjoyed McClellan’s debut novel, Promise of Blood, and also the short stories he has released set in the same world. I was, therefore, extremely happy to get my hands on an ARC of The Crimson Campaign. Perhaps as a result of reading the handful of short stories (all of which were expertly crafted), I found this novel a bit slow going to begin with. However, after the story settled in, I blitzed through it, and read it well into the wee hours of the morning, unable to put it down. McClellan, I believe, is going to have a long, successful career. Continue reading →

Short Story Review: THE DEVINE ADORATRICE by Graham McNeill (Black Library)

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McNeill-HH-TheDevineAdoratrice2014A prequel to Vengeful Spirit

Decades before Horus’s civil war sunders the Imperium, Raeven Devine, ruler-in-waiting of the world of Molech, prepares for his Becoming, the rite that will elevate him to the rank of Knight and bond him with the mighty war machine that will be his steed for years to come. But traitors within the Sacristans have other ideas and a shocking act of betrayal sets the stage for one of the bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy…

This is a really good short story. McNeill has always been one of Black Library’s best authors, especially when it came to the Horus Heresy series. In this short story, he tells of the Becoming ritual of the Knight family on Molech. The two sons of the world’s ruler are given a parade that will lead to their bonding with a massive, lethal war-machine. However, unseen forces on the planet – remnants of the pre-illumination period – have other plans, and attempt to disrupt the ceremony.

What really stood out for me was how well it was written. McNeill, a skilled author, can often succumb to florid prose (especially at the start of his novels and short stories, which is interesting…). Here, however, he is far more focused and disciplined. As a result, the pacing and narrative flow are excellent. The characters feel realistic and well-rounded from very early on.

Certainly, I think this is one of the author’s best short stories, and bodes very well for Vengeful Spirit, his latest Horus Heresy novel. (Which I already have, and will be starting in the next week or so.) Very highly recommended for all fans of the Horus Heresy series.

Short Review: THREE (Image Comics)

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cover2_altWe are SPARTA!

Writer: Kieron Gillen | Artists: Ryan Kelly, and Jordie Bellaire

In ancient Sparta, three Helot slaves run for their lives.  Pursuing them are three hundred of their Spartan masters.

Collects: Three #1-5

This is a pretty interesting, short graphic novel. The artwork is fantastic, and the storytelling is extremely well-done. Not only have the writer and artist done their research, but the story just flows. After a massacre at a village, a rather mysterious ‘cripple’ and two companions find themselves hunted by an army of snubbed Spartans. Chased across the country, they must keep their trail as hidden as possible, placing their fates in the hands of the oh-so-fickle (not to mention absent) gods. This is a really good book.

I liked the way the history was portrayed. While I can’t say for certain if it is entirely accurate or not (as it is not my area), the book contains a discussion at the end by the creative team about how they went about recreating the time, society and country of the age. Really interesting extra. The Spartan society, in particular, is portrayed without the benefit of rose-tinted glasses (or, I suppose, the sepia ones of 300). They are blindly macho, fatally short-tempered, and arrogant in the extreme. Also, as we learn later, they are not at all above cheating to protect their honour and over-blown reputations…

Overall, this is a really good comic. The artwork throughout is great – vivid, colourful, clear and yet not too clean. The ending is not what I was expecting, but in a really good way. It’s brutal, but not gratuitously so. The action is driven by the story, rather than the other way around. The dialogue is realistic, as are the characters. If you have any interest in history, the Greeks, and so on, then you really should check out this book.

Highly recommended.

“Half a King” by Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey / Voyager UK)

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AbercrombieJ-HalfAKingStart of a new (YA) trilogy by the author of the First Law

“I swore an oath to avenge the death of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath.”

Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains, and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea. And he must do it all with only one good hand.

The deceived will become the deceiver.

Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge.

The betrayed will become the betrayer.

Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could.

Will the usurped become the usurper?

But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi finds his path may end as it began – in twists, and traps, and tragedy.

I’ve only recently come to read Abercrombie’s novels, finally enjoying The First Law trilogy last year. What became quickly apparent with those novels is that Abercrombie can write. Not just in terms of plotting, but his prose, too, is superb. With Half A King, he has taken his first foray into the YA market, and everything we loved about his previous work is true here, too. This was a very enjoyable read, and I can’t wait for books two and three.

This novel is a pretty quick read. I blitzed through it in just two glorious days of fantasy entertainment. This is both a very good thing, and also brought to mind the one weakness (in my opinion) of the novel. Firstly, the pace never lets up, which means Yarvi’s journey and ordeal draws the reader inexorably on towards the excellent, unexpected denouement. The characters he meets along the way are varied, very well-drawn, and diverse. They all add to the story – none of them felt like props. They felt real – from the melodramatic captain of a slave ship; to Nothing, the mysterious deck-scrubber of said ship, with quite the secret… Yarvi’s handicap is handled delicately and naturally – that he must rely on his wits, as opposed to brawn, was a nice alternative to much fantasy today.

The society into which he is born is warlike and Viking-esque (it’s not fully explained or described, which I liked, as it leaves more for future novels), and he is naturally a disappointment to his father. His mother, a pioneering businesswoman, appears cold and somewhat indifferent to him, equally disappointed by his deformity and how it prohibits him from fulfilling the kingly promise of his father and ancestors. Over the course of his unwilling travels, he gathers a motley crew of companions, all of whom develop a loyalty to him and, somewhat inexplicably, agree to help him fulfill his oath for revenge.

Abercrombie-H1-HalfAKingUKSo how can any of this be a weakness? Well, after reading the novel, you realise that an awful lot happens to Yarvi and Co., in what is actually a pretty short timeframe. Generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with this – just because it’s fantasy doesn’t mean it has to be drawn out for hundreds-upon-hundreds of pages, after all. It’s just that, this novel could be described as “A Serious of Unfortunate-Yet-Fortuitous Events”. A couple of developments felt a little too serendipitous. But still fun. If it had been just a bit longer, with a timeframe that lasted just a bit longer still, then I think this would have been a near-perfect fantasy adventure/revenge story.

Nevertheless, and despite this minor niggle, the novel is filled with great moments, scenes, encounters, and conversations. The characters, pacing, prose, and story are all engaging and addictive. The action scenes are well-composed and don’t dominate or bury the story. The first and last chapters have a nice symmetry, too – and, indeed, that was one of the best final chapters I’ve read in a while. Abercrombie avoids info-dumps and overt telling, and allows the story to fill out our picture of the world as it unfurls.

Overall, great storytelling for all fans of fantasy. I can’t wait for the next in the series, Half a World.

Review: A COLDER WAR by Charles Cumming (Harper)

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CummingC-TK2-AColderWarUKTom Kell returns…

A top-ranking Iranian military official is blown up while trying to defect to the West. An investigative journalist is arrested and imprisoned for writing an article critical of the Turkish government. An Iranian nuclear scientist is assassinated on the streets of Tehran. These three incidents, seemingly unrelated, have one crucial link. Each of the three had been recently recruited by Western intelligence, before being removed or killed.

Then Paul Wallinger, MI6’s most senior agent in Turkey, dies in a puzzling plane crash. Fearing the worst, MI6 bypasses the usual protocol and brings disgraced agent Tom Kell in from the cold to investigate. Kell soon discovers what Wallinger had already begun to suspect – that there’s a mole somewhere in the Western intelligence, a traitor who has been systematically sabotaging scores of joint intelligence operations in the Middle East.

This is the second novel to star Tom Kell, disgraced SIS agent, and apparently the services new go-to problem fixer. At least, for problems that need to be fixed quietly and delicately – more so than the secret service normally requires. A Colder War improves on A Foreign Country in almost every way (quite the feat, given how good the previous novel was), and hopefully marks the beginning of a long-running series to star Kell. This is another engrossing, expertly crafted espionage thriller. Continue reading →

Short Review: A FOREIGN COUNTRY by Charles Cumming (Harper)

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CummingC-TK1-AForeignCountryUKAn excellent spy thriller

On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously-planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris.

Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. It is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain’s top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell.

Tossed out of the Service only months before, Kell is given one final chance to redeem himself – find Amelia Levene, at any cost. The trail leads Kell to France and Tunisia, where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy that could have unimaginable repercussions for Britain and its allies. Only Kell stands in the way of personal and political catastrophe.

Charles Cumming is one of my favourite authors – in the thriller genre or otherwise. He writes tightly-plotted, gripping espionage thrillers in the tradition of John le Carré and others of that era. [It is, perhaps somewhat cliché to now compare Cumming to le Carré, but it really is apt.] Cumming’s novels are decidedly British, in that they are devoid of melodrama or the dick-swinging swagger that can characterise American-authored espionage thrillers (see, for example, Vince Flynn and Brad Thor). They are, however, just as gripping. Continue reading →

Mini-Review: Sex Criminals, Vol.1 – “One Weird Trick” (Image)

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PrintWriter: Matt Fraction | Artist: Chip Zdarsky

Suzie’s just a regular gal with an irregular gift: when she has sex, she stops time. One day she meets Jon and it turns out he has the same ability. And sooner or later they get around to using their gifts to do what we’d ALL do: rob a couple banks. A bawdy and brazen sex comedy for comics begins here!

This is a very unconventional, amusing and even ground-breaking book. It is also one I’m not entirely sure how best to review. Is it funny? Absolutely. And not just because it’s sex-related, and because that can often be very funny – especially when it’s about weird stuff, or people’s anxieties about it. This is a great book, and it’s no wonder that it has been taking critics and comic fans by storm.

Fraction’s story is multi-layered – it looks at sex, and how young people’s experiences can be varied, great, uncomfortable, misunderstood, and complicated. It is not preachy, nor is it flippant. It also has some great moments that are about reading and the imagination. And our protagonists are plotting a bank heist (in order to save a library). There is some pretty weird stuff near the end – which diminished the impact for me just a little, but by no means completely. I will absolutely be back for volume two.

The book is filled with some great background gags, and there were plenty that had be giggling for pages to follow (and also a couple that resurfaced in my mind at odd moments, setting me off giggling again). Sex Criminals is a series that really needs to be read and experienced for yourself – to review it at length would kind of ruin its magic, I think.

Zdarsky’s artwork is great throughout – and I love the way he’s added all the details and background stuff, without clobbering the reader with it. The sex-time graphics are really interesting and well-done, too.

With its great storytelling and superb artwork, not to mention its interesting and welcome message, and colourful well-drawn characters, this is a very highly recommended collection.

Review: MAYHEM by Sarah Pinborough (Jo Fletcher Books)

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Pinborough-MayhemDr. Bond, I presume…

A new killer is stalking the streets of London’s East End. Though newspapers have dubbed him ‘the Torso Killer’, this murderer’s work is overshadowed by the hysteria surrounding Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel crimes.

The victims are women too, but their dismembered bodies, wrapped in rags and tied up with string, are pulled out of the Thames – and the heads are missing. The murderer likes to keep them.

Mayhem is a masterwork of narrative suspense: a supernatural thriller set in a shadowy, gaslit London, where monsters stalk the cobbled streets and hide in plain sight.

This is the first of Pinborough’s novels that I’ve read, and I rather enjoyed it. It has all of the elements that I look for in fiction, in one tightly-written package: crime, investigation, mystery, a dash of the supernatural and horror. It’s an excellent mix, well-executed. And it’s the first in a series. Continue reading →

Short Story Review: “A Plague of Saints” by David Annandale (Black Library)

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Annandale-APlagueOfSaintsA quick look at an early mission

Heresy in a hive city has brought Commissar Sebastian Yarrick and the 252nd Armageddon Steel Legion to the barren world of Molossus. With the inquisition at his back and a ragged force of rebels before him, Yarrick must discover the cause of the uprising and bring it to an end. Venturing into the hive’s lower levels, Yarrick and the soldiers of the Astra Militarum discover a deadly horror in the shadows.

This release also includes the bonus short story ‘Sacrificial’, in which Yarrick and the Steel Legion face corrupted cultists.

This is a really good short story. Whereas Annandale’s first Yarrick story, the novella Chains of Golgotha, told us of the mission during which the Commissar met his arch nemesis, A Plague of Saints takes us further back. Here, Yarrick is a relatively short-in-the-tooth Commissar, not yet risen to the heights of heroism and respect that long-time WH40k fans will be familiar with. All in all, it’s a great story, and helps flesh out one of the Imperium’s most interesting (human) characters.

Yarrick has been dispatched to a world seemingly in revolt. He’s attached to the Armageddon Steel Legion Guard regiment. An inquisitorial team meets them on arrival, and things almost immediately appear sketchy. What are the inquisitor and his henchmen getting up to? What is causing the lower-level inhabitants of the Hive to revolt?

A Plague of Saints has all the hallmarks that I’ve come to expect from Annandale’s fiction. It is expertly crafted, and populated by interesting and well-rounded characters. The author’s prose is fluid and evocative, without being over-done. And he’s an expert at atmosphere and locating the reader in the story without info-dumping or over-describing. Later in the story, the author manages to paint a picture of tense menace, furious combat, and just a shade of horror. [No spoilers, here!] This is probably one of the best short stories I’ve read from BL in a while. Annandale just keeps getting better.

The micro-story included in this eBook, Sacrificial, was a short, sharp display of how ruthless Yarrick can be in executing his prerogative. A good addition.

Annandale’s done a great job bringing this character to life. I am very eager to get my hands on the full-length novel, Imperial Creed. Absolutely recommended for all fans of WH40k and military science fiction.

Short Story Review: “Hidden Depths” by Sandy Mitchell (Black Library)

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MitchellS-HiddenDepthsA Secondary Character steps into the Foreground

Inquisitor Amberley Vail, best known for chronicling the escapades of Commissar Ciaphas Cain, follows the trail of smugglers of alien technology, and finds herself in the middle of something much bigger… An artefact of an ancient race leads Inquisitor Vail and her warband into the depths of an underhive, where more than just mutants and gangers lurk in the darkness. Will Vail survive to tell Commissar Cain about this adventure?

Inquisitor Amberley Vail, chronicler of the Ciaphas Cain adventures, finds herself in deadly peril when an ancient alien artefact leads her into the depths of an underhive.

I’ve enjoyed a number of Mitchell’s Warhammer 40,000 novels – in particular, his Ciaphas Cain series, which takes a more amusing, less-serious (but no less action-packed) approach to the WH40k aesthetic and universe. Hidden Depths takes one of the secondary-characters from the Cain series and brings her to the fore: Amberley Vail – she appears in the Cain novels, but she’s also the ‘narrator’, as the novels are presented as edited narrative histories of Cain’s “heroism”. And the story really works. This was a very good read.

Mitchell takes what is becoming the ‘standard’ template for stories that feature an Inquisitorial warband at its centre: there’s an OCD and pedantic savant, the dreamy psychic, former-Arbitrator enforcer, and usually someone who is some variation of a former underhive ganger (Mitchell checks each box). There’s nothing wrong with this make-up, but it would be interesting to see some more variation.

Nevertheless, Mitchell offers a story with a classic-Black Library feel to it. It reminded me of the stories we used to get in Inferno!, the quarterly fiction magazine, and some of the earlier anthology stories. It also reminded me of the now-old Necromunda game that Games Workshop used to produce (and was always my favourite). The warband descends into the underhive to figure out what’s going on. Naturally, they come face to face with ravenous beasts and an unexpected enemy.

There are some nice, cheeky jokes in here, too – for example:

“We wasn’t expecting the Holy Inquisition…”

“No one ever does.”

Sometimes the sense of fun veers a bit too close to glib and maybe even threatens to become slightly annoying. But, for the main, Mitchell maintains a lighter tone that works, and doesn’t get too silly. In fact, that’s what makes his fiction work so well – the fact that he obviously doesn’t take the source material and aesthetic too seriously, but at the same time he keeps well within the sub-genre’s bounds.

This is a fun, quick read. If you’re a fan of the Ciaphas Cain series, this is a must-read. If you’re a fan of BL fiction in general, too, you should enjoy this. Recommended.