Madness of Reviews
Hi,
So this weekend I finished up Madness of Flowers by Jay Lake. This is the sequel to Trial of Flowers...and it's been quite a wait for it too.
I've really liked Trial and I think it's a bit better than Madness, but Madness is still a pretty good book. It basically picks right up after the events of Trial. Lord Mayor Imagio has saved the city from the gods of its past but now has to deal with snotty aristocrats. Bijaz the Dwarf is dealing with his newfound divinity while his estrwhile adversary Onesiphorous is down south hoping to keep the city of Port Defiance open. Into all of this, a mysterious woman and her giant ice bear arrive with tales of a lost Emperor's tomb -- threatening to stir up everything that they've all worked so hard to subdue in the last book.
The book keeps up a brisk pace and moves from viewpoint to viewpoint with deft ease. There was that strange sense of wonder and the fantastic that permeated the first book, but a bit less so -- perhaps because the characters become disperesed over the setting and you only see bits and pieces insted of the tight weave that wrapped Trial. That said, the writing is still top-notch and I was anxious to get to the next page. I'm hoping that he returns to this setting in the future.
later
Tom
So this weekend I finished up Madness of Flowers by Jay Lake. This is the sequel to Trial of Flowers...and it's been quite a wait for it too.
I've really liked Trial and I think it's a bit better than Madness, but Madness is still a pretty good book. It basically picks right up after the events of Trial. Lord Mayor Imagio has saved the city from the gods of its past but now has to deal with snotty aristocrats. Bijaz the Dwarf is dealing with his newfound divinity while his estrwhile adversary Onesiphorous is down south hoping to keep the city of Port Defiance open. Into all of this, a mysterious woman and her giant ice bear arrive with tales of a lost Emperor's tomb -- threatening to stir up everything that they've all worked so hard to subdue in the last book.
The book keeps up a brisk pace and moves from viewpoint to viewpoint with deft ease. There was that strange sense of wonder and the fantastic that permeated the first book, but a bit less so -- perhaps because the characters become disperesed over the setting and you only see bits and pieces insted of the tight weave that wrapped Trial. That said, the writing is still top-notch and I was anxious to get to the next page. I'm hoping that he returns to this setting in the future.
later
Tom