Boring blades [book review]

This fifth volume of the “Blades” fantasy series by Kelly McCullough is entitled Drawn blades but it gives the impression the author has exhausted what she he can seriously drag from the universe she he created a few volumes ago. Even when resuscitating another former lover of the main character. And moving to an unknown part of the world. And bringing in new super-species, cultists, and even a petty god. Yes, a petty god, whining and poorly lying, And an anti-sect police. And a fantasy version of the surfing board. Yes again, a surfing board. Inland. Despite all those unusual features, the book feels like a sluggish copy of a million fantasy books that have mixed the themes of an awakening god awaited by fanatics followers in unlimited subterranean vaults, with the heroes eventually getting the better of the dumb followers and even of the (dumb) god. And boring a grumpy reader to sleep every single evening. The next instalment in the series, Darkened blade, just appeared, but I do not think I will return to Aral’s world again. The earlier volumes were quite enjoyable and recommended. Now comes a time to end the series!

summer reads

I had planned my summer read long in advance to have an Amazon shipment sent to my friend Natesh out of my Amazon associate slush funds. While in Boston and Maine, I read Richard Dawkins’ The God delusion, the fourth Kelly McCullough’s Fallen Blade novel, Blade reforged, the second Ancient Blades novel, unrelated to the above, A thief in the night, by David Chandler, and also the second Tad Williams’ Bobby Dollar novel, Happy Hour in Hell. The God delusion is commented on another post.

Blade reforged is not a major novel, unsurprisingly for a fourth entry, but pleasant nonetheless, especially when reading in the shade of a pavilion on Revere Beach! The characters are mostly the same as previously and it could be that the story has (hopefully) come to an end, with (spoilers!) the evil ruler replaced by the hero’s significant other and his mystical weapons returned to him. A few loose ends and a central sword fight with a more than surprising victory, but a good summer read. Checking on Kelly McCullough’s website, I notice that two more novels are in the making….

Tad Williams’ second novel Happy Hour in Hell is much less enjoyable as the author was unable to keep up with the pace and tone of the highly imaginative first novel, full of witty and hard-boiled exchanges. The first novel introduced the (after-)life of a guardian angel in California, Doloriel (a.k.a. Bobby Dollar), with enough levels of political intrigue between Heaven and Hell and Earth and plots, pursuits, assassination attempts, etc., to make it a page-turner. This second novel sends Doloriel on a suicide mission to Hell… and the reader to a Hell of sorts where the damnation is one of eternal boredom! What made the first novel so original, namely the juxtaposition of the purpose of a guardian with his every-day terrestrial life, is lost. All we have there is a fantastic creature (from Heaven) transposed in another fantastic environment (Hell) and trying to survive without a proper guide book. The representation of Hell is not particularly enticing (!), even with acknowledged copies from Dante’s Inferno and Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings. There is a very low tolerance level to my reading of damned souls being tortured, dismembered, eaten or resuscitated, even when it gets to the hero’s turn. Add to that a continuation of the first book’s search for a particular feather. And an amazing amount of space dedicated to the characters’ meals. This makes for a very boring book. Even for a rainy day on a Maine lake! The depiction of the levels and inhabitants of Hell reminded me of another endless book by Tad Williams, Shadowmarch, where some characters end up in a subterranean semi-industrial structure, with a horde of demon-like creatures and no fun [for the reader!]. Ironically, the funniest part of reading Happy Hour in Hell was to do it after Dawkins’ as some reflections of the angel about the roles of Heaven and Hell (and religion) could have fitted well into The God delusion! (Too bad my Maine rental had Monty Python’s Holy Grail instead of The Life of Brian, as it would have made a perfect trilogy!)

Most sadly, David Chandler’s A thief in the night had exactly the same shortcomings as another book  I had previously read and maybe reviewed, even though I cannot trace the review or even remember the title of the book (!), and somewhat those of Tad Williams’ Happy Hour in Hell as well, that is, once again a subterranean adventure in a deserted mythical mega-structure that ends up being not deserted at all and even less plausible. I really had to be stuck on a beach or in an airport lounge to finish it! The points noted about Den of Thieves apply even more forcibly here, that is, very charicaturesque characters and a weak and predictable plot. With the addition of the unbearable underground hidden world… I think I should have re-read my own review before ordering this book.

Crossed Blades [book review]

After Broken Blade and its sequel Bared Blade, Kelly McCullough wrote Crossed Blades that I had ordered along with Bared Blade. And once again I read this volume within a few evenings. It is still very enjoyable, maybe the more given that there is a continuity in the characters and the plots. However, I did prefer Bared Blade to Crossed Blades as the former was creative in terms of plot and environment. Here, in Crossed Blades, the main character Aral is facing his past, from the destruction of his religious order and of his goddess to the possible treachery of former friends and mentors, to his attempt to drown this past in top quality whisky… While dealing with an adopted teenage daughter in the midst of a typical teenage crisis. This new instalment is thus full of introspection and reminiscence of past loves, and frankly a bit dull at times, even though there is a (spoiler warning!!) massive battle against the culprits for the destruction of the order. The very end is a bit disappointing, but it also hopefully closes a chapter in the hero’s life, which means that the next volume, Blade Reforged, may run into new territories and more into simili-detective stories.  (Two more books in this Blade series are in the making!)

Bared Blade [book review]

As mentioned in my recent review of Broken Blade by Kelly McCullough, I had already ordered the sequel Bared Blade. And I read this second volume within a few days. Conditional on enjoying fantasy-world detective stories with supernatural beings popping in (or out) at the most convenient times, this volume is indeed very pleasant with a proper whodunnit, a fairly irrelevant McGuffin, a couple of dryads (that actually turn into…well, no spoiler!), several false trails, a radical variation on the “good cop-bad cop” duo, and the compulsory climactic reversal of fortune at the very end (not a spoiler since it is the same in every novel!). Once again, a very light read, to the point of being almost ethereal, with no pretence at depth or epics or myth, but rather funny and guaranteed 100% free of living-deads, which is a relief. I actually found this volume better than the first one, which is a rarity if you have had enough spare time to read thru my non-scientific book reviews, I am thus looking forward to the next break when I can skip through my next volume of Kelly McCullough, Crossed Blades. (And I hope I will not get more crossed with that one than I was bored with the current volume!)

Broken Blade & King of Thorns [book reviews]

Over the past few weeks, I read Broken Blade by Kelly McCullough, the start to a series of novels taking place in a fantasy universe and involving the same characters. As in many recent novels I read, the main character Aral Kingslayer is more an anti-hero, not very congenial and rather drawn towards booze and self-loathing. He is one of the last remaining Assassins of a religion which goddess got killed (with very little explanations on how and why this happened). Maybe this is a good enough explanation for his current psychological state, hence the “broken” in the title, but that does not make him more endearing! The story itself is more of a sleuthing one, Aral acting as the detective for hire and another character as the client seeking to recover her inheritance. (With the more unusual add-ons of ghouls and zombies and magics. And the more usual theme of corrupted police officers.) Nothing earth-shattering and still a pleasant ride (that made me miss my metro station once!). As an indicator of how I liked it, I already ordered the sequel Bared Blade. If only to see whether the novelty does wear out… Or not!

About a year ago, I mentioned reading Lawrences’s Prince of Thorns and being rather uneasy about the central anti-hero, a 14-year old at the head of a gang of murderers and worse. I nonetheless bought the second volume, King of Thorns, a few months ago. Once again, I am unhappy about the lack of moral and basic compassion of Jorg and found it difficult to trudge through the ethic morass that King of Thorns represents… In some sense, the character gets more depth and some minimal type of humanity, but most of his actions do not make sense and the added touch of Indiana Jones at some crucial point in the story is just annoying. And I am usually adverse at the mix of science-fiction and fantasy in vague post-apocalyptic universes.  Not recommended, despite the flow of highly positive reviews…