I have long been a fan of David Weber. By the time I discovered Oath of Swords I had already read most of his science fiction stuff. Weber has a varied writing background of which the War God series is his only venture into the world of fantasy – a good choice for him in my opinion.
Some of the violence in the novel was disturbing to me. This was the part that dealt with Sharna – one of the dark gods. Why this specific kind of violence is especially disturbing to me is difficult to understand. Maybe it has something to do with my religious upbringing? Because, in fact, the violent parts are not worse that a whole lot of other violence that I have read and not been especially bothered by. Just saying.
One reviewer wished Bazhell would have kept on fighting Tormak until the end. I kind of agree with that assessment. Bazhell is a stubborn old hradani and his fighting what the war-god wanted was fun. What the ending would have been like if he had resisted until the end is something only David Weber could know.
Oath of Swords is very much about being the outsider. Bahzell is a hradani hostage at the human court. He is extremely easy to spot – size and all. Like any outsider he is treated as less. But he does have friends at court and also support from some of the gods.
I enjoyed Oath of Swords a lot and have actually read it two or three times.
Bite seems to be the only novel Heather Litteral has written thus far. It was weird not having a copyright page. Does that mean that Heather Litteral does not have copyright? Perhaps this is a stupid question, but I felt it needed to be addressed – if nothing but for the sake of Litteral’s authorship.
I used to think that having “strange powers” would be cool. It didn’t really matter which, as long as I could be different. Reading fantasy and science fiction has completely changed my mind on that subject. In the case of Skye, she can read minds. I would imagine reading minds could be advantageous at times. If some person is out to get you, wouldn’t it be nice to have warning? But otherwise??? Not so much. Reading minds has saved Skye’s life, but it was the ability to read minds that got her into trouble in the first place. We all think things in our heads that we do not want people to hear. Some people want to hide more than others. When what you are trying to hide is betrayal, then it becomes all the more important to silence the one you fear is a threat.
Skye gets chased from the first page of Bite. She has to try to keep one step ahead of the assassins, but that isn’t an easy matter. Early on she gains the help of a guy she bites, Ryan. Biting him was not something she would normally do as her preferred prey is the scummier sort of citizen.
When Skye decides to stop running and stay in Louisiana where she has finally begun to build a life for herself, she finds herself happy to have Ryan’s assistance. Ryan, too, is glad that Skye is on his side. For some reason his own sister (turned vampire) was murdered and now the murderers are after him.
What happens when you stop running? Well, one thing is that you have to face whatever you are running from. Often people think they have to fight these battles alone, but like Skye sometimes we find that others want to help us. At times that help comes with a price, as in the case of Gabriel, but not always.
Heather Litteral has written a fun novel. There are some vampire cliches but those are difficult to get away from. Litteral has focused more on action and less on romance and that is what I prefer. For a first novel, Bite was excellent.
The Viscount and the Witch is a short story set 11 years before the events in The Crown Conspiracy. I have the other novels in the Riyria Chronicles already and enjoyed reading them.
Hadrian and Royce are great characters. Royce is a reluctant good guy while Hadrian is a reluctant bad guy. The whole barn scene with the viscount was hilarious.
Michael J. Sullivan has a fairly laid back style of writing that appeals to my funny-bone. He also keeps up the pace and throws in actions scenes where they are appropriate. Excellent writing and a great world for my taste.
“The Knights Hospitaller, also known as the Hospitallers, Order of Hospitallers, Knights of St John, Order of St John, and currently The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders during the Middle Ages.” (Wikipedia)
J. K. Swift writes historical fiction. This time he writes about the lives of ex-Hospitallers. What kind of person do you become after having been taken away from your parents at a young age and sent into the “Holy War” against those terrible heathen Jews and Muslims?
Like most people our ex-Hospitallers seem to be the same personality they were upon entering the Hospitallers. You know, just people – greedy, selfless, courageous, lonely and so on. Just people.
In the name of religion people sometimes do terrible things. Ignoring terrible actions carried out toward others is the most common one. To begin with Thomas ignores the plight of the citizens of Altdorf. But once the deeds of Duke Leopold of Habsburg touches closer to home, Thomas can no longer deny the unrighteousness of Leopold’s deeds.
Duke Leopold is a greedy man who wants to control the flow of merchandise through the pass of St. Gotthard. “The Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass (Italian: Passo del San Gottardo) (el. 2106 m) is a high mountain pass in Switzerland between Airolo in the canton of Ticino, and Göschenen in the canton of Uri, connecting the northern German-speaking part of Switzerland with the Italian-speaking part, along the route onwards to Milan.” (Wikipedia)
In The Empire of Man one even finds that “the College of Magic which studies Ghyran, the Lore of Life, is the Jade Order of Wizards. Jade Wizards, (also occasionally mistaken for druids to which their power is related), are powerful healers, who spend most of their time wandering the countryside of the Empire providing their services to rural communities. They construct monolithic stone circles around hidden groves where Ghyran is strongest, using them in their yearly rituals which they perform in order to channel their magic into the soil to provide fertility and abundance.” (Wikipedia) Seraina is a Priestess of the Old Religion, and the last Druid disciple of the Helvetii Celts. She has been gifted by the Great Weave to see what others cannot. In it she knows that she and Thomas will be needed in her people’s fight for freedom.
Part of my reason for digging a little into various sites had to do with the excellence of the novel. Altdorfmade me curious about the background for the novel – beyond what the author tells. The whole area has a fascinating history and it was amazingly fun to discover that Altdorf (the area) is used in The Empire of Man.
Anyways, history and fantasy lesson over – except maybe a hint that you check out the background of the Wilhelm Tell myth – you know the whole shooting an apple off the son’s head story. It has relevance.
There is one scene that involves Pirmin that made a huge impression. Pirmin is a lovely character – full of life and enjoyment of life. Anyways, there is one scene that made me think – once again. Fantasy can do that to you. All of a sudden I see humanity in a new light or am reminded of a quality that some people do possess, even people I know.
The Forest Knights is a serial. You can walk away from the serial after Altdorf, but I believe you might regret it. I am going to get Morgarten myself – simply because I want to keep in touch with these people.
In the case of Smite Me, Oh Dark One the title was what made me read it. In the story we get a bit of existentialism and family troubles.
Acerbus, God of Darkness, is a fun god, one that plans for the long haul. Lux, the God of Light, is the one that takes himself terribly serious. He has long speeches and flowery sentences. Silly bugger. He really ought to use his brain every once in a while. Lux does say what the other gods want to hear, so they follow him. Sound familiar, anyone???
This is a 26-page great short story that lightened my mood and left me smiling. I will definitely read it again.
B. Throwsnaill is a pseudonym for Bill Ainsworth. Pity! I rather liked Throwsnaill. I like this cover by Elena Dudina.
Something is wrong with magic. For some reason it is less efficient than usual. That is a major bummer for Hemlock’s sister’s stomach problems. Hemlock’s main goal in life is to take care of her sister. Only the two of them live in SanCyra. Their parents are either dead or living elsewhere – details revealed in the novel.
Hemlock is an interesting character. With the help of her adopted father figure, Safreon, her ways have gone from thieving to policing the area she lives in. Because the area is poor, the guards do not feel it has high priority. We never see that in real life, do we??
Both policing and the problems with magic bring Hemlock into the way of the Wizards and their odd creations. Because of her strange powers Hemlock is of interest to the Wizards. They wish to either bring her into their fold or to kill her.
Hemlock is very goal-oriented. In fact her one-tracked mind often lets her forget to plan. The advantage of such impulsiveness is that things get done. The disadvantage is trouble of all sorts. But Hemlock is usually lucky in some way. Maybe that has to do with her powers or maybe she is just one of those people. I am so clumsy I would probably stumble and fall all over the place.
I did not read the novel until just recently. It seems most of the previous comments were listened to and followed as the author saw fit. Hemlock and the Wizard Tower is a pretty good young adult novel. We get a look at an interesting world of magic, one I have not seen before (I think). The whole idea of the city of SanCyra is pretty cool.
I started off reading Prelude, which isn’t a prelude but a continuation of Bone Dust & Beginnings. I couldn’t get a grip on what on earth Alexa was and felt annoyed at myself for not getting it. That made me splurge on USD 1.99 for BD&B.
This is young adult fiction. The author warns about mature content, but come on – the only thing US citizens thinks of as mature content is sex and there isn’t any explicit sex in this novel. There is violence but not of the mature kind.
Bizarrely enough, Alexa happens to be a descendant of Jesus Christ. She and other Descendants have been hidden from the public by the “Government”. If only they had been allowed out into the open, the world could have experienced peace. Instead people have used the Descendants for their own selfish agendas and this was a major part of why the world has become the bombed out place it has.
Alexa’s mission is to find her father, rescue the other Descendants and save the world.
Alexa seemed like an unknown after finishing BD&B. Her background was filled in, but something was missing. The novel itself was well-written with few editing issues. Bone Dust & Beginnings was a fairly good novel. I do not think I am its intended audience.
Cover art by an artist from guru.com for the artwork. Kevin George then used photoshop to turn that into a cover.
Sometimes in life we make choices that can have far-reaching consequences, not only for ourselves. Drinking Life seems to be in part about the impact of choices made.
Loyalty is another issue Drinking Life approaches. Do you really have to be loyal to a person you pretty much think is detestable? I kept thinking – Why does this person not get over themself and why do the rest let themselves be bullied by that person? Isn’t it possible to say “enough is enough”?
Once again I was struck by how infatuation can make you completely blind to the worst mistakes and be willing to forgive pretty despicable actions. And when the truth finally comes out, forgiveness is given once again. Is it not ever possible to learn?
Then I thought about real life – what about that? Well, sad to say people act like this all the time. They might not be super-fast, super-strong or heal surprisingly well, but people sure can be stupid about what we accept and do not accept in others. So I guess the story about Nia and her compatriots is believable.
Nia, her parents, Cassie and Cassie’s mother always seem to be on the move. The two girls are tired of never being able to settle down. When they end up in a tiny town on the outskirts of Nowhere they feel down. But not for long.
Like the blurb says, Nia Ammo is a jock, a quality she will have need of in the upcoming days. There will be more than enough running, swimming, rowing, shooting and jumping for the girl. Add in bizarre dreams and a boyfriend/not-boyfriend/boyfriend/not-boyfriend and Nia’s life is becoming difficult for her to handle.
Drinking Life was pretty good. There were annoying editing problems that ought to have been easy to do something about.
Once again Ilan has to leave the life she has known so well. Her feelings are conflicted and prickly. With her she tries to bring her mother’s brooch. But Terrac takes it from her. Terrac decides to leave the criminal elements as well. He feels as though he is losing himself, or rather who he had hopes of being (a man of peace).
The Fist had been waiting for suckers to come back and get their stuff at the camp and Ilan and Terrac turned out to be those suckers. Terrac gets captured while Ilan manages to escape.
Ilan and her bow bonded in Magic of Thieves. Its strange qualities and seeming awareness puzzle Ilan and she sets out to find help in figuring out what this magic is all about. If there is one thing I have learned in my long acquaintanceship with fantasy and science fiction it is to be wary of objects that seem to have mysterious powers. They always end up getting you into trouble.
Betrayal of Thieves was a pretty good fantasy read. I like prickly Ilan. I sure would not like to find myself in her position. For some reason I always look for common ground with the characters of the various novels I read. No matter how evil or how good they are, there always seems to be something I can recognize. Ilan and Terrac are just average people and therefore pretty easy to connect with. Terrac’s changes are interesting. Maybe I will continue reading this serial.
The end of The Wicked Heroine left Meena in a sticky place. We now discover how she gets out of it. Definitely one of the novel’s high points and humorous at that. If you are a proper young adult you will like the grossness of the scene (especially if you have a good imagination). “… his knife skittered against the blade of a short sword jammed up from below” on the bottom of page 3 sets the tone for the rest of Oathen. Jasmine writes grosse well – an excellent and important quality in an author.
Anjoya Meseer (Geret and Salvor’s language teacher) ends up leaving Salience with Count Runcan for Vint. The two of them have a surprise change of of transportation on the way. Anjoya turns out to be important to the political climate in Vint, so hurrah to her for taking a chance on a change in future.
Then we have the love-triangle/quadrangle of Geret, Sanych, Salvor and Rhona who travel with the returned Meena and the chased Gryme/Kemsil. Talk about messy love. I think this was the bit about Legend of the Shanallar that just didn’t do anything for me, but I am not really a romance reader and definitely not a YA one.
Did Oathen have action. I guess that is one way of putting it. Plenty of action and magic. All of them learn what they are made of and Meena finally gets her heart’s desire fulfilled. I think you could say that Oathen had a happy ending – at least for some of the characters. The others, well you learn to live with the choices you have made. Consequences can suck.
At times the story hiccupped, but that happens. Other than that Oathen was a great YA novel (I think, being 48 and all).
I really like the cover of Magic of Thieves. I don’t know if the gold effect carries over to paper-backs. On the screen a feeling of magic shines through.
Magic of Thieves seems to be a novel meant for a Young Adult audience. Our novel begins with the death of Ilan’s parents. Ilan is a “half-breed” as propaganda calls her. Being half Skeltai/half human is frowned upon. Having a parent who is a magic user is even worse. All of a sudden magic has become evil and the Praetor is on the hunt for all magic users.
While trying to escape the soldiers hunting for her, Ilan’s magic is triggered. The family friend Borlan takes her in but realises that she cannot stay. He gets a peddler to take her to Cros where she ought to be safe as a magic user. But they get waylaid by the thieves of Dimmingwood. This is where Ilan’s life takes a strange turn and she grows up among the thieves with the one called Brig taking a special interest in her raising.
Ilan is a feisty girl having to deal with the loss of her parents and the new father figure in her life. As she grows up her emotions grow up with her. I think Greenwood has made a believably tiresome and brave person who just tries to figure out her place in life. Encountering those who are stronger and weaker than herself is just part of the game.
Terrac was a self-righteous pain in the butt, as I guess he was intended to be. This too seems to be part of the teen-agy hormonal thing that we all have to go through. Some of us even retain that less than stellar quality. But Terrac had guts. He was brave enough to do what had to be done while trying to stick to his convictions.
These are the main two characters of Magic of Thieves. It was interesting to behold the changes they went through as life’s usual surprises hit them.
It seems Jasmine Giacomo deems her Immortality Archives/Legend of the Shanallar novels adult fantasy. I don’t see it. There is no explicit sex nor explicit violence. Neither are the novels overly dark.
I chose to read The Wicked Heroine exclusively because of the title. I wouldn’t say that our main character (the Shanallar/Meena/Jacasta) is exactly wicked. In my opinion strong, experienced and unwilling to take a whole lot of BS is more descriptive. She makes her choices and faces the consequences of those. Sometimes those consequences are other people being hurt while at other times she is the one getting hurt. Sometimes everyone benefits. As I kept on reading about Meena, I found I liked her more and more.
Another favorite character was Geret Branbrey Valan. Geret is highly intelligent, naive and bored – all poured into one of the nobility. He has the best pranks but understands very little about other people. Maybe he is the one who goes through the most personal changes. I guess you could say that by the end of the duology he has been forced to grow up.
Sanych is another appealing character. Her main flaw is that she is extremely single-minded. Single-mindedness is a great quality if you are willing to learn from your mistakes. It takes her some time but Sanych figures out that despite all her bookish knowledge she too has plenty of real life learning to do.
Off the three of them go to find The Dire Tome, each of them with different motives for joining the journey. Like all heroic journeys there is plenty of action, a lot of death and wicked opponents. The three meet interesting people on their journey. We get to observe a love-triangle or two and the various feelings that go along with love/lust. The various love-triangles were what made surprised that Giacomo has classified her novels as adult. They were more of the kind found in YA novels in my opinion.
This is not a series. The books are not stand-alone but of the serial type. You will have to begin reading The Wicked Heroine for book no. 2 (Oathen) to make sense.
Cover art by Ricardo Guimaraes Cover Illustration for A Prayer for Dead Kings Alex Tooth
What would happen if you were offered the world and you didn’t want it? I think about that sometimes. Am I happy with the life I have?
I loved Hjorn. Here he finds an axe that promises him “the power thou seekest” and the poor fellow isn’t looking for any more power than he already has. His only response to the talking axe is “That’s unusual”. “Thou wilt rule the world” the axe says and Hjorn just shrugs.
Hjorn’s character is wonderful. This guy is about the most down-to-earth person I have ever met. The battle of wills that ensues is hilarious.
Scott Fitzgerald Gray has done an amazing job in building up his two main characters. They complement each other so well. Whoever heard of a needy axe? Well, now you have. What a great story this was!
First of all I would like to compliment Jeff Gunzel on his choice of cover artist. The cover of Land of Shadows is amazingly beautiful. Love the work of Ronnell D. Porter.
I see that some of the earlier reviews have asked for editing of Lands of Shadow. I have an updated version from 2013 and have a feeling that there must have been quite a bit of editing done if the previous critique was true. I like that in an author – the ability to listen to what people have to say and then decide if what is said is worth listening to. So that is one plus in Jeff Gunzel’s favor.
I loved the opening scene. The warrior Morcel’s choice to leave off the life he had been leading lately brings him in a sense back to the land of the living. All because that one last drop had fallen. Life is like that (although maybe not quite as brutal as the village scenes). Sometimes that one drop extra falls and you cannot stand your own choices any longer. Change comes – sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Morcel’s having had his fill plays an important role in the plot of The Land of Shadows.
Right away I am going to warn you of a particularly gruesome scene – the one that changes Morcel’s life. This is NOT a book for Young Adults and there are definitely trigger factors for those who have been victims of sexual abuse. Consider yourselves warned.
In this scene we meet a girl who also plays an important role in the development of the plot. If you are awake you will spot her reappearance. She is quite a strong character.
There is action from the beginning of Land of Shadows. Talk about intense scenes that just grip me and will not let me go. Not until Chapter 3 do we get a description of beautiful Tarmerria. But that beauty does have a back side. There are plenty of unwanted elements, crime and scary outlanders.
What we get in the Land of Shadows is a bunch of people who have had to make terrible choices in order to stave off a potentially terrible future. But bearing the consequences of their choices takes a toll on them and the ones they have made those choices for. Life is all too often like that. A person can only do what they think is right and hope that they do not mess up too badly.
Land of Shadows is a dark novel, dark and beautiful. It is well worth the read and I would say that Jeff Gunzel has the potential of being an amazing writer. He already hits the flow over and over again and plays with my feelings like a virtuoso.
Cover art by Donato Giancola / Cover design by G-Force Design
Both my son and I agree that Kristen is a cruel, cruel woman. Telling why would be a major spoiler, but keep in mind that Kristen Britain likes to torture her readers. Aaaaargh.
I love the cover that Donato Giancola has painted. Maybe it is a little cheerful for Blackveil, but it is still pretty bleak.
Usually Kristen writes in a manner that makes reading aloud a delight. This time there was one exception. The name “Gerlrand Fiori” was a tongue twister, but that was it. The rest of the words were fun to read.
Our adventure into the world of Blackveil begins with Grandmother and her crew. Blackveil is not a place one would normally venture into as it is filled with messed up magic as a remnant of Mornhavon’s attempt to establish Arcosian rule on the shores of Sacoridia. I consider the Second Empire followers to be nuts, but who knows who of us is?
My 18-year old was disappointed when we began our journey with some one other than Karigan G’ladheon. He likes her character, all of it. She tends to see the world in black and white although she has mellowed a bit after all this time as a Green Rider. One thing that has been difficult for her to mellow out about is her father’s acquaintance with prostitutes and his previous life as a pirate. She intends to challenge him about these two issues.
Children, no matter how adult they think themselves, have a scewed picture of what their parents are supposed to be like. If they have seen you in a certain manner losing that fantasy can be difficult. Let’s just say that Karigan’s confrontation with Stevic was an eye-opening one.
One thing that is certain in Karigan’s life is that her abilities bring trouble her way, trouble she tends to barely survive. Supernatural powers aren’t necessarily a gift.
Captain Mapstone meets up with the Eletians after a visit to an ex-Green Rider. This meeting is fortuitous for Laren Mapstone and perhaps so for the Eletians. Together they travel back to the Castle and King Zachary. The Eletians intend to enter Blackveil at the spring Equinox and King Zachary intends to send some of his people along. We all know who one of Zachary’s people is going to be. They agree to meet at the gap in the wall on the day of the Equinox.
One thing I find problematic with the Green Rider series is this ongoing desperate love between Karigan and Zachary. I guess that would be part of the attraction. In this insane world we live in forbidden fruit is always supposed to be soooo much tastier than the permitted. What I do like is that Karigan and Zachary at least have the good sense to not do anything about their feelings. Poor Lady Estora who is doomed to marry a man that loves another. On the other hand she is realistic enough to know that these are the risks of arranged marriages. I like her. Estora is kind, strong and gutsy. She tries to make the best of a difficult situation in spite of her own pain, and she will have plenty of that in Blackveil.
I’m wondering why Britain added the Amberhill story. To me it seems completely irrelevant and as if Britain has just added him to make her series longer?????
While the Green Rider books are a series, there is also a serial bit to them. You do not have to read the previous three novels to understand the story (I think) but it might help. I have enjoyed them all and enjoyed Blackveil as well. My son and I agree on the excellence of Britain’s ability to write novels that can be read as audio.
humanitysdarkerside 