Thursday, April 23, 2015

Review: The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss


Auri, a strange girl who lives in the tunnels below the university, knows she has only seven days before her friend Kvothe visits her again. In that time she needs to find him the perfect gift and ensure that everything is in it's proper place.

Right from the foreword Rothfuss warns that this a very different story, and one not everyone will like. There is only one character, no action and nothing resembling  a normal narrative. It is fair to say Rothfuss has taken a big chance with this story and it's one I'm glad he did because he has created something quite extraordinary and very beautiful.

Auri's perspective is very different. She is at once both very lonely yet not.... as she is able to make the world and the objects in it into something else. So even though she is the only character in this story the inanimate objects she interacts with definitely have personalities all there own. The juxtaposition between the tragedy of Auri's situation and the triumph in living her life anyway is something special.

The big reveal at the end of this story is very intriguing and I look forward to seeing how this plays into Rothfuss' next book.

Overall Rothfuss takes a big chance and delivers something unique and very different to his regular novels in this series. I hope Sanderson was taking notes. 8.5/10.

Review: Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson


Months after Steelheart's demise the city of Newcago is in a state of rebuilding. The Reckoners have come out into the open and joined forces with Steelheart's former guard hoping to keep the city free of epics. However Steelheart's demise has not gone unnoticed and Mitosis, an epic with the ability to make a seemingly endless supply of clones of himself, has arrived and is looking to kill David.

Marketed as a bridge between Steelheart and Firefight this novella simply does not deliver. In essence it boils down to an epic coming to town to kill David and is defeated, something which happens in the first chapter of Firefight as well. It simply offers nothing new and no character development at all. I can't help thinking Sanderson missed a trick by going with David's point of view again  instead of Mitosis or a former member of Steelheart's guard which might have been interesting.

Whats more this novella simply highlighted most of the short comings from the first book. David as a character simply does not work. He is supposed to be haunted by his father's death and destruction of the world he knew by epics, instead he is a goofball obsessed  with silly puns. This might work if it was a facade which cracked when he was under pressure but no such luck. Sanderson needs to stop trying so hard with humour because when he tries to force the issue it simply doesn't work. He also needs to stopping dumbing down his prose simply because it is a young adult book.

The only thing that worked for me was the way Mitosis is defeated is reasonably clever.  

Overall a very disappointing read which I wouldn't even recommend to fans of the first book. 4/10.


Monday, April 20, 2015

Review: Legend by David Gemmell


Ulric has united the many tribes of the Nadir people and seeks to invade the Drenai lands. The Drenai had been following a policy of appeasement seeking to negotiate with the Nadir and had thus allowed their army to dwindle. The fate of the Drenai lies at the fortress of Dros Delnoch where an insufficient force, an incompetent general and a dying earl must seek to hold. The Earl sends a message to his old comrade Druss, a legendary warrior now in his sixties. Druss heeds the summons even knowing it will mean his death as he fears dying toothless and alone but can he still be the legend men remember? Ruk is a former army officer who seeks to stay clear of the conflict but following a chance meeting with the earl's daughter leads him to fall in love with her and draws him to the fortress.

One of the most notable features of this novel for me was one many would not expect;the byplay between the characters. Amusing at the right times, without being silly and destroying the mood and often offering some rather clever insights into the human condition. Pacing is fast and often action packed.

One thing however I think could have been improved upon is the development of Ruk's character. In the beginning he is dead set against being involved in the coming war and yet in no time he has accepted his fate. I found it quite unbelievable that he wouldn't try to avoid his fate or a least rail against it. It almost like there are two different characters with not enough linking the two.

Ulric is a very convincing villain. Far from being a cartoon one-dimensional villain who muses on how history will view him and has his people's welfare at the foremost in his mind. I found the observations of some of the other characters into his motives very apt.

I am not a fan of point of view shifts in the middle of a paragraph and found it disconcerting at various points in this book.

Overall Gemmell's first novel was fast-paced, action packed and some very interesting interactions between characters, despite a few flaws. 8/10.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Review: The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu


Scattered across an inhospitable sea linked only by airships working on a few safe currents are a number of island kingdoms. Over recent years a wasting disease has gripped these kingdoms causing crops to fail, fishing areas to run dry and even slowly killing people. Two of these kingdoms are seeking an alliance through marriage to offset these problems. However nobody knows that prince Nikandr of Khalakovo has contracted the wasting putting the alliance into jeopardy.  As part of the celebration the Dukes of the other kingdoms arrive in Khalakovo, almost immediately the grand duke is attacked by a summoned spirit and killed. Nikandr is tasked with finding the culprit, the lead suspect is autistic child who has a strange affinity with Nikandr. Nikander believes the boy is merely the puppet of a shadow group with sinister motives and his strange powers may in fact hold the key to dispelling the wasting.

Beaulieu's world building is impressive with cultures, history and magic integrated seamlessly. Initially I found his characterization impressive with representatives from the various groups portrayed with complex motives. However as the story progressed much of this was pushed to the side with a number of characters ending up as one-dimensional cartoon villains. This stems from the novels biggest problem; mistimed pacing. Everything feels far too rushed and interesting events and character progression loses a lot of significance. Rehada's  shifts in view points I felt was particularly unbelievable in such a short amount of time.

Overall Beaulieu's world building is highly impressive and his story is intriguing and original, rushed pacing however robs this novels of key elements that could have made it great. 7/10.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Review: Farlander by Col Buchanan


Ash belongs to a religious order of assassins, who offer protection by seeking vengeance on anyone who slays someone who bears their talisman. However he is aging and combined with a debilitating disease his time as an active member of the order, the last thing he values, is coming to an end. In a moment of desperation Ash makes a deal with a hallucination of the head of his order; Ash can remain in the field as long as he agrees to take on an apprentice. Nico is a young man who has lost his way, he ran away from home after his father deserted the family and he couldn't stand the men his mother attempted to replace him with. However in the heart of a besieged city Nico struggles to survive and in a moment of desperation he attempts to steal the purse of a stranger. A stranger who has plans for him. Meanwhile the holy matriarch son kills a women under the assassins protection placing them in a difficult position. Do they fulfill their obligation and risk being destroyed by an empire or lose their purpose?

I enjoy character driven stories and Farlander is certainly driven by the two main protagonists and the bond that forms between them. Fight scenes are well constructed and fast paced and the plot contains some very clever and well disguised twists. The support cast are solid if slightly underdeveloped in a few cases and the world-building is solid an unobtrusive.

Overall Buchanan delivers a solid, character driven debut. 8.25/10.