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timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this. It's not brilliant - let's be fair, it's her first - but it is full of good ideas and characters who don't always make the right decisions. An immortal junkie who can fly? Can't go wrong building around that! This is book 1 of 3, so we'll see if it gets better.
lady_mel's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't think I'd like this book at first, but the longer I read, the more it started to grow on me.
The basic premise is a world overrun by ant-like Insect creatures. God has left the world to men, but before he left, he gave an Emporer immortality. In turn, the Emporer granted a few mortals immortality. Their job is to fight the insects.
The main protagonist, Comet Jant Shira, is an Immortal, who because of his ability to fly, is named The Emporer's Messenger. Oh, and Comet's also addicted to the drug called cat.
This is the first book in a four book series. I plan to eventually read the rest.
The basic premise is a world overrun by ant-like Insect creatures. God has left the world to men, but before he left, he gave an Emporer immortality. In turn, the Emporer granted a few mortals immortality. Their job is to fight the insects.
The main protagonist, Comet Jant Shira, is an Immortal, who because of his ability to fly, is named The Emporer's Messenger. Oh, and Comet's also addicted to the drug called cat.
This is the first book in a four book series. I plan to eventually read the rest.
thistledownhair's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
(original review) I read an excerpt from one of Swainston's novels in _The New Weird_ and was intrigued enough to read her first novel. What a great, refreshing book. The world is original and contains enough tidbits and mystery to hold one's interest (well, grab it and not let it go). The story's well-paced. The main character, although not exactly likable, has a unique POV as an immortal half-breed junkie. And THEN there's the New Weird angle, which I'm hoping will be more prominent in the following books.
Best of all, unlike the last heroic fantasy book I tried to read (and much like China Mieville's cover blurb) it was very hard to put down...
EDIT: so 15 years down the line I found out there was a 5th book in the series, but I never finished the 4th book because it was a flashback and Jant, well, I didn't love Jant enough to read a book about his childhood. Yet here I am with an omnibus edition of books 1-3 plowing furiously through it. Boy did I forget about the things that make me a bit nuts - like that some characters have three or four different names, that multiple characters are mentioned by name and NEVER SEEN much less described, and did I mention Jant is sort of pathetic even if you forgive his drug habit?
Best of all, unlike the last heroic fantasy book I tried to read (and much like China Mieville's cover blurb) it was very hard to put down...
EDIT: so 15 years down the line I found out there was a 5th book in the series, but I never finished the 4th book because it was a flashback and Jant, well, I didn't love Jant enough to read a book about his childhood. Yet here I am with an omnibus edition of books 1-3 plowing furiously through it. Boy did I forget about the things that make me a bit nuts - like that some characters have three or four different names, that multiple characters are mentioned by name and NEVER SEEN much less described, and did I mention Jant is sort of pathetic even if you forgive his drug habit?
canadajanes's review against another edition
4.0
A little slow to get into, but there was a lot to like.
effervescenteloise's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book has a certain unexplainable charm. I have quite a few critiques of its writing, and especially how it treats female and sexual and gender minority characters, but something about it pulled me further and further in. The concept and worldbuilding here is fascinating, seemingly set in an alternate history or mirrored history to our own world. It is for the most part a typical fantasy setting, though there are more recent technological advances here too, such as denim and... football, of all things. Despite the dissonant aspects of the setting, I did enjoy the concept of the shift, a different world accessible only to mortals through the use of a drug that seems in all other aspects to function like an opiate. The plot is wide-spanning and our protagonist is set at a crossroads between nearly every other character in the book so often it feels as though he is constantly walking a knife's edge. There are moments of pure brilliance of prose, but also moments where it falls quite flat. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but if you have a hankering for lightly trashy fantasy and can withstand writing flaws, i think it's well worth a try.
megapolisomancy's review against another edition
3.0
In the distant past, god created the Fourlands, and then left the immortal emperor San in charge while it journeyed elsewhere. Two thousand years before the story opens, the world was invaded by the Insects, pony-sized ants (basically) which devour everything in their path and cover conquered territory with giant papery nests. In turn, San created the Circle, 50 individuals granted immortality for each being the best of the best at their specialty (thus we have the Sailor, the Archer, the Messenger, etc). At any point, these immortals can be challenged by other aspirants, with the winner maintaining or usurping the role in question. Our (anti-)hero here is Jant, the Messenger, a drug-addled half-breed - did I mention that the people of the Fourlands are divided up into human, super-skinny super-fast Rhydanne, and (ugh) Awians, with vestigial wings? Jant, as the only known offspring of the latter two, can fly, unlike everyone else, hence his appointment as the Messenger.
Now, I do really like the setup of the world/overarching narrative here, but the book itself never really lives up to the promise. What’s interesting here is the idea of the vacationing god and exactly who San is and what he’s up to (particularly regarding the seemingly endless/inertia-less war against the Insects, who are themselves a nice literalization of the generic faceless/individual-less fantasy “enemy horde”) but what we get a narrative about instead is the politicking and dramatics of the Circle. Even this is interesting at times - particularly regarding the Archer’s endless nostalgia and the Sailor’s refusal to adapt to or even allow for the possibility of innovations - and yet it has a tendency to devolve into melodrama at times.
The prose is good, but not great, and some of the modern affectations feel shoehorned in - Swainston can’t seem to decide if this should be pared-down noirish language or more poetic languorous stuff. The worst is Swainston’s decision to make the Sailor pepper his dialogue with adages boiled down to two words (as in “Curiosity. Cat.” or “Drop. Ocean.” or “Pot. Kettle.”) which is obnoxious enough on its own, but also feels entirely out of place as a kind of hyper-ironic affectation coming from such a salty grump of a character.
So: a book that never really delivers on its promise, but a promising enough debut that I’ll probably pick up Swainston’s other work when I come across it.
Now, I do really like the setup of the world/overarching narrative here, but the book itself never really lives up to the promise. What’s interesting here is the idea of the vacationing god and exactly who San is and what he’s up to (particularly regarding the seemingly endless/inertia-less war against the Insects, who are themselves a nice literalization of the generic faceless/individual-less fantasy “enemy horde”) but what we get a narrative about instead is the politicking and dramatics of the Circle. Even this is interesting at times - particularly regarding the Archer’s endless nostalgia and the Sailor’s refusal to adapt to or even allow for the possibility of innovations - and yet it has a tendency to devolve into melodrama at times.
The prose is good, but not great, and some of the modern affectations feel shoehorned in - Swainston can’t seem to decide if this should be pared-down noirish language or more poetic languorous stuff. The worst is Swainston’s decision to make the Sailor pepper his dialogue with adages boiled down to two words (as in “Curiosity. Cat.” or “Drop. Ocean.” or “Pot. Kettle.”) which is obnoxious enough on its own, but also feels entirely out of place as a kind of hyper-ironic affectation coming from such a salty grump of a character.
So: a book that never really delivers on its promise, but a promising enough debut that I’ll probably pick up Swainston’s other work when I come across it.
woolfardis's review against another edition
1.0
The premise seemed quite good, and I'm sure that's what pulled me toward it in the first place, but the execution terrible. I couldn't really keep up with the plot and found all the characters to be two-dimensional and quite difficult to get to know. They were just names on a page. I also didn't like the odd, blasè way the protagonist's drug addiction was handled. He took drugs, spaced out for about five minutes and then was absolutely fine and could have conversations straight after? The drug abuse was probably the most interesting aspect of it: especially since it was in first person narrative, but the author clearly has no idea what drugs actually do to you.
terry93d's review against another edition
2.75
It's been four years since I read this, so bear with me: more a narratively joined-up collection of fantastic ideas then a novel, it's an aimless and unfocused drifts between the author's many (again, really cool) ideas, and a slow read to boot.