It's been a bit of a slow reading time for me recently, but there's still a few books I want to talk about...
The Deep by John Crowley - Crowley is an author I've been wanting to read for a long time, so when I spotted this in the gamble I decided to take a gamble despite this not being a book I'd heard much about. The concept is very simple - a half-robotic creature is sent to visit a feudal world for reasons he doesn't know - and has a compelling nature as a result. What is also compelling, but simultaneously offputting, is the decidedly archaic and formal nature of the prose. It is at once evocative and maddeningly slowing. This book is only a 170 pages but I still haven't finished it.
Nevertheless, I have to recommend The Deep to, well, anyone. It captures the mythic, grand saga feel of fantasy's beginnings while feeling like something from a different evolutionary path and the story itself has a certain Shakespearean grandeur to it. Normally I'd try to bolt through a book like this to try and find out how it ends, but this time I'm going to take it slow and savour each moment.
Distaff: A Science-Fiction Anthology by Women by various - While I'm on a Sci-Fi kick, here's an anthology I was recently given a chance to review. Full disclosure - all of the authors are members of the SFFChronicles forum, which is to say I already internet know and respect all of them, and have received a lot of friendship and help from many. So needless to say, like the snake I am, I'm looking forwards to repaying the favour by turning on them and sticking a knife in their back.
... don't give me that look.
Alas, the stories I've read so far are of a uniformly high quality, with many of them leaving me wondering what happened after the story ended and one wishing I'd written it myself. Its hard to say more than that when I've only read halfway and they're all individual stories. I can say though that so far, its been a wide-ranging journey over SF's various sub-genres and that if anything unites this collection, it is a feeling of being about normal women who are more than capable of dealing with extraordinary circumstances.
Up to the Throne by T.A. Frost - From one SFFChronner to another; I've been excited for Toby's first fantasy novel for a while as a mix of Noir Revenge and Renaissance-based fantasy is right in my sweet spot. I even interviewed him about it. The book itself I found somewhat hard to get into to begin with due to a decent sized cast and a fast action-based opening but as my familiarity and emotional connection to the players increased, so did my enjoyment.
There's a very inevitable Joe Abercrombie comparison to be made here so I'll make it - this book is about as different from Best Served Cold as two pseudo-Italian revenge stories with hard-bitten female protagonists who use cunning and the odd dose of violence to take on their far more powerful foes can be. Up To The Throne has more focus on both sides of the conflict, and its focus on inhuman races, faith and magic makes it feel more fantastic. The supporting cast is less double-dipped in villainy and the heroine, Giulia, feels more like Caul Shivers in some way than Monza. So if that sounds like interesting differences, give it a go.
Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson - I'm not a big Malazan fan. I tried reading Gardens of the Moon and spent a pleasant 200 or so pages reading it before deciding I'd probably get more enjoyment out of another book. Somewhere at home, I have one of the spin-offs that had a similar fate. I enjoy his writing and I love what I hear of his ideas but somewhere in the execution it lacks excitement.
I got Forge of Darkness out of the library to have another go and dear gods I found this book difficult. Everything I said about Crowley's prose goes double. The cast is gigantic, the internal monologuing constant and while I support strong messages, the tone preachy. Nevertheless I did find myself enjoying the book as I got into it - but before I'd got even a third of the way in, I realised that two months had gone and the library wanted its book back. And I gave it back without much regrets. My quioxtic quest to find out what everyone else sees in Malazan will have to continue with another book; if anyone out there is on a similar quest, this is not the book for them.
Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes - I was reading this book at the same time as House of Shattered Wings and I kind of forget about it after getting completely hooked on House. But I fully intend to return to this tale of piratical misdemeanours and politics. It has the feel of a story intent on establishing its characters before going epic; it is quick-paced and I smile at most of the right moments.
But perhaps most importantly, I don't know what's going to happen to Stillwater and Drake. Most stories have a shape to them where, even if you may be wrong about the details, the grand shape of them is apparent quickly enough. Not here. Either could be a hero or a villain come the end, or even just a corpse. Their ambiguous personalities and status as dual protagonists offers the prospect of a fascinating game of cat and mouse.
Also, pirates. Just not enough Pirate Fantasy out there.
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