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116th out of 251 books
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401 voters
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Ink and Steel (Promethean Age #3)
by
Elizabeth Bear (Goodreads Author)
On the heels of Hell and Earth
Kit Marley, playwright and spy in the service of Queen Elizabeth, has been murdered. His true gift to Her Majesty was his way with words, crafting plays infused with a subtle magic that maintained her rule. He performed this task on behalf of the Prometheus Club, a secret society of nobles engaged in battle against sorcerers determined to de...more
Kit Marley, playwright and spy in the service of Queen Elizabeth, has been murdered. His true gift to Her Majesty was his way with words, crafting plays infused with a subtle magic that maintained her rule. He performed this task on behalf of the Prometheus Club, a secret society of nobles engaged in battle against sorcerers determined to de...more
Paperback, 427 pages
Published
July 1st 2008
by Roc Trade
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Community Reviews
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590)
Rebecca
rated it
Recommends it for:
Historical fantasy and fairy story fans and English geeks
Shelves:
fantasy,
past-earth
Ink and Steel (and its sequel, Hell and Earth) is a prequel to the previous books in the series -- while the first two Promethean Age books are set in the modern era, Ink and Steel is set at the tale end of the Elizabethan Era. In fact, it opens on the date of 30 May 1593 with the apparent death of Christopher "Kit" Marlowe. Apparent, as Kit was shifted to Faerie and a glamor left in his body's place. Unfortunately, he drinks the water before he's quite conscious, so ends up stuck t...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Dear Ms. Bear,
It’s not you; it’s me. I enjoyed Hammered but there is something about your Promethean novels that just puts me off. I don’t know quite what it is. Okay, that’s not entirely true, Blood and Iron felt a little like a check list.
My problem with Ink and Steel is different.
How can you write such a dull sounding Elizabeth? It’s quite clear that you don’t mean to, and maybe it is because every Elizabeth in film or novel gets held up to Glenda Jackson, and almost...more
It’s not you; it’s me. I enjoyed Hammered but there is something about your Promethean novels that just puts me off. I don’t know quite what it is. Okay, that’s not entirely true, Blood and Iron felt a little like a check list.
My problem with Ink and Steel is different.
How can you write such a dull sounding Elizabeth? It’s quite clear that you don’t mean to, and maybe it is because every Elizabeth in film or novel gets held up to Glenda Jackson, and almost...more
Catherine Mustread
rated it
Loved this fantasy with Shakespeare and Christopher Marley (Marlowe) as protagonists, with Marley joining the faerie world after his murder, though still remaining in contact with Shakespeare. A lot of the literary references were over my head, but still, a great companion novel to my ongoing Shakespeare project.
Though this is #1 in the Stratford Man series, it is actually #3 in the Promethean Age series by Bear. My understanding is that the two books in the Stratford series are pre...more
Though this is #1 in the Stratford Man series, it is actually #3 in the Promethean Age series by Bear. My understanding is that the two books in the Stratford series are pre...more
Outstanding! This first book in "The Stratford Man Duology" (coupled with the equally exquisite "Hell & Earth") envisions an extra-teeming Elizabethan England in league with the underground world of Faery to suppress the forces of Dark Magic. The Stratford Man is clever, soulful, courageous Will Shakespeare, pressed into service to work protective magic into his verse as a reluctant, but brilliant replacement for verse-master Christopher Marlowe, recently deceased. But the mo...more
This took some getting into. Bear's prose is a touch too dense at times but lovely enough to reward wading through and Will and Kit are charming protagonists but it took until around page 280 to feel like the story* had really gotten going. Once things took off they really took off though, my heart stuttered back and forth between leaping and sinking all evening as I raced to the finish.
Fair warning, you will be left with that 'OMG must read sequel'feeling.
...more
Fair warning, you will be left with that 'OMG must read sequel'feeling.
...more
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Way too much sex and the story lines just did not tie together. You never saw how the two separate kingdoms were dependent on each other. It could have been very good but it definitely fell flat. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of.
Slow paced and confusing, w/ a russian novel approach to names. It was never clear how Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare were doing magic w/ their playwriting to support Queen Elizabeth. I've read much better fantasies based on that time period.
This book sounds like too much fun to pass up. And now that Elizabeth Bear has won the Hugo Award for her short story "Tideline", she definitely looks like an author to watch.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
If you are going to have any chance of enjoying these books, you'd better bring a few things to the table: (a) some understanding of who was who in the Elizabethan Age; (b) some background in British history, Faerie and the story of Lucifer; (c) a lot of tolerance for discreet but plentiful sex and bisexuality.
If you've been zipping along with Drizzt the Dark Elf or other slaughter-the-unhuman-enemy romps, this may not be for you.
Got that? If so, it's a heckuva ride. Chr...more
If you've been zipping along with Drizzt the Dark Elf or other slaughter-the-unhuman-enemy romps, this may not be for you.
Got that? If so, it's a heckuva ride. Chr...more
I really liked this, but since it was only half a book, I'll delay the review 'til I read _Hell & Earth._
(Lucifer is still my fave. Such style.)
(Lucifer is still my fave. Such style.)
Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides
marked it as decided-not-to-read
Shelves:
fantasy-fiction
I thought the first two books in this series were pretty decent, so I thought, why not read the second two. However, it turns out that these are set in the waning years of the Elizabethan period. While Bear seems to handle the time period well, I accidentally started reading the fourth rather than the third, and then I couldn't get past the, um, liberties Bear took with Shakespeare and Marlowe. (Trying to avoid spoilers.) It probably speaks poorly for my ability to suspend disbelief, but ......more
Amazing. Simply amazing.
And Kit Marley is teh hawt.
And Kit Marley is teh hawt.
I liked this book a lot. It was a bit thick and dense with action, but the writing was exemplary. I liked the way the author wrote the dialogue, very close to Elizabethan rhythms and verbiage. I was most impressed with that. The plot is a bit more intricate and hard to follow than I'd like, but it was wonderful to turn things on their head a bit and have Shakespeare having an affair with a Fae Kit Marlowe. It really did work very well. I liked Bear's Faerie world, as well, scary but beauti...more
I feel as if I should really reread this book and its companion before attempting to review it properly, even though it's only been a scattering of months since I burned through both in succession. However, I think I can manage to write a few passages here and now, with the thought of rereading and then editing this review later. It's not so much that the story doesn't leave a lasting impression; quite the opposite. It's just that so very much happens in this duology, so it's difficult to pin it...more
In her diptych, Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water, Elizabeth Bear shows us the end of the story of the Promethean Age, when Faerie has been fighting a long war against technology, against Hell, and against those magicians, the Prometheans, who would still see it bound.
In the second volume of that series, when Christopher Marlowe, part of Lucifer's household, appears, he blazes across the page in such a way that I knew, then, that Bear had to write more of his story, and how he had g...more
In the second volume of that series, when Christopher Marlowe, part of Lucifer's household, appears, he blazes across the page in such a way that I knew, then, that Bear had to write more of his story, and how he had g...more
If I had it to do over again, I'd read this and Hell and Earth first, then the "first" two Promethean Age novels. That would put them in chronological order, which is how I prefer to read.
Normally, I'd be terribly unhappy with the fact that this book leaves so many loose ends. Since it is clearly marked "The Straford Man, Volume I," and the author's note states that it is one of two closely-linked novels, I don't feel cheated. It helps that this and Hell and Earth...more
Normally, I'd be terribly unhappy with the fact that this book leaves so many loose ends. Since it is clearly marked "The Straford Man, Volume I," and the author's note states that it is one of two closely-linked novels, I don't feel cheated. It helps that this and Hell and Earth...more
Ben Babcock
rated it
Why, why did Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water precede this book?! Ink and Steel possesses the best qualities of its predecessors and few of their flaws. Elizabeth Bear's skill flourishes in an alternate Elizabethan England where Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are agents for the Queen and have dealings with Fae.
By far, my reviews of the previous books singled out an overly-complicated mythology as the Promethean Age's major flaw. Ink and Steel retains much of the m...more
By far, my reviews of the previous books singled out an overly-complicated mythology as the Promethean Age's major flaw. Ink and Steel retains much of the m...more
Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age books have this much in common: heartbreaking, intense, complicated personal relationships, and politics that go way over my head. My solution is to read for the personal relationships and shrug off the politics, though that won't work for everybody.
This book focuses on Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, and on the Elizabethan reign, which is being subtly supported both by the magic in plays and verse and by the faerie realm. Marlowe is kill...more
This book focuses on Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, and on the Elizabethan reign, which is being subtly supported both by the magic in plays and verse and by the faerie realm. Marlowe is kill...more
I found this a little difficult to get into, but wound up liking the story very much. I agree with others that the whole "Bound together by magic, their monarchies draw strength from each other, sustaining their regimes..." was sort of undeveloped--even the "secret society" bit was not strong; however I liked the characters and how all that we know (or suspect) about Marley and Shakespeare is woven into the story. Can't wait to read Hell and Earth.
Peter
rated it
Recommends it for:
People who have read the first two and know what theya re getting into.
The story continues (is that right, considering this volume is set some 400 years before the previous two?), and, if you liked or hated the first two, you are unlikely to change course after Ink and Steel. Unless you came for the background and stayed for the "Kit Marlow on Will Shakespeare" action. Which you might have. As usual, the ending seems a bit rushed, but I have few complaints. As an aside, I wonder if the patchwork nature of the stories is supposed to reflect the patchwork b...more
I found a lot of this confusing and boring. Still, I finished it. But I read it much slower than I am usually able to read. Partly it's just the writing-style, excessively detailed and a whole ton of similes.
The pace is glacial for the first 270 pages. And so many names were thrown out in the beginning that I had to give up on keeping conspirators straight. It didn't help that EVERYBODY was calling themselves The Prometheus Club. I still don't know what 'promethean' is supposed to si...more
The pace is glacial for the first 270 pages. And so many names were thrown out in the beginning that I had to give up on keeping conspirators straight. It didn't help that EVERYBODY was calling themselves The Prometheus Club. I still don't know what 'promethean' is supposed to si...more
I think that this book was mostly an excuse to have Marlowe and Shakespeare have a sexual romp through Faerie. The whole thing was bizarre and yet I kept reading it. The politics were difficult to follow even though I know the period very well. Sadly the author's research notes for the period are in the next volume which means I may have to get it simply to see where she came up with some of this.
Although this is the third book in Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age series, it actually takes place way before the other two: think Will Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth...literally.
Will Shakespeare and Kit Marley are drafted by the good faction of the Prometheans to use their poetry's magic for the well-being of England. In doing so, they find themselves fighting for their life--or in Kit's case, coming back to life--adventuring through Fairy and Hell, and gaining and losing loves.
...more
Will Shakespeare and Kit Marley are drafted by the good faction of the Prometheans to use their poetry's magic for the well-being of England. In doing so, they find themselves fighting for their life--or in Kit's case, coming back to life--adventuring through Fairy and Hell, and gaining and losing loves.
...more
Enjoyed this one too, though some of the sexuality seemed gratuitous. I don't have any problem with sex in a book, and _some_ of the - mostly implicit - sex in this one was definitely necessary to establish the characters and their relationships, but at times I felt like we kept on harping on about it long after we'd made things clear in this book. Loved Kit Marlowe as a character though.
This was bad ... very bad. It looked good. Elizabethan england, fearies, secret societies and magic. But the reality was a strange sort of high quality slash fanfic. While it is kinda well written in places, and the story has some charm, I just cannot get past the Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe and Faerie Knight love triangle. Sigh.
Explains the beginnings of Prometheans, Human Magi sworn to protect humans from the fae.
Boy am I struggling with this 3rd of the series. It is way too loaded with alternative history to the point of being boring. I like magic in my fantasy not just character development for 300 pages. Not even the Fae are intriguing.
Amendment: After dragging through the first 3/4 of the book it finally got going with an interesting enough ending that I will probably read the next in the s...more
Boy am I struggling with this 3rd of the series. It is way too loaded with alternative history to the point of being boring. I like magic in my fantasy not just character development for 300 pages. Not even the Fae are intriguing.
Amendment: After dragging through the first 3/4 of the book it finally got going with an interesting enough ending that I will probably read the next in the s...more
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It's an interesting take on Elizabethan England, if magic and places like Faerie actually existed. It was a little easier to keep track of characters in this book compared to the two other Promethean books, maybe because we only switch back and forth between two viewpoints. That isn't to say that there aren't a bunch of peripheral characters mentioned, and there's a handy guide to them at the beginning of the book. My only problem was about 2/3 of the way thr...more
This book holds true the saying "do not judge a book by it's cover" as the cover seems to indicate a story that has nothing to do with this book. A story of Christopher Marley & William Shakespeare, where the two don't understand (and neither did I as the reader) where the magic came from until the last few chapters.
I found the writing tedious, the characters flat, and parts in the book completely unnecessary. The only thing that kept me reading was the idea that so much mo...more
I found the writing tedious, the characters flat, and parts in the book completely unnecessary. The only thing that kept me reading was the idea that so much mo...more
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Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. This, coupled with a childhood tendency to read the dictionary for fun, led her inevitably to penury, intransigence, the mispronunciation of common English words, and the writing of speculative fiction.
More about Elizabeth Bear...
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