The Modern World

A friend commented recently that I did not seem to like SciFi/Fantasy very much. Isn't true. I love it. Some years ago, however, I realized that it was pretty much all I read and that now that I was working I had stopped learning. That's when I put myself on my reading schedule, where I try to space out what I read and mix the genres up a little bit. I am really glad that I did that. It was a good decision. However, it sometimes means that when I do read speculative fiction, I fall on it like a dieter on a bar of chocolate. It also means that I am more easily disappointed if I have used my ration on a book that I do not really like. Over the years, I have gotten fussier about what I enjoy. Even though there are writers that I recognize are good, there are not so many that I have gotten really excited about reading. Steph Swainston is one of the really lucky exceptions. I love her work. I really enjoy the Castle series. (Dangerous Offspring is the third book and was released as The Modern World in the UK.) In fact, the only problem that I have with Steph Swainston is that despite pacing myself, I have now finished the last book that she has in print. This is unfair and impossible and I want something more to read. Swainston's main character is a drug addicted winged currently immortal messenger named Jant Comet. The Fourlands is a world ruled by mortal kings and immortal avatars, with every avatar chosen by the Emperor and able to retain their position unless challenged. In this book, a grand engineering project designed to fight the ever-present threat of insect invasion leads to an even grander disaster. The Emperor himself rides to war, and more than one world is involved in the resulting battle... Swainston's diction is quite distinctive. The best adjective that I have heard for her writing style is "elliptical". Not everyone likes it, but I love it (as already noted). Recommended. Why haven't you read something by her already?

Immaginative in a stagnat genre. Swainston's creativity is unrivled by todays fantasy writers. Again, another winner by Swainston.

In the Fourlands, winged messenger Jant Comet the drug addict desires the better life as he has survived the invading horde of Insects over the last few centuries and even worse the decisions of the Immortal leadership. He would like to enjoy life for a change while pondering is that asking too much of a messenger sent to the world hovels and most dangerous spots in the Fourlands. While he thinks he deserves some pampering R & R, Jant knows that will not happen probably for a millennia or so as long as the war continues. Architect Frost has persuaded her Circle of Immortals that the time has come to defeat the insurgent Insects, which would keep Jant busy in and out of the battlefields. At the same time seventeen years old Cyan, daughter of his friend Immortal Lightning has vanished. Jant wants to find her his style, but knows she should be untouchable at least by him even if she is a desirable siren. Finally the wise Immortal Emperor San embellishes Frost's plan and that makes Jant deeply concerned although he knows whatever is chosen for him, it is a good thing he is a drug addict albeit suddenly one with a pain in the wing conscience. The Fourlands are so different from our world yet in some ways seem identical especially when it comes to power and pawns. The action-packed story line grips readers because this gritty forsaken landscape seems genuine especially the Gods (Immortals) war against terrorism. Jant is a terrific protagonist who recently struggles with his mission as if he suffers from battle fatigue syndrome leading to a conscience the worst thing an Immortal messenger needs as he relays suicidal orders. In spite of being well written and exciting, this is not an easy fantasy to read, as Steph Swainston paints a bleak world even for Immortals. Harriet Klausner