An expertly spun yarn by one of the best fantasy writers on the scene today.
Tolkien meets AI as Bennett (City of Stairs, 2014, etc.) returns with a busy, action-packed sequel to Foundryside (2018), neatly blending technology, philosophy, and fantasy.
Tevanne is a medieval-ish city-state made up of four “campos,” each controlled by a merchant guild. One lies in ruins, the outer wall now “little more than masonry and rubble about ten feet high.” The sight causes Sancia Grado, the nimble thief introduced in Foundryside, to wonder, “Did I do that?” Well, yes—and much more besides. Though in ruins, the campo still plays a role in the current proceedings even as Sancia and her cohort—Gregor, Orso, and other Foundrysiders with nicely Shakespearean names—start things off by trying to run a confidence game on the hitherto unexplored Michiel campo. As ever, things get complicated when the objects in Sancia’s world manifest consciousness through a clever process of programming called “scriving.” When a formidable foe named Crasedes Magnus enters the scene, having scrived himself into near invincibility, Sancia realizes she’s got her work cut out for her if Tevanne is going to survive and remain a playground for her mischief. The insider language comes thick and fast as Bennett spins out his story: “She’d never really had the opportunity to handle the imperiat much,” he tells us, “and unlike most scrived devices, she had difficulty engaging with hierophantic rigs.” Still, old-fashioned tools come in handy, as when Gregor dispatches an unfortunate watchman with his sword: “Orso saw hot blood splash his invisible barrier, and the soldier collapsed into the waters, pawing at his throat.” Vorpal blades won’t do much against Crasedes, though, for whom Bennett gives a fine backstory amid all the mayhem. It’s up to Sancia, as ever, to divine the magical means to make him rue his ways—or, as he thinks, as the very stones of Tevanne rise up to fight against him, “This…is not how I wanted things to go.”
An expertly spun yarn by one of the best fantasy writers on the scene today.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6038-0
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Sure, the premise is altogether improbable. But, that said, there’s good fun to be had here, even for those who might wish...
William Shakespeare, vampire hunter.
Well, not exactly. But, thanks to the magic of time travel, Harkness’ (A Discovery of Witches, 2011) latest finds witch and Oxford professor Diana Bishop and her lover, scientist and vampire Matthew Clairmont, at the tail end of Elizabethan England, when Shakespeare’s career is about to take off. There, by happenstance, they meet Christopher Marlowe, who commands an uncommonly rich amount of data about the ways of the otherworld. Asked why the odd couple should attract attention, he remarks matter-of-factly, “Because witches and wearhs are forbidden to marry,” an exchange that affords Diana, and the reader, the chance to learn a new word. Diana and Matthew talk a lot. They argue a lot, too, quibbling about the strangest things: “ ‘You are a vampire. You’re possessive. It’s who you are,’ I said flatly, approaching him in spite of his anger. ‘And I am a witch. You promised to accept me as I am—light and dark, woman and witch, my own person as well as your wife.’ ” But then they get to have extremely hot—indeed, unnaturally hot, given the cold blood of the undead—makeup sex, involving armoires and oak paneling and lifted petticoats and gripped buttocks. Meanwhile, Kit Marlowe gets to do some petticoat lifting of his own, even if his adventures lead him to a Bedlam populated by all kinds of unfortunate souls, from a few ordinary wackaloons of yore to a small army of daemons, witches, vampires and other exemplars of the damned and doomed. Will Shakespeare comes onto the scene late, but there’s good reason for that—and maybe a little fodder for the Edward de Vere conspiratorial crowd, too. Clearly Harkness has great fun with all this, and her background as a literature professor gives her plenty of room to work with, and without, an ounce of pedantry.
Sure, the premise is altogether improbable. But, that said, there’s good fun to be had here, even for those who might wish for a moratorium on books about vampires, zombies, witches and other things that go bump in the night.Pub Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02348-6
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Stunning, again.
In the second of a trilogy (The Fifth Season, 2015) by the science-fiction columnist for the New York Times Book Review, the latest in a series of apocalypses marches on.
The powerful orogene Alabaster has used his powers to tear a blazing rift across the continent, and humanity faces extinction. Finding refuge in the underground comm of Castrima, the now-dying Alabaster struggles to impart vital information and skills to his former student and lover, Essun, which could potentially cease the flow of the tectonically devastating Seasons. All the while, Castrima faces tension from within—those who fear Essun’s rapidly growing magical powers—and without, as an invading army prepares to take the comm’s dwindling supplies for its own. Although Essun’s greatest desire is to recover Nassun, the daughter she loves, the girl always wanted to escape her mother, whom she perceives as cold and who imposed harsh training to discipline and hide her daughter’s orogeny. Nassun willingly left with her adored father even though he murdered her brother and violently loathes all orogenes. This uneasy father/daughter pair travels to a mysterious, distant community rumored to “cure” orogeny, where Nassun discovers a key figure from her mother’s past—but he’s no longer quite what he used to be. The worldbuilding deepens in this installment, with fresh revelations about the distant past and the true and alarming nature of the enigmatic stone eaters. But as in the previous volume, it’s the people who take front and center. Jemisin’s depictions of mob behavior are frighteningly realistic. And she offers a perceptive and painful portrayal of two different kinds of abusive relationships between parent and child. She also generates huge amounts of nuanced sympathy for some (but not all) of the characters driven to do truly dreadful things, often accidentally, to save themselves and the ones they love.
Stunning, again.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-22926-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Orbit/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
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