Rob J. Hayes's Blog, page 19

Review Blog – Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

Reviewing this one without letting out squeals of delight might be a bit difficult. Yeah, I loved it.

So Senlin Ascends (Or Niles Crane’s vertical adventure) is about a small town headmaster who falls in love, marries the woman of his dreams, and takes her on a romantic honeymoon to a mythical tower said to hold all the shining light humanity has to offer. Only they get there and two minutes of the train she disappears. Our bookish, prudish headmaster then begins to ascend the tower looking for her. Niles soon realises the tower is a fair bit seedier and more devious than he had imagined, and the shining light is actually a black light illuminating the very worst humanity has to offer. There is betrayal, heartache, touching moments, and rotating list of secondary characters who leap of the page.

As our main character ascends the tower, looking for his lost wife, he quickly has to come to terms with the each level being its own separate kingdom, boasting their own quirks, laws, customs, and despots. There is a strange sense of anticipation as Senlin nears the exit of each level, as we wait to see what the next one up will hold for him. From a giant play within a play, to a tropical paradise inside the tower itself, to a dingy industrial town, the different ringdoms do not disappoint to be weird and wonderful and deadly each in their own way. But then, there also seems to be something else going on within the tower, something between it all.

I’ve called the main protagonist Niles Crane, because he honestly is a bit. He’s a bit posh and very proper, and completely out of his depth in almost all situations. But his character growth throughout the book is a wonderful thing to see as he starts to adapt to his situation and learns to cope with whatever the tower throws at him. He actually seems to come to life throughout the adventure as his values and conduct are tested time and time again, often to breaking point.

The side characters are just as fun to read. Senlin’s wife, Marya, we only really learn about through flashbacks, but its fair impossible not to be a little smitten by the slightly awkward relationship they share.

Senlin cleared his throat and furrowed his brow. “Marya, I… I have a difficult time expressing certain… genuinely held feelings. I…” he swallowed and shook his head. This was not how he wanted the speech to go. She waited patiently, and he gathered his thoughts. “You’ve made it impossible for me to read a book in peace. When you’re not here, I just gaze at the words until they tumble off the page into a puddle in my lap. Instead of reading, I sit there and review the hours of the day I spent in your company, and I am more charmed by that story than anything the author has scribbled down. I have never been lonely in my life, but you have made me lonely. When you are gone, I am a moping ruin. I thought I understood the world fairly well. But you have made it all mysterious again. And it’s unnerving and frightening and wonderful, and I want it to continue. I want all your mysteries. And if I could, I would give you a hundred pianos. I would…”

Yes, I just quoted the book and no, I’ve never done that in a review before… But it’s beautiful and romantic and charming, and I’m fairly certain this was the point I fell in love with the book. The prose is often poetic, and Senlin’s awkwardness is charming and fun. Without even meaning to I found myself reading it like I was narrating it in my own head, and that worked brilliantly because I’m quite good at a slightly posh voice when I want to do one.

The world is mysterious and familiar all at once. It’s fantasy, without a doubt, but also a bit steampunk with electricity and automobiles and airships. There’s enough different to keep you wondering, but never so much that it becomes a chore to read. The pace zips along, even in the slower moments, and yet the passage of time makes the character arcs believable

Senlins Ascends is quirky, quaint, charming, and (at times) brutal. The book has bittersweet heartache written all over it. It drags you into Senlin’s world and keeps you drowning in the same revelations he is subject to, and just when you think you’ve got it figured out… you haven’t.

I give Senlin Ascends a 5 out of 5. Loved it from cover to cover.

Publishing Limbo 2: Why is all the rum gone?

Some of you may remember that back in January I posted a blog about how my piratical books were stuck in a publishing limbo. No? Well here’s a link to the blog. The TL;DR version is my old publisher put delay upon delay on WHERE LOYALTIES LIE and also gave an unfinished version of the manuscript to Audible. Yes, that means the audio version of my new series is from an unedited version. I have been asking people to boycott it and wait for the REAL release.

A few days later I also posted this blog about my decision to split with my publisher and take all my books back to self publishing.

I feel it’s time to update everyone on exactly what is happening.

First off we’ll start with the good news. Officially, as of April 21st 2017, all the rights to the English language version of my books are back with me. Yay! Mostly. Where Loyalties Lie is set for a May 26th release date and is also entered into the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off 3(SPBFO). Yup, it’s taken about 3 years, but the pirates are coming. AVAST! The second book, The Fifth Empire of Man, should be following before the year is out. Look at the pretty covers!

Second part of good news. The Ties that Bind, all three books, have new covers and will be re-released in June 2017. I haven’t revealed those covers yet, but the artwork is by Alex Raspad and the design is by the Purple Wizard himself, Shawn King.

Third part of good news. I have been paid SOME of the royalties owed to me by my old publisher. But wait, there’s bad news on that front as well.

Bad news. Although the publisher has paid me SOME of the royalties owed to me… I have no idea how much they actually owe me. Despite frequent requests for a full statement of royalties and of books sold, I have been ignored. As far as I can tell there is still a year’s worth of statements that I am not privy to, the entire of 2016 is a mystery to me. I’ll tag onto this the fact that I am still owed an Audible advance on a contract signed on my behalf back in 2015.

I’m not going to lie here, I rely on my book sales as my main source of income and for a while now I’ve been living off savings. Why is all the rum gone? Because I can’t afford to buy any. Now I’m willing to admit to my own portion of blame, I allowed this to go on far too long and did nothing about it because I had no idea what to do about it. I buried my head in the sand and told myself it would all be sorted soon. Soon is long gone and his friend, far away, has also been left behind.

Bad news. The unfinished version of Where Loyalties Lie is still up for sale on Audible. As far as I am aware I can do nothing to get it taken down. Especially as Audible refuse to even talk to me about it. All my Audible contracts were signed on my behalf by my old publisher. This was probably not the best way I could have gone about it, but I was young and naive and it seemed a good deal at the time. As far as I am aware my old publisher has done nothing to contact Audible to tell them the rights have reverted back to me and I should now be their contact… despite requests for them to do so. My books are all still for sale through Audible and I have no control, nor any idea of how many are being sold or whether I’ll see any income from it. Again, seemed like a good deal at the time.

Bad news. Some of my books are still for sale despite the rights having reverted. The Colour of Vengeance (yes I’m going back to the English spelling) ebook is still available from Amazon. The Price of Faith ebook is still available from Kobo and B&N. This is almost a month after the rights officially reverted and they are still selling my books. Is this willful negligence or incompetence? I don’t know. But as I’m intending to re-release the books quite soon under my own steam, I would like to be the only one selling them.

I’m not the only one still having these issues, I know. Both Michael McClung and and Charles Phipps have spoken out about similar issues and their problems getting these issues resolved.

This post is not meant as a shaming or the like. It is more like a state of the union type of thing. These sorts of problem often get swept under the rug, but I feel it’s important that they are discussed, especially in the current growing indie publishing scene.

Review Blog – Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher

This was an interesting one! The general premise is that madness (delusions) become real. Belief shapes reality. So if someone believes they can control fire… they CAN control fire. If someone believes there are multiple aspects of themselves walking around… there ARE multiple aspects of them walking around. If a group of people believe a person to be the world’s greatest swordsman… that person IS the world’s greatest swordsman regardless of actual skill. AND if an entire faith/nation of people believe that a young boy will become a god when he dies… that boy WILL become a god when he dies. Add into that a general belief that there is an afterlife and anyone you kill in life then serves you for eternity in the afterlife and what you get is a bit of a mess. A really well-thought-out fun mess!

Beyond Redemption (BR) took me a while to get into. The magic system is without a doubt a brilliant concept and learning about the various different forms of delusions and the powers they grant was very fun and excellently done. BUT, I’m the type of person who likes to relate to characters and for much of the story I found them all very hard to relate to. They are all aresholes and any redeeming features are few and far between (yes, that’s kind of the point), but as the story went on I got glimpses into those characters’ complexities. From about 1/3 of the way through this book I found myself alternating between liking and hating all three of our “main” characters, and by the final act I found myself hoping they’d all make it through the shit storm headed their way… despite also being fairly certain that they all deserved to die and the world would probably be better off without them all.

It’s really a credit to Fletcher’s writing that he makes the story so compelling while the characters are so contemptible. But let’s not breeze past the world. It’s a hellish place this world Fletcher has created and however heinous the characters are, it’s because they are a product of the world. How could it not be hellish when madness can shape reality and the more insane you are the stronger your powers to mold the world around you become.

There are certainly a few blips along the way with BR. It slows down to a crawl about half way through as it sets up so much of what is to come, sometimes feeling like it is repeating things so us readers REALLY get the gist. Almost as though Fletcher is holding up a sign to some of the rules of the world to let us know how important they will be later on. And the rambling thoughts of many of the characters may be disjointed for a purpose, but they sometimes repeat themselves so much that I found myself hoping the story would move on because I can’t bring myself to skip even a single word when I read a book.

So I’m going to give Beyond Redemption a solid 4 stars. It’s a really well thought out, interesting read that grips you with an insane magic system and forces you to like characters who really don’t deserve it.

Review Blog – The Guns of Ivrea by Clifford Beal

So The Guns of Ivrea is set in a small watery section of a fantasy world where the one faith (very like Christianity in many ways) has seen the old gods all but extinguished, and has sold prejudice against merfolk to the masses. The book follows Acquel, trainee monk with a side helping of bland; Danamis, once-a-pirate made governor of his own town; and Lucinda, evil witch type person pretending to be all religious and stuff. It kicks off as Acquel discovers the long dead prophet of the very faith he serves was actually half mer, and then goes on the run from the priests trying to kill him. At the same time, Danamis is quite rudely mutinied by his uncle and goes on the run… or sail.

 

This one is a fairly difficult book to review because… It’s not bad. It might actually be quite a good book. I just didn’t like it. The premise is good with humans and merfolk once living together, but long since separated by the propaganda of the church and now living in fear and animosity of each other. The snippets of the old world the author throws at us were quite interesting, with mantichores and satyrs and a messed up tree sprouting baby heads. But I struggled through it.

 

So I’ll admit I may have miss-sold the book to myself. The cover screams pirate and there is a single mention of the word on the back. I jumped to conclusions. Bad Rob. There is no piracy in this book. The closest it gets is the reader being told that Danamis is a pirate, despite being anything but.

 

The truth is I really did not get on with the style. For a start the point of view hops heads at a dizzying pace. One moment we’re riding along with Danamis, hearing his thoughts on the matter, and then we’re in Acquel’s head, with barely even time to breath. Sometimes I actually had to re-read a paragraph to figure out who was thinking what. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but it is not a style of writing I get on with at all. Then we have the Pride and Prejudice style of dialogue… honestly the characters speak as though they are right out of a period drama. As someone who reads a lot of grimdark, this made me want to crawl into the pages and give the characters a hard slap before screaming “TALK LIKE A REAL PERSON” at them.

 

From the ‘Praise’ section at the front of the book it seems Clifford Beal is a historical fiction writer for the most part and it certainly shows in The Guns of Ivrea. I lost count of the number of outfits that were described (often in great detail). There’s also the way the action scenes are often over described, which is something else I’ve come to expect from historical fiction. Again this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and some people love that style… but not me.

 

What it boils down to is The Guns of Ivrea isn’t a bad book. The story is interesting enough that I’m honestly tempted to pick up the 2nd one, but the style of writing is really not my cup of tea. I think I’d recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, but wants a bit more fantasy in their world. But if you’re thinking of reading it because you want some pirates in your fiction… well I’ll happily recommend some other reading instead.

 

The Guns of Ivrea gets 3 stars from me. It’s a decent book, but I didn’t like the style.

Review Blog – The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence

If you keep up with my reviews it will be no secret that I struggled through both Prince of Fools and Liar’s Key. Not because I didn’t like the story, but because I didn’t like the main character, Jalan. So I was trying to decide why it was I continued with the books when our view point grated on me so. Then I looked down at my copy of Wheel of Osheim and saw the quote on the cover by Conn Iggulden: “Excellent – on a par with George R.R. Martin.” And it suddenly hit me. I disagree with that statement entirely. Lawrence is nothing like GRRM, but far more like Patrick Rothuss (by the way I hate Kvothe with the fury of a thousand suns yet I have read both books of Kingkiller Chronicles and even purchased a copy of Name of the Wind for my sister). What I’m trying to say here is that Lawrence is a poet. It’s his turn of phrase and the way his characters look at the world that keeps me coming back even if I don’t like the main character.

That being said… I actually started to like old Prince Jal in Wheel of Osheim.

Now I thought Liar’s Key suffered from middle book syndrome quite a lot. There was a large portion of the story where it kinda stalled and limped along for a while. It was entertaining to read, but kinda felt like it was struggling to actually go anywhere. Wheel of Osheim has none of that. From the gates it roars along at a wonderful pace and doesn’t really let up. I’d say it definitely has the most action out of the series and none of it feels forced or out of place.

As for the characters. Well I’ve said I actually started to like Jalan in this book and I feel this was entirely by design. The idea that thought and will shape reality is hammered home quite often and I feel Jalan becomes more likable as the people around him, the people he has effected in his life, start to believe him to be more likable. Snorri is still Snorri; big viking, tortured past, likable to a fault. Kara and Hennan are as forgettable as they ever were despite being so important to the story in many ways. And the Red Queen and her Silent Sister are still 10 kinds of awesome.

There are some truly wonderful bits of humour spotted around the book including one bit that I am certain is a reference to Monty Python’s Holy Grail. I truly hope I am correct in this.

Not a long review, but I’m trying to do it without spoilers and I’m finding it quite difficult. One other thing I do want to point out is how like a wheel the whole thing is (get it?). Not just this book, but the whole series. Everything goes around and comes around and in the end nothing changes, except everything. Have you ever watched a series of The Wire? It’s like that. It’s all different, but the same. Yeah, OK, you kind need to read the books to see my point there. So, if you haven’t, you really should.

Now I can’t be sure, but this book certainly felt like an end to the world Lawrence created with his Broken Empire trilogy. It feels like both series were always meant to be written and they are also meant to be read hand in hand. That being said, it feels to me like Broken Empire works with or without Red Queen’s War, but the same can’t be said the other way around. A big part of this is because Wheel of Osheim doesn’t so much put a full-stop as a semi-colon on the world… and after that semi-colon are the words Now read Broken Empire.

I’m giving the Wheel of Osheim a 4.5, but I always round up. Expertly written and great fun to boot. Mark Lawrence is truly a masterful storyteller.

Review Blog – The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence

 

Mark Lawrence continues to make my reviewing his books harder with the second in his Red Queen’s War trilogy. What does that mean? Well it means I felt this book has some quite major flaws, it does a few things wrong… but when it does them right it does them RIGHT!

So the story picks up pretty much where it left off from Prince of Fools. There’s been a few months of Jalan sitting around drinking himself half to death and screwing anyone willing to lift her skirts, but we don’t hear much about that other than the odd wistful tale. No, this book is driven forwards by Loki’s Key and Snorri’s desire to put it to rather foolish use.

Usually I like to talk about the things I liked first, before moving onto those I didn’t, but with this one I’m swapping them around because I want to focus more on the things I liked. So… First off… Jalan still annoys the shit of out me. He’s not quite on Kvothe levels of making me want to crawl into the pages of the book to give him a slap, but at times he’s not too far off. It’s not that he sees himself as a coward and I quite like his pragmatism, but I just find him so utterly unlikable as a character. I don’t hate him, nor love him, I just find myself constantly rolling my eyes at him. Also, Snorri is an arsehole in this book.

So my other major gripe is the pacing. The story kinda feels like it plods along with very little purpose for the first three quarters, and then it finishes in a massive rush of glorious action and inventive characters and locations. Honestly, that finale is good enough to make up for all the rest, but getting through the rest did feel like a bit of a chore at times. My issue with the pacing was especially grating when Jalan went onto his solo side quest, because of aforementioned not liking the guy.

Anyways, onto the stuff I did like. And here’s where I will freely admit that Mark does something better than any other fantasy author I’ve read out there at the moment. Everything matters. It all pulls together in the end and when it does it also pulls the rest of the book into a focus that wasn’t there before. In some ways it’s kinda like a heist film where once it all goes off you sit there thinking “So that’s why that happened.” and “That’s why that thing is there.” And I think Mark has to do it all like that because his whole world is basically one big chess game. Hence the tag lines on the books. See what I mean? It all starts to make sense.

I’m just going to take a moment to point out I said a similar thing when I reviewed the Broken Empire trilogy. On their own the books were great, but it wasn’t until you viewed the series as a whole that it became AMAZING! Because it is at that point you realise the planning that has gone into it. One day I hope to sit down and play a game of chess against Mark Lawrence. So there, if you’re listening, Mark, I challenge you to a game of chess… please go easy on me.

What else did I love? The flashbacks. I wasn’t a big fan of the way they switch to present tense, but I love the story being told through them. I think I would quite happily sit down and read a story about young Alica Kendeth and her siblings as they struggle against their powerful foes. Although, I can’t help but see the Red Queen as Olivia Armstrong now (yes that’s a Full Metal Alchemist reference).

There were a few other things I really liked, but it’s hard to go into them without spoilers so I won’t.

For all its flaws, I really enjoyed The Liar’s Key. Its strengths more than make up for its flaws. There were times I wanted to give it 3 stars, but I overall I’m giving it a wavering 4 out of 5. And the biggest seal of approval I can give is that I’ve just now ordered The Wheel of Osheim on next day delivery.

The Problem With Flashbacks

I’ll admit it. My current WIP has flashbacks. I’m using them as a way to provide necessary backstory for the protagonist while also linking the events of the past to narrative of the present. Then again the entire thing is told from the future so technically it is almost entirely the past so therefor one big flashback… OK, ignore that last bit, it’s confusing. Here, I’ll help by striking it from the record.

You might be thinking, I know that form of using flashbacks, I have seen it before. And yes, you probably have. For the purpose of this blog post I will be using a popular television show to make my point. Some of you may be familiar with Arrow.

Pensive, angry, discombobulated. Oliver Queen only has one expression but he uses it well… or maybe just a lot.

So from the very beginning Arrow has used flashbacks to tell the story of Oliver Queen from 2 different time lines. On one hand we have the past where Olli is shipwrecked on a desert island he equates to being Hell. Actually it’s quite pretty but it’s also filled with murderers, arseholes, sorcerers (it’s a thing), and Manu Bennett. On the other hand we have the present where Olli is back from his time on the island and has transitioned from playboy socialite to masked vigilante determined to kill ALL the bad guys.

So the flashbacks in Arrow are in part used to show how Oliver Queen turns into the Arrow. That’s the broader arc running throughout the show’s history. But on a more isolated scale the flashbacks of each episode are used to resolve events in the present. Each episode tends to give us a lesson Olli learned in his past which he puts to use in the present. It’s a tried and tested formula and it works well… up to a point.

For the first couple of seasons we saw Oliver Queen struggling to find his way as the Arrow. He struggled with his conscience and the failings of his training. He struggled with putting together a trusted team and keeping them together as the leader of that team. The flashbacks were often used to show a bit of advice he received which he finally figures out and puts to use to keep his band of merry men (and women) happy. HOWEVER, often times Oliver figuring out the message behind the lesson is isolated from him friends figuring out the same message. He would resolve matters by repeating the advice that was once given to him. Great stuff, Olli. It took you 5 years to figure out, no need to explain it to your friends, just repeat the words. But really that’s me nitpicking because the show is about Oliver Queen / Arrow rather than his crew.

BUT, we are now 5 seasons in to Arrow and it’s still following the same formula. Oliver still remembers events from his past to help fix problems in the future and it has long past started to seriously stunt his growth as a character. Why? Because 5 years in and what do we actually see from Oliver but him repeating things that were told to him by others. The idea that he (and all of us in fact) are shaped by our past is one thing, but there comes a point where you have to wonder if he is anything but a mouthpiece for the people of his past. This is where the flashbacks in Arrow have started to hurt the character development of the present. 5 years down the line I would expect Oliver to be his own man and not still just repeating the lessons taught to him by others.

This may also be indicative of a much larger problem of long running television shows finding a working formula and sticking to it with very little deviation, but then that’s a discussion for another day.

So here’s my point. There is a point where flashbacks can go wrong and they start to hurt the present narrative rather than enlighten it. Arrow has hit that point, at least in my opinion, and I would much prefer to see Oliver Queen standing on his own feet for a change rather than on the shoulders of his past mentors.

 

Review Blog – Galefire 1: Fade Rippers by Kenny Soward

 

This review might be a little shorter than normal but it’s the morning of my holiday so I’m in a bit of a rush.

 

Galefire 1: Fade Rippers follows Lonnie, a small time crook working for a gang of… odd drug dealers. He soon starts to realise this gang isn’t entirely what it seems when they get into a gunfight with a bunch of monsters. Actual monsters. Oh and Lonnie also has vivid dreams of riding a dragon down in hell. Sounds odd? It is. Strangely enticing though.

The books opens in a hail of dragon fire (Galefire), bullets, and blood. Lonnie struggles to decide how much of it is real and whether or not his gang mates are actually trying to kill him… or fuck him… or just drug him up to his eyeballs. The opening act pretty doesn’t slow its pace at all and we’re carried into the second act before we have any clue what is going on. And it is there in the second act that the author (Kenny) heaps even more questions on us. The pace slows dramatically as we’re shown disjointed memories, drug addiction, and a man on the edge of breaking. Then the third act hits and the bullets and blood and fire all come rushing back in for a action finale that answers MOST of the questions the book has posed from the beginning.

It’s a well constructed story despite the arrested pace in the middle of the book. Honestly it’s not so much that the second act is slow but more the rapid deceleration from such an action heavy first act… and then the rapid acceleration into an equally action heavy third act. It gives the second act a strange, disjointed feel.

The characters are fun for the most part with a nice mix of personalities. Actually one of the things I really liked was how Kenny got specific accents across in the dialogue. I found myself actually reading Elsa and Ingrid with a German accent in mind. Very cool. The main character is a mess, but that’s clearly by design. Lonnie is a character who is struggling to remember who he is after years of drug abuse and memory shenanigans.

I had a couple of issues. First was the amount of sexy time the book threw at me. Now I’ve no problem with sexy time in books, I’ve even written a few steamy scenes myself, but there was quite a lot in this book given how short it was. The other issue was with the shortness of the book. There was no real time given over to explaining how the two worlds really interact, or how magic works, or whatever the fade is, or how drugs seem to affect magic. I feel the book needed to spend a little more time on world building so I wasn’t so confused. A lot of the time I was left thinking “OK, I’ll just accept this because I have no idea how the world works.”

So Galefire 1: Fade Rippers was a fun, action-filled yarn with plenty of bullets and blood and an interesting take on drug abuse. I give it 3.5 out of 5.

Review Blog – Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence

 

I must admit I keep struggling to sort the review for this one in my head because I keep comparing it to Broken Empire and I really shouldn’t. Bad Rob.

So Prince of Fools is set in the world Mark (Lawrence) created with his Broken Empire trilogy. In fact it’s not just set in that world, but actually during the events of Prince of Thorns. It’s kinda like witnessing another front of the war against the Dead King. It’s still told in a first person PoV but instead of little Jorgy we get Prince Jalan Kendeth (Jal for short – even though he hates it). Jalan is a self-proclaimed coward, letch, and bit of a sot. He’s about as far from a hero as it gets… at least in his own head. His story starts when he runs into Snorri ver Snaggason, a Viking from the cold North, and they accidentally find themselves not only linked together by magic, but driven towards a confrontation with the Dead King’s forces and a enemy from Snorri’s past.

I’ll start with the positive. It’s extremely well told and exciting from beginning to end. Mark has a wonderful turn of phrase and an interesting way of looking at things. The way his characters look at some of the things in the world, trains for example, is quite marvelous and hilarious at the same time. Chances are if you’re looking at reading this one you’ve already read Broken Empire and in some ways you can expect more of the same… only not. Mark’s style is there but the story being told is very different and that’s a good thing.

Unfortunately, for me at least, Jalan took quite a bit of breaking in. Early on he admits to being a coward very regularly and I found myself thinking (I get it, move on) more than once. He’s charismatic enough and definitely the roguish sort, but he lacks drive. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s kind of Jal’s whole thing really, but I struggled to connect with him because of his almost entire lack of agency. Slap me on the wrist for a second because if you do compare it to Broken Empire Jorg IS agency. He drives the plot entirely. The plot kinda happens to Jalan and drags him along in its wake.

Snorri is our other real protagonist and the second part of the buddy cop series on play. He’s pretty much the polar opposite to Jal (which is kinda the point) and that makes the interactions between the two a real blast to experience.

I’m really struggling to write this review. I liked the book. I thought it was fun and dark (just how I like it) with an interesting take on some things and a new perspective on the hero trope. I liked how we got a better look at some of the places mentioned in the Broken Empire trilogy yet not explored. I liked how Mark created tension within the scopes of the characters… BUT… It’s strange because I already knew the outcome. Prince of Fools runs at the same time as Prince of Thorns and…

I can’t really go any further without some spoilers for Broken Empire so I’m gonna give my conclusion-y bit here. I liked Prince of Fools and I’m looking forward to starting Liar’s Key… but I didn’t love it. I was told by quite a few people that this series is better than Broken Empire but so far I’m not seeing it. I give Prince of Fools a 4 out of 5. That being said, Mark has a way of tying a series together that makes it easier to review as a whole so we’ll see how it goes once I’ve read them all.

OK, Broken Empire spoiler alert here.

We already know what happens to the Dead King from Broken Empire. The whole struggle seemed muted because of that. We still had Jal and Snorri and Snorri’s family at stake… but I already know they win NOT because they’re the protagonists, but because we already know what happens to the Dead King. That’s not to say I didn’t care about the stakes that were on offer, just… the world no longer really seemed in danger. I guess it makes it a much more personal book as it deals more with the individual character’s stakes.

So if you’ve read this far you probably realise I’m rambling a little. As I say, struggled with this review, so sorry for that. I guess I kinda went into this book expecting to be gripped like I was by Jorg in Prince of Thorns, but I wasn’t. That probably says more for my expectations than it does the series. Anyway, it’s a good book and well worth a read, especially if you liked Broken Empire. Onto Liar’s Key!

2017 – The Year I Take Back What is Mine!

Dramatic title, I know.

This is going to be my “What to expect from Rob J. Hayes in 2017” post. There’s a lot going on for me at the moment so first things first I’ll say why.

As some of you may already know, I have recently started proceedings to split from Ragnarok Publications and take back the rights to my First Earth books (that includes The Ties that Bind, The Bound Folio, and Best Laid Plans). I won’t go into the details of why in this post, but here’s a link to a previous blog that might explain a few things. Now unfortunately my books are still for sale at the moment, but I am asking people not to purchase them until I bring them back under my control… That being said my It Takes a Thief… series is still up and still all mine.

So the first thing to expect from me this year is… Another re-release of The Ties that Bind. I know, I know. This will mark the 3rd release of my debut trilogy in the past 4 years. I never meant for this to happen, but things went south and I don’t feel like taking my books down forever as the world needs to know about Jezzet and Thanquil and Thorn and all the others. Anyway, I’m hoping to get this re-release up and running in early May. You can expect new covers, and tighter prose in many places (I have recently been through and given the trilogy a good editing).

The second thing to expect from me this is… BEST LAID PLANS. Yes. The pirates are coming and they are definitely coming this year! I know I promised this last year but things have been out of my hands for a long time. Delays upon delays and some other shit I’m not pleased about. But that’s over now. With First Earth coming back under my complete control it’s all up to me. Now I don’t have an exact time frame, but I hoping to release the duology soon after the re-release of The Ties that Bind. It’s all a bit dependent on how quickly I can find an editor I’m happy with, but that is pretty much the final hurdle. Soon you will all be able to don your tri-corns, raise a flagon of rum, and shout YARR! with me. Where Loyalties Lie will be the first to release and with any luck will be out by my birthday… which also happens to be the release day of the new Pirates of the Caribbean film. Oh the glorious timing of it all.

The third thing to expect from me in 2017 is… a new genre. That’s right. Last year I wrote a little sci-fi noir thriller thing called DRONES. I’ve been keeping it all a bit secret and deliberating over what to do with it for a while now. Recently I decided it was time to stop! So I have decided to self-publish this one as well. Again I don’t have a time frame for it just yet, but I’m hoping for late summer at the latest. I’ll be releasing more information about this story soon so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.

The fourth thing to expect from me is… another new First Earth book. That’s right, after years of collecting dust on certain shelves, I’m releasing a bunch of new books. This new story is called CITY OF KINGS and it’s a new Black Thorn story. Set about a year after the events of Price of Faith, City of Kings sees Betrim and Rose taking the fight to the blooded in an attempt to free the Wilds from their tyranny. Be warned though, if this book had a tag line it would probably read: War. No one gets out alive.

Last but not least I am currently working on an entirely new fantasy story in an entirely new fantasy world. I’m not giving too much away right now, but it’s told in the first person and has the working title ALONG THE RAZOR’S EDGE. This doesn’t mean I’ve finished in First Earth. I’m just taking a break for a while. There will be a new First Earth trilogy coming in the future.

That’s about it for me in 2017. It’s going to be a very busy year with lots of releases and probably a ton of blogs as well as I continue with my reviews, rants, and hopefully a few more guest blogs because, let’s be fair, other people have interesting things to say as well.