Tag: fantasy

Jack Vance has died

On By bibliorexIn Author Interviews2 Comments

jack-vance_9219I’ve been writing way too many of these obituaries over the last few months. Have you ever read anything by Jack Vance? He’s one of my eternal favorites, and certainly one of the greatest wordsmiths I’ve ever encountered. I’ve always been surprised that he’s not better known; he’s a vastly underappreciated SFF grandmaster. I just learned that he passed away over the weekend. Locus has posted an obituary here, and you can leave a tribute message here. By all accounts Vance lived a full life; he was nearly 97, and my understanding is that he had been blind for many years. Still, the world is diminished for his loss.

I’ve been collecting his work for roughly the last fifteen years. I have his entire opus: all six volumes of The Complete Jack Vance plus his autobiography, and many individual works, four of which he signed. I’ll never forget the first Vance story I read: “Mazirian the Magician,” one of his Dying Earth tales collected in the anthology WIZARDS, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh. I encountered this truly amazing collection of fantasy stories when I was about 10-12 (take a look at the table of contents for that collection here).

In light of Vance’s passing, I will have to go back and read or reread more of his work. I’ve thus far reviewed eight of his novels on this blog. They can be found here:

The Book of Dreams
Emphyrio
The Face
The Killing Machine
The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River, Lune XXIII South, Big Planet
The Palace of Love
Rhialto the Marvellous
The Star King

Requiescat in pace, Mr. Vance.

Obituary: Andrew J. Offutt

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Sadly, another one of the greats died this past week: Andrew J. Offutt passed away on April 30. He was 78. Here’s a more complete obituary for him, and here’s his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction that lists much of his bibliography. If you haven’t heard of him, he was a surprisingly prolific author and editor of fantasy, SF, and erotica, oddly enough, many of which were published under an array of pseudonyms. If you enjoyed swords and sorcery stories in the 1970s or 1980s, you undoubtedly came across some of Offutt’s work. How can we forget the five Swords Against Darkness anthologies, or his character Hanse Shadowspawn from Thieves’ World?

I never knew what he looked like until last week. Here he is in the middle:
Andrew J Offutt

When I first heard about Offutt’s death, I looked through my collection to see what I owned of his. Quite a lot as it turns out, more than I had thought actually. I’ve got the complete run of the 19-volume Spaceways comedic, erotic SF novels that never quite grabbed me; I think most but probably not quite all of the stories he wrote in the Thieves’ World shared fantasy series; and a handful of his other fantasy novels, including one of the Conan pastiches he wrote, and several of his Cormac Mac Art books further developing the heroic Celt character originally created by Robert E. Howard. In fact, I had forgotten that Offutt ended up writing six entire Cormac Mac Art novels (the last two with Keith Taylor), far more words about Cormac than Howard himself did. Here’s the complete listing (to my knowledge) of Cormac Mac Art tales, written by a number of different authors.

Cormac Mac Art stories and novels:

  • “The Night of the Wolf” (first published in Mak Morn, 1969; also published in Tigers of the Sea, 1974) [Robert E. Howard]
  • “Tigers of the Sea” (first published in Tigers of the Sea, 1974) [Robert E. Howard fragment; completed by Richard L. Tierney]
  • “Swords of the Northern Sea” (first published in Tigers of the Sea, 1974) [Robert E. Howard]
  • “The Temple of Abomination” (first published in Tigers of the Sea, 1974) [Robert E. Howard fragment; completed by Richard L. Tierney]
  • Sword of the Gael (1975) [Andrew J. Offutt]
  • The Undying Wizard (1976) [Andrew J. Offutt]
  • The Sign of the Moonbow (1977) [Andrew J. Offutt]
  • The Mists of Doom (1977) [Andrew J. Offutt]
  • When Death Birds Fly (1980) [Andrew J. Offutt and Keith Taylor]
  • The Tower of Death (1982) [Andrew J. Offutt and Keith Taylor]
  • “The Land Toward Sunset” (1995) [first published in Baen Books’ Cormac Mac Art; David Drake]

Rest in peace, Andrew J. Offutt. I enjoyed your work.

Recent Acquisitions

On By bibliorexIn Book Acquisitions2 Comments

I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I won’t attempt to literally list every book I have acquired since I did the last one. That would be…a lot of work. So what I’ll do here is focus on the books I acquired during my recent trip to San Diego and Los Angeles. I’m an east Coast-kind of guy, but I usually manage to make it out to California at least once a year. I love the weather, though the lack of seasons, earthquakes, and wildfires bug me.

I ended up hitting three used bookstores in the Encinitas/Cardiff area, and wasn’t incredibly impressed. Two were tiny and with unimpressive stock. The store I bought the two books from had one of the worst organization (non-)schemas I have yet encountered and one of the others had some good stuff but was WAY too expensive. I always kind of resent paying a premium for the store’s location. If anyone know of a particularly good used bookstore in the greater san Diego area, let me know, as I have not yet found one I really like there yet. Still looking.

More impressively, I spent a day in the Burbank/North Hollywood area doing nothing but pawing through used bookstores. The day started off with breakfast with a friend I had never before met in the flesh! We’ve been corresponding for years about all things bookish (and otherwise) but had never had the chance to meet in real life. Fortunately, neither of us turned out to be serial killers so we spent the day talking about books and going to four great used bookstores. The first was Dark Delicacies, a really nice shop that specializes in horror. They seem to do LOTS of book signings there. Had a good conversation with the proprietor, Del Howison. Then it was off to two stores that were across the street from each other: Brand Bookstore (on Brand St., natch) and Mystery and Imagination. Brand is a general-purpose used bookstore and had some good stuff. I’d be proud to have this one in my own area, though it was the least interesting of the four L.A. stores. The next was Mystery and Imagination, a used bookstore specializing in pulp, SF/fantasy, crime/mystery, etc. They also do lots of signings, and had a nice chat with Christine Bell, one of the proprietors, who also took the time to show me some signed books I just didn’t have the money to purchase. The final stop of the day was the Illiad Bookshop, the largest of the four stores and one with used books of all kinds. Lots and lots of books there. All in all, it was a great way to spend a day: booking and hanging out. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND all of those stores and am looking forward to checking them out the next time I find myself in the Los Angeles area. I also hit a local used bookstore that I had let lay fallow for a while when I returned home.

Enough about the stores – what did I buy? Here are the highlights in no particular order:

  • The second Solar Pons collection by August Derleth. Pons was a Sherlock Holmes rip-off with just the names changed. I have the first volume (though I have not yet read it); there were seven altogether. I have heard this one also contains a Fu Manchu crossover, which I’m looking forward to.
  • Eight more Richard Blade men’s adventure novels. Kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. These have so far been pretty formulaic, but there’s something about them that’s very appealing.
  • Philip Jose Farmer’s Flight to Opar. My goal is to complete my collection of Farmer’s various pulp pastiches and sequels to classic adventure novels.
  • Dennis Wheatley’s The Fabulous Valley. Not one of his Black Magic novels, but looks like a fun one about an inheritance and an ill-fated expedition to Africa. How can you go wrong with that?
  • Talbot Mundy’s Queen Cleopatra. Part of the Tros of Samothrace historical fiction series. I’m also very interested in collecting the rest of his Jimgrim novels.
  • James Blish’s A Case for Conscience. I’ve been looking for this one for a very long time.
  • Three Vatican conspiracy thrillers by Daniel Easterman. It’s a fun sub-genre that I’m interested in, and Easterman has written a lot of these sorts of books.
  • Brian Lumley’s Iced on Aran, the fourth of his Dreamlands books. Not everyone likes Lumley’s particular vision of the Cthulhu Mythos, but I applaud his efforts even though there are some aspects of his writing I don’t care for. Still need the third one though.
  • Two sword and sorcery novels by Lin Carter: Thongor in the City of Magicians (just need one more Thongor novel to complete my collection) and Down to a Sunless Sea (this was the last of his Mars series that I needed).
  • Desmond Cory’s Undertow and Timelock. One of his Johnny Fedora series (I have one other). A friend turned me on to these. They are a surprising challenge to collect. This is going to be a very long-term project as they are hard-to-find in stores and expensive to purchase online.
  • Turn Loose the Dragon by George C. Chesbro. One of the last of his books that I needed. This one is a stand-alone, but I really like his Mongo Mysteries.
  • Legend in Blue Steel by “Spider Page.” The final Spider novel, published in 1979 with all the names changed for legal reasons. Supposedly not an awesome novel, but for a completist fan of the Spider – one of the most brutal and over-the-top pulp heroes – this was a must-buy. Never seen it “in the flesh” before.
  • The three Magira books (War Gamers’ World, Army of Darkness, and Messengers of Darkness) by “Hugh Walker,” published by DAW. I love all DAW books for their covers and trade dress, but this set really intrigued me. These were written by German author Hubert Strassl and were inspired by a long-running German fantasy wargame in the 1970s. Looking forward to reading these.
  • Mike Hammer omnibus #1 (first three novels). I already own a copy of this one – so why did I buy this? Well, because this copy was signed by both Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins. How could I pass that up?
  • Dark Delicacies II: Fear, edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb. Bought from Del Howison himself, and signed by both editors. Looks like a great scary collection.
  • Beastmarks by A. A. Attanasio. I really enjoyed his Radix Tetrad (weird, wonderful, mind-bending SF at the end of time that hasn’t received nearly enough attention; seriously, a dissertation could be written about this series). This is a collection of his short stories I didn’t even know existed.
  • Emerald Eyes by Daniel Keys Moran. Read this years ago and have the rest of the Continuing Time series (except the last one, which has only been released in eBook format thus far.
  • The Man of the Future (chapbook) by Edward Bryant. Not familiar with the author, but it was illustrated by Dan Simmons (!) and signed by both Bryant and Simmons.
  • Also picked up a variety of odds and ends, mostly one-off mass market paperbacks, but I don’t want to list each and every one, so I’ll just stop here.

So that was a really fun (and successful) trip!

Book Review: The Fourth Elephant’s Egg: The Hypatomancer’s Tale (Book Three) by Robert Reginald

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This is the final book in the light-hearted fantasy trilogy, The Hypatomancer’s Tale, by Robert Reginald (I have also written reviews of the first and second books in the trilogy).

Some plot spoilers follow, but reading the rest of this review won’t ruin your enjoyment of the story.

Once again, we follow the adventures of the hypatomancer (a fortune-telling wizard, though the predictions of the future are mostly moved off-stage here) Morpheus, who still has an uncompleted quest to rescue a woman he’s never met who is held prisoner in another dimension. Morpheus and his companions must travel a long way through a series of alternate dimensions where things get stranger and stranger. But before he can continue his quest, Morpheus feels morally obligated to do what he can to repair the dying ecosystem of a world that has been afflicted with a man-made disaster beyond the control of its inhabitants. Inevitably, Morpheus’ quest does not turn out at all the way he (or the reader most likely) expected, but that’s all part of the fun. There are plenty of unexpected twists, turns, and betrayals along the way. The job of a savior of the universe is never an easy one.

As with many (all?) of Reginald’s fiction, this is a journey of self-discovery as much as it is a quest to save the universe. Morpheus’ internal development is at least as important as the development of the plot and the quest as a whole. Like all too many of us, Morpheus begins the trilogy fairly self-oriented. He is embroiled with his own personal concerns, mostly to the exclusion of caring about other people and situations all around him. He has never really forged meaningful personal relationships – familial, romantic, or platonic – and has come to realize that without these connections, his own life is meaningless. The trilogy does a good job of showcasing Morpheus’ personal transformation and journey as he realizes that he needs other people as much as they need him.

Reginald’s prose flows smoothly and is delightfully clever as always. The secondary characters – Morpheus’ companions for the most part – continue to amuse. If I have one complaint about THE FOURTH ELEPHANT’S EGG, it’s that the threat to the universe that Morpheus must find a way to resolve is almost entirely off-screen. It’s really only clear to us that there is an imbalance in the universe that Morpheus must correct because several wise archmages and other powerful, enigmatic but beneficent figures tell Morpheus this is the case. We never directly see that the very foundations of the multiverse are shaking. Scenes of growing instability in the cosmos might have helped highlight the stakes and ratchet up the tension for Morpheus (and the reader).

Oh and we do finally get a quick glimpse of Nova Europa – Morpheus’ home that appeared in the first volume of the trilogy – and the recent goings-on there. Needless to say, I would very much like to see some additional stories about what happens next on Nova Europa! It’s a neat place.

If you have gotten this far in the series, you owe it to yourself to find out how it all turns out in THE FOURTH ELEPHANT’S EGG. If you’re in the mood for a fun fantasy series that doesn’t take itself too seriously, then you’ll want to pick up the first book in the trilogy, THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER.


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Review copyright 2012 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: The Pachyderms’ Lament: The Hypatomancer’s Tale (Book Two) by Robert Reginald

On By bibliorexIn Book Reviews1 Comment

This is the second book in the fantasy Hypatomancer’s Tale trilogy by Robert Reginald (see my review of the first book in the trilogy, THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER, here). As with the first in the trilogy, this is a relatively light-hearted fantasy adventure, though one with very real stakes for the protagonist, his companions, and his universe.

Some plot spoilers follow, but I promise not to ruin your enjoyment of the story.

This second volume picks up immediately where the first left off: a hypatomancer (a mage with the ability to foretell the future) named Morpheus has given up his sinecure as a court wizard to travel to the Otherworlds and rescue a woman he’s never met. The Otherworlds are a fascinating place: think Stargate’s variety of planets, only they’re reached by magical portals and the inhabitants are a bit stranger. All of the places we see in the Otherworlds are locales where humans, or near-humans, can survive. These aren’t crazy places where the laws of physics work differently (for the most part), but they are inhabited by strange races and cultures. These cultural differences drive a great many of the novels’ plot complications. The problem is that Morpheus has learned that before he can rescue the unknown woman on the far-off world at the other end of the universe, he must repair damage to the universe (the eponymous “cracks in the aether” from the first title in the series). To do this, Morpheus needs to find the Elephant’s four Eggs, powerful magical artifacts of unknown properties, appearance, and origins. He knows only that he needs to make contact with a mysterious alien race called the Pachyderms. And so the journey begins.

As always, Reginald’s dialogue is smooth, natural, fun, and funny. I enjoyed the occasional puns and allusions to a variety of science fiction and fantasy settings and authors – I thought of these as a kind of fun inside jokes for fans. The action and plot flow smoothly and effortlessly from Reginald’s pen.

If you enjoyed THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER, you will certainly enjoy THE PACHYDERMS’ LAMENT! If you’re looking for a fun new fantasy series, then I would suggest starting with THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER.


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Review copyright 2012 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: The Cracks in the Æther: The Hypatomancer’s Tale (Book One) by Robert Reginald

On By bibliorexIn Book Reviews4 Comments

When I read books like THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER, I become increasingly convinced that the only difference between a blockbuster hit and a terrific book that few will ever read is a big marketing budget. This a genuinely funny, smart fantasy novel with engaging characters, snappy dialogue, and an interesting, well-developed setting. There’s absolutely no reason why this couldn’t be as big of a hit as, say, Robert Asprin’s Myth Adventures series or much of Alan Dean Foster’s or Craig Shaw Gardner’s work. (And I intend those comparisons to be extremely complimentary, as those are genuinely funny books that were big hits in their day.)

Some plot spoilers follow, but I promise not to ruin your enjoyment of the story.

This is the first volume in the Hypatomancer’s Tale trilogy that tells the story of a court mage, Morpheus, who has the misfortune/opportunity to live in a time of great crisis and change. He is the eponymous hypatomancer, a mage who possesses the gift of fortunetelling, in addition to his other arcane abilities. Morpheus, seemingly by sheer happenstance, hears a cry for help from a woman trapped somewhere in the Otherworlds, the collective name for the network of various alternative timelines/universes to Nova Europa (I suppose that our own Earth is one of these).

Several plots and sub-plots soon unfold: it quickly becomes apparent that the kingdom of Korynthia in Nova Europa (Morpheus’ world) serves faces a time of great change. Indeed, the very kingdom may soon collapse into civil war. Morpheus soon resigns his position in Korynthia and leaves his responsibilities to travel through the Otherworlds to rescue a woman he has never met and hasn’t even seen her face. Now that’s a true romantic!

Much of the book involves scenes of witty banter between our protagonist and his familiar, a wherret, which seems to be a sentient ferret-like creature with a nicely alien mindset and vast knowledge of all things magical. Dialogue and humor are the real strengths of THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER. Reginald uses an ever-so-slightly archaic tone in his dialogue and exposition, and this seems to work well in establishing the tone that (1) this is a fantasy setting and (2) this is not our world.

I should also note that I would dearly love to see a map of Nova Europa. I don’t know if such a graphic exists, but I’m always a sucker for cool, interesting maps in fantasy novels, so let me put in a request for one now. I would also like to hear more about Nova Europa as a setting, as the vague hints and allusions to it in THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER are intriguing. When exactly did it begin diverging from our own history? Has magic always been available to its inhabitants? It’s become clear that the next book (and possibly the third) will move away from Nova Europa and to the Otherworlds, but I would also like to see Morpheus return to Korynthia and see if he can help resolve that poor kingdom’s troubles. I grew to like that place and its queen while Morpheus was there and I’d like to know what’s going to happen to it.

If you like fun, light-hearted, but still smart fantasy novels, than look no further than THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER. I recommend it highly. I have just read the next book in the series, and am looking forward to the third. (Reviews of those to follow soon.) This trilogy is apparently part of a larger, twelve-volume sequence of tales set in Nova Europa. I have not yet read those first nine volumes, but their existence certainly presented no difficulties when I plunged into THE CRACKS IN THE AETHER.


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Review copyright 2012 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: Wordsmith: Vols. 1 and 2 (The Veil of Heaven and The Thousand Eyes of Flame) by Michael R. Collings

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Michael R. Collings has crafted a two-part, lengthy novel titled WORDSMITH. I haven’t seen this two-volume series (is it pretentious to call it a “duology”?), plus a prequel (which I previously reviewed here), receive much attention online. In fact, I was hard-pressed to find even a single significant review of either volume online, and that’s really too bad. I think it would appeal to many fans of fantasy (or “science fantasy”), and I’d compare it favorably with Marion Zimmer Bradley’s long-running Darkover series. If you’re at all familiar with M. A. R. Barker’s slightly more obscure novel series and role-playing game setting of Tekumel/The Empire of the Petal Throne, some elements – colonists from Earth who have long forgotten their heritage and established a new culture and society on an alien, metal-poor world and discovered magical/mystical abilities – will also seem familiar. I hesitate to describe it as a science fiction tale, though it shares many typical tropes of the genre (especially in the second volume), but I certainly wouldn’t quite describe it as straight “fantasy” either. Perhaps the catch-all “speculative fiction” label is the best we can apply to WORDSMITH.

Please note: plot spoilers follow, though I have studiously tried to avoid spoilering all the major twists and turns of the plot.

WORDSMITH is more or less the coming of age story of a young man, a social outcast, La’am Iam’Kendron-word (and yes, it’s a long story about what that name/title signifies), who ultimately grows in power, matures, and becomes both the most powerful man on Omne as well as its savior from outside forces. The Omnans, long-ago colonists from Earth, settled Omne and created a peaceful, pastoral society on a metal-poor world, renouncing technology and the company of other humans. Their world has been sheltered by the Veil of Heaven, part-mystic and part-cosmological phenomenon that has shielded them from outside attention and allowed them to remain aloof, isolated, and independent for centuries. The Omnans have discovered that Omne also holds a number of secrets, not the least of which is a kind of magic or energy that can be manipulated by those who dedicate themselves to its study (and service?).

The Omnans’ isolation is shattered in the second volume of WORDSMITH, which details the conflict that pulls apart Omnan society when a ship from Earth – or at least humanity’s larger society – arrives, seemingly in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Sadly, but perhaps predictably, these visitors are little more than privateers, and do not have the best intentions of the Omnans in mind. They have arrived only to exploit what they can of Omne’s resources and then depart, leaving a shattered society behind. (This bit reminded me more than a little of Cortes’ arrival in Mexico, again, seemingly in fulfillment of a prophecy, and the eventual downfall of the Aztec Empire.) I hesitate to describe in detail the outcome of this struggle, though I will simply say that it explores the nature of the strange forces that permeate Omne, though it left me wanting more.

Ultimately, this is a book about a clash of cultures, moralities, and societies. To be sure, the Omnans are clearly the “good guys” and their unwanted, rapaciously exploitative visitors are the “bad guys.” But there’s still plenty of room for moralizing (I don’t mean that in a bad way) and the plot isn’t clearly telegraphed from the start, as with many similar stories.

I give this two-volume set a very hearty four stars out of five. It’s highly engrossing and entertaining throughout, despite its length. Collings is himself a wordsmith, and his prose reads effortlessly. The only elements preventing me from giving it a full five stars are the pacing of the second volume, which slows a bit and takes a somewhat meandering course before picking up at the end, and the mostly unknown and unclear origins and full capabilities of the strange powers we see on Omne. I am left with some lingering questions on this, but perhaps that lack of precise clarity is part of the point. I’d actually love to see more fiction from Collings set on the world of Omne and hope he’s working on it!


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Review copyright 2011 J. Andrew Byers

Classic fantasy novel: The Ship That Sailed to Mars by William Timlin

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Never heard of it? Me neither, until now. William Timlin’s The Ship That Sailed to Mars was published in 1923 by Harrap in the UK in a limited edition of 2000 copies (250 of which were sold in the US). It was a slender volume, with 48 tipped-in color plates, also drawn by Timlin, each with a facing page of text. Copies of the original edition survive, though it looks like a good or better copy will typically run you about $2000-3000. Stonewall Publications put out a new edition in 1993, and while it’s now out-of-print, it looks like you can land one of those for about $60-200 in the secondary market. Calla Editions (anther small press I’ve never heard of) is re-releasing another edition of it this Fall, and Amazon currently has it on pre-order for $26. If you want to read the story and look at the pictures, it has fortunately been made available online here.

The accompanying artwork is amazing, and it’s too bad that the book has never had a major release, as I suspect it could have been a childhood classic that we’d all remember fondly. I may just have to pick up a copy of the Calla edition when it becomes available.


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Book Review: Soul Stealers (Vampire Chronicles, Book Two) by Andy Remic

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This is the second in the Clockwork Vampires trilogy (the final book is not yet out in the U.S.) and it’s clear that Andy Remic’s writing became much more fluid and nuanced than in the first of the series. This series has been frequently compared with the work of David Gemmell, and while I haven’t read a great deal of Gemmell’s work, from what I’ve seen, the comparison generally works.

Some plot spoilers follow.

As you’ll recall from the first novel, a race of evil half-vampire/half-machines have invaded a standard human kingdom, killing and devouring everyone in their path using powerful magics and an army of albino warriors. The only thing that stands between them and total victory is an aging human warrior with a dark past named Kell and a gigolo-thief-swordsman named Saark. At the end of the first novel, both Kell and his granddaughter had been poisoned and were being blackmailed into helping a ruthless cancer victim.

Well, things go from bad to worse in this second volume for Kell and company. The vampires are still killing everyone in their path while pursuing the protagonists, and they’ve set some highly-trained assassins on their trail. And, as it turns out, the invaders are renegades from their own culture attempting to summon a triad of nigh-Lovecraftian blood gods. Lots of killing, lots of mayhem, lots of twists and turns. It is, at heart, a fairly standard – if a bit more bloody than normal – swords and sorcery novel, but it’s got enough going on in the setting that you won’t mind too much.

I give this one 4 stars out of 5. If you were able to make it past the occasional amateurish passage in the first in the series, I think you won’t be disappointed in how the story advances here. Remic is not afraid to use and abuse his characters, and that’s a good thing. Recommended for fans of blood-and-guts fantasy.


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Review copyright 2011 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero by Dan Abnett

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I’m a big fan of Dan Abnett’s science fiction novels, and had high hopes for this semi-comedic alternative history fantasy novel. Sadly, while the novel had its moments, it wasn’t terribly good and I can’t really recommend it.

Some plot spoilers follow.

It’s set in an alternate history where Queen Elizabeth I of England married Philip II of Spain and created a global empire that persists to the year 2010. Oh and magic exists (under the control of the Church and practiced by hedge witches) and technology is mostly still Renaissance era. The explorer Sir Rupert Triumff has just discovered Australia and returned to London and quickly becomes embroiled in a plot by a group trying to kill him and (eventually) the queen using a mix of assassins and magic. In many ways, Abnett starts telling one story – that of Triumff’s mysterious return from his sea voyage – and ends up discarding it about halfway through to tell another story: that of the evil cabal’s magical threat to the nation. Why are these evil conspirators doing what they’re doing? I have no idea. Why do Triumff and Mother Grundy (a badass old lady who knows some magic) get involved? No idea. Because they were designated as the protagonists? Hopefully Abnett will provide some resolution in the sequel, but I have to admit that I’m not going to rush out and pick it up.

Abnett’s choice of flowery, pseudo-Elizabethan language takes a bit of getting used to. For example, the book opens with a five or so page description of a torrential downpour that is downright entertaining. At first I really enjoyed Abnett’s use of language – because it does offer a lot of comedic potential – but after a while I found it tiresome, as it slowed the pace of the action down even further and made it more difficult to follow. Also, if puns annoy you, then Abnett’s comedy will also lose some of its charm.

One of the other problems with the book is that many of the characters are referred to by: their real names; their titles; nicknames; and assumed names they take on for various nefarious or clandestine purposes. It’s a lot to keep track of, especially when it’s not entirely clear what everyone is up to, who’s working with/against whom, and exactly what the heck is going on. Abnett never really manages to establish the setting and characters’ backgrounds, and information about it only comes in dribs and drabs. One more draft with an emphasis on increasing clarity of the plot and characters’ motivations and identities would have helped a great deal.

I give the book 2.5 stars out of 5, but I wanted to give it a lot more than that. Dan Abnett is a great writer, and there were some fun aspects to this story, but I was alternatively bored and confused between the good bits. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great by any means. Not the author’s finest work, though I still whole-heartily recommend all his Eisenhorn, Ravenor, and Gaunt’s Ghosts work. Recommended for Abnett fans who are willing to give this one more time and attention than I was.


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Review copyright 2011 J. Andrew Byers