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Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Jun 5, 2017, 12:10:53 AM6/5/17
to
Trickery (Curse of the Gods) (Volume 1)
by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
http://amzn.to/2rBM6tf
Willa Knight is a "Dweller". In the context of this series, that
means essentially a lower class that is treated like dirt. A Dweller
will always be a Dweller, and the most one can hope for is to win a place
in the academy of Minatsol.. being a servant to the Sols there. The Sols
are the ruling caste from whose and only whose ranks future gods are selected.
Willa of course has no chance of going to Minatsol as she is as inept as
a person may be and still remember to breathe. In fact her ineptness is
semi-legendary in her village and often ensnares bystanders. So when she
is chosen as one of the two candidates from her village for a serving position
at the academy, she's sure there is a mistake, but goes just the same.
During her voyage to Minatsol, I started to wonder if maybe I was reading
something like _The Steerswoman_ where we were dealing with a poorly
terraformed planet (habitation is laid out in expanding circles with
the land less viable tier by tier) with a remnant crew of technologists
lording their wonders as "magic" to the outer circle rubes, but it turned
out not. There really is magic, and the gods really do come down to the
Minatsol arena to choose candidate gods from amongst the Sol contenders..
Up to this point, the book had been rather straight-forward fun, but once
at the academy, things turn a bit goofy as Willa runs afoul of a group of
hot-shot Sol candidate brothers.. and turns them into what one Amazon
reviewer terms as a 'reverse-harem', which seems as good a term as any.
We still learn some things about the gods, and get hints that Willa's
ineptness may be imposed on her, but things turn very romancy despite
the fact that there is no sex...
The Thousand Names: Book One of the Shadow Campaigns
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2szLJg6
The Thousand Names: Book One of the Shadow Campaigns
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2qKjieS
The Price of Valor (Shadow Campaigns Book 3)
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2qKj7jW
The Guns of Empire (The Shadow Campaigns)
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2rBve67
"The Penitent Damned" (The Shadow Campaigns)
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2qJJB5a
"He's . . ." Marcus sighed again. "Sometimes I think he
just likes being dramatic, like a penny-opera villain. It's
always, `Oh, you'll see, Captain,' or, `Matters will become
clear soon, Captain.'" Marcus managed to produce a reasonable
simulation of Janus' erudite accent, and Jen chuckled.
"You must know something, even if it's just from standing
around behind him," she said.
Marcus shifted awkwardly, and smiled to cover it. "If I
did, I couldn't tell you. You're a spy, after all."
What if Sherlock Holmes were Napoleon, and what if he had some other
driver for his military campaigns than the love of Empire and
giving his relatives thrones? And what if there were magic?
Those are somewhat the questions answered by Django Wexler's "Shadow
Campaign" series. Given that I mentioned The Powder Mage Trilogy
by Brian McClellan last month I suppose comparisons are inevitable.
Both are what some call "flintlock-punk", both include elements of
the French Revolution and its fallout, both have a charismatic
general driving the action, and both are quite good. The France
comparisons are more explicit here though, and McClellan's Field
Marshall Tamas is no enigma. He has friends, allies and a son he
loves even through half estrangement. On the other hand Wexler's
Janus bet Vhalnich has almost no connection to normal humans,
and operates on a Holmes or Tatja Grimm level...
It's interesting that both series seem to be written in part for
the modern reader. In particular, there is far greater scope for
female characters in both series than their quasi-historical context
would imply. I'd say it's not realistic, but that I agree with the
choice.
The series opens with a desperate campaign to suppress a revolution in
the Egyptian stand-in country on this second world: Khandar. For years
the France analog, Vordan, has supported the local monarchy making Khandar
essentially a client-state, but now a fundamentalist revolution has broken
out and the small colonial garrison is overwhelmed, though saved as
Captain Marcus d'Ivoire leads a retreat to the coast after their commander
is killed. Now they must hold out until an evacuation fleet arrives from
Vordan. Except the arriving fleet is not for evacuation and contains
reinforcements, though not that many, and a new commander Colonel Janus
bet Vhalnich who has orders to retake the country, and secret aims that
are much less clear..
This book introduces most of the main characters of the series.
There's the brilliant and mysterious Vhalnich (whose first name
cannot be random), the Watson-bluff d'Ivoire, and Winter Ihernglass,
a ranker (private, essentially) with a secret. How can Vhalnich
retake the country with his small cadre? Why is he trying, really?
And what are The Thousand Names?
I don't know a whole lot of Napoleonic history, but the first book is
obviously inspired by his (not particularly successful from what I remember)
Egyptian campaign. The second book moves back to Vordan proper where the
old king is dying. When he does, his young daughter will become Queen,
an event without precedent in the last several hundred years, and like
many of the characters she has her own secrets, not the least of which
is that she is plotting to overthrow her own government. Meanwhile
her father's last act is to appoint the recently triumphant Vhalnich
as minister of Justice and Marcus d'Ivoire as commander of the city watch,
just as The Revolution breaks out..
As in the first book, echos of history are obvious. We get "the spike"
for the guillotine, a clear Bastille analogue and the calling of the States
General. Of course there are differences too. For one thing, the Queen
is not beheaded (or spiked), for another Vordan is what passes as a Protestant
country in this world (Free Church vs Sworn Church). We get one new
major character, and all the others move forward in a satisfying way
(though you want to shake Marcus when he congratulates Ihernglass on an
undercover mission..)
In book three, the rest of the world goes to war with Vordan to
suppress the Revolution and/or take the opportunity to win a weakened
country back to the Sworn Church. As usual there are clear historical
echoes and you can see Prussia and the germanies along with an
England analog amongst the foes. How can Vhalnich fight off the
whole world as first Consul for a government that barely exists,
with a green army and much of the nobility inclined to side with
the invaders? Not to mention that with the capital descending into
The Terror, how much will be left when he gets back? Not much at
all if the Sworn Chruch's Penitent Damned have anything to say about it..
In book four, Vordan is victorious on all fronts (that's not much of a
spoiler, this is not a "and then everybody died" type of series), but
Vhalnich sabotages the peace conference, over the Queen's objections to
continue the war to the home of the Sworn Church, in the world's Russia
analog. Now leading a well trained, and battle hardened Grand Army,
he sets forth, but once again his motives are unclear, and the Queen, forcing
her way into the expedition, fears victory will do the country more harm
than defeat. Other problems: Knowing never to march into 'Russia'
in winter is less helpful that it might be when Weather magic is in play, and
Ihernglass's old lover has gotten a makeover..
Book four is the most current in the series, but it is not the final
book. _The Infernal Battalion_ is slated for Jan 2018, and I have
pre-ordered. I do have some confidence that the series will not
be drawn out forever as the big-bad is now on the scene and will either
be defeated fairly quickly, or will cause the end of the world..
"The Penitent Damned" is a short story preceding book one which highlights
one of the new characters introduced in book four. (A fun one: spider-man
comes to flintlock-punk).
The Demon Road - American Monsters Paperback - 2017
by DEREK LANDY (Author)
http://amzn.to/2soiGNg
When we last saw Florida Teen Amber Lamont, she and her semi-retired
serial killer protector Milo had just barely made it out of Desolation
Hill Alaska after uncovering the town's dark secrets. In a pretty
bad spot, Amber made a deal with the Shining Demon to be his
representative on Earth for immediate help in saving her and Milo's
lives. The downside is she has to do a lot of really evil and
unpleasant things to fulfill her side of the bargain. The upside
is that now she gets to hunt and kill her parents, who are on the
Shining Demon's naughty list. Her quest to do this has the usual
shocking twists and turns we've come to expect from Landy, including
the offhand deaths of several characters we've been rooting for.
In the end, well, you never get off the Demon Road once you start
down that metaphorical highway, and you never totally escape the
consequences, but perhaps while you're there, you do as much good
as you can.
I still think the first book in the series was the strongest, but this
book is a reasonably satisfying conclusion. These books still haven't
been published in the US, so the link above will take you to third party
sellers. If you want the ebook, you may have to tell amazon.ca a white lie.
Or if you're in the Commonwealth, you're golden.
The Guns Above (Signal Airship)
by Robyn Bennis
http://amzn.to/2rBr1PM
More flintlock-punk, though this one brings in just a bit of steam too.
Think Mundy & Leary in the air, but this time Mundy is in command.
Some years ago, Josette Dupre donned male clothes and enlisted in the Signal
Airship corps. Apparently this, while not common, happened often enough
that the powers that be decided to semi-regularize the situation by
establishing an "Auxiliary" officers rank tree beside the normal ranks,
and put the women in it. The auxiliaries are strictly forbidden from
flying the airships, and are supposed to be set on the ground before
any ship enters combat. As the rules are completely impractical, they
are widely ignored, unless someone with pull has a beef.
As our story opens, Auxiliary Lt. Dupre, her captain having been
shot, has put her failing airship down, deliberately, on the enemy
ranks and having squashed enough troops to turn the battle has made
a bit of a name for herself in the press, which she dreads as it
inevitably brings her to the attention of the commanding general
in the context of stealing his thunder. In fact there is very little
thunder to steal as the pointless conflict over a resource rich
territory which changes hands every time a contending country recovers
from the last war is going only so-so, and mostly that's his fault.
Still he is fully prepared to cashier Dupre and make an example of her,
and by extension all the Auxiliaries (which program he adamantly opposes),
and would have done so by now if Dupre hadn't also come to the King's
attention. The King is playing his own game (apparently) and personally
awards Dupre a *regular* commission, and an airship to go with it.
Meanwhile young aristocrat "Lord Bernat Manatio Jebrit Aoue Hinkal"
comes on screen and we aren't quite sure what to make of him. He
seems like an airhead when he tries to explain local politics to a
foreigner, and we first meet him in bed with a hooker. On the other
hand, he kisses her as she's sleeping, and leaves her a gold coin as
a tip, neither of which he has to do. In fact, he's pretty nearly broke
and that tip leaves him just about enough money to semaphore to his
mother to send money, and have lunch. The reply to that missive is
not as satisfactory as it might be as his mother advises him to seek out
his uncle, who will take care of him. Needless to say, his uncle turns
out to be the commanding general and after a harrowing few minutes of
almost not being able to avoid being sworn into the Army as an ensign,
"Bernie" wangles an assignment to fly on Dupre's ship as an observer, and
gather enough dirt on her to let his uncle end her career despite the
King's aegis.
To complicate matters, the ship is, those three words designed to strike
fear into any airman, a 'revolutionary new design' and the enemy is about
to open a second front, a prospect totally unexpected by the commander, and
not one the generally ramshackle defenses of the country can easily counter.
I quite enjoyed this, which is the start of a series (and the only one
currently available). My only real complaint would be that "Bernie"
wises up more quickly than is realistic. On the other hand, you wouldn't
want the airhead version center stage for too long..
Space Carrier Avalon (Castle Federation Book 1)
by Glynn Stewart
http://amzn.to/2qJK4Es
I've really enjoyed Stewart's "Duchess of Terra" series so far, so I decided
to try one of his other series. I probably picked the wrong one, as
the Starship Mage series has gotten favorable notice here, and I didn't think
_Space Carrier Avalon_ was anything special. The basic setup is similar to
Nutal's _Ark Royal_ (or the "Battlestar Galactica" reboot for that matter).
Our hero Wing Commander Kyle Roberts has been assigned to take over
the fighter wing based on the Castle Federation's storied carrier _Avalon_.
The ship is old, but has seen so many historic victories that the powers that
be have seen fit to refit her and load her with modern fighters for her
final tour: A show-the-flag exercise to reassure the Federation's allies in
this time of rising tension with the Terran Union.
Of course things are never that simple. First, the ship has been neglected
for ten years and has come under the influence of smugglers and outright
thieves (apparently one whole wing of fighters has been sold to
parties unknown!), second as they visit more systems on the tour, there are
repeated reports of strange occurrences and piracy. Clearly there is some
hidden hand at work. Finally that hand is revealed, and the old carrier
will have to win one final battle..
As I said, I'm kind of "meh" on this one. The corruption subplot kind of
peters out unexpectedly, the battle subplot relies on a very unlikely
equipment failure just to make things more difficult, and the overall style
is choppy with short sections broken by date/place headings which I eventually
stopped reading. I don't think I will pursue the sequels.
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
http://amzn.to/2rBM6tf
Willa Knight is a "Dweller". In the context of this series, that
means essentially a lower class that is treated like dirt. A Dweller
will always be a Dweller, and the most one can hope for is to win a place
in the academy of Minatsol.. being a servant to the Sols there. The Sols
are the ruling caste from whose and only whose ranks future gods are selected.
Willa of course has no chance of going to Minatsol as she is as inept as
a person may be and still remember to breathe. In fact her ineptness is
semi-legendary in her village and often ensnares bystanders. So when she
is chosen as one of the two candidates from her village for a serving position
at the academy, she's sure there is a mistake, but goes just the same.
During her voyage to Minatsol, I started to wonder if maybe I was reading
something like _The Steerswoman_ where we were dealing with a poorly
terraformed planet (habitation is laid out in expanding circles with
the land less viable tier by tier) with a remnant crew of technologists
lording their wonders as "magic" to the outer circle rubes, but it turned
out not. There really is magic, and the gods really do come down to the
Minatsol arena to choose candidate gods from amongst the Sol contenders..
Up to this point, the book had been rather straight-forward fun, but once
at the academy, things turn a bit goofy as Willa runs afoul of a group of
hot-shot Sol candidate brothers.. and turns them into what one Amazon
reviewer terms as a 'reverse-harem', which seems as good a term as any.
We still learn some things about the gods, and get hints that Willa's
ineptness may be imposed on her, but things turn very romancy despite
the fact that there is no sex...
The Thousand Names: Book One of the Shadow Campaigns
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2szLJg6
The Thousand Names: Book One of the Shadow Campaigns
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2qKjieS
The Price of Valor (Shadow Campaigns Book 3)
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2qKj7jW
The Guns of Empire (The Shadow Campaigns)
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2rBve67
"The Penitent Damned" (The Shadow Campaigns)
by Django Wexler
http://amzn.to/2qJJB5a
"He's . . ." Marcus sighed again. "Sometimes I think he
just likes being dramatic, like a penny-opera villain. It's
always, `Oh, you'll see, Captain,' or, `Matters will become
clear soon, Captain.'" Marcus managed to produce a reasonable
simulation of Janus' erudite accent, and Jen chuckled.
"You must know something, even if it's just from standing
around behind him," she said.
Marcus shifted awkwardly, and smiled to cover it. "If I
did, I couldn't tell you. You're a spy, after all."
What if Sherlock Holmes were Napoleon, and what if he had some other
driver for his military campaigns than the love of Empire and
giving his relatives thrones? And what if there were magic?
Those are somewhat the questions answered by Django Wexler's "Shadow
Campaign" series. Given that I mentioned The Powder Mage Trilogy
by Brian McClellan last month I suppose comparisons are inevitable.
Both are what some call "flintlock-punk", both include elements of
the French Revolution and its fallout, both have a charismatic
general driving the action, and both are quite good. The France
comparisons are more explicit here though, and McClellan's Field
Marshall Tamas is no enigma. He has friends, allies and a son he
loves even through half estrangement. On the other hand Wexler's
Janus bet Vhalnich has almost no connection to normal humans,
and operates on a Holmes or Tatja Grimm level...
It's interesting that both series seem to be written in part for
the modern reader. In particular, there is far greater scope for
female characters in both series than their quasi-historical context
would imply. I'd say it's not realistic, but that I agree with the
choice.
The series opens with a desperate campaign to suppress a revolution in
the Egyptian stand-in country on this second world: Khandar. For years
the France analog, Vordan, has supported the local monarchy making Khandar
essentially a client-state, but now a fundamentalist revolution has broken
out and the small colonial garrison is overwhelmed, though saved as
Captain Marcus d'Ivoire leads a retreat to the coast after their commander
is killed. Now they must hold out until an evacuation fleet arrives from
Vordan. Except the arriving fleet is not for evacuation and contains
reinforcements, though not that many, and a new commander Colonel Janus
bet Vhalnich who has orders to retake the country, and secret aims that
are much less clear..
This book introduces most of the main characters of the series.
There's the brilliant and mysterious Vhalnich (whose first name
cannot be random), the Watson-bluff d'Ivoire, and Winter Ihernglass,
a ranker (private, essentially) with a secret. How can Vhalnich
retake the country with his small cadre? Why is he trying, really?
And what are The Thousand Names?
I don't know a whole lot of Napoleonic history, but the first book is
obviously inspired by his (not particularly successful from what I remember)
Egyptian campaign. The second book moves back to Vordan proper where the
old king is dying. When he does, his young daughter will become Queen,
an event without precedent in the last several hundred years, and like
many of the characters she has her own secrets, not the least of which
is that she is plotting to overthrow her own government. Meanwhile
her father's last act is to appoint the recently triumphant Vhalnich
as minister of Justice and Marcus d'Ivoire as commander of the city watch,
just as The Revolution breaks out..
As in the first book, echos of history are obvious. We get "the spike"
for the guillotine, a clear Bastille analogue and the calling of the States
General. Of course there are differences too. For one thing, the Queen
is not beheaded (or spiked), for another Vordan is what passes as a Protestant
country in this world (Free Church vs Sworn Church). We get one new
major character, and all the others move forward in a satisfying way
(though you want to shake Marcus when he congratulates Ihernglass on an
undercover mission..)
In book three, the rest of the world goes to war with Vordan to
suppress the Revolution and/or take the opportunity to win a weakened
country back to the Sworn Church. As usual there are clear historical
echoes and you can see Prussia and the germanies along with an
England analog amongst the foes. How can Vhalnich fight off the
whole world as first Consul for a government that barely exists,
with a green army and much of the nobility inclined to side with
the invaders? Not to mention that with the capital descending into
The Terror, how much will be left when he gets back? Not much at
all if the Sworn Chruch's Penitent Damned have anything to say about it..
In book four, Vordan is victorious on all fronts (that's not much of a
spoiler, this is not a "and then everybody died" type of series), but
Vhalnich sabotages the peace conference, over the Queen's objections to
continue the war to the home of the Sworn Church, in the world's Russia
analog. Now leading a well trained, and battle hardened Grand Army,
he sets forth, but once again his motives are unclear, and the Queen, forcing
her way into the expedition, fears victory will do the country more harm
than defeat. Other problems: Knowing never to march into 'Russia'
in winter is less helpful that it might be when Weather magic is in play, and
Ihernglass's old lover has gotten a makeover..
Book four is the most current in the series, but it is not the final
book. _The Infernal Battalion_ is slated for Jan 2018, and I have
pre-ordered. I do have some confidence that the series will not
be drawn out forever as the big-bad is now on the scene and will either
be defeated fairly quickly, or will cause the end of the world..
"The Penitent Damned" is a short story preceding book one which highlights
one of the new characters introduced in book four. (A fun one: spider-man
comes to flintlock-punk).
The Demon Road - American Monsters Paperback - 2017
by DEREK LANDY (Author)
http://amzn.to/2soiGNg
When we last saw Florida Teen Amber Lamont, she and her semi-retired
serial killer protector Milo had just barely made it out of Desolation
Hill Alaska after uncovering the town's dark secrets. In a pretty
bad spot, Amber made a deal with the Shining Demon to be his
representative on Earth for immediate help in saving her and Milo's
lives. The downside is she has to do a lot of really evil and
unpleasant things to fulfill her side of the bargain. The upside
is that now she gets to hunt and kill her parents, who are on the
Shining Demon's naughty list. Her quest to do this has the usual
shocking twists and turns we've come to expect from Landy, including
the offhand deaths of several characters we've been rooting for.
In the end, well, you never get off the Demon Road once you start
down that metaphorical highway, and you never totally escape the
consequences, but perhaps while you're there, you do as much good
as you can.
I still think the first book in the series was the strongest, but this
book is a reasonably satisfying conclusion. These books still haven't
been published in the US, so the link above will take you to third party
sellers. If you want the ebook, you may have to tell amazon.ca a white lie.
Or if you're in the Commonwealth, you're golden.
The Guns Above (Signal Airship)
by Robyn Bennis
http://amzn.to/2rBr1PM
More flintlock-punk, though this one brings in just a bit of steam too.
Think Mundy & Leary in the air, but this time Mundy is in command.
Some years ago, Josette Dupre donned male clothes and enlisted in the Signal
Airship corps. Apparently this, while not common, happened often enough
that the powers that be decided to semi-regularize the situation by
establishing an "Auxiliary" officers rank tree beside the normal ranks,
and put the women in it. The auxiliaries are strictly forbidden from
flying the airships, and are supposed to be set on the ground before
any ship enters combat. As the rules are completely impractical, they
are widely ignored, unless someone with pull has a beef.
As our story opens, Auxiliary Lt. Dupre, her captain having been
shot, has put her failing airship down, deliberately, on the enemy
ranks and having squashed enough troops to turn the battle has made
a bit of a name for herself in the press, which she dreads as it
inevitably brings her to the attention of the commanding general
in the context of stealing his thunder. In fact there is very little
thunder to steal as the pointless conflict over a resource rich
territory which changes hands every time a contending country recovers
from the last war is going only so-so, and mostly that's his fault.
Still he is fully prepared to cashier Dupre and make an example of her,
and by extension all the Auxiliaries (which program he adamantly opposes),
and would have done so by now if Dupre hadn't also come to the King's
attention. The King is playing his own game (apparently) and personally
awards Dupre a *regular* commission, and an airship to go with it.
Meanwhile young aristocrat "Lord Bernat Manatio Jebrit Aoue Hinkal"
comes on screen and we aren't quite sure what to make of him. He
seems like an airhead when he tries to explain local politics to a
foreigner, and we first meet him in bed with a hooker. On the other
hand, he kisses her as she's sleeping, and leaves her a gold coin as
a tip, neither of which he has to do. In fact, he's pretty nearly broke
and that tip leaves him just about enough money to semaphore to his
mother to send money, and have lunch. The reply to that missive is
not as satisfactory as it might be as his mother advises him to seek out
his uncle, who will take care of him. Needless to say, his uncle turns
out to be the commanding general and after a harrowing few minutes of
almost not being able to avoid being sworn into the Army as an ensign,
"Bernie" wangles an assignment to fly on Dupre's ship as an observer, and
gather enough dirt on her to let his uncle end her career despite the
King's aegis.
To complicate matters, the ship is, those three words designed to strike
fear into any airman, a 'revolutionary new design' and the enemy is about
to open a second front, a prospect totally unexpected by the commander, and
not one the generally ramshackle defenses of the country can easily counter.
I quite enjoyed this, which is the start of a series (and the only one
currently available). My only real complaint would be that "Bernie"
wises up more quickly than is realistic. On the other hand, you wouldn't
want the airhead version center stage for too long..
Space Carrier Avalon (Castle Federation Book 1)
by Glynn Stewart
http://amzn.to/2qJK4Es
I've really enjoyed Stewart's "Duchess of Terra" series so far, so I decided
to try one of his other series. I probably picked the wrong one, as
the Starship Mage series has gotten favorable notice here, and I didn't think
_Space Carrier Avalon_ was anything special. The basic setup is similar to
Nutal's _Ark Royal_ (or the "Battlestar Galactica" reboot for that matter).
Our hero Wing Commander Kyle Roberts has been assigned to take over
the fighter wing based on the Castle Federation's storied carrier _Avalon_.
The ship is old, but has seen so many historic victories that the powers that
be have seen fit to refit her and load her with modern fighters for her
final tour: A show-the-flag exercise to reassure the Federation's allies in
this time of rising tension with the Terran Union.
Of course things are never that simple. First, the ship has been neglected
for ten years and has come under the influence of smugglers and outright
thieves (apparently one whole wing of fighters has been sold to
parties unknown!), second as they visit more systems on the tour, there are
repeated reports of strange occurrences and piracy. Clearly there is some
hidden hand at work. Finally that hand is revealed, and the old carrier
will have to win one final battle..
As I said, I'm kind of "meh" on this one. The corruption subplot kind of
peters out unexpectedly, the battle subplot relies on a very unlikely
equipment failure just to make things more difficult, and the overall style
is choppy with short sections broken by date/place headings which I eventually
stopped reading. I don't think I will pursue the sequels.
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
Don Kuenz
Jun 6, 2017, 12:46:05 AM6/6/17
to
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote:
<snip>
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-coolest-fantasy-story-youll-read-this-week-514117561
One minor quibble. The Duke really needs to be a Duchess. A female "with
an unfortunate taste for rich purples that gave [her] the look of a ripe
plum."
https://www.google.com/search?q=theresa+may+purple&tbm=isch
https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+clinton+purple&tbm=isch
https://www.google.com/search?q=janet+yellen+purple&tbm=isch
Thank you,
--
Don Kuenz KB7RPU
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Jun 6, 2017, 1:06:13 AM6/6/17
to
Robert Bannister
Jun 6, 2017, 10:34:27 PM6/6/17
to
Poland. I liked the linked pictures, though I had to consult Google to
find out who Janet Yellen is.
--
Robert B. born England a long time ago;
Western Australia since 1972
Don Kuenz
Jun 7, 2017, 3:47:05 PM6/7/17
to
Robert Bannister <robertb...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
> On 6/6/17 12:42 pm, Don Kuenz wrote:
>> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote:
<snip>
>>> "The Penitent Damned" is a short story preceding book one which highlights
>>> one of the new characters introduced in book four. (A fun one: spider-man
>>> comes to flintlock-punk).
>>
>> "The Penitent Damned" is freely available at:
>>
>> http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-coolest-fantasy-story-youll-read-this-week-514117561
>>
>> One minor quibble. The Duke really needs to be a Duchess. A female "with
>> an unfortunate taste for rich purples that gave [her] the look of a ripe
>> plum."
>>
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=theresa+may+purple&tbm=isch
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+clinton+purple&tbm=isch
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=janet+yellen+purple&tbm=isch
>
> Still, Elizabeth of Britain is Duke of Normandy and Jadwiga was King of
> Poland. I liked the linked pictures, though I had to consult Google to
> find out who Janet Yellen is.
She's just another purple poser pitching purple prose.
>>> one of the new characters introduced in book four. (A fun one: spider-man
>>> comes to flintlock-punk).
>>
>> "The Penitent Damned" is freely available at:
>>
>> http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-coolest-fantasy-story-youll-read-this-week-514117561
>>
>> One minor quibble. The Duke really needs to be a Duchess. A female "with
>> an unfortunate taste for rich purples that gave [her] the look of a ripe
>> plum."
>>
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=theresa+may+purple&tbm=isch
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+clinton+purple&tbm=isch
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=janet+yellen+purple&tbm=isch
>
> Still, Elizabeth of Britain is Duke of Normandy and Jadwiga was King of
> Poland. I liked the linked pictures, though I had to consult Google to
> find out who Janet Yellen is.
William Hyde
Jun 7, 2017, 4:11:25 PM6/7/17
to
Elizabeth II is the Duke of the channel islands, and the loyal toast there is:
"To the Queen, our Duke".
William Hyde
Titus G
Jun 16, 2017, 1:02:45 AM6/16/17
to
snip
I read that and although not a great deal happened, I certainly enjoyed
the style and voice so thank you.
>>> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>>> "The Penitent Damned" is a short story preceding book one which highlights
>>>> one of the new characters introduced in book four. (A fun one: spider-man
>>>> comes to flintlock-punk).
>>>
>>> "The Penitent Damned" is freely available at:
>>>
>>> http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-coolest-fantasy-story-youll-read-this-week-514117561
snip
>
> <snip>
>
>>>> "The Penitent Damned" is a short story preceding book one which highlights
>>>> one of the new characters introduced in book four. (A fun one: spider-man
>>>> comes to flintlock-punk).
>>>
>>> "The Penitent Damned" is freely available at:
>>>
>>> http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-coolest-fantasy-story-youll-read-this-week-514117561
I read that and although not a great deal happened, I certainly enjoyed
the style and voice so thank you.
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Jun 16, 2017, 1:14:06 AM6/16/17
to
It's not an entirely typical story in this setting, most of the books are
far more military campaign oriented, but they are quite good in my opinion,
and I recommend you check out out the main sequence starting with
_The Thousand Names_. Alex does come back into the picture in
_The Guns of Empire_ and will, I suspect, figure in future books as well.
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