The Snapshots Reviews
are posts in which I review the samples of a small number (4-6) of
books. Reviews are just of the samples, I haven’t read the full
books of any of them, at the time of posting this. The first
Snapshots Review was elsewhere, and can be found here. The books I’ve
reviewed are all in the fantasy genre.
Dangerous to Know
(Chronicles of Breed, book 1), by KT Davies
The first sample I read in this batch, and I have to admit, things really hit the ground
running. The writing style was immersive and easy to read, the world
is well-realised and portrayed without info-dumping (I never felt
there was a slab of text outlining society etc, but by the end of the
sample I knew a reasonable amount about the world), and there are
even some light, humorous touches. The sample follows a half-breed
mercenary, half-human, half-thoasa (a sort of war creature). She
starts off in a bad situation (page one features being chased by a
dragon) and it soon gets worse when Breed finds herself in an icy
ruin with a demon her only hope for discovering the way out. Really
good start to things.
The Rage of Dragons, by
Evan Winter
This sample is in two
halves, with the first half being a sort of prologue, and the latter
half (starting with Chapter One) occurring a century and a half-ish
later. The prologue has a slightly unusual premise, which I like, of
a queen leading her people on a sort of watery exodus, landing her
ships on land to escape some unknown danger. However, the locals
aren’t too happy and a bit of a war ensues. The latter part is on
the claimed land but some time later, following Tau, a young chap
aspiring to become a warrior. Unfortunately there is a lot of
info-dumping and jargon, which gets in the way of both pace and
clarity.
[A note on this: I
couldn’t believe it got such a high rating on Amazon. One review I
checked explained why. Apparently the start is pretty iffy but the
latter half is fantastic, a bit like the Lies of Locke Lamora.
Obviously, I’m just reviewing samples, and things can improve or
worsen. Just thought I’d mention that].
Tree of Ages (the Tree
of Ages series book 1), by Sara C Roethle
This one had an unusual
premise. A tree stops being a tree, and becomes a young woman. Finn
doesn’t know how, or why, and wants to return to being a tree. With
the help of a kindly cottager, Finn sets out to reverse the
transformation. I like a different premise, and enjoyed this sample a
lot. Easy to read, low on action (there’s none) but highly
engaging, as samples go it’s very good. The foundation of the story
is laid, main characters introduced, and I found it very interesting.
The Thief Who Pulled On
Trouble’s Braids (Amra Thetys Series book 1), by Michael McClung
By chance, I happened
to pick this and another winner of the excellent SPFBO contest. So,
hopes were high as I began the sample. And met. The story follows
Amra, a thief not quite world class but definitely a cut above the
average, as her friend Corbin is trying to sort out a deal gone
wrong. He leaves her a golden statuette and extricates a promise to
look after his dog if anything goes wrong. And it does, of course.
The writing style’s easy to read and and the world is effortlessly
revealed through natural storytelling. It’s a charming book, which
I suspect will be quite gritty.
The Grey Bastards (the
Lot Lands), by Jonathan French
By weird coincidence,
this is also an SPFBO contest winner. The sample follows Jackal, a
half-orc, and his friends Oats and Fetching (also half-orcs) as they
have something of a tangle with a group of human soldiers outside a
brothel. The trio return to the Kiln, their headquarters, and their
boss, Claymaster, holds a meeting which probably unveils the wider
premise of the story (which may be hinted at in the brothel fight).
Enjoyable to read, with grim humour and a plot/world that unfolds
naturally, it’s yet another sample that could easily lead to me
buying the book (this half-dozen of samples is something of an
embarrassment of riches).
Darkmage (the Rhenwars
Saga Volume 1), by ML Spencer
Darkmage’s sample
largely follows Darien, a soldier returning from a front line in a
classic high fantasy world, where the enemy are pressing strongly and
he wants his mother (effectively head of state) to allow a pacific
oath to be broken to win the war. Naturally, there’s quite a bit of
tension there, not least because he’s returning to inherit arcane
power and is expected to take the oath himself. But the enemy are
closer than either of them think. The story’s premise works, but I
did find the writing style to be a little more tell than show
(for example, Darien courted a lady mage, against the rules, and
that’s why he was away in the first place. Why not show that?).
It’s not bad, but didn’t grab me.
I had planned to
nominate just one as a recommendation, as per the first time, but
there are a number of great samples well worth a look.
Thaddeus
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