Book Review: The Blood King by Gail Martin

Pros: quick read, variety of action, good pay off, complex plans

Cons: some unnecessary repetition

Note: This review contains spoilers for book one, The Summoner, reviewed here.

Tris and his friends have made it to Principality City and gained several powerful allies, but if Tris wants to claim the Margolan throne and right his half-brother’s wrongs, he’ll have to assemble an army and master his summoner abilities.

As with the first book, there’s a good variety to the action: fight scenes, mage training, diplomacy, and a touch of romance.  It keeps things feeling fresh and helps with the quick turning of pages.   

The plan for taking back Margolan has an appropriate complexity that relies on more than just Tris and his training.  I appreciated that the efforts of displaced farmers and deserting soldiers helped with the overthrow.

You learn more about the vayash moru (vampires), and how they operate and survive.  I also liked the introduction of new blood magic formed ‘creatures’, though wished they had been given more page time as they’re quite terrifying.

There were some times when the author repeated herself in giving information but it wasn’t as distracting as in the first book.

It’s a great conclusion to Martin’s duology, with a pay off that feels hard earned for the characters. 

Book Review: The Summoner by Gail Martin

Pros: great characters, interesting world, quick read, action packed

Cons: lots of repetition, characters are a little too perfect

Prince Martris Drayke’s is forced to flee his home country when his half brother forcibly takes the crown.  On his journey north to his uncle’s court, Martris discovers that his formerly minimal magical powers have expanded, allowing him to interact with spirits in ways he couldn’t before.  Is he the heir to his grandmother’s Summoner magic?  And if so, will this magic help him defeat the blood magician working with his brother? 

I read this book when it first came out in 2007 and loved it unreservedly.  So it was interesting, rereading it for review, to see how many ‘debut author’ flaws I noticed this time around.  The good guys are all a little too perfect.  The bad guys have no redeeming qualities and are a bit cookie cutter.  There’s a lot of repetition in the writing, both with information being relayed several times, as well as sentences that reiterate what was just written.  One important plot advancement was told by off the cuff exposition, rather than in a shown scene.  Several common tropes show up…

But those are all nitpicky points.  Apparently years of reviewing have made me quite critical, which is both good and bad.

This book is a real joy to read.  The prose flows, and though the book is quite thick, the pages pass quickly.  I was actually shocked at how fast I whipped through it.

I love the characters.  Martris (Tris) really grows and develops as a person.  I liked that we see his magic progress, but that his quick escalation of powers is explained.  I liked that magic had limits and there were consequences for its overuse.

Kiara is another character I simply adored.  She’s got a competence without the passion to prove herself that plague so many ‘strong’ female characters.  She is what she is because she’s worked hard, practiced, and because her kingdom expects its men and women to be able to protect it.  I also liked that the narrative pointed out how Tris admired her skills without the need to test her or put her down to raise himself up.

Vahanian is a traditional rogue with a heart of gold, but he’s given more back story than usual, and cries at one point in the book.  This is a humanizing not generally seen with tough fighters, and I appreciated it.

The part of the world we see is a collection of small kingdoms.  Some different customs are mentioned, though not many.  The real point of interest with the world building is the vayash moru - vampires.  They don’t play a big role, but it’s cool to see them in traditional fantasy.  I also enjoyed the Goddess, whose different aspects were worshipped in different countries.  

There’s a lot of action and the characters face a number of different dangers, which kept the book feeling fresh and exciting.

It’s an older title, but one well worth picking up.

***SPOILERS***

This only occurred to me a while after I finished the book, but Berry’s quite cruel to her parents.  They know she’s been kidnapped, but after escaping the slavers, she still spends a month or more with Tris and co. before returning home.  Her parents must have been worried sick about her - and for much longer than necessary.

Shout-Out: The Shadowed Path by Gail Martin

These are the untold tales of Jonmarc Vahanian, hero of Gail Z. Martin’s best-selling Chronicles of the Necromancer series.

Jonmarc Vahanian was just a blacksmith’s son in a small fishing village before raiders killed his family. Wounded and left for dead in the attack, Jonmarc tries to rebuild his life. But when a dangerous bargain with a shadowy stranger goes wrong, Jonmarc finds himself on the run, with nothing ahead but vengeance, and nothing behind him but blood.

Soldier. Fight slave. Smuggler. Warrior. Brigand lord. If you’ve met Jonmarc Vahanian in the Chronicles of the Necromancer and Fallen Kings Cycle books, you don’t really know him until you walk in his footsteps. This is the first segment of his journey.

Book Review: Deadly Curiosities by Gail Martin

Pros: interesting plot, varied forms of magic, characters actually work day jobs, satisfying conclusion

Cons: characters feel like Mary Sues, middle of the book had several scenes that follow the same pattern, unnecessary repetition

Cassidy Kincaide is psychometric, able to see images of an item’s past.  She inherited the estate auction and antiques shop Trifles and Folly when her uncle, who had a similar power, died a few years back.  Along with the store she also inherited her uncle’s silent partner, Sorren, a vampire and member of the Alliance, an organization dedicated to keeping humans safe from dangerous magical artifacts. 

When some of the safe items Cassidy sold start haunting a local BnB, she and her co-worker Teag start investigating.

The characters are really interesting, with Cassidy having contacts all over the city with connections that help with her business - both the antique store and when investigating potentially dangerous items.  I really appreciated that Cassidy not only owned a store, but she and Teag actually work there.  Lots of urban fantasy books mention that characters have jobs but somehow show them with lots of free time to investigate whatever the mystery is.  These characters spend their days at work, sometimes it’s slow and they can research and do other things, and sometimes it’s busy and they can’t.  But I appreciated the veracity of their situation, that they need money to keep the store and pay rent and so have to do most of their investigative work after hours.  

Having said that, they seem remarkably lucky with their investigative work, generally learning pretty quickly what they need to from all the sites and people they visit.  Now, the book explains that as due in part to Cassidy’s knowing and having a good relationship with many of the important people in town and the rest is chalked up to her and Teag’s respective magics.  Still, they have an uncanny knack of reaching the right conclusion pretty quickly, which, coupled with their martial arts knowledge and ability to get out of sticky situations starts to make them feel Mary Sue-ish.

Another thing I really liked about the book was the varied forms of magic employed.  Cassidy can see objects’ pasts, Teag can weave together pieces of information as well as spells, Sorren has the strength and agility of the undead.  The book also introduces several other characters with their own powers, a Voodon practitioner, a Viking Seior, and a Gullah root worker.  Magic takes its toll on the practitioners and isn’t an infinite pool that be used continuously when facing bad guys. 

There is some repetition in how information is portrayed that irked me but probably won’t bother most readers.  Something is introduced in one chapter and then expanded on in the next chapter in a way that repeats the previous information.  

A more obvious issue is that several scenes in the middle of the book follow the same pattern of checking something out, getting attacked, and getting out of the situation.  It happened too often in the same way that I started wondering why they didn’t anticipate the attacks more readily.

There is a highly satisfying end battle and all the plot threads tie up neatly before the book is over.  Despite its flaws it’s a fun start to a new series.

Author Interview - Gail Martin

Novels:
The Summoner
The Blood King

website: www.chroniclesofthenecromancer.com

Pitch your latest novel:

>In The Blood King, sequel to The Summoner, Tris Drayke races against time to gain the skills he needs to challenge his half-brother Jared for the throne of Margolan and defeat the dark mage Arontala before the Obsidian King can be loosed from the abyss. Pursued by assassins and caught in a dangerous web of intrigue, Tris’ greatest danger is his own magic. The fate of his kingdom, his lady and his soul hang in the balance. As Margolan plunges into darkness under the yoke of a tyrant, Tris leads an unlikely insurrection, knowing that if he fails, death will be the least of his worries…


What are your favourite 3 books?

>That’s a hard one. There are so many. Can I count trilogies as one? Let’s see…Atlas Shrugged, because at the time I read it (I was 18), it gave me the radical notion that it was ok to be smart. I had received some very strong programming to the contrary, so that book was revolutionary for me. Destination: Universe—because it was the first science fiction book that I ever read, and having grown up in a family that took the Cold War way too seriously, it was paradigm shifting for me to read stories about a future we might exist long enough to experience. The Last Herald Mage trilogy, because the characters are so hauntingly real.

In the books you’ve written, who is your favourite character and why?

>Tris Drayke and Jonmarc Vahanian are my two favorites. Tris because he loses his innocence when his world falls apart and has to find new meaning for himself. Jonmarc because he loses faith in anything when he goes through a dark period in life and finds the courage to believe in something again.

What character is most like you?

>Probably Jonmarc.

If you could, would you change places with any of your characters?

>I was a medieval history major, so I have a pretty good idea of what life was really like back then. Probably not.

If you could live in your fantasy world, would you? In someone else’s?

>It would be tempting if magic were operative and I could have magic. But there are trade-offs, like losing Tylenol, central heat and indoor plumbing. It would also be pretty interesting to actually meet and talk with the ghosts and the vayash moru. So a qualified ‘yes.’ As for someone else’s, there are at least places I’d like to visit—Valdemar, Xanth, Anne Rice’s New Orleans (complete with vampires), Babylon 5.

What was the first novel that you wrote and how long did it take to write it?

>The first novel-length book I wrote (written and re-written on a manual typewriter), was done on a bet with friends. It was the summer after my senior year in high school. We were impatient for Return of the Jedi to come out, so I wrote my own third installment to the Star Wars original trilogy. I definitely had different ideas than George Lucas—in my version, Luke went to the Dark Side and Han was the ‘other.’ I wrote it over the course of a few months.

What was the hardest scene to write in The Blood King?

>I always find battle scenes take longer because they have to be so clearly choreographed in my mind.

What is the strangest question you have ever been asked by a fan?

>Actually, readers have been very polite and quite delightful, so no one has asked anything way off base. At signings, I always find it odd when people walk up to an author and ask for directions to things in the store. I don’t mind helping, and I can usually answer them, but it’s just odd that they ask me as if I work there!

What’s your day job—how long did it take before you could support yourself only on your writing?

>Trick question, because I’ve always supported myself on my writing—it just hasn’t always been my fantasy writing. For a long time, I worked in corporate America in marketing and PR, and now I own my own marketing consulting firm, where I still do a lot of writing—articles, nonfiction e-books on marketing, client projects.

What is your university degree in?

>I have a B.A. in History and an M.B.A. in Marketing/Management Information Systems

Do you think it’s easier to write fantasy or science fiction?

>It’s easier for me to write fantasy because I have a very deep history background and I don’t work in the sciences. Someone in engineering or with another science background might feel differently. I would think SF would be harder because its more based in real life and has to have some roots in hard science. We get to make up a lot in fantasy.

When and where do you write?

>I generally write on Mondays and usually in my office, although I take my laptop with me when we travel and also sometimes move around the house.

What’s the best/worst thing about writing?

>The best thing is you get to write the stories you want to read and you know the ending before anyone else. The worst thing is that you have to wait as long as everyone else to get the book in final form.

What is something you didn’t know about the publishing industry before you had your first book published?

>I don’t think I realized how many people work behind the scenes to get a book from manuscript to bookstore. Not just at the publishing house, but all throughout the distribution process, warehouses, distributors, and the whole bookstore process. It takes a village to print a book!

Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

>Keep at it. Never give up on your dream. Read everything you can on writing and learn from anyone who’ll teach you.

Any tips against writers’ block?

>If you’re stuck writing one scene, skip to another and then come back.

How many rejection letters did you get for your first novel or story?

>I started with nonfiction articles before I tried to publish novels. I had a whole file of rejection letters at one point, and then I threw them away because I realized that they didn’t mean the articles weren’t good, they just meant the articles weren’t right for those particular editors. I’ve sold a lot of articles that someone else turned down—you just have to find someone who shares your interest. That’s hard to believe until you make your first sale, but it’s true.