Over the years, I’ve built-up a substantial list of books I want to try reading. In the interest of saving time, I decided to pick six fantasy books—all of them the first in a series or trilogy—and give them fifty pages to impress me. I’ve been around the block when it comes to reading fiction and in those many years, particularly since starting this blog, I have honed my ability to spot a good book.
Fifty pages isn’t a lot (especially when there are hundreds more to go) but that span can/will contain samples of the writing style, description, dialogue, characters, and the promise of more, even if the plot hasn’t moved.
Let’s see what I found.
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
This one starts off at a run. A coup has come to a bloody end, the monarch is going on trial, and now the city is about to plunge itself into destruction as a new order of rule begins.
What I like is the quick start. There’s no prologue, and the information is fairly easy to grasp. I’m a little confused about the magic users because I haven’t figured out how to tell them apart, but I’m sure that would resolve itself with further reading.
I think this is the first book I’ve come across that has magic and gunpowder, so that right there is intriguing all on its own. What adds to that intrigue is that gunpowder is used to give people power (they use it like snuff and it sharpens senses and such) and they can control where a bullet goes, so they’re handy in combat and can kill accurately at a distance. I think it’s influenced by the Industrial Revolution era, which is another plus for coolness.
The characters have promise. It seems like they’ll be more on the jaded, gruff side and I’m okay with that. So far there have been four different perspectives and it seems like they’re going to cover quite a bit of ground, so I could see a large part of the world.
The writing is fine, I’m not impressed by it (and it does use “was” quite a bit). What I really noticed is that people’s clothes are described in detail. It’s nice to have a feel for the fashions, but, for me, these types of descriptions are wasted because I forget what they’re wearing a paragraph later.
But I want to know what happens.
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
I didn’t need fifty pages to discover that this author is a cut above the rest of the authors on this list. There’s a spark of something that shows this guy has a better command of language. This sentence made my day (it’s talking about the current weather): Autumn was holding the door, and Winter was trudging in. That, to me, says talented writer.
But before I even started it, my hopes twisted into a thorny bush of dark despair as I beheld…the appendix. It’s so tiny in the human body but so huge in fantasy books and it makes me shrivel up inside. And yet with the lists of people, places, foreign words and a horrifyingly complex pronunciation guide for the six foreign languages, I know I’d need it at some point and I don’t want to deal with that right now.
The story is also giving me pause. All I’ve gotten is a bunch of history and it seems that’s where the focus will lie and I don’t want to stick around for it.
And it’s a Chosen One tale, which I don’t have anything inherently against, but I’m not crazy about the protagonist. He’s one of those klutzy, daydreaming, can’t-do-a-job-well types and I do not find that endearing.
The guy can write, but I’m not in the mood for intense world-building, so perhaps at some future date that has yet to be determined, I might try it again.
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
I decided to save myself and quit before the allotted page number.
This is one of those books where the protagonist is telling his story to another person. Major plot points are spoiled in the prologue but then it rewinds to when he’s a child and I don’t care how he gets to that future. I interpret this narration choice as an admittance that this man is not interesting enough at the start to have a cold opening for him. And that this assurance of a formidable future is supposed to sustain me until the end.
I read a book by this author a few months ago and I think were I to read the rest of this story, I’d dislike it the same way. Which is to say: I stuck with it once and it ain’t happening again.
Malice by John Gwynne
I was originally going to have quite a long explanation on why I won’t be reading this book. But I recently found out that the author’s daughter died, so, out of sympathy, I will keep my scorching thoughts to myself.
I do like that cover though.
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley
Meh.
This follows three siblings in the aftermath of their father’s (the Emperor) death. I read the fifty pages and my sister read more of it and we both agree that it’s not captivating and the characters are boring. She hoped it would be better and was irritated that it wasn’t.
It does have a prologue but it is an interesting one. Regrettably, it seems like it’s one of the prologues that has little to no bearing on the actual story, or won’t for another book. If you’re going to have a cool prologue the rest of the book better follow its lead. Preferably immediately.
The quality of prose is slightly above average, but not good enough to tempt me.
This book is so meh, I got distracted by a guy’s “unsettling…brown as char” eyes. Don’t even get me started on that.
Jade City by Fonda Lee
I suspected I’d like this one and Promise of Blood the most, and I was right.
Like Promise, this has a quick start and isn’t bogged down by lots of exposition and other things of inaction. It makes catching up with the info a little harder, but I think it works fine because this world isn’t a huge leap.
It takes place in a modern Asian-inspired world. Jade is the source of their magic and the city is split between clans/families.
I don’t have any major complaints about the writing. But someone does have a voice like “gravel sloshing in a pan” and I’m not sure I can imagine that. The whole gravelly voice trope is one I’ve never been on board with, but maybe I just don’t get out enough to hear these rocky tones.
The characters have yet to be defined but I know honor will play a big role in everything, and that’s fine by me.
I think it’s so cute that the island is in the shape of a dragon. Is that a hint for the future?
Overall I’m interested to hear more.
*Update* I read a bit more and it turned boring. The dialogue is flat, I don't feel an affinity for any of the characters and I just plain don't care.
I kinda ripped into a few of these, but beginnings are important. Fantasy books usually take a bit more concentration to read than regular fiction and if the author can’t cut through their world-building to deliver an effortless start for the reader, there’s gonna be trouble.
Seeing all these writing styles in quick succession made this such a fun experience, I’m gonna have to do it again.