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The Memory of Flames #4
The Black Mausoleum
Two years have passed since the events of The Order of the Scales . Across the realms, dragons are still hatching. Hatching, and hatching free.Skorl is an Ember, a soldier trained from birth to fight dragons. He is a living weapon, one-shot only, saturated with enough dragon-poison to bring down a monster all on his own. Misanthrope, violent and a drunk, to fulfil his purpose and slay a dragon, means to be eaten. Now Skorl has a he can hang for his crimes, or he can go with the last of the Adamantine Men, fighting against an enemy he was born to face.Rat is an Outsider. He's on the run and he's stumbled onto something that's going to make him rich beyond all his dreams. It's just a shame that the end of the world has started without him.Kataros is an alchemist, one of the order responsible for keeping the dragons in check. One of the order that has just failed, and disastrously so.Two men, one woman. One chance to save the world from a storm of dragons ...
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 2012
9 people are currently reading
580 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Deas
29 books183 followersStephen Deas is an engineer in the aerospace industry, working on communications and imaging technology in the defence sector. He is married with two children and lives near Writtle in Essex.
Also writes as Nathan Hawke and S.J. Deas.
Also writes as Nathan Hawke and S.J. Deas.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 6, 2019
They were seeing the death of the realms, of everything they knew, stark and irrevocable.
There was nothing left, nothing but ash and sand and salt and ruin.
What the author envisions here is nothing new, but his approach is undeniably visceral. The Black Mausoleum is a stand-alone novel, but there’s a lot of potential catch up to do if, like me, you’re unfamiliar with the trilogy that preceded it.
The waking of the dragons had changed everything, and now nothing mattered except food and water and watching the sky.
Following events depicted in the Memory of Flames arc (starting with The Adamantine Palace), the realm is in chaos (think total devastation) and, quite frankly, mankind seems to be teetering on the brink of extinction. Those alive live in tunnels and caves where they can find them, and nobody dares venture out in daytime.
They were the Adamantine Guard. They slew dragons because dragons were monsters and yet, when [he] looked at the men he’d known, they were little more than monsters themselves.
It’s a very gritty story, with characters as morally grey as charcoal. Think, for example, Glen Cook and The Chronicles of the Black Company. The Black Mausoleum runs a gamut of violence, torture and cannibalism but fortunately steers clear of providing uncalled-for details. It’s all about survival, no matter the cost.
And the cost in this novel is often very, very high.
You’ll warm to the characters and hate them in equal measure. If ever a book deserved to be shelved as “Dark Fantasy”, this is it.
There he was, every bit the monster. His armour was spattered in blood. It dripped down the shaft of his axe and over his gauntlets. His eyes were hungry and mad.
The world is revealed in little more than glimpses, but what a world it is. There is some real sense of wonder here, even though the author keeps a lot of it purposefully vague. This is a trick that actually works quite well in this novel, since the point of view characters are on as much of a voyage of discovery as the reader.
And the dragons! They do make for some spectacularly visual action sequences.
Over his shoulder there was the dragon again, screaming over the river in a turn so vicious it made the air shudder enough to crack trees.
Despite being a difficult read at times, because of the tone, this book certainly hit all the right notes. It’s actually a fairly minimalistic story, but it contains some epic sequences. I’m giving it five stars, but I’m also going to give myself some time to digest all of it. It’s just that kind of book.
Deas also drops just enough information regarding The Silver King to intrigue me no end.
Such as:
The halls and vaults of the Pinnacles glowed from above like a softly starlit night, a legacy of the Silver King, who’d brought order to the broken world and who’d first subdued the monsters. Half monster himself, half living god, adept with magics that no one before or since could even understand, almost everything here bore his mark. The Pinnacles had been his home for more than a hundred years, until the blood-mages had found a way to kill him.
And the contemplations of the Dragon, Blackscar (or, more correctly, Black Scar Of Sorrow Upon The Earth)
It had had a rider in those days. A true rider, a worthy one, a man made of silver. The god-men of the moon, whom the little ones called the Silver Kings.
Now I will seriously have to seek out the rest of this series, notably the The Silver Kings sequence starting with Dragon Queen.
In closing: I own the Orion / Gollancz large paperback and the Stephen Youll cover art is magnificent.
There was nothing left, nothing but ash and sand and salt and ruin.
What the author envisions here is nothing new, but his approach is undeniably visceral. The Black Mausoleum is a stand-alone novel, but there’s a lot of potential catch up to do if, like me, you’re unfamiliar with the trilogy that preceded it.
The waking of the dragons had changed everything, and now nothing mattered except food and water and watching the sky.
Following events depicted in the Memory of Flames arc (starting with The Adamantine Palace), the realm is in chaos (think total devastation) and, quite frankly, mankind seems to be teetering on the brink of extinction. Those alive live in tunnels and caves where they can find them, and nobody dares venture out in daytime.
They were the Adamantine Guard. They slew dragons because dragons were monsters and yet, when [he] looked at the men he’d known, they were little more than monsters themselves.
It’s a very gritty story, with characters as morally grey as charcoal. Think, for example, Glen Cook and The Chronicles of the Black Company. The Black Mausoleum runs a gamut of violence, torture and cannibalism but fortunately steers clear of providing uncalled-for details. It’s all about survival, no matter the cost.
And the cost in this novel is often very, very high.
You’ll warm to the characters and hate them in equal measure. If ever a book deserved to be shelved as “Dark Fantasy”, this is it.
There he was, every bit the monster. His armour was spattered in blood. It dripped down the shaft of his axe and over his gauntlets. His eyes were hungry and mad.
The world is revealed in little more than glimpses, but what a world it is. There is some real sense of wonder here, even though the author keeps a lot of it purposefully vague. This is a trick that actually works quite well in this novel, since the point of view characters are on as much of a voyage of discovery as the reader.
And the dragons! They do make for some spectacularly visual action sequences.
Over his shoulder there was the dragon again, screaming over the river in a turn so vicious it made the air shudder enough to crack trees.
Despite being a difficult read at times, because of the tone, this book certainly hit all the right notes. It’s actually a fairly minimalistic story, but it contains some epic sequences. I’m giving it five stars, but I’m also going to give myself some time to digest all of it. It’s just that kind of book.
Deas also drops just enough information regarding The Silver King to intrigue me no end.
Such as:
The halls and vaults of the Pinnacles glowed from above like a softly starlit night, a legacy of the Silver King, who’d brought order to the broken world and who’d first subdued the monsters. Half monster himself, half living god, adept with magics that no one before or since could even understand, almost everything here bore his mark. The Pinnacles had been his home for more than a hundred years, until the blood-mages had found a way to kill him.
And the contemplations of the Dragon, Blackscar (or, more correctly, Black Scar Of Sorrow Upon The Earth)
It had had a rider in those days. A true rider, a worthy one, a man made of silver. The god-men of the moon, whom the little ones called the Silver Kings.
Now I will seriously have to seek out the rest of this series, notably the The Silver Kings sequence starting with Dragon Queen.
In closing: I own the Orion / Gollancz large paperback and the Stephen Youll cover art is magnificent.
October 18, 2012
I was fairly grumpy about the first three volumes of the Memory of the Flames umpteenology, mainly because the author not only killed off virtually every character along the way, and in the most cavalier fashion, but also destroyed most of the infrastructure of his created world. Mind you, it was an exciting ride, without a second’s breathing space between bouts of mayhem and destruction, the dragons were mind-blowingly awesome, and the first chapter of the second book remains one of the best openers I’ve ever read (seriously). And somehow, for some reason, the thing just wormed its way into my mind and wouldn’t let go. So here I am, wondering just where things can go in this post-dragon-apocalypse world.
I wasn’t expecting to see any of the characters from the earlier books, since they’re all dead. Or at least, they’re probably dead, and in the unlikely event they survived, I’m sure the author would kill them off promptly. But actually, there is a survivor (yay!). Kataros is an alchemist, one of those previously in charge of keeping the dragons tame and under control, and now, not surprisingly, blamed for the ensuing catastrophe. Skjorl is an Adamantine Man, a highly trained soldier, manfully determined to fulfil his oath to defend the world from rogue dragons, now free and on the rampage. Siff is unconscious, but has information Kataros thinks is important. I don’t remember whether the two men showed up before, but Kataros spent some time with previous main character Kemir. Until he got killed.
This is a very different book from the first three. The complex social and political structures have been largely swept away, the vast array of squabbling characters has gone too, and even the places are different - they may have the same names, but the elegant towers and courtyards are gone and all that remains is rubble. I did wonder before I started reading just how much world there was left to discover and story to tell after the devastation, but happily the answer is - a great deal. There’s the vast array of interlinked tunnels underground, for a start, some hiding mysterious secrets. There’s the whole history to be uncovered, and the nature of the Silver King of legend. Then there are the strange Taiytakei from overseas - what are they all about? There’s also just a hint of zombie in the background, too. Real or myth? Quite a few myths turn out to have some truth in them here, so who knows. Maybe they’ll be crucial to the plot later on, or maybe the author just wanted to sneak in a zombie reference. Anyway, it’s not long before our hapless trio are knee deep in weirdness.
With such a tight focus on a limited cast, it’s essential that the reader feels some connection with the three main characters. Frankly, I’m not sure that this works, since none of the three is particularly likeable. Actually, that’s not even close - they all turn out to be truly horrible people, with few redeeming characteristics. However, the tension between them is palpable (translation: each of them wants to kill the others, but they also need each other, so there’s quite a lot of hissed abuse and resentful co-operation going on). So there’s plenty of entertainment from watching the interaction and waiting for one of them to snap. Plus, there’s enough interest in the dragons and the backstory and the alchemist’s powers and Siff’s history to keep the pages turning. I loved some of the imaginative touches - the glowing tunnel walls, the golems in the door, the floating castle... There’s obviously a whole heap more about the Silver King, the Taiytakei and the hole in the realm of the dead to be revealed in future books, but these snippets are tantalising.
And, as always, there’s plenty of action. The struggle to survive and to adjust to the new world order form the backdrop here, where dragons rule the world once more and humans scuttle about in the dark trying to avoid being squashed or burned or eaten (and not just by the dragons), and it’s an interesting thought: what do you do when your function in life is gone? Once you were essential and respected and had a sensible lifetime career ahead of you, and now you’re worse than useless, you’ve failed so completely that the world has changed for ever. Do you get cynical and bitter and do whatever you have to do to make life bearable, or do you keep on doing what you’ve always done, clinging to the old ways for as long as possible? Or do you look for revenge? This is certainly a more thought-provoking book than its predecessors, but it’s a fairly grim tale, with limited humour and without the zest which made the earlier books so much fun.
If this paints a fairly depressing picture, it really isn’t. I quickly got swept up in the quest to find something - anything - to combat the overwhelming power of the dragons, and even the treks across the desert wastes, on the brink of starvation, never seemed dreary or dull. This was helped by the short chapters and the rapid jumps from one character and location to another, including time-hopping to fill in the how-we-got-here backstory, something I normally hate but which is very effective here. An aside: the points of view are tightly in character; Skjorl, who never swerves from his highly trained Adamantine Man viewpoint, always refers to his companions as the shit-eater and the alchemist, even internally, whereas Jasaan, less dogmatic, talks about outsiders and gets to know the dragon-riders by name. This is terrific detail.
There’s a great deal revealed here about the alchemists and their strange blood magic, which is all good stuff, and there’s a nice twist at the end which is perfectly logical and I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. The whole end section is awesome, actually. It still feels, however, as if there’s a great deal more magic out there still to be revealed, as if we’re just paddling around in the shallows of what’s really going on in this world. The Taiytakei seem to be the key to it, somehow, and hopefully we’ll see more of them in future books. The goings on in the realm of the dead are interesting, too. I very much like the idea that there’s a fixed number of dragons in the world, and when one dies, it’s reincarnated in an egg somewhere.
A few minor grumbles: the author still hasn’t come up with a truly sympathetic character, the devastated world is implausibly empty of indigenous wildlife (what do snappers eat when they can’t get humans, for instance?) and we don’t see nearly enough of the dragons (but the awesome cover image almost compensates for that). But none of that matters. For me this book worked much better than the previous three. It doesn’t quite have the outrageous hell-bent-on-self-destruction air, or the wild physicality of all the dragon-riding and amazing sex (occasionally at the same time), nor the hordes of scheming and double-crossing dragon kings, queens and speakers. It’s a more serious and down-beat book altogether.
However, the restraint involved in following a small number of characters on a single, clearly-defined ‘quest’ (for want of a better word) creates, I feel, a much more intimate, closely-woven story, which really explores the characters and some of the underlying themes to greater depth. This is a tautly-plotted action-packed story, with perfect pacing and a terrific blend of character-driven incident and convincing world-building, a totally enjoyable read that I raced through in a couple of days because I just didn’t want to put it down. A good four stars.
I wasn’t expecting to see any of the characters from the earlier books, since they’re all dead. Or at least, they’re probably dead, and in the unlikely event they survived, I’m sure the author would kill them off promptly. But actually, there is a survivor (yay!). Kataros is an alchemist, one of those previously in charge of keeping the dragons tame and under control, and now, not surprisingly, blamed for the ensuing catastrophe. Skjorl is an Adamantine Man, a highly trained soldier, manfully determined to fulfil his oath to defend the world from rogue dragons, now free and on the rampage. Siff is unconscious, but has information Kataros thinks is important. I don’t remember whether the two men showed up before, but Kataros spent some time with previous main character Kemir. Until he got killed.
This is a very different book from the first three. The complex social and political structures have been largely swept away, the vast array of squabbling characters has gone too, and even the places are different - they may have the same names, but the elegant towers and courtyards are gone and all that remains is rubble. I did wonder before I started reading just how much world there was left to discover and story to tell after the devastation, but happily the answer is - a great deal. There’s the vast array of interlinked tunnels underground, for a start, some hiding mysterious secrets. There’s the whole history to be uncovered, and the nature of the Silver King of legend. Then there are the strange Taiytakei from overseas - what are they all about? There’s also just a hint of zombie in the background, too. Real or myth? Quite a few myths turn out to have some truth in them here, so who knows. Maybe they’ll be crucial to the plot later on, or maybe the author just wanted to sneak in a zombie reference. Anyway, it’s not long before our hapless trio are knee deep in weirdness.
With such a tight focus on a limited cast, it’s essential that the reader feels some connection with the three main characters. Frankly, I’m not sure that this works, since none of the three is particularly likeable. Actually, that’s not even close - they all turn out to be truly horrible people, with few redeeming characteristics. However, the tension between them is palpable (translation: each of them wants to kill the others, but they also need each other, so there’s quite a lot of hissed abuse and resentful co-operation going on). So there’s plenty of entertainment from watching the interaction and waiting for one of them to snap. Plus, there’s enough interest in the dragons and the backstory and the alchemist’s powers and Siff’s history to keep the pages turning. I loved some of the imaginative touches - the glowing tunnel walls, the golems in the door, the floating castle... There’s obviously a whole heap more about the Silver King, the Taiytakei and the hole in the realm of the dead to be revealed in future books, but these snippets are tantalising.
And, as always, there’s plenty of action. The struggle to survive and to adjust to the new world order form the backdrop here, where dragons rule the world once more and humans scuttle about in the dark trying to avoid being squashed or burned or eaten (and not just by the dragons), and it’s an interesting thought: what do you do when your function in life is gone? Once you were essential and respected and had a sensible lifetime career ahead of you, and now you’re worse than useless, you’ve failed so completely that the world has changed for ever. Do you get cynical and bitter and do whatever you have to do to make life bearable, or do you keep on doing what you’ve always done, clinging to the old ways for as long as possible? Or do you look for revenge? This is certainly a more thought-provoking book than its predecessors, but it’s a fairly grim tale, with limited humour and without the zest which made the earlier books so much fun.
If this paints a fairly depressing picture, it really isn’t. I quickly got swept up in the quest to find something - anything - to combat the overwhelming power of the dragons, and even the treks across the desert wastes, on the brink of starvation, never seemed dreary or dull. This was helped by the short chapters and the rapid jumps from one character and location to another, including time-hopping to fill in the how-we-got-here backstory, something I normally hate but which is very effective here. An aside: the points of view are tightly in character; Skjorl, who never swerves from his highly trained Adamantine Man viewpoint, always refers to his companions as the shit-eater and the alchemist, even internally, whereas Jasaan, less dogmatic, talks about outsiders and gets to know the dragon-riders by name. This is terrific detail.
There’s a great deal revealed here about the alchemists and their strange blood magic, which is all good stuff, and there’s a nice twist at the end which is perfectly logical and I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. The whole end section is awesome, actually. It still feels, however, as if there’s a great deal more magic out there still to be revealed, as if we’re just paddling around in the shallows of what’s really going on in this world. The Taiytakei seem to be the key to it, somehow, and hopefully we’ll see more of them in future books. The goings on in the realm of the dead are interesting, too. I very much like the idea that there’s a fixed number of dragons in the world, and when one dies, it’s reincarnated in an egg somewhere.
A few minor grumbles: the author still hasn’t come up with a truly sympathetic character, the devastated world is implausibly empty of indigenous wildlife (what do snappers eat when they can’t get humans, for instance?) and we don’t see nearly enough of the dragons (but the awesome cover image almost compensates for that). But none of that matters. For me this book worked much better than the previous three. It doesn’t quite have the outrageous hell-bent-on-self-destruction air, or the wild physicality of all the dragon-riding and amazing sex (occasionally at the same time), nor the hordes of scheming and double-crossing dragon kings, queens and speakers. It’s a more serious and down-beat book altogether.
However, the restraint involved in following a small number of characters on a single, clearly-defined ‘quest’ (for want of a better word) creates, I feel, a much more intimate, closely-woven story, which really explores the characters and some of the underlying themes to greater depth. This is a tautly-plotted action-packed story, with perfect pacing and a terrific blend of character-driven incident and convincing world-building, a totally enjoyable read that I raced through in a couple of days because I just didn’t want to put it down. A good four stars.
December 28, 2012
http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...
I’m generally not in the habit of spoiling earlier books in a series. However, Stephen Deas’s latest dragon novel is something of an exception. While it is set in the same world as his A Memory of Flames trilogy, and is thus highly influenced by the events therein, it is a stand-alone novel in most ways. If you’re thinking of jumping into Deas’s dragon stories, The Black Mausoleum makes a great starting point with all its sheer epicness and wonderfully grim moral ambiguity. But if you’re planning to read his trilogy first, you might want to stop reading this review, as it’s impossible to look at The Black Mausoleum without discussing the events that led to this story.
A devastated new beginning
In many ways, The Black Mausoleum is a turning point in Deas’s dragon series. The events in A Memory of Flames have devastated the world. Where dragons were commanded by men in The Adamantine Palace, the first book in the trilogy, they are now on the loose, out for vengeance against the very men who have controlled them for so long. This changes everything. The Black Mausoleum is no longer a story filled with political intrigue. Nations have crumbled, and who cares about politics in a world filled with bloodthirsty dragons, right? Instead, this is a story of survival. It paints a dark picture of mankind at its worst when, faced with complete annihilation, every man fights for himself. Cities we knew in A Memory of Flames are reduced to ashes, and few characters have survived.
Some things stay the same, however. Like its predecessors, The Black Mausoleum is a bloody and gritty tale that reflects on humanity with dark, sinister realism. Stephen Deas has an almost frightening talent for creating characters to both hate and identify with. When faced with terrifying dragons, his characters don’t stick together. Instead, they turn against each other. Everyone blames everyone else for the escape of the dragons, and no one is truly trying to fight the dragons.
Classical journey with a twist
Except, I suppose, Kataros, one of the main characters, who embarks upon a crazy journey to find a mythological weapon that may be capable of defeating the dragons. She is assisted by Skjorl, an Adamantine Man, trained from birth to fight dragons. Their journey forms the heart of The Black Mausoleum. Deas flirts with the Sword and Sorcery genre, but with much higher stakes; the very world is threatened. It is almost a classic epical journey, but with plenty of twists to make it interesting—after all, traveling through a world filled with deadly dragons isn’t quite that easy. The relationship between Kataros and Skjorl adds another interesting element; Kataros is actually using her blood magic to force Skjorl to help her out against his will.
Magic and world building
In that blood magic lies one of the biggest differences between The Black Mausoleum and the three novels in A Memory of Flames. One of the most prominent of my observations throughout those novels is the lack of world building. This is not a bad thing; it’s just something Deas seems to do differently from other epic authors. He doesn’t force-feed you a world in bite-size pieces. Through the eyes of his characters, you slowly learn more of the world he’s created, and there are plenty of hints at more mystery and epicness—but it’s never quite enough. Though the trilogy’s conclusion, The Order of the Scales, already had some great world building, it takes a significant step forward in The Black Mausoleum. While staying true to his own marvelous style, Deas shows the world through new eyes. Magic starts playing a much more prominent role. What was only mentioned in passing in previous novels now turns into an interestingly authentic and creative magic system. Furthermore, this slow journey—from deserted wastelands to underground waterways lit by magic, and from rivers filled with huge worms to encounters with man-eating lizards in the forest—showcases Deas’s world in astonishing detail.
There be dragons… obviously
While listing these differences, I should also mention the biggest constant in Deas’s dragon novels: the actual dragons. He restores dragons to their rightful positions as horribly terrifying, overwhelmingly imposing, awesome rulers of men. These dragons are awe-inspiringly intelligent monsters that regard humans as nothing but a nuisance. That is, until humans enslaved them for centuries. Now, they want revenge… and with these dragons, you’d better run away. This is how “real” dragons are supposed to be. Not those cute, childlike creatures in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. Not those refined, loving dragons in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. No—fierce, wonderful, truly frightening monsters, the way they were in mythology, and the way Tolkien wrote about them—except, you know, there are thousands of them roaming the land.
Why should you read this book?
The Black Mausoleum is a good starting point if you always wanted to check out the works of Stephen Deas. It summarizes the events in his A Memory of Flames trilogy, and sets the scene for his next trilogy that begins with Dragon Queen, which comes out in May. Deas has a knack for writing dark and morally ambiguous characters that even George R.R. Martin should envy. Most of all, though, his novels are pure, high-speed whirls of action, suspense, and drama, written with formidable, horrifyingly vivid prose. The Black Mausoleum is no exception to this and with its intriguing timeline—events are not told chronologically—and epic world building, it may even be better than most of Deas’s books. If you enjoy reading about dragons, you should definitely give it a try. My only problem is with its sudden and unsatisfying ending, and the next book may well make up for that, though. I certainly can’t wait!
I’m generally not in the habit of spoiling earlier books in a series. However, Stephen Deas’s latest dragon novel is something of an exception. While it is set in the same world as his A Memory of Flames trilogy, and is thus highly influenced by the events therein, it is a stand-alone novel in most ways. If you’re thinking of jumping into Deas’s dragon stories, The Black Mausoleum makes a great starting point with all its sheer epicness and wonderfully grim moral ambiguity. But if you’re planning to read his trilogy first, you might want to stop reading this review, as it’s impossible to look at The Black Mausoleum without discussing the events that led to this story.
A devastated new beginning
In many ways, The Black Mausoleum is a turning point in Deas’s dragon series. The events in A Memory of Flames have devastated the world. Where dragons were commanded by men in The Adamantine Palace, the first book in the trilogy, they are now on the loose, out for vengeance against the very men who have controlled them for so long. This changes everything. The Black Mausoleum is no longer a story filled with political intrigue. Nations have crumbled, and who cares about politics in a world filled with bloodthirsty dragons, right? Instead, this is a story of survival. It paints a dark picture of mankind at its worst when, faced with complete annihilation, every man fights for himself. Cities we knew in A Memory of Flames are reduced to ashes, and few characters have survived.
Some things stay the same, however. Like its predecessors, The Black Mausoleum is a bloody and gritty tale that reflects on humanity with dark, sinister realism. Stephen Deas has an almost frightening talent for creating characters to both hate and identify with. When faced with terrifying dragons, his characters don’t stick together. Instead, they turn against each other. Everyone blames everyone else for the escape of the dragons, and no one is truly trying to fight the dragons.
Classical journey with a twist
Except, I suppose, Kataros, one of the main characters, who embarks upon a crazy journey to find a mythological weapon that may be capable of defeating the dragons. She is assisted by Skjorl, an Adamantine Man, trained from birth to fight dragons. Their journey forms the heart of The Black Mausoleum. Deas flirts with the Sword and Sorcery genre, but with much higher stakes; the very world is threatened. It is almost a classic epical journey, but with plenty of twists to make it interesting—after all, traveling through a world filled with deadly dragons isn’t quite that easy. The relationship between Kataros and Skjorl adds another interesting element; Kataros is actually using her blood magic to force Skjorl to help her out against his will.
Magic and world building
In that blood magic lies one of the biggest differences between The Black Mausoleum and the three novels in A Memory of Flames. One of the most prominent of my observations throughout those novels is the lack of world building. This is not a bad thing; it’s just something Deas seems to do differently from other epic authors. He doesn’t force-feed you a world in bite-size pieces. Through the eyes of his characters, you slowly learn more of the world he’s created, and there are plenty of hints at more mystery and epicness—but it’s never quite enough. Though the trilogy’s conclusion, The Order of the Scales, already had some great world building, it takes a significant step forward in The Black Mausoleum. While staying true to his own marvelous style, Deas shows the world through new eyes. Magic starts playing a much more prominent role. What was only mentioned in passing in previous novels now turns into an interestingly authentic and creative magic system. Furthermore, this slow journey—from deserted wastelands to underground waterways lit by magic, and from rivers filled with huge worms to encounters with man-eating lizards in the forest—showcases Deas’s world in astonishing detail.
There be dragons… obviously
While listing these differences, I should also mention the biggest constant in Deas’s dragon novels: the actual dragons. He restores dragons to their rightful positions as horribly terrifying, overwhelmingly imposing, awesome rulers of men. These dragons are awe-inspiringly intelligent monsters that regard humans as nothing but a nuisance. That is, until humans enslaved them for centuries. Now, they want revenge… and with these dragons, you’d better run away. This is how “real” dragons are supposed to be. Not those cute, childlike creatures in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. Not those refined, loving dragons in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. No—fierce, wonderful, truly frightening monsters, the way they were in mythology, and the way Tolkien wrote about them—except, you know, there are thousands of them roaming the land.
Why should you read this book?
The Black Mausoleum is a good starting point if you always wanted to check out the works of Stephen Deas. It summarizes the events in his A Memory of Flames trilogy, and sets the scene for his next trilogy that begins with Dragon Queen, which comes out in May. Deas has a knack for writing dark and morally ambiguous characters that even George R.R. Martin should envy. Most of all, though, his novels are pure, high-speed whirls of action, suspense, and drama, written with formidable, horrifyingly vivid prose. The Black Mausoleum is no exception to this and with its intriguing timeline—events are not told chronologically—and epic world building, it may even be better than most of Deas’s books. If you enjoy reading about dragons, you should definitely give it a try. My only problem is with its sudden and unsatisfying ending, and the next book may well make up for that, though. I certainly can’t wait!
August 1, 2017
If I could give negative stars to a book, I would. Hold onto your hats, readers - I'm about to spit nails.
First of all: I like grimdark. Not all the time, and not too much at once, but I. Love. Grimdark. Mark Lawrence, George R.R. Martin, Joe "I-Will-Never-Trust-Again" Abercrombie. Gimme. Gimme all of it. The grimmer and darker and bloodier and stabbier and You-Will-Never-Look-At-Humanity-With-Hope-Again-ier the better.
But this book. This book. This book is why people like me - who love grimark, and who will defend it againt accusations of fetishism and gratuity - need medication.
Let's cut straight to the chase.
If you are so deprived of creativity and higher brain function that the only way you can conceivably frame a female character is in terms of rape....
If you think that audiences will get on board with a character they have known for less than two pages when he decides that a moment's fear in the face of a massive, evil, scaly furnace is unacceptable, but the gang-rape of a pre-teen refugee and her elderly relative is just a fact of life that people need to stop moralising....
If you think that audiences will somehow still be on board with this character when he degrades the only character who disagrees that the aforementioned gang-rape was not, in fact, natural, acceptable and perfectly ordinary as being an emasculated waste of skin who doesn't deserve to live....
And f you can conjure up a full mythology of worlds, wars, monsters, magic and wars - and still somehow only think of a woman as a pair of tits and a hole to whom the only applicable verb is the past, present, and future tense of 'violated'....
... Frankly, you need to put the pen down, close the book, and go and drown yourself in the swarming library of authors you are disappointing. And then in the bathtub. Preferably one filled with shame, sweat, and at least one angry badger.
Grimdark can be gratuitous - it comes with the territory. And grimdark can be highly sexualised - again, comes with the territory. But if you, the author, are so unfamiliar with basic writing, and with a basic sense of humanity, that you think you can vomit up some of the world's most despicable, foul-minded and frankly hateful men and genuinely believe that the reader will engage with them because they're not dragons ... well, you shouldn't be surprised if a reader, ten pages in starts rooting for the dragons.
Chucking a female character in there to even the odds will not help if you decide that she is going to be completely defined by how many people have raped her, are currently raping her, and are likely to rape her in the future. Especially when she has a perfectly reasonable in-setting reason to be hated by other people, because she's an alchemist, whom you literally spelled out on the first page are a group who are hated and feared for their magical ability. Perfectly straightforward setup. Tried and tested. It works. But no. She has a vagina, therefore plot-and-setting reasons be buggered, I'm going straight for the rape.
Furthermore, this book is not even well written. It's clunky, awkwardly phrased, and despite a decent sense of stakes (the dragons are, at least, credibly scary for all they fail abysmally to be the most awful things on the page), so completely fails to explain its own endgame that it feels like reading a particularly malevolent, half-completed Dungeons and Dragons campaign that got scrapped after the writer woke up from his week-long divorce-and-drug-addled bender and realised how reprehensible he was being. The characters are infinitely dynamic in their hatefulness, but fail to express any sort of relatable goals, humanity or even grimly fascinating complexity that is essential for holding a reader's attention in a book where the 'heroes' are anything but.
In summary, reader: I would be inclined to compare it to the fanfiction of a far-right-leaning, fantasy-fascist manchild expressing his misogynistic wrath in a stained notebook in his mother's basement... But at least the manchild might have the decency to keep his rape fetish porn to himself.
First of all: I like grimdark. Not all the time, and not too much at once, but I. Love. Grimdark. Mark Lawrence, George R.R. Martin, Joe "I-Will-Never-Trust-Again" Abercrombie. Gimme. Gimme all of it. The grimmer and darker and bloodier and stabbier and You-Will-Never-Look-At-Humanity-With-Hope-Again-ier the better.
But this book. This book. This book is why people like me - who love grimark, and who will defend it againt accusations of fetishism and gratuity - need medication.
Let's cut straight to the chase.
If you are so deprived of creativity and higher brain function that the only way you can conceivably frame a female character is in terms of rape....
If you think that audiences will get on board with a character they have known for less than two pages when he decides that a moment's fear in the face of a massive, evil, scaly furnace is unacceptable, but the gang-rape of a pre-teen refugee and her elderly relative is just a fact of life that people need to stop moralising....
If you think that audiences will somehow still be on board with this character when he degrades the only character who disagrees that the aforementioned gang-rape was not, in fact, natural, acceptable and perfectly ordinary as being an emasculated waste of skin who doesn't deserve to live....
And f you can conjure up a full mythology of worlds, wars, monsters, magic and wars - and still somehow only think of a woman as a pair of tits and a hole to whom the only applicable verb is the past, present, and future tense of 'violated'....
... Frankly, you need to put the pen down, close the book, and go and drown yourself in the swarming library of authors you are disappointing. And then in the bathtub. Preferably one filled with shame, sweat, and at least one angry badger.
Grimdark can be gratuitous - it comes with the territory. And grimdark can be highly sexualised - again, comes with the territory. But if you, the author, are so unfamiliar with basic writing, and with a basic sense of humanity, that you think you can vomit up some of the world's most despicable, foul-minded and frankly hateful men and genuinely believe that the reader will engage with them because they're not dragons ... well, you shouldn't be surprised if a reader, ten pages in starts rooting for the dragons.
Chucking a female character in there to even the odds will not help if you decide that she is going to be completely defined by how many people have raped her, are currently raping her, and are likely to rape her in the future. Especially when she has a perfectly reasonable in-setting reason to be hated by other people, because she's an alchemist, whom you literally spelled out on the first page are a group who are hated and feared for their magical ability. Perfectly straightforward setup. Tried and tested. It works. But no. She has a vagina, therefore plot-and-setting reasons be buggered, I'm going straight for the rape.
Furthermore, this book is not even well written. It's clunky, awkwardly phrased, and despite a decent sense of stakes (the dragons are, at least, credibly scary for all they fail abysmally to be the most awful things on the page), so completely fails to explain its own endgame that it feels like reading a particularly malevolent, half-completed Dungeons and Dragons campaign that got scrapped after the writer woke up from his week-long divorce-and-drug-addled bender and realised how reprehensible he was being. The characters are infinitely dynamic in their hatefulness, but fail to express any sort of relatable goals, humanity or even grimly fascinating complexity that is essential for holding a reader's attention in a book where the 'heroes' are anything but.
In summary, reader: I would be inclined to compare it to the fanfiction of a far-right-leaning, fantasy-fascist manchild expressing his misogynistic wrath in a stained notebook in his mother's basement... But at least the manchild might have the decency to keep his rape fetish porn to himself.
December 16, 2023
The Black Mausoleum is the sequel to the memory of flames trilogy and features a now post apocalyptic world where dragons are free and have destroyed everything. The survivors of the trilogy, which is not a lot, and a couple of new characters try to not die in this brutal world as they travel to the black mausoleum.
The destroyed world and the survival aspect of this book was the greatest thing it has to offer in my opinion. The threat of the dragons is a constant factor and mysteries are which were hinted at in the first 3 books are explored. I also like the way this book handles death a lot more than it's predecessors. Characters don't just die at random times without much consequence or reason, but actually finish their character arcs.
The weak point of the series to me are still the characters. Out of the 5 PoV characters, I like maybe 1.5 of them. Kataros is pretty good, but doesn't really het to do that much considering how important she is. Jasaan is the other standout. In a world of morally reprehensible people that don't bat an eye at the most horrible stuff you can think of, having a sympathetic character with doubts about others and his own actions is, well, great. Add to that the conflict of him being an adamantine man, who is supposed to be a mindless killing machine and you've got a pretty good character. Just a shame he is the PoV with the least screen time.
The others are just terrible, especially Skjorl. I don't know how we are supposed to not do anything but despise him, not even in a fun way. Anytime one of his chapters came up I wanted to put the book down.
There is also the weird way this book messes with time. It wasn't particularly confusing or anything, but just unnecessary. It was pretty off putting having to flip between many different points of time, oftentimes without any discernable reason.
Overall this book was pretty meh to me. I just couldn't get invested in the world or characters when I actively hate them. Everybody just felt the same sort of terrible after a while. I do have hopes the second trilogy of books will be more to my liking as the ending of this book is pretty interesting.
The destroyed world and the survival aspect of this book was the greatest thing it has to offer in my opinion. The threat of the dragons is a constant factor and mysteries are which were hinted at in the first 3 books are explored. I also like the way this book handles death a lot more than it's predecessors. Characters don't just die at random times without much consequence or reason, but actually finish their character arcs.
The weak point of the series to me are still the characters. Out of the 5 PoV characters, I like maybe 1.5 of them. Kataros is pretty good, but doesn't really het to do that much considering how important she is. Jasaan is the other standout. In a world of morally reprehensible people that don't bat an eye at the most horrible stuff you can think of, having a sympathetic character with doubts about others and his own actions is, well, great. Add to that the conflict of him being an adamantine man, who is supposed to be a mindless killing machine and you've got a pretty good character. Just a shame he is the PoV with the least screen time.
The others are just terrible, especially Skjorl. I don't know how we are supposed to not do anything but despise him, not even in a fun way. Anytime one of his chapters came up I wanted to put the book down.
There is also the weird way this book messes with time. It wasn't particularly confusing or anything, but just unnecessary. It was pretty off putting having to flip between many different points of time, oftentimes without any discernable reason.
Overall this book was pretty meh to me. I just couldn't get invested in the world or characters when I actively hate them. Everybody just felt the same sort of terrible after a while. I do have hopes the second trilogy of books will be more to my liking as the ending of this book is pretty interesting.
June 27, 2023
At this point, I wonder if the author just doesn't know how to write an ending. ANOTHER cliffhanger in this one.
After how much I enjoyed the first three in this series, I was really expecting to enjoy this one as well. BOY, WAS I WRONG! There's NOTHING to like about this book.
The writing: Severe decrease in quality from the previous books. Lots of typos and grammatical errors. A lot of sentences were so jumbled, I found myself needing to re-read them several times over just to understand what was trying to be conveyed.
The characters: Motivations are a complete mess for every single one (except the dragon, but it's kind of hard to mess up a single-minded revenge motive). Characters are wanting one thing, and then something completely different, and then something entirely irrelevant, and these changes happen paragraphs apart from each other. No gradual changes along the way. Speaking of changes, there's no change in the characters as far as personality and growth goes. Skjorl (I'll get to him more later) was a rapist, murderous bastard who's only goal is to rape and murder Kataros from page 1 to page 350. Kataros wants to have agency, but is too busy trying to not be raped an murdered to actually do anything except yell at Skjorl not to rape and murder her. Siff started out interesting enough as a sort of drug-smuggler guy, but then he just sleeps through 70% of the book . Jasaan is the closest thing to a hero, but he doesn't get a POV until way too late to matter. And Blackscar (the dragon) just wants to kill Skjorl for killing its mate.
The world: The world's destroyed after the events of The Order of the Scales, but the only way this affects the story is by making dragons a threat (only during the daytime though) and making the humans assholes. So basically the same as the previous three books.
The plot: What plot? The only thing resembling a plot is the characters traveling from point A to point B. Any and all sidetracks are quickly tossed away regardless of how interesting they are. How did Jaslyn regain control of dragons? What's she up to? We don't know. She pops in to say "hi" and promptly disappears from the book again. Mr. Deas, WHY DO YOU HATE JASLYN SO MUCH? I WANT TO SEE MY GIRL! At least she's still alive... The story's not told in chronological order, because that would be too easy, so it's nearly impossible to follow what happens when and who's doing what 90% of the time. The rest of the "plot" is Skjorl trying to rape/murder Kataros, and Kataros telling him not to do that.
And now, my rant on Skjorl. Skjorl is quite possibly the worst fictional character I have EVER read about. But what about Jehal? He's a pretty shit character in the previous books! Jehal had character growth. Jehal was fun to hate, fun to watch, fun to see what plans he's cooking up and whether they'll succeed or fail. Skjorl's plans are all "I'm going to rape and then murder Kataros." THAT'S NOT FUN TO EXPERIENCE. AND we are supposed to sympathize with Skjorl??? Excuse me, WHAT? At one point, he mentions how it's a worse fate for him to be "enslaved" by Kataros (because she magically bibbly-booped him into not being able to touch her) than it would be for her to be raped and murdered. And the scene is written in such a way that we are meant to agree with him. Ummmm.... how about no?
And as for the "ending," I can't even deign to call it that. This book ends on nothing. Disappointing doesn't even cover it.
I still recommend the first three books, but give this one a HARD SKIP. It is NOT worth the time it takes to trudge through it.
After how much I enjoyed the first three in this series, I was really expecting to enjoy this one as well. BOY, WAS I WRONG! There's NOTHING to like about this book.
The writing: Severe decrease in quality from the previous books. Lots of typos and grammatical errors. A lot of sentences were so jumbled, I found myself needing to re-read them several times over just to understand what was trying to be conveyed.
The characters: Motivations are a complete mess for every single one (except the dragon, but it's kind of hard to mess up a single-minded revenge motive). Characters are wanting one thing, and then something completely different, and then something entirely irrelevant, and these changes happen paragraphs apart from each other. No gradual changes along the way. Speaking of changes, there's no change in the characters as far as personality and growth goes. Skjorl (I'll get to him more later) was a rapist, murderous bastard who's only goal is to rape and murder Kataros from page 1 to page 350. Kataros wants to have agency, but is too busy trying to not be raped an murdered to actually do anything except yell at Skjorl not to rape and murder her. Siff started out interesting enough as a sort of drug-smuggler guy, but then he just sleeps through 70% of the book . Jasaan is the closest thing to a hero, but he doesn't get a POV until way too late to matter. And Blackscar (the dragon) just wants to kill Skjorl for killing its mate.
The world: The world's destroyed after the events of The Order of the Scales, but the only way this affects the story is by making dragons a threat (only during the daytime though) and making the humans assholes. So basically the same as the previous three books.
The plot: What plot? The only thing resembling a plot is the characters traveling from point A to point B. Any and all sidetracks are quickly tossed away regardless of how interesting they are. How did Jaslyn regain control of dragons? What's she up to? We don't know. She pops in to say "hi" and promptly disappears from the book again. Mr. Deas, WHY DO YOU HATE JASLYN SO MUCH? I WANT TO SEE MY GIRL! At least she's still alive... The story's not told in chronological order, because that would be too easy, so it's nearly impossible to follow what happens when and who's doing what 90% of the time. The rest of the "plot" is Skjorl trying to rape/murder Kataros, and Kataros telling him not to do that.
And now, my rant on Skjorl. Skjorl is quite possibly the worst fictional character I have EVER read about. But what about Jehal? He's a pretty shit character in the previous books! Jehal had character growth. Jehal was fun to hate, fun to watch, fun to see what plans he's cooking up and whether they'll succeed or fail. Skjorl's plans are all "I'm going to rape and then murder Kataros." THAT'S NOT FUN TO EXPERIENCE. AND we are supposed to sympathize with Skjorl??? Excuse me, WHAT? At one point, he mentions how it's a worse fate for him to be "enslaved" by Kataros (because she magically bibbly-booped him into not being able to touch her) than it would be for her to be raped and murdered. And the scene is written in such a way that we are meant to agree with him. Ummmm.... how about no?
And as for the "ending," I can't even deign to call it that. This book ends on nothing. Disappointing doesn't even cover it.
I still recommend the first three books, but give this one a HARD SKIP. It is NOT worth the time it takes to trudge through it.
November 1, 2012
The first thing that strikes you about this book, and the whole series is the amazing art work. So many books sit gathering dust on the shelf in bookshops, with bland covers rehashing some old formulaic imaging. Not so the fantastic visuals on this series.
This is not your average series with dragons, this is a whole new world, with just as much imagination and skill in world building as the greats like Tolkien. Every aspect has been examined, thought about, written and brought to life. Characters as realistic as real world people you know. You come to love some hate others, a true writing talent. When a writer can bring all of this together it brings to the fore all of the senses when reading, you see the sights, feel the ground and sky, taste the air and the world and you feel all of the emotions of all the characters.
There are very few writers who can do this, and for me many less in fantasy, which has many re-imaginings/ rehashing, borrowing from other series.
So if you want great originality and story telling then buy this book, this series.
Highly recommended.
(Parm)
This is not your average series with dragons, this is a whole new world, with just as much imagination and skill in world building as the greats like Tolkien. Every aspect has been examined, thought about, written and brought to life. Characters as realistic as real world people you know. You come to love some hate others, a true writing talent. When a writer can bring all of this together it brings to the fore all of the senses when reading, you see the sights, feel the ground and sky, taste the air and the world and you feel all of the emotions of all the characters.
There are very few writers who can do this, and for me many less in fantasy, which has many re-imaginings/ rehashing, borrowing from other series.
So if you want great originality and story telling then buy this book, this series.
Highly recommended.
(Parm)
June 3, 2014
Ugh.
Ham-handed rape-as-plot-device with a mediocre fantasy world and lackluster dragons with a BSG reincarnation gimmick.
I'm pissed that I own this book.
Ham-handed rape-as-plot-device with a mediocre fantasy world and lackluster dragons with a BSG reincarnation gimmick.
I'm pissed that I own this book.
December 22, 2015
Very readable, if you ignore the stench of male ego anyway.
August 7, 2017
"What did it matter who took the Silver King's power? In the great long scheme of things, it was a battle of one species against another."
This stand-alone sequel was quite a departure from the first three books in the series. The post-apocalyptic scourged waste within the lifetime of civilisation is reminiscent of a science-fiction setting, the survival of the most viley self-absorbed dregs of humanity reminiscent of the message of The Walking Dead, that chaos and destruction favours those with the worst traits amongst humanity. And I can believe it. A once lavish royal court including kings, knights, and alchemists have been restricted to tunnels under the earth "straight as a scorpion bolt and black as a murderer's heart", which are part their own work, and part the creations of some long-gone supernatural force which seemingly ought to have no need to cower underground. "The light showed that they were rough, hacked out with picks and shovels and never finished. Utterly unlike the exquisite archways, the murals and mosaics she had seen elsewhere."
The narrative follows five characters as they travel to the mythical tomb of the Silver King in search of some desperate last weapon to use against the dragons. The story is told in chapters named for each narrator, in the style of A Song of Ice and Fire. Kataros, the alchemist and travelling companion of Kemir, appears to have survived the end of the world with principles intact and willing to save the humanity she so fears and despises. "Dragons had made her what she was, not men, except perhaps for the one called Kemir." She is more powerful here than in the previous series, unmasked as a blood-mage, with authority over the body of blood-bound minions. Such as Adamantine Man Skjorl. "She almost killed him there and then, almost let the blood boil inside his brain and rupture every vessel." I wish you had, Kat, I really wish you had. He is unthinkingly dogmatically brutal in everything he does. A seemingly unstoppable vital force, more powerful than any good fighting man, but just unthinkingly amoral at all turns. "Sometimes men did terrible things. When they knew there was no one to hold them to account, yes, sometimes men did terrible things. And sometimes they enjoyed it more than was right." There was no grey to Skjorl. He constantly thinks about raping Kataros, feels no remorse for killing innocent people and actively dehumanises peasant survivers who haven't attempted to harm him in any way. "a faceless monster, cold and loathsome as the dragons he'd been trained to face." But dragons kill to eat, or for sport, or because they're still angry, or to show that they can. They don't kill because they have some sick inferiority complex about taking from others in order to believe in one's own strength. Pathetic. The final companion is Siff, a more devious version of Kemir possessed by the Silver King's essence. "In the middle of the night he thought he woke up to find a tiny silver snake curled up on his chest. It lifted it head, and looked like it was staring at him." I thought this idea was really interesting, but Siff rapidly disappears into quite a stereotypical gollumn character as the possession gets stronger. "Maybe if you could believe in a time before dragons, you could believe in a time when they'd finally be gone." I would have liked to see him fight and be consumed, rather than simply being sidelined as another narrative voice is added to the story. The action was compelling, the plot driven, and the weak characters easy to overlook in the promise of high magic.
"The castle was flying. It sat in the air on top of a slice of purple-veined rock as thick as a dragon was long. Light flickered and flashed like lightning between the castle stone and the ground, lightning with a faint tinge of purple just enough for her to see how tall the castle stood."
I'm glad we got a taste of more detailed world building in this book, even if some of the images of glistening snakes, mirror portals, and flying castles have been imagined by other authors. I am glad to finally know what on earth a 'snapper' is, the book describes them as "lizards", but in my mind they look a lot like ancient exstinct species of crocodile that could run on hindlegs as fast as a lion and stood taller than a house. You can have that image in your head for free. I'm really interested to see where the magic element comes from and how dragons are related to that, as the lack of world building and history was a big irritation for me in the previous three books. Bring on The Dragon Queen!
"A taste of the old sorcery. A lingering of something mighty. Like in the sky home, but faded and pure, not mingled with the bitterness of the broken god, and that which came before. Little one came. It felt their thoughts. And the water worm, blind, dumb, and dull, made at the beginning of the half-gods' path towards their final creation. Dragons."
This stand-alone sequel was quite a departure from the first three books in the series. The post-apocalyptic scourged waste within the lifetime of civilisation is reminiscent of a science-fiction setting, the survival of the most viley self-absorbed dregs of humanity reminiscent of the message of The Walking Dead, that chaos and destruction favours those with the worst traits amongst humanity. And I can believe it. A once lavish royal court including kings, knights, and alchemists have been restricted to tunnels under the earth "straight as a scorpion bolt and black as a murderer's heart", which are part their own work, and part the creations of some long-gone supernatural force which seemingly ought to have no need to cower underground. "The light showed that they were rough, hacked out with picks and shovels and never finished. Utterly unlike the exquisite archways, the murals and mosaics she had seen elsewhere."
The narrative follows five characters as they travel to the mythical tomb of the Silver King in search of some desperate last weapon to use against the dragons. The story is told in chapters named for each narrator, in the style of A Song of Ice and Fire. Kataros, the alchemist and travelling companion of Kemir, appears to have survived the end of the world with principles intact and willing to save the humanity she so fears and despises. "Dragons had made her what she was, not men, except perhaps for the one called Kemir." She is more powerful here than in the previous series, unmasked as a blood-mage, with authority over the body of blood-bound minions. Such as Adamantine Man Skjorl. "She almost killed him there and then, almost let the blood boil inside his brain and rupture every vessel." I wish you had, Kat, I really wish you had. He is unthinkingly dogmatically brutal in everything he does. A seemingly unstoppable vital force, more powerful than any good fighting man, but just unthinkingly amoral at all turns. "Sometimes men did terrible things. When they knew there was no one to hold them to account, yes, sometimes men did terrible things. And sometimes they enjoyed it more than was right." There was no grey to Skjorl. He constantly thinks about raping Kataros, feels no remorse for killing innocent people and actively dehumanises peasant survivers who haven't attempted to harm him in any way. "a faceless monster, cold and loathsome as the dragons he'd been trained to face." But dragons kill to eat, or for sport, or because they're still angry, or to show that they can. They don't kill because they have some sick inferiority complex about taking from others in order to believe in one's own strength. Pathetic. The final companion is Siff, a more devious version of Kemir possessed by the Silver King's essence. "In the middle of the night he thought he woke up to find a tiny silver snake curled up on his chest. It lifted it head, and looked like it was staring at him." I thought this idea was really interesting, but Siff rapidly disappears into quite a stereotypical gollumn character as the possession gets stronger. "Maybe if you could believe in a time before dragons, you could believe in a time when they'd finally be gone." I would have liked to see him fight and be consumed, rather than simply being sidelined as another narrative voice is added to the story. The action was compelling, the plot driven, and the weak characters easy to overlook in the promise of high magic.
"The castle was flying. It sat in the air on top of a slice of purple-veined rock as thick as a dragon was long. Light flickered and flashed like lightning between the castle stone and the ground, lightning with a faint tinge of purple just enough for her to see how tall the castle stood."
I'm glad we got a taste of more detailed world building in this book, even if some of the images of glistening snakes, mirror portals, and flying castles have been imagined by other authors. I am glad to finally know what on earth a 'snapper' is, the book describes them as "lizards", but in my mind they look a lot like ancient exstinct species of crocodile that could run on hindlegs as fast as a lion and stood taller than a house. You can have that image in your head for free. I'm really interested to see where the magic element comes from and how dragons are related to that, as the lack of world building and history was a big irritation for me in the previous three books. Bring on The Dragon Queen!
"A taste of the old sorcery. A lingering of something mighty. Like in the sky home, but faded and pure, not mingled with the bitterness of the broken god, and that which came before. Little one came. It felt their thoughts. And the water worm, blind, dumb, and dull, made at the beginning of the half-gods' path towards their final creation. Dragons."
July 15, 2018
Solid four stars. The first trilogy in this series is exceptional. Five stars there. Looking forward to the next book. Worth a re-read in the future.
December 2, 2018
Very Enjoyable. It is a great book, the best so far in the series, though it works as a story on its own. I loved it.
December 9, 2023
After reading The Moonsteel Crown by Stephen Deas, I liked it, and so I checked to see what other books by Deas were in the Shoreline Library Catalog. The only book in physical format (ie: not an e-Book) was The Black Mausoleum. But it was book 4 on in the seven book Memory of Flames series, so I should just skip it, right? But then I noticed the following on Goodreads: Set in Memory of Flames world are two trilogies and a standalone novel. Loosely related to the Thief-Taker’s Apprentice series. First three books are a trilogy, the original Memory of Flames. The Black Mausoleum is a standalone novel set in the same world. Second trilogy, The Silver Kings follows closer on to original trilogy, picks up threads from Thief-Taker’s Apprentice series and The Black Mausoleum.
Assured that The Black Mausoleum was a stand alone novel, I checked it out and read it. Hmmm. Not having read the first three books, I don't know if these characters appear in the earlier editions, but there seems to be few events that are not clear to me. Apparently there once was a civilization that kept dragons as tamed beasts, but the dragons escaped and wreaked devastating havoc, and now the world lies in smouldering ruins. I have to wonder how this world could have survived before the dragons were tamed, because it seemed to me that dragons absolutely destroy everything if left to their own devices. What did the wild dragons eat once the landscape was torched? How did humans ever get to the point where they built a civilization capable of capturing and subduing the powerful dragons? Perhaps this is explained in the first trilogy.
The Black Mausoleum is told from the perspective of three characters, Kataros, Skjorl, and Siff. Some other characters get their own chapters, including Blackscar, who is an ancient, vengeful dragon (dragons are intelligent in the Memory of Flames canon).
Kataros is an alchemist. She is a skillful magic worker on a quest to see if she can rediscover the ancient magic/relics that are used to control the dragons. Kataros has Blood Mage capabilities which make her powerful indeed - if her blood gets into your body, she can control you. You are forced to obey her commands. Kataros can also simply use her blood as a weapon - splashes of her blood can burn her opponents like acid. Kataros is the most likeable of the characters in The Black Mausoleum, because she is searching for a way to help out what remains of civilization's ruins.
Skjorl is an Adamantine Warrior. That means he is trained to kill dragons. An Adamantine Warrior shows no mercy, knows no fear, is an expert in weapons, possessing incredible endurance and inured to pain. Adamantine Warriors are single-mindedly focused on killing dragons - they will march great distances to find dragon nests so that they can smash the eggs before they hatch. An Adamantine Warrior carries poison in his armor, so that if a dragon eats him, he will kill the dragon (since the dragons are smart, I would think that this stratagem will quickly be noticed by the dragons). Skjorl is one of the best of the Adamantine Warriors, but unfortunately he is also completely amoral, ruthless and quite willing to slaughter his fellow humans to suit his own ends. The reader starts out by admiring Skjorl's daring raids against the dragons, but the more that Deas reveals of Skjorl's nature, the less likeable Skjorl becomes. He is a classic anti-hero, like Kane, in Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone. (The novels of Kane are quite a high bar, despite him being another ruthless, amoral killer, Wagner's fantasy novels featuring Kane are excellent reads). Fortunately, Skjorl is captured by the blood of Kataros, and finds himself working for her cause, much as he would rather not.
Siff is hard to figure out, his character doesn't really come alive until about halfway through the book. I wonder if Siff is a character in the earlier trilogy, because there are things about Siff that are curious.
Deas creates a fine fantasy world. It is full of danger and magic. The characters face endless obstacles and unexpected threats. They prove to be resourceful, but suffer numerous setbacks. There is certainly a lot of action. The mighty dragons are well depicted, perhaps they are the true heroes in this novel (though Blackscar is solely focused on killing and revenge against the Adamantine men, so he isn't as well-developed a character as the smug Smaug).
If I could find a copy of the first book, The Adamantine Palace, in The Memory of Flames series, I would read it. Deas has constructed an interesting world that merits further exploration.
Assured that The Black Mausoleum was a stand alone novel, I checked it out and read it. Hmmm. Not having read the first three books, I don't know if these characters appear in the earlier editions, but there seems to be few events that are not clear to me. Apparently there once was a civilization that kept dragons as tamed beasts, but the dragons escaped and wreaked devastating havoc, and now the world lies in smouldering ruins. I have to wonder how this world could have survived before the dragons were tamed, because it seemed to me that dragons absolutely destroy everything if left to their own devices. What did the wild dragons eat once the landscape was torched? How did humans ever get to the point where they built a civilization capable of capturing and subduing the powerful dragons? Perhaps this is explained in the first trilogy.
The Black Mausoleum is told from the perspective of three characters, Kataros, Skjorl, and Siff. Some other characters get their own chapters, including Blackscar, who is an ancient, vengeful dragon (dragons are intelligent in the Memory of Flames canon).
Kataros is an alchemist. She is a skillful magic worker on a quest to see if she can rediscover the ancient magic/relics that are used to control the dragons. Kataros has Blood Mage capabilities which make her powerful indeed - if her blood gets into your body, she can control you. You are forced to obey her commands. Kataros can also simply use her blood as a weapon - splashes of her blood can burn her opponents like acid. Kataros is the most likeable of the characters in The Black Mausoleum, because she is searching for a way to help out what remains of civilization's ruins.
Skjorl is an Adamantine Warrior. That means he is trained to kill dragons. An Adamantine Warrior shows no mercy, knows no fear, is an expert in weapons, possessing incredible endurance and inured to pain. Adamantine Warriors are single-mindedly focused on killing dragons - they will march great distances to find dragon nests so that they can smash the eggs before they hatch. An Adamantine Warrior carries poison in his armor, so that if a dragon eats him, he will kill the dragon (since the dragons are smart, I would think that this stratagem will quickly be noticed by the dragons). Skjorl is one of the best of the Adamantine Warriors, but unfortunately he is also completely amoral, ruthless and quite willing to slaughter his fellow humans to suit his own ends. The reader starts out by admiring Skjorl's daring raids against the dragons, but the more that Deas reveals of Skjorl's nature, the less likeable Skjorl becomes. He is a classic anti-hero, like Kane, in Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone. (The novels of Kane are quite a high bar, despite him being another ruthless, amoral killer, Wagner's fantasy novels featuring Kane are excellent reads). Fortunately, Skjorl is captured by the blood of Kataros, and finds himself working for her cause, much as he would rather not.
Siff is hard to figure out, his character doesn't really come alive until about halfway through the book. I wonder if Siff is a character in the earlier trilogy, because there are things about Siff that are curious.
Deas creates a fine fantasy world. It is full of danger and magic. The characters face endless obstacles and unexpected threats. They prove to be resourceful, but suffer numerous setbacks. There is certainly a lot of action. The mighty dragons are well depicted, perhaps they are the true heroes in this novel (though Blackscar is solely focused on killing and revenge against the Adamantine men, so he isn't as well-developed a character as the smug Smaug).
If I could find a copy of the first book, The Adamantine Palace, in The Memory of Flames series, I would read it. Deas has constructed an interesting world that merits further exploration.
January 13, 2014
This and more reviews, interviews etc on Dark Matter Zine, an online magazine. http://www.darkmatterzine.com. This review was written by Rebecca Muir for Dark Matter Zine.
The Black Mausoleum is the latest in a series of novels by Stephen Deas about the Dragon Realms. It is the only book in the series I have read, and I found it a little difficult to pick up the back story. By the end of the book I had some idea of what had preceded this story but I would have found a review of the story so far helpful. As I pieced together the back story, I was never entirely sure which bits were assumed knowledge from the previous books, and what was a gradual revealing of new parts of the story.
In The Black Mausoleum, the Dragon Realms are in chaos. The dragons, once under the control of the Riders, are now free and have ravaged the land. The remaining population – those who haven’t been eaten by the vengeful and insatiably hungry dragons – hide in caves and tunnels. Cities and towns have been razed, and leaders cling to a semblance of power.
Against this bleak backdrop, four main characters are introduced. Kataros is an alchemist, a secretive group with strange powers. She has some dark secrets in her past, and has ended up imprisoned by a group of Riders. While there she meets an Outsider, Siff. Siff whispers a secret to her, which sets her on a mission with him to find hope for the Realms.
Their reluctant travel companion is Skjorl, an Adamantine Man. The Adamantine Men are an order of warriors, whose sworn purpose is to fight dragons, even to the death. Another Adamantine Man, Jasaan, also appears in the story. He and Skjorl have a stormy history, and despise each other while being bound to stand and fight together.
The book opens with a quote: “True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.” This is a book about courage, and firm resolve. However, the book seems to set out to challenge this quote. Kataros, Siff and Skjorl all have an element of vulgarity to them. Skjorl especially is portrayed as courageous and a hero but he is definitely vulgar. In fact, I found it hard to find a character I really liked.
The character I ended up most respecting and admiring is portrayed negatively for most of the book. There is tension and strife between the main characters so it is hard to know whose side to take. It is not until the last part of the book that the ideal of this quote seems to be upheld, and even then it is open for debate as to who the truly courageous character is.
It is not just the characters who are rather vulgar. The language and themes of the book itself have a flavour of crudeness. Given the bleakness of the landscape of the story, this was in some ways fitting – I had a sense through the whole book of a society fallen apart. However, it made the book hard work to read. I didn’t really enjoy reading it.
The book switches between the different characters, with each chapter being written from a different point of view. Stephen Deas cleverly changes his writing style for each chapter, in subtle ways. The chapters from Skjorl’s viewpoint, for example, are written with shorter sentences and cruder language than the ones following the more sophisticated Kataros. The storyline kept me guessing, too, with some interesting plot turns towards the end.
Over all, it is a clever book although not one I enjoyed. If you don’t mind a lot of crudeness, and dark, bleak overtones, you will probably like it more. It is an interesting fantasy world and I did find the back story and different groups of people in the world fascinating. If you think this might be a story you would like, I would recommend starting with some of the earlier books in the series.
The Black Mausoleum is the latest in a series of novels by Stephen Deas about the Dragon Realms. It is the only book in the series I have read, and I found it a little difficult to pick up the back story. By the end of the book I had some idea of what had preceded this story but I would have found a review of the story so far helpful. As I pieced together the back story, I was never entirely sure which bits were assumed knowledge from the previous books, and what was a gradual revealing of new parts of the story.
In The Black Mausoleum, the Dragon Realms are in chaos. The dragons, once under the control of the Riders, are now free and have ravaged the land. The remaining population – those who haven’t been eaten by the vengeful and insatiably hungry dragons – hide in caves and tunnels. Cities and towns have been razed, and leaders cling to a semblance of power.
Against this bleak backdrop, four main characters are introduced. Kataros is an alchemist, a secretive group with strange powers. She has some dark secrets in her past, and has ended up imprisoned by a group of Riders. While there she meets an Outsider, Siff. Siff whispers a secret to her, which sets her on a mission with him to find hope for the Realms.
Their reluctant travel companion is Skjorl, an Adamantine Man. The Adamantine Men are an order of warriors, whose sworn purpose is to fight dragons, even to the death. Another Adamantine Man, Jasaan, also appears in the story. He and Skjorl have a stormy history, and despise each other while being bound to stand and fight together.
The book opens with a quote: “True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.” This is a book about courage, and firm resolve. However, the book seems to set out to challenge this quote. Kataros, Siff and Skjorl all have an element of vulgarity to them. Skjorl especially is portrayed as courageous and a hero but he is definitely vulgar. In fact, I found it hard to find a character I really liked.
The character I ended up most respecting and admiring is portrayed negatively for most of the book. There is tension and strife between the main characters so it is hard to know whose side to take. It is not until the last part of the book that the ideal of this quote seems to be upheld, and even then it is open for debate as to who the truly courageous character is.
It is not just the characters who are rather vulgar. The language and themes of the book itself have a flavour of crudeness. Given the bleakness of the landscape of the story, this was in some ways fitting – I had a sense through the whole book of a society fallen apart. However, it made the book hard work to read. I didn’t really enjoy reading it.
The book switches between the different characters, with each chapter being written from a different point of view. Stephen Deas cleverly changes his writing style for each chapter, in subtle ways. The chapters from Skjorl’s viewpoint, for example, are written with shorter sentences and cruder language than the ones following the more sophisticated Kataros. The storyline kept me guessing, too, with some interesting plot turns towards the end.
Over all, it is a clever book although not one I enjoyed. If you don’t mind a lot of crudeness, and dark, bleak overtones, you will probably like it more. It is an interesting fantasy world and I did find the back story and different groups of people in the world fascinating. If you think this might be a story you would like, I would recommend starting with some of the earlier books in the series.
July 14, 2013
This is a review for the David Gemmell Legend Awards website.
This is the first book that I've read by Stephen Deas. It shares the same world as his Memory of Flames Trilogy and takes off chronologically after that series.
The highlight for me is the overall premise of the book. The dragons are at the top of the food chain, and since they are no longer enslaved by the humans, they are now exacting their revenge. Nearly every city he describes is a puddle of ash and bones. In fact, it seems the dragons in Dea's book are bent on burning the whole world just to eradicate the human pests. They spend every waking moment hunting humans, which has led the human civilizations to crumble into small bands of survivors, some who have turned feral, and others who are just trying to survive. It might very well inspire a new fantasy sub-genre: Fantasy-Dystopia.
I also want to give Deas credit for his dragons, not only are they completely monstrous, but they're also intelligent. He's also added his own twist by giving them the power of reincarnation with the added benefit of retaining all their past memories with their new bodies, making for some interesting revenge scenarios.
Deas is definitely writing in the Dark Fantasy sub-genre, so his characters are not “heroes.” I had a hard time even hoping they'd survive the story. Everyone in the book walks the ambiguous gray moral line. Kataros, a female alchemist, is from the Memory of Flames trilogy and uses her blood magic to bind Skjorl to serve her. She's on a last-ditch mission to save the world from the dragon apocalypse by finding a weapon to combat the dragons. While imprisoned, she finds Siff, a mysterious scoundrel who has found the long lost tomb of the great Silver King and just might have a weapon to save the world. Skjorl, an Adamantine Guardsman, is a bitter brutish solider who helps Kataros and Siff escape from their prison under duress. Skjorl also acts as a guide, protector on their journey to the tomb of the silver king. Skjorl has given up all hope the world can be saved, and he seems to only want a meaningful death. Guardsman, Jasaan, serves as a sort of counterpoint to Skjorl.
Deas writes in short POV chapters, switching between the above mentioned characters, which normally would quicken the pass of the novel, but for me it seemed to slow it down as he also added a disjointed chronology between chapters. Not only did you have to keep up with each character, but you also had to try to remember where each of the characters were at depending on the timeline.
Deas's world-building skills are both amazing and frustrating. He gives his world a depth and lived-in feel, but he only seems to hint at past events and people. I never really felt connected to the world or the people in it. This also could have been due more to the fact that there are three books before this one that I haven't read.
Overall, I loved the premise, but I was cheering for the dragons. I'm not a fan of Dark Fantasy and I have a hard time relating to or connecting to characters that have no morals. I also felt the pacing could have been smoother with either less POV characters or a more linear storyline.
This is the first book that I've read by Stephen Deas. It shares the same world as his Memory of Flames Trilogy and takes off chronologically after that series.
The highlight for me is the overall premise of the book. The dragons are at the top of the food chain, and since they are no longer enslaved by the humans, they are now exacting their revenge. Nearly every city he describes is a puddle of ash and bones. In fact, it seems the dragons in Dea's book are bent on burning the whole world just to eradicate the human pests. They spend every waking moment hunting humans, which has led the human civilizations to crumble into small bands of survivors, some who have turned feral, and others who are just trying to survive. It might very well inspire a new fantasy sub-genre: Fantasy-Dystopia.
I also want to give Deas credit for his dragons, not only are they completely monstrous, but they're also intelligent. He's also added his own twist by giving them the power of reincarnation with the added benefit of retaining all their past memories with their new bodies, making for some interesting revenge scenarios.
Deas is definitely writing in the Dark Fantasy sub-genre, so his characters are not “heroes.” I had a hard time even hoping they'd survive the story. Everyone in the book walks the ambiguous gray moral line. Kataros, a female alchemist, is from the Memory of Flames trilogy and uses her blood magic to bind Skjorl to serve her. She's on a last-ditch mission to save the world from the dragon apocalypse by finding a weapon to combat the dragons. While imprisoned, she finds Siff, a mysterious scoundrel who has found the long lost tomb of the great Silver King and just might have a weapon to save the world. Skjorl, an Adamantine Guardsman, is a bitter brutish solider who helps Kataros and Siff escape from their prison under duress. Skjorl also acts as a guide, protector on their journey to the tomb of the silver king. Skjorl has given up all hope the world can be saved, and he seems to only want a meaningful death. Guardsman, Jasaan, serves as a sort of counterpoint to Skjorl.
Deas writes in short POV chapters, switching between the above mentioned characters, which normally would quicken the pass of the novel, but for me it seemed to slow it down as he also added a disjointed chronology between chapters. Not only did you have to keep up with each character, but you also had to try to remember where each of the characters were at depending on the timeline.
Deas's world-building skills are both amazing and frustrating. He gives his world a depth and lived-in feel, but he only seems to hint at past events and people. I never really felt connected to the world or the people in it. This also could have been due more to the fact that there are three books before this one that I haven't read.
Overall, I loved the premise, but I was cheering for the dragons. I'm not a fan of Dark Fantasy and I have a hard time relating to or connecting to characters that have no morals. I also felt the pacing could have been smoother with either less POV characters or a more linear storyline.
January 4, 2018
OK fantasy battling dragons but pretty thin
January 11, 2013
Daring and new, I'd say. The ending of the first trilogy left the world in ruins, and now those who remain must try and survive.
Easily the most imaginative novel in the series so far, and on of the most imaginative novels I've read the last few years. There is so much in the world that you get a tantalising glimpse of; so much you want to explore; so much you just want the story to delve further into.
The main characters are an interesting mix, and show genuine growth throughout the novel. Most of them are new faces, but Kataros, the alchemist from the Memory of Flames trilogy makes a reappearance.
Skjorl, an Adamantine Guardsman, is every bit as brutal and pragmatic as one would expect, and he just fits the role so well. One of the hardest soldiers ever trained, stuck in a ruined world, his intentions are far from pure and innocent, and his bestial nature serves the brutality of the story. The other Guardsman, Jasaan, sometimes seems a bit too much un-Adamantine, as he serves as a sort of counterpoint to Skjorl. At certain points, you just can't help agree with Skjorl; how did Jasaan become an Adamantine Man (and survive the two years since the Adamantine Palace burned?)
Kataros, who could have easily been a woman trapped in a man's world, uses her magic and her cunning to bind people to her, furthering her own end. Never quite safe from either the dragons or her companions, she nonetheless plunges on.
Siff is a very strange and interesting case, about whom I can't say too much. He is an outsider, though nothing like Kemir was. He carries a strange and terrible secret with him; one that confuses even him.
Very interesting postmodern touches, with its delinear chronology (though it is always indicated when an event takes place), showing events from several perspectives, etc. It makes for an interesting and varied read.
There is so much mythology to these novels that I just can't wait to read more about, waiting for the next novel is a pain. Luckily, Deas is a fast writer. But I just can't stop being afraid; will he ever expand on all those agonising secrets he hints at in the novels? Will we ever find out?
Easily the most imaginative novel in the series so far, and on of the most imaginative novels I've read the last few years. There is so much in the world that you get a tantalising glimpse of; so much you want to explore; so much you just want the story to delve further into.
The main characters are an interesting mix, and show genuine growth throughout the novel. Most of them are new faces, but Kataros, the alchemist from the Memory of Flames trilogy makes a reappearance.
Skjorl, an Adamantine Guardsman, is every bit as brutal and pragmatic as one would expect, and he just fits the role so well. One of the hardest soldiers ever trained, stuck in a ruined world, his intentions are far from pure and innocent, and his bestial nature serves the brutality of the story. The other Guardsman, Jasaan, sometimes seems a bit too much un-Adamantine, as he serves as a sort of counterpoint to Skjorl. At certain points, you just can't help agree with Skjorl; how did Jasaan become an Adamantine Man (and survive the two years since the Adamantine Palace burned?)
Kataros, who could have easily been a woman trapped in a man's world, uses her magic and her cunning to bind people to her, furthering her own end. Never quite safe from either the dragons or her companions, she nonetheless plunges on.
Siff is a very strange and interesting case, about whom I can't say too much. He is an outsider, though nothing like Kemir was. He carries a strange and terrible secret with him; one that confuses even him.
Very interesting postmodern touches, with its delinear chronology (though it is always indicated when an event takes place), showing events from several perspectives, etc. It makes for an interesting and varied read.
There is so much mythology to these novels that I just can't wait to read more about, waiting for the next novel is a pain. Luckily, Deas is a fast writer. But I just can't stop being afraid; will he ever expand on all those agonising secrets he hints at in the novels? Will we ever find out?
December 11, 2013
Interesting book. Everything was back dated so to speak. 22 days before, 20 days before etc. and some flashbacks describing the scene or area a chapter or section of the book was taking place. Then bam you are in current day, time, place in the world.
Skorjl and Jassan were an interesting pair. It has been a long time since I read Order of the Scales so I forgot some things and had to go back and reread a bit. Kataros was cool and so was Siff.
The book was good, not great like the last Jordan/Sanderson. But that is a high level to achieve in my book. Maybe I rate what I read too hard, I don't know. Take my review for what it is worth. A bunch of zeroes and ones on the interweb.
This is a good story line. Very creative and inventive. I like and get frustrated with Deas sometimes because his references can be obscure. Take Taiteykei for example, you get little and I mean little snippets of this culture and references to people or cultures here and there. Then BOM they pop up somewhere in the story. Definitely keeps you on your toes!
I am going to read Dragon Queen next. Hopefully it engages me as much as the previous 4 books have done. I will rarely give a spoiler in my reviews. I enjoyed the book and since so many characters have previously died, the way Deas brings in the fringe characters and makes them major players is great. No character hangs on like Drizzt does in Salvatore's series.
I like the way that Deas builds his stories and then the book is like a freight train coming to the end. All the action and everything is tied back together within the story line.
If you are looking for a good series to grab and read, get this. I think they have it on Amazon. Good luck getting an actual book. I have found them incredibly difficult to get. Digital copies are easier to get though.
Skorjl and Jassan were an interesting pair. It has been a long time since I read Order of the Scales so I forgot some things and had to go back and reread a bit. Kataros was cool and so was Siff.
The book was good, not great like the last Jordan/Sanderson. But that is a high level to achieve in my book. Maybe I rate what I read too hard, I don't know. Take my review for what it is worth. A bunch of zeroes and ones on the interweb.
This is a good story line. Very creative and inventive. I like and get frustrated with Deas sometimes because his references can be obscure. Take Taiteykei for example, you get little and I mean little snippets of this culture and references to people or cultures here and there. Then BOM they pop up somewhere in the story. Definitely keeps you on your toes!
I am going to read Dragon Queen next. Hopefully it engages me as much as the previous 4 books have done. I will rarely give a spoiler in my reviews. I enjoyed the book and since so many characters have previously died, the way Deas brings in the fringe characters and makes them major players is great. No character hangs on like Drizzt does in Salvatore's series.
I like the way that Deas builds his stories and then the book is like a freight train coming to the end. All the action and everything is tied back together within the story line.
If you are looking for a good series to grab and read, get this. I think they have it on Amazon. Good luck getting an actual book. I have found them incredibly difficult to get. Digital copies are easier to get though.
July 12, 2016
Well Mr Deas I think that I can forgive you the cliff-hanging ending to the last trilogy now. This is a non-stop rollercoaster of a book; I gulped it down.
The first trilogy dealt with the rise of the dragons due to the stupidity, arrogance, bitching and in-fighting of the dragon lords. Dragons in this universe are total killing machines with very few weaknesses and amazing strengths (reincarnation, telepathy, not to mention the usual fire, claws etc) and had been reduced to bestial slavery due to magical potions. After aforementioned stupidity the dragons manage to break free and the world as the humans know it pretty much ends in fire and blood.
This book is set after that civilisation ends and we see the people who have survived the apocalypse. They aren't particularly nice but it seems much more realistic that the survivors have a certain disregard for conventional morality. Whilst we don't come to like the protagonists particularly, Deas makes us understand them and to cheer them on even as he uses one character to point out the fact that we wouldn't really want anything to do with them in real life.
The plot dribbles out more hints of wonder and magic, and a possible solution to the dragon problem (albeit one that doesn't hold out much more hope for humanity regaining any dominance any time soon) wrapped up in a thrilling, fast-paced, quest/journey, using flashbacks to ratchet up the tension. I can't wait for the next one.
The first trilogy dealt with the rise of the dragons due to the stupidity, arrogance, bitching and in-fighting of the dragon lords. Dragons in this universe are total killing machines with very few weaknesses and amazing strengths (reincarnation, telepathy, not to mention the usual fire, claws etc) and had been reduced to bestial slavery due to magical potions. After aforementioned stupidity the dragons manage to break free and the world as the humans know it pretty much ends in fire and blood.
This book is set after that civilisation ends and we see the people who have survived the apocalypse. They aren't particularly nice but it seems much more realistic that the survivors have a certain disregard for conventional morality. Whilst we don't come to like the protagonists particularly, Deas makes us understand them and to cheer them on even as he uses one character to point out the fact that we wouldn't really want anything to do with them in real life.
The plot dribbles out more hints of wonder and magic, and a possible solution to the dragon problem (albeit one that doesn't hold out much more hope for humanity regaining any dominance any time soon) wrapped up in a thrilling, fast-paced, quest/journey, using flashbacks to ratchet up the tension. I can't wait for the next one.
September 15, 2014
Wasn't as big a fan of this as I was of the main Memory of Flames Trilogy, the characters didn't quite resonate with me as much the main character's arcs did in that. The standalone doesn't offer as much scope for development as the full trilogy (excepting the main character who has appeared previously) The bulk of the plot is a journey, which felt similar to the latter bits of Kemir's arc in the original trilogy, though in that case it was alternating with Jehal's/Zafir's political back & forth so it never had a chance to drag (anyone that hasn't read the main trilogy is not gonna recognise these names, if you haven't check it out). Like a lot of fantasy, there are viewpoint characters, but unusually these character's are travelling together on the same journey so there can be a degree of repetition. The fantasy component of the story is compelling though & there are glimpses of what's the come in the Silver Kings series that have really piqued my interest for starting that. I don't want to seem to be dismissing this book in it's own right, it has plenty to recommend it. The flashback sequences provide a nice helping of action & the conclusion of the primary arc is edge of your seat stuff. As a whole it's not perfect, but it serves as a useful transition between 2 series (3 if you include how the Thief Takers Apprentice books tie in, another series anyone reading this review should check out).
December 30, 2012
Stephen Deas' most recent foray is every bit up to his usual high standards. It's a fast-paced read, especially for a high fantasy, and the plot is deftly woven. The characters are very well fleshed out, each distinct and intriguing in his or her own right. The only trouble I find in reading Mr. Deas engaging series is that there is really no character to cheer for, no one to get behind and connect with. Everyone is amoral to one degree or another, and although it makes for great and gritty scheming and plotting, it tends to leave the reader feeling a bit hollow in the end. I'm not sure who I should hoping the best for - none of the characters are particularly likable, all sides of the equation seem to be equally unlikeable, in fact, and I'm not even sure that I shouldn't just want the dragons to continue to win the day in the end. One aspect of Deas' previous dragon novels that is somewhat lacking here is a complex, well-carved dragon character whose point of view if juxtaposed against its human rivals. Still highly recommended, but I'd like to see a character we could really get behind again, as we saw in The White of the first two novels.
March 13, 2015
Set a couple of years after the previous trilogy. Humanity has been defeated by the dragons and forced into a rat-like existence hiding in small pockets and deep dungeons. A couple of characters sense a new hope has emerged, however, and decide to seek it out.
These are damaged characters from a destroyed society, and so you know it just won't work out very well for most or all of them. This is portrayed fairly well.
The quest they are on is described effectively. There is lots of travel, but no Eddings-style capers here. Almost dark age saga-ish in tone. So that's good.
But there is something not quite right. Perhaps it is just done too quickly, or perhaps the constant jumping between viewpoints every few pages makes the breaks too frequent. I'm not sure, but it does take the gloss off what is in many respects a nice little post-apocalyptic adventure story.
Rated R18 for frequent strong violence, threats of sexual violence, torture, coarse language, horror scenes. 3/5
These are damaged characters from a destroyed society, and so you know it just won't work out very well for most or all of them. This is portrayed fairly well.
The quest they are on is described effectively. There is lots of travel, but no Eddings-style capers here. Almost dark age saga-ish in tone. So that's good.
But there is something not quite right. Perhaps it is just done too quickly, or perhaps the constant jumping between viewpoints every few pages makes the breaks too frequent. I'm not sure, but it does take the gloss off what is in many respects a nice little post-apocalyptic adventure story.
Rated R18 for frequent strong violence, threats of sexual violence, torture, coarse language, horror scenes. 3/5
September 13, 2014
Absolutely gorgeous descriptive narrative, fascinating and three dimensional, complex characters (as usual), and very intriguing plot. I loved this book for the most part, but it left me with so many unanswered questions (mild spoilers to follow). The ending was a bit unsatisfactory because of this, and because it felt like the overall story of this world was not significantly advanced by the actions of the characters in this book. Otherwise this was a wonderful book, and I am hoping for more answers to my burning questions in the next few (floating castle, anyone?).
April 20, 2015
Don't read this if you want to be happy. Otherwise, do.
That glimmer of hope I thought I saw? That light at the end of the tunnel? Yeah, it was an oncoming train. Don't know why I thought it would be anything other than miserable. The story is much tighter in this installment than the last two, it's a fairly straightforward quest. The sense of hopelessness in the face of really terrifying dragons remains, and there really does need to be some hope soon...
But all round a much better, more interesting book than the previous couple.
That glimmer of hope I thought I saw? That light at the end of the tunnel? Yeah, it was an oncoming train. Don't know why I thought it would be anything other than miserable. The story is much tighter in this installment than the last two, it's a fairly straightforward quest. The sense of hopelessness in the face of really terrifying dragons remains, and there really does need to be some hope soon...
But all round a much better, more interesting book than the previous couple.
November 22, 2015
A rather unexpected ending to a fine series. After reading 'Order of the Scales' I was left wondering how it would be topped off. And Deas certainly manages it.
The world that was built up in the last 3 books certainly comes crashing down and many of the more magical things that were hinted at are finally reveled.
The world that was built up in the last 3 books certainly comes crashing down and many of the more magical things that were hinted at are finally reveled.
October 5, 2014
This is the fourth book in a series. It’s a great take on dragons. The first book starts out with a pretty standard view of them working with humans. By the fourth book, it is anything but standard. A fun read!
January 30, 2013
ahhhhHHH dragons
May 5, 2014
Okey book and with an unusual ending that I like. Full of antiheroes and people trying to survive in a world dominated by dragons.
April 28, 2016
I had some issues with Kataros, but overall it was a fun read. Really made me want to play Skyrim again!
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