I can see why people have been getting excited about this book. It zips along nicely. It is far-future, post-collapse SF dressed up as fantasy, so it will appeal nicely to SF readers. And Scholes appears to write romance rather better than most male authors. But I’m afraid for me it will be a while before any fantasy series manages to get past the “it isn’t Daniel Abraham” barrier. When you have seen something done so brilliantly it is hard to read a similar work that is merely quite good.
One thought on “Lamentation”
Comments are closed.
I read this recently, and was startled by how much I didn’t like it. I’ve read some of his short stories and thought they were terrific, but most of this book felt like a long tedious slog, and I’m still not quite sure why.
Try some Dave Duncan! Children of Chaos/Mother of Lies is what got me hooked on him, and the first thing I’d recommend to anyone who hasn’t read any of his work before. Or try Ill Met in the Arena if you prefer a standalone book.
Alternatively: try Children of Chaos and Mother of Lies to see a male author including strong and believable female characters (and I promise the Evil Unspeakable Goddess of Death is not the fantasy trope she may first appear to be), or Ill Met in the Arena for a male author writing about a female-dominated society.