A bit like getting into the Lap Pool: In the Shadow of Lightning

 It's not that fantasy epics that clock in at over 550 pages are not worth it- they are.  But only the greatest grab you from the start and don't let go, and you find that since  page 35  you've been reading non-stop for eight hours. Otherwise, even novels with decently complex characters, sharp action and solid worldbuilding take a bit of investment, especially when there are three or four narrative threads- and then you reach a point where they take off and you're along for a fun ride.   Brian Mcclellan's  quite solid "In the Shadow of Lighting"  is one of those latter cases.   It took me a week of reading here and there to really get far enough into the book to reach a point were everything was moving and I really wanted to see what the next page took.  It was like when I swam laps to stay fit as a lifeguard.  The lap pool was always 10 degrees colder than the main pool, and getting in was always a bitch.   But after a time,  you were glad for the cool water of the lap  as you did your turns and strokes,  because that same workout int the warmer main pool felt like swiming in chicken soup-  too warm and thick. In the lap pool you could swim longer and faster because the cooler water made it possible.   Getting this work started was like getting into the lap pool.  Not easy at first, but worth it later. 

I'm rating "Lightning"  a whole 29 Richmans because it took time to build all of its narrative threads into a thightly moving cord of action.  But once it got going, high millitary magic and adventure were at hand! Huzzah!    The magical system in the world is fun and cutting (ha!), but it is the political world of  houses and guilds,  hotels and assemblies that really are what I feel draw you in. And then there is a layer of something sinister behind that political world,  something dangerous.   Good show. 

This is a good choice for a read when you'll have a weekend with reading time.  You may need to pick up the book a few times before you reach a point where the pages are turning almost on their own. A few folks have bitched about the ending.  I'm not quite sure where the real trouble is, but I'm a real stickler for wanting authors to stick the landing,  and the last chapter as well as the epilogue were in fine form as seen from my POV.  Folks may disagree with that, but opinion is opinion; in most cases they can have theirs and I can have mine and nothing terrible will happen. 

An up all night page turner! Thanks, Colin.

Most of the time,  the inexpensive offerings on Amazon's specials for Kindle; for sci-fi are more miss than hit. Some are pleasant, but I have stopped a third or half-way through several books of late, thinking "this is just not well written enough to keep reading. I could be snuggling with my kids instead of read this."  And then I go snuggle with the kids. But I found myself reading way into the early morning reading "Starman's Saga: The Long, Strange Journey of Leif The Lucky" by Colin Alexander, and I did not want to put the thing down. If any of Alexander's other works are this gripping, I'm going to be delighted with having found a "new" author. This was a solid 35 Richmans. Great narration, solid characters, and scince fiction that never makes the science feel too much like fiction.  Human nature may doom life on Earth in the long run,  the author may be saying,  but going to the starts may save the species.  Fair enough.   Action on an alien world,  academics who are astonishingly accurate in their nature, flawed people,  great worldbuilding-  this was a great ride that never felt like it was sermonizing, but leaves you with what to think about.