Where the Heroes Punch Above Their Weight

The Shattered Skies by John Birmingham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved the first book in this trilogy, and the second is just as good. Maybe better.

This is a very rich, well imagined universe that is profoundly real in the best science fiction way possible. It is weird and complex and beautiful and ugly, filled with extrapolations from the present that sure seem possible.

The story is a space opera staple, with star-traveling empires competing for survival in an all-out war, but like the best novels it's told from the perspective of about a half-dozen really engaging, well-developed characters with unique voices. They're all brilliant in their own ways, and hilarious, and super fun to follow.

The bad guys, who are clearly fascist and terrifying, are not entirely wrong, and the good guys, who emerge from somewhat freer societies that also include horrible slavers and noblemen and oligarchs who are crushing the common people, are obviously pretty horrible. There's hope, and there are many people fighting for better lives for people, but there's a lot that's pretty bleak. And I feel like this could represent exactly where we'll be someday--where the rich have infinite lifetimes and the poor are completely shackled by their superior tech.

This book ends with a nice conclusion, as did the first book, but it's the larger arc that brings me back, and I'm bummed that the final part was supposed to be out already and still isn't schedule a year later. I can wait, I guess, but I'm ready for it.

In many ways, this has a fantasy feel, with action and stakes like maybe Joe Abercrombie or someone like that, blended with a bunch of John Scalzi dialogue and humor. Highly recommended.

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Epic Black Powder Fantasy. Again. Truly.

Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am an unabashed fan of Brian McClellan and his novels--and his novellas too, actually--and I am thrilled that he has produced another gem. This is fantasy at its most entertaining and most exciting, with everything working.

Some characters from the previous trilogy return, along with new characters, in a setting only seen in the novellas, and it takes off right away. From the first page, we have exciting, gripping action with high stakes focused on characters it's easy to care about. Vlora and Olem and Michel and Ben Styke and many others are hit with conflict on every level--personal, ideological, political, physical, emotional--and the author manages to wind the plot, conflicts, and action through every slice and level of society. McClellan is not as prone to wiping out his characters as, say, G.R.R. Martin, but no one is safe; the characters suffer and pay a price for every decision they make, with victory not assured. It's both tense and thrilling, but satisfying and ultimately fair to the reader.

For those who haven't read any of his novels, this is a black powder fantasy, meaning the technology is similar to our 18th Century, but it takes place in a world with magic and living gods. There are sorcerers of different types, including powder mages who can harness the power of gunpowder when they fight. The author makes the magic and the technology and the invented world absolutely believable, with the politics of colonization, oppression, and revolution looking like our own world. (It is original, though; this is not allegory.) On a new continent, with a colony on the edge of a frontier, natives and immigrants sometimes live alongside each other peacefully and sometimes fight for justice and power and wealth and personal freedom. This conflict, which gets placed inside a larger one, definitely has an epic feel, with plenty of room for additional books.

I love following the story of heroes that are limited but awesome. I enjoy the spectacle of them using their gifts and skills and grit to gain an advantage and keep going against all odds, while meeting up with other awesome characters, other heroes, whose storylines cross theirs. To me, that's where the fun is, and this one has it in abundance. It's a big book, so some of the payoffs are longer in coming, but they're better for it. (And it's the start of a trilogy, so not everything is settled by a long shot, but there is a satisfying conclusion.) He gives you characters to root for, and gives you reasons to care. Well done.

Great action, excellent characters, terrific plotting and pacing, fantastic imagination--this feels like fantasy is supposed to: a world of wonder filled with amazing people and exciting adventure.

Highly recommended. :)

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Where, with unearned confidence, I both praise and critique a very fine author. With apologies. ;)

The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brian Stavely is a good writer, and deserves the reputation he has earned for being a serious author of fantasy. He is inventive, creating an exciting world and cosmology, but also knowledgeable enough about religion and philosophy and history (subjects he has apparently taught) that his world works. It is believable rather than contrived, which makes the action feel more real and more plausible, and makes the characters more human. The intersection of religion and politics is treated in a sophisticated way that gives the novel real depth and even actual meaning outside the imaginary world where it takes place.

One of the things I enjoyed in this novel is that the main characters mostly move forward and succeed by using their skills--awesome characters being awesome. (™!) Too many novels create conflict by having the MC screw up constantly, making bad decisions, or ignoring good advice, and the author doesn't give us too much of that. The characters have skills and intelligence that they apply to their problems in a rational but human way, and their success is generally through their hard work and sincere effort. Though they do fail sometimes or choose wrong sometimes, it is in keeping with their personality and the laws governing all of them, in the same way that great teams don't win every game. In other words, it feels natural or organic. These interesting people are doing the best they can, and I'm still feeling sympathetic towards them two books in, even some of the bad guys.

I wish the novel had moved along a bit more, though. I almost stopped a couple times when the strategizing and arguing and other slow-moving sections made it a chore, with 300 dense pages still to go. It was worth it in the end, obviously, but I didn't always pick up the book with pleasure or put it down entertained. (After reading a few books where characters cross the open steppe, I'd have to conclude that it's just not a good idea, from a narrative perspective.) Personal preference, I suppose. YMMV.

Yes, I will look for book three. I'm still cheering for the characters, and rooting for the author. Hopefully, that's where all the questions will be answered, and all the awesome characters do awesome things.... ™ ;)

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