Adrian Collins's Blog, page 49

REVIEW: The Division: Compromised by Thomas Parrott

Compromised is the second of the Operation: Crossroads series for Tom Clancy’s The Division franchise by Ubisoft. The premise for that series is that the Dollar Flu AKA The Green Poison has spread through the world and wiped-out ninety percent of the planet. The survivors of humanity are fighting over the remainder of the world’s resources with most of them running out within a few months of the events. Humanity, or at least America’s, only hope is the brave soldiers of the Strategic Homeland Division that have been given extraordinary powers to “save what remains.”

Recruited was a fun novel for fans of the series with the character of Maira Kanhai being recruited (hence the title) into the Division after the events of The Division 2. The book resolved some of the larger questions of famine and other issues that needed to be addressed in the semi-realistic world bearing the name of the late Tom Clancy. It also introduced some new factions as well told an interesting story regarding Rogue agents, revenge, and moral compromises. Basically, what fans of The Division like about the games.

Recruited takes place some months after the events of the original book with the characters still recovering from their injuries. Unfortunately, there is no rest for the righteous in the post-apocalypse world and Maira is activated to journey down to Texas in order to try to secure one of the few remaining oil refineries left in the world. It is under attack by eco-terrorists who believe that the Green Poison is the best time to start making a serious effort to start a sustainable lifestyle. This would be more sympathetic if there wasn’t millions of people depending on gas-powered trucks to deliver food.

Honestly, while I enjoyed this book, I feel it is inferior to Recruited. The Reborn and Molassi are interesting new factions but don’t feel as original as the Freighties and Roamers. Plus, eco-terrorists are a questionable villain to begin with before you have most of humanity dead and even the most Malthusian economist going, “Woah there.” It also doesn’t help the Reborn get treated more sympathetically than they probably should be given the atrocities that they carry out as well as the, well, frank stupidity of their arguments. Recruited also has not one but two dead characters show up as surprise reveals as well, including a long-lost brother.

I think the book would have been better if it had continued focusing on the role of fossil fuels as a resource necessary in the post-apocalypse world. The Road Warrior managed to tell a fantastic action movie with much the same plot and never lost sight of how oil was something simultaneously a curse as well as blessing to mankind. Instead, the entirety of the plot is cast aside fairly early for some more Rogue Agent nonsense that is usually entertaining but just doesn’t work here.

Still, I enjoyed this volume, and it is still something I recommend for fans of The Division games. Maira is a great character and seeing her slowly develop into an experienced agent able to negotiate as well as fight is a nice process to see. I like the new characters introduced to their squad as well, though I don’t think either of them is as enjoyable as Brenda or Leo.

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REVIEW: Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

Devils Kill Devils is Johnny Compton’s sophomore horror novel, a southern Gothic brimming with vampirism and religious occultism. I thoroughly enjoyed Compton’s debut novel, The Spite House, and waited in eager anticipation to see what this talented new voice in horror would deliver next.

Devils Kill Devils opens on Sarita’s wedding night. She senses a third party in the room, a pale figure enshrouded in shadows, who brutally murders her new husband, Frank, no questions asked. The murderer? Sarita’s guardian angel, nicknamed Angelo:

“Angelo stood at the foot of the bed, dressed in black. Strands of his long, flaxen hair hung over his face. Through the thin curtain of hairs he met Frank’s gaze with an ash-hot stare.”

While the underlying reason for Frank’s murder is unclear, Angelo has saved Sarita’s life on at least four previous occasions. Devils Kill Devils alternates between the present-day narrative and flashbacks that provide the history of Sarita’s near-death encounters.

Sarita’s long history with Angelo began when she was nine years old and nearly drowned in the Gulf of Mexico while playing in the waves with her older brother. Sarita’s mother prayed to God for a miracle, and right on cue, Angelo appeared to drag her limp body from the water.

Sarita has little memory of this experience and is doubtful of Angelo’s existence, despite the strong devotion her mother places in him. Her skepticism, however, vanishes during subsequent encounters with her guardian angel, as recounted in the first part of Devils Kill Devils.

These opening chapters of Devils Kill Devils are absolutely brilliant in their setup and the restrained way that Johnny Compton builds up layers of intrigue and horror. However, the tone of the novel shifts drastically with the introduction of a new point-of-view character, Cela, known as the Godmaker. While the beginning of the novel focuses on Sarita in a very personal way, Cela’s entrance causes the scope of the novel to blow up in a convoluted disarray of plotlines involving vampires, religious occultism, and the Book of Tobit. The latter part of the novel often struggles to maintain coherence, making me wish for a return to the more restrained approach.

To conclude, I love the premise of Devils Kill Devils and had high hopes based on the excellent first part of the novel. Unfortunately, the story loses focus as it expands its scope to an unmanageable extent, which also compromises the emotional impact of the novel.

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REVIEW: Every Rising Sun by Jamila Ahmed

One Thousand and One Nights is the cornerstone of countless literary works, influencing writers from Leo Tolstoy to Salman Rushdie to Neil Gaiman. In Every Rising Sun, Jamila Ahmed’s novelisation of the classic tales, we follow Shaherazade in her quest to save her people. Similar to the original tale, Malik (King) Shahryar, is betrayed by his wife, and in turn decides to marry a new bride every night, only to execute her the following morning. Our protagonist, Shaherazade, the grand vizier’s daughter, has a penchant for storytelling. With the clutch of her narrative talents, she hatches a plan to stop the Malik in his murderous tirade, and offers herself up for marriage. She plans to tell him an unfinished tale on her wedding night, so to keep him wanting for more. Once married, Shaherazade’s path moves away from the original story, and she instead finds herself at the helm of a war, clutching on to all that is dear to her in fear that they are snatched away. Jamila Ahmed takes the classic framework from One Thousand and One Nights, and makes it entirely her own. Invoking themes of feminism, redemption, and the art of war, Ahmed gives space to her readers to indulge in Shaherazade’s own story, as well as the many that she weaves.

The elements of grimdark in this novel are subtle, but rife in the tension that exists throughout the story. Shaherazade is constantly dangling between the possibility of being spared another night or being executed the following morning. Whilst her plan to delay her execution, and in turn the execution of other eligible brides in the kingdom, is successful, she is still constantly teetering on the edge of her mortality. Whilst Ahmed’s adaptation does not centre the novel around the fables and stories that Shaherazade tells, they are still prominent elements to the book. Full of dark fantastical folklore, ranging from tales of djinns to romances to tragedies, elements of grimdark are found sprinkled throughout, both within the stories Shaherazade tells and the very one that she lives. The novel highlights the socio-political history of the Seljuks and Shaherazade’s position as Khatun (Queen) at the forefront. We witness the threat of the Oghuz Turks against the city of Bam, as well as the invading French Crusaders. The journey ahead is difficult, and paved with the possibility of defeat, but it is Shaherazade who uses her stories and voice as a tool for hope.

Ahmed’s prose is sublime. She writes like one would make tea; slowly steeped, and growing darker with every turn. It is a nod to the author, in that Shaherazade is able to subvert the roles of women in her era, in the same way Ahmed subverts the framework of One Thousand and One Nights in order to centre the feats of women. Ahmed’s protagonist adopts the same penchant for storytelling as the author herself, and Shaherazade goes as far as to use her stories as both a weapon and a shield in court affairs and political alliances. Her quick thinking and her way with words are ultimately what sway the men that hold the power in this war. She says:

Think of the other women, khatuns and queens and sultanas and wives, who have endless patience to rightly guide their men, to save them from themselves, and who do it unseen.

The reading experience is immersive; enfolding the reader into the warm embrace of medieval Iran, with its array of food, celebrations of Persian culture and the stunning architecture of the palaces and strongholds. One feels as if they’re walking the streets of Bam themselves. An aspect I truly enjoyed was the connections Shaherazade had with the people around her. What she lacked in her husbands love towards her, she found in her fruitful relations with others. Her sister, Dunyazade, was a prominent player in the Shaherazade’s game. She exists at Shaherazade’s side as a support system one would need as a Khatun, and was one my favourite characters because of it and much more. This does not take away, however, the emotional impact that Shaherazade’s marriage had on her. Whilst she chose to marry the Malik in hopes to stop the senseless murder of the women of the kingdom, she also did so to fulfil an almost romantic admiration she once had for Shahryar. I enjoyed seeing how Shaherazade’s emotions grew and faltered, both towards Shahryar and her position as Khatun.

Every Rising Sun is an ode to sisterhood, the love for one’s hometown, and the power a woman holds in her words. Jamila Ahmed did a captivating job at placing the narrator of such famed stories at the forefront of her own story, giving her the spotlight that every storyteller deserves. I look forward to reading anything and everything Ahmed plans to release!

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REVIEW: The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry

The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry is a richly imagined literary fantasy that serves as a meditation on the power of names and naming.

Naming has been an integral part of fantasy literature for decades. The foundation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s magic system in Earthsea is based on the knowledge of so-called true names, which capture the language of creation and the wisdom of the creator. Le Guin’s emphasis on true names had an enormous impact on subsequent fantasy literature, such as The Naming by Alison Croggon and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. More recently, the magical power of language is the raison d’être of R.F. Kuang’s Babel.

Reverence for language and the power of naming is as old as humanity itself, nearly ubiquitous across world religions and folklore. Creation is inexorably linked to language, as evident in the opening verse of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Moreover, early in the Book of Genesis, God endows Adam with the power of naming, allowing him to bestow names on each living creature.

With The Naming Song, Jedediah Berry constructs an entire world around this power of naming. Berry develops a complete mythology around naming, including diviners who discover or create new words and couriers who deliver those words to the populace. Diviners and couriers have a longstanding rivalry about who has the more important role. While the secretive diviners perform their work behind the locked doors of a train car, couriers must traverse all corners of the world to deliver these new words where they are most needed.

Mystery and danger in the world of The Naming Song come from the presence of unnamed things, since without words there is no meaning. Part of the problem is recognizing when something doesn’t yet have a name:

“How many times each day do we fail to see the unnamed things right in front of us? Or worse…the unnamed things lurking within. But you see them, somehow. You seek them out, take hold of them, bind them with words.”

Although The Naming Song overflows with imagination, the story never quite escapes the arbitrariness of its internal logic. The sense of danger always feels muted because the world is never truly real. Despite the undeniable beauty of Jedediah Berry’s prose, I found it difficult to form an emotional connection with the characters, who feel like actors playing a theatrical role instead of being fully realized individuals.

In summary, The Naming Song is a richly imagined world, and I applaud Jedediah Berry for his unbounded creativity. At the same time, I hoped to discover more emotional depth and complexity in the story’s dramatis personae.

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An Interview with Laura Purcell

Laura Purcell has made a name for herself in gothic fiction. I particularly enjoyed The Whispering Muse, a story set around a theatre where the plays come to life more than merely on stage. She has a talent for making the reader root for morally ambiguous characters and evoking a haunting atmosphere in her mostly Victorian settings. With Moonstone, her first novel for younger readers, she takes on werewolves – and creates a feminist gothic love letter to stories. I had the distinct privilege of catching up with her ahead of publication to discuss writing for new audiences, chronically ill characters and strong messaging.

[GdM] Can you pitch Moonstone in a sentence or two for our readers so they have a sense of what to expect?
[LP] My initial pitches for this book were ‘Werewolves in the Bridgerton era’ and ‘Carmilla meets Gingersnaps’. It’s a Gothic, Regency-era YA with themes of self-discovery, losing your innocence and seeking light in the darkness. There’s a touch of romance, some body horror and a sprinkling of gore.

[GdM] You‘ve been writing gothic stories for adults for a while, but Moonstone is your first foray into YA. How do you feel the writing (and publishing) process is different for a new audience?
[LP] It’s been a huge amount of fun to write for young adults. Nerve-wracking too, as they’re the most passionate and discerning readers. One lesson I’ve learnt is that there needs to be more contrast, more interplay of light and darkness. My characters are a little less miserable in this book! Not to say that I don’t think YA readers can handle gritty themes, but I’ve been working on conveying a sense of wonder and beauty that perhaps my other stories lack. This has also been reflected in the publishing process – the finished book is stunning, full of gorgeous touches and chapter headers.

[GdM] Fierce women are centre-stage in Moonstone, though all completely different in nature – and very few men. What inspired you to have such a clearly defined gender split in the story?
[LP] Female rage and perceived monstrosity fascinate me. Along with many other women of my generation, I was taught to view my anger as something ugly which must never be allowed to see the light of day. We were encouraged to present a different version of ourselves to the world, one more palatable and soft. So to me, the werewolf myth always carried a female connotation. Even the language we use cements this. Women are typically linked to the moon, their menstruation labelled as ‘the curse’ and the menopause ‘the change’.

To begin with, I envisaged a pack of she-wolves, all ostracised for different reasons, surviving out in the wild as a vivid contrast to the male-dominated society of the Regency era. In this time, the rules were made by men, women could not even vote, so in my mind the towns, social order and laws took on a male form, whereas nature, freedom and simplicity became female.

[GdM] To me, Moonstone is a manifest against social expectations, a plea to break the rules. Can you talk a bit more on that aspect of the story?
[LP] Yes, I’m so glad this came across! And perhaps some of that was a reaction to me writing in a new genre and going against what was expected of me. I wanted to express that it’s ok not to fit in. Society is constantly telling us we will find our fulfilment in family, or success, or good looks, and I wanted to encourage my readers to evaluate that. What if your own happiness actually lies in a low-key job and the single life? That’s fine too! Camille starts off thinking her ideal future would be full of expensive dresses, society balls and handsome gentlemen whereas to Lucy, these things represent a kind of debauchery. The two must challenge each other’s preconceptions.

And as I said before, in the Regency world the men make the rules; rules that in this book would see an abused wife forced to stay with her husband, a herbalist unable to exercise her talents and an adventurous girl sold into a boring marriage. The only way for my characters to write their own destiny is to become rebels.

[GdM] I particularly enjoyed Lucy being portrayed as chronically ill – as a chronically ill person myself, it’s great to see that representation. What did you aim to achieve and what do you hope your readers take from this?
[LP] I’m so happy to hear this. It was personal to me too, as most of my teenage years were consumed by chronic mental illness and in many ways Lucy’s experience is symbolic of that time. It was important to me that readers could see Lucy as heroic, loveable and capable – she is far from the ‘wan invalid’ Camille expects. She has been through things her friend can’t begin to understand. She’s irritated by Camille’s naivety, but also attracted by a glimpse of the innocent childhood her illness denied her.

[GdM] Wolves (and wolf shifters) are a popular element in fiction. What inspired you to write your own take on them? Any favourite myths or media?
[LP] This has been brewing for a long time. I love Gothic monsters and always felt werewolves were underused in comparison with, say, vampires. Speaking of which, Slavic myths claim that a werewolf becomes vampire when they die – two for the price of one!

As anyone who has read my adult books will know, the idea of duality is something I play with a lot, so shapeshifters feel very me! I’m a huge fan of werewolf movies (my favourites are Gingersnaps, The Wolfman and Late Phases) but they often fall down with unconvincing special effects. I really wanted my werewolves to look like regular wolves and have a less comical transformation.

[GdM] One thing all your books have in common is how well they bring the past to life without overloading the reader. How to you create historical atmosphere so successfully?
[LP] It has similarities to world building in the fantasy genre – you have to know how everything works, but not necessarily put it all on the page. What I try to remember is that to my characters, this in their natural element. They won’t observe the same details we would. It helps me zone in on the bits that count. The trickiest part is coming up against attitudes that won’t make sense to, or are repulsive to, the modern reader. You need to show certain terrible mind-sets existed, and were widespread, whilst making it clear you don’t condone them yourself.

[GdM] I’m sure you have been doing a fair amount of research for your settings. What is some fun bit of information that’s stuck with you, that you may or may not have been able to put into a book?
[LP] It’s ridiculous how many rabbit holes you end up falling down with this. Lucy keeps sheep and spins wool in Moonstone. The references to it are slight, but you would not believe how many hours I’ve spent teaching myself about distaffs and watching YouTube tutorials on how to milk a sheep. There were also loads of werewolf myths I wanted to squeeze into the narrative – maybe they’ll make it into a sequel? – including cursed ointments, magic girdles, green candles and pacts with demons. I read that werewolves were marked on their buttocks by the devil. Maybe if I’d written a spicier book I’d have been able to put that bit in!

[GdM] Having been publishing for quite a while, what is something you’d love to have known starting out? What experiences have shaped you as a published author over this time?
[LP] I can’t believe it’s been ten years since my first novel, Queen of Bedlam, was published by a small press! I’m still not convinced I know what I’m doing. Like a shape-shifter, I think I’m still waiting to take my final literary form! The pinch-me experiences I’ve had are being on the Zoe Ball ITV book club, seeing tube posters for The Corset, and writing a podcast executive produced by John Carpenter.

Publishing is a wild ride and very different from the writing process. The sudden scrutiny of what has been your inner life, then needing to be articulate about it in public, are aspects I’ve struggled with. Your expectations are all over the place. I started out hoping to improve my craft each time, and gradually increase sales, but the industry is geared to putting the biggest push behind a debut. So sometimes your second book is better but performs worse.

[GdM] Can you talk about what is next, about the fun new projects you’re currently working on?
[LP] I’m working on my next adult Gothic as we speak. It hasn’t been announced yet so I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say but it includes some classic creepy children. After that I have another YA featuring a dark twist on the unicorn myth – I can’t wait!

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REVIEW: Dagon

There’s something to be said for B-movie horror, even if it’s often designed to gross you out, titillate, and kill people (sadly most often women) in gruesome fashions. I’m not sure that something is positive but it’s to be said. Stuart Gordon is one of my favorite masters of B-movie horror for the ridiculously over-the-top Re-Animator series. While I can’t recommend the Re-Animator series due to some truly shocking scenes, except for perhaps the final film Beyond Re-Animator, I will say I recommend this work. Why? Because we all have our guilty pleasures, and this is one of mine.

Possibly the most faithful adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadows over Innsmouth, Dagon follows a group of dotcom millionaires getting shipwrecked off the coast of Spain. Walking to the town of Imbocca, they find themselves immediately under suspicion by the mysterious townsfolk within. If you have read the Shadow over Innsmouth, you already know what the secret of the town is. What Dagon does, is they manage to make the story relevant to a modern audience and add dramatic tensions as our heroes find out the town’s dark history.

I can’t help but wonder if the role of Paul (Ezra Godden) was originally intended to be played by Jeffrey Combs. The character of Paul looks, dresses, and even acts like Jeffrey Combs’ trademark characters (excepting Weyoun). It’s the kind of role which would be played by Cillian Murphy now if they could afford him. He’s a surprisingly nuanced character for someone playing an obnoxious millionaire. Amid all the chaos and insanity, he experiences, we get some real character moments. I really believed he was the sort of guy who never expected to become rich and has found himself rendered purposeless.

I liked this unexpected statement on classicism and values. Many people may spend their entire lives pursuing wealth, but few expect to achieve it. Those that do often find themselves directionless and either pursue more wealth or try to find something new to motivate themselves. This contrasts heavily with the inhabitants of Imbocca who find themselves impoverished and end up being seduced by otherworldly forces in hopes of enriching themselves. The original story contained this later element and contrasting it against Paul’s unmotivated wealth (implied to be earned by sheer dumb luck) is highly effective.

The movie also has a more respectful tone to Christianity than the original Shadow over Innsmouth (not surprising given Lovecraft’s atheism and its role in his stories). If not for the gore, nudity, and let’s be frank–everything else, this movie might have been used in my Sunday school. The town’s rejection of Christianity for material wealth and primordial alien gods is the kind of lesson they taught when I was a child–before church started dumbing down the lessons when I reached adulthood.

The real heart of the film, though, is in the character of Barbara (Raquel Merono). Barbara is the actual protagonist of the movie and one of my favorite ladies of horror. She is proactive, defiant, and iron-willed until the movie’s end. The character’s distress at the end of the movie forfeits this movie any progressive points but I enjoyed Ms. Merono’s performance the entire way through.

Less effective but still enjoyable is the character of Uxía Cambarro played by Macarena Gomez. The eerie pale-skinned brunette personifies the temptations of Dagon (implied to be related to Cthulhu somehow) and the absolute batshit crazy his influence can drive a person to. She could have played this part subdued and menacing but decided to ham it up to the point of creating a run-on pork. This is probably the best choice as the character’s utter crazy is always watchable. Someone should find this woman and put her in a movie with Tim Curry (a Call of Cthulhu adaptation?).

The movie’s gore factor is considerable with an actual, straight from Conan beautiful maiden human sacrifice, as well as human faces being skinned to create ceremonial masks. That’s not getting into the body-horror elements. Rather than attempt to replicate the excessively large eyes and other qualities of the “Innsmouth look” which would just make the townspeople look like anime characters–the movie instead goes for cephalopod themes. After I got used to it, I think I came to prefer it since I’ve always preferred Illithids to Deep Ones. Some of the appendages make no sense but I assume combining human and Cthulhuoid D.N.A is difficult.

In conclusion, Dagon is a story which is very-very much in the B-movie fold. It’s got a great deal more nuance than most of them but don’t expect to see the material rise up above its blood and nudity quotient. However, in a world where Game of Thrones is a massive success, maybe Dagon is for you.

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An Interview with Sebastien de Castell

Sebastien de Castell is no stranger to Grimdark Magazine. Back in issue #28 of the magazine (we’re now on #38, so quite a while ago!) we published his short story “The Sword of Seven Tears”. He is most well-known for his epic Greatcoats series (which we too have covered – book 1, book 2, book 3). He is also the author of The Malevolent Seven, a dark but comedic fantasy, with a feel that’s very different from the Greatcoats (read our review here). Now, he returns to the world of the Greatcoats for an utterly new series of interconnected stories within Tristia – betrayals and conspiracies abound so this is prime reading fodder for us. The books are fun first and foremost, and we had a blast catching up with Sebastien on all things Court of Shadows.

[GdM] Can you pitch Play of Shadows in one or two sentences for our readers?
[SdC] After fleeing a judicial duel, Damelas Chademantaigne takes refuge among the actors of a legendary theatre company. But when he takes to the stage, he finds himself channeling the spirit of the city’s most notorious villain and blurting treasonous lines in front of the audience that could spark a civil war. Now Damelas and a motley band of actors must uncover the truth of a hundred year old murder before the city goes up in flames.

[GdM] You’ve now published two stories in this series, the prequel Crucible of Chaos and Play of Shadows, the official start to the series. How do these fit into your broader work, and what should readers expect in future?
[SdC] The Court of Shadows series introduces us to seven different heroes in different parts of the country all uncovering different aspects of a shadowy conspiracy that could see Tristia lose its freedom forever. While this new series takes place two years after the events of the Greatcoats Quartet, I’ve been careful to write each of the new books in a way that new readers don’t need to have read the earlier ones. In fact, you can even read each of the Court of Shadows books in whatever order you like until the final, climactic volume!

[GdM] I imagine many readers of Play of Shadows are coming to the story cold – like I did. Would you be able to give a quick explanations of what a Greatcoat is within your work?
[SdC] The Greatcoats are members of the King’s Order of Travelling Magistrates. Think of them as swashbuckling judges who traverse their assigned circuits around the country, hearing cases, rendering judgements and, all too often, having to fight duels to enforce those verdicts.

[GdM] Play of Shadows stands out to me due to its theatre setting. Have you yourself done theatre, and where does your fascination with it stem from?
[SdC] Years ago, I was fortunate to be hired to choreograph sword fights for various theatre productions. That’s when I first glimpsed the strange magic that takes place behind the curtain, and the even stranger actors, stage-hands, directors and others who work their mysterious spells upon the audience – and each other. I adored the unexpected camaraderie of the theatre with all its extravagant dramatic turns both on-stage and off. Play of Shadows, with its unusual theatrically-based magic system and larger-than-life characters, is very much a love letter to those who continue to cast their enchantments upon audiences to this day.

[GdM] I love the library in Play of Shadows, and its codified hierarchy of reader’s passes. I’d love to know more about what one has to do to reach the higher echelons within the system and about some of the books that might be harder to access.
[SdC] Much as I enjoy the theatre, I adore libraries even more. To me, these are the cathedrals of humanism: places where anyone can seek out whatever stories speak to them, pursue whatever paths of knowledge they want, all without charged for that knowledge or being judged for what they want to learn. But the notion of libraries being free to all is quite modern. In the past, they were very much treasure vaults of learning open only to the wealthy and privileged.

The Grand Library of Jereste which features in Play of Shadows takes that notion of exclusivity even farther, with special disc-shaped broaches with a particular precious metal or gemstone at the centre which establishes the level of access and special services to which the wearer is entitled. Some of these can be echelons can be achieved through social status, others through wealth, but the highest ones of all . . . well, those require connections kept secret from even the nobility.

[GdM] You clearly have a lot of experience writing fight scenes. Do you have any tips for our readers who moonlight as writers?
[SdC] I’ve written about this in other places, notably here.

But here are the two techniques I think writers do well to work on if they want to create compelling fight scenes:

1. Let the reader choreograph the fight. Instead of pages of intricate descriptions of every move, use the opening beats of the fight to show how the weapons work and the stylistic differences between your two fighters. That way the reader will keep imagining all kinds of wonderful lunges, thrusts, envelopments, parries and feints all while you carry them through what really matters: what’s happening to the characters.

2. Build a dramatic structure to your fight scene. If every thrust of a sword’s blade is “the most terrifying thing ever!” then your scene’s not going to have anywhere to go. Think of building tension, of playing with tempo and the rhythm of the fight. Give each character tricks and schemes that they – and we – think will bring them victory . . . then dash those hopes upon the rocks of cruel fate. The reason why so many readers skim battle scenes is that they’re too often written as a sort of dry, uninflected reportage with too many adjectives and adverbs. Think of two stories unfolding in parallel: the one in which weapons are clashing and wounds are being inflicted, and the one that’s happening inside the mind and soul of your characters – the one in which it’s not just their lives on the line, but their sense of right and wrong, their beliefs about who they are and whether they’re really the hero of their own story, or merely the villain in someone else’s.

[GdM] Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on next (apart from the next book in the series)?
[SdC] There’s a tremendous amount going on in my writing life at the moment. The thing about being a full-time author is that you’re either on your way up or your way down; it’s rare to find a period of stability where you can reliably coast on your success. Right now happens to be an upward cycle in my career, which means lots of negotiations on new book contracts as well as in other mediums.

As most of my readers know, the Greatcoats books are always closest to my heart. I adore swashbuckling fantasy both as a genre and as a way of expressing ideals that are too often disregarded as anachronisms of a more romantic era. With that in mind, I’m hard at work on Our Lady of Blades, the next novel in the Court of Shadows Series.

I’ve also started on the first of two sequels to Malevolent Seven, so fans of foul-mouthed mercenary mages can look forward to reading that in Spring of 2025. Oh, and I promise to make this book even weirder and more irreverent than the first one.
The fourth book in the Ferius Parfax series (a prequel spin-off from the Spellslinger books) has already been written. I haven’t decided on the publication date for that, but it should be sometime in the next twelve months.

Lastly, both the Spellslinger and Greatcoats series have been optioned for film and television. It’s too early to say whether we’ll be seeing any swashbuckling magistrates or murderous squirrel cats on screen anytime soon, but the people involved in the projects are excellent so I’m optimistic!

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REVIEW: A Memory of Song by Scott Palmer

Last Updated on May 20, 2024

Pitched as Braveheart meets A Song of Ice and Fire, Scott Palmer’s A Memory of Song is a sweepingly epic yet intimately character-driven Norse-flavoured fantasy that will make any dark fantasy lover’s heart sing with both joy and sorrow.

As with any good first instalment in an ambitiously epic fantasy series, A Memory of Song has a lot of moving pieces. Set in a bleak world that has lost its basic natural elements due to an ancient order of warlocks singing songs composed of blood magic, we follow two broken souls who are both on their own quest to seek vengeance and to protect their loved ones, no matter the cost.

On the one hand, there’s Wulfee, the fierce and fearsome leader of the sacred Feldarra clan who is hell-bent on getting revenge on her estranged husband after losing her sons. And on the other hand, we’ve got James Culdaine, the displaced last heir to the Northern throne whose powers, legacy, and destiny are much grander than his ordinary name might have you believe.

I personally really enjoyed this dual-POV set-up, especially because Wulfee and James’s journeys constantly mirrored each other, without it ever feeling forced. Whereas Wulfee is pure emotion and stubborn determination (giving Orka from John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn Saga a run for her money), James is much more quiet and erratic as he struggles to embrace his long repressed magical ability to commune with the spirits of the dead, while also simply longing to reunite with his dying girlfriend Maggie.

Before long, they both get pulled into an intricate web of politics, prophecies, conspiracies, enigmatic wizards, dangerous warlocks, amphibious monsters, mystifying magic, and bloody action, but I loved that the narrative never lost its intimate focus on the internal battles. Themes of loss, regret, trauma, morality, redemption, and the dangerously thin line between love and hate are explored beautifully through both of their journeys, be that in the present or through their harrowing flashback dream sequences.

And what’s more, Wulfee and James are both also surrounded by a dynamic cast of side characters, whose fates I became just as invested in as their own, for better or worse. I did think Maggie deserved a bit more fleshing out, as she plays such a big part in both Wulfee and James’ lives, but I did warm up to her later on. In contrast, the baby giant Gen who Wulfee has taken under her wing absolutely stole the show for me, and I was deeply touched by their unconventional mother/son dynamic.

Though as character-focused as the narrative is, the rich world building is absolutely the biggest strength of A Memory of Song. Ardura is a dark world with a complicated history steeped in lore and legends, and it is clear from the very first page how much time, effort, love, and wild imagination has gone into the creation of this world. Diverse races and cultures, breathtaking yet haunting landscapes, supernatural powers and creatures, and a mystifying song-based magic system that filled me with both wonder and terror; A Memory of Song just kept surprising me with each turn of the page.

That said, the awe-inspiring yet dense world building contradictorily also ended up being the biggest hurdle for my personal enjoyment. Even with an extensive glossary, I had a hard time finding my footing in the first half of the novel, as I simply could not keep track of all the history, factions, allegiances, rivalries, and in-world concepts that were thrown my way.

But thankfully, my trust in Palmer paid off in spades, because that initial sense of overwhelm and bewilderment completely vanished in the second half of the novel, which I devoured in one sitting. Palmer went down some surprisingly dark paths with these broken and flawed characters, and I really appreciated that he didn’t shy away from exploring both the depravity of humanity as well as the darker realms of the human mind through their journeys. There were multiple times where I was gasping out loud with horror and emotional anguish over some exceptionally gut wrenching, but that is exactly what makes A Memory of Song such an impactful and memorable (pun intended) reading experience.

While this promising first instalment in the Last Ballad series largely has a satisfying self-contained arc, the shocking final lines have left me desperate for the sequel in the best way possible. Fans of John Gwynne, Anthony Ryan, and Ryan Cahill will find much to love in this character-driven epic fantasy, but just be warned: bring the tissues!

Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. A Memory of Song is scheduled for release on 29 May, 2024.

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REVIEW: Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw

Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw is a rare gem in what I’ve always felt should have been a larger genre: the Cthulhu Mythos detective novel. I’ve played a few video games with the premise like Dark Corners of the Earth, The Sinking City, and Call of Cthulhu (2018) but I feel like it’s something that should have been as popular a genre in paperback fiction as the Dungeons and Dragons novel was in the Nineties. I feel like Chaosium and other parties could have made some serious bank on this and I’ve always wondered at that missed opportunity.

Personally, my theory is that in addition to the nebulous status of Cthulhu copyright ownership, I also felt like there were people who felt that Pulpy fun “Tommy Guns and Two Fisted Action” Cthulhu playstyle was something that people in charge disdained. This despite the fact that I think it’s the absolute best way to play Call of Cthulhu and why I will always choose Pulp Cthulhu over its regular counterpart. I know my friend Seth Skorkowsky prefers to run the games that way and if you don’t mind a digression, I suggest if you haven’t checked out his YouTube channel then you should. I also recommend David Hambling’s Harry Stubbs series for another Cthulhu detective adjacent series.

Hammers on Bone is a detective novel set in the Cthulhu Mythos with protagonist John Persons. John acts like a detective from the 1940s in the Modern Era and very few people comment on it. He’s also got a touch of the Mythos as well, possessing the ability to see things that other people do not see and interact with the supernal world. However, despite this, he doesn’t want to do these sorts of cases as a general rule and is annoyed when a young boy asks him to kill his stepfather. Doubly annoyed when the boy make san excellent case for why it should be done.

Cassandra Khaw did a short interview where she said the book was primarily an allegory for domestic abuse and I can certainly see that. John Persons wants to help the family out of their situation but finds himself stymied at every opportunity. There’s a certain argument that John is also suffering from “The Hamlet Question” where if he’d just straight up murder McKinsey then things might end better than they do. However, murder isn’t something that is easy to do for our protagonist and I appreciate it is treated with suitable gravity.

Cassandra Khaw has a great mastery of the weird and disturbing. Her interpretation of the Cthulhu Mythos is that reality is a thin wallpaper over something nauseating and terrifying. Many of the encounters John has with the creatures around him are viscerally disturbing and work to underscore the all-too-human evils being conducted around him. Unlike Lovecraft, she does have an interest in the petty awfulness of mankind and the juxtaposition works very well.

John Pearson is a likable enough protagonist that manages to explain away a lot of his unusual insights into the occult and sixth sense without overpowering him. He’s also someone who is neither superhuman nor particularly effective against the human evils around him, let alone the human. You feel his sense of frustration and desire to do the right thing but no real sense of how to even figure out what that would look like.

Hammers on Bone is a short novel, really a novella, and yet is worth the full price. Not every novel is measured in the quantity of its pages after all. I think if you like horror novels, detective fiction, and the Cthulhu Mythos then you’ll definitely enjoy this book. The ending is a gut punch but feels appropriate to everything that happened before in the novella. I’m definitely going to check out the sequel as well.

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REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian Battle of the Black Stone by Jim Zub (W) and Jonas Scharf (A)

Set some years after the events of the current Conan the Barbarian story arc, Conan is shown working out of Fort Tuscelan, defending the frontier outpost from incessant attacks by the Picts (making this story a prequel to the 1935 Robert E. Howard story “Beyond the Black River”). Raids have been a constant threat since the kingdom of Aquilonia carved out the province of Conajohara from the Pictish wilderness, but Conan is troubled by their growing frequency and intensity. After defeating a particularly formidable foe, he discovers evidence of dark forces at work: a medallion carved with a strange “searing eye” symbol. Laying eyes on the sigil causes a flood of memories to rush over to Conan: recollections of his deadly encounters with the malignant Black Stone and its undead minions. Simultaneously, in other lands and eras distant from Conan’s Hyborian Age, other heroes have their own encounters with the mysterious searing eye…

Subtitled “Battle of the Black Stone,” this year’s Free Comic Book Day issue of Conan the Barbarian is intended to serve as the prelude for a large-scale event that will get underway this autumn in The Savage Sword of Conan issue #4 and the Conan: Battle of the Black Stone miniseries. While the monthly Conan the Barbarian title has featured other non-Conan characters created by Robert E. Howard in the past—most notably King Kull—the Free Comic Book Day 2024 issue lays the groundwork for what may be the biggest crossover event the so-called “Howardverse” has seen to date.

While I’m excited to see the direction in which Jim Zub takes the story, while reading this issue I had a distinct sense of déjà vu. Back in 2019, when Marvel Comics still had the license for the character, Zub penned a title called Conan: Serpent War. The four-issue miniseries involved snake-worshipping cultists attempting to summon a malign god, an interdimensional and epoch-spanning threat that compelled Conan to join forces with some of Howard’s other characters, Solomon Kane and Dark Agnes de Chastillon, with James Allison appearing as part of the framing device. While there are some new additions, the Battle of the Black Stone prelude also includes those same three characters grappling with a supernatural menace that affects their own disparate eras in parallel. The apparent similarity between Conan: Serpent War and what we’ve seen thus far of Battle of the Black Stone makes me wonder if Zub is attempting to realize a creative vision that was either thwarted or otherwise left unfulfilled during his tenure on the Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian. Either that, or Heroic Signatures (the rightsholder for Robert E. Howard’s various literary creations) is planning to launch new comic titles for non-Conan characters and is hoping to raise their profiles in advance.

The Jonas Scharf artwork in this issue appeals. His Conan is a bit hairier than many depictions, certain to please the subset of fans who prefer to see the barbarian with chest hair and furry forearms. Scharf’s expressive faces are another highlight of the issue.

For those who were unable to acquire Conan the Barbarian Free Comic Book Day 2024: Battle of the Black Stone from their local comic store, a digital edition is available directly from Titan Comics. Foreshadowing an exciting event, this issue is engaging for existing fans while simultaneously providing a gentle introduction to newcomers to Conan the Barbarian.

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