Books #55 & 56: The Water Devil & The Steel Remains
The Water Devil is the third and final Margaret of Ashbury novel, and the last of Judith Merkle Riley's books that I had not read. It was a bit of a disappointment. I love her books and the first in the trilogy was wonderful. The second was just all right, and this one was flat out uneven. There were some great moments, but the book never really found its rhythm. There was some humor that only works when one knows the characters, which isn't always a bad thing, but it lacked the cleverness or inspiration that would lift it beyond that. The best part was the end, but in many ways it didn't deal with Margaret at all. Margaret took more of a back seat in this both as a narrator and as the center of the story, and that perhaps is its problem. It starts with Margaret's husband at war in France, then he's home, then they are in London, then they are back on the family estate... it's jumpy. There isn't a plot thread that is a central problem, and it needed one. Still, as a fan, I enjoyed it, but I didn't devour it like I did her other novels.
The Steel Remains is a fantasy novel by a new author for me, Richard K. Morgan. It took me a while to get into it but once I did it was a treat. There are three main characters, damaged war veterans all, once friends and compatriots but scattered to the winds now. They slowly converge, and each of them have a fascinating role to play in a coming crisis. The crisis itself sneaks up on you. Each is distracted or misled by other things, but they all eventually realize what the new threat to their world really is. All three were fun characters. My favorite was Archeth, a female, half human (half something like elven engineers?) who is trying to fit into court life and is a demon with a knife. Egar is a northern barbarian with a longing for southern luxuries. Ringil is the hero of the great battle at Gallows Gap, and he is perhaps the most damaged. Not only is he homosexual in a world that is more than willing to torment and even execute those that are, but he has a bitter perspective on politics and nationalism because of his military experience that at first leads him to withdraw from the world. But when his mother finds him and convinces him to find his cousin, who has been sold into slavery, Ringil discovers there is so much going on beyond a surge in in the slave trade. The supernatural aspects of this book are well done, but the culture and world building are what really elevate it. There are species/races that are not human, and Richard K. Morgan is a skilled enough writer to make them both alien and fleshed out. I hate when everyone is just human with different skin colors. It's lazy writing. This book is part of a trilogy and I am looking forward to the other two.
The Steel Remains is a fantasy novel by a new author for me, Richard K. Morgan. It took me a while to get into it but once I did it was a treat. There are three main characters, damaged war veterans all, once friends and compatriots but scattered to the winds now. They slowly converge, and each of them have a fascinating role to play in a coming crisis. The crisis itself sneaks up on you. Each is distracted or misled by other things, but they all eventually realize what the new threat to their world really is. All three were fun characters. My favorite was Archeth, a female, half human (half something like elven engineers?) who is trying to fit into court life and is a demon with a knife. Egar is a northern barbarian with a longing for southern luxuries. Ringil is the hero of the great battle at Gallows Gap, and he is perhaps the most damaged. Not only is he homosexual in a world that is more than willing to torment and even execute those that are, but he has a bitter perspective on politics and nationalism because of his military experience that at first leads him to withdraw from the world. But when his mother finds him and convinces him to find his cousin, who has been sold into slavery, Ringil discovers there is so much going on beyond a surge in in the slave trade. The supernatural aspects of this book are well done, but the culture and world building are what really elevate it. There are species/races that are not human, and Richard K. Morgan is a skilled enough writer to make them both alien and fleshed out. I hate when everyone is just human with different skin colors. It's lazy writing. This book is part of a trilogy and I am looking forward to the other two.