Tag: fantasy

Review: Percepliquis

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Percepliquis.jpgTitle: Percepliquis (2012)
Author: Michael J. Sullivan
Pages: 620
Series: The Riyria Revelations #6 (Series Tracker)

I was very much into the first two installments of this series, disinterested by the middle two, and pleased/content with the final two. Author Michael J. Sullivan certainly finished with a flourish after laying it all on the line in Percepliquis – a satisfying final volume of an enjoyable series. Sullivan clearly excels at plotting out long-term story arcs filled with compelling twists and turns. This bodes well for the remaining books in his Legends of the First Empire series, due out over the next few years.

★★★½ out of 5

Review: Foundryside

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Foundryside_FINAL.jpgTitle: Foundryside (2018)
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Pages: 496
Series: The Founders Trilogy #1 (Series Tracker)

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fresh off his brilliant Divine Cities trilogy, author Robert Jackson Bennett is back with Foundryside, the first book in The Founders trilogy. If this first installment is any indication, readers are in for another great fantasy series.

Set between the massive walls of four merchant house cities, Foundryside follows Sancia Grado, a street urchin whose unique relationship with scriving, the magic that fuels Tevanne’s industry, causes all sorts of issues…but also opportunities.

This book has pieces of everything I want in a fantasy novel — an intriguing magic system, rich worldbuilding, interesting characters, humor, and heart. Those pieces coalesce into something really interesting and make for an enjoyable reading experience. Bennett has done an impressive job building the framework of this world, from the physical structure of Tevanne, to the types of characters that inhabit it, as well as the magic system that makes unexpected things possible.

That said, the explanations and complexities of the magic system were sometimes confusing to me and took time away from developing the cast of characters that will need to be further fleshed out before I’m fully committed to their plights.

Luckily, Foundryside is swiftly paced, has great action, and features loads of sharp, snappy dialogue. It’s a fun ride that I won’t be getting off any time soon. I’m very much looking forward to the next book, even though the wait will be longer than usual since this book doesn’t technically come out for another 112 days!

★★★★ out of 5

Review: The Poppy War

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x500.jpgTitle: The Poppy War (May 1, 2018)
Author: R.F. Kuang
Pages: 544
Series: The Poppy War #1 (Series Tracker)

My thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this was a gem of a debut novel. I have never read a book that evolves so thoroughly from beginning to end. What starts as a traditional fantasy school story quickly devolves into a very grim tale of war and subjugation. I had read author R.F. Kuang’s warning that this book was incredibly violent and “not a YA fantasy school story,” but that is so hard to believe when reading the delightful first third of the book. …and then reality sets in about midway through — this is bloody, brutal, and unrelentingly dark fantasy.

I loved the way Kuang builds the world and lore of the Nikara Empire. There is enough similarity to the real world to ground the story and setting in something relatable before imbuing it with the fantastical. In terms of writing, Kuang’s prose is sharp, concise, and makes for easy reading. This is a longer book, but moves at a fast pace, as the story never overstays its welcome in one location, changes up side characters frequently, and drastically upends the overall tone as the book goes on.

Character-wise, Rin is a fascinating protagonist, she’s smart, driven, but has a complex relationship with authority, patience, and control. This conflict drives her bumpy ascension from peasant girl to star pupil to war combatant. Rin is sometimes frustrating and difficult to root for, but the presence of an intriguing cast of side characters gives Rin the room to make mistakes and indulge her worst impulses. She doesn’t always have to be the moral center of the story, which is not always the case for fantasy protagonists.

Early on, Rin states, “War doesn’t determine who’s right. War determines who remains.” and that turns into a prescient thesis statement for the book, as Kuang explores the complex morality of war and its combatants. Subsequent books in this trilogy are sure to further engage with this idea and I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here. Overall, Kuang has crafted a complex and absorbing debut novel that is unsettling and enthralling in equal measure.

★★★★½ out of 5
✪ SPECULATIVE SHELF STARRED BOOK

Review: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach

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Gods MonstersTitle: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach (2018)
Author: Kelly Robson
Pages: 176

This is a compelling little story that drops you into a future where ecological disasters have ravaged the Earth and time travel is now a possibility. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on in the first several chapters, but things are made more clear as time passes. The interplay between the chapter epigraphs and the main narrative was a really great feature that I enjoyed puzzling out.

As a setting, ancient Mesopotamia provides a fertile ground (wink wink) for time travel exploration, but the time spent there feels fleeting and underdeveloped. Similarly, the constraints of the novella format made it difficult to get a full grasp on the characters and their relationships. These are minor qualms, though, as I felt like this was a solid novella that certainly warrants a sequel.

★★★¼ out of 5

Review: Master Assassins

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36342914Title: Master Assassins (2018)
Author: Robert V.S. Redick
Pages: 458
Series: The Fire Sacraments #1 (Series Tracker)

My thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Master Assassins came highly recommended from several sources I trust in the community. I heard words like “masterpiece” and “six stars out of five” thrown around, but unfortunately I did not connect with this one on the same level as others. I breezed above the surface of the narrative, never truly getting sucked into the current. There are nuggets of interesting storytelling happening here, but I found the pacing to be uneven, the story too drawn out, and a bevy of unremarkable side characters that I struggled to care about.  

I’m glad people are enjoying and heaping praise on this book, because Robert V.S. Redick clearly has some serious writing chops, but this series just isn’t for me.

★★¾ out of 5

Review: Arm of the Sphinx

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Bancroft_ArmoftheSphinx-TPTitle: Arm of the Sphinx (2018; first published 2014)
Author: Josiah Bancroft
Pages: 380
Series: The Books of Babel #2 (Series Tracker)

In my reading life, I want to get sucked into stories, invested in characters, enraptured by action, and delighted by prose. If only one or two of those boxes can be checked by any given book, I’m perfectly satisfied. Josiah Bancroft’s books check a fifth box — all of the above. Every page of Arm of the Sphinx is a delectable treat, with countless delightful passages, characters, and a story that gets more intriguing as mysteries build and questions are answered.

The Tower of Babel and its surrounding airspace feels pulled from a fairy tale. Bancroft has created a fantastical setting that remains beguiling and limitless in terms of storytelling possibilities. I’m enjoying learning more about the Tower and the direction that the story seems to be going in that regard.

This book expands upon the backstories of each character, doles out meaningful motivations, and pairs the characters up in fun and refreshing ways. The story hits a few lulls leading up to the sections involving the Sphinx, but things pick up again and finish with a satisfying flourish.

Like Senlin Ascends before it, Arm of the Sphinx is inventive, clever, and imbued with a sense of virtuousness and humanity. Bancroft is weaving together a wonderful series that has all the makings of a modern fantasy classic. I cannot wait to get my hands on The Hod King later this year.

★★★★½ out of 5
✪ SPECULATIVE SHELF STARRED BOOK

Review: Quietus

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35464401Title: Quietus (2018)
Author: Tristan Palmgren
Pages: 512

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

With the assistance of a Carthusian monk, anthropologists from distant planes of the multiverse study the spread of the Black Death on Earth to better understand the plague that is ravaging their home civilization.

Ah yes, the ol’ Carthusian monk meets transdimensional anthropologist story that we’ve all read a thousand times before. But seriously, this is a bold swing from a fresh new voice in speculative fiction. Author Tristan Palmgren deserves major points for creativity, even though this historical fiction/science fiction mashup wasn’t totally my cup of tea.

I very much enjoyed the characterization of the monk Niccoluccio Caracciola, who, aside from having a great name, was my favorite character to follow. He functions as a reader proxy, who experiences the infiltration of the anthropologists and gets swept up into a massive conspiracy while tackling his own internal conflict that evolves over the course of the novel. Niccoluccio’s perspective grounds the narrative in some semblance of reality before the story careens away into a somewhat convoluted direction.

Quietus functions most effectively when it’s focused on its historical fiction beats and stumbles as it delves deeper into inaccessible science fiction elements. This, combined with slow pacing, and a story that feels 150 pages too long, leads to a lower rating than I wanted to give. Author Palmgren has a knack for original storytelling, but the blending of two disparate genres didn’t quite work for me.

★★★ out of 5

Review: The Armored Saint

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armoredsaint_rev.jpgTitle: The Armored Saint (2018)
Author: Myke Cole
Pages: 192
Series: The Sacred Throne #1 (Series Tracker)

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Upon witnessing the horrors wrought by the Order, the oppressive ruling authority, village girl Heloise begins to fight back in any way that she can. Author Myke Cole pivots from his usual military fantasy genre to deliver a solid first installment in a new epic fantasy trilogy.

I was impressed with how swiftly Cole orients the reader into a brand new world, a very important factor for a book of this size. I was immediately aware of the customs, religions, societal hierarchies, and just how high the stakes are.

My biggest issue was with the characterization of Heloise, the main character. She has a heart of gold but displays some incredibly poor decision making abilities. Most of the action in this novel is the direct result of Heloise acting recklessly. Hopefully this flaw gives her plenty of room to develop into the hero that she seems destined to become.

Overall, The Armored Saint is a fun, quick read that packs a lot in without feeling overstuffed. I plan to continue with this trilogy and see how it all plays out!

★★★½ out of 5

Review: The Blinding Knife

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Weeks - Blinding Knife.jpgTitle: The Blinding Knife (2012)
Author: Brent Weeks
Pages: 671
Series: Lightbringer #2 (Series Tracker)

The Blinding Knife is certainly better than the first entry in the Lightbringer series — there’s less exposition, stronger pacing, and many of the flaws/edges that bugged me in the first book were smoothed over. Unfortunately, these improvements were not enough to make me fall in love with the series. For me, the storylines oscillated between “can’t stop reading” and “disinterested to the point of skimming,” with the latter mode being more prevalent as the book went on. I wanted to read all four books before this year’s release of the final book, but I think this is where I will leave the series. I can see why people enjoy it, but it’s just not for me.

★★★½ out of 5