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Review: Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree

Review: Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree

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Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

I wouldn’t normally be reviewing Travis Baldree’s second novel, because after the success of his debut story (Legends & Lattes) he no longer falls under the category of “self-published or indie author.” On the other hand, I did review the earlier book, and I really enjoyed this one, so . . .

Bookshops & Bonedust is light fantasy, set in a fantasy universe that’s clearly inspired by tabletop role-playing games, with a dash of Terry Pratchett in the mix. It’s a prequel to Legends & Lattes, focusing on the same protagonist: Viv the orc warrior. Here, though, Viv is at the very beginning of her career as an adventurer.

At the beginning of the story, Viv is a very junior member of an adventuring group called Rackam’s Ravens, who have been hired to deal with a necromancer. During a fierce battle against undead, her recklessness gets her seriously injured. Rackam orders her to separate from the group and take refuge in a nearby coastal town called Murk, where she can recover from her wounds.

Viv reaches Murk, and finds it to be a very quiet place. While she’s there, her injuries are slow to heal, which leaves her struggling to do things she would once have taken for granted. The combination is terrible for a reckless young orc, who very quickly finds herself bored out of her mind.

Almost out of desperation, Viv becomes involved with some of the townspeople of Murk, especially a bookseller named Fern. Fern recently inherited a bookshop from her father, and has been struggling to keep the business afloat in a backwater town like Murk. Yet Fern has a gift for finding just the right book for anyone . . . even an orc warrior who has never experienced the joy of reading.

Viv reads the first book, and comes back for more. Then she begins lending a hand as Fern fights to revive her business. She makes friends among the townsfolk. She even falls into a mystery that may have something to do with the necromancer she had been fighting in the first place. In the process, we get to watch her attain a little hard-won maturity, putting her on the path to become the world-wise veteran we met in Legends & Lattes.

Travis Baldree continues to show a very clean prose style, and the editing here is what I would expect from a traditional publishing house. I caught no significant copy or line-editing stumbles. The story structure remains very direct, told entirely in Viv’s close-third-person perspective.

The plot is a little less focused and unified than the earlier novel. There’s more of a sense of several plot threads moving at once, and some of them are more high-stakes than we’ve seen in this world before. That wider focus didn’t bother me, but it left the story feeling not quite as cozy as Legends & Lattes.

I thoroughly enjoyed Bookshops & Bonedust, and I really do hope to see more from Travis Baldree in this world. Very highly recommended if you enjoy light low-stakes fantasy.

Review: King of Sartar, by Greg Stafford

Review: King of Sartar, by Greg Stafford

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King of Sartar by Greg Stafford

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

King of Sartar is a compendium of myths, legends, and faux-historical documents, centered around the mythical hero Argrath, set in the fictional world of Glorantha.

(Note: This review is for the “Revised and Annotated” edition of King of Sartar, published in 2016.)

The most important thing to know about King of Sartar is that it is not a novel. Some reviewers have labeled it as an “epistolary novel,” but even that is too suggestive of a single narrative with a unified plot. There’s none of that in King of Sartar. Instead, it’s a collection of many stories, sometimes multiple versions of the same story, all set in the same fantastic world. It’s a tour de force in world-building, and it’s well worth reading on that basis. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a single coherent narrative, with a more conventional plot, characterization, and dramatic tension, then this book is not going to work for you.

The central conceit in King of Sartar is that centuries ago, a hero named Argrath (the name means something like “savior” or even “messiah”) unified the tribes of the kingdom of Sartar, and led them against the oppressive Lunar Empire which had occupied the kingdom for a generation. The result was a period of conflict and cosmic upheaval known as the “Hero Wars.” The gods and forms of magic that had held sway for eons were cast aside. Even literacy itself vanished, as for generations people simply forgot how to read and write. Only in recent times have literate civilizations begun to reappear. King of Sartar is a collection of fictional letters, scholarly papers, and mythical accounts, all written as if academics are trying to piece together the truth about Argrath long after his death.

There are some brilliant intellectual jokes buried in this odd book, familiar to anyone who’s made a serious study of real-world ancient history or mythology. The Hero Wars and the dark age that followed are immediately reminiscent of the Greek heroic age, and the “Bronze Age Collapse” that brought the Mycenaean civilization crashing down. The book’s fictional authors constantly engage in euhemeristic speculation, trying to cut through to the mundane truth they assume must stand behind the magical stories they’re studying. There are debates over whether Argrath was a single historical individual, or whether several different hero-tales were merged into one. There’s even a dispute over whether a “long” or a “short” chronology is more appropriate, with a positively Velikovskian speculation about whether a few centuries of the accepted account simply never happened in the first place.

Meanwhile, the stories themselves are a treasure-trove of lore about the world of Glorantha, famous through decades of tabletop wargames, roleplaying games, and computer games. Fans of any of these, from Runequest to King of Dragon Pass and its sequels, will find lots of clues to that fictional world here.

King of Sartar defies classification – there just aren’t many books like it in the fantasy genre. The closest thing I can compare it to is parts of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. King of Sartar occasionally reminds the reader of the Silmarillion, or better yet the volumes of unfinished material later collected by Christopher Tolkien to document the evolution of his father’s creation.

All in all, this is less a novel to be read than it is an intellectual experience to be savored. Very highly recommended if you’re a student of ancient history or myth, if you’re a fan of the world of Glorantha, or if you’re simply interested in how fantasy world-building can be done. Keep your distance, though, if you’re looking for a more conventional narrative.

Review: Dragon’s Son, by M. K. Casperson

Review: Dragon’s Son, by M. K. Casperson

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Dragon’s Son by M. K. Casperson

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Dragon’s Son is a short, suspenseful fantasy novel about a bitter conflict between brothers.

Beotia is a powerful kingdom, which has expanded over the last few generations to rule over many human realms. However, Beotia’s most dreaded enemy is the black dragons who live in the northern mountains. Beotia has long maintained a specialized army of dragon-slayers to defend against this foe, and that army is very much needed.

At the beginning of our story, the king of Beotia is enamored of a mysterious woman, who becomes his mistress and bears him two sons: Villian and Alexis. As the young princes grow up, the king’s only legitimate heir is a weak and unassuming daughter, which encourages their desire for power.

Yet in the end, the conflict that threatens to ruin the kingdom is between the brothers. For their mother was no ordinary woman. She was a dragon in human guise, and she bequeathed to her sons all the ambition, greed, and cruelty of her draconic heritage.

The story that follows is one of conflict between the two brothers, but also of conflict within Alexis himself. Influenced by his young wife, he struggles against the urges derived from his mother’s blood, even though he needs the powers of a dragon to defeat his brother. There’s plenty of suspense in the story, as the reader hopes to find out whether Alexis will overcome both his rival and himself.

Dragon’s Son is a fairly short novel, and the plot moves along at a fast pace. I read almost the entire story in one sitting. I was impressed by Ms. Casperson’s prose style; it was very clean, with almost no distracting copy- or line-editing problems. Viewpoint discipline is very good. The story is written from two different viewpoints (Alexis and his wife Amarea), with strict alternation and each chapter clearly labeled. No risk of getting confused here.

I found a few structural choices a little odd. The first chapter seems to set up a conflict that simply evaporates before it has any significant impact on the story. Meanwhile, the first few chapters from the protagonist’s viewpoint are all epistolary rather than viewpoint narrative. Once the main line of the plot emerges, though, it grabs the reader’s attention very effectively.

One thing that did distract me a little was the presence of historical references that ended up seeming out of place. As someone who’s familiar with Greek and Byzantine history, some character names and setting details seemed to promise that this was a historical fantasy, that certain real-world historical events might make an appearance. That turned out not to be the case, and the story went off in a very different direction than I was expecting. Not a serious issue – it’s probably just a matter of specific inspirations that the author chose not to disguise. Most readers probably won’t be diverted by these.

All in all, a very promising early novel, and a quick and exciting read. I’m interested to see what Ms. Casperson comes up with next. Very highly recommended.

Review: The Murder of Heracles, by J. Edward Ritchie

Review: The Murder of Heracles, by J. Edward Ritchie

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The Murder of Heracles: An Amazon Odyssey by J. Edward Ritchie

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

The Murder of Heracles is a fun historical fantasy novel, which takes the familiar world of Greek myth and drives it in some surprising directions.

At the beginning of our story, four young Amazons are about to become full members of the community: Penthesilia (“Pen”), Bremusa (“Bremy”), Valasca (“Val”), and Antianara (“Anne”). They complete their final trial, defending their homeland of Themyscira against invading men. Victorious, they return home to claim their reward. Unfortunately, on that very night, a more effective army of Greeks invades Themyscira, massacring the Amazons and killing their queen Hippolyta. The leader of the Greeks is the “hero” Heracles, here portrayed as an intelligent but monstrous and barbaric figure.

Fifteen years later, the few surviving Amazons live in exile, scraping out an existence in the wilderness, having lost all their culture and pride. Only Hippolyta’s daughter, Derinoe (“Dee”), offers them any hope as she grows to womanhood as a potential queen. Then the survivors discover that Heracles is still alive, standing at the head of a vicious religious cult that demands tribute from across the world. Pen and her companions set out on a quest for revenge, hoping to find Heracles and kill him for what he has done.

What follows is a journey across the world, full of bloody battles, narrow escapes, triumphs, and tragedies. The astute reader will spot references to many stories of Greek myth, even some that are rather obscure; Mr. Ritchie has definitely done his research here. In most cases, there is some dramatic twist to render the familiar story strange.

In fact, this story gives us a very contemporary take on the Greek heroic age. Character dialogue and authorial voice are all in modern and highly colloquial language. The setting is full of anachronisms, elements of the historical Late Bronze Age mixed with much later eras and the fantastic world of myth. I detected some very distinctive influences here: a dash of Xena, scraps of George Pérez’s take on Wonder Woman, and even hints of a recent Assassin’s Creed game. At times, the classicist in me was having seizures . . . but the recipe honestly works well, and the result is a very engaging story.

After all, the core of this story isn’t the mythical or pseudo-historical premise. The core of this story is its leading characters: a band of tough, cynical, bloody-handed, foul-mouthed women who have already suffered all the pain and betrayal the world has to offer. Their personal development across this story is a delight to watch, and their resolution feels very well-earned.

The mechanics of the prose are strong. I caught a few typos and odd word choices, but it was never enough to break me out of the flow of the narrative for long. Viewpoint discipline is very good – the entire story is told from Pen’s perspective, and we hear only her internal dialogue.

This isn’t a novel I would have written, despite my interest in the setting, but I still found it thoroughly enjoyable. I’m very interested to see what Mr. Ritchie comes up with next. Very highly recommended.

Review: Grimm Diagnosis, by Matt Golec

Review: Grimm Diagnosis, by Matt Golec

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Grimm Diagnosis by Matt Golec

Overall Rating: **** (4 stars)

Grimm Diagnosis is the flawed but entertaining story of a present-day doctor, caught up in a land of fables and folktales.

Robert Lang is an American physician, who at the beginning of the story has somehow found himself in another world and is doing his best to adapt.

It’s a strange place! It looks like a medieval German village, with the appropriate level of technology (and personal hygiene). On the other hand, many of the inhabitants are odd to the point of eccentricity, there’s a plethora of princes and princesses about, and everyone seems to speak idiomatic 21st century American English. Strangest of all, Dr. Lang can match many of the villagers with characters out of German (and other) folk tales. His office assistant is a young man named Hans with a sister named Greta, he has dealings with a ruthless guild-mistress called the Godmother of the Fair . . . and the girlfriend he has acquired since arriving seems to be a grown-up Red Riding Hood.

Dr. Lang struggles to make a place for himself, offering what little medical care he can without modern reference books or tools. At first, his biggest worries seem to be competition from the local guild of barber-surgeons, and a spell that has every eligible girl in town competing for his attention. Then the world he came from begins to intrude further, first as simple stray objects, then in the form of people. Soon it becomes obvious that the contact between worlds is expanding, and the results may be disastrous.

Mr. Golec’s prose is fairly clean, although I thought the story could have used some editorial attention. I caught a few grammatical stumbles and other minor problems that a careful copy-editing pass might have fixed. This wasn’t enough to pull me out of the story, but it was noticeable.

The biggest problem I had with Grimm Diagnosis was an oddity of its story structure. Dr. Lang, our viewpoint character, is an oddly passive protagonist. He doesn’t solve the mystery of what’s happening around him. Indeed, he seems barely to notice some aspects of it until other characters call them to his attention. His decisions and actions seem to have little effect on the conflicts of the story. Even his relationship troubles with his girlfriend seem to be resolved more on her initiative than his.

Dr. Lang is certainly a sympathetic character. He has plenty of moral integrity, and his devotion to the well-being of his patients and his adopted community is admirable. Still, he’s not a very active character. Some of this is likely due to the fact that most of the story is framed as a comedy; a comedic protagonist can often be more the victim than the instigator of the plot. Still, I occasionally found myself wishing for him to do something about his situation, rather than letting everyone else in the story do all the hard work of advancing the narrative.

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed Grimm Diagnosis, and found it a light and entertaining read. Highly recommended if you enjoy light-hearted portal fantasy.

Review: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree

Review: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree

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Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Legends & Lattes is light fantasy, set in a tabletop-game-inspired fantasy universe that’s reminiscent of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

Viv is an orc warrior who has been living as an adventurer: delving in dungeons, slaying monsters, wielding a named sword of legend, the whole package. Unfortunately, age and old wounds are starting to get the better of her, so after one final big score she’s looking to reinvent herself wholesale. She moves to the big city of Thune . . . where she plans to open the first coffee shop ever seen there.

That’s it. That’s pretty much the whole story. And it is delightful, a slice-of-life tale that pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go.

The subtitle of Legends & Lattes is “A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes,” and Mr. Baldree isn’t kidding there. There are a few tropes borrowed from more high-stakes stories: a mystery connected with Viv’s last great adventure, a conflict arising from her old dungeon-delving party, another conflict with local gangsters. Still, those elements of the plot are secondary. The real meat of the story is about Viv’s quest for a quiet, peaceful way to live out the rest of her life.

Viv has planned her move very carefully. She selects just the right location for her new venture, hires a contractor to renovate the building, sets up her gnome-designed coffee machine, and opens her doors. Of course, even with all her planning, she had no prior experience as a small-business owner or as a barista. Some things don’t work entirely as expected. As with all startup ventures, she soon suffers the “valley of death” in which all the money is going out rather than coming in. Still, some of the locals soon begin to discover the delights of well-made coffee.

Watching the mechanics of Viv’s startup is certainly fun. She encounters problems, places where her careful planning failed, and she must find ways to overcome them. Watching how Viv reinvents her social style is even more engaging. She quickly discovers that she can’t succeed on her own, any more than she could when she was slaying monsters for a living. Her encounters with potential customers, with business partners, and with new friends are worth the price of admission on their own.

Travis Baldree has a very clean prose style, and the editing here is top-notch. The story structure is very straightforward. Mr. Baldree sticks almost exclusively to third person close viewpoint and a single perspective, and the plot unrolls at a carefully measured pace. A very workmanlike debut novel here.

I fully enjoyed Legends & Lattes, and while I left with the sense that Viv’s story had come to a satisfying conclusion, I certainly wouldn’t object to discovering the existence of a sequel or three. Very highly recommended if you enjoy light Pratchettian fantasy.

Review: The Wild Court, by E. G. Radcliff

Review: The Wild Court, by E. G. Radcliff

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The Wild Court by E. G. Radcliff

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

The Wild Court is the most recent installment in a high-fantasy series, strongly flavored by elements of Irish mythology.

Áed is the young king of a human realm, struggling with physical disability, the responsibilities of rule, and the growing possibility of a relationship with one of his royal counselors. On the evening of a liminal festival – a time when Áed’s mundane realm and the Otherworld come into contact – his kingdom is savagely attacked by the fae. He soon learns that a war in the faerie realm is spilling over into his own kingdom, threatening widespread death and devastation. He resolves to visit the Otherworld in person, hoping to uncover the causes of the faerie war and end it before it can do any more harm. Several other characters go with him on this quest; he meets both foes and surprising allies along the way.

The greatest strength of this story is its characters. Áed reminds me a little of Maia from The Goblin Emperor; he’s very earnest but also surprisingly clever in a pinch, and he overcomes steep obstacles to be an effective ruler. His supporting cast – his heir Ronan, his advisor Éamon, a fae girl named Erin, and many of the people he meets in the Otherworld – are all interesting and sympathetic. Even the villain of the piece (a truly horrifying figure) is very well-drawn.

E. G. Radcliff has a very clean prose style, with either very good self-editing skills or a sharp editor; I don’t recall being pulled out of the story even once by a copy- or line-editing problem. Her style is always at least workmanlike, and occasionally lyrical. She has a clear eye for the details of character and place, and a gift for making the reader feel part of the story. I found The Wild Court engaging and a very clean read.

One observation I made was that the plot is very straightforward, even a little predictable at times. The story sets up one or two mysteries, but none of these are at all difficult for the reader to unravel before the characters resolve them. That’s not a weakness of this story – not all fantasy tales need to be convoluted and mysterious, after all! The reader’s motivation is to watch a team of brave and clever characters as they deal with personal issues and relationship drama, even as they face down villains and try to end a war. On that basis, The Wild Court succeeds admirably.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Wild Court, and in my experience the story did a very good job of reaching its objectives – once I finished it, I immediately went to pick up the earlier books in the series. Very highly recommended if you enjoy honest high fantasy with a strong Celtic flavor.

Review: Dio in the Dark, by Rizwan Asad

Review: Dio in the Dark, by Rizwan Asad

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Dio in the Dark by Rizwan Asad

Overall Rating: **** (4 stars)

Dio in the Dark is an urban-fantasy novella, centered on the lives of the Greek pantheon in the modern world.

The protagonist of this story is Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, although in the modern day he prefers to be called simply “Dio” to blend in. Dio, and the other Olympians, live in present-day Toronto. They retain a few of their divine powers, but the modern world has moved on from their active worship, reducing them to shadows of their ancient selves. Zeus works as an eccentric sanitation worker, Apollo is a musician with a preference for fine electric guitars, and Dio spends most of his time at bars and clubs.

At the beginning of the story, Dio is at odds with Zeus, holding a long-standing grudge for the fate of his mortal mother Semele. Zeus, on the other hand, is concerned with a threat only he foresees, a so-called “Darkness” that he fears may be coming for the Olympians. Soon Zeus disappears, and Dio is left to solve a mystery. Where has Zeus gone? Who or what is the Darkness? Can the Olympians survive?

What follows is a clever urban-fantasy tale, well-informed by the details of Greek myth. I was very impressed by Rizwan Asad’s prose style; it’s very clean, with almost no copy-editing or line-editing problems that I could find. The story snaps, with plenty of truly audacious moments in the plot, and I found myself pulled along with ease.

About the only complaint I had was with respect to pacing. A major plot development comes in the middle of a time-skip that isn’t well demonstrated to the reader. There are also a few odd interquel chapters that are interesting, and that develop Dio’s character, but that seem to intrude into the plot. These are minor quibbles! By and large, the story is well written and tightly plotted.

I very much enjoyed Dio in the Dark, and I’m going to be looking out for more from this author. Highly recommended if you enjoy urban fantasy steeped in the intricacies of ancient Greek myth.

Review: The Chains of Ares, by Frank Schildiner

Review: The Chains of Ares, by Frank Schildiner

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The Chains of Ares by Frank Schildiner

Overall Rating: **** (4 stars)

The Chains of Ares is a collection of four short stories, all set in the time of the late Roman Republic, involving action-filled adventure and supernatural horror.

Marcus Fabius Maximus is a member of the Roman aristocracy, descended from a very old patrician family. He is the son-in-law of the Dictator, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who appointed him to the position of rex sacrorum or “sacred king.” That isn’t just a political appointment. As one of the Republic’s foremost priests, Marcus is an expert on religious ritual and on the supernatural, and he is often sent to deal with paranormal threats to the growing Roman empire. He is accompanied on his missions by Kara Fabia, a formidable female warrior who was once a gladiator and now serves as his bodyguard.

Marcus and Kara are close friends and partners who (rather refreshingly) have no romantic interest in each another. They’re also far from a clichéd “brains and brawn” pair. Just as Marcus can handle himself in a scrap, Kara is by no means dumb muscle. The dynamic between these two characters is one of the most attractive elements of these stories.

Each of the stories in this collection involves one of Marcus and Kara’s missions, against ghosts, bizarre cults, or monsters out of ancient myth. The stories often involve puzzles that Marcus and Kara must solve, along with plenty of bloody action scenes. Each story is well embedded in the historical setting; I caught a couple of stumbles in the research, but by and large Mr. Schildiner has done his homework with careful attention to detail. If you’re familiar with the work of Robert Howard or H. P. Lovecraft, you may recognize some of the “ancient lore” that Marcus deals with.

The biggest weakness of The Chains of Ares is in its prose mechanics. The draft badly needs a copy-editor, with grammatical errors and odd word choices scattered throughout. It’s a testament to the fast pace, interesting characters, and clever world-building in these stories that I wasn’t pulled out of the narrative.

I quite enjoyed The Chains of Ares, and I found myself wishing for more about these characters and their world. Highly recommended if you enjoy pulp-style adventure, with intriguing characters and plenty of action, set in ancient times.

Review: Deathsworn, by H. K. Oby

Review: Deathsworn, by H. K. Oby

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Deathsworn by H. K. Oby

Overall Rating: *** (3 stars)

Deathsworn is the first novel in a planned series called The Mahasiddhi Chronicle, an urban fantasy drawing on the rich tapestry of Hindu legend.

Amin is a young man living on the streets of modern India. From youth, he has been forced to struggle for survival. This has driven him to become a superb thief and confidence artist, specializing in posing as a sadhu (a religious ascetic) in order to swindle valuables out of devout but gullible victims.

At the beginning of the story, Amin carries off one such scam, but before he can enjoy his gains he is double-crossed and apparently killed. At the very moment of his seeming death, he is snatched out of danger by a mysterious force called “the Pulse.” He learns that he is to serve as a “Deathsworn,” a holy warrior trained in the martial arts, pledged to defend the world against evil rakshasas (demons) who threaten it. He is sent to a school for new Deathsworn, where sages and figures out of Hindu lore will train him as a superhuman warrior with siddhis (superpowers) that will help him face the rakshasas.

Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned. Amin is rejected by his teachers and his fellow students. He fails to display any of the siddhis normally granted to all Deathsworn. Worst of all, it seems that the Hindu gods have it in for Amin, and they are doing their best to kill him before he can complete his training!

The story that follows is reminiscent of the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson novels: a modern character dropped into a fiercely demanding school that’s grounded in some flavor of the supernatural, forced to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of his success. It’s a familiar formula, but it works, and H. K. Oby applies the common tropes well.

Deathsworn is a debut novel, and it shows. Every character’s dialogue, and the author’s narrative voice, all use the same colloquial language even in moments where a different style might be more in keeping with the premise. It’s a little jarring to hear figures out of the Mahabharata using chatty, conversational English even at a point of high drama. The novel needs the attention of a copy editor as well; the basic prose mechanics (word choice, spelling, capitalization) are noticeably rough.

Despite those criticisms, I found the story worked well and kept me engaged. Amin was a charming protagonist; his supporting cast, less fully developed, were believable as his allies, friends, and rivals. The core of the story is about Amin’s growth as a person, and the discovery of honest virtue beneath his armor of cynicism. Watching his evolution through this fast-paced story kept me turning the pages.

The backdrop of Hindu myth, given a modern slant, was intriguing as well. I found myself recognizing elements from my own past reading, and l was driven to look up more details that I didn’t immediately recognize.

All in all, Deathsworn is a flawed first effort, but I found it a quick and enjoyable read. If you have any interest in a “school for heroes” story, set amid the complexities of Hindu myth, this novel and its sequels are worth watching.