Doug Lewars's Blog - Posts Tagged "fantasy-adventure-intrigue"
Gardens of the Moon
Gardens of the Moon by Steven EriksonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
*** Possible Spoilers ***
If the Harry Potter series can be classified as light fantasy and Tolkien as classic fantasy then Gardens of the Moon would probably be dark fantasy. It's set in a world that has both humans and non-humans - sorcerers and gods. An empire is attempting to expand its territory and is being met with fierce resistance. An empress who came to power by assassinating the former emperor - and her husband - wishes to consolidate her power by eliminating everyone who served the former regime. This is a work of shifting alliances, betrayals and intrigue. It is also one of the best fantasy stories I've read in years. That said the first hundred or so pages were a little tough sledding. The author introduces so many characters and subplots that it was difficult to keep track. I found I needed two bookmarks - one where I was reading and one at the list of characters provided in the front so I could figure out who was who. Still, the effort was 100% worthwhile.
This is book one of a ten book series so one can't expect all the various plots to be resolved but I have to say that the author builds to a remarkably effective climax. The book held my attention right to the very last page. One thing I didn't care for was that the author introduced a bunch of new characters near the end that forced me back to the list of characters at the beginning all over again. Presumably he was setting things up for volume two but for me it was just a little jarring. Still there are grim assassins, thieves, great battles of magic as a dark power is unleashed and intrigue among the gods. What could be better?
I fully intend to read volume two and probably the remainder of the series although I have to admit that this author has his work cut out for him. Speaking from personal experience, the farther into a series one writes the more difficult it is to keep track of past event and characters. Yes, use of a spreadsheet simplifies things but it isn't a perfect solution. I know that I'm forever having to check a prior volume to make sure I'm not contradicting myself or messing up a subplot and this author has so many balls in the air so to speak that I can only imagine how difficult it must be for him to remain consistent as the series progresses.
In general if you like lots of subplots, lots of intrigue, and a large cast of characters you'll enjoy this book. It's a bit demanding for the reader but I think the investment is well worth making.
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Deadhouse Gates
Deadhouse Gates by Steven EriksonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
*** Possible Spoilers ***
Well, that was a short reincarnation ... but I digress.
The term 'Deadhouse Gates' refers to a portal - a means of travel from one location to another - not, perhaps as fast as one might think; but a lot faster than could be accomplished by means of Air Canada. It, however, is a fairly small part of this novel. And this novel comes as quite a surprise after Volume 1. I was expecting that the story would carry on from where it left off and it does ... sort of. It takes place a year later, in an entirely different location, and with mostly different people. A few individuals made it across from Volume 1 but most didn't. We do occasionally hear of their doings but what we hear is pretty sketchy.
In any event it appears that the Empress does have her problems - an army in open revolt on one side of her and an uprising in other lands. Imagine a colonial power such as Britain when it controlled India. Now imagine not a comparatively peaceful transition but one in which a huge army and a large number of citizens are slaughtered. Increase the scope. Suppose that a country the size of France was dominant over the rest of Europe and then those countries rose up in an unbridled wave of fury and ferocity. That's sort to the thing that the poor old Empress has to contend with.
This story, of course, is Sword and Sorcery - perhaps more sword than sorcery but there's plenty of both. At no time does the pace slow and there is plenty of action from the beginning to the end - and there are an awful lot of pages in between. There are great battles, betrayals, stealth and skulduggery - and enough plot twists to keep even the most jaded reader going. Steven Erikson certainly knows how to write battle scenes on a grand scale - something that's not as easy as it sounds. When huge armies collide things get messy and describing the clash in such a way as to make it real for the reader is highly impressive.
I took a few minutes to review this saga online and apparently we are in the middle of events surrounding the Malazan Empire so I expect the additional books in the series to go backwards as well as forwards - something I don't really care for at a personal level; but I certainly intend to keep reading so I'll just have to live with it. In any event, Book 2 could be read without ever reading Book 1 and it would still make sense - mostly. As with Book 1, there are many characters and so for the first fifty or so pages I was constantly flipping back to the cast of characters in the beginning but after that I had become sufficiently familiar with them that I could just keep reading. I read this book in 'e' format which was okay but unfortunately I was unable to enlarge the maps at the beginning so as to make sense of them. They're not really necessary for figuring out what's going on but I would have liked to take a peek at them from time to time.
Although subtle, the author does allow himself a little editorializing along the way. One of his 'messages' for example is that war is unpleasant. Now who would have guessed that? In addition, he really, really doesn't like nobility. There are a few other 'educational' stirrings that grated just a bit; but for the most part they can be ignored and the reader can get back to the good stuff - the killing and maiming of both good guys and bad guys either on a battlefield or in a back alley. You really can't go wrong with an assassin who pretty much carves his way through an entire guild of assassins although he doesn't fare so well when magic is involved. Anyway, the knives are sharp, the swords are whetted to perfection, and blood flows from cover to cover. This is a great book and I highly recommend it.
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New Book Published! Hot off the ... e-press?
Do Not Disturb Sleeping Gods
An aggressive and power-hungry witch has allied herself and her coven with the Dark Elves and together they seek to raise a God. But can they control it? The guardians think not and request Janet and her team to assist another Guardian led team in stopping her. And if they fail? An unconstrained deity is capable of destroying all life on Earth – and possibly destroying the Mid-world as well.
"It’s our job to meld everyone into a team in order to defeat the witch.”
Kurt frowned, “Can we do that?”
“We really have no choice. There’s none of us that can go one-on-one with her. She’ll be backed by the power of her entire coven. We haven’t learned how to combine our magic so our only alternative is to work together. You need to figure out how to defeat her. Then you need to deploy us in such a way that we can execute your plan.”
“Suppose she’s just too tough? I mean suppose she has so much power that we just can’t compete - team or no team?”
“Then we’re dead.”
Kurt looked at her waiting for a follow-up that never came. Slowly the full realization of what she said sunk in. Either they worked as a team and found a way of defeating their opponent or their lives along with everyone else’s would be extinguished.
This is the third book in the Mid-world series. The first is Betwixt and Between in which we meet Jerry – who through accident – and Lynn – who through murder, find themselves between the world of the living and the final world to which humans eventually transition and about which nothing is known. They face more than a few dangers but find friends as well. The second book is Harsh Magic in a Frozen Land and the team is sent to the far north where the magic of the Winter Elves is at risk of falling into the hands of a truly dangerous individual.
An aggressive and power-hungry witch has allied herself and her coven with the Dark Elves and together they seek to raise a God. But can they control it? The guardians think not and request Janet and her team to assist another Guardian led team in stopping her. And if they fail? An unconstrained deity is capable of destroying all life on Earth – and possibly destroying the Mid-world as well.
"It’s our job to meld everyone into a team in order to defeat the witch.”
Kurt frowned, “Can we do that?”
“We really have no choice. There’s none of us that can go one-on-one with her. She’ll be backed by the power of her entire coven. We haven’t learned how to combine our magic so our only alternative is to work together. You need to figure out how to defeat her. Then you need to deploy us in such a way that we can execute your plan.”
“Suppose she’s just too tough? I mean suppose she has so much power that we just can’t compete - team or no team?”
“Then we’re dead.”
Kurt looked at her waiting for a follow-up that never came. Slowly the full realization of what she said sunk in. Either they worked as a team and found a way of defeating their opponent or their lives along with everyone else’s would be extinguished.
This is the third book in the Mid-world series. The first is Betwixt and Between in which we meet Jerry – who through accident – and Lynn – who through murder, find themselves between the world of the living and the final world to which humans eventually transition and about which nothing is known. They face more than a few dangers but find friends as well. The second book is Harsh Magic in a Frozen Land and the team is sent to the far north where the magic of the Winter Elves is at risk of falling into the hands of a truly dangerous individual.
