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Tags: book news, Mark Chadbourn, New Releases

Title: The Burning Man
Author: Mark Chadbourn
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 17 April 2008
Review Copy

The Burning Man brings the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons closer to the end of the world. And after eight books (three in Age of Misrule, three in The Dark Age and this is the second in The Kingdom of the Serpent.) it has been a long and challenging fight. The lives of the characters have been torn apart and rebuilt, as has the world around them. Magic has been released and it’s now being extinguished. The Brothers and Sisters have one final chance to stop the magic and hope in the world being extinguished forever.

As hinted at in Jack of Ravens the Tuatha Dé Danann are not the only Gods to be awakened in the world. As events have spiralled the quest of the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons brings them in contact with other Great Dominions some aren’t as friendly to the cause as others.

Mark Chadbourn is one of the best writers I have ever read regardless of genre. He manages to mix characterisation and storytelling so that one feeds off the other and neither is sacrificed. Not an easy thing to manage as stories need an emotional core without being emotional and soppy and characters need a journey and purpose no matter how much you like then.

In The Burning Man the pace never slows. That’s partly down to Chadbourn’s non-indulgent style. He gives just enough information and moves on. So this whole section is told in 329 pages and at no point do I feel short changed. He’s crammed in a lot.

It’s partly style but mostly he’s built up so much momentum that the story carries you forward. It’s rarely that I pick up a book just to see what happens next whilst waiting for a computer to boot or software to install (I got a new computer and usually I’d be staring at the machine keeping an eye on progress) or in ad break or choosing to read over everything else.

There were several sad and surprising moments, events happened where I wanted our heroes to hold on to their happiness a few moments longer and twists came seemingly without warning (though the signs I think were there if I’d have been paying a bit more attention).

Chadbourn has managed to make each of the characters rounded; they have their flaws, their own strengths and their own agendas. They act and react in their own and sometimes surprising (but not out of character) way.

I’d love to say more but if you’ve read this far it’ll only spoil it and if you haven’t it’s not going to make much sense if I said more about the plot apart from he ends The Burning Man in such a way that I have no idea if or how are heroes are going to save the world and what world they’ll end up saving.

I can’t wait until Book Three of The Kingdom of the Serpent.

10/10

Additional:

Here are links two reviews of books two and three of The Dark Age cycle.

A review of Jack of Ravens is here.

An overview of the series so far by me is here.

Tags: 10/10, Fantasy, Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn, review

After stalling on Martin Andrew’s The Necropolis Railway, I know it’s steam powered but good god get on with it!, I picked up the next title on my review copy pile and I’m engaged and reading every moment I can fit in.

What has me so excited? It’s the next title by Mark Chadbourn and his wonderfully inventive and playful fantasy series. The Burning Man takes out heroes away from where they’ve been before and puts them face to face with other Great Dominions (the Celts aren’t the only ones with gods after all). At this point their mission seems insurmountable but if their is one message from this series it’s that there is always light even in the darkest places.

Tags: Books, Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn, Novel, reading

Title: Jack of Ravens
Author: Mark Chadbourn
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 6 December 2007
Price: £7.99
Review Copy

Jack of Ravens continues Mark Chadbourn’s exploration of myth, archetypes and human nature. He does a lot more besides that but these are the backbone of the cycles of books that started with World’s End. Jack of Ravens starts with return of Jack Church who disappeared (or died depending on your point of view) at the end of the Age of Misrule trilogy and who was brought back following the events at the end of The Dark Age cycle.

Chadbourn has definitely taken the long view when it comes to this series. As one book builds on the next and each cycle seems to come to end only for something greater or deeper or darker is then revealed.

In Jack of Ravens Chadbourn changes tack again in his exploration of the Fixed Lands (here), the Fragile Creatures (us) and the Tuatha Dé Danann (old celtic gods who influence our lives but in this book there is hint that the world also has gods from other denominations) But instead of confining himself to the near future and the ancient sites of Britain of previous books instead Chadbourn takes us through time and across continents as Jack Church tries to stop the darkness that has altered history to make its plans work.

The best part of each book is that as the reader gets more exposed to the world that Chadbourn has created the more he changes the rules. Here he gathers again the heroes and some villains of past books but they are changed and how they act and react is different as the events that have shaped them previously has changed.

I could go on about the layers that have been built into this series and the connections that are pulled, rewired, crossed and severed as the story is told but that would spoil it. The nature and effect of experience is a major theme.

There is one slight problem with Chadbourn’s storytelling is that it relies on the reader putting things together.Lots is left unexplained but makes a lot of sense if you consider what has gone on before. But in the case of this book if you haven’t read The Dark Age and ideally the Age of Misrule you may lack the knowledge to care about Jack’s journey through 2,300 of history.

Which would be a great shame as Jack of Ravens gave me several ooo and ahh moments as I realised how events were playing out. Chadbourn also has a wonderful imagination. The characters and places of the Far (Faery) Lands are as tangible as they are fanciful.

Overall, Mark Chadbourn has again proved himself an amazing and imaginative story-weaver (he’s laid so many threads) that kept me breathless from beginning to end. I can’t imagine what he has planned for The Burning Man but I can’t wait to find out.

9/10

Additional:

Here are links two reviews of books two and three of The Dark Age cycle.

And an overview of the series so far by me is here.

Tags: 9/10, Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn

Title: The Houds of Avalon
Author: Mark Chadbourn
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 08 June 2006
Price: £6.99

There are some writers who build whole new worlds and some who raise questions about the world we are already in. Mark Chadbourn has created his own brand of urban fantasy by building a story around the myth and legends surrounding the British Isles and asking what if these old Gods and creatures of myth and legend returned?

The Hounds of Avalon sees a diminished British government coping as best it can when an unstoppable army of mystical creatures attack with intention of eliminating everyone in their tracks as they march towards Oxford, the government’s new home. Their only hope of salvation is the actions of those chosen to be champions of humanity; those known as the Brother and Sisters of Dragons. But the government doesn’t realise how important they really are.

To say more about the plot would end up with me getting in a muddle, giving away spoilers and confusing you. Because, unofficially, this is book six in the series and book three in the second story arc, so a lot has gone on already to get to this point (see here for details).

You can read it as a standalone but some of the significance of the events and characters might pass a new reader by. Though saying all that Chadbourn does a grand job keeping the events self-contained enough so that the story works in its own terms and is accessible enough for new readers and those of us who has left it a while between books.

What’s impressive is the amount of action, information, and emotion that Chadbourn builds into each page. His skill is how he weaves the exploration of what it is to be human with a story of what could be the last moments of the human race. He shows how we all deal with situations differently; some of us hide away, some of stand and fight, but in the end we all have a role and we can’t always see the role we play or how vital it is.

Chadbourn’s other strength is that he sets a lot of different threads in motion, some placed books ago, as he recalls to the roster characters who had fulfilled their jobs in previous books and it seemed that they had no further role to play.

As a storyteller he keeps the reader moving along a roller coaster that could come off the tracks any second and the characters could fail in their missions and the world could end before they have chance to fight back. One thing he does show is that there is always hope. Oh, and the end really isn’t the end.

Personally I’d say read all the previous books as Chadbourn is a master storyteller and all the other books in the series are tell different parts of the tale but stand in their own right as masterpieces of fantasy.

An excellent end to The Dark Age sequence and sets us up for the next one with The King of Serpents and the first book, Jack of Ravens.

Score: 10/10

Tags: 10/10, Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn, review

Well that’s more like. I’m 1/3 of the way through The Hounds of Avalon by Mark Chadbourn and I only started it today.

Picking up from the events that have gone before. Chadbourn has upped the stakes. The Brothers and Sister of Dragons are fragmented and incomplete and the Army thinks that conventional weapons have a chance of defeating creatures from The Otherworld and beyond.

But in usual Chadbourn style everything isn’t as it seems and he’s been laying tracks for last five books to reach this point. He is clever enough to incorporate recaps for those of us with poor memories.

I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Tags: Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn, Reading Update

It’s always good to have something to look forward to and I now have the first book on “Must Read in 2009″ list. The Lord of Silence. This is a bonus feature in addition to his regular scheduled novels.  

SOLARIS is proud to announce a new acquisition from popular British fantasy novelist MARK CHADBOURN.

THE LORD OF SILENCE is a thrilling new epic fantasy. When the great hero of the city of Idriss is murdered, Vidar, the Lord of Silence, must take his place as chief defender against the mysterious terrors lurking in the dense forest beyond the city’s walls.  But Vidar is a man tormented—by a lost memory and a vampiric jewel that demands the life energy of others. Now, with a killer loose within Idriss, and the threat from without mounting, Vidar must solve a three thousand year old religious mystery to unlock the terrifying secrets of his own past.

A two-time winner of the British Fantasy Award, Mark Chadbourn is the author of eleven novels and one non-fiction book.  A former journalist, he is now a screenwriter for BBC television drama.  His other jobs have included running an independent record company, managing rock bands, working on a production line, and as an engineer’s “mate”.  He lives in a forest in the English Midlands.

Mark Chadbourn said, “After several years writing my own particular and peculiar brand of urban fantasy, I wanted to try something completely different.  The Lord of Silence is me cutting loose and experimenting way out of my comfort zone—a completely new world, new characters, a twisted take on magic, and a mystery that spans several thousand years. It’s a sword and sorcery, noir, puzzle-cracking, romance, serial killer, adventure-mystery.  With mad, dancing magicians.”

Publisher Marc Gascoigne added: “It’s always been puzzling to me why a writer of Mark’s immense talent, and with such a huge British fanbase, has rarely been offered the opportunity to release his books in the US. It’s time to remedy that, with the best book of his career so far.”

THE LORD OF SILENCE will be released in 2009 in the US and UK.

Tags: Mark Chadbourn, New Releases, Solaris

Mark Chadbourn has become one of my favourite fantasy authors though for reasons unknown he doesn’t get the big buzz that some do.

It all started with his Age of Misrule trilogy which was followed by The Dark Age Series and now we have the Kingdom of the Serpent.

In the Age of Misrule all over the country the ancient gods of Celtic myth are returning to the land they left bringing with them Fabulous Beasts, shapeshifters, and Night Walkers. New champions are needed in this new age where blue fire has replaced electricity as the world turns away from turns away from technology. The Brothers and Sisters of Dragons have a quest to find four magical talismans that are needed to fight the powers of old.

What makes this start of the series special is the vivid imagination of Chadbourn. He not only reinterprets Celtic myths he reinvents them and reuses them in order to make them as real as a Fabulous Beast flying over head. The other thing he does well is give us characters who are flawed and who become heroes as they progress through the story.

Leaving behind this quest we move on to The Dark Age where people are adapting to this new way of life. Rather than a linked trilogy where each book leads from the last. The two I’ve read so far are separate tales though I’m sure there are subplots and interconnections that will make more sense when I’ve read the last one (is it just me that savors reading a series if I know that I’m not going to see a sequel any time soon?).

All this brings me to the Kingdom of the Serpent. I’ve just read the wiki entry and had goose pimples! Chadbourn is bringing back some of my favourite characters. I wonder how he’ll do it?

Well I better read Jack of Ravens, which was released in paperback in December. And The Burning Man is coming quick succession in hardback in February. Luckily if you want to start at the begining and you should. The first trilogy is sold as an omnibus for the bargain price of £9.99 (or £6.50 currently on Amazon). So no excuses really.

Tags: Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn, Missing from 2007

Seeing as it is the New Year I’ve been thinking about resolutions. I have one: READ MORE! But as I’ve said several times before, there is always more to read. Being more sensible I’m going to try and get at least one review up a week and hopefully if I have some thinner books I’ll get a couple posted. The real question is what types of books? Last year it was debuts and this year? I might have to think about that more. I am going to introduce more crime novels into the mix. I also have some catching up to do. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Anyway, here are the books that I’ve selected for reading this month:

Starting with Vellum by Hal Duncan. This is one of my catch-up books. I’m 20% in terms of pages read but in terms of story I have no idea. The story leaps through different places, times, versions but the more I’m reading the more it’s making sense. Hal Duncan has a wonderfully poetic writing style that resonates as themes and ideas are explored and the main players in the story emerge and their motivations are revealed. I’ll let you know how it all comes together.

I did promise Dave that In The Woods by Tana French would be next but it’s almost next. I’ll probably read it in parallel. I have mentioned it a couple of times before so I won’t say much more. Though I’ve just found her website here and details of her next book The Likeness. It looks like a sequel which doesn’t sound like a bad thing.

Back to catching up we have The Hounds of Avalon by Mark Chadbourn. The third book in The Dark Age trilogy. This time Chadbourn presents two friends, as different as night and day, who are charged with task to find the dreaming hero, King Arthur, before time runs out. I’ve really kept this one back far too long. I’m looking forward to seeing what surprises he’s held back to the climax of this part of the story. Look for a further Chadbourn post next week.

This turning into a debut month as the final two books are again new voices.  Debatable Space by Philip Palmer and The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes have both been mentioned a couple of posts back so I won’t repeat myself though I will say that Fantasy Book Critic got to Palmer first!

Well this is plan and if I read faster or get caught up in something this might change but that is the top of the pile as it stands.

Tags: Hal Duncan, Jonathon Barnes, Mark Chadbourn, Philip Palmer, reading lists, Tana French, This Month's Reading List