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WoGF Review: The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
For Lynn Williams (lynnsbooks) books are much more than a hobby or a pastime they’re really an obsession. If she’s not reading a book, she’s talking about books on her blog, Lynn’s Book Blog, or deciding which books to buy next. Lynn reads all sorts of books, sometimes straying into YA, but her first love is fantasy. Recently she started to cross into science fiction thanks to the suggestions of some very excellent bloggers.
Just finished reading The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker which I absolutely loved.
KB has brought to us a fantasy world filled with demons, gods, and different species. A whole world filled with Children of the Sun and other species. But, more than that, she’s brought us a romp of a novel. This book is fantasy and fun combined and I loved it. It’s like everything I love in my fantasy novels brought into a new world and looked at in a different way. Really, I totally recommend this book without hesitation. Okay, you might like your grimdark but you can also take an amusing look at the premise occasionally and that is what happens here.
The tale basically revolves around a character called Smith (an alias of course). Smith was an assassin, and he was a damn good one – he can practically stop a would-be-murderer in his tracks just using a soggy false beard or a half penny! However, good as he is, he has no taste for the job and has left his assassin ways behind, hence the false name, and at the start of the story he takes on what seems like a fairly innocuous job as caravan master transporting goods from one part of this imaginary country to the other. He’s also transporting a group of unlikely characters and whilst this may all seem fairly mundane things are not as they seem. Of course the trek across country turns into anything but easy with all sort of death attempts on the passengers until eventually quite strong bonds are developed between some of the travellers and upon arrival at the final destination, Salesh on Sea, Smith takes a different course with a number of his new friends.
WoGF Review: The Bird of the River by Kage Baker
Ann Walker (Ann Walker) is well past the point of being embarrassed to say she’s a fantasy fan. When people try to talk to her about spy thrillers or romantic comedies, she smiles politely and hopes her eyes aren’t glazing over too obviously. Ann loves character-driven stories with rich, detailed world building. Her favorite authors, unsurprisingly, are Ellen Kushner, Robin Hobb, and Lisa Barnett. When she’s not reading, she’s doing yoga; when she’s doing yoga, she’s thinking about what she’s been reading, even though she knows she shouldn’t be.
I needed to start my WoGF reading somewhere, and I had heard of Kage Baker, so I figured she would be a good place. I looked at some recommendations, chose the book with the highest reader rating, put in the request at my library, and sat down to wait. While I was waiting, I started reading the e-book, The Best of Kage Baker. The stories (mostly from The Company series) were enjoyable, but I didn’t really find them anything special.
Then I started reading The Bird of the River, and within the first twenty pages I was absolutely captivated.
First of all, the world building, one of my favorite aspects of fantasy, was rich and detailed, but unique in that the focus was not on wizards and princes but everyday people, working at everyday jobs – salvage workers, cooks, itinerant musicians. Real people in a real world that had some fantastical elements. The next aspect that delighted me was the joyful, lyrical language. Even when the subject matter was not in itself joyful or lyrical (more along the lines of the nitty-gritty of life) the writing was simply beautiful.
The nitty-gritty of life: that’s what this book is mainly about. Poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, racism. But also the joy of finding your own way in life, your own unique skills and abilities, finding your place in the community, and making your future. It’s a YA book, so these issues are handled from a YA perspective, but the themes are universal.
There are two other books set in this same world, and as soon as they arrive from my library, I’ll put my WoGF challenge reading on hold for a bit (it won’t take long) and devour those two books. I wish I could review more articulately, to enumerate in detail with examples from the text, but I’m not that type of reviewer, I’m afraid – it’s all heartfelt and gut-felt from me. So a heartfelt, “Thank you, WoGF Challenge!” If not for you, I would never have discovered Kage Baker and this wondrous world.
