Adrian Collins's Blog, page 232

REVIEW: Corax Lord of Shadows by Guy Haley

Corax Lord of Shadows is another entry in the sprawling, action-packed military sci-fi universe of Warhammer 30,000 brought to us by Black Library. With a focus on actual freedom versus the illusion of freedom within the iron fist of the unstoppable Imperial crusade, Corax Lord of Shadows was an exciting and fun entry point into the 30K universe.

Corax, the primarch of the Ravenguard finds himself tasked by the Emperor to humble the thousand cities of the Carinae, and bring them under The Imperium’s yoke. A rebel group arises who think themselves to be enacting Corax’s vengeance for him. What they fail to understand is that while Corax wants for vengeance he is driven to establish order and the promised peace that will come when humanity rules the galaxy. By any means necessary.

The key idea of this book is, “Freedom vs the illusion of, or more precisely planetary freedom vs the illusion of it within an empire” The Imperium offers a choice of any colour you’d like to draw with, so long as you draw within the clear, bold, immovable lines. Fans of Warhammer 30K and 40K will know this like the back of their hands—this has been the theme of this universe for decades. For new readers like myself this represents an important part of the Imperium of Man.

To the lords of Carinae freedom is to always have a choice. Being able to govern themselves as they had done in the past. Corax, his Legion and a vast Imperial war host arrive with a choice backed by a crusade.

I loved seeing Corax and the Ravenguard enact the will of the Emperor. The primarch weighing scales of vengeance alongside a will to see order and peace brought to all. I enjoyed seeing Corax’s own legionnaires question him. I saw them become shell-shocked and introspective of the foul things they had done and would do in a bid to achieve a golden-age for Mankind. The constant clamour of dissent in the voices of the people of Carinae, and the unbreakable will of The Lords, provided an excellent opposing force.

Guy Haley shows us how primarchs are different to the legionnaires. They think on a grander scale, and are demi-gods within the setting. They are razor sharp and perceptive. Above the abilities of the primarchs, the Emperor and his ambitions are well defined and obscure, even to Corax himself.

The side characters and their stories in the book are for me what shines. Corax is an interesting character. Although his thinking is human for a being so far removed, he is still far removed from us that at times I couldn’t connect with his character. I’d love to read some stories before he became about his earlier years before he became so subject to the dogma of the Empire, and see how different he may have been as a leader of his Homeworld before he was set to the task.

Corax Lord of Shadows is worthy of high praise. As an entry point into the Black Library it left me with a lot more unanswered questions. A few small flaws aside, the book is exceptional. The horrors of war in the vast expanse of the void are not glorified in the least bit. Characters remark on the violence and ponder why they do it and to what end. The plot has some good twists and does enough to not leave a clear answer on who is right or wrong.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book, both for old and new fans of 40K and 30K, alongside fans of military sci-fi and fantasy. The galaxy the Emperor envisions lives in black and white. As a reader I love seeing the grey areas and knowing that in all chaos there is order.

Potent, political and provocative. Corax Lord of Shadows is a fantastically introspective spectacle, watching Corax walk a razor’s edge with vengeance to the left and order on the right is incredibly entertaining.

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REVIEW: We Lie with Death by Devin Madson

We Lie with Death follows four characters. Princess Miko, an empress with no empire who must protect her people, and survive the many trials that follow. Rah e’Torin finds himself with no ties to the new emperor, or the Second Swords. Torn between his old ways, and attempting to protect his people while weighing the scales, can he keep his honour when tradition is a blade that cuts both ways? Dishiva e’Jaroven finds herself tied to Gideon, a new Levanti emperor. Gideon has sights on making a new land for this people to thrive in once more., even if he must forge dangerous ties to Leo and askew Levanti ways. Sold to the witchdoctor to ends that only he may know, Cassandras fate becomes tied to Empress Hana.

The world building takes on a grander scale than with new areas and characters brought into the fray. We learn a lot more of the world and its inhabitants, artfully shown in character or through exposition. In doing so Madson maintains an ability to paint a cinema-esque image of each scene. The emotional ties of fear, despair, love, joy, anger are wonderful. For a book to make the reader emotional is a rare magic that builds such a love for the world at large.

The pacing is akin to We Ride the Storm, rumbling slow thunder pairs with sharp bloodshed and turmoil. When the rain comes in Kisia it pours. The sequel contains a lot more intrigue from Miko and Dishiva. Fast paced action driven by Rah and Cassandra provides occasional shots of adrenaline that amp up the tension. Every character grows more in the sequel. I had a lot more time for Princess Miko this time around. I recall finding her character my least favourite in the first book (until the latter chapters). She becomes far more independent and begins to weather the storm with her head held high. Her phoenix-like rise from the ashes is excellent to observe. She embodies the fall down seven times get up eight proverb and I enjoyed reading her segments.

The prose in We Lie with Death also improves in comparison to the first. High praise given how much I loved We Ride the Storm. The plot weaves back and forth with revelations, rivalries, and revenge peppered throughout. I was a huge fan of every point of view. Devin has started to nail the magic of the baited hook, leaving me several times wrenching it out of my lip to go and eat or continue with other matters. Rest assured I sped through them and dove back into the world eager to consume more chapters, only to find myself chasing another well placed bait—even as I knew I was chasing the end, a bittersweet realisation.

Devin Madson is an author to watch and I am sure with time she will become a huge name within the industry. I can without hesitation recommend The Reborn Empire for fans of Eastern folklore and culture with a superb story that is human and relatable and balances yin and yang on the scales with the ease of a practiced merchant. Whilst the series thus far are a fantastic example of the Grimdark genre it also packs heart and hope which carries the reader through the dark, bloody, and conflicted world into a rain-soaked sun-bathed clearing to bask in the beauty of it all.

Note regarding the release of We Lie with Death

Unfortunately, there has been a delay in release as shown on the Author’s Facebook page. We at GdM are looking forward to the release date and wish Devin all the best!

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REVIEW: Berserk by Kentaro Miura

When asked to recommend fantasy texts (especially of the grimdark variety), there is always one franchise that comes to mind, and that is Kentaro Miura’s manga series, Berserk. Set in a medieval-styled fantasy world, the story centres around the protagonist, Guts, a hulking mercenary, and his adversary (once-friend), Griffith, the charismatic leader of the mercenary band, Band of the Hawk.

Since its inception in 1988, Berserk has remained as the pinnacle of the ideal grimdark text as it not only illustrates a tale of vengeance and the eternal struggle between man and destiny, but examines themes of friendship, loneliness, good and evil, and the best and worst aspects of human nature. A darkness permeates Miura’s world with a miasmic shroud of a blackened fog and malaise. There is an indecipherable will of alien gods, carnal demons, and the insatiable thirst of power and lust. Pain is etched upon a blank canvas with the scratching of black ink, and the calculating winds of causality and destiny dictate the fate of men and women in a world that has, and always will be, unwelcoming.

Miura advances the story in “arcs”, short serialised fragments that usually span three to five manga volumes. Each arc elegantly weaves this dark tale of Guts upon a blood-soaked tapestry, Miura sending him across the hostile Midland, having Guts battle the inhuman apostles and their cenobite-inspired monarchs, the God Hand. I appreciate this format, especially in manga form, as it allows Miura to explore and examine a diverse assortment of landscapes (dreamscapes as well) and characters, some even impacting Guts long-term. Some arcs are stronger than others (the second, The Golden Age arc is arguably the strongest), but it would be glib to avoid specific storylines. Each arc fleshes out Miura’s world and further fleshes out Guts from a baby born of a hanged woman to the lonesome warrior in search for meaning in a chaotic world.

While the story of Berserk is wonderful, it is nothing without Miura’s artistry. Miura combines such elements of Zdzisław Beksiński and M.C. Escher, the pen strokes, effective in depicting the pain of Guts as he wages war on his enemies. There is a raw savagery when Guts swings his absurdly huge sword, Dragon Slayer. Though the later volumes are drawn digitally, Miura never strays far from this savagery that has become so integral to his series, one might even call it, berserk!

There have been several attempts at adapting Berserk into an anime, but they are mostly middling. The earliest adapted in 1997 by OLM, Inc. is perhaps the most respectable to the manga as it retains Miura’s hand drawn panels. In depicting The Golden Age arc, the story itself remains intact and true to the manga, and to see Guts and Griffith’s developing friendship and respect, only for it to be tragically torn away at the end of the series remains effective and brutal. The quality of the animation hasn’t aged well, especially in relation to other anime of the late 90’s, but Miura’s story remains supreme, and that is what is most important after all.

The film series developed by Studio 4°C, Berserk: The Golden Age, like the 1997 series, adapts The Golden Age arc in three films: The Egg of the King, The Battle for Doldrey, and Advent. Again, like the first series, the story remains intact, but the CGI animation quality is mostly subpar. The story does remain king, but when the artistry is so integral to the text itself, the viewer comes away with a lesser experience than that of the manga reader. Advent does make up for this as it depicts the major conflict of the text superbly and shockingly ghastly, which does make up for the failures a little bit.

The 2016 Berserk series developed by GEMBA and Millepensee remains a blot on Miura’s legacy as it not only tangles the lore but decimates the beautiful artistry. It is an ugly adaption, the CGI quality far below anything that I have ever witnessed in my life. The sound effects are off, the voice acting is amiss, and even the choice to start at the Conviction arc is an odd choice. To spend more time on writing about this travesty would be pointless, but there is something hopeful about this series, and that is the music.

The one constant throughout 1997 to 2017 in Berserk is Susumu Hirasawa’s amazing score Not only is his voice wonderful, but the use of antiquated instruments in harmony with some eclectic and dark electronic melodies soothe the soul and lull the audience in some kind of ethereal dreamscape. His work is so influential, even Miura listens to his songs whilst penning his newer chapters, and if that’s not a solid recommendation, then I don’t know what is.

For those wanting to lose themselves into Berserk, I fully recommend reading the manga series first and foremost. Berserk truly shines on the page as Guts, Griffith, the apostles, and other motley assortment of characters truly live and breathe in manga form. It is brutal and at times, rough to read, but for those with darker tastes, there is nothing greater than relishing in Miura’s dark fantasy. With over thirty-nine volumes released, there is much to read! But do so slowly as the release date for chapters remains erratic.

Allow the strand of causality to reel you in and follow Guts on a journey to defy destiny and to remain human in an inhuman world.

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REVIEW: Shadows of the Short Days by Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson

Vilhjálmsson’s debut is a masterfully crafted dark tale that fuses elements of alternative history, steampunk, science fiction, urban fantasy, and grimdark. It is a strikingly original and often complex narrative that mainly follows two well-crafted protagonists. Sæmundur is a sorcerer who has recently been expelled from the magic university of Svartiskóli for being too ambitious, being intrigued by gaining absolute knowledge of the esoteric source of magic galdur which is forbidden and borderline heresy. He has been nicknamed Sæmundur the Mad, is now a drug and alcohol-fuelled reprobate in the eyes of the majority of his peers but he wishes to prove them wrong. The other major player is Garún who is a talented graffiti artist and she wears headphones which contain a noisefiend. She is a half-breed known as a blendingur and she has a political agenda that she magically bleeds into her artwork often brainwashing people to the cause of a potential revolution.

Shadows of the Short Days was a similar reading experience to the one that I enjoyed with The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. It takes certain fantasy tropes and turns them on their heads and breathes fresh air into the genre. This story is brimming with interesting original races, magic and monstrosities including the winged and intimidating Náskárar, the art of seiour, and a cloth-golem are examples respectively. The novel — which I believe is the first of a pair that Gollancz have commissioned — features parallel worlds, demons, jellyfish that aid breathing underwater, huge airships, rebellious factions, grotesque torture segments, mind-reading, complex incantations, and magical rituals, and a loveable pet cat amongst many other elements.

It is written in the third person following the two aforementioned main characters for the most part; however, there are a couple of chapters that are from a different perspective to add extra depth. Like many debut novels, to add weight and complexity to the characters we are treated to a few flashback scenes. These also aid in the narrative presenting the overall world, the folklore, racist views and undertones held by some, and past character relations. The supporting players were not as fully fleshed but were still interesting with their backstories and their own dilemmas. One minor criticism is that some of the characters names were confusing and I had to write notes to remember who was who. Names such as Styrhildur, Hraki, Hrolfur, Katrin, Kölski — I also occasionally forgot who was male and who was female, and when a character reappeared near the end of the story I had completely forgotten who he was so had to re-skim previous chapters to put it all into context. A good amount of the terminology here I believe is crafted specifically for this alternative worldview of Reykjavik. Fortunately, the novel includes a glossary of the more confusing/difficult words. I’m hoping that the final version will include a Dramatis Personae and a map of the city where most of the action takes place.

It was not an ‘unputdownable’ novel that I raced through in a few days but it was a book that every time I picked up I truly wanted to savour every word, event, development, and chapter. It’s superbly well written, thrilling, and the pacing is exquisite. The latter is often due to a mid-chapter point of view switch at certain times throughout to accentuate the pacing, emotion, and intensity when it was needed. The finale is complex, slightly confusing and features a major revelation. I did have to re-read it twice and I still didn’t fully understand it, especially the epilogue, but like Malazan, I think this is a story that will be much better when reading it for a second time, which I definitely will at some point. Shadows of the Short Days is 5-stars for originality, 4-stars overall, but I’m sure this could increase when I re-read this before the next book in the Hrímland saga is unleashed. Vilhjálmsson has presented us with one of the most ambitious, intense, original and thrilling debuts that I’ve read in a long time. If there was a Board of Book Classification I would give this one an 18+, some scenes out-dark some of the modern brutal grimdark and it’s not always enjoyable to read for that reason. Either way, this is highly recommened and should be a big deal in the fantasy scene. I’ve also researched that Vilhjálmsson is the vocalist of a black metal band which doesn’t surprise me following a few scenes that are featured here and the importance of sound and noise throughout. Now, if you will excuse me I am going to listen to some of his music.

I received an uncorrected proof copy of Shadows of the Short Days in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson and Gollancz for the opportunity.

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COMPETITION: Win a signed hardcover of HOLY SISTER by Mark Lawrence

The GdM team and I love Mark Lawrence’s books, so we’re really excited to be able to partner with HarperVoyager UK to give away five copies of Holy Sister, book three in the Book of the Ancestor trilogy!

GdM’s review of Holy Sister

The mysterious and most cantankerous reviewer on the GdM team, Malrubius had this to say about Holy Sister:

The series is truly a masterwork of speculative fiction writing the likes of which is rarely achieved. Lawrence is a frigging genius…it is most likely his greatest achievement as a speculative fiction writer. I can’t even imagine how he could write a book like this in a year. It just blows my tiny mind.

Read the full review here!

Eligibility

If you’re on planet earth and you have a postal address, you’re in. Enter using as many of the entry options as you like to give yourself as many chances to win a copy of Holy Sister as possible!

Enter now!

Well? What’re you waiting for? Get in!

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REVIEW: Thin Air by Richard Morgan

Richard K. Morgan is best known in the grimdark community for his seminal SF work Altered Carbon, a genre-defying blend of noir detective fiction and high-concept SF. While Altered Carbon featured space opera elements such as technology that could digitally fling minds across the stars and into new bodies via needlecast technology, Thin Air explores a future much closer to our present day. Corporate malfeasance and greed, the standard staples of Morgan’s SF, are still, however, abundantly present.

Take, for example, the protagonist, Hakan Veil. He literally embodies ruthless capitalism. Genetically engineered in the womb, he was born into servitude as an enforcer for the corporate security firm Blond Vasiutus. The upside, such as it is, is that he has a military AI hardwired into his nervous system, along with a DNA-deep affinity for violence; the downside is he was created to hibernate on long-haul space flights as a watchman of last resort and even retired he still needs to hibernate according to his genetic protocols. The tongue-in-cheek saying, “Don’t wake the overrider”, becomes quite the refrain throughout the novel. Unfortunately for Veil, now landlocked on Mars rather than shunted between long-haul space flights or living the good life on Earth, hibernation requires a special “Dyson” capsule. And for this he needs cash.

The one commodity Veil has in abundance is his ex-overrider talent for violence, and putting that on the market has inevitably put him on the payroll of Mars’ criminal element. Hence the novel kicking off with Veil assassinating a strip club kingpin on the behest of organised crime out of the crime-riddled reaches of Hellas Crater, a job which lands him almost immediately in the Bradbury PD lock-up. Fortunately Veil is offered a reprieve from his charges by homicide detective Nikki Chakana. It seems the disappearance of a recent lottery winner has instigated an Earth Oversight auditing team investigation, stirring up the locals and destabilising the ruling government. In exchange for his release, Chakana, who has her own history with Veil, wants him to baby sit newly arrived auditor Madison Madekwe.

What follows is a glamour-and-grime tour across the best and worst of the new Mars. In his search for answers to the lottery winner’s disappearance, Veil visits the luxury resort where Madekwe has been sequestered, plumbs the criminal depths of Hellas Crater, wends his way up to the wilds of the Shelf counties, and makes several pit stops at locales far and wide where he invariably shoots, maims or beds someone.

All the while, the Earth Oversight audit continues stirring up the masses and civil unrest smoulders. The locals are nervous about the prospect of Earth intruding into their affairs. Everyone still remembers how the Okombi coup and the invoking of Article 27 turned out, with the Navy in the streets, brutalising the populace.

The politics and history evident in Morgan’s world-building are a big part of what makes his novels so fascinating and cohesive. He certainly has a flair for imagining those aspects of the future. Thin Air showcases a plethora of vying political and corporate interests – the Sacranites, the Frockers, the familias andinas, Earth Oversight, Governor Mullholland, etc. – as well as a timeline of historic events that still reverberate in Veil’s present. None of it is superfluous, either. Eventually, the factions and the history become indispensable in powering the narrative.

While the tech in this novel is oft-peddled SF fare – or variations thereof – It nonetheless feels edgy because of Morgan’s knack for infusing it with slang and integrating it into the lives of the hard-bitten characters. When it comes to slang and tech, Thin Air throws you into the deep end right away. There are no lengthy infodumps – the protagonist, Hakan Veil, just hurls out the nomenclature like a hardened local, and you just have to go with it and try to translate as best you can. ‘Brangels, code flies, soaks…the list goes on. Initially, it feels a little disorientating, but after I warmed to the frenetic pace of it, and I started to find the slang second-nature. The way the tech integrates into daily life is also seamlessly done and soon becomes invisible.

Take the smart lenses everyone wears. Crims and cops alike are constantly running algorithms – “gestalt” programs — to read emotional and body language cues. Every interaction while wearing lenses has this tech element playing into it. For example, do you trust someone enough to remove your lenses and take them at face value? These nuances lend the world a tactile grittiness you can almost taste.

This grittiness permeates all aspects of the corrupt, insular world that is Thin Air’s Mars. It is amplified by the main habitable areas being sealed beneath an atmospheric layer called the Lamina, a piece of world-building that gives many of the locales a claustrophobic, noir feel.

In terms of genre, Thin Air seems to fit somewhere between a detective novel and a thriller. Veil spends a lot of time chasing leads and dames in the solo, lone-gunman style of the noir detective, but he also spends a lot of time embroiled in gunfights and simply shooting and punching his way out of trouble in a race against ticking clocks.

Either way, I loved this novel. Edgy SF novels that don’t overplay the coolness to the point of parody are rare. Thin Air strikes just the right balance between cool and realistic. Veil is a hard man, but not so hard as to become cartoonish. I greatly preferred this novel to Morgan’s previous SF outing, Thirteen, which to be frank didn’t really grip me. Thin Air, however, is the business. Definitely one to pick up.

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REVIEW: Breaking Chaos by Ben Galley

The roads to Araxes’ throne are painted by blood. The endgame has begun, secrets are revealed, allies turn into enemies, fates collide. Chaos breaks out (yes, pun intended) and until the very end it’s hard to say who’ll claim the title of Emperor or Empress. Breaking Chaos brings a satisfyingly bloody closure to the Chasing Graves trilogy, one which won’t disappoint those who followed these characters’ lives up to this point.

I’d rather not talk much about the plot so I won’t spoil it for readers who wait eagerly to finally sink their teeth into the final book of the trilogy. I’m not revealing secrets however, when I say all of the key characters have their own agendas regarding seizing the power for themselves. Sisine is still adamant to wreak some havoc in the city, sure in the support of the Court–namely that they will seek her help and counsel to save Araxes. All the while acting like the spoiled, bloodthirsty, narrow-minded Talin Renala she is. Widow Horix shows the white of her teeth and the old hag has a surprising vitality to her too. We finally learn what she spent decades on to help to fulfill her vengeance and some other well-kept secrets – one which I suspected from about halfway through Breaking Chaos. I would have given a lot to see the characters faces when they were revealed. And let’s not forget about Shesh’s followers, the Cult who won’t stand by passively either.

“…Wherever there is something we don’t have, we want it, and will do a great many things to get it. Better. More. Comparison is our great downfall, the mother of both envy and pride. Perhaps it’s the same for the gods.”

-Pointy

At the end of Grim Solace we left Nilith in a dire situation. I’m not going to lie, she is not going to have an easier time in Breaking Chaos than she had in the previous book. As much as I disliked her plotline in Chasing Graves, Nilith really had grown on me throughout the trilogy. She is relentless, fierce, and doesn’t know how to lose or give up no matter how dire a situation is. Her strong feelings toward justice and passion to save Araxes are really infectious and it’s hard not to root for her. Especially since her image of society is unlike anything the other players’ vision for themselves.

Scrutiniser Heles–as I predicted–gets her own role all right. I swear that woman is invincible and, surprising as it is, she had grown on me as well. I actually liked these two strong, independent women a tiny bit more than Caltro himself and believe me, it doesn’t happen often. Ben Galley has great skills to bring these women to life, making me to put aside my judgements.

“Weakness was a product of fear, and she refused to be afraid.”

As for Caltro, well, I’m happy to report, his cheekiness didn’t leave him. Nor his need for justice and freedom. As the endgame nears, he will have to make some choices which can decide the fate of Araxes, and the Reaches. But can a thief bear such a burden? Fortunately for him he’s got some allies, not that he listens to anyone outside of himself, but at least Pointy tries to be his conscience. As much as a strangebound sword can be anyway. I really would like to see a spin-off series or two where Pointy and Bezel get to be main characters of their own stories. Bezel might had become one of my favourite sidekicks too.

“In the City of Countless Souls, it pays to keep your friends as close as your enemies. They might be one and the same.”

– Common Araxes saying

Ben Galley didn’t shy away from spilling as much blood as he could, throwing his characters from one nearly impossible situation into the next. And since we are talking about Araxes, the City of Countless Souls, even death doesn’t mean the game is over. You can just never know who is going to die next and how will that affect the unfolding events. Thus, you can’t help but read on page after page, trying to guess what madness Galley conjured up for the finale and how the plotlines will entwine with each other. If one thing can be said about Breaking Chaos, it is that the tension never leaves the pages. You don’t even have a moment of respite to catch your breath, because there is always something waiting on the next corner. Mostly death.

In Breaking Chaos, and eventually throughout the whole trilogy, events build up until the last, climatic fighting scene where the evil finally shows itself in its real from, making sense of the dead gods’ words. If there is one thing I missed from this trilogy is a bit more world building–especially some more mythology to give a depth to the big evil character which didn’t really feel that evil and to the otherwise rich world inhabited by magical creatures and interesting looking plants among other things.

“Heles looked around, noting the sand’s rosy glow and the dew on a nearby spur of butchered cactus. Its marron, finger-like branches and scattered pale fruit, not dissimilar to eyeballs, shone with it.”

If you already came this far, then don’t hesitate to make the final steps to find out who will sit on the throne of Araxes. Nilith? Sisine? Widow Horix? Boran Temsa? Maybe Farazar as the first shade Emperor or someone else who fits into the games played by the Cult of Shesh? Will Caltro win his desired freedom? The table is set, events are in motion. All you have to do is enjoy this dark, bloody, hell of a ride.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: Winners of the EMPIRE OF DUST competition

We have the winners of the EMPIRE OF DUST giveaway competition!

A quick reminder on the prizes

For this competition we were lucky enough to have Anna’s publisher throw down a world-wide signed trilogy of Empires of Dust. GdM has also thrown down a hardcover copy (where available in-country; paperback where it’s not) and ten copies of Evil is a Matter of Perspective to make sure there are plenty of goodies to go around.

And the winners are…

We’ve used Rafflecopter to randomly select twelve entries to be our winners. In the order they were selected is the order the biggest to smallest prizes have been allocated.

The first prize winner is Matt McAbee!

Runner up is Thomas Walcher

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’ll be emailing you all from our Rafflecopter account for your postal addresses. I am on honeymoon, however, so please be patient with me while I get these books to you.

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REVIEW: Grim Solace by Ben Galley

Just like me, you should be very excited to be back in Araxes, where death is not the end, but just a new form of half-life. In book two of Ben Galley’s Chasing Graves trilogy, Caltro is still very dead and pissed at this fate, the dead gods, and Boran Temsa (who levelled his game up quite considerably since Chasing Graves) just to name a few. As Caltro fights for justice and his freedom, he constantly finds himself being tossed around like a leaf on the wind since everyone wants to put their hands on him.

Tor Busk, the Widow Horix, and Boran Temsa are all playing a game of their own in which they all wish to use Caltro’s skills as the best locksmith. Little do they know who is the real puppeteer behind the scenes. Caltro only learns about it while plotting his own escape. And boy, this is going to make you sit on the edge of your seat, waiting for the conclusion. Sadly this happens toward the end, and we’ll have to wait until the third and final book of the trilogy to find out how this information will shake things up plot-wise. Grim Solace has everyhing I liked in Chasing Graves and then some more.

“Every reason is a little story we tell ourselves to dress up our desires. We offer reasons to explain or excuse ourselves, to fit in.”

While trying to get his life back—as much as remained of it anyway—Caltro learns a few new tricks and makes a new friend. Pointy is a centuries old-deadbound sword, which is a bit in love with its own voice as well as poetry, and it’s driving Caltro crazy. But Pointy comes in handy when Caltro needs knowledge and a weapon which is, well, pointy. Fortunately, amidst all the chaos and visits from supposedly dead gods, Caltro never loses his dark humour and sarcasm.

“They say there is a beauty in hindsight, but I say it is an ugly creature. Almost as ugly as its daughter, regret. Life is made of many paths. The cruel joke is you can only choose one, and move only forwards along it. Regret is the bitch that follows behind you and paves the paths you didn’t take with gold and glitter.”

Besides Caltro’s ever so complicated plotline, we still have Nilith’s. Personally for me that plotline was the weak point of Chasing Graves until the end where some truths are revealed, and her identity and importance are made clear in the grand scheme of things. This time around she grew on me because of her fierceness, no-nonsense attitude, the way she put Farazar in his place, and most importantly her bantering with Bezel, the strangebound falcon—the same bird which was supposed to spy on her.

“Nilith slumped back to the sand, chin on arms. She stared up at the falcon. ‘I don’t feel very royal.’

‘Royally fucked is what you are. Now you know why these nomad types call their wine daemonjuice, don’t you?'”

I’m usually no fan of the traveling trope, and sometimes I felt these bits dragging, even though there was plenty of actions. For example, we get to see Kal Duat, a place where stones are produced for the price of lives. This is where it really sinks in for Nilith how things go outside of Araxes, where the King has no real authority. All the while, they are still chased by the Ghouls, whom they pissed off in Chasing Graves. However, all the tension and hard truths are balanced by comical scenes such as where a donkey gets loose thanks to its wings. I’m actually sorry we don’t read more about the nomads Nilith and her companions come across in the desert just outside of Araxes. Just before reaching her destination she finds herself in very tight situation. If nothing else, that really makes me look forward to read the final book.

Besides all the old “friends” we made in Chasing Graves, Galley introduces some new ones. One of them is Scrutiniser Heles, working for the Chamber of the Code. Her task is to find the one responsible for the increasing attacks on the nobles of Araxes. I instantly took a liking to her, thanks to her being fierce, loyal and that she is not afraid to take on a confrontation when she feels an injustice was done. She is also quite cynical after all the years spent in service and the fact she has seen more death she would have liked.

“Fortunately for Scrutiniser Heles, it had been five years, maybe more, since her mood could remotely be classed as “good.” The best she hoped for these days was “mildly disgruntled””

Even though she only played a minor part in Grim Solace, I have a feeling we’ll see more of her in A Darker Shade. She had grown to be one of my favorite characters this trilogy had offered so far.

In Grim Solace Ben Galley turns up the grim-o-meter to eleven and is not afraid to soak the pages in blood and gore. It’s a good step up from Chasing Graves and sets a good foundation for the grande finale. Political intricacies, massacres, dead gods, and a pending doom waits for those who are brave enough to step on the soil of Araxes. Or a big pile of copper coins and title if they are smart and ruthless enough. What fate awaits you?

The post REVIEW: Grim Solace by Ben Galley appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Readers and writers often describe novels as being character driven or plot driven. If there is such a thing, then Holy Sister, the third volume in Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestor trilogy, is setting driven. The problem that drives the story’s conflict, as revealed in the earlier volumes as well, is that the focus moon is no longer able to hold back planet Abeth’s ice crust from closing in on the Corridor of habitable land that it keeps warm. People living near the encroaching miles-high ice walls are losing land and are forced to migrate into other people’s land, which causes the main conflict of the story, war. On the surface it sounds simple, but Lawrence’s extremely creative, dense world-building and his attention to the most minute details make Holy Sister a tour-de-force of speculative fiction writing.

Holy Sister begins where Grey Sister ends, after Zole has saved the nuns and some other folks in their escape from Sherzal’s palace. Zole and Nona take the shipheart they retrieved from Sherzal’s palace and part from the rest of the escaping company so the others will not be followed by Sherzal’s guard and the powerful Noi-Guin warriors. The two girls flee to Zole’s ice-bound home, and we finally get to experience the beautiful and forbidding ice that is much talked about in the earlier novels. Meanwhile, a parallel narrative in not-quite-alternating chapters, shows Nona and the sisters of Sweet Mercy, three years later, preparing for a big, violent showdown with Sherzal and the approaching, massive armies of the Scithrowl and the Durn that are closing in on the empire.  Somehow, our hero, Nona Grey, must get the shipheart from the narrative in the past to the narrative in the present (that’s supposed to be funny), join it with the others in the Ark, and save the empire. It’s a helluva ride.

Yes, Nona also must complete her quest to become a full Sister of Sweet Mercy. Yes, she must rely on her friends to help her in every aspect of her quests because that is the main theme of the whole trilogy, in the opinion of this reviewer. Yes, there are many plot twists, awesome fights (including the opening scene), emotional moments, love relationships, character turns, pithy quotes, and lessons learned. And yes, if you’re reading this you will probably read lots of reviews describing these elements of this novel and the climax of this trilogy. For me, though, the most astounding thing about the Book of the Ancestor is the absolutely mind-blowing world-building. I can’t think of another example of world-building that even compares, so I hope you won’t mind if I write about that. (It’ll also help me avoid spoilers.)

Throughout my reading of Holy Sister, I wondered (and still wonder) if Lawrence created the world with all its settings, its magic, and its dying moon before he created the characters who populate it. It seems possible that Abeth’s diminishing Corridor between its encroaching ice crusts and the dying focus moon that causes Abeth’s peoples to go to war against one another could have been the idea that generated the story, which then generated the characters. Similarly, the shiphearts, the powerful magical stones that are required to use the Ark, which may or may not control the moon, could have been part of that initial idea. A writer, especially one of Lawrence’s caliber, could take those ideas and populate a story in a million different ways. But as if that weren’t enough, Lawrence gives us a world of magic that has layer upon layer of nuance, rules, abilities, and incredibly imaginative concepts, all with unique names within the story world that make all these things seem entirely natural to the characters. There is the continuing effect on the characters of the four bloods — hunska, quantal, marjal, and gerant – inherited from Abeth’s original immigrant settlers that imbue the characters with speed, magic, empathy, and size/strength, respectively. There is the “work” the characters can do, based on their special abilities. Thread-work allows them to create deadly traps, but also to communicate and even attack each other through the equivalent of extrasensory perception. Rock-work, water-work, ice-work, etc., allow the characters to manipulate the world around them. There are sigils and trances and serenity and the path, all of which protect and strengthen the characters. Ring portals, new in Holy Sister, can transport characters hundreds of miles. Devils live in the poisonous black ice, possess the story’s characters and influence their thoughts, which becomes an important predicament at the climax of the novel. The characters can inhabit one another’s bodies and see through each other’s eyes (a helpful trick if you’re writing a story with only one point-of-view character). At one point a nun just blows herself up like a suicide bomber, blasting a whole host of enemy soldiers into tiny fragments. Nona has deadly blades that extend from her fingers in any size necessary and can even be extended from other characters’ bodies she inhabits. She can practically take on whole armies by herself; hence one of the trilogies most memorable quotes: “It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size.” In fact, Nona is so powerful, I was not sure she couldn’t just blow a massive hot fart that would melt the ice back for hundreds of miles. But alas…

The ending of Holy Sister is as poignant as you might expect if you’ve read the earlier two books. Not only is there the expected massive convergence of powers and armies and world-building, but there is also the full development of the characters’ relationships and arcs and the achievement of faith that is the foundation of the nuns’ existence. And some important characters die, which always helps make a story great and emotionally compelling.

If you’ve read Red Sister and Grey Sister, then you’ll read Holy Sister and love it. I give you my personal guarantee. If you haven’t read the first two Books of the Ancestor, what the hell is your problem? The series is truly a masterwork of speculative fiction writing the likes of which is rarely achieved. Lawrence is a frigging genius. And even though The Book of the Ancestor is not my favourite of his works, it is still most likely his greatest achievement as a speculative fiction writer. I can’t even imagine how he could write a book like this in a year. It just blows my tiny mind.

Holy Sister is scheduled for publication in the US by Ace on April 9, 2019.

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