The Royal Library

Where did I go?

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 04:59:00 +0000

If you've stumbled into this page, I can only imagine that you're likely lost among the glittering ruins of the world wide web. But just in case you're actually looking for the guy who used to write book reviews here on the regular, I thought I'd update.

First, I'm pretty busy writing my own stuff these days, so I'm writing fewer book reviews. I've got quite a few fantasy and horror stories and one middle-grade novel out there right now, with more on the way in the very near future. If you want to check out what's available, you can visit my Amazon page. You can also find me at fredwritesfantasy.com. If you see something you think you'd like and want to pick it up, that would be awesome.

I am still writing the occasional book review. They come a little less frequently, but they're still coming. I'm collecting those, along with my music reviews, updates on my stories, and the occasional random thought over on my Fred Rants Substack. If you're still interested in keeping up with my ramblings, please subscribe there.

I can't say for sure that this page will never come back. It's faded and been resurrected a number of times since I started doing this back in the mid-1990s, and I'll never say never. But I do believe that it's unlikely. I will leave the library of past reviews up, so feel free to browse those, and if you like what you see, come join me on the Substack.

New book out today -- "Alien Family Values"

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 17:54:00 +0000

While I'm almost certain after five-plus years of my absence that no one is visiting this site anymore, I'll drop this here just in case.

Your former librarian has some new fiction of his own out. My story "Learning to Fly" is featured, along with nine other much better stories in the "Alien Family Values" collection, out today from Raconteur Press.

A strange little girl grows up the adopted child of a magic-user, the only one of his children to show an aptitude for the art. This creates a close bond between them that will be tested when she learns her origins. This is probably the closest that I'll ever get to writing a tear-jerker, complete with aliens, magic, and explosions, of course.

Pick it up today.

If you're interested, I also have a few other stories from the past couple of years:

In "Sea of Regrets," which appears in the "Song of the Siren" collection from DragonSoul Press, a half-siren makes a deal for rock stardom that has come back to haunt her.
In "Domestic Dispute" in the "Crunchy with Chocolate" anthology from Wolfsinger Publications, a dragon couple has a violent disagreement over what it means to be dragon.

Review: "Grey Sister" by Mark Lawrence

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 20:08:00 +0000

One of the most glaring absences in my 2018 reading was Mark Lawrence’s “Grey Sister” ($7.99, Penguin). Lawrence’s books have been a fixture of my end-of-year favorite reads list going back to 2011, but he was missing last year simply because I didn’t get to it. I’m happy to say I’ve remedied that, and with three more books this year, I could make up for it by giving him multiple spots on the 2019 list. This one certainly earns one entry.

Nona has moved up a class at Sweet Mercy, and her troubles start on her very first day in the new dorm. She runs afoul of a Joeli Namsis, a member of one of the ruling families who wields great influence at the convent and has it in for her new classmate. She has the power to make Nona’s life miserable and possibly even get her banished, which could turn out to be a death sentence since the Tacsis family still wants vengeance for a son slain by her hand in battle.

External forces are not Nona’s only problem. Tortured by the death of her friend Hessa, she continues to explore the caves beneath the convent looking for a clues to find Yisht, who stole the shipheart and killed Nona’s friend in the process. Keot, a blood-thirsty demon who possessed her after the killing of Raymel Tacsis, doesn’t make things any easier for her as he urges her to choose the violent solution to any issue.

Life his further complicated by the fact that Sherzal has sent the Inquisition to Sweet Mercy to monitor the school and try to take Abbess Glass down after she refused an order to return Zole, believed by some to be the chosen one of prophecy, to the house of the ambitious emperor’s sister. One wrong move could end up with the Abbess in chains and Nona on the executioner’s block.

The first half of “Grey Sister,” while displaying Lawrence’s immaculate storytelling skills, moved at a slower pace than usual for his books. It had me wondering what he was working at. But he’s never disappointed me, and that faith was soon rewarded as the story unfolded.

Once the action starts, buckle up and hold on because it comes fast and furious, and you won’t want to put the book down. The dominoes begin to fall, leading up to an absolutely breathtaking climax to the story, which, of course, I won’t give away for those who may not have read it. It’s well worth the ride, though.

Flawed and broken characters are Lawrence’s stock in trade. In his first two series, The Broken Empire and The Red Queen’s War, he made us love two characters that started out very unlikeable – the bitter and violent Jorg Ancrath and the cowardly and philandering Jalan Kendeth. He started out with protagonists that could easily be villains and slowly began to show us why we should like them.

With Nona Grey, he’s inverted the process a little. We started out with a character that was very easy to get behind – a young girl sold into slavery and forced to fight for the entertainment of nobles who was saved from the gallows by the abbess of a convent. Through the course of two books, he’s unfolded the darkness within her. You absolutely still love her and root for her, but there are a couple of moments in “Grey Sister” that may make you question if you should.

As usual, Lawrence takes readers on a fantastic ride, incredibly written, with lots of twists and turns along the way. The ending left me desperately wanting to continue the story, and luckily for me, I don’t have a year-long wait. Up next, “Holy Sister.”

Review: "Son of a Liche" by J. Zachary Pike

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:11:00 +0000

Disgraced hero Gorm Ingerson and his dysfunctional party are outlaws, but they may also be the only hope against an army of the undead in J. Zachary Pike’s “Son of a Liche” ($5.99, Gnomish Press).

Caught in a set up at the end of the previous book, “Orconomics,” Gorm and his band are hiding from the law, but there are bigger threats than assassins’ contracts and the rewards plastered everywhere on badly-drawn posters.

The heroes follow the trail of the Guz’Varda tribe of orcs to try to make amends for the disastrous consequences of their last quest. But the Guz’Varda have joined the Red Horde, a band of shadowkin set on returning to the old ways of violence and pillaging. At the same time, the necromancer Detarr Ur’Mayan (who happens to be the father of the band’s noctomancer, Jynn) has raised an army of the undead and is marching across the kingdoms, aggressively recruiting on the way.

The outlaws may have the secret to stopping both threats, but they’re not going to make any friends among the world’s powers that be by doing it.

“Orconomics” was just the shot of fun and excitement that I needed in a sort of blah reading year for 2018. “Son of a Liche” didn’t make me laugh out loud quite as often as its predecessor, but it was still highly engaging and entertaining.

The rapid-fire references to other works fly here, just as they did last time out, and they’re a blast to pick out. There’s a particular tribute to “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” that had me rolling. I’m sure I also missed as many as I picked up on.

The satire is sharp as well, with Pike riffing on a number of levels. Who would have thought that financial humor and fantasy would blend so well? But it does. Pike takes plenty of jabs at Wall Street, in particular playing on the bank collapse of 2008 as the banks of Andarun write plenty of checks that they can’t cash. But if the only financial joke you know is your bank account, there are also some good-natured swipes at gaming and fantasy conventions to enjoy.

Given the nature of the Dark Profits Saga, it would have been easy for Pike to create cardboard archetypal characters to deliver the jokes. Certainly, they fit the archetypes, but there’s nothing cardboard about them. But just as in “Orconomics,” I’m impressed with the character development and depth. Like the best humor writers, he knows great characters delivering the jokes make them that much better.

“Son of a Liche” didn’t deliver the dramatic gut-punch moment of its predecessor, but there are still some pretty heavy human moments. It’s not all fun and games, but that’s one of the things that I’ve loved about these two books. You’re engaged with the characters and affected by what happens to them. There’s far more to them than a few chuckles.

Review: "Iron Gold" by Pierce Brown

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 19:35:00 +0000

Thanks to reduced reading time in 2018, there were some big books on the stack, from authors that I really love, that I didn’t get to read. Unfortunately, as you can see from the time between reviews, that’s carried over into 2019, but I’m trying to make up for it.

I’m starting with Pierce Brown’s “Iron Gold” ($17, Del Rey).

It’s been 10 years since Darrow led the revolution that overthrew the reigning Golds and was supposed to create equality for all of the colors. But things haven’t worked out as planned. The fledgling republic finds itself still entrenched in a long and bloody war, and many are weary. The prosperity intended for the low colors has not come to fruition with many living in poverty and squalor. The situation has led to a new faction in the republic, the Vox Poppuli, with Darrow’s one-time friend and ally Dancer at the forefront in the senate.

Darrow is also tired and determined to win the war once and for all. To that end, he drops an iron rain on Mercury, in direct defiance of a senate order to stand down, and plans to take the battle to Venus to put an end to the Ash Lord once and for all. His actions, though, set events in motion that may turn the republic’s greatest hero into its most-wanted outlaw.

Brown says in the afterword that he thought Darrow’s story was over after “Morning Star,” but clearly there’s more to tell. “Iron Gold” does, however, mark a shift in the story. Previously the tale of Darrow told through his eyes, this book gives us multiple new viewpoints – Ephraim ti Horn (former member of the Sons of Ares turned thief), Lyria of Lagalos (a red from the mines of Mars who has found life after “liberation” not as promised), and Lysander au Lune (grandson of the deposed Sovereign Octavia au Lune).

I admit that I was nervous about the shift. The last time the author of a series that I enjoyed moved to different viewpoints, it didn’t end well. At least in the early-going, though, Brown handles it deftly by giving us three very strong characters to root for, even if at least a couple of them aren’t exactly “heroes.”

Brown also fairly deftly handles the politics of the books. If you’ve read my reviews, you probably know my stance on injecting current politics into my fantasy and science fiction, but you also know going in that Red Rising is and has always been a political story and is going to have some parallels. For the most part, it’s well done, though there was one scene, more of an aside, that I felt was a bit contrived to make a statement. It was brief and easily forgiven with the strength of the rest of the story.

“Iron Gold” delivers exactly what I expect from Brown and a Red Rising story – colorful characters, fantastic battles and tension that you can cut with a knife. In a 2018 filled with DNFs, I’m left wondering why I didn’t get to this sooner. I won’t make that mistake with “Dark Age.”

Review: "The Armored Saint" by Myke Cole

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 20:28:00 +0000

Not being much of a military SF fan, I hadn’t read Myke Cole until the Tor newsletter offered “The Armored Saint” ($14.99, Tor) as a holiday gift to subscribers recently. It arrived just as I was finishing my previous read, and being a metal fan, I couldn’t resist the title. (I don’t know Cole’s musical preferences, but I like to at least think it’s a reference anyway.)

Heloise has grown up in a small village under an oppressive theocratic regime. The Order roams the land, striking fear into everyone, as they hunt and kill those who use magic. “Suffer no wizard to live” is the mantra, and with good reason. Magic can open a portal to Hell and allow demons into the world. At least, that’s what Heloise has always been told.

Then she and her family are called upon to participate in an act known as a Knitting where they are the last line of defense against a village the Order has judged to be tainted by a wizard. What she sees on that night rocks her to her core.

It’s a familiar tale for fantasy fans, and I thought I knew exactly where it was going. But Cole threw me a curve ball, which I absolutely love. I was thinking it was a nice little story until he lets us in on what is actually going on, and that turned it into “Oh, holy s***, I didn’t see that coming.”

Heloise has her flaws, but I really like the supporting characters, and I even mourned for the loss of one of them, though we only knew him briefly and he never said a word. That’s good writing.

In honesty, this book is really hard to write about because I don’t want to give anything away for fear of lessening the impact. I want you to discover it the same way I did.

I also have to admit that I do have one major problem with this book. It feels incomplete. It’s short for a novel marketed as epic fantasy, and the book ends where, in my mind, the story is really beginning. I haven’t picked up the second book yet, but it feels to me that this is probably less of a trilogy and more one book split into three serials.

Still, it’s a good first foray into traditional fantasy for Cole and a great introduction to his work for me. I’m interested to see where the story goes.

My favorite reads of 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 19:24:00 +0000

There’s not a lot to recap as the calendar runs out on 2018. It was a slow and strange reading year for me. It was a year of less reading time and more DNFs than I can ever remember. I probably abandoned more books than I finished.

Wrapping up

Even some of those that I stayed with disappointed. A couple of series that I had enjoyed in the past came to very unsatisfying conclusions for me, but I felt I had to see them through. One bright spot in the series conclusions is also the first of my favorite reads of the year (not No. 1, mind you, just the first to be mentioned).

“Assassin’s Fate” by Robin Hobb. This was a very bittersweet book for me, so much so that I put off reading it for a long time after its release. I’ve known and loved FitzChivalry Farseer for more than two decades, and I felt certain this would be my last journey with him. It was not a perfect book nor the best in his tale, but it was, at least, a satisfying conclusion.

DIY

As in past years, thanks to the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off, I delved into more self-published books this year, and I found three winners there, including my favorite read of the year.

“Orconomics” by J. Zachary Pike. This book is a finalist in the current edition of the SPFBO, but I discovered it before it was an entrant. Suffice it to say it was just what I needed in a blah reading year. “Orconomics” is a sharp and witty satire that’s laugh-out-loud funny, but Pike brings an impactful human element that you don’t often find in humorous fantasy. It’s a very emotional ride, and though I don’t generally like to rank my books in the year-end wrap, this was easily my favorite of the year.

“Where Loyalties Lie” by Rob J. Hayes. I’m a firm believer that there are not enough good pirate fantasy novels, and this winner of last year’s SPFBO contest gives us a very promising beginning to a saga. Hayes’ cast of characters is colorful and engaging, and the story is gritty and intense. There are a few pirate clichés to be found, but this is certainly no Disney production.

“Sufficiently Advanced Magic” by Andrew Rowe. The second place finisher in the SPFBO was not without its issues for me. Heavily inspired by RPGs and video games, those elements did, at times, take me out of the story, but in the end, Rowe managed to take those game puzzles and battles and infuse them with drama and tension. His characters and story won out over the gaming conventions that initially bothered me, and the book earned its place among my favorite reads.

Old favorites

As always, there are going to be some favorite authors that make the list year-after-year, and this year was no exception, though it did come with a couple of surprises.

“Christmas Eve” by Jim Butcher. It’s only a short story, a Christmas gift to fans, but for someone longing for the next visit with Harry Dresden, it was the best gift Butcher could have given (other than possibly a release date for “Peace Talks.”) It’s a story that entertains as only Butcher can, and also spoke to me personally as a parent. After some upheaval in his life the last few years, Butcher is apparently well underway with the next book. Fingers crossed it makes this list next year.

“Wrath of Empire” by Brian McClellan. As with all of McClellan’s books over the past several years, I went into this one expecting something great. I was not disappointed. I didn’t think he could possibly top the Powder Mage trilogy, but he’s reloaded with some of the smaller characters from those books and is delivering a tale just as compelling.

“Child of a Mad God” by R.A. Salvatore. This was one of the bigger surprises of the year for me. Once a favorite author, it had been about 15 years since I picked up a Salvatore book. I was initially disappointed that this was not a completely new project, but set in his Demon Wars world (which I was not a great fan of), but his protagonist Aoleyn won me over.

Apologies

There are also a couple of favorite authors that I feel that I owe a bit of an apology, too. These are writers whose works I usually grab as soon as I possibly can, and I didn’t manage to make it to either book this year. Rest assured, though, “Grey Sister” by Mark Lawrence and “Iron Gold” by Pierce Brown will be my first two reads of 2019.

Freebies: "Christmas Eve" by Jim Butcher

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 21:57:00 +0000

Just in case you guys missed it like I did on Christmas Eve, Jim Butcher released a new Harry Dresden story in the spirit of the holiday season.

Still hopeful that we'll see "Peace Talks" in the coming year, but it's a really good story and some Dresden is better than no Dresden.

Read it here.

Review: "Wrath of Empire" by Brian McClellan

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 22:17:00 +0000

In a year where I have almost as many DNFs as finished reads, it’s nice to have a few authors you know you can count on. Brian McClellan is one of those, and “Wrath of Empire” ($27, Orbit), the second book in his Gods of Blood and Powder trilogy, did not disappoint.

The Dynize have occupied Landfall and have their sights set on the rest of Fatrasta and the remaining godstones so that they can resurrect their fallen god. Taniel Two-Shot, known as the Red Hand, and his companion Ka-Poel, a Dynize bone-eye sorcerer, are determined to see that doesn’t happen, and he’s using every resource he has available.

In Landfall, Michel Brevis is working with the remaining Blackhats, despite having betrayed them, to try to get families smuggled out of the city and to safety as the Dynize round them up. When he gets a visit from Taniel, his mission changes. He’s to find a Dynize informant named Mara and get her out of the city. When his cover is blown, he finds himself in bed with the enemy to try to complete his mission.

Meanwhile, Vlora Flint and the Riflejacks mercenary corps, along with Ben Styke and the Mad Lancers are just trying to survive. Wanted by both the Fatrastan Army and the Dynize, Taniel recruits them to search for and destroy the remaining two godstones. Splitting their forces, Taniel and Vlora head to a remote mining town in the mountains, while Ka-Poel and Styke set out for an area known as the Hammer. Both have some unpleasant surprises and realizations ahead.

When I finished the Powder Mage trilogy, I couldn’t imagine McClellan telling a story as compelling as the tale of Tamas, but he’s simply reloaded in this trilogy, turning characters that played smaller roles in the Powder Mage books into fascinating heroes.

I’ve always been a firm believer that characters make books, and I love McClellan’s protagonists and the way that he develops them. All three of the main characters here – Vlora, Michel and Ben – face a crisis that causes them to question who they are and ultimately redefines them in the course of “Wrath of Empire.” Somehow, they all manage to come out just that much better and more relatable.

As usual, the tale moves fast and the tension ratchets up quickly. McClellan puts you on the edge of your seat early and leaves you there for the entire book with barely a moment here and there for his characters and readers to catch their breaths. It’s at times nerve-wracking for those who are invested, but always exciting, and that’s what a good story is about.

McClellan has yet to disappoint me in this world, and I’m looking forward to the finale next year and whatever the future brings. I can guarantee I won’t make the mistake of letting Blood of Empire sit around for six months before I crack it open.

Review: "The Core" by Peter V. Brett

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 21:23:00 +0000

Coming off major disappointment with my last series wrap-up book, I jumped right into another with Peter V. Brett’s “The Core” ($8.99, Del Rey).

Sharak Ka has arrived on a world in utter chaos. Thanks to their captured Alagai Ka, the demon mind prince, Arlen Bales and Ahmann Jardir have discovered that the human race’s prospects in the final battle against the corelings are even more grim than they thought. It will take bold action to avoid the utter destruction of humanity, and they have to roll the dice, with the fate of the world in the balance.

As they prepare for their journey to the Core to face whatever horrors await, much work still has to be done to unite the people on the surface of the world against a much larger threat. That work largely falls to Inevera, who rules the Krasians in all but title with Jardir missing, and Leesha Paper, now the countess of the Hollow. Somehow, they have to repair fractured relationships and focus people on a new threat – a massive demon army no longer working as individuals, but as a well-oiled machine guided by the strategy of the minds.

"The Core” brings the series to a mostly satisfying close for me, but it’s not without its issues. In the early going, the book seems to have a strange, perhaps unhealthy, fixation on genitalia – the uses, mutations and mutilation thereof – so much so, that I was beginning to wonder if Brett had dropped down some sort of weird rabbit hole. I’m not sure that Hasik’s obsession with castrating both his allies and his victims, for example, really had any major bearing on the overall story beyond shock value and padding the page count. And that’s the major weakness of this book. There are a lot of things that happen that don’t make an impact on the ultimate resolution of the conflict or series.

There are portents and proclamations made that just don’t really add up in the end. Inevera keeps telling us that the khaffit Abban has a role to play in Sharak Ka, and there’s a whole story arc about rescuing him from Hasik, but ultimately, the night war could have gone just fine without him. There’s a lot of interest and intrigue on the children of the story – the child of Leesha and Jardir, the children of Rojer Inn, the child that Renna Bales carries with her to the Core – but for all of the time spent on them, none of them really affect the story either. Granted, Brett could have plans for all of them in the future, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The biggest problem, though, is that the resolution of the conflict below the surface seems to diminish all of the action that has taken place on the surface. It’s difficult to explain without giving away too much, but once the story is over, I wonder why we spent so much time with sieges and conspiracies and battles above when all that really mattered was what Jardir, Arlen and Renna did below.

With that storyline, I was fairly pleased. As he has to date in this series, Brett delivers a stunning, action-packed bit of storytelling that throws a curve ball or two along the way. I particularly liked the development of the frenemies Jardir and Arlen and how, at the end of it all, their roles had almost reversed. He also did a nice job of ratcheting up the tension and pulling the rug out from under the protagonists just when you thought they had it figured out.

While I do think some things could have been handled a little better, overall I’m not unhappy with the way this series ended. I wish the book had been a little more focused and cohesive, but even much of the surface story was entertaining in its own right until we found out it really didn’t matter all that much.

Review: "The Fantasy Fiction Formula" by Deborah Chester

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 21:37:00 +0000

I picked up Deborah Chester’s “The Fantasy Fiction Formula” ($19.95, Manchester University Press) about a year ago for the simple reason that it received such high praise from Jim Butcher, an author I admire greatly. He basically gave Chester credit for giving him the secret to success, which intrigued me.

I used to read “how to write” books with some regularity, but it’s been a long time since I cracked one. After a while much of the advice becomes repetitive and a bit boring. It seems there aren’t that many different ways to do it.

I started “The Fantasy Fiction Formula” about a year ago, and I wandered away from it. Mainly because in the early going there weren’t that many new ideas. It was all about planning your characters and knowing their motivations, desires and goals – things that have been covered over and over.

I recently picked it up again, this time determined to push through looking for some magical formula to help me get past my own personal block: I seem to be a natural novella writer. Every time I sit down to write a book, the finished product falls in the 35-45,000 word range. I’ve done it about five times now with the same result. In revisions, I end up trying to bulk it up to novel length, and I always feel that I’m just bloating it and the shorter version was much stronger. I was hoping for some sage advice to get me to that 60,000-plus word level.

If you’ve read a lot of these books, like I have, much of the advice you’ll find here, you’ve heard before. But it’s really when you get into the meat of “The Fantasy Fiction Formula” that some fresh perspectives begin to come out. They’re not necessarily new ideas, but different ways of looking at things we already know.

Chester stresses a scene-based character journey, where each scene pushes the protagonist harder and makes life tougher for him or her until you reach that final showdown between hero and villain. She also talks a lot about an action/reaction writing structure and the effective use of sequels to show the evolution of your character and move to the next scene.

She also offers some interesting insight on keeping the story moving and compelling through the “dismal middle,” which I think is something that all writers struggle with.

The advice itself seems familiar, but I came away with a slightly different view of how I look at my stories. Some of the things that Chester talks about, I do naturally. I’m sure many other writers do, as well. But how much more effective would our work be if we looked at those things with a critical eye and better planned them?

Chester offers exercises in each chapter of the book to either examine your own work or the work of a famous author – she particularly likes Butcher and J.K. Rowling – to find those patterns. These are quite helpful. It gives you a chance to see how successful authors handle the tools that she’s talking about and compare it to how you’re doing it. There’s definitely some food for thought.

So can Chester help me turn my novellas into the works that I want them to be? That remains to be seen, but she’s certainly given me some things to think about as I approach them again.

If you’re looking for the magic formula or roadmap to a great book, this really isn’t it. But you knew that already, didn’t you? There’s no magic bullet, just a lot of work. “The Fantasy Fiction Formula” will, however, give you a different perspective with which to focus on that work.

Review: "Scourged" by Kevin Hearne

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 19:04:00 +0000

If my glowing reviews of the early books in any way influenced you to pick up Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, I’d like to take this moment to apologize.

At one time, this series was energetic and fun. I looked forward to each new installment. The fact that I waited months after its release to read the appropriately-titled “Scourged” ($27, Random House) speaks volumes about my opinion on the last couple of books. Still, I had faith that Hearne would pull it together for a grand finale. Instead, he basically did the equivalent of throwing a flaming bag of Irish wolfhound feces on his readers’ front porches.

Ragnarok is upon us … sort of. The story feels both rushed and like it takes forever to get to the point – what little point there is. Atticus is hurriedly making preparations for the final battle, while Owen and Granuaile are doing … things. That’s pretty much the plot of the first half of the book, which if I’m being honest, wasn’t awful. Granuaile seemed less annoying than usual, and Owen is always fun. We get to spend a little time with Oberon (basically all we’ll get in this story) and we meet a new dog named Starbuck who brings a little levity into the situation. I still had hope Hearne might pull it together somehow.

Then Ragnarok begins.

I’m a lifelong fantasy reader. I have a very high tolerance for suspension of disbelief. Even I couldn’t stretch this far. If you’re hoping for the three druids united to save the world, that’s about as far from this story as you’re going to get. Some of Hearne’s characters begin acting contrary to their established nature of the previous eight books, and don’t even get me started on the most anti-climactic end of the world ever.

(SPOILER ALERT FOR THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH -- though the real spoiler is the book itself.) First, Atticus’ anticipated battle with Jormangundr, which has been building since he helped kill Thor way back in book three, takes up a whole few paragraphs, and, like just about everything else in “Scourged,” resolves far too neatly and easily to be believed. The final battle with Loki and Hel gathers the gods of just about every major pantheon for something that should be about as epic as you can get. (Thor, by the way, is back, but it hardly matters since he doesn’t really do anything but show up.) Instead, the battle is kind of boring and far too easily finished as Granuaile, who has trained with the Monkey King Sun Wukong for (literally) about a cup of tea, suddenly becomes a god-slayer. She just pops in and easily defeats Loki, who, to that point, had been taking down warrior gods and goddesses left and right.

But it doesn’t end there. Oh, no. We can’t just have the world saved and call the story done. We have to make everyone even more miserable and guilt-ridden while we also squeeze in a little virtue signaling. Hearne clearly takes the Buddhist tenet that all life is suffering, pain and misery to heart.

I don’t need a happy ending. Happily ever after is not how things ever really go, after all. But I do need an ending that makes sense and a storyline that leads naturally to that conclusion. This just leaves me scratching my head and wondering why the hell I read nine books to get here. The only thing that I can guess is that, over the course of writing this series, Hearne has come to truly hate Atticus – and quite possibly his readers as well.

Really the only redeeming thing in “Scourged” is Owen’s storyline. The journey that he takes with his new sloth friend Slomo, and their wonder at exploring the world, actually reminds me a bit of Atticus’ story earlier in the series. That said, it has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on in the rest of the book, and it makes you wonder why Owen was built into a viewpoint character if he’s just an afterthought in the grand finale. (Yeah, yeah, making sure Druidry survives and all that. He’s an afterthought here, plain and simple, or maybe a more entertaining storyline to try to offset some of the utter miserableness of the rest of the book).

Though I have a couple of other Hearne books on my reader – “A Plague of Giants” and “Kill the Farmboy” – they've moved to the very bottom of my TBR list. I’m not ready to jump back into a series with him after this jumbled mess of a conclusion.

“Scourged” has slightly changed my point of view on one thing, though. It’s the proof of why we shouldn’t push the George R.R. Martins, Patrick Rothfusses and Scott Lynches of the world to just write the next book. As much as it frustrates us to be left hanging, this is what happens when an author doesn’t have the drive and passion for the story anymore and just wants to wrap it up.

Review: "War Cry" by Brian McClellan

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 21:03:00 +0000

There’s one huge problem with Brian McClellan’s “War Cry” ($11.99, Tor). There’s simply not enough of it. It's an incredible setting and story that grips you the way that most of McClellan's work does, but it leaves you wanting to know far more about the world and the characters than you get in this introduction.

McClellan puts us in the middle of a platoon of guerilla warriors in a setting that gave me a bit of a World War II vibe. Unfortunately for this troop, they’re stranded behind enemy lines in a war that has gone on for as long as anyone can remember. Supplies are short, their numbers are dwindling, but still they do what they can.

They’ve survived mainly on the strength of their resourcefulness and an illusionist that can disguise their base and movements. Then their pilot, one of the last left on their side as far as they know, learns of a possible supply score. It’s a big risk, but they have to take it, and it may finally change the course of the war.

This is a 95-page novella, but it really didn’t feel like it. I blew through it in no time and was left wanting more. I immediately felt at home among this group. There’s a warmth and camaraderie despite their situation that comes through from the first pages of the story.

The world in which it’s set is a fascinating one, with a generation of people who have known nothing but war, yet still some of them hold hope for better things. That, I believe, is why it’s not the shape-shifter Teado, who is the focal character of the book, that I felt most drawn toward, but the illusionist, or Smiling Tom, Bellara. Amidst the grim surroundings, she dreams of using her gifts for something other survival, bringing a bit of happiness to a world that has forgotten it.

A lot happens in the short pages of this tale, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story is action-packed and intense, but goes by very quickly without a lot of development of what is an incredible idea. Here’s hoping that this is just the introduction, and there are more -- and longer -- explorations of this world to come.

Review: "Sufficiently Advanced Magic" by Andrew Rowe

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 16:53:00 +0000

The early going of Andrew Rowe’s gaming-inspired “Sufficiently Advanced Magic” ($3.99 digital, self-published) left me not quite sure what to expect, but I ended up with a very pleasant surprise and a great read.

The story, which finished second in this year's Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off, follows Corin Cadence, who is set to enter the Serpent Spire for his judgment. If he’s successful, he’ll receive his attunement and know where his powers lie. If he’s not, well, he’s not likely to return. Corin comes from a powerful family with a demanding father, so expectations are high.

He has his own plans for the Spire, though. Corin’s older brother, Tristan, is one of the ones who didn’t return, and he intends to become powerful enough to climb the Spire, find his brother and bring him back.

Corin’s judgment doesn’t go quite as planned, though, landing him in a bad position both with his family and a visage of the Goddess. He'll need some help to unravel the tangled mess his life has become.

Rowe makes no bones about the fact that “Sufficiently Advanced Magic” was inspired by gaming – both role-playing and video games. That’s easy to tell from the opening pages of this book, as Corin’s experience in the Serpent Spire reads just like a gaming session. Normally, that would be enough to make me pass on a book, but there was just something about that first sequence that made me want to press on. Rowe managed to establish a connection with Corin for me right away, and it was an edge-of-the-seat experience where I cared what happened. Rowe seems to be able to take the puzzles and battles that we’re all used to in games and infuse them with the appropriate sense of drama and tension to make them work on the written page.

Once you get past those early scenes, the rest of Corin’s story becomes a bit deeper as we start to see his relationships and some of the machinations around him unfold. It becomes much more than the written video game that I thought it was going to be at the beginning, and I was drawn in all the more.

The gaming influence doesn’t go away, though. It keeps cropping back up, and I will admit that there were times I found it a little annoying. Every time Corin used his device to check someone’s numeric mana levels or when monsters dropped treasure, I did get taken a little bit out of the story, but the distraction is minor.

Rowe has built a rich and intriguing cast of characters around Corin. I don’t believe there’s a single one that doesn’t interest me in some way, though I do have my favorites. The characters and story even surprised me a few times as it unfolded, which is always a plus.

I went in thinking it might be a DNF because of the gaming aspect, but I came out ready to get my hands on the next installment, which luckily, is available. You can look for that one to appear here soon.

Memory Lane: "Sourcery" by Terry Pratchett

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 15:40:00 +0000

This has been a very strange year for me. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten through August of a year only having read about a half-dozen books. Certainly it hasn’t happened in the last 30 years or so. I really can’t say what’s made it that way. I find myself at another one of those strange turns in life, but I’m used to those now, and I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve read outside of a few DNFs.

The general funk around my reading this year, though, made me decide it was time to dive back into my Discworld re-read, and just my luck, I was at the book that started it all, “Sourcery” ($9.99, Harper).

During my college years, I was a regular at several local used book stores. I didn’t have the money for new books, but I could drop a dollar or two on a used one. Most of the stores around here gave you credit for the type of book you traded – fantasy/SF could only be traded for fantasy/SF, for example – but then I found one that traded for anything. I collected boxes of romance novels that my older female relatives had laying around, westerns from a grandfather and anything else that I could find and built a huge pile of credit there.

I would stop every weekend on my way home and pick up at least a book or two. It was one of these stops where I found a slim volume with the interesting title of “Sourcery.” I pulled it out of the shelf to find an even more interesting cover, featuring one very confused looking wizard and an orangutan. I was intrigued, and the book only used a buck of my credit, so I took it home. The rest is history.

“Sourcery” served as my first visit to the Discworld, my first meeting with Rincewind, and probably the first truly laugh-out-loud fantasy that I’d ever read. While my fantasies had scattered humor, most of them took themselves very seriously – perhaps too seriously. In Pratchett, though, I discovered an author with flair, intelligence and the ability to tell a rousing good tale who also realized that life is silly sometimes and embraced that fact. It launched a lifelong love affair with Sir Pterry and sent me searching for all of his books – which weren’t easy finds in the pre-internet days in the rural U.S.

Though I knew all the twists and turns of the book, I enjoyed it this time around just as much as that first one, which was closer to 30 years ago than I’d like to admit. I was still fascinated by the character of Death, still laughed out loud throughout and was still awestruck by the storytelling and wicked humor that Pratchett possessed.

I closed the book both satisfied and a bit saddened knowing that there would never be a new adventure in this world. (Though I have been holding a couple of his short story collections in reserve as the last of his works that I’ve not read.)

Yes, I realize that I haven’t said a whole lot about the book in this “review,” but honestly, as a lifelong fan and admirer, I think the name on the cover says all that needs to be said.

Review: "Summerland" by Hannu Rajaniemi

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 18:39:00 +0000

Hannu Rajaniemi’s “Summerland” ($25.99, Tor) proved an unusual read for me in more ways than one.

In 1930s Europe, no one fears death anymore. At least not if they have a Ticket to Summerland. Not only do the living know about the afterlife in Rajaniemi’s alternate history, but they can communicate with people there, and the dead can visit the world of the living whenever they want through mediums and other means.

It’s no surprise, then, that the European powers of the time would wrangle over control of the world of the dead, just as they do the world of the living.

Rachel White is a good, but dissatisfied SIS agent with the British Empire. As a woman in the 1930s, she doesn’t get the respect of her fellow agents or superiors, no matter how good her work. Then she learns of a Soviet mole in Summerland. Instead of being put on the case, she’s removed from her position and placed in an accounting position.

But with the possible fate of the afterlife on the line, Rachel isn’t going to give up the chase.

This was my introduction to Rajaniemi, so I didn’t know quite what to expect going in, but the premise of the book was unusual enough to pique my interest. I was not disappointed.

The truly strange thing about this book for me, though, is that I tend to be a character reader. The story has to be good, but if I don’t connect with at least one of the characters, I’m not fully engaged. A good character will even occasionally pull me through a not-so-good story. The truth is, I never really found my common ground with Rachel. She is, purposefully, I believe, a distant personality. I was never really invested in her on a personal level, yet the pages kept turning. Though I’m sure there have been one or two here and there, I can’t name another book where that’s happened off the top of my head.

So what was it that still made me enjoy “Summerland?” A number of things. First, there’s Rajaniemi’s writing style. Again, I always put character and story far above literary flair, but there’s just something gorgeous about his prose. It’s sophisticated and lyrical without being pretentious. I never get the feeling that Rajaniemi is talking down to me as a reader the way I do with some authors who have literary aspirations. Instead his words pulled me along and kept me engaged.

Then, there’s the world itself. How could you not be drawn to a place where death is, well, dead? You can pick up the ectophone and speak to a deceased parent if you need advice. You can say the words that you never got to say to someone who has passed away. There’s always time.

Of course, there are also downsides. One not-so-cool aspect is that there’s no paradise waiting on the other side for the folks in Summerland. Most of them still have 9-to-5 jobs. And if you believe you have eternity, are you living your life to the fullest and making the most of each day? They’ve also weaponized the afterlife with ectotanks that turn into Lovecraftian horrors that can mow through enemies. Now that I think about it, that last one is pretty awesome from a reader perspective, just not for the people in the book.

Part fantasy, part weird science fiction, part historical spy novel, there’s a lot to like in “Summerland” for a lot of different audiences. If secret agent adventure in the afterlife sounds intriguing to you, give it a try.

Review: "Orconomics" by J. Zachary Pike

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 15:46:00 +0000

As you may have noticed if you visit this site occasionally, my reading has been pretty slow this year. I’m only averaging about one book per month, and May was the first month in my memory that I didn’t finish one at all. There are a few DNFs in the mix, but despite there being new books by some authors I really like that I haven’t gotten to yet, I’ve been in a bit of a slump.

Then I stumbled across J. Zachary Pike’s “Orconomics” ($13.99, Gnomish Press). After getting a few chuckles out of the sample, I still wasn’t sure about it, but the book turned out to be just what I needed.

Gorm Ingerson is a disgraced professional hero. Once known as the Pyrebeard, he was one of the most feared berserkers in the game. Then, a raid on a necromancer’s stronghold went south. He was stripped of his rank, and now wakes up drunk in a ditch most every day. That is until, quite accidentally, he befriends a goblin. He sets out to get the goblin his NPC papers (making him off limits for heroes to claim a bounty). That move sets Gorm on a world-changing path.

First, the dwarf is strong-armed into joining the party of a young priest named Niln who has declared himself the Seventh Hero of prophecy. Ragtag is probably far too cohesive a word to describe the members of this party, though we've met versions of most of them before – two mages from different disciplines who hate each other, a scoundrel of a thief-turned-bard, a drunken and disgraced elven ranger, a scarred warrior who has taken a vow of silence and seeks his own death, the sheltered would-be hero priest and, of course, Gorm and his goblin squire.

They’re tasked by the king of Andurun himself with returning some stolen figurines known as the “elven marbles,” feared to be headed to the hands of dark magicians. Both the orcs and elves have claims to them, and it’s up to the party to decide who gets them. If they succeed, they’ll all be heroes again. It seems easy, almost too easy.

Pike presents a world where the economy is based on heroes killing monsters and stealing their treasure and what happens to that world when the monsters get tired of fighting and try to become productive members of society. It’s a deft skewering of Wall Street and corporate America with some fun jabs at gaming culture and the conventions of the fantasy genre in general.

There’s more than a bit of genius in the way that Pike unfolds his tale that’s hard to explain without letting you in on some secrets that you’re better finding out on your own. It will uplift you often. One scene, which I’ll call aggressive sales, is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time. Then, there’s a gut-punch that will drain you. Those I’ll leave you to discover on your own. Suffice it to say that you will cry tears of laughter and sadness at points in this book. It’s that rare tale that manages to keep the reader laughing almost constantly, but remains emotionally charged and engaging.

Pike’s references here are great fun. They come fast and furious, some obvious to fans of the genre and some a bit more sly, and I’m sure there are plenty that I missed. One of my favorites – and one of the funniest for me on a personal level – is a nod to a certain cat figurine.

In the early going, “Orconomics” will seem like a pretty simple piece of humorous fantasy, poking fun at archetypes with a broad swipe at business. You’ll chuckle and enjoy it in a fun way. Don’t let that fool you. By the end of the book, you’ll have a moment to care for even the most seemingly throw-away comedic member of the party, and you will be emotionally invested.

I signed up for a quick read with a few laughs to try to break a slump. Like Gorm and his companions, I got way more than I bargained for. By the end of “Orconomics,” I was somewhat drained, but also reinvigorated. It’s a satire as sharp as a Vorpal blade (made with the blood of a Flame Drake and the teeth of a Diamondfang Skarg), but with an undeniable human (or goblin, elf, orc, dwarf, etc.) element that makes it truly shine.

Review: "Where Loyalties Lie" by Rob J. Hayes

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 21:06:00 +0000

I start my dive into the most recent Self Published Fantasy Blog Off finalists with the book currently sitting in the lead by a slim margin, Rob J. Hayes’ “Where Loyalties Lie.”

Keelin Stillwater is not your typical pirate captain. Drawn into the lifestyle by swashbuckling tales, he’s found it quite different than he expected, but he’s risen through the ranks due to his own cunning and commitment. He prefers to avoid bloodshed when possible, which doesn’t always sit well with his crew, and he has his own agenda in the pirate trade.

His relationship with his sometimes lover Elaina Black is even more complicated than the one with his crew. For one thing, his ship, The Phoenix, was stolen from her, which her father, the bloodthirsty and cruel captain Tanner Black, views as an offense that can only be answered with Keelin’s death.

Then there’s Drake Morass, a legendary rogue and sworn enemy of the Blacks, who has designs on setting himself up as the king of the pirates, but he needs Keelin’s help to do it.

Unfortunately for all of them, there’s a bigger threat looming as the Five Kingdoms have decided they’ve had enough of the pillaging and plundering and are determined to wipe out every man, woman and child in the Pirate Isles. Oh, and did I mention they’re not the only threat?

Tales of pirates often focus on the swashbuckling adventure aspect with only nods to the grim reality of the world they lived in. That’s not the case with Hayes. Though there’s plenty of adventure to be had and perhaps a bit of glamorizing here and there, this story is grimdark to its core. You have to look no further than the relationship between Tanner Black and his daughter, which provides perhaps the most horrific scene in the book, to see that these guys weren’t a Robin Hood-type outfit. It was a life that was ugly, grimy, violent and often short.

Hayes’ two “big bad” captains do fall somewhat into the mold of archetypical pirate characters. Tanner Black is the ruthless tyrant who rules by fear; Drake Morass is the roguish captain who wins the loyalty of his crew and others through natural charisma and charm. It’s the characters in between, though, that make the book.

The official summary of the novel presents it as the tale of Drake Morass, but to me, as you can see from my take above, it’s the tale of Keelin Stillwater. He’s by far the most relatable character in the book and, perhaps, the most complex. Elaina, though, is close behind. We know that she’s fierce and has possibly the worst case of Stockholm Syndrome ever put to paper, but there’s still much mystery and depth that I believe we haven’t uncovered yet. Even many of the more minor characters are intriguing, and Hayes leaves you wanting to know more about the mysterious Arbiter Beck who has been assigned to protect Morass or the quiet immortal marksman Pebble who likewise watches Keelin’s back.

“Where Loyalties Lie” largely serves as a setup for what’s to come in the series. While it’s not lacking in action or intrigue, it introduces its colorful cast, explains their predicament and builds the anticipation for the chaos that’s sure to ensue. It’s a great start for the series and a great beginning to my SPFBO read.

Review: "Child of a Mad God" by R.A. Salvatore

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 15:44:00 +0000

If you’d asked me 15 years ago who my favorite authors were, R.A. Salvatore would have been near the top of the list. One of the highlights of my early entertainment writing career was chatting with Salvatore about his dark elf hero Drizzt Do’Urden, his task of killing Chewbacca in the now uncanonized Star Wars novels and various other projects.

Times change, though. Drizzt, who first brought me to Salvatore’s work, outlived my interest in him, his adventures getting a bit stale. I also never truly got into the Demon Wars saga the way that I connected with the dark elf books. Looking back through my reviews, it appears that it’s been about 14 years since I’ve read anything by Salvatore, that being a re-read of one of the earlier Dark Elf novels.

I was intrigued a month or so ago when presented with “Child of a Mad God” ($25.99, Tor), the first in a new series by Salvatore, and decided to give it a shot.

I was initially disappointed to discover that this was not a completely new project and was set in his Demon Wars world of Corona. Perhaps it was that, which led me to not be incredibly interested in the early going. Then, I met the young girl named Aoleyn, and the book turned around for me.

Aoleyn is a member of the Usgar, a violent tribe that lives atop Fireach Speuer and are seen as demons by the villages that surround the lake below the mountain, which they often raid for supplies and slaves. It is a brutally patriarchal society, and even at a young age, Aoleyn chafes against that. The girl has great promise with the crystal magic that the women of the tribe possess, but a fiery spirit that often gets her in trouble.

The men of the tribe return from one of their raids with a pregnant slave, Innevah, who eventually gives birth to the boy who will completely open Aoleyn’s eyes to the wrongness of her tribe’s customs.

As Aoleyn grows, there’s a parallel tale taking place in the lake villages around a trader known as Talmadge. A loner, he’s perhaps the only outsider accepted by the tribes and trades his wares for pearls that bring a good price outside the remote place. He also has a deep love and respect for the people and wilderness around the lake, even though it’s brought him tragedy.

While Talmadge’s tale is, at times, gripping, I never really connect with him the way that I do with Aoleyn, and there are many times when we’re traveling with him that I’m wondering what’s going on back on Fireach Speuer.

Though I actually share many of Talmadge’s introvert traits and would seem to identify with him more, it’s Aoleyn that fascinates me. With her, Salvatore has created another likeable character that you want to succeed. You root for her, care for her and worry when she’s doing things that you know are going to bring her serious trouble, even as you cheer her on for doing them.

Probably in every review of a Salvatore book I’ve ever written, I’ve talked about his skill with combat scenes. There’s certainly a little of that here, but it’s dialed back from a Drizzt tale. In “Child of a Mad God,” he shows off a different and more important skill – the ability to develop a character that readers connect with deeply and tell a tale on a more human level.

Some people are probably reading this review, thinking, “young girl battles against a patriarchal society. He’s pushing an agenda here.” I’m no fan of politics in anything these days, and perhaps there is a bit of reflection on the current world in Salvatore’s tale. But it’s done with a light and deft hand, not with the preachy tone that some people tackle it with. His dalliances with the message are designed to make you think rather than to tell you what to think.

Overall, I leave “Child of a Mad God” impressed and more interested in Salvatore’s next book than I have been in a while. It’s hard to put my finger on, but there’s a different tone and tenor here than in any of his previous books that I’ve read, and I like it.

Review: "Assassin's Fate" by Robin Hobb

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 17:45:00 +0000

Since I suspect it will be my last trip with FitzChivalry Farseer, I put off reading Robin Hobb’s “Assassin’s Fate” ($32, Del Rey). Then, when I finally began, I took it slowly to savor this last journey.

Fitz and the Fool, masquerading in his Amber character, open the story in the Rain Wilds, on their journey to avenge the death of Fitz’s daughter Bee at the hands of the Servants of Clerres. Ravaged by grief, Fitz plans to bring the city down around its prophets and go out in a blaze of glory.

Unbeknownst to our favorite assassin, though, Bee is still alive. She’s held captive by a Servant named Dwalia and her minion Vindeliar, who can control minds. Dwalia is convinced that Fitz’s daughter is the Unexpected Son of prophecy, and she must bring her to Clerres to wring secrets from her and regain her standing among the Servants. Bee believes that her father has given up on her and put the Fool ahead of her. She’s beaten and abused, but not broken.

Meanwhile, as he usually does, the Fool is playing his own game in addition to helping Fitz seek revenge.

“Assassin’s Fate” ultimately brings Fitz’s story to a rousing conclusion, though I have to say that I found his portion of the tale slightly less satisfying than Bee’s. As saddened as I am by it, I did think a few times in th story that perhaps it is time to let Fitz go. As readers who have followed him since his childhood, we know what he and the Fool are capable of, and there was little doubt that when they set their mind to it, they were going to accomplish what they set out to do somehow. We, or at least I, have reached a point with them where my faith is unshakeable, so there’s not as much drama as with Bee, who is a relative unknown.

While Fitz seems to dawdle a little on his way to Clerres (some of it not entirely in his control, to be fair), Bee’s story is urgent and breathless. Her danger, misery and confusion is far more real and visceral. In many ways, I think Bee’s story in “Assassin’s Fate” parallels Fitz’s tale in the early books and gifts his daughter with many of the reasons that we came to love him as a character. Despite her tortured existence with Dwalia and plenty of opportunities to give up, with the help of the spirit of Nighteyes, who she calls Wolf Father, she becomes a fighter, a survivor, a warrior.

I don’t think “Assassin’s Fate” is a perfect book by any means. As I said, Fitz’s portion of the tale, at least for the first half of the book, seems to drag a bit. And I also think that the wrap-up at the end takes a little too long (nearly 200 pages from the climax of the action to the story’s conclusion). Perhaps, like me, Hobb also took her time to savor the last journey with Fitz and the Fool. That’s understandable, and the writing, even in that, is so strong that I don’t mind all that much.

Hobb proves herself still one of the best at her craft, and this provides a fitting and satisfying end to the tale that we started more than 20 years ago.

My favorite reads of 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 15:28:00 +0000

I had a lot going on in the latter quarter of the year that led me to slack off a bit in my reading, but it was still a pretty good year.

It was a year of discovering new voices for me. At least three quarters of the books that I read were by authors that I had not read before – some brand new, and at least one a classic author that I’d never given a shot. A few of my favorites also delivered solid additions to my library, and I took a few trips down memory lane, as well.

As I do every year, I want to make it clear that this list is in no way a “best of.” I simply don’t get to read enough books to qualify me to say what was the best of the year. These are just my favorite reads of 2017 (some of which are not from 2017). They also are in no particular order, though I’ll admit the first few are definitely my favorites.

“Arm of the Sphinx” by Josiah Bancroft. Published February 1. This is one of the more inventive series I’ve encountered in recent years. The second book in the tale of the Tower of Babel takes a slightly different approach from its predecessor “Senlin Ascends.” Where that was whimsical and offbeat, this one is more of an adventure tale, although there’s still plenty of the other two elements, too. Bancroft has recently been signed to Orbit Books, which will be releasing the first two volumes soon to a deserved wider audience. I just hope it doesn’t delay the third part of the story.

“Red Sister” by Mark Lawrence. Published August 9. Lawrence has been a favorite on this list nearly every year. After a couple of series in the world of his Broken Empire, Lawrence takes us to a fascinating new world where the poles are capped in ice, and only a small and shrinking strip of inhabitable land exists around the equator. The story focuses on a young girl, Nona, condemned to die, who is stolen from the gallows by a sect of warrior nuns. As with all of Lawrence’s lead characters, she’s fascinating and may just end up being his best. Though the book is a somber affair, lacking much of the humor of his previous efforts, it’s also deeper and even more compelling.

“Mort” by Terry Pratchett. Published July 20. From a somber book to one that’s anything but. I only managed one installment in my Memory Lane re-read of Pratchett’s works this year, but it’s also one of my favorites. “Mort” is the book that made Death one of Pratchett’s best characters. It holds up well and remains one of the funniest books in the series for me.

“Sins of Empire” by Brian McClellan. Published July 3. The world has moved on from McClellan’s Powder Mage Trilogy, and the beginning of his second series focuses on three characters who had more minor roles in the first trilogy. The first book proves just as compelling, though, with fantastic visceral battle scenes and great characters.

“The Grey Bastards” by Jonathan French. Published May 15. When I started reading “The Grey Bastards” it was a finalist in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off. By the time I finished it was the deserving winner. French plays with the tropes of classic fantasy, making us care deeply about a group of creatures that are usually presented in fantasy as black-hearted villain fodder for the evil overlord.

“The Forgotten Beasts of Eld” by Patricia McKillip. Published July 12. July was a pretty good reading month for me, as all three of my reviews made the list of faves. Patricia McKillip is, obviously, a well-respected name in the fantasy genre, but I had not read her before. I really enjoyed the concise, yet lyrical storytelling that McKillip employs here. There are no wasted words, and the story is stronger for it.

“Faithless” by Graham Austin-King. Published August 23. Normally I wait until the finalists for the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off are named before I dive in, but there was something about Graham Austin-King’s entry that grabbed my attention. This story was dark and uncomfortable with an interesting story structure that I quite enjoyed. Sadly, it didn’t make the finals of the contest, but it made my favorite books. That’s something, right?

“Kings of the Wyld” by Nicholas Eames. Published December 1. A reluctant over-the-hill hero comes out of retirement to save the world. Familiar story. The way that Eames tells it? Not so familiar at all. This tale was equal parts grimdark and “Spinal Tap,” and I enjoyed every bit of it. Almost as fun as the story is picking out the rock ‘n’ roll references.

“Son of the Black Sword” by Larry Corriea. Published May 2. As a fan of Correia’s Monster Hunter series, I found this quite different but still very enjoyable. This series is darker, more serious and without the humor of Monster Hunter, but it’s also a timely story for our current sharply-divided world.

“The Death of Dulgath” by Michael J. Sullivan. Published April 11. The end notes of this book made it sound like it might be the last tale of Riyria, but happily I've discovered that there's a new one. Admittedly "The Death of Dulgath" was not my favorite of the series, but any road trip with Royce and Hadrian is always fun. Here’s hoping that Sullivan finds at least a few more good tales about the duo.

Review: "The Overneath" by Peter S. Beagle

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 22:43:00 +0000

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise in “The Overneath” ($15.95, Tachyon Publications), Peter S. Beagle writes about a few unicorns. But there are a few other nice surprises in this short story collection, as well.

We’ll get the familiar ground out of the way first. Of the 13 stories in the book, three deal with unicorns of various stripes, and two focus on his bumbling magician Schmendrick.

First up is “The Green-Eyed Boy,” which tells the tale of how Schmendrick came to be apprenticed to the wizard Nikos prior to Beagle’s most well-known tale, “The Last Unicorn.” It’s a fun and funny story that should please fans of that book. Though less funny, the same could be said of “Schmendrick Alone,” in which we learn about the first time that the wizard summoned a demon that he couldn’t control.

Of the unicorn tales, the first two may be a little different than what you expect. “The Story of Kao Yu” tells a Chinese-influenced tale of a traveling judge who, on occasion, has the aid of a chi-lin in deciding his cases. He’s known as one of the fairest and most decisive judges available until one case changes his whole life.

The second, “My Son Heydari and the Kakadann” introduces us to an almost rhino-like version of the unicorn, a desert-dwelling creature that’s the bane of the local tribes. That doesn’t keep the young man of the story from trying to befriend one, though.

The only traditional, horse-shaped white unicorn to be found comes in the collection’s final tale, “Olfert Dapper’s Day.” This story is a fictionalized take on the 17th-Century doctor who inspired “The Last Unicorn” when Beagle found information claiming that Dapper had seen a unicorn in Maine. For me, this was the strongest of the unicorn tales and one of the best pieces in “The Overneath.”

If you’ve got unicorns, you need a few dragons, too, I suppose. Beagle gives us those in “Trinity County, CA: You’ll Want to Come Again, and We’ll Be Glad to See You!” We follow a couple of agents seeking out people who are harboring a wide variety of the beasts in the mountains of California.

Beagle delivers a few horror stories in the collection, as well, a couple of which I was quite fond of.

“Great-Grandmother in the Cellar” is set in the world of “The Innkeeper’s Song.” When a young boy is faced with a crisis and his father is not around to help, he calls on the only person that he can – a skeleton in the family’s closet both figuratively and literally – and it may prove to be a grave mistake.

“Underbridge” focuses on an actual troll statue that exists in Seattle, but our main character discovers it’s reality is a bit more sinister than the landmark where tourists snap photos.

Finally there are a few oddball stories, which I liked, though I’m not sure why. Beagle kind of dismisses “Kaskia,” a tale of alien contact, in his introduction to it, but I found it quite interesting, if a bit strange.

The true oddball piece, though, is “The Way It Works Out and All,” a story modeled after and featuring his friend Avram Davidson, which also gives the collection its name. In the story, the late Davidson reveals to Beagle that he can travel quickly anywhere in the world by going through the Overneath. There is, of course, a catch.

As with any short story collection, there are some fantastic tales here and some that just don’t seem to go anywhere. I felt that some of the tales might work better as seeds for a longer-form piece, but there was nothing that I didn’t enjoy. Fans of Beagle should love it.

Reader Picks: Your favorite posts of 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 20:11:00 +0000

The list of most-viewed items this year is interesting and a bit disappointing in that it's almost chronological for the first half of the year. Usually the entries are scattered, with a few things getting big bursts of interest. Of course, that result is pretty par for the course with the way this blog went this year -- a great deal of traffic early, tapering off late. That's most likely my fault, as work consumed me much of the second half of the year, and I did much less reading and writing than usual. When you go a month between posts, things tend to die.

Still, I'll keep with tradition in hopes that things pick up in the coming year and offer the most viewed posts of 2017.

10. "Son of the Black Sword," by Larry Correia. Published May 2. A bit of a departure from what I'm used to with Correia -- more serious with less humor -- but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

9. "The Death of Dulgath," by Michael J. Sullivan. Published April 11. I waited far too long to visit with my old friends Royce and Hadrian. Not the best of Sullivan's Ryria novels, but certainly not a disappointment.

8. Celebrating 20 years: The Top 10 posts and SPFBO thanks. Published April 5. I was riding high on good blog numbers when I wrote this -- the best in its long history. I had lots of plans to celebrate my 20 years of online presence, but none of those really happened beyond this one post. Still it's a good look at where this blog has been. I guess it's fitting that the celebration plan failed much like the blog. :)

7. "They Mostly Come Out at Night" by Benedict Patrick. Published March 15. Up until about the middle of this year, the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off had a been a major boost for traffic to this site. It seemed every SPFBO book I reviewed brought a big bump. This is the first of a couple on this list.

6. "Miranda and Caliban" by Jacqueline Carey. Published February 16. Carey takes on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and gives her readers a whole new view of a traditional villain.

5. "Stone Cold Bastards" by Jake Bible. Published February 28. This gargoyle adventure is the only book on this list to jump out of chronological order, and also one of two books I reviewed this year with the word "bastards" in the title. What are the chances?

4. "The Arm of the Sphinx" by Josiah Bancroft. Published February 1. Our journey of wonder and adventure continues in Bancroft's sequel to "Senlin Ascends." This series deserves all of the accolades its received.

3. "The Bone Witch" by Rin Chupeco. Published January 23. Though mostly setup for the story to come, this is an intriguing beginning.

2. Tell-Tale Thoughts: "Alone." Published January 19. My Poe series is far more infrequent than I planned a couple of years ago when I started it, but I still dust it off every now and then. I celebrated his birthday with a look at my favorite poem.

1. "Paternus" by Dyrk Ashton. Published January 9. No surprise to me that the top pick was an SPFBO book. Also the first review published this year.

Review: "Kings of the Wyld" by Nicholas Eames

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 18:10:00 +0000

We’ve all heard the argument that there are no new ideas, and maybe that’s true. But new spins are always fun, and that’s just what Nicholas Eames delivers in “Kings of the Wyld” ($15.99, Orbit).

Eames introduces us to a world where mercenary bands are regarded as rock stars, but their day has faded. Where once-great bands ventured into the Heartwyld to fight hordes of horrible monsters, the bands of the new generation are manufactured stars. They’re all flash as they travel from arena to arena battling beasts that have been raised in captivity or captured and enslaved.

“Slowhand” Clay Cooper, former member of Saga, one of the most legendary classic bands, now lives a quiet life in the town of Coverdale with his wife and daughter. He works as a city guardsman and dreams of opening an inn where he can display his magic shield Blackheart above the hearth and tell tales of his glory days.

Then his old bandmate Gabriel, formerly known as Golden Gabe, shows up at his door. Gabe’s daughter Rose has become a merc and she’s trapped behind the walls of the city of Castia, under siege by a monstrous horde like the world has never seen, led by a being named Lastleaf of the magical Druin race. There’s no hope for them, but Gabe is convinced that Saga can rescue her. Though he initially refuses, Clay has a change of heart and thus begins their quest to put the band back together for one last tour.

So we’ve read the reluctant over-the-hill heroes coming out of retirement to save the world sort of thing quite a few times, going all the way back to David Gemmell’s “Legend” in the mid-1980s and probably a few beyond that I’m forgetting or unfamiliar with. But I’ve not read one of those stories quite like “Kings of the Wyld.” Eames infuses gritty and dark fantasy action with a rebellious rock ‘n’ roll spirit and a healthy dose of humor, and the combination is fun and fantastic.

It’s a bit like what might have happened if Joe Abercrombie had written “Spinal Tap” with a little help from the Monty Python crew.

The cast is among the most colorful that you’ll find, with even minor and secondary characters capturing your imagination. Improbable characters versus impossible odds in a seemingly ridiculous situation, but the reader is riveted and invested fully through the whole tale, hoping against hope that somehow, these guys can pull it off.

Aside from that, though, half the fun of this book is picking out the rock references, which come rapid fire, particularly at the beginning and the end. When it’s over, I wanted to read it again with an eye toward the references to see what I missed while I was caught up in the story.

All in all, “Kings of the Wyld” is a very fresh spin on an old idea, and it’s probably the most pure fun that I’ve had with a book this year.

Review: "The Tethered Mage" by Melissa Caruso

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Phillips) — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 15:49:00 +0000

Melissa Caruso’s “The Tethered Mage” ($15.99, Orbit) presents us with an intriguing, if slightly flawed debut novel.

Amalia Cornaro, heir to one of the most powerful positions in Raverran government, would far rather read her books on magic and artifice than play politics. She often sneaks out of her mother’s palace dressed in plain clothes to go in search of rare books in seedy areas of the city. On one such adventure, a chance encounter gives her no choice, but to enter the political arena.

When Amalia sees a group of ruffians accosting a girl, she jumps to try to help. As it turns out, the girl needs no help, unleashing powerful magic, balefire, on her assailants. But she can’t control the magic, and it threatens to burn the city. A young lieutenant in the Falconers, a group that controls all magical individuals in Raverra, convinces Amalia, unaware of her identity, to slap a bracelet on the girl that will stop her magic. Thus, Amalia becomes the only noble Falconer. Her new Falcon, Zaira, proves to be willful, independent and uncooperative, but is also the most powerful weapon the Serene Empire has against the rebelling city of Ardence.

This newfound power thrusts Amalia into the politics she’s avoided. Somehow she must form a bond with Zaira to save her Falcon’s life and the lives of everyone in Ardence.

First, let’s cover what I think is a pretty big flaw in this story, and that’s Amalia’s relationship with Zaira. From the Falcon’s viewpoint, she has basically been enslaved. Though she’s treated well and given every luxury, she’s not allowed to leave the Mews without her Falconer, and if Amalia can’t control her power, Zaira will be killed. From the Falconer’s point of view, she’s saving Zaira from herself, which also has some truth, given the tragedies we learn of in her past.

I expected their relationship to evolve through the course of the book as they came to understand each other. There are moments where the Amalia seems to feel at least a little conflicted about the situation, but she never really seems to grasp Zaira’s point of view. Given the events of this book, I suspect that struggle will come into play in future volumes, but it does leave the reader feeling a little bit less empathy for the protagonist.

That said, “The Tethered Mage” was still a fun read. It threatened from time to time to get bogged down in politics, but always managed to pull itself out. The last third or so of the book is a pretty intense thrill ride. Sure, Amalia probably should have seen some of the developments coming, but that obliviousness is part of her character.

Though Amalia is the main focus of the tale, it’s Zaira who really steals the show. It’s a shame that we don’t get a little more of her personality – a frank and blunt approach to life hiding layers that we only get hints at here. Plus, she’s just a badass. I hope that she’ll play a bigger and bigger role as the series goes on, as I think, at this point, she’s really a far more fascinating character.

Despite some issues, “The Tethered Mage” is well written and entertaining. There’s a lot to build on from this first volume, and I’ll definitely sign up for the second tale.