Gods in Darkness, by Karl Edward Wagner
pros: well-written; interesting worlds and characters; good example of an antihero; well-developed dark characters; realistic people mixed with extraordinary characters; inevitable results of ambition and violence aren’t glossed over; Teres; 1st novel, Bloodstone, was the best
cons: Kane was a little predictable; Kane isn’t very likeable; the three books leave you hanging; transition from 2nd book to 3rd didn’t make sense; what happened to the girl from the 2nd book – I thought she was in the tower before Kane
misc: Bloodstone; Dark Crusade; Darkness Weaves;
ISBN 189238924; 528pp; pub. 2002
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Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch
pros: continuation with good, interesting characters; fast moving; complex plot; interesting new cities/states/societies; pirates; rapelling test; creepy scene in the Night Gallery; twist at the end
cons: mysterious enemies are a bit too conveniently mysterious; the Bondsmagi are more a plot device than a specific element; I liked Jean a whole lot more than Locke; jumping around from time and place didn’t work as well this time; weak plot elements – if Jean and Ezri are discussing Jean’s problems in Ezri’s room, it could easily be overheard; cliffhanger ending
misc: pirate stronghold; Zamira; Port Prodigal; Ghostways; Tal Verrar; Requin; Sinspire; Gentleman Bastards; Carousel Hazard; card cheating; Archon; Leocanto Kosta and Jerome de Ferra; Selendri; brass arm with knives; tricky chairs
ISBN 0553804685; 576pp; pub. 2007
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The Black Throne, by Fred Saberhagen and Roger Zelazny
pros: the authors; the story idea; story moves along quickly; twist on magic and parallel worlds; explanations for some of Poe’s elements in poems, like the tapping and the raven and the cask of Amontillado
cons: sketchy details; seems hastily written; not familiar with Poe’s body of work; resolution was weak
misc: Edgar Allan Poe; alcoholic; alcohol; ghost ship; sea voyage; balloon voyage; vortex; plague; dwarf; orangutang; zombie in wine box; very small wineglasses; sandcastle; alchemy
ISBN 0743435796; 288pp; pub. 2002
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When True Night Falls, by C.S. Friedman
pros: good series; question of good vs. evil and if evil can ever be justified when used to combat evil and the question of redemption; the great endeavor started by the prophet shows signs of fruition; more is revealed about Tarrant’s motivation; Hesseth; Jenseny; the sea voyage; Jenseny’s solution
cons: Damien’s angst gets old fast; not enough details about the Iezu and the evil that fuels Tarrant’s magic; Hesseth’s fate and the timing of her fate; the Matria’s stranglehold on power was a little unbelievable; the troubled future, especially for the Rakh; what was the fate of the merchants?
misc: Coldfire Trilogy; Undying prince; Karril; Calesta; Siza; black lands; crystal; trees that suck the life out of you with their roots; horses; body kept alive in vat; deep dungeon in lava caverns; the “light” that Jenseny can see; “invisible” dagger
ISBN 0756403162; 560pp; pub. 2005
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The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
pros: very funny, fast-paced; Locke’s early exploits; Chains; great characters; truly hateful bad guys; lots of gray areas; still lots of mystery even after it’s done; this works as an adventure, mystery, or fantasy; fate of the Berangias twins; the sharks; the con; the Spider and the Salvoras
cons: we never meet Sabetha; fate of the twins and Bug; the net worth of Locke and Jean at the end
misc: Capa Raza; Grey King; Thiefmaker; bondmage; Falconer; the contrarequialla; shifting revels; Midnighters; Gentlemen Bastards
ISBN 055358894X; 752pp; pub. 2007
Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay
pros: well-written; some likable characters; well-developed world, familiar enough yet also obviously a fantasy world; many underlying themes
cons: I’m not sure what it was really about – fate? unity in the face of a common foe? redemption? futility?; I would have preferred one main character instead of the various characters, or at least just Devin and Dianora; more sex than was necessary; the edition I read from the library was a very low production quality with faded ink, many typos, and repeated pages. The one listed below looks like a different edition.
misc: music is a big part of story; Devin is a great singer; villains are juxtaposed, one might preferred over the other but is more powerful and driven by revenge and the other is more casually destructive and has the threat of total domination of a foreign power behind him; slightly Russian flair to names for Tigana and its folklore, rest of island culture seems like renaissance Italy
ISBN 0451457765; 688 pp; special ed., 1999
The Knight, by Gene Wolfe
pros: Gylf; interesting characters and settings; some interesting dilemmas; good portrayal of a boy in a man’s body–consistent throughout; duology rather than long series
cons: meandering account with many detours; constant references to common knowledge reader doesn’t share; contrived situations; cliffhanger
Part One of the Wizard Knight series
ISBN 0765347016; 544 pp; 2005 (reprint)
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