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Breeding Moon Reviews
Aug. 7th, 2015 11:35 amHey,
I happened across the British Fantasy Award nominations. Among the contenders for Best Novel was one book I'd already read (City of Stairs). I looked over the rest of the list and there were two more that looked interesting to me. They were also on sale for $4 each in the Kindle store so I figured I'd snap them up and read them. I finished up the other day so here are my thoughts.
First up we have Breed by KT Davies. Breed is a half human/half warspawn who's human mother runs an extensive Thieve's Guild in the small city of Appleton. Breed's on their way back from raiding a dragon's hoard (rather at speed with the dragon behind them) when they are dumped down into a crevasse. In the process of escaping the dragon and the prison of ice, Breed may have accidentally sorta freed a demonic monster from the ancient past who has slapped a whammy on them to recover a major relic.
Then Breed is accused of murder and magically enslaved to a one-handed priest. Things devolve from there.
So a fun conceit of the book is that Breed's real name or gender is never really discussed so I can't tell if it never passes the Bechdel test or always passes it. You get to choose. The pace was brisk, there were one or two laugh-out-loud places, but it could've used a touch more of the "cocky rogue" effect it was going for. The ending strongly suggests there's going to be a sequel, but it ends well enough with no cliffhangers. Overall the book was pleasant beach reading, but I don't think it should claim the BFA.
The next book might win the prize. The Moon King by Neil Williamson presents a setting with real elements of the fantastic and not just "it's like medieval Europe with magic and fantasy races" which is something I always really enjoy. In this case, the city of Glassholm sits on a small, rocky island. It's been ruled for the past 500 years by the Moon King -- the Lunane. The Lunane was one of the original founders of the city and it was he who went out over the ocean and returned with the moon that now circles above the island. Regular and precise, there is a deep rhythm to life in Glassholm. When the moon waxes to full, the town erupts in festival celebration. When the moon wanes to dark, the citizens are gripped with despair. Even the material substance of the city changes with the phases of the moon reflecting the mood of its people.
Anton Dunn is an engineer who was stood up at the altar on Fullday. He promptly got black-out drunk and wakes up in the palace where everyone is treating him as the Lunane. Lottie is an artist who dreams of leaving Glassholm and seeing the world. Mortlock is an ex-cop now working for the Palace who discovers that people in the city are mysteriously vanishing. They form the central core of protagonists that the story wheels about.
I'd compare this book pretty favorably to Chia Mieville with the bonus that in The Moon King stuff actually happens. There's a lot of imagination on display and it's well worth your time.
later
Tom
I happened across the British Fantasy Award nominations. Among the contenders for Best Novel was one book I'd already read (City of Stairs). I looked over the rest of the list and there were two more that looked interesting to me. They were also on sale for $4 each in the Kindle store so I figured I'd snap them up and read them. I finished up the other day so here are my thoughts.
First up we have Breed by KT Davies. Breed is a half human/half warspawn who's human mother runs an extensive Thieve's Guild in the small city of Appleton. Breed's on their way back from raiding a dragon's hoard (rather at speed with the dragon behind them) when they are dumped down into a crevasse. In the process of escaping the dragon and the prison of ice, Breed may have accidentally sorta freed a demonic monster from the ancient past who has slapped a whammy on them to recover a major relic.
Then Breed is accused of murder and magically enslaved to a one-handed priest. Things devolve from there.
So a fun conceit of the book is that Breed's real name or gender is never really discussed so I can't tell if it never passes the Bechdel test or always passes it. You get to choose. The pace was brisk, there were one or two laugh-out-loud places, but it could've used a touch more of the "cocky rogue" effect it was going for. The ending strongly suggests there's going to be a sequel, but it ends well enough with no cliffhangers. Overall the book was pleasant beach reading, but I don't think it should claim the BFA.
The next book might win the prize. The Moon King by Neil Williamson presents a setting with real elements of the fantastic and not just "it's like medieval Europe with magic and fantasy races" which is something I always really enjoy. In this case, the city of Glassholm sits on a small, rocky island. It's been ruled for the past 500 years by the Moon King -- the Lunane. The Lunane was one of the original founders of the city and it was he who went out over the ocean and returned with the moon that now circles above the island. Regular and precise, there is a deep rhythm to life in Glassholm. When the moon waxes to full, the town erupts in festival celebration. When the moon wanes to dark, the citizens are gripped with despair. Even the material substance of the city changes with the phases of the moon reflecting the mood of its people.
Anton Dunn is an engineer who was stood up at the altar on Fullday. He promptly got black-out drunk and wakes up in the palace where everyone is treating him as the Lunane. Lottie is an artist who dreams of leaving Glassholm and seeing the world. Mortlock is an ex-cop now working for the Palace who discovers that people in the city are mysteriously vanishing. They form the central core of protagonists that the story wheels about.
I'd compare this book pretty favorably to Chia Mieville with the bonus that in The Moon King stuff actually happens. There's a lot of imagination on display and it's well worth your time.
later
Tom
