Wednesday 16 March 2016

A Dwarf With No Name - D. P. Prior

RATING: THREE STARS

When Nils is sent to meet a renown mage by his father, the head of the nefarious Night Hawks, he does not expect the simple introduction he was paid to facilitate to go wrong. The mage quickly proves unreasonable and decides that there is much more money to be had in robbing Nils and the hapless dwarf. Yet the dwarf is nameless for a reason, and is none other than the dreaded madman that destroyed his kingdom as he attempted to burn the world to ashes around him. The so-called 'Nameless Dwarf' has no fear of the mage and will not let one man cease his search for the vestige of his race. His adventure will continue, with the few new friends he makes that will be essential if he is to succeed in his quest and survive the terrible city of the Ant-Man.

The Good
A Dwarf With No Name is an interesting spin on the dwarvish race, telling the story from the perspective of a warlord that was driven mad with power and is now looking for absolution. It's short length enables D. P. Prior to keep the story moving at a fast pace, meaning that it never lacks for action! It's pretty much just a book of the dwarf fighting and killing people, but Prior doesn't go too over the top and it makes for fairly entertaining, superficial reading.

The Bad
One of the main issues I had with A Dwarf With No Name was its grammar and my internal editor cried out at times and wanted me to get scribbling with a blue pencil. It wasn't really a huge issue, but Prior got tenses and clauses muddled up on more than a few occasions and used writing tricks such as adding an 'sh' into the middle of words to signify that a character was drunk and slurring their speech. If you read a lot of my reviews you probably already know that I'm a big advocate against tricks like this and I think the cheap trick detracts from writing and gives the book a slightly amateurish feel. When have GRRM, Patrick Rothfuss or Robin Hobb ever used such a technique?

Another of the qualms I had with the book was Prior's use of swearing. Just like its use in real life, swearing has to be done properly or it just looks foolish. Throughout the book, Prior uses the word 'shog' in various tenses as a generic insult. I have the feeling this insult has been created to avoid offending the reader or as an attempt at world-building, such as how Battlestar Galactica uses 'frack' instead of, well, you know . . . This works in BSG because 'frack' sounds so similar to the word it's used to replace and is used in the same contexts as Western Cultures use it so we can relate to it. 'Shog' doesn't really sound like existing profanity and just makes me think of 'slog,' which isn't offensive in the slightest and makes the word's use a bit ridiculous really.

Final Thoughts
A Dwarf With No Name is a fair read overall and I enjoyed it. The pacing and excitment of the story made up for any issues there were with the actual prose and the fact that I read it in about an hour probably helped as well. It's a perfect time-killer for that short bus ride and is certainly a good example of easy-to-read fantasy that doesn't take a few weeks to work through.

Wednesday 9 March 2016

The Two Towers - J. R. R. Tolkien

RATING; FOUR STARS

The Fellowship of the Ring has broken. Fearing for the safety of his friends and the corrupting nature of the One Ring, Frodo Baggins fled Amon Hen with his faithful gardener, Samwise Gamgee, at his heels. But Frodo had not considered his lack of geography and Gandalf the Grey, as wise as he was, did not divulge his plans for entering Mordor before he fell in Khazad-dûm. The two hobbits quickly become lost in Emyn Muil's tumbling crags and must accept the help of an unlikely and dangerous ally if they ever hope to reach the Black Gates and achieve their goal of destroying the Ring in the fiery chasms of Mount Doom.

Meanwhile Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are not about to abandon Merry and Pippin to Saruman's torture. They set off in pursuit of the Uruk-hai that captured them, chasing the new breed of orc through the rolling pastures of Rohan. But they quickly discover that all is not well in the Westfold and the mind of the land's once great king has fallen prey to Saruman's treacherous enchantments. Aragorn knows that the fight for Rohan is no less important than that for Gondar and it is in Helm's Deep, the ancient fortress of Helm Hammerhand, where the first blow against the world of men is struck in one of the greatest battles of the Age . . .

The Good
Once again, the depth and scale of Tolkien's beloved story is amazing. Tolkien continues to delve into the history and culture of Middle Earth, while outlying the struggles of the free peoples in two distinct parts, which feature Frodo and Sam in one, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in the other. Both parts are as captivating and full of peril and each other and I was quickly reminded of why The Two Towers was always my favourite instalment of The Lord of the Rings when I was younger!

The Bad
I have very few issues with The Two Towers and it is undeniably a masterful work of fantasy, but, once again, I did find it a bit dry in places and the level of Tolkien's description did slow the story down a bit. As I said in my review of The Fellowship of the Ring, however, this was the style of the era in which Tolkien wrote and is easy to forgive for such a captivating and well-loved story.

My Thoughts
The Two Towers is a deep and exciting sequel to The Fellowship of the Ring and continues The Lord of the Rings saga on in an epic manner. It's the best instalment of the trilogy in my opinion and many of the events it contains, such as that of Helm's Deep, are probably better known than many battles that actually happened in real life! It's certainly worthy of its place on my Shelf of Fame and I strongly suggest you try and give the series a go if you haven't already read it!

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Winter's Heart - Robert Jordan

RATING: FOUR STARS

Still reeling from the failed assassination attempt on his life, Rand al'Thor is forced to flee his cities. He has broken off all contact with the lords, armies and peoples that serve him, but he is the Dragon Reborn, the Lord of the Morning, and does not run blindly. Rand is determined to destroy those that thought to destroy him in Cairhien and lures them into a city where one cannot channel. Many have forgotten that al'Thor carries the mark of heron on his sword--the sign of a blademaster--but Rand still remembers the weight of steel in his hand. What's more, he still remembers what it's like to use saidin without feeling the Dark One's taint through the eidolon of Lews Therin Telamon. Rand intends to purify the One Power once he has dealt with the would-be assassins, although he knows he will not be able to accomplish such a feat without finally learning to trust the Aes Sedai that follow him . . .

The Good
Robert Jordan continues The Wheel of Time saga with the superb prose and incredible detail I have come to expect from his books. Winter's Heart introduces several new cities to the story and uses their unique characteristics to deepen the mythology of his world. I particularly liked his concept of a city that was warded against the One Power, meaning that magic could not be wielded there in the conventional manner. The growth in the abilities of the main protagonists has been immense over the series thus far and many of them are now far more powerful that the prominent villains. This has taken some of the 'danger' from the books and enemies that were once feared have been struck down with relative ease in the recent instalments. By negating magic for much of Rand's storyline, Jordan has managed to recreate the sense of danger in the story and Rand becomes as vulnerable as he was in the early books!

The pace of this book is also much faster than the last few in the series, which is a refreshing change to the slower (although still addictively immersing) plotlines. I really get the feeling the a lot is going to happen over the next few books from the way Winter's Heart ended and I doubt I'll be disappointed!

The Bad
There was nothing I didn't like about Winter's Heart and Jordan seems to have finally got back on top of the pacing of his stories!

My Thoughts
Overall, Winter's Heart is an excellent book and reinforced, as have the previous eight novels in the series, why The Wheel of Time is such a well-known and acclaimed saga. It contains everything a fantasy addict needs to fall in love with it and is a shining example of the epic fantasy genre as its very best. The book is well worth a read if it's just sat on your bookshelf and if you haven't begun reading The Wheel of Time yet, it's high time you get The Eye of the World and begin one of the most epic adventure's you'll ever read!