John Lawson; The Raven

John Lawson’s book “Witch Ember” made an impression on my sister. Only two fantasy books have done so, and she reviewed them both (self-published books) here. I read both of the books my sister said were amazing, and I have to agree with my sister. They are indeed amazing. So, I cannot deny that “Witch Ember” is a work of excellence. Now I am reviewing the sequel to “Witch Ember”, John Lawson’s “The Raven”.

I can only start by saying that I am floored. In my mind, there is no reason why this author should not be published through a major publisher. His work is without a doubt on my part, beyond exceptional. The scope of his imagination surpasses most of the commercial Fantasy books I’ve read.

What makes this book stand out is the sheer magnitude of the world that the author has created; the attention to detail, the originality of the characters and the world, even with the strong influences from our own cultures, norms and religions. His skill at world-building was brushed on in “Witch Ember”; here, it is in your face. John Lawson also plays with language, and context and adds to the mood and the expressiveness of his characters using dialect. It’s brilliant, despite the need for a glossary (which the author thoughtfully marked with a post-it flag for me).

“The Raven” is a dark adult fantasy, which like its prequel, has situations and bleakness in it that are not suitable for everyone. This book’s stories are harsh and in some cases, graphic and gory. The visuals the writing produces sometimes make you wonder what the heck could possibly be going on inside the author’s head. But don’t be mistaken, this isn’t just a gore-filled blood-fest; there’s depth, substance and turmoil here; a violently tormented knight and a journey where you perceive growth and discovery, and perhaps even redemption.

Guiromélans is a holy warrior; a tainted paladin; a man whose faith has been put into question, and whose identity is so steeped in faith that his entire being is thrown into turmoil by his doubt and confusion. You will follow him as he tries to make himself right with God again, and as he travels and adventures through a world of creatures and images fresh and gloomy. The three-dimensional characters that accompany him, who pass through his stories, whose lives he affects are as rich and complex as the world they live in.

The book is as clean as a whistle with only occasional blips here and there; it is quite decently edited. It’s a thick book, and luckily, fairly self-contained, so you can pick it up without having read “Witch Ember” and not feel lost or overwhelmed.

Obviously, John Lawson has earned another five medallions from Odyssey Reviews for “The Raven”. I highly recommend this book to any serious Fantasy reader--it's a solid investment for your library. You will be refreshed by its scope and originality. You will also enjoy the collection of illustrations peppered throughout the pages.

Publisher: PublishAmerica (July 24, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1424143802

Michael A. Heald; A Rumor of Dragons

Marc is a Prince of Cathgar, and he seems to have little control of his own life. He is beloved by his father, and closely watched over by a Wizard named Kili. Marc has been betrothed to a Princess in Farling, a small kingdom some ways away. His future bride Alisse does not know that Marc was born without hands; and Marc’s insecurities about this betrothal are only part of his worries. Cathgar is under siege, his family endangered, and his own life in peril. He must escape to safety into a world he has been sheltered from; and learn truths that his lifelong teachings conflict with.

These characters reside on the world of Ganus. This planet is stretched to its limits every few thousand years by the passing of another planetary object. This last passing has left it scarred; and with a permanent dayside and nightside. There is a new passing to occur soon, and the world, both magical and physical is in turmoil. There are hints that dragons may be returning; after an absence so long that they’ve become myth. They are somehow linked to this planetary event; whether as part of the cause or part of the cure remains to be seen.

A Rumor of Dragons is an interesting work. There is a gritty bleakness to this world; and the characters are not the glossy, superhuman heroes of traditional fantasy, but flawed and insecure souls, with all the issues and baggage we have and more. The reader is taken chapter to chapter, switching back and forth from various character stories, as they slowly wend their way towards one another. This story ingeniously blends the forces of physics with metaphysics; magic and sorcery to tell the tale of Ganus and its people. It was artfully done.

I have a few criticisms of this book. First, there are chapters that stand out as ‘rough’ against the others. This is generally a polished work, however every once in a while, I ran into a chapter that was overly simplistic; short sentences, limited description, undeveloped conversation and motivations, and it would then segue into a chapter that is the complete opposite. It was disconcerting; as if I were reading chapters done by different authors, or done years apart. The second criticism I have is the use of the much-abused and overused device of the ‘wait-and-see’ ending. It is obvious the author intends to have a chronicle of stories based on this world, however even with closure of the main story, I felt extremely unsatisfied after following two particular characters to find that I would not know what happens until the next book. There is also a bit of a predictable nature to some aspects of the story. As a final nitpicking, the cover is beautiful, but it reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I understand how it correlates with the story; however I am not sure how well it will work in attracting Fantasy Readers. I could be wrong, but nevertheless, I’m a reviewer, so I must say these things. In general, the editing for this book was very good; I found only a few mishaps here and there.

All in all, A Rumor of Dragons is the beginning of an excellent chronicle of the world Ganus. I really resonated to the whole idea of introducing this delicious blend of science and the supernatural; I thought it was one of the most compelling elements of the story. I also reveled in each character’s flaws, weaknesses and imperfections; I found them extremely realistic and believable. To me, that’s refreshing in a Fantasy novel.

I have a lot to say about this book, but I am really torn about the rating. Despite my going through a very stressful time, I managed to finish the book. I carried it with me on multiple flights to the east coast and back, and it is dog-eared and roughed up by constant interruptions. The fact that I wanted to finish it says something. Despite my large paragraph of criticisms, I still believe this is a notable book. I think this author can go nowhere else but up from here, and so I am giving this book the full five medallions for bringing such a gripping, and unique perspective to the Fantasy Genre.

Paperback: 396 pages
Publisher: Lulu.com (January 10, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1430325097

John Lawson; "Witch Ember"

Author John Lawson brings us “Witch Ember”; a gritty, dark fantasy set in a creatively crafted world where people are born with tiny shards or ‘embers’ which lend them magical powers. Esmeree, the primary character is born with a large piece of this ember, and unknowingly possesses tremendous powers; however she is also unfortunately an orphaned child of ‘the Mill’ where she grows up knowing only the horrors of prostitution, drugs and violence. Her role models are an assortment of unsavory adults, with only one or two creditable souls to help her survive. She is also surrounded by a collection of youths who are also part of this dismal, dirty world. Her greatest aspiration is to become a more refined, personal prostitute/concubine for the city’s richest; it is her sheltered view of the world and her ignorance of her own power and potential that makes her ambition so limited. You watch her grow, and with it, her world as well. It starts focused on the mill and its scurrying, grimy inhabitants and broadens slowly as the story goes along. You learn as Esmeree learns.

You will find that Esmeree is a plucky character, and she successfully carries the reader through this very thick novel as she overcomes each terrible experience, and slowly begins to discover who she is, where she must go, and the extent of her ‘ember’s power’. She is thoroughly likable, and despite how casually she perceives the trauma of her daily life, she has an honourable sort of soul, and she makes others around her better as well.

The author did a commendable job showing Esmeree's personal growth, and wrote a believable world imbued with the same political and faith-based upheavals as our own. The detail in this book is broad and you can get lost in it occasionally. It is a dark, coarse sort of book, I will not fail to mention that. The sexual content is explicit and without sugar-coating, and the violence is graphic and vivid. Those of you that are squeamish may not care for the content of Witch Ember.

As a reviewer, I do have some criticisms of this unusually tidy, well-put together novel. The author obviously enjoyed interspersing his many invented words into the book. He definitely took his time to create a world complete with its own dialects and slang. You can’t miss these words; they are all italicized and infused with a přöfůsĭŏn of šỳmboŀś to make them appear exotic. Frankly, as a reader, all it did was make it distracting. This was really unnecessary and it does nothing for the flow of the book when you constantly have to stop, flip through the index, find the word and its meaning, and then find where you left off. And doing it again and again (for it is a sizable index) really just made me want to put the book down and go read something less arduous, like War and Peace. It nearly ruined the book for me, and that is a lot considering that this is a really good book. I think the language was overdone, and unnecessary for a story that can carry itself perfectly well without it.

This is definitely the neat, seamless work of a technical writer. I usually tend to look for errors and such when reading, as do the other reviewers here at Odyssey, and despite the symbols and the distracting language, I could find little to pick apart when it came to the quality of the writing, the cleanliness of the manuscript, and the author’s ability to keep you riveted even through the slow bits and the index references.

I have to give Witch Ember five medallions. ONLY because I think it’s a notable work of self-published writing, BUT if I were feeling less generous, I’d take a half or whole medallion away just for the time I had to spend looking up words.

Paperback: 489 pages
Publisher: PublishAmerica (May 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1591290384
ISBN-13: 978-1591290384