fantasy – Page 40

Review of The Corpse-Rat King

SFFaudio Review

The Corpse-Rat King
By Lee Battersby; Read by Michael Page
1 MP3 CD / 10 CDs– 11 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio from Angry Robot
Published: 2012

Themes: / Fantasy / Undead / Kings / Mistaken Identity /

Marius dos Hellespont and his apprentice, Gerd, are professional looters of battlefields. When they stumble upon the corpse of the King of Scorby and Gerd is killed, Marius is mistaken for the monarch by one of the dead soldiers and is transported down to the Kingdom of the Dead.

Just like the living citizens, the dead need a King — after all, the King is God’s representative, and someone needs to remind God where they are.

And so it comes to pass that Marius is banished to the surface with one message: if he wants to recover his life he must find the dead a King. Which he fully intends to do.

Just as soon as he stops running away.

I made the mistake of going into this book with too high expectations. It was a comedy fantasy with a criminal protagonist and was narrated by Michael Page. I was hoping for another The Lies of Locke Lamora. It’s not. Despite this, I was nearly won over.

This is the tale of the merchant’s son turned-bad Marius. He is a master at assorted cons and gambling. Yet he has nothing to show for his talents. He has picked up, almost by accident and certainly against his better judgement, a dimwit of an apprentice. Surprisingly death seems to bring out the best in Gerd and he is a much more intelligent character after he dies. Whether this is intended I’m not sure, as he is only criminally dim until the point when he dies.

The middle of this book takes Marius on tour of assorted locales, including the delightfully and accurately named Dog Crap Archipelago, before closing in on the target of his quest. As entertaining as parts of this journey were, it felt almost random and aimless. I’m still not sure what they contributed to the whole of the story to justify their presence. Marius is no-doubt meant to grow from these encounters, but it was done far too subtly for me to follow.

The story has a stronger finish as Marius and Gerd embark on a caper to steal a corpse and then escape.

A good concept with great wordsmithing. Sadly the character growth and sense of the world were only given lip service. The plotting and resolution came together more because that was how the story was to finish than that it was where the story actually led. In short, this book needed a few more times through with an editor to tighten up a pretty, but weak story.

Michael Page is a delight to listen to. His characterisation is rich and plummy.

Posted by Paul [W] Campbell

Review of The Fat Man; A Tale of North Pole Noir

SFFaudio Review

The Fat Man; A Tale of North Pole Noir
By Ken Harmon; Read by Johnny Heller
1 MP3 CD / 5 CDs – 5.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Published: 2010

Themes: / Fantasy / Christmas / Elves / Santa / Noir / Murder / Reindeer / It’s a Wonderful Life /

If you’re looking for a holiday story that’s not yet another retelling of The Christmas Carol, then pick up Ken Harmon’s The Fat Man. Gumdrop Coal is framed for murder after being ousted from the Coal Patrol and he’s out to clear his name.

Fired from his longtime job as captain of the Coal Patrol, two-foot-three inch 1,300-year-old elf Gumdrop Coal is angry. He’s one of Santa’s original elves, inspired by the fat man’s vision to bring joy to children on that one special day each year. But somewhere along the way things went sour for Gumdrop. Maybe it was delivering one too many lumps of coal for the Naughty List. Maybe it’s the conspiracy against Christmas that he’s starting to sense down every chimney.

Take all the Christmas references your sweet tooth can stand and keep going, add in an embittered and betrayed Elf from the Coal Patrol, Reindeer with the panache of top gun fighter pilots, and a spunky girl reporter, Buttercup Snitch, who either only has eyes for Gumdrop or is in on the frame job.

The story is told by Gumdrop Coal, leader and founder of the Coal Patrol, in a wonderful hard bitten noir style. Gumdrop is used to dealing with some nasty customers (children). The Coal Patrol are the guys who work from the Naughty List. After it’s been checked, twice.

Set in Kringle Town with Santa and the Elves. Filled with characters you will have heard from assorted Christmas Fairy. But they aren’t all as you might expect.

It isn’t all candy and Christmas trees; there is also a dark side to Kringle Town. The other side of the tracks: Potterville. If you’ve ever watched It’s a Wonderful Life you should recognise that name.

Gumdrop doesn’t believe Naughty Boys and Girls should be treated the same as their well behaved siblings. That smothering all children in gifts regardless of merit lessens both the gift and the child.

Johnny Heller tells it in a wonderful straight-up noir-style, even when doing the high pitched elves.

Posted by Paul [W] Campbell

Review of Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig

SFFaudio Review

Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2)
By Chuck Wendig; Read by Emily Beresford
Publisher: Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio
Published: 2012
Length: 9 hours [UNABRIDGED]
ISBN: 978-1-4692-0889-3

Themes: / fantasy / urban fantasy / psychic / powers / death /

Publisher Summary:

This whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. Still, she’s keeping her psychic ability – to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them – in check. But even that feels wrong, somehow. Like she’s keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.

Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds was my favorite read of 2012, introducing the character Miriam Black and promising of further adventures. The book trailer featuring narration by Dan O’Shea really intrigued my interest as to the powerful oratory nature of the book’s narrative and convinced me that I should continue the series via the audiobook route. The audiobooks are narrated by Emily Beresford and at first the very pleasant tone defied expectations, but given the book’s initial divergent nature from the first volume I ended up finding the narration to serve quite well. I am sure if I had started this series on audiobook, I would have enjoyed the first installment equally.

Just one touch and Miriam Black can see the specific details of one’s death including the date and all the potentially gory details. Blackbirds introduces Miriam as a transient wandering from one death scene to another and exploiting her abilities for financial gain. After all, any attempts to intervene with the fate yield disastrous outcomes so why not profit from her ability? Without spoiling the details, the end of that book leads Miriam desperately trying to circumvent another future that has been written in stone, or at least written in her journal she keeps of all her deadly visions.

The outcome of this first novel leads Miriam to settle down and try to make it without the use of her powers at the onset of Mockingbird. Needless to say, events quickly transpire and she is called to use her powers and once again finds herself going head to head with fate and even an apparent serial killer joins the mix as well. The novel builds and expands on concepts and characters introduced in the first novel and I highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed the first installment. I did miss having an author’s afterword as in the first novel which serves as a bridge between the two novels. I hope that the afterword’s promise of many more potential Miriam Black novels is fulfilled.

Book Trailer for Blackbird and Mockingird:

Review by Dan VK

New Releases: Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

New Releases

I loved the paperbook, and the audiobook |READ OUR REVIEW|, now somebody has jammed them together into an ebook. Finally, a reason to get into ebooks!

Letters From Father Christmas (aka The Father Christmas Letters) is a set of actual letters written to J.R.R. Tolkien’s children under the pseudonym of Father Christmas (aka Santa Claus). Fully illustrated, they make you think Tolkien was simply the coolest dad ever.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland

SFFaudio Review

Brotherhood of the Wolf (Runelords, Book 2)
By David Farland; Read by Ray Porter
18 CDs – 22.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009

Themes: / Fantasy / Epic Fantasy / Attributes / Magic / War /

In Hollywood there’s an old saying: The sequel is never as good as the original. Sadly, the same can be said for book 2 in “The Runelords” series.

It’s a dark book about war and destruction. Characters make choices, for good or ill, that change them. In my opinion, the changes are not always for the better.

I frequently found myself putting the iPod down because I didn’t like where the story was going, only to pick it up again later, hoping the ending would be satisfactory. It wasn’t. It left me feeling dissatisfied, depressed and in need of something that would get rid of the distasteful feeling.

The book reminded me a lot of “The Empire Strikes Back” where the movie ends with Han in Carbonite, Luke with an artificial hand and Vader on the loose. It’s a dark ending with some hope, but a lot of trouble for all the main characters. Or the second Back to the Future movie where I didn’t like the story went and I didn’t like what the characters did.

That’s how I feel about Brotherhood of the Wolf.

However, because I loved book 1 so much, and I know what a brilliant writer David Farland is, I’m going to give Book 3 a chance. And hope that, like many a third movie, it will be much better than the second.

This book is not without its virtues. It’s well written. The plot draws the listener from point to point as the story progresses. It is entertaining, in a dark, brooding sort of way. I just don’t happen to like dark stories. I also don’t like books and movies that make me cry. At many points I was afraid this was going to be one of those books. I was grateful it was not.

Posted by Charlene Harmon

Molle Mystery Theatre: The Beckoning Fair One (adapted from the novella by Oliver Onions)

SFFaudio Online Audio

Molle Mystery Theatre – The Beckoning Fair One
Adapted from the novella by Oliver Onions; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 31 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: NBC
Broadcast: June 5, 1945
Source: Vintage Horror Radio

Posted by Jesse Willis