Steph SwainstonRecensioni
Autore di The Year of Our War
Recensioni
The Year of Our War di Steph Swainston
Jant is the Emperor's Messenger, and he has a Circle name, Comet. All the Immortals have their Circle name; these names serve as an official identity and also as a job title. Although one of the races of the Fourlands, the Awia, have vestigial wings, hollow bones and fast metabolisms that suggest that they ought to be able to fly, only Jant actually can. He also has a drug problem, which is described in some graphic detail. But this is not gratuitous awfulness; a heavy dose of his drug of choice can propel him into another world, which is weird, sometimes horribly surreal, but which has a physical reality of its own and which comes to play an important part in the events of the novel.
The Fourlands are besieged by large, beetle-like Insects, against whom the Circle have waged war seemingly without end.. As the novel opens, Insect attacks are growing in intensity and frequency and no-one knows why. Things get complicated when various members of the Circle begin falling out with each other - after all, after between 500 and 1000 years of working together, you might just begin to detest the sight of your colleagues. Jant finds himself at the centre of these disputes and of the war, all the time trying to be a fair go-between for the Emperor, various mortal monarchs and the other members of the Circle. No wonder he took to drugs, you might think.
Jant is far from likeable; but he is a complex character, and not without wit. But he is definitely flawed, and those who like to empathise with their main protagonists will probably react against Jant, his excesses and his addictions.
The world-building is interesting. Fourlands is at tines a modern society; people wear T-shirts, run marathons, measure distances using the metric system, tell the time with a twenty-four hour clock and have a seven-day week that starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Technology is roughly late Georgian/early Victorian level; there is industry and steelworks and (water-powered) trams and sticky tape; and although there are some things that are inexplicable, and others that are just not explained, there is no highly overt magic as such. I've seen this described as a parallel reality; I tend to visualise this sort of thing as suggesting some sort of far future, lost colony sort of setting, because so many of these things are cultural indicators that a wholly different and separate culture would not have. But I enjoyed it immensely, possibly because of all these contemporary vibes elbowing their way in.
The language is also contemporary; and what with the scenes of graphic drug abuse and some equally graphic sex of dubious consensuality, some readers will not take kindly to this book. But it is no identikit fantasy. The plot gets a bit bogged down in the middle as Jant uncovers the extent and effect of the bickering within the Circle, but once a few heads get knocked together, things move on in interesting ways. Combat is described in some degree of detail, but without gratuitousness. The Insects are truly implacable and their motives unknowable.
To sum up: an unusual fantasy unlike any that you may have read before. There is enough to intrigue if the protagonist's shortcomings don't actually repel you.
2 
RobertDay | 19 altre recensioni | Oct 21, 2019 |
RobertDay | 19 altre recensioni | Oct 21, 2019 | 
Read more about each of the stories on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2018/08/25/turning-point-steph-swainston/
Wrought Gothic and Other Scenes provides us with some nice background information of the world of the Fourlands and some of its characters, but not everything worked all that well for me. Still, as a supplement of this complex world, it was nice.
Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2018/04/22/wrought-gothic-and-other-scenes-steph-swainston...
Plot:
After the events of Fair Rebel, there are a lot of pieces to be picked up. When Gayle, the Castle’s Lawyer, wakes up from her injuries, Simoon, the Castle’s Treasurer, is already waiting for her. He is deeply unsettled by events and tries to find his footing again. He talks things through with Gayle, trying to figure out how to go on from there.
Aftermath is short and probably mostly for more committed fans of the series, with the background information and the glimps of what’s to come it provides. I really enjoyed it.
Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2018/04/21/aftermath-steph-swainston/
Plot:
15 years have passed since the Emperor San and the Vermiform clashed. By now the Fourlands have discovered gunpowder and are ready for a last big strike against the insects. But before they can actually carry it out, it turns out that the gunpowder has been tampered with and has been liberally mixed with sand. This discovery sends Jant, the Emperor's messenger, on a chase to find the culprit and the missing gunpowder - before things are blown up that aren't insects.
Fair Rebel finally returns to the Fourlands (although it wasn't that long of a wait for me because I was a little later in discovering the series, but the last one before this one was a prequel, so anyway) and it does so with a bang - quite literally. As usual, I very much loved reading about this world and was excited about the new twist and turns the story makes.
Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.com/2017/07/05/fair-rebel-steph-swainston/
Plot:
Jant Shira is new to the Emperor's circle of immortals. Being half Rhydanne, half Awian on top of his novice status, he often feels like an outcast and is eager to prove himself. The opportunity arises when Rhydanne Dellin comes to the Castle, seeking an audience with the Emperor. Dellin's living space in the mountains is severely encroached upon by Awian settlers and she is here to ask for help. Jant gets sent to the mountains with Dellin to check out the situation and thus has to confront his own heritage.
I enjoyed Above the Snowline very much, and I continue to be a fan of the series. Above the Snowline offers some interesting takes on the Fourlands and on colonialism, but mostly, it provides great background information on Jant himself.
Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.com/2017/04/12/above-the-snowline-steph-swainston/
Plot:
The circle’s architect Frost has a plan to get quite a bit of land back from the insects. So the Fourlands are at work building a huge dam, to then flush out the insects. The people not occupied with that are busy fighting the insects in combat, led by quite a few of the circle’s immortals. Among them is Lightning, the archer, but Lightning is otherwise occupied: his daughter Cyan is missing. What he considered simple teenage rebellion so far has him more concerned. So he asks the circle’s messenger Jant to find her and bring her back to him. But Jant’s search brings him right back to his own past.
The Modern World is an exciting continuation of the Fourlands series and simply a great book in its own right. Again I can only say that I loved it.
Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2016/09/18/the-modern-world-steph-swainston/
In september 2016 last ik de eerste Het Rad van Fortuin, de eerste Splinter van Steph Swainston. Splinters zijn korte in paperback uitgegeven boekjes die je een uurtje wegleest. Ze bevatten veel lokaal talent maar ook een paar vertalingen. Ze zijn net lang genoeg om een goed idee te geven van de kwaliteiten van een schrijver en nieuwsgierigheid op te wekken naar het overige werk van de betreffende auteur. In het geval van Swainston is dat goed gelukt. Ik heb sindsdien vier romans uit haar Castle reeks gelezen. Toen ik hoorde dat er een nieuwe Splinter van haar hand verscheen ben ik dus direct eens gaan vissen naar een recensie-exemplaar.
Het Rad van Fortuin toont ons de jonge jaren van Jant, een van de hoofdpersonen in de boeken van Swainston. Voor dit verhaal kiest ze een ander karakter. Saker is de onsterfelijke gemaakte boogschutter die keizer San dient in zijn strijd tegen de insecten. Hij is getekend door de strijd, maar misschien nog wel meer door zijn dramatische liefdesleven. In dit verhaal kijkt hij bijna 15 eeuwen terug op zijn eerste grote liefde en de dag dat zijn oudere broer, jaloers op zijn onsterfelijkheid, hem op zijn plaats wil zetten.
Spelen, in welke vorm dan ook, zijn altijd een dankbaar onderwerp voor fantasyschrijvers. Denk aan de spelen die de climax vormen van het boek Magiër van Raymond E. Feist, of de toernooien uit Een Lied van IJs en Vuur van George R. R. Martin. Ook paardenrennen, waar Swainston zich hier aan waagt, zijn geen onbekend terrein. Zo scheef Tanith Lee erover in Het geboortegraf, de roman die haar grote doorbraak zou betekenen, en heeft Guy Gavriel Kay zelfs een (niet vertaalde) duologie geschreven die deels geïnspireerd is door de cultuur om het paardenrennen in Byzantium.
Het zijn doorgaans scenes vol spanning, gevaar en het nodige bloed en Tempo is daar geen uitzondering op. De jonge Saker is een heethoofd en bovendien verliefd. Het is niet moeilijk om hem in een levensgevaarlijke situatie te lokken. Swainston mikt echter niet alleen op spanning. Waar het in het verhaal echt om draait een onsterfelijke die de consequenties van zijn lange leven moet aanvaarden. De liefde die hij najaagt is er één waar een groot sociaal taboe op rust. Wil je dit tot in de eeuwigheid met je meedragen? Ze staan voor een lastige keuze.
Saker is echt de ideale hoofdpersoon voor dit verhaal. In de boeken zijn we hem als een tragisch figuur, die zijn onsterfelijkheid als een loden last met zich meedraagt. In dit verhaal is hij jong en heetgebakerd, eigenwijs en een beetje verwaand, maar zien we al wel zijn nijging om zich in allerlei buitgewoon dramatische situatie te begeven. Het sluit naadloos aan bij wat we van hem uit de boeken weten.
Tempo kan net als Het Rad van Fortuin prima op zichzelf staan maar nodigt de lezer uit om verder te kijken in de wereld die Swainston gecreëerd heeft. Het dilemma waar Saker en zijn geliefde voor staan vormt een mooi afgerond plot. Voor de lezer die beter bekend is met Swainston’s wereld zitten er ook de nodige interessante details in het verhaal gewerkt. Gezien de opzet van Splinters een zeer geslaagd stukje fictie dus. Ik moet dringend eens op zoek naar Above the Snowline, de enige roman van Swainston die tot nog toe aan mijn aandacht is ontsnap.
Full Random Comments review
The Year of Our War
...In some ways The Year of Our War is a rocky start to the trilogy, but also one that shows a lot of potential. The setting is absolutely unique and after reading this book you can't possibly not want to learn more. The story is a dark one, but it doesn't overly rely on shock tactics to keep the reader's attention. Swainston is clearly interested in the darker side of human nature and her main character is a big part of that. His addiction and personality make him a character that is guaranteed to provoke a reaction in the reader. Probably not a positive one in all readers but if you can stomach a main character you can't always sympathise with, he is bound to take you for quite a ride. I'll be reading the second volume in the not too distant future to see where he will lead us and of course to find out if he can get the monkey off his back.
Full Random Comments review.
No Present Like Time
...I enjoyed this second book more than the first. Where the frayed threads of Jant's life make for a bumpy ride in the first novel, this book reads a lot more smoothly. He has a bit more time to reflect on the state of the world, giving the reader a lot more insight into what is actually going on. Swainston leaves quite a lot dangling for the final volume. It has plenty of potential to be a proper climax to the series. I can see all sorts of directions in which Swainston could take the story. Swainston has not only created a fascinating world, she also keeps her readers guessing. How many fantasy novels can you think of that are truly unpredictable? I can't think of many. This sense of unpredictability is perhaps the series' greatest achievement.
Full Random Comments review.
The Modern World
...Castle is not quite what it appears to be seems to be the message of this book. Don't believe everything you are told. Don't take things at face value. Swainston makes us question just about everything we think we know about Castle and Fourlands. There obviously is a lot more to this tale, which makes it all the more surprising that the author went on to write a prequel about Jant's early years next. You can feel Castle is at a turning point, even if it takes a while for the full impact to be felt. The Modern World deepens the reader's understanding of Fourlands and Castle in ways neither of the previous two books did. It is without a doubt my favourite of the three novels in this omnibus.
Full Random Comments review.
Plot:
A few years have passed since the last big success against the Insects and things are pretty much back to normal, with the big difference that Jant, the Emperor San’s Messenger, is actually clean at the moment. But the calm is disrupted when a challenger to the Emperor’s Swordman appears – and actually manages to take his spot in the circle of immortals. At the same time, Mist – the Emperor’s Sailor – is charged with sailing to an heretofore unknown island and to try and convince them to join the Fourlands ruled by the Emperor. San also orders Lightning (his Archer), the new Swordsman Wrenn and Jant to accompany Mist – much to Jant’s terror as he fears water above all.
No Present Like Time was another wonderful read. The plot may not be the strongest, but I loved the characters, the world-building and the prose. And that is more than enough for me to love the book.
Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2016/06/28/no-present-like-time-steph-swainston/
But - I just couldn't get into it.
I suspect that the aspects of the book that many readers interpreted as 'highly original' and 'weird' I just saw as poorly delineated usual fantasy.
It took a long time to be told who the characters are, where they are, what's going on, what their motivations are... and I didn't really see a point, narrative-wise, to be so cagey about everything. As a reader, it just made me feel distanced from the story.
Basically, Jant is a half-breed immortal, one of an elite military cadre, and the only individual who can fly, in a world that is desperately battling a plaque of giant insects. (That is, when they're not engaging in petty intrigue and bickering.) He's also a drug addict, which everyone around him regard as a failing - but it may be that the place his consciousness goes when he seems to be in a drug hallucination is an actual alternate world - and this may hold the key to defeating the bugs.
I thought that the world and the story had a lot of potential, but it felt like a first novel to me. (I also really disliked the drug-hallucination world, and its dependence on bad puns to distinguish it from the 'regular' world.) And apparently, the author has now given up on writing, with some bitter, grumpy public announcements of such... so I don't think I'll continue with the series. (It is a 4-book series, and this one ends at a cliffhanger point.)
Ah, the omnibus. Many trilogies I would never had read if they'd not been released in omnibus form. It's three books for the price of one and a bit! Frankly, you'd be losing money if you didn't buy it! (Or so I tell I tell my boyfriend when yet another parcel of books appears on the doorstep...) If I'd had to have purchased the three books in the Castle trilogy, The Year of Our War, No Present Like Time and The Modern World, I know I never would have.
I mean, the plot sounded intriguing enough. An emperor dude has the power to make people immortal, but he grants the gift only to the man or woman that proves themselves to be the indisputable best at something. But you can't, like, be the best at ribbon curling, your skill has to be relevant to the centuries long war the emporer's been waging against an invading swarm of bugs. Jant is the best messenger at the world, because he's pretty good at learning new languages and diplomacy, but mostly its because he can fly and no one else can. Which seems a bit like an unfair advantage to me but there you go.
Sounds pretty cool, yes? But there were several things that turned me off. Firstly, Jant is a drug addict, hooked on a hallucinogenic called Cat. Man, I hate reading about drug addiction. Partly because I find books (and movies too) that deal with addiction tend to be too dark for my liking but mostly, having never been a drug addicit myself and therefor having no understanding of what it feels like, I get really frustrated. 'Hey, character x, have you tried just, you know, not taking drugs?' Also, the trilogy has garnered some pretty average reviews, the most troubling being that the characters are shallow and boring.
But, omnibus! So I bought, I read and, friends, I loved it. Loved it like my niece loves pink. (And believe me, the kid loves pink). Are the secondary characters somewhat 2d? Well, yes, but, but, I think that's the point. Because Jant, our erstwhile first POV narrator, is just a wee bit self centered. If the people around him seem to lack depth its because he's too busy checking out his reflection in the mirror to notice their depths. It obvious that Swainston is capable of writing fleshed out and complex character because that's exactly what Jant is.
There are three races in the book, humans and "Awains" (who are pretty much people with wings (who can't fly)) are the two who co-exsist quite happily and who we see the most of. But then there are the Rhydainne, (I may be getting the spelling wrong here, my book is out of arms reach), an odd race who live way up in the snowy mountains. They are extemely fast and insanely self serving. Their language doesn't actually have a word for "we," but it does have over fifty for drunk. (Jant says this is because it gets too cold they need to drink to stop their blood from freezing, but Jant says a lot of things...) Humans and Awains are very distrustful of Rhydainne, and so Jant often gets treated with suspicion or fear, on account of he's half Rhydainne half Awain. (This is how he can fly, super light Rhydainne bones combined with Awain wings).
Jant is a fascinating mix of both cultures. He craves acceptance and love, but at the same time his solitary Rhydainne nature shines through. He has a wife, for instance, but the only time he seems to think about her when she's not with him is when she's having an affair. And then it's only about how Jant feels, and not at all about her. He constantly twists situations around to serve himself, and has a constant stream of excuses ready to explain why he's never wrong, especially when he's taking drugs, and he's kinda always taking drugs. Dugs which, I haven't yet mentiond, teleport him to another world which reads like something China Mieville wrote and then decided was too weierd. The drug taking didn't bore as much as I expected it too, or even at all. I think Jants wicked sense of humour played a huge part in it, he kept taking drugs and screwng up and I just kept on forgiving him. Plus, Swainstone's descriptions of flying make it sound like just the coolest thing ever. There's something vicariously enjoyable about the constant envy Jant receives because he can fly.
The plot? Hmmm,well, ok. A lot seems to happen, but then you stop and think and realise that actually, nothing has happned. It also gets a little confusing at times, and story elements are set up to be important and then kind of go no where. But I can gaurantee that it will be different from any fantasy you've read before. And honestly, he plot could have been Jant goes to the market to by fruit but buys socks instead and I'd read it, solely because of Jant's voice. He made the whole trilogy for me, and is the reason I can't wait to get my hands of the prequel and I'm hoping like crazy that Swainston writes a sequel.
Full Random Comments review
Plot:
The Fourlands are at war with the (man-sized) Insects that threaten to overrun the entire kingdom. King Dunlin leads the attacks, supported and advised by the Emperor and his group of 50 Immortals, all the best in their respective fields. One of said Immortals is Jant, the messenger – a position he has because his father was Awian and his mother Rhydanne, which gives him wings and a light enough frame to actually fly, the only person to be able to. But by now, it is the only reason he still has the position as he is also incredibly self-centered and addicted to the drug cat and the Shift to another world that comes with it. As things become worse, Jant will have to make some choices.
The Year of Our War is very much unlike any fantasy novel I read so far and I really, really loved it, despite the fact that it took me a while to get into it.
Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.com/2014/10/14/the-year-of-our-war-steph-swainston/
A world with a Circle of immortals protecting the inhabitants from the Insects until God returns. An immortal messenger who’s drug takes him into another world where the boundaries are thin and where the answer to the Insects may lie..
For some reason I never connected with the author, everything seemed washed out and pale. I couldn’t seem to immerse myself in the world, root for the characters or engage in the plot. I couldn’t visualise or taste it and I didn’t care.
The plot seemed a thin delicate thing and not really the main show (although what the main show was I don’t know) but the pacing was off as insects overwhelm the world and then the circle falls to rather uninteresting infighting. The characters were universally flawed, not very fleshed out and too few. Although I did like the protagonist for being endearingly awful but he was far too reactive to carry what was lacking in the rest of it. As to the world, well the City our addict goes to is tantalisingly interesting but sadly it was also fleeting and I would have thought the setup of immortals could be good (they each have a purpose) but it was barely explored.
I guess the 1st in the trilogy is saddled with setting up plot and characters for the whole book but it has to hold some enticing promise of reward as well as being a great plot within itself and this did neither. I am mildy tempted to try the 2nd book out but really I don’t think I ever will.
Not recommended.
The story is told from the point of view of whoever is the main focus for the current chapter so the reader gets to see the motivations of each of the main players throughout and each has their own distinctive voice. The world is beautifully portrayed and imagined and nothing really feels out of place, even when our own modern day accoutrements invade what seems to be a fairly standard fantasy setting. The different facets of the plot are interwoven nicely as the story builds to the climactic ending. There are some quite grisly scenes portrayed in this book and details of animal butchery is probably not the worst of it but if you can handle that kind of detail then this and the aforementioned trilogy are definitely worth a visit.
1 AHS-Wolfy | 5 altre recensioni | Jan 30, 2012 |
AHS-Wolfy | 5 altre recensioni | Jan 30, 2012 | Most of the things that annoyed me in the first volume are absent now. It's much better plotted, characters are introduced in a more organised manner, the lapses into present are almost (but not entirely) eliminated.
Without these annoyances and distractions, the writer's talent for language can show forth to much better effect. Swainston has a real gift for descriptive language and a delight in playing with words. In the 'Shift', the alternative world that Jant reaches under the influence of drugs, many of the strange beings there have names that are puns or clever plays on word meanings.
Sadly, there were still a few minor things that threw me out of the text. It's usually the bits that the writer adds as almost throwaway afterthoughts that tend to spoil the book for me. A description of a hurricane has windmills rotating so fast that 300 catch fire and burn. Clearly the writer doesn't know that any miller worth his salt will take the canvas off his sails and lock the sails in position at the first sign of really bad weather.
And Tris, which ironically has no need of a long-distance communication system, turns out to have the semaphore towers which were lacking in the Fourlands - which did need them.
Still, overall, a well-written book and one that encourages me to continue with the series.
Firstly, it takes forever to sort out who is who and what is going on.
This isn't helped by the fact that many characters have multiple names and titles that are used on difference occasions. eg Lightening, Saker, Micawater and Archer are all the same person.
Second problem is that the writer occasionally drops into present tense for no apparent reason. I found this jarring and can only attribute it to poor editing.
Third - occasional point of view slips. The narrative is first person throughout, but there are a few places where the non-psychic narrator suddenly knows exactly what another person is thinking. Poor editing, again.
Fourth - I didn't initially find any characters that I actually cared about.
Fifth - why do Awians have wings if they can't fly?
Sixth - I know the narrator is a drug addict, but there were sill an awful lot of descriptions of injecting drugs.
Seven - it took me ages to sort out the level of technology - I initially thought it was all medieval as the battles are all like that; a passing reference to trams confused me totally. This world turns out to be a Victorian level of technology, but with no firearms and odd modern styles of t-shirts, etc. The trams turn out to be water-powered (which I didn't find convincing). The bit I found most unrealistic is the communication system. There isn't any. No telegraph, no semaphore towers, no postal service, nothing. Battlefield communications are equally bad. This is a massive plot device simply to ensure that the narrator (who is the only person who can fly) ends up carrying all communications of any importance.
I nearly gave up a quarter of the way through, but persevered and found that the book did get better. A plot finally started to develop and the characters got more interesting. I enjoyed it enough in the end to pick up the sequels in the Red Cross shop, but I wouldn't have paid full price for them.
Book 1: The Year of Our War
This was the debut novel of an author aiming to fit in the New Weird movement that is hitting the Fantasy world at the moment and my second exposure since reading China Mieville's Bas-Lag books. I think I'm going to enjoy exploring more of this sub-genre.
The Year of Our War sets the action amidst a war of the human population against the invading insects of which there seems to be a never ending stream. 50 of these humans have been made immortal by the Emperor and to qualify as one of these you must be the best at what you do. Jant Shira is one of these immortals and is the Emperor's Messenger, being half Rhydanne makes him extremely quick and he's the only member of the winged races in the Fourlands that can actually fly which is an added benefit. We follow the story from Jant's viewpoint as the insects threaten to overwhelm the empire's forces and threaten them with imminent destruction. Can Jant and the rest of the immortals find out a way to stop them or will their own internal bickering and conflicts overtax an already dangerous situation?
There's a lot going on in this book. Not only do you have the war within and without of the immortal's circle but there's also Jant's battle with drug addiction which also allows him to Shift to another world, usually a one way crossing. Jant (and subsequently the reader) is not sure if this other world is real or just a construct of his drug-addled imagination. No-one that he talks to about it knows of its existence and nobody else has ever returned to confirm or deny its validity. Does it really exist and if so does it interact with Jant's real world or not?
Book 2: No Present Like Time
Picking up 5 years after the events of the previous book we get to see the workings of The Circle and how it affects the goings on of the Empire as a whole. The story opens with a challenge to the Swordsman and he's not too pleased to lose his immortality when he is defeated. He vows to regain his place and will stop at nothing to do so. Meanwhile, the emperor has sent Jant and Wrenn, the new Swordsman, along with the Sailor to the newly discovered island of Tris to try and bring them back into the empire. Tris turns out to be an idyllic island paradise that was founded by the remnants of what was the fifth land of the empire who sailed across the sea escaping from a governmental system that they didn't believe in. Things don't go well for the emissary's attempts to induce the islanders into joining the empire as a captive insect brought along to sow fear into the peaceful community escapes and with the Trisians already predisposed into wanting nothing to do with the empire will this prove the final straw?
How will the two conflicts resolve and will they cross over into one another? Can Jant see a way to overcome or will he be too distracted by marital problems and his (all to brief) trips into The Shift?
Book 3: The Modern World
Like the preceding two volumes, this story is once again related in the main by Jant but we do get to see others of the immortals come to the fore. The Architect thinks she has a way to inflict considerable damage to the insect population and has constructed a dam that will enable the flooding of the front lines and drown a great many of the hated enemy. A great war host is assembled by the emperor and he orders all of the immortals to be present for the campaign. When the bad things start happening, Jant is away from the scene looking for Lightning's daughter who has gone missing at an inopportune moment and the Messenger is the best equipped to find her. Can he locate the errant child and return to where he should be in time to be of use?
The third book shows more of the characters and their back-stories with Lightning, the Doctor and the Architect along with Jant being heavily featured. There is only one brief, harrowing trip into the Shift in this story and it seems a shame that this multiverse is not explored more in this trilogy. Though there is now a prequel available it might not be unreasonable to expect other volumes to appear in the future.
Conclusion
A thoroughly enjoyable read that takes epic fantasy and plays with it a little to bring it into New Weird territory. Very descriptive and seemingly well researched (I believe that the author took up hand-gliding to gain a greater understanding of her main character). I look forward to returning to the Fourlands with the aforementioned prequel at some point.
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