Kylar Stern ap­pren­tices himself to Durzo Blint, the city of Cenaria's most ac­com­plished assassin. A truly successful assassin can have no friends or emotional at­tach­ments, something that Kylar struggles with.

This coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of intrigue and sorcery is en­ter­tain­ing but somewhat clumsy.

For four thousand years, the gods have dwelt in human form amongst the people of Myrillia, rooted to the very land. When the goddess Meeryn is found murdered and the disgraced Shad­owknight Tylar de Noche is found at her side, mirac­u­lous­ly healed of his maiming, he is accused of being the godslayer. He escapes and uncovers a dark conspiracy of corruption and evil.

As an exercise in world building, this book succeeds. For example, the gods' humors—blood, seed, menses, sweat, tears, saliva, phlegm, and yellow bile and black bile (“piss and shite”)—are collected …continue.

A century and a half ago, the believers in the Black Road were forced into exile. Now, in some bloody surprise attacks, they've conquered the Glas Valley. The story is largely told from the viewpoints of three brother-sister pairs: the young leaders of the Black Road attackers; the adolescent nephew and niece of the thane of the Lannis-Haig Blood; and a warrior of the Kyrinin race and his sister. Each side believes that it is in the right: the clash between two human cultures was inevitable, as is the war between the …continue.

Ararat is vast, unknowable, unmappable, home to many living gods who make their presence felt. Arjun comes from his far-distant home, seeking the Voice, the god that abandoned his people. He arrives as the Bird sweeps through the great city, trans­form­ing it by its passage, only to be captured in the warship Thunderer. A boy, Jack, also captures part of the Bird's power as he flees the workhouse.

Gilman has created a city rem­i­nis­cent of China Miéville's New Crubuzon, a vast baroque tapestry of neigh­bor­hoods, ruled by heavy-handed oligarchs squabbling to enlarge their …continue.

The Prometheans are a secret society sworn to protect England and Elizabeth I. Kit Marley (Christo­pher Marlowe), playmaker, poet, and in­tel­li­gencer, has been killed by a dagger in the eye, at the behest of a rogue faction in the Prometheans. Another talented polemicist is required and Will Shake­speare is recruited. But Kit is not dead. He has been spirited to Faerie, where now he must serve their two queens. He becomes the lover of one, Morgan le Fay, and her son, Murchaud. Kit can return to the land of the …continue.

Kvothe—the infamous, legendary Kvothe—has been living under an assumed name when the Chronicler tracks him down and asks him for his life story. Kvothe relates the story of his early years: his precocious talents for music and arcanism (magic); the happy childhood that ends when his parents and their troupe are murdered by an ancient evil; his years as a feral street child; and his early entrance into the University to study the Arcanum, where his brilliance makes him a star and his reck­less­ness brings him much …continue.

Sequel to Shad­ow­march. Southmarch is under siege by the fairy army and the teenaged regent, Briony, has been deposed by an ambitious noble. Briony is on the run, fleeing for her life. Her twin, Barrick, is lost, mentally and physically, behind the fairy lines. Far to the south, Qinnitan has suc­cess­ful­ly fled from the autarch, but now the autarch is besieging the city of Hierosol where she is hiding.

The second book in a trilogy often suffers from Middle Book Syndrome: the first book es­tab­lish­es the characters and the plot, the final book …continue.

The Last Light of the Sun takes place in the Dark Ages of a parallel world. The Erlings (Vikings) raid the Cyngael (Welsh) and Anglcyn (Anglo-Saxon). A young Erling flees indentured servitude and becomes a raider, following in the footsteps of his estranged father. A Cyngael prince dies in an Erling raid and is taken by the Queen of the Fairies; his brother is drawn to another fairy; he will enter into a reluctant compact with the Anglcyn when they are …continue.

Book #5 in the Merchant Princes series, sequel to The Merchants' War.

The U.S. Government have become really pissed off with the world-walking Clan, and send a small nuke into the Gruinmarkt. It misses the clan but takes care of the new king who was waging war on them. Miriam is pregnant with a royal child and manages to parlay that into being crowned queen-widow. The con­ser­v­a­tive faction in the Clan view the nuke as a deadly insult and want revenge.

This is another heady mixture of feudal intrigue, U.S. …continue.

Sequel to Agents of Light and Darkness.

A mysterious chanteuse's songs are to die for at an exclusive club in the Nightside: her fans are committing suicide. John Taylor in­ves­ti­gates.

En­ter­tain­ing, though the writing style is clumsy.