Oblivion's Forge
by Simon Williams
Oblivion's Forge is a Fantasy book, written in an almost poetic style, but done well. There are several important characters. First we meet Vornen, who has apparently done something to upset a warlock. The story unfolds slowly, revealing who he is, why he is traveling, and what he's done to get in his current position.
The we have one who was Chosen, Amethyst. She has visions and headaches and is unwillingly caught up in magic while on a journey. A healer, Jaana also begins a journey. There is foul magic afoot, people becoming possessed and evil gods as well as cryptic messages. All the stuff that Fantasy is made of.
What really struck me about this story though was exceptional writing. The mastery of language and engaging 'voice' of the writer draw us irresistibly into this imaginary world, despite the trouble and conflicts at every turn. The primary premise of this first book in the series is that a lost world, Aona, has been found and the younger races want to return. We meet people from the Luyan, Du-luyan and Human races, but there are hints that more exist and some of them are dark.
There is some wonderful imagery and great character development.
On the down side, there were many times when I lost track of what was going on. New characters joined the tale quite late in the story and several story lines were set up that are apparently resolved in the sequels. If you start this book, you're committing to a continuous series.
One the other hand, the quality of the writing is such that serious Fantasy readers will probably see that as a good thing. This is certainly an author to watch, and I'll be interested to see what else he comes out with over time.
4 stars.
The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
This book is pretty popular with young female readers, but personally I found it very immature. Part of the reason for this is no doubt that it was written in present tense, which seems to have become popular with 14-20 year old female readers in recent years. Presumably they didn't notice in school that all the great books of history are written in past tense, and even the trashy Romances from Harlequin are past tense, but never mind.
The premise is a contest between a circus magician who is the real thing and another magician, both using their children like pit fighting animals. The circus magician inherits his daughter from a mother who presumably abandons her, but there is no mention of trauma from this childhood rejection. What's wrong with this picture?
The odd thing is that the author is brilliant at atmospherics. The feeling of the night circus and the creepy goings on associated with it have real potential for a story setting. Unfortunately the story is slow moving and the characterization is weak.
Despite my yawning disappointment with this book, I hope this writer keeps writing. There is an inherent talent for description that could be developed, and along with some practice on plotting, pace and characterization, could potentially develop into a good writer, although she'll have to transcend the present tense fad to be taken seriously.
Two stars.
The Thirteenth Tale
by Diane Setterfield
The Thirteenth Tale is a strange, but captivating story. It starts out with the protagonist as a solitary little girl who enjoys the company of the books in her father's bookstore. One day she discovers a family secret and her imagination puts a lot of importance on a twin sister who never lived.
The story suddenly jumps to the protagonist as an adult who has become a journalist. She is given an interview with an author who is reclusive, who wrote a book originally titled The Thirteenth Tale.
It becomes immediately apparent that the protagonist and this author have something in common, something that touches on the family secret that she has carried with her all these years, having to do with twins. Through a series of stories told about the author's younger life, we find a close connection and a hint of ghosts in the lives of both of these characters.
The stories have an ethereal quality to them, although it's sometimes difficult to tell when a new chapter starts whether the old lady is telling another story or the journalist is speaking about her own experiences.
Towards the end there's a very clever twist that makes the old lady's stories all come together and make perfect sense. The last few chapters seemed drawn out to me. The author was obviously attempting to tie up loose ends, although one detail was still left unexplained.
It was an interesting read though, a strong 3.5 stars.
Dawn of Steam: First Light by Jeffrey Cook, Sarah Symonds
This is a story written as a series of letters and journal entries in a Victorian tone that feels authentic, though it speaks of airships and what sounds like an Ironman suit from its description. It is a method of writing reminiscent of the original Dracula by Bram Stoker, wherein the story unfolds through the narrative of the series of entries.
The narrative within the letters speaks of impending war. There are some asides that speak perfectly naturally about how one might camouflage an airship. There also seems to be a close relationship between the narrator and his fiancée, Cordelia.
Though at least one of the authors is American, they have managed one of the best impersonations of an English dialect I've seen, having only given themselves away once. Not to worry, it was something only an Englishman would spot.
Generally, one of the biggest strengths of the book is the use of language. We don't really get to know the characters intimately in this format and the plot comes in bites. The pace is rather slow, but not in the boring sense. It is a novel to take your time with and bask in the atmosphere of Victorianism in an alternate history.
The book is also well-edited. There are some nice details... including descriptions of 5 kinds of flowers and mention of a style of goggles for rifle shooting accuracy as well as meticulous attention to authentic Victorian manners, like looking away when a lady spills something on her dress.
The detailed description of the experience of travel in an airship brings the reader right into the experience and by the end it was easy to imagine reading this while dressed in Steampunk gear and sipping tea, perhaps a few entries per day over time to get into character for an upcoming Steampunk event.
Although I cannot describe it as action packed, I have to give it 4 stars out of 5 for good quality of writing. Well done.
The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David C. Meredith
Of all the fairytale retellings I've read, this one began and ended with the most beautiful prose. The story begins with picturesque imagery of hawks flying in a mating dance while preparations are made for a wedding below. The impending royal wedding is for the daughter of Queen Snow White.
Snow White is older now. She is bereaved of Prince Charming, and goes on about her pain in missing him to the point of seeming emo. I did feel this part was belabored a little on the heavy side. She's not in the mood to see visiting nobles, so she ducks down a corridor and finds herself in the old part of the castle and the stair to her wicked stepmother's tower, where, of course, she will find the infamous magic mirror that caused so much trouble in her childhood.
Much of the early story was very true to original and well written so that it gave the feeling of being there. Snow White had very human emotions and reactions. I could feel genuine sympathy for her in her grief and in her memories of what was undeniably an abusive childhood.
The mirror had some interesting surprises for me. I soon learned that things are not always what they seem when you're dealing with dark magic. Through a series of flashbacks, the reader is shown much of the early life of Snow White, both before she met Prince Charming and after she married him and regained her kingdom. Much of it was strong on psychological analysis, which took me out of the story a little.
Sensitive readers should be warned that in places the story is a little overly graphic on abuse, violence and the side effects of choking on the apple. The Evil Queen in still strong in Snow White's memory and still provides a powerful nemesis for the story.
I also felt that the story goes on about God a bit much and could have done with less realistic biological processes in some instances. I have to admit that I found Snow White's wedding night more explicit than I might have expected. While I have no objection to erotic versions of fairytales, the bulk of the story was not erotica so I found it odd that the author would be so graphic in just a couple of scenes, making the story unsuitable for young readers and cutting the potential audience in half. I felt it was unnecessary to go into that much detail for the purposes of this story, which might have appealed to a much wider age demographic otherwise.
Through the mirror's flashbacks, we get a good look at the real problems of running a court and the intrigues that beset the rulers of fairytale kingdoms very much as they did in real historic kingdoms. Overall, I felt the story was very well done and the conclusions that were reached balanced out the intent of the story nicely.
I would give it an easy 4 out of 5 stars, with a proviso that it could do with a final copy edit and maybe cutting out the more graphic sexual descriptions so that under 18's could enjoy it too.
Time Shifters by Shanna Lauffey
This is a short novella with a lot of action and some interesting ideas about time travel and how it works. It's the beginning of a series of a predicted 10 books which, if the beats and action are similar to the first book, would make a fantastic television series.
Akalya is a Time Shifter, a people called Harekai. They are like time Gypsies, moving among ordinary people and maintaining invisibility by working at service jobs and making an effort not to bring attention to themselves, even wearing colors in the cool shades that tend to avert drawing notice.
Suddenly the Time Shifters are being captured by a mysterious group of people that might be government or might be someone else. Akalya escapes, but her first attempts to rescue those who are captured fails, despite their special abilities. Something is stopping them from shifting.
I was very impressed with the way the rules of time travel were explained in this book. Some complicated concepts were brought across in an easy to understand format that brought the reader further into rapport with the main character. There was a hint of romance, but in a subtle way that makes the reader wonder if it will go that way in the end.
Most importantly, it kept the pages turning. Akalya's quest to track down who is behind the disappearances leads her to some side-splitting situations and a lot of tension as the clues lead in multiple directions and through some haunting reminiscences of different times.
This one was an easy 5 out of 5 stars. I'm looking forward to the next book coming out.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I was warned just before I started this story that it had been written in present tense, which is normally a deal breaker for me. Most of the stories I start to read that are written in present tense get put down and abandoned pretty quick. However, this one had so much good press that I decided to give it a gallant try and try to push through what might be considered my own limitation in my abhorrence for this format. It's time travel after all.
I had to admit as I started that it was done better than the average present tense story and I could see how it would fit the nature of the story. I could only read 10 pages before I needed a break though. Two evenings later I managed to finish the first chapter. At that point I could see how the story was going and thought it was a very interesting concept.
The story is about a time traveller who can't control when he moves through time or where/when he goes. He appears at different ages in different parts of his wife's life, starting when she's a small child. There is a strong romantic angle as the girl grows up with this man appearing in her life at various stages so that she already knows him at different ages by the time she is a teenager herself.
One thing I liked about it is that he can't take anything with him when he time travels. This means that he appears naked in random times and places and has to learn to find ways to find clothing quickly and to respond to whatever circumstances he finds himself in each time.
One thing I didn't like was that several questions were left unanswered at the end. He makes a couple of significant appearances in his own life and one of them is never explained.
Overall I enjoyed the story, but it's definitely something I'll only read once. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
