Over the past week or so I have been down sick. Sick enough that even trying to watch tv has been a pain, so I dug out some of my older books to read. Six of the books I read were from Robin Hobb. This talented fantasy author wrote a series, well two series, dealing with a very different character.
FitzChivarly Farseer is a bastard. Not in personality, though he can be at times, but in the traditional sense of being born out of wedlock. In today's culture it should not matter at all (yeah it can sadly enough) but in a world that is the fantasy version of the middle ages, it is a big thing. His father was the King-in-waiting, Chivarly Farseer. The King-in-waiting is basically the next in the line for the crown.
The first book starts with Fitz being brought to where his father is by his maternal grandfather and foisted off on the first person there. Thus begins a series of books dealing with magic, majesty, power, monsters, good, evil and everything that makes fantasy the genre it really is.
There are two series and they are the Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy. The Farseer trilogy deals with Fitz from the age of six till about twenty. He goes through so very much. From growing up learning to be a hidden man, a spy and assassin, to discovering he has no one but two types of magic in his blood.
The first being the Farseer magic known as Skilling. Basically this magic is a lot like psychic ability. There was telepathic contact and far seeing (thus the family moniker) but as the series evolved other things showed up. Like healing, again psychic.
The other form of magic was called Wit. This was from Old Blood, a group of people who can bond with animals, speaking to them and seeing through their eyes. While Skilling is considered a good thing, having Wit was considered horrible. Misunderstood by most, anyone found with Wit were shunned and in many cases killed outright. Fitz bonded three times in the first series. First with a puppy that his guardian sent away from him before they were bonded too closely, second to an animal that died and finally to NightEyes, a wolf cub and long time companion for our hero.
This first series deals with the Red Ship Wars and the forged ones. Fitz has many adventures, many highs and many lows. Told as a series of remembrances, the books are less action and more characterizations. Something that I adore. This is not a series of books I would recommend for immature readers. You need to have the ability to understand that good does not always triumph and that the hero can do bad things and still be the hero to read these books.
The sequel series, The Tawny Man, picks up years after the end of the first series. Fitz is now calling himself Tom Badgerlock. As the Witted Bastard, FitzChivalery Farseer, is thought to be dead and buried, it was a wise thing to do. He settled down, built a life in the woods with Nighteyes and had even taken in a boy, Hap and raised him as his son. Life is good, if simple for him when he is dragged out of his simple life and back into the world of the FarSeers. Expected to train the young prince in his Skilled magic, he finds that there are more conflicts and battles waiting for him. He is now 35 and still a youngish man. He is not recognized by the people of Buckkeep, which is a good thing because of how he is considered dead by most people. The second series immerses us yet again into a world of intrigue and politics, of hatred and racism yet holds up moments of utter beauty and love. Dealing more with Fitz and his relationship with the Fool, these books move strongly into the future that the Fool has seen. We learn much more about that very interesting character and just why he has spent so much time with Fitz.
If you have a time where you want to be totally enthralled by a series of books I recommend them. Robin Hobb is a very talented author and I am now trying out her Liveship books. Set in the same world but with different characters.
Showing posts with label series review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label series review. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2014
Monday, June 2, 2014
Re-reading a master
While I have spent a lot of time reading the new and amazingly talent crop of indie authors out there, I do from time to time, pull out some of the older fiction. Over the past week I have been working my way through Roger Zelanzy's Chronicles of Amber books.
Now anyone who knows these series, knows that it is one of the very best written bits of fiction out there. There is political intrigue, back biting, fantasy creatures, magic of a type not commonly seen, religion and a whole lot of other things that make series great.
The first five books of this series are from the point of view of Corwin of Amber. One of a dozen or more brothers and sisters who are heirs to the throne of Amber, which is the center of all reality. It starts off with him not knowing who he is and we are taken through a lot of ups and downs and confusion as he learns who he is, where he belongs and just who should be the kind of Amber.
He father is missing, the magician who was both tutor and master of the courts is rumored to be mad and is also missing. Everything to drag you along into a world that is rich and well written.
While it has been well over a decade since I last read the series I found myself pulling for Corwin and really interested yet again in the mechanization that the brothers and sisters go through in these books. There are parts that drag to me and they did drag in the first reading way back when but they don't distract from a masterful telling of these interconnected books. If you are a fan of fantasy you really should pick up these books and read them. There is a reason that he was considered a master and this book series is it.
Now I am currently reading the second series of the Amber books. This time the main character is Merlin, Corwin's son. We met him literally at the end of the first series of books and here we find that Merlin is facing a lot of the same things that his father did. There are forces outside of Amber this time that want to destroy the kingdom and we get to meet other relatives that we did not know about before. It seems that this family is more twisted than even the family we see on Game of Thrones. So folks, do yourself a favor, pick up all ten books and settle back for a wild ride through Shadow.
Now anyone who knows these series, knows that it is one of the very best written bits of fiction out there. There is political intrigue, back biting, fantasy creatures, magic of a type not commonly seen, religion and a whole lot of other things that make series great.
The first five books of this series are from the point of view of Corwin of Amber. One of a dozen or more brothers and sisters who are heirs to the throne of Amber, which is the center of all reality. It starts off with him not knowing who he is and we are taken through a lot of ups and downs and confusion as he learns who he is, where he belongs and just who should be the kind of Amber.
He father is missing, the magician who was both tutor and master of the courts is rumored to be mad and is also missing. Everything to drag you along into a world that is rich and well written.
While it has been well over a decade since I last read the series I found myself pulling for Corwin and really interested yet again in the mechanization that the brothers and sisters go through in these books. There are parts that drag to me and they did drag in the first reading way back when but they don't distract from a masterful telling of these interconnected books. If you are a fan of fantasy you really should pick up these books and read them. There is a reason that he was considered a master and this book series is it.
Now I am currently reading the second series of the Amber books. This time the main character is Merlin, Corwin's son. We met him literally at the end of the first series of books and here we find that Merlin is facing a lot of the same things that his father did. There are forces outside of Amber this time that want to destroy the kingdom and we get to meet other relatives that we did not know about before. It seems that this family is more twisted than even the family we see on Game of Thrones. So folks, do yourself a favor, pick up all ten books and settle back for a wild ride through Shadow.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
An interesting noir take on vampires or the Void City series
Going through my Ebook list I found I have a lot of books I just didn't know I had. So I decided to try out a random series and see if they were good. I was both pleasantly surprised and annoyed. The Surprise is that I found myself wanting a lot more of this series. The annoyed was really with how well the author managed to write a character into his books that makes me want to smack her hard.
Here is a little bit of the blurb for the first book in this series, Staked by JF Lewis:
Eric's got issues. He has short-term and long-term memory problems; he can't remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, much less how he became a vampire in the first place. His best friend, Roger, is souring on the strip club he and Eric own together. And his girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath. It's almost enough to put a Vlad off his appetite. Almost
Now Eric is an interesting character. A vampire who didn't ask to be one, woke up as one and seems to have a touch of memory issues. He is a good guy in the old fashioned kinda way. Yes he is a blood drinking killer but he takes care of his people. Running a strip club where his dancers have a salary (a good one at that), insurance, dental and vision care and he helps them with college. Now that is a boss right? He won't harm children, well unless they are killers like werewolves or vampires but he does his best to not hurt the harmless. He loves his 1964 1/2 Mustang (the 1/2 is important to him) but he has real trouble with the women in his life.
The two books I have read so far toss back and forth between his POV and Tabitha's POV. Tabitha was his human lover who he finally gave in and turned into a vampire. They have their issues as is to be expected but Tabitha is a dense one for sure.
After years of reading books were you have a with it female vampire, one with a clue, she comes as a bit of a shock. She is very self centered and sure of herself. At 22 it is to be expected but damn it makes the 50 year old me want to slap her around. Thing is she slowly grows on you.
It could be because also in this story there is her 18 year old sister, Rachel. A typical goth loving girl who really wants to be the thrall of Eric, or so we are led to believe at first. There is a great twist in that Rachel died long before Eric met her. Of cancer. Tabitha doesn't at first recognize her sister when she comes around. After all her sister is dead and buried right? Not possible right?
Before I go into more depth and ruin the tale for you I will just say we have a city filled with strippers, high class vampires, werewolves, demons, a ghost of a lawman and who knows what else but it is a fun right. Eric is a man of his times, fought in WW2 and turned into a vampire before he could marry the woman he loved. There is lots of sex, blood, intrigue, betrayals and magic. Everything that a good urban paranormal needs.
Here is a little bit of the blurb for the first book in this series, Staked by JF Lewis:
Eric's got issues. He has short-term and long-term memory problems; he can't remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, much less how he became a vampire in the first place. His best friend, Roger, is souring on the strip club he and Eric own together. And his girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath. It's almost enough to put a Vlad off his appetite. Almost
Now Eric is an interesting character. A vampire who didn't ask to be one, woke up as one and seems to have a touch of memory issues. He is a good guy in the old fashioned kinda way. Yes he is a blood drinking killer but he takes care of his people. Running a strip club where his dancers have a salary (a good one at that), insurance, dental and vision care and he helps them with college. Now that is a boss right? He won't harm children, well unless they are killers like werewolves or vampires but he does his best to not hurt the harmless. He loves his 1964 1/2 Mustang (the 1/2 is important to him) but he has real trouble with the women in his life.
The two books I have read so far toss back and forth between his POV and Tabitha's POV. Tabitha was his human lover who he finally gave in and turned into a vampire. They have their issues as is to be expected but Tabitha is a dense one for sure.
After years of reading books were you have a with it female vampire, one with a clue, she comes as a bit of a shock. She is very self centered and sure of herself. At 22 it is to be expected but damn it makes the 50 year old me want to slap her around. Thing is she slowly grows on you.
It could be because also in this story there is her 18 year old sister, Rachel. A typical goth loving girl who really wants to be the thrall of Eric, or so we are led to believe at first. There is a great twist in that Rachel died long before Eric met her. Of cancer. Tabitha doesn't at first recognize her sister when she comes around. After all her sister is dead and buried right? Not possible right?
Before I go into more depth and ruin the tale for you I will just say we have a city filled with strippers, high class vampires, werewolves, demons, a ghost of a lawman and who knows what else but it is a fun right. Eric is a man of his times, fought in WW2 and turned into a vampire before he could marry the woman he loved. There is lots of sex, blood, intrigue, betrayals and magic. Everything that a good urban paranormal needs.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Review of a paranormal romance series...yes I do read that stuff
Well with all the snow that seems to never stop I have been reading a lot. Instead of being the good little writer that I am I have been catching up on new authors and their series. This weekend since I was having trouble sleeping due to arthritis pain I managed to read all of the current Chicagoland Vampire books by Chloe Neill.
Oh this series was fun. Starting with the common problem of a lot of heroines of not asking to be made into a vampire this story could have gone so many very ways. Thankfully it was handled beautifully. This series, while officially a paranormal romance, doesn't get into the romance part until the middle of the series. The attraction/repulsion between the heroine and her maker is handled very well.
Like always I find myself enjoying more the secondary characters in this series. Luc, the guard captian, Lindsey, one of the guards. Jeff, the shifter computer genius, Chuck, the grandfather/retired cop and currnet head of the Omnibud office. all this characters give a great depth to the tales being woven.
I looked over the reviews on amazon and I was surprised at the negativity in some of them. The advantage of sitting down and reading the entire series in one shot you get a chance to see the characters develop and grow, the story unfold and all the interesting threads that are being woven. Other reviewers seem to think that the sixth and seventh book were not as good as the ones previous and I have no idea why. I found that the tale slowly evolved just as it should. There was no stutters, no overworked bits or skinny light bits. This is a fun series. Not too dark or too light, a nice mix of good writing, great characterizations and interesting battles. So I would say get this one for sure.
Now the author has another series. This second one has not grabbed me the way that Chicagoland Vampires did but then it is a YA paranormal. As much as I find I like paranormals, I am not so into ones meant for teens. They tend to be less..everything for me. While they are the most popular genre out there right now the stories most times just come off too light. Occasionally you get something amazing but so far Ms Neill's Dark Elite series just doesn't grab me. I will have to try again and hope it does.
Oh this series was fun. Starting with the common problem of a lot of heroines of not asking to be made into a vampire this story could have gone so many very ways. Thankfully it was handled beautifully. This series, while officially a paranormal romance, doesn't get into the romance part until the middle of the series. The attraction/repulsion between the heroine and her maker is handled very well.
Like always I find myself enjoying more the secondary characters in this series. Luc, the guard captian, Lindsey, one of the guards. Jeff, the shifter computer genius, Chuck, the grandfather/retired cop and currnet head of the Omnibud office. all this characters give a great depth to the tales being woven.
I looked over the reviews on amazon and I was surprised at the negativity in some of them. The advantage of sitting down and reading the entire series in one shot you get a chance to see the characters develop and grow, the story unfold and all the interesting threads that are being woven. Other reviewers seem to think that the sixth and seventh book were not as good as the ones previous and I have no idea why. I found that the tale slowly evolved just as it should. There was no stutters, no overworked bits or skinny light bits. This is a fun series. Not too dark or too light, a nice mix of good writing, great characterizations and interesting battles. So I would say get this one for sure.
Now the author has another series. This second one has not grabbed me the way that Chicagoland Vampires did but then it is a YA paranormal. As much as I find I like paranormals, I am not so into ones meant for teens. They tend to be less..everything for me. While they are the most popular genre out there right now the stories most times just come off too light. Occasionally you get something amazing but so far Ms Neill's Dark Elite series just doesn't grab me. I will have to try again and hope it does.
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