The Bookwyrm's Review of The Sorceror's Ascension by Brock Deskins

Author: Brock Deskins

Pages/Length:  337 Pages/ 9 hrs, 55 mins (Audio)


Release Date:  January 19, 2014/ December 1, 2017

Publisher: Dingo Dog Publishing

Narrator: William Turbett

I went into this one without any preconceptions, other than knowing I had enjoyed the author's urban fantasy novel Shroud of Darkness. I found that though this is a completely different book, it was just as enjoyable. After reading this, I felt that this was what The Name of the Wind should have been if the main character wasn't a complete Mary Sue.

When Azerick, son of a wealthy sea trader, has his father executed after he was framed for treason, He and his mother lose everything to the local Duke. They end up living in an inn his mother works at as a server. When she is violently murdered and he is thrown out, Azerick returns after dark, breaks in gets his stuff back, and after struggling with and incapacitating the innkeeper who stole their belongings, burns the inn to the ground. 

This sets Azerick on a path he could never have foreseen. Squatting in an abandoned building, he is found by a group of squatters and joins their ranks. When a dispute with the thieves guild destroys his new family, Azerick declares war on the thieves, getting his revenge in the cruelest way possible. After a series of run ins with the Mages guild, it is discovered Azerick has magical ability and he is allowed to start training at the guild academy, where the children of rich and noble scions train. Obviously, as a poor orphan, he butts heads with the other students, especially the biggest bully boy, Travis. As you can expect, a boy used to living by his wits and strength on the street is not going to take bullying lying down. This theme continues throughout the book, as Azerick, who is very smart and understands magic theory very well, struggles to cast spells beyond a certain simple level, although he does excel in academic subjects and alchemy.

This changes when it is discovered that Azerick is a sorcerer, not a wizard, meaning his spell casting is self determined, not cast by rote spells. With this revelation, and a new master to tutor him, his spell casting is greatly improved. As time passes, and his rivalry with Travis reaches its final climax in a duel, Azerick discovers a secret that may effect the safety of the world, and he must determine what he needs to do and where his loyalties lie. This ties into a side plot dealing with the kingdoms founding as it's dragon overlords were overthrown with the help of five suits of magic armor that are now in play in a power play for the throne.

The characters are a real strength of this book, especially Azerick. His struggles after his families fall and subsequent successes and failures really tempered his personality. He is a hard young man, willing to take the harshest measures for revenge and to protect those he loves. What he did to the man who killed his mother and to the thieves guild show that no measure is too radical to achieve his goals, for good or ill. The secondary characters, from his best friend  to his mentor are well thought out and have well rounded personalities. The villains, whether Travis or the Duke and his henchmen, are loathsome but believable, being drawn to power and the ability to abuse it.  

The setting is well thought out and well described, with lots of detail without going overboard. The plot and prose flow well, with lots of action, but some introspection as well, as the events unfold to show the grander conspiracy and how it connects to Azerick.The final portion of the book is like a roller coaster ride leading to Azerick and Travis's inevitable confrontation, and has a satisfying payoff. All told, a dark but enjoyable beginning to a series.

I was unfamiliar with William Turbett's narration before this book, but I am happy to have discovered him. He brings each character a unique life of their own, with a variety of tones and accents, and his pacing is very solid. He makes you want to keep listening as he brings the story to life.

I have heard that this book was compared to The Name of the Wind in a negative way. I find that odd, since while it deals with similar characters, it goes in very different directions, with the characters having different methods and motivations. I would recommend this story to anyone who would like a different take, a darker one, on a coming of age tale, with well rounded characters and real struggle and pathos.

 

The Bookwyrm's Review of Gods of Color by CH Baum

Author: C.  H.  Baum

Pages: 350 Pages

Publisher: Page Publishing,  Inc. 

Release Date: April 12, 2017

With the trend right now toward Prose Grimdark, led by writers like Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence and George RR Martin, this is a nice change of pace. It is a much more in your face, meat and potatoes kind of Grimdark, more like a knife to the kidneys than a speech and a battle death.

In a world of warriors and magic, Tensions are running high. In the land of Fast, a City-State, Klex, an assassin working for the evil mage Paegus, assassinates Fast's Yellow Seer just after he prophesies that Blue Magic, the most powerful of the 7 colors of magic, will return, and only a select, vaguely defined group can defeat the rising evil. He escapes and rides to get the message back to his master and claim his evil reward.

In the City-State of Ham, The Cities' own Yellow Seer gets the same prophesy, and the king dispatches a team of mages and warriors from his Color Guard to track down Klex and stop him from getting Paegus the message, possibly starting an Armageddon level event! The Warrior team is led by Diana, the Crown Princess of Ham and a Red warrior of renown. The party also includes Peter and Bon, both red warriors (elite warriors), as well as a variety of other warriors of the various color groups (colors denoting specialty, like orange for demolition, green for archers, brown for defensive engineering). The mage group includes Logan and Max, red mages (teleporters) as well a variety of other color mages (orange for fire, green for nature, brown for shields). The warriors track during the day, the mages at night, since the mages channel moonlight for their magic.

This starts an epic, dark adventure, as the Color Guard of Ham tries to head off Klex and stop Paegus's evil plans before they come to fruition. Along the way they will lose members of their party to death and other duty, pick up unexpected allies, and be tested in ways they never expected. In fact, another prophesy foretells that specific members of the party wont survive, and they will have to deal with the repercussions of that as well. Some of the mission will end in success, and some will seem to end in failure. With gods in the mix influencing events, nothing is ever truly what it seems. Some of the team, such as Diana, Peter and Logan, will suffer losses that are much more of a burden than they should have to handle.

In the City of Fast, the situation is a complete mess, as the king is a wastrel and has no interest in ruling justly, just in enriching himself. The city is rife for civil war, and has nothing to offer Ham in support against Paegus. In fact, there are conspiracies within conspiracies in Fast, and you can't tell who is trustworthy. The skills of the Color Guard team are put to the ultimate test in Fast and the Island city of Limala, with the fate of the world resting on what they accomplish.

This book was such a nice change of pace from the overly complicated dark fantasy and Grimdark that is the current trend now. It has a really solid plot, without a bunch of side branches and distractions. The world is well designed and described, and you get a real sense for the look and feel of the world. You can almost feel the nasty swamp of the Rot, the scent of rotting vegetation, of disease and decay. That's just an example. Great setting that one was, and there are so many more.

The magic was creative, each mage focusing on the color they can sense and perfecting its use, although there are a rare few like Logan who can sense and use all the colors, although his red mastery is best. I always like magic that allows for teleporting, so this one was fun, especially since Logan is a lead protagonist. The two evil magics, purple and blue, are suitably awful for a Grimdark story. The magic is a true strength of the story.

With all the good, there was only one minor issues. There were a few of repetitive phrases used in successive paragraphs that just seemed superfluous. Again, this is a minor issue, but may be something the author might want to address if he decides to make this into an audio book.

Other than that, no complaints, and this issue will not reduce your reading enjoyment at all. All in all, a very good effort on a debut novel, and I cant wait to see where the author takes this story in the next book.

The Bookwyrm's Review of Agent G: Saboteur by CT Phipps

Author: C. T. Phipps

Length:  213 pages/ 6 hours, 30 minutes (Audio)

Publisher: Amber Cove Publishing

Release Date: January 4, 2018/ October 23, 2018 (Audio) 

Narrator: Jeffrey Kafer

Rating: 10/10 Stars

As I've said before, with a second book, the second book in a series, especially with a really good book like Agent G: Infiltrator, can sometimes be a letdown just because the first book set such a high bar. In this case, that's not the case at all, since Agent G: Saboteur is fantastic, an original story that expands on the characters and story from the first book but takes it to the next level.

After Agent G broke the back of the International Refugee Society, the secret murder for hire group he was created by (yes created, since he's cloned cyborg), he has been working for a secret black ops team of the US government trying to finish off the remnants of the society, as well as get a hold of their staff and assets. This is where the book starts, as G para-drops onto the mountain base of one of the Society's remaining leaders. His parachute malfunctions, and he is forced to improvise a landing he can survive in an amazing hair raising scene. This pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the book, as he fights his way through the defenses of the fortress and completes his mission with extreme prejudice, which includes getting the the Society's revolutionary AI and one of their best technicians.

Returning to the local airfield, G confides to his handler that his equipment was sabotaged, and he knows he cant trust anyone. After figuring out who on his strike team betrayed him, he interrogates him, finding out that G's ex wife, S, a deadly letter assassin herself, was responsible. This starts a wild series of events, since there is betrayal after betrayal as G and his team try to get the last of the Society finished off. What they don't know is there is a mysterious group opposing them, led by a face from G's life he never expected to see, that can derail all his plans.  This leads to the penultimate showdown with this threat, where more than just G's life is at stake. In fact, at the end of the book, events happen that change the world forever!

Like the first book this is a very character driven book. The various letter assassins, all trained the same, are nevertheless very different people (well, cyborgs). G's story comes full circle, as he goes from brainwashed Bioroid cyborg (that term comes into play in Mr. Phipps Lucifer's Star series) to free thought revolutionary. His act at the end of the book that changes the world as they knew it shows just how divorced from that life he had become. The various character interactions, the dialogue, is all crisp and well thought out. It just feels natural. These characters just feel real, even if the do the most fantastic things. The villains are excellent, especially the surprise villain at the end. You really get to loathe them and what they stand for, which is what any author should hope for. 

The narration, as with a lot of his books, is ably handled by the talented Jeffrey Kafer. As with his other work, he brings each character to life, making them each have individuality through tone, pitch, cadence and accent. his narrative pacing is some of the best in the business, and is a pleasure to listen to.

The settings, whether a mountain fortress in South America, a set of high rises in Asia, or a ranch in Texas are all well thought out and described. You really get a visceral feel that you are there, on the ground, right in the thick of things. You can almost feel the heat of the ranch, smell the blood and gunpowder. This is common across his books, so it's no surprise.

 This leads to the plot, which is intentionally steering the series from sci-fi spy thriller to cyberpunk. Its a good shift that flows naturally from the decisions made throughout the books roller coaster action scenes. It will be interesting to see where he takes the series from here. I highly recommend this series as a great representation of the author's work. You should definitely check it out!