Scott Marlowe - Fantasist

Full of the tropes we've all grown accustomed to at this point, but a fitting conclusion to a story I'd not read since I was a kid.

Great book. I was about to pull the trigger on book 3 when I noticed the Kindle price: $9.99? Really? These are short novels. Good story, but not worth paying that much for the eBook. Sorry, Harper Collins.

I first read this book 30 years ago. I often found myself vaguely recalling certain plot points, but much of it was new since it's been so long. The style is simplistic in a YA sort of way (think Harry Potter), which really just makes it a quick, fun read. The author takes some liberties at times getting from point 'A' to point 'B', mostly to keep things progressing and to avoid unnecessary plot entanglements, but it all works. Very enjoyable read. I especially liked the characters of Gurgi and Eilonwy. Gurgi is just funny, and Eilonwy is the kind of girl young boys dream about meeting. ;-)

This is the THE book I will be taking with me when I go back in time to the England of medieval times.

Fitting end to Fitz's story. My only regret is waiting so long to read this series.

Only book I've ever bought immediately after seeing the movie adaptation. Both were very good.

Horizon is the fourth and final book of Bujold's Sharing Knife series. In it, we find our heroes, Dag and Fawn Bluefield, returning north with the intention of settling a place of their own. Dag, already a veteran Lakewalker patroller, has become more than that now: medicine-maker, groundsetter, husband, father/brother figure, and all-around leader to a small conclave of Lakewalkers and farmers. Dag wants for simple things, but his life is anything but simple. As he and Fawn and a myriad of others travel north, they come face-to-face with Dag's worst nightmare: a malice that has grown unchecked and become very powerful as a result.

The Sharing Knife is, by it's very definition, about sacrifice. Dag sacrifices his usual way of life as a Lakewalker. Fawn sacrifices the stability of the life of a farmer to be with him. Others cross paths with Lakewalkers and farmers alike throughout the series and oftentimes come away missing something. A sharing knife itself is a medium of sacrifice, for it is imbued with the 'death' of a Lakewalker individual, and is the only weapon that can slay a malice.

Horizon is very much a continuation (and conclusion) of the series. The story itself comes full circle in more ways than one as Dag and Fawn return north and, in inadvertent fashion, complete the quest most dear to Dag's heart: to seal the rift between farmer and Lakewalker and unite them against the common threat of malice. Perhaps the best thing about Horizon is the way in which this happens. I won't give anything away, but suffice to say Dag spends much of the first three books planting seeds which only spring forth in this final volume.

I've said this before, but it bears mentioning again: the four books read as one. The style, the flow of the various plotlines; one can easily imagine Bujold having written the series in one long, continuous sitting. The writing is consistently excellent, with characters true to form and dialog spot on. This is not an action-packed thriller, yet Bujold has an excellent sense of moving the story along. I never felt like she was spinning me in circles or going down a path that had no relevance to the overall story. It's just great storytelling.

I don't assign ratings to the books I review. If I did, though, I'd give Horizon and the overall Sharing Knife series 5 out of 5 stars. It really is an enjoyable read, with interesting characters, hints of suspense in all the right places, and a world that is believable and engaging. The 'magic system' is fresh and original, and not overdone in any sense. I'd recommend picking up a copy and giving it a read.

This review at http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Horizon-by-Lois-McMaster-Bujold.aspx

Passage is the third book in Bujold's Sharing Knife series. It is a continuation of the story begun in Beguilement and Legacy. In Legacy, Dag and Fawn come face-to-face with the bigotry of Dag's Lakewalker clan. Near driven out, Dag chooses to leave instead. But he does so with a mission in mind: to heal the rift between Lakewalker and farmer.

On one level this mission of Dag's is a personal one: acceptance of each of the peoples amongst the other would grant his marriage a greater acceptance. On another level it is a matter of long term survival for all. Because there is little communication between Lakewalker and farmer, the scourge of their land, called malices, could potentially run rampant someday because farmers remain ignorant of the early warning signs. It is with the intention of educating farmers of the malice danger that Dag sets out from his home with his wife, Fawn.

They hire themselves out to a flatboat boss, Berry, and Dag begins his journey of farmer healing and enlightenment. They are joined by two other Lakewalkers and a motley lot of farmers/riverboat-types who are drawn to Dag and Fawn's mission in their own individual ways. Much of the story focuses on this personal quest of Dag's and how, in the process, he also develops his 'ground' (magic) to a level not hereto seen in the world.

That bears some explanation: in Lakewalker society an individual is chosen early on for a specific vocation based upon the promise of their ground. Such vocations include patroller, medicine-maker, ground-setter. The principal responsibility of the Lakewalkers is patrolling the lands in search of malice; most Lakewalkers are selected as patrollers. But some others who demonstrate a greater degree of 'groundsense' may become medicine-makers or, even further, ground-setters, able to manipulate almost any material. Dag has already spent most of his life as a patroller by the time we meet him in Beguilement. In Passage, he begins to experiment with his groundsense and, aided by Fawn's knack for seeing things from her own unique perspective, finds that he has the ability to bridge the gap between patroller, medicine-maker, and ground-setter.

Passage is a good book. It's well-written, flows evenly, and possesses a myriad of interesting yet believable characters. But it also stumbles a bit in its singular purpose. Dag's quest is fun to follow, but it becomes too much of the story or, really, the entire story. Not until the end, when Dag must face a renegade Lakewalker and the mayhem he's caused, does the storyline break away into new territory. In short, I felt Passage would have benefited from a bit more going on. There is some mystery in the form of Boatboss Berry, whose family has disappeared somewhere downriver, but it's not enough.

In summary, once again Bujold doesn't disappoint in delivering a folksy tale with plenty of interesting and intriguing characters and magic, though, in the end, this one could have used an injection of something more. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the conclusion of Dag and Fawn's journey in book four, Horizon.

This review at http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Passage-by-Lois-McMaster-Bujold.aspx

Last month, I received all four of Bujold's Sharing Knife books from EOS. Their original call for advanced readers was for book four in the series, Horizon, due out January 27, 2009. But they sweetened the offer by throwing in books one through three. I jumped on it, promising to review not just Horizon, but all four books. As promised, here is the second of those reviews.

Legacy is the second book in Bujold's Sharing Knife series. To say it is the continuation of the story begun in book one, Beguilement, is an understatement, for Legacy picks up exactly where Beguilement left off. One might imagine the author having written both books at the same time as one giant volume, then chopping them in two when it came time for publication. The truth of the matter is that The Sharing Knife consists of four parts.

That being said, Legacy is, in fact, a semi-conclusion to events set in motion in book one. Dag and Fawn, married now, set out to return to Dag's Lakewalker camp where they hope to settle into the typical life of a Lakewalker married couple. The reader is given the feeling through Dag that things aren't going to be that simple. In Lakewalker eyes, farmers are not exactly inferior, but certainly not equals. Precedent as well as tradition dictate the two peoples remain separate, for it is believed that long ago Lakewalker sorcerers ruled common folk as lords. But bad things happened, and the modern day scourge of malice was the result. Now, Lakewalkers spend their days searching for malice uprisings, all the while recognizing that it was their doing that created them in the first place.

Dag and Fawn are not greeted with open arms. Just when things seem at their worst for our young lovers (Dag is actually much older than Fawn) the camp is presented with the distraction of a particularly bad malice uprising very nearly under a farmer village (a malice feeds best from children, so 'coming up' in such a place presents a bounty for the malice to feed from and grow in power). Dag is selected to lead the war party, and domestic disaster is averted, or is it? I will leave it up to you to find out for yourself.

In many ways Legacy is very much like Beguilement. The writing flows identically; you can tell Bujold wrote them both in one sitting (figuratively speaking, of course). The dilemmas as well, for while Dag and Fawn had to contest Fawn's family and their own traditions, so must they face similar challenges with Dag's Lakewalker brethren. The story also moves along at a fairly even pace. Don't expect a lot of grab you by the seat of your pants action or suspense. There are some gripping moments as the Lakewalker hunting party closes in on the malice and then has to deal with the subsequent fallout, but those moments are short. Mostly, Legacy is a romance about the veteran Lakewalker, Dag, and his farmer bride, Fawn, and the challenges such a union must overcome.

Personally, I'm enjoying the series. The writing is excellent and has a certain 'folksy' mannerism about it that just works. Dag is an interesting character, especially as he begins to discover a whole new side to his sorcery, and one can't but help feel for Fawn as she attempts to make nice with her unappreciative mother-in-law.

Impressive writing, world-building, and characters make this second volume in The Sharing Knife a winner.

This review at http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Legacy-by-Lois-McMaster-Bujold.aspx

I picked up a copy of Lord Darcy by Randall Garrett a while back as part of my research into a potential future project that would blend the genres of fantasy and mystery. Lord Darcy is just that: alternate historical fiction blended with mystery. It's a world where Richard the Lion-Hearted did not die on the battlefield, but instead went on to build the foundation of the greatest empire the world has ever seen.

Lord Darcy is Chief Special Investigator for the Duke of Normandy and, as such, he's called in to solve particular crimes perpetrated against members of the aristocracy. Much like Holmes had his Watson, Darcy has his O'Lochlainn: Master Sorcerer Sean O'Lochlainn, to be precise. Magic works in a sort of alchemy meets science manner. There are Laws of Magic and symposiums, all regulated by the government to the point where sorcerers must be licensed to practice else face severe penalties. There is also Black Magic, outlawed and dangerous as one might expect. Rest assured Darcy and O'Lochlainn have a tangle or two with practitioners of the dark form of sorcery.

Lord Darcy is a collection of short stories. While some are clever, others are so brief it's hard to immerse oneself in them. There is the novella Too Many Magicians which I found kind of droll--much of it is told through dialog and it quickly wore me down and I really found it confusing at times.

Lord Darcy (the character this time) and others come across as flat, and I think this is the biggest flaw with the entire collection. The characters have histories--Darcy himself is in his 40's (I'm guessing)--but we're never given much of a glimpse into his past or anything about his personal life. It's all about the crimes and the ease at which he sees what no one else can. This unfortunately is the fatal flaw in this book for me. I never cared a whole lot whether the crime was solved or not, the murderer discovered, or the conspirators brought to justice. Sorry, but that's just not good.

This review at http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Lord-Darcy-by-Randall-Garrett.aspx

Like many novels, Bujold's Beguilement is multi-layered. On one level, it is a fantasy novel where Lakewalkers patrollers protect the lands from malice. On another, it's a romance novel where the veteran patroller, Dag, and a runaway farm girl, Fawn Bluefield, meet under life-threatening circumstances and, as one might suspect, develop a mutual relationship which becomes romantic.

There are other things going in Beguilement, such as the dichotomy between Lakewalkers and farmers, but, for purposes of this review, I'd like to focus on the fantasy and romance layers first.

First, the fantasy: In this respect, Beguilement is good stuff. It takes place in an unnamed world where Lakewalkers, thought to have once been lords and known to be sorcerers, patrol the lands searching for signs of blight and its cause, malices. A malice is a concentration of energy, what Lakewalkers term 'ground', brought to life under mysterious and not fully understood circumstances. Malices are not good. They bring with them beguilement and death, draining the ground from other beings in order to evolve into increasingly more powerful beings. Worst of all, a malice doesn't understand death. This grants them a certain immortality.

Enter the sharing knife.

A sharing knife is a special Lakewalker weapon that, when used on a malice, 'shares' a death with the creature. This act of sharing is the only way to kill a malice.

As much as the book's title denotes one of the principal powers of a malice, it also refers to the effect Dag and Fawn have on one another. Herein enters the romance.

Dag is a dry-witted Lakewalker, a veteran with over twenty malice kills and a reputation as a capable, resourceful patroller. He has tragedy in his makeup, which I won't say necessarily haunts him, but certainly fills him with a sense of regret. It is this regret which increasingly weighs heavy on him when, out on patrol, a new malice threat and a farmer girl named Fawn Bluefield enter his life. I won't ruin anything about the encounter with the malice, only that both Dag and Fawn survive and go on to become lovers. It's an odd relationship: by custom, Lakewalkers and farmers do not interrelate in such ways. They take this 'forbidden love' back to Fawn's home where much drama ensues between herself, her family, and Dag.

That, in a nutshell, is what Beguilement is about. The story has points of slowness, but I never felt like it bogged down. The writing is excellent and tight; while there are other sub-plots intertwined with the main ones, none of them were a distraction. If anything, exactly the opposite: there's plenty of character-building here, and the characters are grounded, believable, and exceptionally thought-out. Fawn, despite entering the story as a runaway farm girl (which seemed a bit of a stereotype), soon shows us she is much more. Dag, for his part, plays the role of veteran soldier-sorcerer well; it's what lies beneath that draws the reader in and allows us to sympathize with his past and what he hopes for his future.

I found Bujold's system of magic and such concepts as the sharing knife to be original and intriguing. In many ways, it was this intrigue which kept me reading and wanting to know more.

One warning: Bujold leaps from one book to another with nary a break in the story. I imagine her having written all four books at one time (is there a fifth still to come?), then the publisher coming along later and slicing it into the four books we currently have. This probably isn't the case, but that's how one might look at it. With that in mind, if you read Beguilement, you'll at least want to pick up Legacy, because it picks up right where book one left off and goes a long way towards concluding the storyline begun in book one.

I think Bujold delivers with Beguilement and the larger The Sharing Knife series as a whole. Superb writing, well-grounded characters, and a colorful world and intriguing magic system all come together to form an entertaining, engaging read.

This review at http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Beguilement-by-Lois-McMaster-Bujold.aspx

Wit'ch Fire by James Clemens is one that I just couldn't finish. In fact, I didn't get very far at all with it.

The story begins with a foreword; never a good sign. Info dump (i.e., background story of a bygone era where bad things happened) ensues. The problem with a forward like that is that the reader isn't invested in any way: not in the world and certainly not in the characters. I'll admit I skimmed through most of it.

Then the story begins. The writing is competent enough, but, ah, the story. It's your basic farm boy girl who discovers she's the heir to an ancient power that if she learns to control will no doubt save the world. Someone is after her, too, which I suspect means she'll have to flee and will probably meet some nice people who will help her not get killed, or something.

Wit'ch Fire was published in 1999, which is about the time when these sorts of tales were beginning to go out of style. Perhaps if I'd read it back then, I wouldn't feel so detached from it. Perhaps it would have grabbed me and not let go. Perhaps, or perhaps not.

In any case, chalk this one up as a "not finished".

This review from http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Witch-Fire-by-James-Clemens.aspx

Wit'ch Fire by James Clemens is one that I just couldn't finish. In fact, I didn't get very far at all with it.

The story begins with a foreword; never a good sign. Info dump (i.e., background story of a bygone era where bad things happened) ensues. The problem with a forward like that is that the reader isn't invested in any way: not in the world and certainly not in the characters. I'll admit I skimmed through most of it.

Then the story begins. The writing is competent enough, but, ah, the story. It's your basic farm boy girl who discovers she's the heir to an ancient power that if she learns to control will no doubt save the world. Someone is after her, too, which I suspect means she'll have to flee and will probably meet some nice people who will help her not get killed, or something.

Wit'ch Fire was published in 1999, which is about the time when these sorts of tales were beginning to go out of style. Perhaps if I'd read it back then, I wouldn't feel so detached from it. Perhaps it would have grabbed me and not let go. Perhaps, or perhaps not.

In any case, chalk this one up as a "not finished".

This review from http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Witch-Fire-by-James-Clemens.aspx

Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb concludes the story begun in Dragon Keeper, book one of the Rain Wilds Chronicles. Word is that Hobb wrote this series intending it to be a single novel, but given it's length the publisher decided to split it in half (Robin Hobb informed readers of her blog that she is, in fact, working on a third book in the series). The result is that Dragon Keeper doesn't exactly leave us hanging or wanting to rush out to buy Dragon Haven (I didn't, but that was more about the then eBook price of $14.99; I finally bought it for $9.99). But, all that aside, I still was looking forward to getting my hands on this one.

The Rain Wilds is something Hobb has delved into more and more in each successive series of hers. These two novels delve deeper still. Whereas Dragon Keeper was about stunted dragons choosing keepers for themselves and the beginning of a journey to find the lost city of Kelsingra, Dragon Haven is about the continuing angst and trials between the dragons and their keepers and the conclusion of their quest.

I'll leave it to the reader to discover if they find Kelsingra or not, but I would like to comment that Hobb, in her own way, finally explains the acidity of the Rain Wilds River, something that has played into many of her novels and defines the people who choose to make their homes at its banks.

In terms of writing, it's hard to complain or find fault with Hobb. She's a wonderfully competent author who has a knack for developing rich characters dwelling amongst a richer world. As is mentioned often about Hobb's writing, pacing is an issue. If you're looking for the latest Abercrombie-type novel, go elsewhere. Hobb leads the reader on a slow walk down a meandering path, tantalizing with hints of something more and just enough contention and challenges that when presented, you tend to want to see how the characters involved make out. Sometimes they win, sometimes they don't. The conclusion of the Farseer Trilogy still stops me in mid-thought sometimes and sends me into fits of melancholy. It's powerful stuff.

If I were to say anything bad about Dragon Haven it's that we never get the level of tragedy I was expecting out of Hobb. It just seemed to me there were multiple points where certain characters could have come to serious harm or made to sacrifice, but those opportunities were passed over.

While Dragon Haven is a complete tale, I couldn't help but feel that it is only a stepping stone leading into Hobb's next series. There's a lot of setup here, with some aspects of the Rain Wilds and dragons in general finally explained, but we're left looking into a horizon that is not darkening, but becoming brighter and wider. In any case, Dragon Haven will be going on my Favorite Reads of 2010 list.

This review from http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Dragon-Haven-by-Robin-Hobb.aspx

I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about Starfish by Peter Watts just didn't do it for me. Perhaps it was the flat characters. Or the proliferation of dialog with little descriptive text or explanation as to what's going on. Or maybe it was the droll story development. Whatever the case, I didn't get very far in when I started to feel thoroughly unenthused about going on. I've found through personal experience that when I'm not excited about reading a book that it then becomes a chore or requirement that I continue reading. In my younger days I would accept this but soldier on anyway. Nowadays, my time is too valuable; there are too many good books out there to spend time on one I have to force myself to read.

That aside, Starfish was well-written, and I wonder if the author had jumped into the central story (whatever that may be) sooner then maybe I'd be writing this review giving the novel if not a thumbs up, then at least a more thorough review.

This review from http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Starfish-by-Peter-Watts.aspx

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey is urban fantasy with a decidedly noir detective flavor to it. James Stark awakes in the middle of a cemetery out of sorts. Can't blame him. He just returned to our world after spending eleven years in Hell. Not as a deceased person, but as a living, breathing human, sent there by his once friend but now arch-nemesis, Mason Faim. Stark's back, and he's only got one thing on his mind: revenge.

So begins the tale of Sandman Slim, who we come to learn escaped from Hell where he most recently was serving as the personal assassin to one of Lucifer's demonic generals. Life in Hell for Stark began as one might expect. But when he not only survives the initial assaults but becomes stronger after each one, Stark begins to wonder what's going on. He takes it in stride, though, it being impossible for him to leave until his employer bequeaths upon him with a very special key that allows him to travel undetected and instantaneously from one shadow to another and—magically—between worlds. Stark doesn't waste any time. He leaves Hell as soon as he can, returning to our world and setting out to find Mason and his cronies, who were all complicit in sending Stark to Hell.

Sandman Slim reminded me in many ways of the recent season of Supernatural: angels and demons are at each other's throats, battling each other for dominance of the mortal world while all sorts of other nasties wreak their own particular sort of havoc. I don't read enough urban fantasy to know if such premises are anything unusual. My guess is not. But where Sandman Slim really stood out for me was in Kadrey's narration and in his "hero", Stark.

Kadrey captures perfectly the flavor of a Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane hardboiled detective novel, except that Stark, aka, Sandman Slim, is not a detective per se. He does share many of Marlowe or Hammer's mannerisms, though, in that he is brusque, foul-mouthed, not afraid to take a punch (or give one), and, despite his cynicism, still will make the choice that keeps others from slipping into the hell that his own life has become.

Kadrey's writing is fast-paced, gripping, and laugh out loud hilarious at times. When Stark finds himself commiserating with a talking head, what can you do but laugh? The action is a mix of shoot'em up, fisticuffs, and some new weaponry straight from Hell. Oh, and magic. Stark, Mason, and others are all magicians, and have certain magical abilities as a result.

Sandman Slim was offered as a free Kindle download by Amazon some time ago. The next book in the series, Kill the Dead, is already on my "to read" list. This is a great read that I highly recommend.

This review also at http://www.scottmarlowe.com/post/Book-Review-Sandman-Slim-by-Richard-Kadrey.aspx