The Shadowed Sun - Narcomancy Gone Bad?

The Shadowed Sun
Book 2 of The Dreamblood
N K Jemisin
Orbit 2012

Review by Clare Deming

In The Shadowed Sun, we are returned to the world of The Dreamblood, in which priests of the Hetawa practice the goddess Hananja's dream magic. This time, the city-state of Gujaareh is under Kisuati control, occupied and overseen by the opposing city-state after its former Prince's failed attempt at war. Since the primary tenet of Hananja's Law is peace, the people of Gujaareh have submitted to foreign rule with only silent outrage.

Not all the land is calm, however, and the desert barbarian tribes are becoming more daring in their raids, stealing trade goods from Gujaareh. When Apprentice Hanani heals a soldier injured in one of these attacks, she weaves his torn body back together using the various humors collected from dreams in an attempt to pass her Sharer-trial. Her healing efforts are successful, but in the aftermath, a terrible discovery is made. One of the acolytes who served her, along with the tithebearer providing the humors, has died horribly. No cause can be immediately ascertained, so Hanani is indirectly blamed and is forbidden from practicing any further narcomancy.

Wanahomen, son to the ousted Prince, and heir to the Sunset Lineage of Gujaareh has made a place for himself among those barbarian tribes, rising to a position of influence among the Banbarra. With his father's former general at his side, he struggles to convince the desert people to help him oust the Kisuati and regain his city.

The deaths laid at Hanani's feet were not the last, and a plague of dream-driven fatalities spreads through the city. Anyone who tries to investigate the nightmare of those afflicted also becomes trapped by it. As unrest and violence churn within Gujaareh, Hanani is cleared of fault in the mysterious deaths. Despite this, her skills are still in question by some among the Hetawa because she is the first woman ever admitted into training as a Sharer. A new trial is set, and Hanani and her mentor, Mhi-inh, are offered up to the Banbarra tribe by Gatherer Nijiri, a prominent character from the first book, The Killing Moon.

This is a more complicated and longer volume than the first novel, and I liked it better for those reasons. The dream magic used by the Hetawa is an intriguing concept, and I felt more familiar with its practice in this book. I suppose this second installment could be read without having first read The Killing Moon, but I think it would be a more enjoyable read in the intended order. I don't know what the author has planned for her future work, but I would be eager to read more stories set in the Dreamblood world.

The Killing Moon delivers something refreshingly different

The Killing Moon
Book 1 of The Dreamblood
N.K. Jemisin
Orbit 2012

Review by Clare Deming

The Killing Moon begins another unique fantasy tale by one of my new favorite authors, N. K. Jemisin. Like her earlier work (The Inheritance Trilogy), The Killing Moon is set in a world alien to much of the fantasy genre that often clones a medievalesque society and a quest-driven plot. The cultures that Jemisin paints in The Dreamblood are unlike any others that I have experienced, and that is one of the reasons why The Killing Moon works so well.

In the city-state of Gujaareh, Hananja's law reigns over all aspects of life, organized through the central temple, the Hetawa. Hananja is the goddess of dreams, and peace is of utmost importance among her followers, with corruption punishable by death. Ehiru, priest of the Hetawa, is many things. Foremost, he serves the goddess as a Gatherer by attending to the ill and elderly, ending their lives and guiding their souls into joyful dreams in Ina-Karekh. He gathers their dreamblood which is tithed to the Hetawa and used to bring peace to supplicants of Hananja. This same death also awaits those deemed corrupt, and outside of Gujaareh, Gatherers are heralded as gualoh - demons.

The narrative follows three characters - Ehiru, his apprentice Nijiri, and Sunandi, ambassador from the rival city-state of Kisua. When Ehiru completes a routine commission on a corrupt foreign merchant, the magic goes awry. The man's soul is ripped free and lost in nightmare. As Ehiru leaves, he glimpses another figure on the rooftops, but this other man radiates malevolence in the instant before he disappears from view.

Sunandi maneuvers the delicate political field in the aftermath of her mentor, Kinja's, suspicious death. Immediately after she discovers proof that Kinja was murdered, Ehiru and Nijiri ghost into her chambers. Sunandi has been judged corrupt by the Hetawa, and the Gatherers have arrived to bring her Hananja's eternal peace. But when the ambassador confronts her would-be killers, she is able to cast doubt upon the accusations. She believes that Gujaareh's Prince seeks an excuse for war, and the Gatherers desist because they cannot allow anyone to subvert the will of Hananja.

The story sprints between attempts to unravel the truth about the Prince, the Hetawa, and that evil figure spotted atop the city's homes. Rumors say that a Reaper has come to Gujaareh, an abomination of Hananja's dream magic, and a creature so powerful that its presence threatens all of the city's peace.

The Killing Moon is the first book in The Dreamblood duology, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. All of the plot threads are tied up in the conclusion and you won't be left in the lurch if you don't have the second book on hand. I had minor difficulty orienting myself to the magic and how it worked. The way in which the Gatherers operated was spelled out clearly since they featured as two of the three main point-of-view characters. Other aspects of dream magic, although fascinating, were hard to intuit since they were not shown in action as much.

The Killing Moon was nominated for a 2012 Nebula Award.


Look for the review of the sequel, The Shadowed Sun on Thursday.

A Dance with Dragons picks up the pace

A Dance with Dragons
Book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire
George R. R. Martin
Bantam (2011)

Review by Clare Deming

After the publication of five massive tomes and two seasons of an HBO series based on his books, I think it's tough for anyone who is a fan of fantasy fiction to be unaware of George R. R. Martin's series, A Song of Ice and Fire. A Dance with Dragons is the long-awaited fifth installment in the book series, and finally brings back those favorite characters missing in the previous volume.

If you haven't read through A Storm of Swords (book three), then just beware that this review may contain spoilers for you. Anyone who has only watched the television series will be lost. In A Feast for Crows (book four), Martin continued his technique of rotating through different point-of-view characters on a chapter-by-chapter basis. However, some notable characters had been left out. Whether you agreed with this decision (as explained in an afterward to book four) or not, the absence of Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jon Snow rankled with many fans. Although this new volume returns to those characters, the events overlap with the timeline from book four, creating some déjà vu as news spreads across Westeros and beyond.

Tyrion Lannister's whereabouts have been a mystery, as he is one of the most wanted and recognizable men in Westeros. Accused of murdering Joffrey at his wedding, the Imp has also slain his father and vanished from King's Landing. In the opening of book five, he turns up in the free city of Pentos with Magister Illyrio Mopatis, who had helped sell Daenerys to the Dothraki in book one. Illyrio's motives are mysterious, but he convinces Tyrion that drowning himself in alcohol is not a worthwhile profession for someone as intelligent as the black sheep of the Lannisters. Tyrion heads toward Volantis with a group of mysterious companions, presumably to team up with Daenerys and her cadre of dragons.

Daenerys Targaryen sits ensconced as queen of the slaver city of Meereen. Her dragons have grown and cannot be trusted to roam free. She is threatened by armies from neighboring cities, as well as murderous rebels within Meereen's own population. Despite her original intent to return to Westeros to claim the Iron Throne as the Targaryen heir, she becomes bogged down by the machinations of numerous councilors, shady politics, and her own uncertainties.

In the north, Jon Snow guards the wall against the dark threat of wights and beasts of legend. He is also swamped by his newfound responsibilities, but deals with them more decisively than Daenerys. Surrounded by wilding prisoners, insubordination among his own men, and demands from Stannis Baratheon, Jon Snow makes his decisions and stands by them.

Like the previous books, there are so many major characters that if I try to count them I know I'll leave someone out. Bran travels with Jojen and Meera Reed, looking for more information about his dreams. Quentyn Martell, heir to Dorne, has a secret proposal for Daenerys. The Iron Fleet is on the move, but Asha Greyjoy has fled after her failed bid for the Seastone Chair. Davos Seaworth smuggles himself again. Jaime Lannister travels around a bit, flashing his golden hand and forging peace in the Riverlands. Arya Stark appears briefly, moving on to the next stage of her training, and Cersei Lannister must finally face some consequences for her actions.

Despite the length of this volume, you won't see Samwell Tarly, Rickon or Osha, Sansa Stark, Littlefinger, or Brienne in this one.

One of the most interesting perspectives in this book comes from Theon Greyjoy. No, he's not dead. But after we learn what he has been through, it would have been kinder if he had been slain. As disturbing as some of his scenes are, I was fascinated to read his interactions with his captor. I have also found someone to hate more than I did Joffrey, and that's a feat.

I thought that the pacing of book four dragged, so A Dance With Dragons is exciting in comparison. However, the dragons play only a minor role and nothing that happens in this book can top the events in the second half of A Storm of Swords. Still, the world is as richly drawn as all of Martin's writing, and the story expands to cover a larger geographical area as well as pulling in more characters.

The most intricate plot twists and shocking events occur in the north of Westeros. Unfortunately most of the characters in the rest of the world spend the entire time traveling with little resolution to their story arcs. I was also disappointed in Daenerys because I just can't make myself care about the plight of the slaver cities and all of her entourage. It's time for her to ride a dragon to Westeros, already!

For fear of sounding too critical, I just need to say that this is still a great book. The characters are phenomenal and the writing is better than almost anything else out there. If you loved A Storm of Swords and felt let down by A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons takes the series and reinvigorates it with newfound direction and hints at the fire and darkness to come.

Windrider is full of delicious conflict

Windrider
by S. A. Bolich
Sky Warrior Books (2012)

Windrider is the second volume in the Masters of the Elements series by S. A. Bolich, an entertaining and refreshing brand of fantasy. The novel takes the reader back to the land of Metrenna, where the powers of fire, wind, water and earth both threaten and sustain the land through their separate aspects. In the first book, Firedancer, we were introduced to Jetta ak'Kal and her struggle to keep the Ancient, the malevolent face of Old Man Fire, from destroying her newfound home in the mountainous territory of Annam Vale. In the second book, our narrator changes to Sheshan ak'Kal, windrider of the third rank, and pledged lifemate of Jetta.

All is peaceful in Annam Vale until a Messenger arrives. Driven by urgency, he fails to yield and causes an accident on the road. The Ancient takes this opportunity to strike, and Jetta, her Firedancer partner Settak and the other inhabitants of Annam Vale work to squelch the flames. The Messenger lays grievously wounded but will only speak his message to Wyth, head of the windrider clan. Wyth refuses to hear the message, and the Messenger dies unheard.

Soon enough, Wyth reveals that he has already received one message from the Storm Council and that the Messenger had likely been sent to demand his answer. The Ancient and the Hag, Metrenna's dangerous personified Fire and Wind have become unpredictable and unresponsive to the usual containment methods. Word has spread of how the firedancers and windriders of Annam Vale worked together to thwart the fires of the Ancient. Wyth decides that Clan Heshth cannot remain isolated in Annam Vale, and his clan, as well as Jetta and Settak, set out to speak with the Storm Council in distant Oppanum.

Sheshan is reluctant to face the outside world. The tempest that destroyed most of his clan and his first lifemate left him scarred in many ways. In the events of the first book, he learned to find purpose again in the defense of Annam Vale's gentle inhabitants, and love again with Jetta. But he is still unable to interact with the Wind through song, wrestling it with his will alone. Before leaving Annam Vale with the rest of his clan, he challenges the Hag, shrieking at the cruel sister to Wind. Anger drives this rash act, and the voice of the Hag stays with him, taunting him as he travels through the lowlands with Clan Heshth.

As the windriders and their companions travel, they discover that much of the world has suffered from the depredations of the untamed elements. Sheshan must fight against his own doubts, the Hag, and the prejudices of others, as well as strife in his relationship with Jetta. All these conflicts come together in an outstanding climax that makes an excellent conclusion to a middle volume while leaving enough questions remaining that readers will be eagerly awaiting the last book in the trilogy.

Those readers familiar with the first book will be swept into this second volume, and even newcomers should be able to quickly get their bearings with the series. The strongest aspects are the brilliant characters and the fascinating cultures of Metrenna. It was nice to see the characters travel out of Annam Vale so that we had a view of the rest of the land and its people. The only criticism that I will raise is that I felt like the focus of the plot drifted in the middle of the book. This was not enough of a problem to bother me much, as the characters and their problems kept my interest.

The third book, Seaborn, has no release date at this time.

Editor's note: 
This review is very timely because I wanted to write to tell you about my friend Sue (S. A. Bolich) and why you should read her work. I've known her for probably five years now and have read a lot of her short stories when I was in the online critique group, Other Worlds Writers Workshop, that she co-founded in 1998. Her rough drafts look like my finals. And her descriptions are more vivid than any I've read. She doesn't waste words and chooses them with care.

Now she needs care. The cancer she had been told was defeated ten years ago has returned, going into her lungs and bones now. Nobody writes because they think they will get rich or even live comfortably doing so. We write because we must. It's our passion. Unless we hit the bestseller lists time and time again, we will struggle financially. Sue has health insurance, but it's a high-deductible plan that are the only ones, as self-employed writers, most of us can afford. Some don't even have that.

I encourage you to buy this series of books. You'll be doing yourself a favor, while also helping a struggling writer -- at least with the bills. Cancer isn't the automatic death sentence it once was, but the treatments don't come cheap and are mostly unpleasant. And often far away - made worse by the price of gas and the taxing trip home.

Please read the Clare's review of Firedancer and my interview with Sue herein.

This holiday season, consider purchasing a gift that will keep on giving. And make one struggling writer's life a little easier. Buy S. A. Bolich's books here. There's even a facebook page dedicated to the cause.

Bobby Dollar series worth the bucks

Dirty Streets of Heaven

Tad Williams

DAW Sept. 2012

Review by Carl Cheney

Bobby Dollar is an angel. Not like an angel, not angelic (decidedly not angelic!) but an actual angel sent by heaven to do God’s work on Earth. When someone dies, Bobby meets them and advocates for the now ex-person in his post-life judgment. There’s an opposing demon from hell prosecuting and a neutral judge supplied by heaven. It’s a lot like going to court but being judged for your whole life. The judge decides and the person goes to hell, heaven or sometimes purgatory. Bobby’s territory is San Judas, the region south of San Francisco and west of the San Francisco Bay. But saying this misrepresents the tone of the book badly—these are dirty streets. Think Sam Spade or film noir. 

When confronted by a mystery, the cagy down-and-out detective consults informants, trades insults with the opposition, gets in people’s - or rather demons' - faces, cavorts with fallen females, has fights, gets beat up, and so on. Along the way he’s displeasing his superiors, his friends and the opposition. But all the way he exhibits panache and swagger.

This is a fun read. It’s a fantasy but set in a mythos familiar for those with an Old Testament background. Tad Williams concocts a delightfully refreshing universe view of the big questions confronting believers, disbelievers and agnostics. He answers some of these questions. Is there a heaven and hell? Yes. Is God real? Yes, but you have to be far above Bobby’s pay-grade to get anywhere close. Bobby’s never met anyone who’s met God. Other big questions get dodged or answered in hilarious ways. For example, working for heaven is a lot like working for a Fortune-100 company with heavy bureaucracy, accountability, standard procedures, executive privileges, snitches and so forth. 

An angel occupies a sturdy body on earth and has to cope with normal earthly existence, i.e. eating, sleeping, vices, parking and so on. Though angels know they can survive the demise of their bodies, they are not spared the pain and trauma of the morbid event. 

The plot, like the mysteries it descends from, has numerous twists, turns, surprises and colorful characters. The mystery at the core of the story is a grand puzzler, way outside the box.

Bobby turns out to be a lot like most of us, rationalizing his often unsupportable choices even while plunging into his next misadventure. He takes his chances often, hoping for the best but sometimes taking lumps. The story gathers plenty of momentum as the questions pile up. I’m delighted by The Dirty Streets of Heaven and I’m suddenly interested in reading more from Tad Williams. Next time I find a Bobby Dollar novel on the shelf, it’s a lead pipe cinch it’ll be coming home with me.

Libriomancer

by Jim C. Hines

DAW (2012)

Review by Clare Deming

Have you ever been so caught up in a book that you felt like the story, characters, and the items within were just as real as this world? Have you ever wished that you could pull a particular fictional item out of the pages? Well, in Libriomancer, by Jim C. Hines, Isaac Vainio can do just that. He's a libriomancer and a member of Die Zwelf Portenære, the world-wide organization that oversees this magic, known more simply as the Porters. However, Isaac and his fire spider, Smudge, are stuck cataloguing books at a library in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He is forbidden from practicing libriomancy after an incident with zombies and is banned from field work for the Porters.

Many books are open to the use of this magic, but only small items can fit through the pages. Johannes Gutenberg, creator of moveable type printing, has locked more dangerous volumes to prevent items such as The One Ring or an untreatable virus from being realized. In this story, Gutenberg also discovered libriomancy, established the rules of its practice, and is one of the most powerful men in the world, artificially prolonging his life with magic.

During a quiet day at the library, Isaac is alarmed when Smudge starts to smolder, a sign of imminent danger. Isaac clears the library of patrons and pulls a disruptor pistol out of a science fiction novel just before three sparkling vampires walk through the door. The Sanguinarius Meyerii vampires make demands upon Isaac and when he refuses to cooperate, violence ensues. Before the vampires can finish him off, Lena Greenwood arrives to assist in the fight, using her wooden bokken and her powers as a nymph to overcome the enemy.

Isaac has known Lena for several years. Once the two of them are able to regroup, she informs Isaac that several Porters have been murdered, and their mutual associate, Doctor Nidhi Shah, has been abducted. In addition to this, Johannes Gutenberg is missing. Thrown back into the field, Isaac must work with Lena to discover who is behind the slayings, recover Doctor Shah, and uncover Gutenberg's fate.

This was a fun and engaging story, and anyone with a love of books will instantly sympathize with how libriomancy uses that love to allow access to the book's contents. Most of the rules for libriomancy were logical, but a few felt like they were a tad too arbitrary, made up solely to let the plot happen in the way that it needed to. While magic is not limited to only libriomancy in this urban fantasy tale, it is Isaac's focus, and he slings healing potions, charms, and famous swords out of books from Alice in Wonderland to Starship Troopers. The author incorporates a great variety of science fiction and fantasy books, most familiar to me, some that were not, and others that were made up for this novel.

The book is sprinkled with humor as well, and the plot threads came together nicely at the conclusion, while still leaving enough mystery for further development. I loved the interplay between the characters - Isaac, Lena, Doctor Shah, and Smudge were all portrayed with enough detail and emotion that I could almost pull them out of the pages myself.

Libriomancer is the first book in the Magic Ex Libris series. The second book will be Codex Born, but I have no information on a release date.

Awakenings - A superb debut

Awakenings
Edward Lazellari
Tor 2011


Review by Clare Deming


Awakenings is the debut novel by Edward Lazellari, and although it is filled with many classic fantasy elements, it approaches these in a unique way. Cal MacDonnell is a policeman in New York City, happily married, with a five-year-old daughter and another child on the way. However, his life is marred by frightening and sad dreams and the amnesia he suffers. He cannot remember anything prior to thirteen years ago, when he was found inexplicably wandering in a field. Even so, his life has been otherwise normal and there is little to suggest the truth about his forgotten past.

On a routine nighttime call, Cal and his partner pursue a suspect only to fall into an ambush by a troll, a giant, and a vicious swordsman. Faced with these impossible monsters, he begins to remember pieces of his shattered past. Cal is a reluctant hero, and as he learns more about his memories, they bring him into conflict with the new life he has established since his amnesia. Even his wife and child may stand in the way of his former life's goals, but as he remembers his true identity, he cannot completely resist those older responsibilities.

There are several plot lines in this book, and the second most important one is that of Seth Raincrest, a down-on-his-luck photographer with an abrasive disposition who became my favorite character of the bunch. Seth's problems begin when an eccentric and beautiful woman arrives at his apartment. She claims that they went to school together, but Seth has the same problem as Cal - he has no memory of anything prior to a fire that killed his parents thirteen years ago. Irritated, but also intrigued, Seth goes along with the woman, Lelani, and this soon brings them to the rescue of Cal and his wife and child.

The final two storylines follow the antagonist, Dorn, and a teenager in foster care, Daniel. All these different plot threads are woven together a bit at a time until a picture of the entire situation starts to emerge. The manner in which this story is approached is unique. I mean at its heart, it really is a tale in which the succession of an alternate world fantasy kingdom is in dispute. However, by looking at things from our world, from the point-of-view of characters that have lost all memories of the situation there, it lends the trope a fresh perspective.

The antagonists are ruthless and terrifying and have the advantage that they know who they are and why they need to act. However, they were ill-prepared to travel to our world, while Cal and Seth have lived here for thirteen years. I liked the way the truth emerged to Cal and Seth, and I also felt like they acted in a realistic fashion for people who have had their lives thrust into such chaos.

I enjoyed most of this book, but by the time I neared the end, it was obvious that this was only the first book in a series. I had hoped to see Daniel's storyline merge with the rest, and it never did. His story felt isolated by this, but from the rest of the book I can easily see where he fits in. The action did lead up to a pivotal confrontation at the end, with particularly interesting magic, but just don't expect too much to be resolved at the conclusion. That being said, this was a fun book and I'll be looking out for information on when the next volume will be available.

"Kingdom of Gods" Transcends Epic Fantasy

The Kingdom of Gods

N. K. Jemisin

Orbit 2011

Review by Clare Deming

In The Kingdom of Gods, the third book in the Inheritance Trilogy, N. K. Jemisin brings her epic tale of gods and humanity to a staggering conclusion. If you haven't read the first two books, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms, then this third book may not be the place to start. Each of the first two books could be read as a stand-alone novel, following the narrative of a single character as she explores her world. The reader is swept along in that process of discovery. In this final volume, some familiarity with the mythology established in the first books is assumed. There is a quick summary of the origin of the Three (gods), but it is told very much through the lens of the viewpoint character's opinion.

Unlike the first two books, The Kingom of Gods follows a godling's story rather than that of a mortal woman. Godlings are offspring of the Three, and have more specific realms of power. Sieh is the eldest of the godlings, and ironically is a god of childhood in all of its aspects. Sulking in the bowels of the city of Sky, rejected and alone, Sieh is found by the two Arameri heirs, just children at the novel's opening. The Arameri are humans who have ruled over the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for millenia, and although their power has waned, they still maintain their aristocracy. These two twins, Shahar and Dekarta, strike a mixture of feelings in Sieh, for in the recent past, the Arameri had enslaved most of the gods, including Sieh. On one hand, he would like to kill them for what their ancestors did, but on the other, they are children.

When the twins convince Sieh to take a blood-oath of friendship, something goes terribly wrong. The underpalace is destroyed, and while Shahar and Dekarta are rescued and healed, Sieh vanishes and his corporeal form fades. Years later he returns to consciousness, inadvertently summoned by a sixteen-year-old Shahar. Sieh soon discovers a horrifying transformation has occured. Not only has he become inexplicably mortal, but he is also aging, a process that threatens to unmake the god of childhood.

While Sieh attempts to unravel what has occured, an assassin strikes in Sky, and political uprisings in the outlying kingdoms threaten the Arameri dynasty. There are numerous additional facets to this tale. I found it marvelously complex and beautiful. Characters and themes from the earlier books are revisited, and the consequences escalate to a cosmic scale.

Sieh's character shines as a perfect embodiment of the needy, playful, and sometimes cruel nature of children. As in the first book, one of Sieh's major aspects is that of a trickster. One look at the glossary in the final pages shows his doodles and revisions, and Jemisin captures the godling's resentments and petty grudges perfectly.

I have to say that this is the best book that I've read (so far) this year. By the final chapters, N. K. Jemisin brought me to tears, and I couldn't even bring myself to begin another book for several days. If you enjoyed the first book, definitely read the rest of the trilogy. This is a series that addresses much more than the juxtaposition of good and evil, all with marvelous characterization, unpredictable but perfect plotting, and exquisite word craft.

Fairies "With Fate Conspire" in Victorian London

With Fate Conspire
Marie Brennan
TOR 2011

Review by Clare Deming

The first thing that grabbed me about With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan was the cover of eerie green and black. A train rushes out from the artwork, beneath the gaslamps of a London street, all suffused with shadows and sparkling wisps of power. This is a Victorian novel set in 1884 during the industrial revolution when the city of London is being riddled with tunnels for the expanding network of railroads. This is an immediate threat to the Onyx Court, an underground (literally and figuratively) faerie realm, for iron is poison to the fae.

This is the fourth book in the Onyx Court series, and I had little trouble jumping into it not having read the previous volumes. The plot follows two main characters. Dead Rick is a skriker - a faerie were-dog based upon the black dog myth of the British Isles. His memories have been stolen by unknown means, and he has been enslaved by Nadrett, one of the crime bosses of the Goblin Market. For as the Onyx Court is weakened by encroaching industrialism, other powers have risen up to take advantage of this vacancy for whatever profit they can squeeze from the failing realm.

Dead Rick is a sneaky and devious creature, however. He hoards bread (which can protect a faerie when tithed by mortals), searches for clues about his missing memories and tries to devise a means to escape the Onyx Court before it is destroyed.

Eliza O'Malley is a young Irishwoman on the streets of London who has fled her home turf on the other side of town. Scotland Yard wants to question her about a bombing, but she was only in the area of the blast because she was following a group of faeries. Of course, who would believe that story? Eliza has been tracking rumors of faeries since her childhood sweetheart, Owen, was stolen by them seven years ago.

When she finds an announcement for a meeting of the London Fairy Society, Eliza has to figure out how to attend, for a low-class miscreant cannot expect to be welcome among any type of proper society. Through forgery and subterfuge, she gains a position as a houseservant to one of the Fairy Society's younger members, but faerie mischief ensues, and Eliza struggles to avoid the attention of the authorities while tracking down the fae.

I loved the way that industrial London was merged with the underground Onyx Court, and the overall atmosphere of failing empire amidst progress that Ms. Brennan has created in this book. The Queen of the Onyx Court has not been seen in years and her Prince is weakened and struggling with even basic tasks. There is even a group of faerie scientists that are trying to discover a way to save the Court with fanciful devices reminiscent of steampunk, but without the steam.

Eliza's narrative drew me in most strongly, perhaps because her human concerns were more tangible to me. I have not read any previous Onyx Court novels, so it did take me a little while to orient myself with those aspects of the story. The plot moved steadily to a conclusion that brought all of the smaller details together nicely. I only wish that I was more familiar with London personally, because I think I would have taken more away from this book in that case. It is clear that Ms. Brennan has done quite a bit of research so that the historic details of place and society feel correct.

Matchbox Girls lights the imagination

Matchbox Girls
Chrysoula Tsavelas
Feb. 2012 Candlemark and Gleam

Review by Deirdre Murphy

I won Matchbox Girls in an online drawing. The cover, drawn in an unusual style, drew my attention right away. The story more than lives up to the cover. It’s quirky and enjoyable, starting with an old trope (the troubles resulting when angels crossbreed with humans) but the world is original and interesting. The girls are adorable and I was rooting for Marley from the very first line, when she wakes up to answer an urgent call moments before her phone starts to ring.

As the book opens, Marley has more than enough trouble keeping her own life in order. She’s on medication to keep her hallucinations—all visions of disaster—and anxiety attacks under control, and her occasional writing jobs don’t really bring in enough money to pay her share of the rent.

So she’s shocked when the tiny twin nieces of an attractive male friend call to say he told them to call her if he ever disappeared. The girls insist their uncle vanished in his study shortly after answering his phone, which is, of course, totally preposterous. Still, the girls are scared, so she struggles into her blue-jeans and rushes out into Los Angeles traffic to go reassure them. Wildfires are burning in the hills, and the ominous glow and haze of smoke adds a sense of danger to the simple act of driving.

When she arrives, Zachariah’s car is in the driveway, but he’s not there. A search of his study discloses his cell phone and a strange roll of papers, the words either encrypted into strange letter-shapes or in a language Marley had never seen before. The girls want to get out of the house, saying it’s creepy there! Things start getting stranger. It’s little things at first—a book disappearing, and one of the twins opening the locked door of Zachary’s car so they can get their car seats. (They insist they can’t ride in Marley’s car without their seats, so they trust her with a secret they haven’t even shared with Uncle Zach.)

The strangeness accelerates as Marley’s visions return, and she becomes convinced that the twins will only be safe if they are with her. The wildfires in the hills grow ever closer to LA; a sinister lawyer threatens Marley, telling her that kidnapping is a crime; and she starts to have strange dreams. Then a variety of strange people show up, some trying to claim the girls and others acting to help Marley protect them.

At some point, Marley realizes she’s forgotten her medicine—but too many strange things have happened by that time for her to believe she’s just hallucinating. Besides, the twins and her best friends have seen strange things too, and she is more and more certain with each passing hour that she’s somehow protecting the twins just by being with them.

As with real life, when answers to some of Marley’s questions start to appear, they just raise more questions. The action moves forward at a good pace, blending danger and mystery in good measure as the story builds to a climax.

I liked this book. I think you will too.

The Hum and Shiver - Yeah, you will

The Hum and the Shiver
By Alex Bledsoe
TOR 2011

Reviewed by Deirdre M. Murphy

As we meet Bronwyn Hyatt, she is returning home to Needsville, Tennessee to a war hero’s welcome. Bronwyn is not excited about this. The crowds waiting to greet her are strangers. She can’t remember what she’d done to earn it, or even, she muses, if she’d done anything at all. Still, she goes through the motions, riding the ludicrous vehicle they provide for her trip between plane and podium, and giving the speech her superiors have approved. Then she heads home, where she can finally rest and heal from her many injuries.

Home, where in many ways things are as they always have been, but where a haint waits to speak with her, and where omens of death have been disturbing the family’s peace of mind. Bronwyn returns to her childhood home and greets her family. Before they leave her alone, her youngest brother brings Magda, her beloved mandolin, to her. She plucks the strings—it’s been tuned for her—she raises it into position, and she stops. For the first time she realizes the concussion she suffered stole more than the memory of her alleged heroism and subsequent captivity. Her head injury stole something much more precious. It stole her music, which for a first daughter of the Tufa is a far more devastating injury than the loss of a leg would have been.

That first night, when the haint comes, she sends it away. She is tired from her wounds and from her trip home, and discouraged by her inability to play. This leads to a confrontation with her mother the next day. Her mother says, “…as far as I’m concerned, you’ve spent the last two years playacting, and now that you’re home where your real work is, you’re trying to avoid it.” This raises the question of what her mother thinks her real work is. It’s clearly a matter that is rooted in her Tufa heritage.

So, who are the Tufa? Everyone agrees that they are an obscure, dark-skinned ethnic group that was settled in the Appalachian mountains before the first white man came, and no one suggests they’re American Indians, despite the long, straight black hair. The music is all tied into it—all of the full-blood Tufa are musicians, and their neighbors say they sing strange, spooky songs.

The Hum and the Shiver follows Bronwyn and her family as Bronwyn tries to recover from her head injury and they try to face—or prevent—the death that looms over the family. It also follows Minister Craig Chess, whose church is being built just over the county line and who is good-naturedly working in the community to serve the people who live in his parish, even though he has been told the mysterious Tufa are not churchgoers. We also meet other interesting characters who are clearly more than extras—Bronwyn’s family, of course; Don Swayback, a reporter with Tufa blood whose editor wants an interview with Bronwyn; Dwayne Gitterman, Bronwyn’s former boyfriend; and Officer Bob Pafford, who once arrested Bronwyn and Dwayne, and who thinks he knows exactly who the Tufa are (and has no use for any of them).

The mystery of the Tufa identity—who they were, who they are, and who they should be in the future—is central to this book and to Bronwyn’s story. The Hum and the Shiver reads like listening to a folksong or a symphony. It is an engrossing modern-day not-so-urban fantasy adventure, slowly revealing a magic as unforgettable as a fiddle tune and as sweet as a minor seventh chord. If you’re anything like me, the magic in this book will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Unpossible and Other Stories - deliciously dark and surprising

Unpossible and Other Stories
Daryl Gregory
Fairwood Press (November 2011)

Reviewed by Ann Wilkes

Daryl Gregory is an exceptional storyteller. I enjoyed every story in Unpossible and Other Stories. The title story left me with warm fuzzies long afterward. All of the stories in this collection had a speculative element, though in some it was slight. However, his characters, voice and storytelling made it a non-issue for me.

His clever turns of phrase also left me smiling. Here are some examples:

From "Second Person, Present Tense":

She regards me with that standard-issue look of concern that doctors pick up with their diplomas.

From "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm":

Only after her parents failed to come home did she realize that the note was a kind of battlefield promotion to adulthood: impossible to refuse because there was no one left to accept her refusal.

From "Petit Mal #2: Digital"

He was bald except for a gray ponytail, as if his hair had given up on general coverage and decided to specialize.

The other thing that really struck me about these stories is that they were not the usual, soon-forgotten fare that we have seen too much of. Gregory's stories have truly unique situations, and he isn't predictable.

In "Second Person, Present Tense", a girl is changed by a drug into a different person, detached from that girl she used to be. Her parents bring her home after she's had extensive therapy, still hoping to get their little girl back. She tries to humor them at times. Tolerate them. After all, she's still walking around in their daughter's body. It must be tough.

In the title story, mid-life crisis men seek to return to their childhood. In this tale, it is a physical place that they are no longer able to enter. I found it sad, poignant and deliciously tragic.

In "Damascus" Gregory introduces elements of religion, pseudo-vampirism, epedemic and feminism into one dark and tragic tale of questing and redemption.

I especially enjoyed "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm". It's a sort of steampunk, superhero alternate history with half-mechanical men and castles. And the Americans send their superheros on air-raids over the impoverished, communist island state of Trovenia. I could read that one several times. My favorite line is below.

He claimed to have suffered the injury fighting the U-Men, though others said he'd lost the tusk in combat with vodka and gravity: The Battle of the Pub Stairs.

In "Gardening at Night" I was delighted by the twist on an old premise. The usual is that robots unexpectedly exceed their programming and rise up to declare independence. I don't want to say too much because I hope you will all read it for yourself, but his pulling in of the temptation in the Garden of Eden and the line of logic that followed: Superb!

I loved this exchange in "What We Take When We Take What We Need":

"That's not love, Paxton. That's addiction."


"Explain the difference."

This is a creepy tale of dysfunction, addiction and family curses.

I couldn't get enough of the superhero banter and the blob called Plex in "Message from the Bubblegum Factory" although I scratched my head a bit at the ending. This was the only ending that baffled me in the whole collection. I don't like being baffled, but the journey was worth the head-scratching.

"Dead Horse Point" was about loyalty and care taking. The spec element in this was thin, but the story was extremely engaging and the ending surprising.

In "Petit Mal #3: Persistence", I admired Gregory's treatment of the subjects of loss and memory, his unique premise and thoughtful ending.

I highly recommend this collection to anyone who craves something different from the tired tropes and wants to be pleasantly surprised.

The Daemon Prism - an excellent series' touching, satisfying end

The Daemon Prism: a novel of the Collegia Magica
Carol Berg
Ace Roc 2012

Reviewed by guest reviewer, fantasy/sf author, S. A. Bolich

The Collegia Magica series, of which The Daemon Prism is the third and final book, is one of the best fantasies I have encountered in years. The first book was also my initial exposure to Carol Berg’s work, after I got the chance to hear her read from it at a science fiction convention a couple of years ago. Intrigued by the characters in the snippet she read, I bought the book and discovered a gem of an author, a grand master of characterization. Berg takes chances with her characters in ways that have, frankly, inspired me as a writer, and that leave them imprinted indelibly on your memory and your heart.

The Collegia Magica, set in a Renaissance world with vaguely French and Latin underpinnings, is about a struggle to unravel the deadly mystery surrounding an attempt on the king’s life, and then to stop the unscrupulous sorcerers who want to turn the world—and the afterlife—literally inside out. To stop them, each character must also unravel the mystery of themselves, for each is not really who he or she believes.

The narrator of The Spirit Lens, Portier, is a young, physically unprepossessing librarian with an extraordinary knack for surviving what would kill anyone else. His fellow agentes confide, the fop Ilario and the intemperate, bitter mage Dante, have precious little use for each other and harbor explosive secrets. Anne de Vernase, narrator of The Soul Mirror, is heir to a stunning heritage of magic and loathes all of it. The series traces their struggle to understand how they fit into both the problem and the solution as they race to save both their world and the souls of their beloved dead from feeding unspeakable magic.

Accepting what they find is an obstacle for each of them, from the leap of faith surrounding Portier to the realities of Anne’s dangerous heritage to the real explanation for Dante’s unusual magical abilities and uncontrollable temper. These struggles are, in a way, even more fun than the larger mystery, and all enlivened by Ilario, whose humor is matched by his loyalty. Since I refuse to give spoilers in reviews, I will say no more except that each of these four characters is so well drawn you will wish this series carried on and on instead of stopping at three books.

The Daemon Prism picks up the story two years after the titanic magical struggle that concluded The Soul Mirror. Our heroes are widely scattered, recovering from those events, and a fair bit of the action involves characters traveling to the one place they can stop the plot, a city so old that even its rightful name is nearly forgotten.

Once again we have a new perspective on the action. Berg always writes in the first person, and unlike many series, she changes the point of view character from book to book. The first two books maintain a single POV; The Daemon Prism switches several times, a necessity considering that the action is far-flung and the characters scattered. This is fine, but it does contribute to a couple of noticeable structural weaknesses. It was fairly obvious in the middle section that the author needed to stretch out the time frame in order for all the players to unravel the mystery and come together. It also contributed to one wishful instance for me, in that I would rather the climactic scene had been written from Portier’s POV instead of Anne’s.

The Daemon Prism is both more and less satisfying than the first two books. Less, because the characters are geographically separated for much of the book and therefore the interaction we love to see among them is largely missing. More, because the climax is both so poignant and so inevitable that you won’t soon forget it. Each previous book was complete and satisfying in itself.

As with all great fantasy, there is sacrifice and loss and the realization that even heroes don’t always get what they want or deserve.

This book was wonderful, but there were a few things that caught my attention: the somewhat saggy middle stretch, the slightly one-sided villains, the abrupt disappearance of Dante as narrator, and the fact that I would far rather have had Portier as the POV character for the climax. He was the endearing narrator of the first book, and we got to spend far too little time with him in this one. He is also the catalyst for the conclusion, which felt a little rushed, and it would have been nice to see his reaction to it all from the inside.

Dante’s absence is both necessary and predictable due to the way Berg constructed his choices for battling his enemies, but it would have been nice to dip into his head at least once in the final section of the book to see his struggle from the inside. I also felt one major plot thread ended somewhat serendipitously with the fearsome tetrarch who has pursued Dante with grim zealotry throughout the book defanged rather conveniently toward the end. I know from talking to Berg that her publisher was concerned with word count and she was forced to shave scenes that might have mitigated this feeling of sudden endings. Sometimes the author doesn’t get to present the book he or she would like to.

The Collegia Magica is for readers who want more than a recycled version of the current hot trend in the genre. Berg is a gifted writer who builds believable worlds and truly memorable characters; an author I am so glad to have discovered. I highly recommend the Collegia Magica, and The Daemon Prism does not disappoint as a touching and satisfying conclusion to an excellent series.

The Left Hand of God - a compelling, but grim tale

The Left Hand of God
By Paul Hoffman
New American Library (2010)

Review by Clare Deming

The Left Hand of God, by Paul Hoffman, blends aspects of our own world into a fantasy setting for a dark tale of deprivation, violence, and revenge. This is distinct from urban fantasy, because although the components of this world are not terribly exotic, it is not our world at all. Technology is at a medieval level and nobility rules the land, but there is neither magic nor monsters here.

The story follows Cale - an adolescent boy who has been raised at the Sanctuary of the Redeemers. The Order of the Redeemers and their strict religious dogma resembles Catholicism, but taken to a brutal and authoritarian extreme. At the Sanctuary, boys are trained for war against the Antagonist, but many do not survive this schooling. Those who do have lived a harsh life, abused and indoctrinated, and know little of the outside world.

Singled out by the Lord Militant, Redeemer Bosco, and trained in strategy and combat, Cale discovers a forbidden section of the Sanctuary. He is accompanied by Kleist and Vague Henri, the closest things he has to friends. When Cale is sent to the Lord of Discipline, he fears that his transgression has been discovered.

However, he surprises the Lord in the midst of a terrible act of torture and violence that is beyond what even the Redeemers sanction. Cale is left no choice but violence. He slays the Lord of Discipline, but must leave the Sanctuary, along with his friends and Riba - a girl that they discovered in the forbidden wing. She is the first woman that any of the boys has ever seen.

The book tells of their journey into the rest of the world, the great city of Memphis, and the politics that they find there. For the rest of the world is aware of the Redeemers, and fears the expansion of their war campaign.

Despite all the bleak facets of the plot, there is also a love story. However, I found this to be the least convincing part of the tale.

This book drew me in and I found it to be quite compelling and well-written. The mistreatment Cale endures at the hands of the Redeemers creates instant sympathy for him and his friends. Even though he is violent and sometimes savage, he is never truly cruel. By the end of the book, Cale learns to think about the implications of his actions as he discovers that the world is different than the Redeemers had portrayed.

The last criticism I'll mention (and it was only a minor annoyance) is that many of the place names are those of real places. We have the Appalachian Mountains, Memphis, York, and others, which made me search for symbolism or a hidden association. Yet as far as I can tell, there was no such significance to the names. Additionally, the map at the beginning of the book did not correlate well to the descriptions of the world in the text and I would have been better off to avoid referencing it.

The Left Hand of God is the first book in a planned trilogy. The second book, The Last Four Things is available now in hardcover and e-book editions.

Tempest Rising scores a thumbs up

Tempest Rising
by Nicole Peeler
Orbit 2009

Review by Deirdre Murphy

In Tempest Rising, the first book in an ongoing series by Nicole Peeler, Jane True is something of a pariah in her small Maine town. Her mother arrived in Rockabill during a winter storm, walking down the road stark naked. She disappeared when Jane was six. Jane's dark history, which takes her a while to fully reveal, is already known to the town folk. In addition, she’s not quite normal:

It was all I could do to get through the meal without banging down my fork and running off into the night like some maenad. I was still so angry from my biweekly run-in with Linda that I was short-tempered with my father. Which made me feel guilty, which made me feel frustrated, which made me feel even more angry…

When I got like that, only a swim helped.

And if any old swim was therapeutic, a swim during a storm was better than Prozac.

Jane goes off to swim naked after dinner on a stormy November night (remember, this is Maine), near the very strong whirlpool called “The Sow.” The Sow’s deadly currents and the “piglets”, smaller, spin-off whirlpools created by The Sow, are Rockabill’s main claim to tourist fame. While swimming, Jane finds a body of a man who is, like herself, half-human (though she doesn’t know that yet). She learns this part of her heritage for the first time the next day, when strange beings tell her that her mother (whereabouts unknown) is a selkie, and she should expect a supernatural investigator to show up asking questions

The man who shows up the next day glamours her big-city boss, Grizelda, at the bookstore into believing he’s a friend of Jane’s from college. He doesn’t magically befuddle Jane’s brain like he did to Grizelda, but Jane notices (aloud, to her dismay) that he’s hot—really hot—er, really good looking. He also has sharp, sexy teeth. He insists on questioning her over dinner, in Rockabill’s one year-round restaurant, The Trough. (All of Rockabill’s potential tourist attractions are named with a pig theme, thanks to the afore-mentioned whirlpool.)

There’s plenty of both action and romance, all in Jane’s own words. I enjoyed Jane’s sense of humor throughout, despite the fact that a lot of humor falls flat for me. Overall, I very much enjoyed the book, although the first chapter is slow enough that I told the author (aloud, knowing she couldn’t possibly hear me from the “throne room” in my house), “I get that Jane doesn’t fit in small town Rockabill, get on with it!” But once the story got going, it kept on strong, alternately making me laugh and hold my breath, wondering how Jane was going to survive.

I won Tempest Rising in a random online contest for which I picked out books by five authors who are new to me. So far, the books I’ve received from that contest, sponsored by urban fantasy authors, are urban fantasy/romance crossovers, and of the three that have arrived so far, Tempest Rising is the best.

There is a teaser from Tracking the Tempest in the back of the book, and two more titles, Tempest’s Legacy and Eye of the Tempest, are listed in the front. For more information you can visit Peeler's website.

Firedancer - and SA Bolich on weaving a rich tale

Firedancer
by S.A. Bolich
Sky Warrior Books (2011)

Review by Clare Deming

In Firedancer, S.A. Bolich introduces us to a fascinating world in which Clans have power over the elements of fire, wind, earth, and water. This is more than elemental magic though, and the way in which Bolich weaves her world together creates an organic tapestry of cultures that is completely convincing. At the heart of this first volume is Jetta Ak'Kal, a Firedancer of the third rank.

The story opens when a fire erupts in Jetta's home village of Firehome Vale, and we instantly see that this fire is not a simple thing. The opening line gives the perfect description:

This fire was malicious.

A delicate balance exists between the Ancient - the deepest fire that smolders beneath the earth - and the Clans that remain vigilant against it. Trapped underground, the Ancient perpetually searches for a way to reach the abundant fuel on the surface. Jetta has fought against this fire all her life, like all Firedancers, using a learned Dance, the moves and forms passed down from master to student. In her previous assignment in the village of Setham, Jetta's Dance failed, and she lost her lifemate, her reputation, and her confidence.

Healed in body, but not in spirit, Jetta is given a new assignment in Annam Vale, a mountain village where the Delvers mine the containment stone used throughout the land to build fireproof structures. Yet rumors tell that Windriders also inhabit the distant village, and when fire is fed by the wind, catastrophe could result.

On arrival in Annam Vale, Jetta meets both encouragement and resistance from the Delvers. Yet it is the abrasive and secretive Windriders that provide her with unique challenges as she works to unravel the mysteries of the Vale. For Old Man Fire has started to resist the Dance. The forms and patterns that Jetta has always known no longer work as they should, and she must use all her resources to discover a solution before fire escapes from the mines beneath the town.

This book was nearly impossible to put down, with compelling characters and such an original concept that I was driven to discover more about this world. Bolich has infused so many details into the cultures - whether it's a Firedancer's braided hair and dance leathers, or the carvings made by a Delver - that I found myself completely enraptured.

The threat of the Ancient lurked beneath all of the other plot threads, creating an ever-present tension. As the story progressed, multiple subplots emerged that added complications of politics, love and jealousy, mistrust, and tragedy. And it all flowed naturally from very real characters. Firedancer is the first book in a planned trilogy that is off to a great start.


Interview with SA Bolich, conducted by Ann Wilkes.


AW: When did you first start writing fantasy?

SAB: When I was 14 my best friend lent me her copy of The Lord of the Rings, doling out each book one at a time. I flew through them in three successive days. And then I immediately sat down and began to write my own Tolkien-inspired epic. The first two are still in my drawer. I never finished the third, but it taught me a lot and I still use elements of it in some of my stories.

AW: Who were your major influences, both authors and those who encouraged you in your craft?

SAB: I read in a lot of genres. My favorite authors when I was a teen were Andre Norton’s YA SF and fantasy stories and Rosemary Sutcliff, who wrote awesome historical fiction. I very much enjoyed Anne McCaffrey’s dragons and Heinlein’s SF and pretty much everything else I could get my hands on. I won my first writing contest in the 6th grade; my 9th grade English teacher wanted me to try and publish some of my stories. In high school my teachers encouraged my writing in every way they could, and I’m grateful to them, because they somehow stuck it in my brain that I should nurture the writing spark that has never quite gone out no matter how much life has gotten in the way.

AW: Where did you get the idea of the dancers who control elements?

SAB: Heh. Good question. I distinctly remember the first line of Firedancer landing in my brain. Like all of my stories, the thing built itself. When my fingers start on the keys, I truly am never sure what is going to fall out. Things appear that have zero meaning until a few sentences farther on, and then I think “aha!” But after Jetta first began to dance on page two, the whole story took off and all at once the correlation between fire and the Dancers who fight it fell into place.

AW: Your prose is so rich, your characters so well-drawn. Where did you learn to write so descriptively? Do all the descriptions come in the first draft or do you go back and flesh out the scenes and characters later?

SAB: Description has always come easily to me. I’m fortunate, I guess, in having lived in many interesting places and grown up on a farm, forever outside running around in the dirt and the wind and the rain atop a horse. It has embedded a great deal of sensory memory into my bones, I think. I remember when I was still in junior high I started writing a historical novel about a girl from the hills of Tennessee who came west. I handed my mother two versions of the first page and asked her which she liked better. She handed me back one and said “This one. I feel like I’m there.” Sometimes I let the scenery get too rich, which interrupts the pacing, and have to cut it back. In fact, my editor made me put in a lot of sensory detail I had left out of Firedancer because I was afraid of stretching the word count and slowing the story too much. Now I’m hearing all kinds of good things about the richness of the writing in Firedancer and how it really puts people into the story. So…I guess I will follow my instincts and continue to wrap words around what I visualize in my head. Not everyone will like it, but my personal taste leans toward really rounded descriptions of the worlds I visit. I just like the big fat doorstop books, I guess.

I often do flesh out the bare bones of a scene in the revision, but more often I find myself cutting rather than adding.

AW: I know you're a co-founder of Other World's Writers' Workshop. Would you like to tell my readers more about that?

SAB: I am always happy to pitch www.otherworlds.net. It’s one of the oldest genre workshops on the Web, founded in 1998 and hosted at Yahoo Groups (OWWW) since 1999. It is an all-levels workshop, from beginners to pros. The critiques are detailed and intense, because we warn people up front we are geared toward publication. We’re not a reading group and we thin out the lurkers every month to keep people focused on actually writing and submitting and improving their work. We have some wonderful writers who have progressed from pretty raw beginners to published authors.

AW: When can readers get a hold of the next volume?

SAB: Windrider comes out in April 2012.

AW: Do you have shorter works readers can find online or in e-book format?

SAB: I have many stories out at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, On Spec, Damnation Books, Science Fiction Trails, and several other magazines and ezines. I also have stories in the Wolfsongs 2 and Defending the Future IV: No Man’s Land anthologies. My short ebook Who Mourns for the Hangman? is available along with Firedancer pretty much everywhere ebooks are sold.

AW: What are you working on now?

SAB: I am in the final revision stage with Windrider and then I will start on the next book, tentatively titled Seaborn, that will come out in 2013.

Psyche's Prophecy might make you look over your shoulder

Psyche's Prophecy
Ann Gimpel
Gypsy Shadow Publishing (2011)


Reviewed by Clare Deming


In Psyche's Prophecy, author Ann Gimpel takes us to a near and possible future in which resources are scarce and rolling blackouts and gasoline shortages are increasing. Amid this burgeoning dystopia, psychotherapist Lara McGinnis stays busy, counseling disturbed teenagers, OCD patients, and couples with marital problems.

The story immediately takes on the trappings of a thriller before delving into the fantasy aspects that are at the heart of this mixed genre tale. Dr. McGinnis learns that patient Ken Beauchamp is abusing his pregnant wife and steps in to offer the woman assistance. Her help comes nearly too late. Mr. Beauchamp puts his wife in the hospital in critical condition, disappears from the authorities, and begins a course of stalking and retaliation upon Dr. McGinnis for her interference.

In her private practice as a psychotherapist, Lara has found that her long-time ability to read auras has always been handy. However, she has more frequent and disturbing visions as the conflict with Mr. Beauchamp and the unpredictable blackouts across the city continue. On top of this, a graduate student, one of her other patients, and even her live-in boyfriend, Trevor, have all had a common dream. Lara tries to solve this mystery while everything else around her spirals deeper into chaos and her visions become darker.

The first half of this book kept me up at night, both as a page-turner and in sympathetic fear for Dr. McGinnis. This is a very good thing if you're a fan of that type of story, but if the thought of having a stalker break into your residence will give you nightmares, then you may want to read this only during daylight hours.

As the story progresses, Lara must face who she is and what her paranormal abilities mean. There are dark forces at work other than Ken Beauchamp, and ancient mythologies turn out to have real relevance to modern life. Lara and Trevor's characterization sparkled as they confronted new facets to Lara's power and the inevitable changes to their world.

In the second half of the book, I felt like the tension lagged. Although to be fair, it was more like the type of tension changed, because this is where the fantasy aspects became heavier. A lot of information about magic, witches, and power is introduced that seems more like buildup for the next volume.

Psyche's Prophecy was recently announced as a Finalist for an EPIC e-book award. While there is a definite conclusion to this book, there are also many questions left unanswered. Psyche's Prophecy is the first book in a planned trilogy and the second volume, Psyche's Search, will be released soon.

Honeyed Words - yeah, they are

Black Blade Blues
and
Honeyed Words
J.A. Pitts
(TOR, April 2010, July 2011)

Reviewed by Deirdre M. Murphy



Black Blade Blues looked like it would be a fun read. It’s a modern-day adventure with dwarves and dragons, starring a female blacksmith who is dating a bard. Throw in SCA fighters, a Norse god or two, and an ancient, broken sword with runes running down its length, and I figured, how could it go wrong?

And indeed, though there were some places that felt rough, especially in the earlier part of the book, Black Blade Blues proved to be a good solid adventure story. Stuff did go wrong, of course, but in the story, not in the writing. Our hero was faced with an escalating series of challenges that ended in a confrontation between the evil dragon who had kidnapped the love of her life and his minions, which included ogres and trolls, and our hero and her allies. The good gals and guys didn’t win all they wanted to, but they survived (they had to do that—there’s a sequel!)

The world is grittier and more real than I expected from the delightfully disparate ingredients I mention in the first paragraph. The climactic battle is exciting and the end poignant. Black Blade Blues read like a first novel to me, but a solid one, and I’m glad it found its way onto my reading list.

Honeyed Words picks up not too long after Black Blade Blues, though we happily get to skip the hospital and physical therapy bits. Our blacksmith-hero, to her frustration, has found that knitting is helping her burned hand regain function. She sets all of her worries aside to take her girlfriend away for a birthday trip, to go see a friend and ren-faire musician, who made it big, perform.

After the performance (hey—was that a real elf in line?) the musician is kidnapped, elves show up to do mischief, and then our hero ends up working with a very strange blacksmith who has an odd—well, I don’t want to say too much, but more than one strange and magical family legacy is involved, and so are the dragons and both their minions and their opponents. As if that wasn’t enough, someone’s making a magical “blood mead”. These various strange and fascinating things were easy to follow as I read, but seem more complicated now that I’m writing this review and looking at the book structurally, instead of experiencing the adventure.

Honeyed Words more than lives up to the promise of Mr. Pitts’ first book. It’s fun and riveting. The relationships between the various magical peoples, and especially between dragons, gods, and humans, are more complicated than they first appeared (and they are perhaps, less black-and-white). I had trouble putting this book down when it was time for chores or bed. I wanted to see how all the disparate threads in the story came together in the end. I finished the book satisfied and wanting more.

I’m always happy when the second book in a series is better than the first. It just seems wrong when it’s the other way around, but that’s not the only reason. I’ve found that an author whose work gets better cares about the craft of storytelling, and is therefore someone I’m willing to trust my all-too-scant recreation time to again and again. One thing is certain—when the next book, Forged in Fire, comes out next spring, I won’t start reading it on an evening when I have to get up and go to work the next day.

Low Town raises a hero

Low Town
Daniel Polansky
Doubleday Aug. 2011
(editor's note: see snazzier foreign jackets below the review)

Review by Clare Deming

Low Town is a colorful but dangerous place, as well as being a fast-moving first novel from author Daniel Polansky. In this blend of gritty fantasy and murder mystery, the unlikely hero is the Warden, a drug dealer in the seedy district of Low Town. When he stumbles upon the mangled body of a missing girl, he cannot leave the investigation to the agents of the Crown. He was once an agent, one of the best in Special Ops. With his former partner heading the investigation, and his friends pressuring him to find Little Tara's killer, the Warden has to act.

Orphaned by the plague, the Warden was raised by the Blue Crane - a senior mage who developed the wards that still protect Low Town from the return of the Red Fever. When he needs assistance with the case outside of official channels, he breaks his self-imposed exile to reunite with the elderly magician. The visit also reintroduces him to a Celia, a childhood friend now grown. Nearly a Sorcerer First Rank, she will soon take over the Crane's duties.

While waiting for word from the sorcerers, the Warden uses his underworld connections to track down the man who molested and killed Little Tara. He is unable to accost the man when a wraith-like creature appears, summoned by magic. The murderer is slain by the wraith, but no one else witnesses the event, and the guardsmen and agents are stumped. The Warden has seen such a wraith before, and his suspicions lead him further into danger just as another child goes missing.

There was an awful lot going on in Low Town, both in terms of plot, worldbuilding, and backstory. While I thought that some aspects of the plot didn't make as much sense as I would have liked them to, I was so swept up in the action that the overall experience was positive and exciting. The writing was fresh and the foul language the characters used was nicely original. While some of the characters had annoyingly patterned names (Tancred the Harelip, Yancey the Rhymer, Eddie the Quim), this was a minor complaint for me. The Warden was likeable in some ways, but a real jerk at other times, and this made him intriguing to read about. The only problem that I had with him was that for most of the story he seemed to function fairly well for someone who dabbles in his own merchandise of pixie's breath and dreamvine.

I did find the conclusion moderately predictable and I wished that more space was given to the final scenes. Once the culprit was discovered and confronted, the book was over really fast, and I had hoped to see a greater emotional resolution. But perhaps being disappointed that the book was over is a sign of how much fun I had reading it.

Here are the foreign jackets, from left to right, for the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany. The UK version has a different title, but it's the same novel. Told you they were snazzier.