quippe | Entries tagged with jen williams

The Blurb On The Back:

The city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for waiting to die while the realm of his ancestors falls to pieces – talk about a guilt trip.

When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza ‘Vintage’ de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees a way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving artefacts is preferable to the abomination left behind.

But not everyone is willing to let the empire collapse, and the adventurers are soon drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war.

The Jure’lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jen Williams’s fantasy novel (the first in a trilogy) incorporates innovative twists on traditional fantasy elements (including vampires, witchcraft and religious oppression) and neatly incorporates a science fiction element to its antagonists, which I found refreshing. However there are some pacing problems (especially the info dumps), Vintage’s mannerisms were overdone for me and I had quibbles about the ending but would check out the sequel.

The Blurb On The Back:

There are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel.

Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that they hold great riches; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths.

For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel is just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done.

But sometimes there is truth in rumour. Sometimes it pays to listen. Soon this reckless trio will become the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart.

And they’re not even getting paid.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jen Williams’s debut fantasy novel is a sword and sorcery romp that attempts to invert the traditional stereotypes of the rogue, the mage and the paladin albeit (for me) to limited effect. The main issue for me is that all three main characters are essentially driven by self-interest, which makes it difficult to empathise with them. This is, I think, partly the point – they are not setting out to be heroes – but much of the book turns on their collective refusal to sort out the mess that they’ve created (although Sebastian does eventually step up to the plate). The protagonists’ story is by the numbers and there were no real surprises with any of the plot twists as each one tied so obviously to the resolution of the story. More interesting for me were the scenes told from the viewpoint of the dragon’s brood and their growing self-awareness and I wished that there had been more of this because the lightness of touch here was missing from much of the rest of the book. The book leaves open the potential for a sequel, which I have to say I wouldn’t rush to read, although I would check out Williams’s other work.

THE COPPER PROMISE was released in the United Kingdom on 13th February 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.