Review: Forged in Blood I (Emperor’s Edge book 6), by Lindsay Buroker

It’s been a little while, but good to get back to the Emperor’s Edge series which is a little outside my standard high/classic/medieval fantasy (I’ve also been binge-reading The Black Company, which I might collectively review once I finish Soldiers Live).

Obviously there are spoilers for previous entries, though I’ll try and keep those and current book spoilers to a minimum.

 

The story picks up with our band of assorted rapscallions back in the capital, with Emperor Sespian officially deemed out of the picture (although actually still very much alive and well and rescued by Amaranthe and her chaps). Already the contest for the throne is underway, with Maldonado’s brother (a general) backed by his own men and Forge, while other claimants have powerful support as well, and some generals are standing fast and considering their options.

Soldiers in the city are showing support for one faction or another with coloured armbands, and while fighting hasn’t broken out there’s simmering tension in the air. Propaganda has replaced news, and a chance discovery by Sicarius presents a possible means of infiltrating Forge. Amaranthe, keen to do something about their incredible technological edge (sure to guarantee victory should it come to outright war), seeks to exploit the opportunity. At the same time, Sespian is sent to make contact with a neutral general in order to try and build support at reclaiming his throne. Sicarius goes along to shadow his son, while the other members of Amaranthe’s merry men are split between the two.

I did find myself getting sucked into the book a lot, with various tense/action scenes nicely done, and some ambiguity here and there adding to uncertainty in a good way. Slightly less a fan of the ‘ending’ (it’s only part 1 of Forged in Blood, to be fair) for reasons I can’t really explain without massive spoilers, but it’s certainly not a deal-breaker or anything like that.

 

I’ll still be picking up part 2 in the nearish future, and am currently reading The Guardians of Byzantium, book 1, a historical fiction set in 395 AD.

 

Thaddeus

Returning to Retribution Falls: Tales of the Ketty Jay (book one), by Chris Wooding

  

It’s been over a decade since I last read Retribution Falls, reviewed here. I always had fond memories of it, and decided to revisit the series. Would time have changed my mind? 

No. In fact, it was even better than I remembered. Already sinking my teeth heartily into the daring meal of adventure, engaging characters, and a very well put together plot (cunning twists that make sense in the world that’s established), this was perfect when the UK decided to cosplay as Jamaica on a hot day. Unable to work, I spent hours more reading than usual and read three-quarters of the book over a two day period.

It was great, just what I needed, and eminently enjoyable. The steampunk (if I’m referring to the right genre, with lever-action shotguns, airships, and a mix of gas, oil, and electrical lighting) genre is not one I read too much, Emperor’s Edge probably being the only other series that falls into the category but the world is very well realised and comes across effortlessly. Likewise, while Frey, the captain, is the main character every crewman is fleshed out and a couple (Jez and Crake) are especially well-developed.

There’s wry humour amid a serious story, dramatic twists and turns alongside character development. It’s a cracking book and a great start to a fantastic series. It’ll be interesting for me to re-read my own review from some time ago, but right now I’m very glad that, as I try and clear out old books, I hung onto the Tales of the Ketty Jay series. It’s top stuff.

 

Thaddeus

Review: Conspiracy (Emperor’s Edge book 4), by Lindsay Buroker

I’ve got two series on the go at the moment, and one of them is the Emperor’s Edge, by Lindsay Buroker. It’s a slightly different setting than my usual medieval/high fantasy, being more steampunk in nature, and follows the eponymous gang of criminals/heroes (a sort of steampunk A-Team) as they try and do good and foil evildoers.

I really like Buroker’s writing style, which makes reading relaxing and effortless, and I often ended up reading more in a single sitting than I’d intended. By this stage, the characters have all been fleshed out significantly, from the leader Amaranthe Lokdon, formerly a cop, to ladies’ man Maldynado, magical teen punk Akstyr, Books the academic, Basilard the mute foreigner, and Sicarius the ruthless assassin.

This time, Amaranthe and company are seeking to rescue the emperor himself, who is effectively under the control of the mysterious Forge conspirators (the series’ antagonists). We see at least one returning face, and a few more seemingly significant characters enter the stage.

I won’t spoil the plot, though it’s interesting that this book is a bit less of an isolated episode than some previous entries in the series. Every book tends to slightly shift the focus, so while Amaranthe is the core of the group the others do get their time for development, and this time Akstyr gets his slice of the action (in a way that fits perfectly with the story).

There’s some nice banter, twists and turns, though I admit one or two of Amaranthe’s decisions did make me raise an eyebrow. But, on the whole, I found the book to be very engaging and will definitely be getting book 5 at some point.

Thaddeus

Deadly Games (Emperor’s Edge Book 3), by Lindsay Buroker

The previous entries in this series have been reviewed here for book 1, and here for book 2. There may well be spoilers for earlier instalments within this review.

Amaranthe and the assorted members of the Emperor’s Edge (think steampunk A-Team) return just as the fictional equivalent of the Olympics are being held. But athletes are going missing, and nobody knows why. The Emperor’s Edge sets about investigating, only for a couple of their most capable warriors to captured, leaving Amaranthe and the rest to try and work out where they are and how to save them.

The side-plot is trying to get a newspaper editor on-side to get some good PR to counteract the widely held but false perception of the group as terrorist, violent nutcases.

One thing I like about this series is the character development, which falls into neither the trap of becoming stale nor into overly rapid/inconsistent changes. The people do change in a natural, credible way, and while each individual adventure is largely self-contained, the underlying group dynamics evolve along the way (reminds me a little of Tales of the Ketty Jay, by Chris Wooding, in that regard).

Similarly, the tone remains as before, adventurous and occasionally a little serious without straying into grimdark. It’s a really easy read, a rollicking tale of good versus evil, with occasional moral ambiguity and genuine tensions between mercenaries. And the ending is very good as well.

In short, if you liked the first two entries in the series, the third book will also be right up your street. 

Thaddeus

Review: Dark Currents (Emperor’s Edge Book 2), by Lindsay Buroker

It’s been quite a while since I read the first Emperor’s Edge book, an engaging read in a more technologically advanced setting than I usually go for (think steampunk). Naturally, spoilers for that are contained in this review so if you want to avoid those, stop reading now. My review of the previous entry in this series is here.

At the start of the book Amaranthe, a former cop, has assembled what amounts to a steampunk A-Team, and is intent on clearing their names (including that of Sicarius, the taciturn assassin). Aided by a preening peacock, a learned bookworm, a foreign mute, and a delinquent novice mage, Amaranthe and her assorted ne’er-do-wells have been attempting to find problems to solve to get into the Emperor’s good books (hence their collective name, the Emperor’s Edge). When a corpse gets washed up the trail leads the Edge into an alarming conspiracy regarding the city’s water sources and magical constructs. Tensions continue to rise between the misfits as Amaranthe does her best to balance a group whose primary unifying characteristic is having bounties on their heads.

The characterization is excellent and fun, and the pace is handled very nicely, never feeling sluggish without straying into over-the-top needy constant action. It had been a while since I read the first book so it did take me a little while to recall who was who beyond Amaranthe and Sicarius, but this was a fun and engaging read and I’m looking forward to part three.

Incidentally, you can get the Emperor’s Edge Collection, which is the first three e-books, and is very good value.

Thaddeus

Review: The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker

To find new writers, I decided to cunningly download several free books by people whose books had been downloaded by readers who also had a look the first episode of Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger. One of these was The Emperor’s Edge, by Lindsay Buroker.

It’s a steampunk novel, the first in a series. Steampunk isn’t my usual fare but I’m not averse so I thought I’d give it a crack.

Having recently finished, I’m glad I did. The characters are engaging, the plot well-paced, and the writing style as relaxing as listening to Beethoven in the bath.

The protagonist is Amaranthe Lokdon, one of few female enforcers (policemen) in the Turgonian capital, nicknamed Stumps. When the notorious assassin Sicarius* returns to the capital, Amaranthe is a bit perturbed to find herself tasked with bringing him down. But all is not as it seems…

The other, secondary, POV character is the youthful and academically minded emperor, Sespian. At odds with his militant commander (and regent in all but name) Hollowcrest, Sespian struggles to steer the empire away from a military mindset and towards a more peaceful, scholarly path. Naturally, this sets him on a collision course with Hollowcrest.

The meat of the story is Amaranthe’s efforts, together with a small band of rogues, to uncover conspiracy at the heart of the empire and keep Sespian safe. One thing I enjoyed a lot was the characterisation. The cast’s fairly small which gives each character space to develop a little, which works very well as the author has done a very good job making the dialogue and character interactions feel realistic. In short, they have charm and that, mingled with the easy writing style, makes the book effortlessly enjoyable to read.

I’ve taken to reading a physical book during the day and a chapter or two of an e-book at night and, even when I was feeling slightly tired or cantankerous, The Emperor’s Edge always had me immersed.

Annoyingly, I have a brilliant one line description for the conclusion, but it’s necessarily spoilerific, so I’ll use it if/when (probably when) I buy the sequel.

Downsides? It’s a little lighter than my usual fare, which is fine except that sometimes bloody doings seem a little lacking in emotional impact.

Thaddeus

*This probably won’t be interesting to most people, but I was intrigued that his name seems derived from the same root (dagger) as the Sicarii, a violent sect of Jewish religious extremists in the 1^st century AD, who clashed with the Zealots during The Jewish War.