- A Lesson in Violence – Jordan Harper - 7/10
- The Silverblood Promise – James Logan 9/10
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Before reviewing this book, a little history …..
After I’d already got back into reading fantasy thanks to books by Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie, I stumbled across a fantasy book blog that I began to read avidly.
Speculative Horizons launched in January 2008, and what I liked about it was that it started off with reviews of Lynch and Abercrombie – with opinions that were closely aligned with my own – and over the next three years introduced me to a whole load of fantasy books and authors that I loved.
In November 2010, the blog creator, James Long, announced that he was off to join the editorial team at Orbit, and pointed out that, quite reasonably, he could no longer maintain an honest blog whilst he was working for a major genre publisher.
Fast forward 14 years, and with a pen surname of Logan, James has launched his first book –
The Silverblood promise.
Lukan Gordova is a cardsharp and general layabout, lamenting some crisis in his past that he feels will haunt him forever. When his father’s servant turns up claiming that his father’s death may not be all that it seems, and hands over a scrap of paper containing just three words that the dying man scrawled out in his own blood, Lukan embarks on a journey to the city of Saphrona in a bid to discover the truth. There he gets embroiled in a conspiracy plot and has to rely on the help of others to get him out of a few scrapes.
Given that I’ve already outlined that my own likes in fantasy are very similar to that of James Logan, it should come as no surprise that I loved this book. It’s a great rip-roaring adventure with a good central plot that keeps you turning the pages and the worldbuilding is fantastic.
The descriptions of the city of Saphrona, which I imagine to be like Southern Spain with its Moorish influences, are fantastic. An example of one of the brilliant set-pieces is when Lukan agrees to play a game of chance in a bid for an audience with an important character in Saphrona. It’s like poker except that instead of cards, a small pyramid with glowing panels is used as the method of chance – with a delivery of intense pain for anybody who touches the wrong panel. This is very Scott Lynch-esque and brilliantly executed.
The supporting cast is well defined – eleven-year-old Flea, who tries to rob Lukan but later becomes his little helper in the city, is brilliant, with her sarky one-liners, and the mysterious thief, Ashra, is also good.
As I’ve said, there is lots of action and a barrel-load of set-pieces. In fact, the narrative seems a chain of set-pieces with little room to breathe between them but the dialog between characters and the black humour is a joy to read. It’s not as edgy and course as say, Joe Abercrombie, but it’s a joyful, effortless read.
There is powerful magic that’s central to the plot, but it’s rarely used and the interactions between the characters are far more important. At least one instance of Lukan avoiding certain death relies on this magic. This is something that usually bothers me because I like the magic systems to be dialled down to a minimum but trust me, this book is that good that you probably won’t mind it either.
The episode in
The Silverblood Promise is nicely wrapped up by the end of the book, but there’s obviously an overarching plot involving Lukan’s quest to find out more about his father that sets up the second book nicely. I can’t wait for November when it’s released.
Highly recommended for fans of fantasy.
