It’s fair to say that Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favourite contemporary authors. I’ve only read a handful of his works to date but every one of them has been excellent in its own way and the more I read the more eager I become for his next book. Made Things is no exception.
It’s an absolutely delightful novella that follows the trials and tribulations of puppeteer Coppelia as she finds herself getting pulled into the machinations of the local thieves guild and their ongoing struggles against the Magelords of Loretz. Tagging along for the ride are two of Coppelia’s little friends, Tef and Arc, mysterious homunculi who are themselves fighting to find a place in a world that’s much larger than they could ever imagine.
There are some fantasy writers who don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve, and for my money Katharine Kerr is definitely one of them. Despite a writing career stretching back over thirty years few people outside her circle of fans have heard of her sprawling, fifteen book fantasy series (soon to be sixteen), and honestly, they really don’t know what they’re missing out on.
I’ve been seeing Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld books popping up on social media and review sites for a couple of years now, but despite having the first two sat on my to-read shelves for a long time I’ve never actually gotten around to reading any of them. Well, that’s all changed now, and if this short but thoroughly engrossing tale is anything to go by I shall certainly be adding the rest of the series to my priority list.
SPOILER WARNING – This review contains potential spoilers for the first two books in the trilogy, Godblind and Darksoul. If you haven’t already read those you may want to skip this review until you have.
This is the final volume in Anna Stephens’ Godblind trilogy, and boy, what a finale it is. Following on almost directly from the end of last year’s Darksoul, it opens with the army of Rilpor in hiding and the Mireces invaders firmly entrenched in the city of Rilporin, their chieftain Corvus having proclaimed himself the new king of Rilpor.
DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reading copy of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I was a little concerned going into this book as I’d already seen a number of reviews saying that despite it being the first of a new series, you really had to have read Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy in order to fully appreciate this new novel from the self-appointed Lord of Grimdark. Given that I’m a veritable Abercrombie virgin, I was worried that I’d miss out on some hidden plot lines or fail to grasp the mysterious twists and turns that link back to his earlier works. Having now finished the book I think I can say with some authority that even if you’re as new to Abercrombie as I was you can read and enjoy this delightfully refreshing novel.
DISCLAIMER: I was given an advanced copy of this book by the publisher (via NetGalley) in return for an honest review.
I’m writing this review in July, and I have to say for me this is definitely one of the best books of 2019 so far. Then again, I do like a good maritime yarn, especially when it’s as full of adventure and action as this one.
