Phil Williams (4)

This book is so, so, so good. If there was any huge win for the authors of the SPSFC3 whose books were assigned to group EPIC, it is some books from the group that were previously cut are getting several volunteer judges to give them a second look.

To this end, Wixon's Day is deservedly getting a second chance by having at least 3 additional judges sampling it. In my opinion, this book is definitely quarterfinalist material. Fluid prose and offers us a vivid immersion in a post-apocalyptic world where coal and methane mining has filled the atmosphere with a thick fog, fancy slick spaceships are exchanged for rudimentary methane and steam engines. The book so far doesn't confirm whether the fewer hours of visible sunlight (affecting crops and causing famine) is either due to the fog or the planet is entering an ice age where humans are being displaced towards the equator and squabbling over fewer resources.

As expected, there's lot of warfare for scant resources and slaves. What drives this book apart is how the country of Estalia used to press kidnapped delinquent children into servitude working in the dangerous mines. Most slaves are children from faraway nations with territorial disputes with Estal. There does not seem to be a central government, only mining and other technocrat oligarchs pulling the strings of different military guards to locate more slaves for their own interests.

Embroiled in this dystopic society is a ferry captain named Marquos. Unlike most books where a captain is an orphan with a tragic past, Marquos had a seemingly peaceful life in a small town by the great river. His parents are doing fine and his brother is an actor that travels to other towns of Estalia by land. There really is no reason why Marquos chose his solitary life other than due to boredom.

And yes, this story commences with an odd bang. Marquos is arriving to his parents' front door, accompanied by a little 6 year old girl named Red. Is Red his daughter? Nope, she was captured and enslaved. And Marquos is risking his life trying to return the girl to her birth town very, very far north. A region that few sane Estalians venture because it is too dangerous. But for the sake of saving one innocent life, Marquos will do it.

So yes, we get quite a fascinating dynamic of temporary adoptive father-daughter relationship as Red enjoys living on Marquos's ferry, their encounters with guards that are still adamant in stealing the girl back into slavery, and the new danger of Marquos encountering wanted Kand tribal criminals that seem to have an agenda of their own. If readers are interested in a steampunk adventure featuring a protective fatherly figure on a ferry encountering all sorts of dangers, this book will be up their alley.

Now that I have finished the novel, it truly is an exciting and immersive adventure starring the Unwilling Hero trope. Marquos doesn't seem to have any motivation at first (outside of returning Red home), and doesn't even know why he is helping the two Kand fugitives named Goreth and Lian. I liked both Kand fellas, Goreth is a trained warrior set on liberating his people, whereas the ever skittish Lian wants a better life, but isn't willing to fight for it.

We meet other colorful characters along the way from both sides of the Border Guard-Kand rebellion conflict. When members from a band are not trying to goad Marquos into joining their cause, they are causing a variety of problems for him. Characters that Marquos was about to kill with a hammer one chapter show up into his boat when it is moored, wave hello to him (as if their prior life & death encounter never happened), serve themselves some canned dinner in his cabin and just sort of joins the crew of his ferry for a few days. All the while, Marquos learns a little more about biased versions of the history of Estalia, the true goals of each side, and he inches a little bit more towards choosing to join one of the two rival causes. I would not like to spoil which characters enter this temporary crew member dynamic, but all of their personalities are well fleshed out.

While I am fervently gushing over this book (deservedly so), I would like to mention this isn't a book for everyone. Readers that want Marquos to choose a side from the first chapter might find his wishy washy indecisiveness to be beyond grating. The story seems to slowly meander as Marquos travels north and back again in the ferry, where it is hard to discern exactly where the story is heading. In my opinion, this is a book where the reader will have to give it a 10% test run. If the book sucked them in within this timeframe, they will heartily adore the rest of the story. Readers that are hurting for instant action, a discernible goal early on and nonstop explosions, chances are this book might prove to be frustrating to read. Otherwise, dig right in!

I enjoyed it a lot!… (mere)

All the books I’ve so far read and enjoyed from author Phil Williams have been set in Urban Fantasy backgrounds, so when I happened to encounter the description for However Many Must Die and understood that it was something completely different, I was curious to see where the change of theme would take his narrative skills, so I was quite delighted when Mr. Williams granted me an ARC of his new endeavor.

The setting depicted here is a richly complex one: at the roots of the narrative there is a world, the Rocc, engaged in the strife between its two main powers, the conquest-hungry Drail and its major antagonist Stanclif, each of them supported by their own alliances of minor states. The background and the technical elements mentioned bring immediately to mind a level of civilization similar to that of Europe during World War I (with some steampunk accents) but with a huge difference, because this world is also home to a great variety of creatures - from the merely bizarre to the monstrous - which add a generous dose of fantasy to the mix, where one can also find magic wielders to complement the existing technology.

In this context of seemingly endless, drawn-out warfare we meet the Blood Scouts, an all-female squadron mostly employed in missions that entail commando-like incursions where sniping skills are particularly required. Wild Wish is a member of the Blood Scouts and we meet her in the heat of one such skirmish, a bloody one where the Scouts’ success is marred by some grievous losses. There is little time, however, to mourn the death of friends, because the Scouts are tasked with a dangerous but vital mission: intelligence reports hint at a terrible weapon being perfected by the Drail, one that might not only change the tide of war in their favor, but also threatens a massive loss of life. Wild Wish and her friends then embark on a journey into enemy territory that will take them across a war-ravaged world and test their mettle to the utmost.

I was completely captivated by Wild Wish and the Blood Scouts in their quest across the Rocc and its different terrains, cultures and creatures, even though I did struggle a little at the start because this is a very complex, very layered world which requires unwavering attention - in this regard I was greatly helped by the glossary at the start of the book, returning to it time and again to help me make sense of the huge amount of information underlying the story. In this respect However Many Must Die is a challenging read but once you become comfortable with the background you will be able to enjoy the characters and their adventures: the shining light in this novel comes from the camaraderie binding the Blood Scouts and the way they express it through affectionate banter or apparently rough exchanges that come from the well of shared experiences of this group of women.

In this world women are not viewed as effective combatants, there is a deep veneer of misogyny running through the Blood Scouts’ dealings with the other military and it’s interesting to see how this serves to cement their bonds even more deeply. Even the enemy - alerted by its own intelligence about a possibile incursion - struggles to accept that a handful of women could be responsible for the news of sneak attacks and successful stunts that are being reported. On the Drail side of the war there is another woman, Maringdale, who is an officer of the Purification (a sort of secret police) and equally suffering from discrimination: she is the enemy, granted, and while it’s easy to hope that her hunt for the Blood Scouts will be unsuccessful, it’s equally easy to sympathize with her, given the supercilious treatment she must endure in her attempts to bring the Stanclif infiltration to the attention of her superiors and ultimately to foil it.

The characters are undoubtedly intriguing, and there are many more besides Wild Wish: from mage Emi, whose dirt-minding powers can affect the environment but require a price of momentary madness, expressed in manic laughter; to sniper Rue whose moods can turn from brooding to murderous at the drop of a hat; to Oksy whose inexhaustible well of knowledge tends to set Wish on edge, they all contribute to a wonderful tapestry of personalities we come to care deeply for. These are mostly young women who choose to enlist either to show their worth or to escape from a dreary existence, but their shared experiences forge them into a cohesive whole where they are able to accept sacrifice not only for a higher goal but above all for the good of the small “tribe” they created with each other.

The journey itself, that often takes the shape of a classic fantasy quest, thanks to the strange places and even stranger creatures that Wish & Co. encounter on the road, is one whose stakes and hardships keep increasing, as does the pace of the novel: where at the start However Many Must Die reads like something of a war chronicle, it gradually morphs into a high-octane race against time and impossible odds, punctuated by run-ins with the weirdest beings one could imagine, ranging from forest-dwelling barkmen (the name says everything) to goblins and vicious Grekkels (think something between lizard and wolf) and so on. Be prepared for blood-chilling skirmishes and grievous losses, even among favorite characters….

But the best comes indeed last because the final showdown - set on a huge train rushing madly toward its momentous destination - will keep you on the edge of your seat and in serious need of oxygen, and it was my favorite part of the story, one that compelled me to stay awake well past my bedtime to see what would happen.

If this is - as it would seem - only the first installment in a new series featuring the Blood Scouts, I’m totally onboard for the continuation of the journey.… (mere)

I received this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review: my thanks for this opportunity.

And so we’re back to the fictional city of Ordshaw, where magic lurks just beyond the corner of your eye, after the slight “detour” which brought us around the world with Phil William’s Ikiri Duology, even though that story also showed some connection to this main site of weird phenomena.

Kit Fadoulous used to be the leader of the punk rock band of the Dire Grrls together with her friends Madison and Clover, and at some point in their career they found online Betsy Burdock’s Book of Spells, a sort of do-it-yourself grimoire which changed their lives, teaching them to enhance their music with spells. As the story starts, it’s a few decades after those “golden years” and Kit has taken on the job of editor for an independent paper focused on pointing out local authorities’ failings and on promoting worthy enterprises. She now lives in one of Ordshaw’s worst areas, one that is both crime ridden and abandoned to its own devices, and lost contact with her former friends: still surrounded by an aura of mystery and a whiff of witchcraft, Kit barely manages to keep he publication afloat, and her situation becomes even more complicated when a friend from the past warns her about the return of an old foe, bent on resurrecting the ancient gang wars - and he seems to have enrolled someone able to summon magic…

As is often the case with the Ordshaw series, saying too much about the plot would spoil the enjoyment of the story, and there is much to be discovered here, particularly because each chapter begins with a look at the past of Kit and her band - and how their art mixed with witchcraft and the gangs’ territorial wars, often with unpredictable and dramatic results - and then proceeds to add more details to the overall picture of the present, moving with a swift pace toward some final revelations that end up being quite surprising. What’s different here, in respect of the other books in the series, is that the weirdness does not come from otherworldly phenomena or creatures, but from the wielding of magic through spells which are reinforced by the mixing of very, very strange elements: the excerpts from Betsy Burdock’s book are both intriguing and fun, enhanced by the fictional author’s unique brand of humor, and I enjoyed them very much.

Kit is an intriguing character (one, I have to admit, I was curious about since this book’s cover reveal some time ago): still very much tied to her punk rock singer persona in the manner of dress and the way she relates to others, there is a definite layer of wisdom through adversity added to her personality that instantly endeared her to me, a reaction that deepened as I understood that she carries a heavy burden from the past and from the fracturing of what used to be a very strong bond with her bandmates. Every reference to that past is tinged with poignant regret and a sense of guilt that Kit probably tries to assuage through her tireless work in favor of the community: using magic imbued the three girls with a heady sense of power, but Kit has come to realize that the payoff was far too steep - there is one instance in which she warns about the consequences of that carelessly wielded magic, summarizing its noxious effects:

We don’t know how to heal things. Only how to break them.

Other characters, like Ellie - Kit’s virtual second in command at the paper - or newcomer Aaron, a young man who seems scared of his own shadow until he reveals unexpected talents, move around Kit like planets around the sun, helping to better define her psychological makeup and to underline her strengths and frailties.

And of course there is always the city of Ordshaw acting as both background and character: as I often commented, talking about this series, there is a storytelling quality to these books that makes me imagine this city as colored in sepia tones, or immersed in a sort of perennial dusk: here that sensation is enhanced by the descriptions of the area where Kit operates, the community of St. Alphege, a once lively but now run-down sector where organized crime put some very deep roots and where the distraction of local authorities did nothing to improve the citizens’ living conditions.

[…] bare brick walls and windows barred like a prison, roads pocked with holes and pavements dotted with weeds. Even the sky’s blanket grey conspired to give the estate a miserable appearance.

Dyer Street Punk Witches (which is available from today) is loosely related to the rest of the series, so it can be read as a stand-alone, but if it can make you curious about the other Ordshaw stories, know that this unusual Urban Fantasy saga will prove both intriguing and entertaining in its peculiar weirdness…… (mere)

The previous book in this duology introduced me to a new set of troubles afflicting this version of our world, in which the weird and supernatural coexist with everyday life, as introduced in Phil Williams’ Sunken City trilogy based in the fictional city of Ordshaw.

Where the weirdness surfacing in Ordshaw remained more or less confined to the city itself, and more precisely to its subterranean levels, in the Ikiri Duology upheavals manifest in a very public and quite bloody way, requiring the shady Ministry for Environmental Energy to stretch its resources to find plausible explanations for the sudden, tragic bouts of violence erupting worldwide, and to keep the consequences under wraps as much as possible.

In Kept from Cages we met MEE agent Sean Tasker trying to deal with the situation and finding an unexpected - and weird - ally in Katryzna, a young woman with a violently unpredictable attitude. On the other side of the world, a band of criminally-inclined musicians met with a strange child, Zip, who soon proved to be the key to the strange events plaguing the world. Once the two groups met, the story truly launched into its inexorable path…

The unlikely allies are now faced with the need to go to the source of the disturbance, a place deep in Congo’s forest called Ikiri, from which the spreading corruption seems to originate and where dark mysteries need to be solved, both for the sake of the world at large and for young Zip’s safety in particular, since too many people seem intent on killing her.

With the scene being set in book 1, and the characters introduced, Given to Darkness can finally embark, unfettered, into the adventure proper: not that Kept from Cages was a restful story, of course, but here the author could finally indulge into the breathless journey he must have envisioned from the start, while also enjoying the space to let his characters grow and take on new facets while they deal with the unending string of dangers and threats peppering their path.

For instance I liked very much the way outlaw musicians Reece and Leigh-Ann become even more protective of young Zip, whose emotional growth is driven forward by circumstances that are far too complex and harrowing to be heaped on the shoulders of a child: the way they almost become substitute parents, and the comparison with Zip’s real father - a heartlessly manipulative individual who is quite easy to hate - makes the goodness of their hearts shine even brighter.

Agent Tasker turns out to be a decidedly more human face for the Ministry, whose ways - as often seen in the Sunken City trilogy - can be quite callous, and I have to admit he grew up on me, while in the first book I was not too sanguine about him.

Still, the character that truly shone for me in this novel is that of Katryzna, mostly because we are finally allowed a deeper glance into her personality beyond the external armor of cold-blooded violence she likes to wear: getting to know her better, and learning about the person behind the mask of the brutal killer was a very intriguing - and at times emotional - journey which left me with a very different outlook on this ruthlessly determined figure.

What can you expect from this book - and from the whole duology as well? Certainly a great deal of non-stop action sprinkled with humor, even though the darkness in the title is a definite, and often suffocating, presence. If you are looking for adventure, mystery and a good measure of fantasy elements, you need look no further than this book and its predecessor.

Given to Darkness will be available from October 19th, which is exactly a week from today: the conclusion to this engaging series is indeed just around the corner, so… happy reading!… (mere)