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.

A fun time cheering for terrible people

 Oh my,  at 35.5 Richmans,  "The Malificent Seven" by Cameron Johnston is a guilty pleasure.  An evil general recruits her six most awful captains, but this time to save a small village?  You know that can't be the only thing going on in this gory, really well paced  dark fantasy novel.   And can I say how great it was that it in fact did not actually follow the "Magick, Dearie"  rule that makes so much grimdark cliche and irritating?   The "Magick Dearie" rule is the way that most grimdark authors leave plenty of magic around,  but its all evil and only the evil can use it or make it happen.   A front without a back,  "Magick always comes with a price, Dearie"  authors have it that no good person, or even a person who wants to do good,  can do magic-- or at least not without paying a horrible price.  So much for altruism, wisdom, or even gods with a sense of humor.   Now in this work, despite so much of the magic being inhuman or inhumane in nature,  it never feels like there is only one side to magic- although we don't see really noble magic users here.  yet this isn't that kind of book. In this book, you are rooting for evil. 

Well, not all the evil-  the book has evil and also eeeeevil.  But there is quick and effective world building,  twists and turns,  solid characters,  and my oh my,  a triple ending that for me was quite satisfying.  So many recent fantasy novels have failed to stick the landing,  but not "The Malificent Seven."  You are welcome to disagree, and perhaps I would have felt differently in past years.  This time,  though,  a gory, messy,  necromancy drenched adventure was a fun read,  delivering all the goods. 

Nine years worth of books? No, but a few worth mentioning.

 Myke Coyle's "Sixteenth Watch" works as well as it does because of characters-  strong, solid characters who breathe and feel and cry and laugh-  and then blow stuff apart in the space around the moon.   For those who normally don't exactly adore millitary or scifi or millitary sci-fi,  this is worth a try.  Recommended at 33 Richmans, for sure. 

Nathan Lowell's "The Wizard's Butler" should not be as pleasant a read as it is.  Some people found it a bit dull,  but most found it wonderful to read.   Sure, there is some magic, but no renevants or undead,   no outworld threats or ancient evil unleashed.    The plot line never resolves one of the issues affecting the main characters.  But as one reviewer noted,  Lowell is writing with such warmth and style that you don't realize you are interested in the story even though you just read a page about getting internet installed in a mansion,  and you want to know what happens next.  No combat,  no really evil people (just greedy) and yet a  stunningly smooth read.   31 our of 40 Richmans-  Recommended indeed. 

So what gets a 42?

I've read it at least 7 times:  Piers Anthony's great fusion of magic, science and supernatural, "On a Pale Horse."  Genre bending,  mixing theology and adventure, there is nothing quite like the story of Zane, the man who became death.   A book you can read over and over and each time find something new about it - or yourself- that gets a 42.  Dune, it goes without saying, is a 42.  Another?  Memory, by Lois Bujold gets the 42,  with her works   A Civil Affair  and Curse of Challion  hot on its heels at 40.

Unincorporated Woman

To keep it short, when it comes to the Kollin's third volume, things seem to drag, and then halfway through you sense "oh crap, this is not the last book in the saga. 22/42 richmans. Epic, lurching. Interesting, but, well, eh.

Here, here, well spoken, Theo.

What a fun and effervescent read! Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers is a delightful start to a series that will call to young readers who are lovers of Edwardian England- or at least England of yesteryear, Egyptian Mythology, and main characters who very bright, but ignored because they are girls. With just enough action and fighting to bring it to the edge of Young Adult, the book still has a gentle manner about it, shielding the main character- and thus the reader- from too much angst, agony, or aggravation. The heroine may not resonate with everyone, but the book keeps moving at a bold pace, introducing its characters and magical rules as it moves along smoothly. 30 out of 42 Richmans. I'm surprised the Disney Channel has not made it into a series yet.