The Shadow Master, by Craig Cormick

Links: Amazon BN

From the author's website: 

In a land riven with plague, inside the infamous Walled City, two families vie for control: the Medicis with their genius inventor Leonardo; the Lorraines with Galileo, the most brilliant alchemist of his generation.

And when two star-crossed lovers, one from either house, threaten the status quo, a third, shadowy power – one that forever seems a step ahead of all of the familial warring – plots and schemes, and bides its time, ready for the moment to attack...

Assassination; ancient, impossible machines; torture and infamy – just another typical day in paradise.

For some reason, the description has it reversed: Galileo works for the Medicis, Leonardo for the Lorraines. Not a big deal; the important part is that these two men of science are competing to show off their genius. At the same time, they are peaceful men, and so they work to pacify the warring Houses with mechanical toys and wonders while avoiding building war machines that could devastate the city, the last refuge against the plague. The people in the Walled City are protected from the plague by a spice wine supplied by the competing families, which of course makes it even harder for others to challenge their authority.

Despite the "star-crossed lovers", this story is definitely not just another Romeo and Juliet knockoff. Galileo and Leonardo's inventions give the book a sort of Renaissance-era steampunk feel, and every new gadget introduced is a treat to read about. The author includes just the right amount of description, in my opinion: enough to help me understand the scene or the device, but not so much that by the time he gets back to the action I've forgotten what's going on. It's surprising how difficult this balance is to achieve, and this book does it masterfully.

From the author's website, it appears The Shadow Master is Cormick's first novel for adult readers. This book is an incredible debut, and I highly recommend it.

Empire State, by Adam Christopher

Links: Amazon BN

This book bills itself as superhero-noir, which is an accurate categorization, if a bit heavier on the noir. The primary setting is the Empire State, a shadowy alternate version of New York City where Prohibition has continued much longer than it did in our world. Rad Bradley, a private eye, is hired to solve the mysterious disappearance of a client's lover. The investigation eventually leads Rad to learn about a mysterious alternate reality: ours.

The Empire State is similar to NYC, except it's completely isolated; no one who leaves the island ever returns. A war is going on with a mysterious belligerent known only as the Enemy to citizens of the Empire State, and Wartime restrictions are in effect in the city. As the story develops, more about the Empire State becomes clear, but I will leave that to you to discover.

I admit that this book isn't for everyone. It has a very convoluted plot that honestly only became clear in the final chapter of the book, which is a little later than some people like. Up until the very end of the book, I really didn't know for sure who the good and the bad guys were. The mystery kept me interested, but I can see how it might be frustrating for some. I quite enjoyed struggling to add up the clues I had to get a clear picture, and I did piece together some of it, but not all.

The superhero aspect is there, but it's a bit understated to be one of the defining characteristics of the book. I enjoyed the superheroes, but I feel like I was led to expect something more from the way this book was advertised on the back cover. Basically, what I got was a good story, but not the story I was expecting.

All in all, this book is an intriguing mystery novel, which some science-fiction elements to give the story a unique setting. There is also action at times, which livens things up. I enjoyed the book, and I haven't really seen much about it online, so I hope this review inspires some interested readers to take a look.

Blades of Winter, by G. T. Almasi

Links: Amazon BN

The saying goes that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but in the case of Blades of Winter, the book delivered exactly what was promised by the cover: loads of action. Our hero is one Alix Nico, a young agent in the US government's Extreme Operations (ExOps) agency. In a word, she is a superspy, but superspies have been institutionalized in this alternative history. But Alix is motivated to rise through the ranks, especially because of her father's death in service to the same agency. It wouldn't be a story without conflict, however, and there's plenty of it in this book, both within ExOps and without.

In this story, Germany wasn't conquered in WWII, and Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalists maintained control of China. This has led to a four-way Cold War between the superpowers of the US, Russia, Greater Germany, and China. As the stakes of the dangerous spy game (known as the Shadowstorm, which gives the series its name) rose, so did the technology which aids the combatants. Modifications and enhancements to the human body are standard issue for the agents of ExOps and their foreign counterparts, collectively known as Levels. Missions are ranked by the same system: a Level 12 job is meant to be accomplished by a Level 12 operative. Our hero Alix has such enhancements as night and infrared vision, enhanced joints and bones for extra speed, and an internal drug delivery system that pumps her with synthetic adrenaline for combat. She also has her father's old gun, which connects to her other internal hardware via a connection on her palm, giving her not a heads-up display, but an Eyes-Up display for identifying and dispatching targets.

I hope I've given enough of a taste to intrigue you without giving the whole story away. Superspy vs. superspy is a wonderful setup for intense action, and this book delivers marvelously. There are also tense scenes of infiltration, where Alix needs to cool her hot head and try not to be noticed, which gives the story excellent dynamics. I personally love the setting, being a bit of a history buff. Exposition for the setting takes place mostly between chapters in the form of news articles and the like, which serve to develop a picture of the world of the Shadowstorm.

Like all good stories, this one delivers quite a few impressive twists, but not so many that it ties the plot up in Gordian knots. I enjoyed being kept guessing at points, but there was also the satisfaction that comes with correctly identifying on occasion how our hero will escape this latest mess. Both chaos and predictability work well in Blades of Winter and deliver a satisfying action thriller.

Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence

Links: Amazon BN

I found this book while browsing the shelves of my local bookstore, and I'm glad I did. The protagonist and narrator is Prince Jorg Ancrath, who from a young age must deal with some pretty harrowing experiences. At the age of nine, his mother was brutally killed while he looked on helplessly from a thorn bush where their attackers left him for dead. This trauma eventually led him to leave home and seek out his own fortune among the mercenaries and cutthroats of society. As the story opens, Jorg has, through his strange mix of brutality and charm, won the allegiance of a small band of ruffians who join him in terrorizing the countryside. Oh, and he's only thirteen years old. His ambitions lead him back to the country of his birth, intending to challenge his father and claim the throne that is his birthright.

Several factors work synergically to make this an exceptional story. First is Jorg himself. His traumatic experiences harden him and serve to fuel his drive to rule and have control. yet his random flashes of humanity serve to make him a dynamic and unpredictable character, and his development is something I look forward to watching unfold in the rest of the series. Like Walter White on Breaking Bad, I find that even though I don't particularly like Jorg, I enjoy rooting for him and watching him overcome challenges.

Another facet of the book that fascinated me is the setting, which is a developing mystery. The series is called The Broken Empire, which has been split into about a hundred warring territories, all ruled by leaders with dubious claims to the throne of the emperor. Vestiges of a distant past remain in the religion of the people, as well as in the roads and various items left by a culture known as the Builders, which were clearly more advanced than the feudal society of the Broken Empire. Small clues are revealed at various times to flesh out the setting, but leaving enough of a mystery that I was hooked on learning more.

There are elements of fantasy in this story, like necromancy and sorcery, but the intrigue and action is what really sold me on this book. If you want a TL;DR, one of the reviews I read called the book "Game of Thrones on speed", which is an apt if incomplete description. I recommend that you read this book and discover it for yourself.

Shield and Crocus, by Michael R. Underwood

Links: Amazon BN

Author Michael Underwood was kind enough to get me an advance reader copy (ARC) of this upcoming book, and I'm most grateful I had the opportunity to take it in. I was quite impressed by what I found.

The setting of this story is the city of Audec-Hal, the home of several races of people. Each race has a unique "birthright", abilities granted by virtue of their heritage (e.g. telekinesis, seeing the emotional connections between people, extreme speed, etc.). For the last fifty years, Audec-Hal and its citizens have suffered under the oppression of five tyrants who have divided the city among themselves and share an uneasy peace. These oligarchs employ both magic and technology to maintain their power base, and the combinations of the two are quite interesting.

Hope is not lost however; it struggles on in the form of the Shields of Audec-Hal, a small band of insurgents who fight against the tyrants by means of what is essentially guerrilla warfare: mostly small strikes, but a few larger ones against the tyrants' strongholds as well. The Shields are a small but versatile group who use their birthrights effectively to gain advantages in combat. Their leader is the First Sentinel, an old alchemist who remembers the time before the rise of the tyrants, when Audec-Hal was ruled by a democratically-elected Senate. As the story opens, the tyrants have agreed to a summit to formally divide the city and consolidate their power, something the Shields have to do whatever it takes to stop.

I'll let you read the rest of the story yourself, but I hope I've piqued your curiosity. The story is told from the points of view of the various Shields, with interludes giving the perspective of some of the tyrants. The shifting viewpoint serves to give an impressively full picture of the world and the situation as it develops, yet it leaves enough mystery to keep the reader interested.

Magic and technology traditionally belong to separate genres, namely fantasy and science fiction, respectively. A lot of attempts to mix the two in literature have failed in various ways, though the steampunk genre and its popularity show there is an interest in continuing the effort. This book is definitely not steampunk; it's something all its own. Where else would you find an android working with a sorceror, battling an alchemist/artificer?

In summary, this book is a wonderful adventure, with a depth and development of characters that is tough to find in modern literature. I look forward to more in this series.