Again I highly recommend trying this new series as well as the rest of Mr Correia's works!
Books by Larry Correia
Pre release review:
First of all a couple disclaimers:
I am not a professional…reviewer of books at least. As a matter of fact this will be my first
attempt at such an endeavor and if it works out I may make a habit of it so my
friends have an easier time than getting my random brain dumps of what to read
that oft times becomes a rather tangential mess. Mostly because I go through so many books,
and I know so many really good ones to recommend, but it gets cumbersome as I
tend to gravitate towards large books and series with large books in them…like Monster Hunter International (MHI) for
example, also authored by Mr. Correia.
(His surname is pronounced the same as
Korea, just FYI)
Secondly, I primarily consume the rather large amount of books I go through in audiobook format. So it was a bit of a change for me to experience the single task behavior of actually reading a printed book again. :) I enjoy audiobooks because I’ve never successfully read a book while driving in to work. There are those who disagree that this is analogous to reading a physical book…we disagree, let's move on. I’ve already pre-ordered this audiobook (performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds) and I am really looking forward to it.
I had the good fortune and distinct pleasure of meeting
Mr. Correia at Dragon Con (http://www.dragoncon.org) in Atlanta earlier this month. I’m happy to say that while I have found him
to be a very good author for a few years now he is also a genuinely nice guy,
and was exceedingly gracious and approachable in person. There are few disappointments in life like
that of meeting someone whose work you’ve admired and when meeting them in
person they are, to put it mildly, rather ugly, unpleasant people. At
our first meeting he very graciously allowed my wife to take this photo of us together.
At our second meeting at one of his book signings he gave me
an advanced copy of his latest book (and autographed it!) that is the beginning
of a new series with the only request that I read it and post my thoughts on
it. (I was very excited, and thank you
again!)
So here we go: As
this book isn’t due to release until October 27th (Pre-order here
via Mr. Correia’s link: http://j.mp/1F8HUDR)
I won’t get into very many specifics so as not to spoil anyone’s fun.
Son of the Black Sword is the first book in
what will be The Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series.
I’ll start off with the quote by Jim Butcher from the cover
of the book (another of my favorite authors and another really cool guy in
person) “This book has everything I like
in fantasy: intense action scenes…good
struggling against the darkness…gorgeously flawed human beings…”
We are introduced to a strange, yet possibly familiar continent,
called Lok. In the opening chapter we
meet one of our main characters Ashok as he wakes from a dream and begins to go
about his duties as a member of an elite class of warriors known as
Protectors. We discover this part of the
world has a caste system, and the lowest of these were the casteless
non-people, or untouchables. And that
what it is Ashok protects against are demons from the sea. Like any great apocalyptic event you really
need something to fall from the sky…in this case it’s demons! They are fierce, love eating people, and hard
to kill. Unless of course you happen to
be one of the Protectors and also happen to have one of the few remaining magical swords, or ancestor
blades. Ashok happens to be such a
person. He’s on assignment in our
opening chapter and has a demon to smite. We get
a really exciting opening fight scene, but what’s more, by the end of this we
get a little foreshadowing of rebellion and that all is not quite as it seems
to be at first glance.
This book is a beginning, and there are many characters to
introduce and histories to learn. I love
all the plotting and scheming and long game chess-like maneuverings going on in
the intricate story lines we’re given. I’m
inclined to say this is unlike any of Mr. Correia’s other works that I’ve read
like MHI, The Grimnoir Chronicles or
the Dead Six work he’s done with Mike
Kupari, but if I had to give you a reference point I’d lean towards Grimnoir,
but only in the sense that he’s artfully crafted a world that is completely
foreign to our own, yet familiar in a way that keeps the reader grounded. A world of intrigue, politics, greed, deception,
(but I repeat myself) failure, and redemption. We get excellent character development and
even though this is a beginning of a series I didn’t feel like I was left with a
cliffhanger ending. We get resolution to
what we know, and foreshadowing for what is yet to come. All things I really look for and enjoy in a
good series.
If you enjoy good stories where you find a less than perfect
hero who manages to experience the thrill of victory as well as the agony of
defeat and everything in between, you’ll certainly enjoy this book. I really enjoyed this opening book, and am
looking forward to more in this saga.
If you aren’t familiar with the works of Larry Correia I
highly recommend any and all of his works! Books by Larry Correia
The opening line from Monster Hunter International for example is one of
my favorites:
“On one otherwise
ordinary Tuesday evening I had the chance to live the American dream. I was
able to throw my incompetent jackass of a boss from a fourteenth story window.”
That, ladies and gentlemen, is art.
So thank you again to Mr. Correia for his time and his gift
of this book to me. I hope much
continued success for you and that many others get to enjoy your
efforts as much as I have.
I agree with you on audiobooks. It adds a performance element to the experience. That said a good narrator can save an otherwise poor novel and a poor narrator can ruin an excellent story. Perhaps that is why some others disagree.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more about the impact that the performer has. I've had good stories become great because of an excellent performance as well as great stories become unbearable with flat, uninspired performances.
But where I take umbrage are those that insinuate that listening to an unabridged audiobook is somehow a lesser experience, or that it's a testament of literacy level.