Another Book Review (or three :) ).

[Balgin]

As it's been quite a while since I posted my last book review (The Tomes of RegreT) I've decided to shove a few more up here for you all. If I can keep it up (and maybe remember old books that I might still have knocking around like The Borribles) then this could become an almost regular feature. So, anyway, without further ado, here's what I've been reading recently.

I purchased three books on the same day by authors from my country (this was a pure coincidence) and here's a basic list to whet your appetites. There was Thraxas (somone called something Scott, ironically I had heard an interview with the author on the radio a few weeks before and he is genuinely Scottish), The Sorcerors Appendix (by Andrew Harmann, I was in silly mood, I'll explain about this one later) and The Thief's Gambleby Juliet E McKenna. Having already got an idea as to what Thraxas was like I finished it within about twenty eight hours, now that's fast going for me, I generally take a week or two to digest what I am reading but I couldn't put this one down. The story is that of an "ex soldier, failed sorceror and legendary drinker" who just happens to be a private investigator. He lives in a slummy area of a large city that is vaguely reminiscent of Glasgow (culturaly speaking, that is), owes money to a local criminal organisation (a gambling debt), get's his room regularly wrecked whilst he's out, has to interrogate druged up street kids and has a generally hard time getting set up as a murderer. On top of this everyone wants to get their hands on a missing shipment of "red evlish cloth" because it's practically magic proof. It is also illegal for anyone exept the king to own it. Due to a simple missunderstanding Thraxas is suspected of hiding the cloth (this results in his house getting broken into four times in two days,not to mention twice in one night!) Now, the only downside to this was that it was written in a first person, present tense purspective. I don't mind first person, but persistant present tens got me into that "how can what I'm just reading now be happening to him now when what I read four pages back is just happening to him exactly at this point in time (if I turn back the pages I can find veritable proof of it) and as such reading this could be tedious but it's so well done that I don't mind" frame of mind. If your in an Agatha Christie mood you probably still won't be able to guess who has the cloth in the end (unless your pretty imaginative or have read "Murder on the links" by Ms Christie). It's worth reading anyway and highly entertaining with it's self depricating, tongue in cheek gritty fantasy style.
The Sorceror's Appendix by Andrew Harmann took me over a week to finish, it was that dire. I am glad to say that it no longer graces my room with it's undignified presence. Imagine a writer who is worse Terry Pratchett (and that's hard to imagine at certain times of day) but marginally better than Tom Holt and you'll have a fairly good idea what Harmann's writing style is like. Poor jokes and awful puns litter the pages (the general "Kah Nij" and the architect "Emsee Escher" to repeat but a few, also PAYE (Pay, as you earn, an English tax rate for certain jobs) is Pay As You Eat, magic is written in ASCII characters (I can't remember the awful pun in that one) and there were a few obscure ones that not even I got). Redeemingly about three or four of the jokes are in good taste (and when there's easily upwards of eighteen a page that's bad) and there are some terrible inconsistences, for example, his sense of humour has people accidentally uttering their true ntent whilst attempting to con other characters who blatantly ignore such obvious hints. And the North Country Knight cannot understand an attempt at archaic english made by another character who is attempting to communicate with him, irrespective of the fact that the area that his dialect is based on has retained the actual word used in the communications attempt since the time of the King James Bible! I find that people who cannot understand words aren't annoying butwhen they've grown up in one of the few areas left that actually use the words in question that's frankly unforgiveable. There wasn't a single moment of unpredictability I'm afraid so I won't be reading much by him again (not twice anyway).
The Thief's Gamble by Juliet E McKenna is so damned good that I haven't finished it yet, I'm savouring the moment. The style of the writing reminds me of David Gemmel (minus about two third of the violence and sex, and a stoyline thrown in), Stephen Lawhead, tha fellow who wrote Watership Down (and Shardik) and Jean M Aul, the author of Clan of the Cave Bear all rolled into one). The story eventually evolved at a pleasant speed, due to certain upheavals the wizards all moved to a secret offshore island to congregate and study. Some generations later they recalled that the empire that had fallen just prior to their departure, had records of a different system of magic (they all used an elemental form of magic) and that the two systems where incompatible and didn't work together at all. More ironically wizards cannot use this older magic. They immediately set about sending out merchants to find relics of the old empire (wizards who already own such relics have been having historical dreams, featuring the items in question). Unfortunately the important antiques have an effect of making their owners somewhat reluctant to part with them. Fortunately a thief, low on money and out for revenge, robs an arrogant noble and accidentally takes his prize antique cup. She then makes the mistake of trying to sell it to one of the wizard's merchants and is forced to cooperate in the aquiring of certain ancient objects. The events are interspersed by the recurrent appearence of short, stocky blond bearded men armed with broadswords and armoured in chainmail. They always fight with extreme violence (even when none is needed to accomplish their desires) and never leave a trail. No elemental magic can detect them and they seem to use a disorientation magic of the other kind. However, they die easily enough and the bodies stay. Their main aim seems to be getting hold of the antiques first. Apparently they bear a strong resemblance to the Mountain Men (a race of miners up in the northen mountain) and it is possible that Empirial historians confused an invasion attempt by their last emperor upon the far eastern island where they live, as an invasion attempt upon the northen mining province. I like this one a lot but the magic is a little high powered and over demonstrative for my liking. However, there is a lot of subtle magic too (the fairy folk have long gone but the Mountain Men and the Forest Folk are probably related to them) to do with the etherial magic (they call it aetheric magic) working stronger on lay lines and such like. This is the first book in a trilogy and I'll be looking out for the others in future.

I hope you all enjoyed that, I don't ask that you share my opinions but merely wanted to warn you off certain works and acclaim others.


------------------
Balgin, the Dwarf

[Djinn Raffo]

Wow Balgin...that was a good post!
Very well written. An absolute top notch review.
Thank you.
Bye the bye, I hate it when authors use stupid puns for names of characters.
The one you noted: Kah Nij. Gimme a break! What the hell was Andrew Harmann
thinking to put that in his book. "Ah...I got this great idea for the name
of the villian...Kah Nij...with such a name my readers will know
immediatly that this character is so diabolically evil...so full of CARNAGE! that they will have no choice but to respect and fear him."


[This message has been edited by Djinn Raffo (edited 06-28-2001).]

[Keryvian]

Originally posted by Balgin: The Thief's Gamble by Juliet E McKenna ... great review deleted to save space ... This is the first book in a trilogy and I'll be looking out for the others in future. I hope you all enjoyed that, I don't ask that you share my opinions but merely wanted to warn you off certain works and acclaim others.

Just FYI. The second book is out now. It's titled "The Swordsman's Oath". I haven't read it yet, I'm currently in the middle of "The Thief's Gamble."

------------------
Nid yw'r hoff o lyfr yn fyr o gyfaill.

[Memnoch]

Wow Balgin, that was very well-written! So you're one of those people that buy books in multiples greater than one as well, eh?

------------------

[Balgin]

I used to read four or five at a time but when I bought a computer I didn't read so much, I'm trying to get back into the habit by reading old favourites (Peter Morwood's Fantasy trilogy, The True Game by Teri.S.Shepper, etc) but I reckon it'll take me a while to get back into the flow. I read slowly in order to let it all sink in. I have now finished The Thief's Gamble but won't spoil the end of it for any of you. According to my UK version, the rest of the trilogy is already out. I'll try to get hold of the other two.

------------------
Balgin, the Dwarf