Hughes' Fantasy Reviews 2013

[Signor Finzione]

Yeah, I can see how the dragons would be annoying after a while . . .

 

@Devi: I love digging my PS2 out and playing a bit of Dark Alliance. Those rats in the cellar really have it coming to 'em.  (Is there an old-style fantasy game that doesn't involve rats/beetles in cellars??) The frost giants freak me out a bit, though. They're too big!

 

@Athena: I just realised it looked like I was trying to make you buy that book! I'm sorry, I misread 'add it to your wishlist' as 'add it to your Kindle'.  Got Kindles on the brain at the moment, haha. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets scared by games.

[Athena]

It's okay, don't worry .

 

It's strange, when I was a child and a teenager I used to really like horror (books, films, even horror bits in games), but when I got older and life got more stressful (not that it wasn't stressful when I was a child), I just wasn't into it as much anymore. I'm going to try re-reading Stephen King - It (which I loved when I first read it) and see how I get on. I don't play any horror games and I don't like to see any very scary bits in TV shows or films either. I'm a scaredy-cat! (I believe that's the proper English expression)

 

Yeah, the rats in cellars thing happens in a lot of games.

 

These days I don't play many games anymore at all (because it's too tiring). Animal Crossing was the last game I played but I kind of gave up on it when people were leaving my town just because I hadn't played it for a few days. That pissed me off.

[Signor Finzione]

I used to read Stephen King and James Herbert a lot, but these days I don't really read the scary stuff. I think I was 12 when I read Pet Sematary - it scared the crap out of me.

 

Scaredy-cats unite!

[Signor Finzione]

Review: Shadows in the Sand by Michael Diack

 

 

Athmane is a hunter; Faria, a craftsman. Bayoud is a soldier, and Mary a medic. Together they represent each of the four quarters of Nimar. When an ancient evil rears its ugly head the four friends are called upon to use their unique skills to defend the citizens of the isolated desert city. Potential salvation appears in the form of unexpected allies and the promise of a new home, but will it be too late for Nimar? And can the army of fearsome Sanghouls be stopped before they destroy Empyria itself?
 

Shadows in the Sand is the first tale in Michael Diack’s Empyria sequence. It’s full of good old classic fantasy tropes including (but not limited to) elves, dragons, mages, monsters and magic potions. There are plenty of action scenes which I thought could have been fleshed out a little more than they were, but overall I found it a fairly entertaining read. It sort of reminded me of Peter V Brett’s world in The Painted Man, what with the sand demons and all; and I do like a book with good monsters.

 

That said, there were a few things that niggled at me, namely some awkward grammar that occasionally tarnished my overall reading experience. I also felt that much of the dialogue was somewhat stilted and wooden, which meant that the characters didn’t come alive as well as they could have done. I would like to have seen some flashbacks incorporated into the story: we are often told that the four main characters grew up together yet never really see them interact in a way that would suggest this.
 

This leads me on to one more issue: I felt that the author spent too much time telling us things rather than showing us. As a result some of the dialogue seems slightly contrived; there are lots of descriptions that focus on using measurements rather than imagination to create a visual, and there are several paragraphs containing what might be referred to as ‘infodumps’. The prologue is an example of this, taking several pages to explain the history of Empyria to the reader in a very ‘history book’ fashion. This was probably the intended effect, but I felt that everything within the prologue could have been (and often was, in fact) worked into the narrative instead. On the other hand, the story has a very fast pace that mostly makes up for the occasional stilted conversation between characters.

 

The book is certainly not without its merits. Despite my seemingly long list of complaints I did enjoy reading the book and will no doubt check out the second and final instalment to the series when it’s released in December. I found the storyline interesting and the concept of the world and its history was nice, especially as the book gives you the sense that this history is about to repeat itself. I liked that the story was set in a desert and that it constantly reminds you of the hardships and dangers of everyday life in such a place.

I also liked how the journeys/quests are set up for the sequel, with some of the characters going their separate ways. It’s good to know such classic plotlines never go out of fashion, though it’ll be interesting to see whether the author decides to challenge our expectations in Empyria #2. I’ll be interested to see how the story develops . . . I would also very much like to see the inclusion of more casual friendly banter between the main characters, more focus on the emotional impact of events on these characters, and also a bit more building of suspense during the moments leading up to the action. Also, more Jax. I like Jax.

 

One final comment: I loved the abundance of monsters. It really gives the book a good vintage fantasy feel when every few pages you’re running into fearsome sand-golems, giant scorpions, flesh-eating mermen and even the occasional colossal man-eating poison-spitting cobra. Pretty cool, eh?

My rating: 3/5

[Timstar]

Thought you and/or Steve (or anyone else of course) might be interested in this:

 

 https://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2013/11/05/scott-lynch-and-patrick-rothfuss/

 

I'm hoping to make it down.

[Signor Finzione]

Thought you and/or Steve (or anyone else of course) might be interested in this:

 

 https://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2013/11/05/scott-lynch-and-patrick-rothfuss/

 

I'm hoping to make it down.

 

Thanks for that Tim - what an awesome signing. Two of my favourite authors! It's a shame I probably won't be able to make it down. I'll try though . . .

[Signor Finzione]

 Review: 'Emperor of Thorns' by Mark Lawrence (Broken Empire #3)

 

 

The path to the throne is broken – only the broken can walk it.
 

The world is cracked and time has run through, leaving us clutching at the end days. These are the days that have waited for us all our lives. These are my days. I will stand before the Hundred and they will listen. I will take the throne no matter who stands against me, living or dead, and if I must be the last emperor then I will make of it such an ending.

 

This is where the wise man turns away. This is where the holy kneel and call on God. These are the last miles, my brothers. Don’t look to me to save you. Run if you have the wit. Pray if you have the soul. Stand your ground if courage is yours. But don’t follow me.

 

Follow me, and I will break your heart.

 

Readers should consider these words as a warning. Jorg will indeed break your heart, and not in a way you can anticipate. We’ve followed him through over ten years of his life. We’ve lived his journey from the storm-struck thorns to the throne of Renar. And still he continues to surprise us, in good ways as well as bad.

 

Jorg is now aged twenty, and the Hundred have been summoned to a Congress wherein the empire’s kings and their advisers will meet to decide the matter of the next emperor. The throne has sat empty for over a hundred years, but of course Jorg plans to remedy that with his secret knowledge, stalwart companions and unique brand of tact and diplomacy.
 

“I’ve been to Congression before, Makin. I know what games they play there. This year we’re going to play a new game. Mine.”

 

In addition to the upcoming Congress, however, an even bigger challenge awaits, and the broken empire must prepare itself for the biggest threat to humanity since the Day of a Thousand Suns: the invasion of the Dead King’s armies.

Emperor of Thorns follows the format we’ve become accustomed to: flashbacks from years earlier interposed among the present-day storyline in a way that creates suspense, builds tension and reveals key pieces of information at critical moments. However, there is a new addition: a third-person account of the necromancer Chella, a character who was central to the storyline of the previous book but was only ever seen from Jorg’s point of view. This particular addition made for some interesting insights into her character, as well as giving us inside information about the Dead King and his legions. However, I didn’t really engage with her chapters well enough to be able to sympathise with her character, and was a little bit glad that her chapters were few and far between.

 

Some of my favourite parts of the Broken Empire trilogy are the tales of the road, and we are treated to a fair few of them here. Typically grim yet delightful, these anecdotes about Jorg’s younger days with his road brothers serve a higher purpose here than in previous books, as they are used to reveal more to us about Jorg’s tragic and twisted childhood. Secrets that were only partially revealed or hinted at before – such as Jorg’s burning hatred for the clergy – are now fully unveiled in ways that will undoubtedly cause discomfort in most readers. Lawrence continues to display a penchant for putting the ‘dark’ in ‘dark fantasy’, but somehow the horror and violence is never simply gratuitous: rather, it’s used to deliberately manipulate the reader’s emotional response and force us to acknowledge that his protagonist has been brutally moulded and pushed to similar violence by these horrific external events, rather than just because of his “dena”.

Another great aspect of this book was the scale: we are shown much more of the broken empire than ever before. King of Thorns varied between the rocky highlands of Renar, Maladon in the icy north and the fetid swamps of Cantanlona; Emperor of Thorns follows Jorg even further, from the lifeless wastelands of the Iberico (the dangers of which range from fires to dogs) to the desert city of the mathmagicians, from the silent horrors of flooded ghost towns to the affluent city of Vyene. We’re continually provided with great narrative variety and haunting yet spectacular imagery.

 

The writing is, as always, a joy to read. There are so many amusingly casual turns of phrase, as well as the frequently poetic musings of Jorg’s internal monologue and the brilliantly integrated hints of both past events and things to come. Another of my favourite aspects of the books has always been the delicious clues about the true nature of the broken world. There are plenty of those clues here, my personal favourites being the hilariously sanctified “guardian” of the Gilden Gate, the martial teachings of “Lee”, and of course the ironic original function of the empire throne itself.

All in all, Emperor is a spectacular finish to a brilliantly original fantasy series. Does Jorg find redemption? You’ll have to read it and find out. Think you’ve guessed how it’s all going to end? I can guarantee that you haven’t.
 

My rating: 4.5/5

Edited September 29, 2013 by Signor Finzione

[Athena]

You really make me want to read this series.. I've got the first one on my wishlist. You write great reviews ! I didn't read the synopsis and a few other parts because I don't want to spoil for me what happens in books one and two. But everything that I did read, I thought was very well written by you.

[Signor Finzione]

You really make me want to read this series.. I've got the first one on my wishlist. You write great reviews ! I didn't read the synopsis and a few other parts because I don't want to spoil for me what happens in books one and two. But everything that I did read, I thought was very well written by you.

 

Thank you! I'm glad you like my reviews. I do try not to include spoilers in them but sometimes one or two slip through.  The series is well worth a read - the second one was my favourite (King of Thorns).

[Karsa Orlong]

I was finally able to read your fantastic review, of KoT, Laura
 
 

 

Review: King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (Broken Empire #2)

 

 

I’ll be honest: the first time I read this book I had two major issues with it, the first being the flashbacks. There are four (I think) different time frames/points of view, and I initially felt these to be chaotic, distracting and occasionally repetitive. I felt that they detracted from my enjoyment of the main story by disrupting my sense of time and place. I got that they were being strategically placed to build towards the big reveal, but felt that there was too much back and forth within the narrative. Having read this book a second time, I find it difficult to reconcile my initial response with what I’ve just read. For a start, I realise that the sense of dislocation is deliberately evoked in order to create an empathic link with Jorg: we feel but a tiny fraction of what it must be like to be suddenly hit by a memory you have no recollection of having lived through. Secondly, the ordering of the flashbacks is anything but chaotic. The narrative is artfully constructed so as to reveal crucial plot points at strategic moments, as well as to both shock and tease the reader; and what I had at first thought to be random revealed itself instead to be a complex web of memories cunningly fashioned by the author in a way to make one gape with admiration.

 

I'm glad this worked better for you second time around - I think it's a nifty narrative trick, and I loved how the different fonts helped differentiate between the various threads. I guess the one danger is that he might overuse this device but, seeing as it's a trilogy rather than an ongoing series, I don't think it'll happen (you, of course, will already know! )
 

 

 

 I’ll admit: there were parts of this book that I found difficult to read, and which I know have caused outrage amongst readers elsewhere on the web. A scene which I’ll refer to only as the Justice of King Olidan actually hurt me to read, even more so the second time because I knew it was coming and was powerless to stop it; and yet, I found myself elated that Jorg was able to re-live the memory and re-evaluate the lessons he thought he’s learned from the experience. The fact that the reader is made to experience such anguish is a testament to the author’s ability to create characters and situations he can feel strongly about, and to write in a way that makes others feel this way too.

 

I know the scene you mean, and echo what you say about it. Very difficult reading - much more difficult than anything people have been complaining about elsewhere.

 

 

[Signor Finzione]

I was finally able to read your fantastic review, of KoT, Laura

 

Thanks Steve, I'm glad you liked the review! How did I do with the spoilers?

 

I'm glad this worked better for you second time around - I think it's a nifty narrative trick, and I loved how the different fonts helped differentiate between the various threads. I guess the one danger is that he might overuse this device but, seeing as it's a trilogy rather than an ongoing series, I don't think it'll happen (you, of course, will already know! )

 

I'm so glad I re-read it and was able to appreciate how clever it is. It's used to good effect in Emperor, too! (That's not a spoiler because you've already guessed he'd follow the same format as the first two books!)

 

I know the scene you mean, and echo what you say about it. Very difficult reading - much more difficult than anything people have been complaining about elsewhere.

 

There have apparently been lots of complaints about this scene - one of which prompted this blog post from him. Lots of readers have also whined about how Jorg seems to have undergone a personality change in this book: would you agree?

 

He's also made it clear that there will be no more Broken Empire books after this trilogy - no sequels, no prequels, no spin-offs. I found this a bit upsetting.

[Signor Finzione]

 Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

 

 

The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a friend to the poor, a ghost that walks through walls.

 

Slightly built and barely competent with a sword, Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich (who else would be worth stealing from?), the poor never see a penny. All of Locke’s gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves: The Gentlemen B*stards.

 

The capricious, colourful underworld of the ancient city of Camorr is the only home they’ve ever known. But now a clandestine war is threatening to tear it apart. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends are suddenly struggling just to stay alive . . .

 

 

The Lies of Locke Lamora – the first instalment in the Gentlemen B*stard Sequence – belongs to that brilliant breed of fantasy that relies more on clever plotting, suspense and characterisation than on spectacular magic and obsessive world-building. It’s full to bursting with thieves and murderers, gangs and torturers, cons and disguises, swearing and revenge.

And sharks. Plenty of sharks.

The story follows a small band of thieves known as the Gentlemen B*stards as they initiate an elaborate confidence scheme on a wealthy couple. Despite months of planning, the scheme is soon jeopardised by a new crime boss known only as the Grey King. His arrival in the city – along with that of the powerful Bondsmage working for him – brings terror, blackmail and murder, and heralds the beginning of disaster for the Gentlemen B*stards.

 

One of my favourite aspects of The Lies of Locke Lamora is the characters, who are morally grey yet somehow sympathetic. Locke, our main protagonist, is a thief, and yet at no point do we think of him as a ‘bad’ person: it’s a lifestyle he’s forced into at a very young age. The fact that he turns thieving into a fine art as he gets older is the novel’s main source of entertainment, and the author completely draws us into Locke’s elaborately clever and outrageous schemes. The rest of the Gentlemen B*stards are very likeable too – Bug is endearingly young, brave and desperate to prove himself, while the mischievous twins Calo and Galdo provide some amusing banter and friendly insults – but Jean Tannen is the only member of the group aside from Locke who is really fleshed out as an individual, mainly through the use of flashbacks.

The author makes use of flashbacks and interludes very effectively, using them to reveal important parts of the mythology of Camorr, as well as to illustrate how the relationship between the central characters developed over the years. These interludes are interposed very frequently throughout the entire novel, and are used effectively to build tension and reveal certain things about the plot at strategic moments. They do occasionally meander in ways that diminish rather than heighten the suspense, but are mainly very relevant and interesting.

 

The characters are complex and fascinating (Jean is as well-read and good at maths as he is deadly with his hatchets, while Locke himself alternates between the roles of Thorn, common thief and saviour of the city), the action is bloody and gripping, and the plot has more twists and turns than the tunnels under Shades Hill. What more can you ask for in a debut novel?

My rating: 4.5/5

 

[Edited to put the ***s in - the site automatically changed 'Gentlemen B*stards' to 'Persons of Dubious Parentage'  ]

Edited October 7, 2013 by Signor Finzione

[Timstar]

Great review, really want to re-read this! but I will wait for the Republic of Thieves paperback (which will be a struggle). I love Calo and Galdo, possibly my favourite side characters. The friendship between Locke and Jean is so endearing and only gets better with the second book.

 

EDIT: Just noticed this is only 0.99p on the Kindle!

Edited October 7, 2013 by Timstar

[Karsa Orlong]

Shame Red Seas isn't going for that price, I would've bought it straight away.

[Signor Finzione]

Great review, really want to re-read this! but I will wait for the Republic of Thieves paperback (which will be a struggle). I love Calo and Galdo, possibly my favourite side characters. The friendship between Locke and Jean is so endearing and only gets better with the second book.

 

Thank you. I think Jean is my favourite side character; for me, their friendship is one of the best aspects of the books. (I especially love the on-going "I just have to keep you here . . . until Jean gets back!")

 

Looking forward to Republic of Thieves, which is supposed to be full of more flashbacks that fill in the gaps (more Calo and Galdo!), although apparently it focuses on the Locke/Sabetha relationship more than anything else.

 

EDIT: Just noticed this is only 0.99p on the Kindle!

 

Shame Red Seas isn't going for that price, I would've bought it straight away.

 

 That's very cheap! Especially considering the paperbacks are still the same price now as they were when I bought them 6 years ago.

 

Although, both books are well worth whatever you pay for them IMO.

[Timstar]

Sounds great, can't wait to read it! You know if you're gonna come to the signing?

[Signor Finzione]

I don't think I'll be able to. I'm still looking for a job at the moment, so money is tight, and train fares/petrol for that kind of journey are expensive. I'm actually more gutted about missing Rothfuss than Lynch, but I'm sad I'll be missing both. Hopefully there'll be a similar opportunity in the future, either nearer to home or at a time when I'm not a pauper.

 

If you go you'll have to let me know how it went!

[Karsa Orlong]

Tim, you're going to the signing but you're not going to buy the RoT hardback and get it signed? 

[Timstar]

If I have to in order to meet him I will, but I don't like hardbacks, I am hoping to get my paperbacks signed. Although if it is only £10 or around that I may be tempted 

 

Certainly not paying £16 or whatever a new hardback goes for these days.

[Signor Finzione]

I've pre-ordered it for about a tenner on Amazon - I'd never pay the full retail price no matter how much I loved the author.

[Signor Finzione]

Update: RoT is now just over £8 on Amazon.  (I'm not on commission or anything . . .)

[Signor Finzione]

Review: 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' by Scott Lynch

 

 

Thief and con-man extraordinaire, Locke Lamora, and the ever lethal Jean Tannen have fled their home city and the wreckage of their lives. But they can’t run forever and when they stop they decide to head for the richest, and most difficult, target on the horizon. The city state of Tal Verarr. And the Sinspire.

The Sinspire is the ultimate gambling house. No-one has stolen so much as a single coin from it and lived. It’s the sort of challenge Locke simply can’t resist . . .
 . . . but Locke’s perfect crime is going to have to wait. Someone else in Tal Verarr wants the Gentlemen B*stards’ expertise and is quite prepared to kill them to get it. Before long, Locke and Jean find themselves engaged in piracy. Fine work for thieves who don’t know one end of a galley from another . . .
 

 So you’ve just finished reading The Lies of Locke Lamora. You loved the devilish characters, witty dialogue and clever plotting. You can’t wait to read the next instalment in the series, yet at the same time you’re thinking to yourself: it can’t be as good as Lies. Can it?

 

It can indeed. And it’s not only just as good: it’s better.

 

Red Seas under Red Skies, the second instalment in the Gentlemen B*stard Sequence, is everything that the first book is and more. The central characters are much more fleshed-out and complex, their interaction with each other is more diverse and entertaining, and the plot – involving the usual schemes within schemes within schemes – is unbelievably elaborate, and yet somehow never confusing. Lynch has an incredible knack for keeping details from the reader, feeding us just enough information to make us feel complicit with the grand plans of our favourite thieves, yet at the same time keeping us ignorant of their final twists of genius until the time comes for the great unveiling.

 

The book has a much closer focus than its predecessor on the relationship between Locke and Jean, which is being sorely tested by the fallout of the events from Lies. Their loyalty is heart-warming, their banter is (as always) natural and funny, and their disagreements, while hurtful, seem to make their friendship that much more realistic. Their schemes are also much more ambitious, this time involving card tricks, pirates, unbreakable vaults and the most powerful figures in the city of Tal Verarr, as well as a few hidden players to complicate matters. The plotting is nothing short of brilliant.

As with Lies, though, the payoff comes at an enormous cost. Lynch never lets our heroes simply walk off into the sunset unscathed, and there’s pain and heartbreak here that somehow feels more personal than the characters’ losses in Lies. The characters – all of them – are so well-written that it’s difficult not to empathise with them (or hate them).

Red Seas contains many of the same elements as Lies – daring cons, gallows humour, loveable rogues and complex opponents – and yet has a very different feel. This is largely to do with its setting. Choosing to set a large amount of the book at sea creates a completely new atmosphere and works as a brilliant mechanism to illustrate that our two thieves are perhaps, figuratively and literally, out of their depth. It allows for a novel source of humour, particularly Locke and Jean’s sea-training and the shambles of their fraudulent ‘captaincy’, and also endows the story with a fresh new feel rather than simply recycling the ideas of the first book and placing them in a different city.

 

I also take pleasure in noting that the author is very skilled at including certain ghoulish elements to his stories, elements that work to create an amazingly macabre backdrop for otherwise ordinary events. Some of these grim little touches are the Midden Deep (a bottomless hole into which prisoners are thrown, possibly to fall forever), the death-lanterns (boat-sized jellyfish that absorb your blood through your skin), and of course the eerie Ghostwind Isles (a pirates’ haven consisting of volcanoes, jungles, suicide-inducing fog and mysterious forces that can cause entire villages to disappear).

 

I first read this book around six years ago and remembered it as being very good; I’ve read it again now and realised that it’s actually brilliant. Now, onto the newly-released book #3 . . .

 

My rating: 5/5

Edited October 13, 2013 by Signor Finzione

[Signor Finzione]

I paid a little visit to a local BHF charity shop yesterday, and was delighted to find three books that I actually wanted to buy. (Charity shops near me hardly EVER seem to have my kind of books, so finding three that I fancied was nothing short of a small miracle). The books are:

 

Dawnthief - James Barclay

The Diamond Throne - David Eddings

Magician's End - Raymond E Feist

 

I've never read anything by Barclay or Eddings, so opinions from people who have would be nice. I'm especially pleased with the Feist acquisition - it's his latest novel (the final instalment in the Riftwar saga), and is a mint condition hardback.

 

All three books came to £6.50 - we northerners do love a good bargain.

[Karsa Orlong]

I paid a little visit to a local BHF charity shop yesterday, and was delighted to find three books that I actually wanted to buy. (Charity shops near me hardly EVER seem to have my kind of books, so finding three that I fancied was nothing short of a small miracle). The books are:

 

Dawnthief - James Barclay

The Diamond Throne - David Eddings

Magician's End - Raymond E Feist

 

I've never read anything by Barclay or Eddings, so opinions from people who have would be nice. I'm especially pleased with the Feist acquisition - it's his latest novel (the final instalment in the Riftwar saga), and is a mint condition hardback.

 

All three books came to £6.50 - we northerners do love a good bargain.

 

£6.50???  You'd be lucky to get the covers for that much in London

 

Brilliant purchases.  Re Eddings, The Diamond Throne is great fun.  Personally, I'd still start with 'The Belgariad', as it's his best work, imo.  My worry would be that, reading 'The Elenium' first, you might start to notice his formula if you then went on to read 'The Belgariad', but it's a minor thing.  Sparhawk's a great character (but there's no Silk!).

 

As you know, Dawnthief is one I own and have been meaning to read for ages.  I've heard that the first book is nothing to shout about, but they get progressively better

[Signor Finzione]

£6.50???  You'd be lucky to get the covers for that much in London

 

Even in a charity shop?

 

Brilliant purchases.  Re Eddings, The Diamond Throne is great fun.  Personally, I'd still start with 'The Belgariad', as it's his best work, imo.  My worry would be that, reading 'The Elenium' first, you might start to notice his formula if you then went on to read 'The Belgariad', but it's a minor thing.  Sparhawk's a great character (but there's no Silk!).

 

Thanks for the info! I'm looking forward to meeting this Sparhawk - according to the book's cover he's the 'best-realised hero in modern fantasy'. Belgariad book 1 has been on my wishlist since you first recommended it - I have a feeling it'll get bought at Christmas time with my grandma's annual festive gift of 'money in the card'.  Or sooner, if the upstanding individual who donated these books to the shop carries on feeling charitable.

 

As you know, Dawnthief is one I own and have been meaning to read for ages.  I've heard that the first book is nothing to shout about, but they get progressively better

 

I wonder which of us will eventually read it first?  I already have the second one in the series (I got confused when I went on my birthday money spending spree) so I'll be able to see if they do get better as they go on. Although, I also have the first two books of the Ascendants of Estorea by Barclay - I'm not sure which to read first.