For the uninitiated,
snapshot reviews are when I take 4-6 samples (usually fantasy) and,
er, review them. Hopefully it’s helpful for readers to find new
books and authors.
Quite a mix amongst
this half dozen, with sci-fi and fantasy, comedy and serious stuff.
The Copper Promise
(Copper Cat Trilogy), by Jen Williams
The sample includes
multiple perspectives, but manages to start tying them together
before it ends (which is helpful for trying to assess how the plot
might go forward). The opening chapter features a nobleman being
surprisingly stoic under torture (nothing too graphic), as his
jailers seek to prise from his lips information about his family’s
wealth. Following on, there are chapters about separate but linked
mercenaries delving into an ancient, haunted, subterranean place,
with the latter pair of mercenaries hired by the previously mentioned
nobleman (now in a state of some injury, following the torture). The
sample ends as they approach the ruin. I enjoyed the writing style,
and really liked the very different voices that the differing POVs
had. A good test of this is to imagine dialogue without any tags, so
the spoken words alone indicate the speaker, and this passes with
flying colours. It’s an intriguing beginning.
The Gorgon Bride, by
Galen Surlark-Ramsey
An interesting change
of pace here. I must admit, fantasy set in the real world tends not
to my cup of tea, so when the sample opened with a real life setting
hopes were not high. However, I do like Greek mythology, and that’s
mingled with the modern world in this comedy-fantasy. The sample’s
storyline follows the antics of Alexander Weiss, pianist, and Athena,
goddess and taunter of Ares. The mortal soon meets his mortality and
is destined to try and find love for Euryale, one of Medusa’s
sisters and fellow gorgon. One nice aspect of comedy is that you can
tell very quickly whether the style of the humour is to your taste
which determines in large part whether you’ll like the book or not.
I found it to be a light-hearted and entertaining read. Perhaps as
helpfully (for me) it’s a stand alone, rather than part 1 of the
Mega Long Fantastical Series.
Paternus: Rise of the
Gods (the Paternus Trilogy book 1), by Dyrk Ashton
This is a weird one to
review, because it has several things I dislike but it’s also very
competently done (particularly the first chapter, of 4-5 or so
complete in the sample) which is excellent. It’s set in the modern
day real world, with a thrillerish writing style. Could be a blend of
magic and technology, not quite clear. The story looks at various
POVs, mostly from the perspective of Firstborn. They’re ancient
godlike figures, often taken from historical myths. There seems to be
some sort war brewing between Asuras (rebels against the ‘Father’
that created them) and Devas (Father loyalists) but how is not clear.
I do think it’s interesting and well done, but, like celery, it’s
just not for me.
The Sons of Thestian
(the Harmatia Cycle book 1), by ME Vaughan
Much more my usual fare
than the previous two samples, but I must admit it didn’t grab me.
The prologue opens with Jionathan, a prince and would-be escapee from
his own city, attempting to evade a nocturnal patrol of bloodthirsty
and transmogrified mages, ‘aided’ by the mage Rufus (who appears
to be in a stupor). Rufus gets hidden and the prince, as you might
expect early on, gets caught and ends up back in his castle. Over the
ensuing few chapters we learn the prince’s father is ill, and the
Night Patrol is a new and odd addition to the city. Rufus has more
POV time early on, but there’s a bit too much telling rather than
showing. It’s not badly written, indeed, I found it very easy to
read, but it just didn’t grab me.
Kingshold (Wildfire
Cycle book 1), by DP Woolliscroft
Have to say I was
almost immediately taken by this. It’s the story, seemingly, of a
power transition from a terrible king and queen (who end up leaving
their positions sooner than they expect, at the hands of a vengeful
but probably righteous wizard) and the shift of a kingdom towards a
republic/democracy. There are many POVs, indeed, it wasn’t until
the last chapter in the sample that one recurred (I did wonder if the
author might try, heroically/foolishly, to tell a whole story without
repeating a single POV). Every one was engaging, the writing was
effortless to read, and, at this early stage, I enjoyed the way the
story was going. There’s a drunken minstrel, a precocious maid, a
hardbitten mage, and so on. It’s an intriguing start.
Space Team (Volume 1),
by Barry J Hutchison
Another comedy that
begins in the real world, but this one is sci-fi. The sample’s a
little shorter and doesn’t quite have time to set out the premise.
It follows Cal Carver, who ends up in the wrong prison due to a
bureaucratic error, just as all hell seems to break loose. He wakes
up in space for reasons about to be revealed, when the sample ends.
It’s very engaging and amusing, although the bodily fluid stuff
isn’t my cup of tea. An advantage of comedy over other genres is
that it’s very easy to tell early on if it’ll tickle your fancy,
and, fluids aside, I found the sample of this quite entertaining.
Thaddeus
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