Death's Angels by William King.
I got this book for free and it is still available at that price. I picked it up because my new novel in progress is in the flintlock fantasy genre and also has dragons. I wanted to see what this book did with similar components. This book and my book are nothing alike.
What I liked: King is a very good writer. I never felt that I was reading something that could (as I've noted about many fantasy books) have been written by a fairly talented 5th grader. He can put a story together and his sentence structure and word choice never annoyed me -- except for the occasional use of profanity; that annoyed me (I nearly put it away without finishing). I continue to believe that the best writers don't need to use profanity. I won't say it's a substitute for talent in King's case because he's very talented and that type of language is infrequent. But I digress; this is supposed to be the part where I discuss what I did like. Most of the characters were interesting if somewhat stereotypical. The main character, Rik, is the orphaned thief; there's a big barbarian who suffers from a lack of mental agility, and also a weasel-type named Weasel. I liked those guys even if they weren't terribly unique. I wanted to know more about the Terrarch overlords, the conquerors from space and wielders of magic. King did some interesting things with the variety of dragons; I wanted to know more about them. The story progressed at a rapid pace. Danger hovered in the wings or came straight on with scything claws; it's some exciting reading.
What I didn't like: I just didn't care for the story. The story was well told. I never grew bored with it. The author kept me interested even after it became clear that the baddies were some kind of demons. I'm just not into demons; it's a flavor of fantasy for which I have never acquired a taste. I enjoy a good battle against Sauron or some dark lord and his minions, but grotesque and bug-like hell spawn held at bay or set free by the interpretive dance and chanted lyrics of pasty-faced sorcerers and their slimy apprentices leave me sick and empty in the same manner as did that expired can of creamed corn left in the hot summer sun that I convinced grandma to cook for me when I was a kid--I haven't been able to eat creamed corn since. The lack of flintlock detail and combat description disappointed me. This book really could have been a sword and sorcery piece without significant modification. I was hankering for a helping of musketry fire and bayonet charges and found those particular morsels of the repast too small to appease my desire.
The Verdict: There are 91 reviews on and 90% of those are 4 and 5 stars. A lot of people liked it. I can't say that I really agree with the 3, 2, or 1 star reviews. It didn't appeal to me but that was a matter of taste rather than quality. Your mileage may vary. As for me, I won't be reading further in the series.
***
With regard to my own books, the sales continue. Most of the recent sales have been of Justice Resurgent, but Justice in Season, the first book in the two book series has also sold more copies.
The novel in progress has broken the 55K word mark. I have departed from the story as broadly outlined but characters and events often refuse to be bound by my original concept for them. Once the writing begins they insist on slipping the 12 point Times New Roman bonds which had loosely anchored them to their predefined role in the tale. That's the exciting part. They always take me places beyond what I had originally imagined. I can't wait to find out what happens next. Seriously, I know what happens; I just don't always know how it's going to happen. OK. Sometimes I don't even know what's going to happen; I'm as surprised as anyone.
Finally, I started a French movie, Le Doulos, a week or so ago and got time to finish it yesterday.
Confusion. Girl gets beat up. Guy gets shot. Botched burglary. Things get explained. Everyone dies.
That's not a proper review. I'm not a proper reviewer. It might make a nice reframe where I use pictures from the film but build my own unlikely tale around them but I probably won't get to it.
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