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Sarah Beauhall #1
Black Blade Blues
Sarah Beauhall has more on her plate than most twenty-somethings: day job as a blacksmith, night job as a props manager for low-budget movies, and her free time is spent fighting in a medieval re-enactment group.
The lead actor breaks Sarah’s favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. And that’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the "dwarf" claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters?
And as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.” As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.
And suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.
The lead actor breaks Sarah’s favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. And that’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the "dwarf" claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters?
And as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.” As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.
And suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 22, 2010
80 people are currently reading
2692 people want to read
About the author
J.A. Pitts
11 books165 followers(from author's website) I learned to love science fiction at the knee of my grandmother, listening to her read authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard during my childhood in rural Kentucky. My life has always been heavily influenced by strong women. My mother first among them: raising three boys after the death of my father, with grace and wit. There were always women coming and going in our house, friends, family, folks who needed a hand, and folks who had one to lend. All of my life has been steeped in the stories of average people doing extraordinary things — and most of them were women. That is why I was drawn to the character Sarah in my new novel. She embodies all the strength of the women who have influenced me over the years.
I can’t remember a time I wasn’t absorbing and creating story. I read early, and became a regular at my local library. There for a while, I thought the coolest thing in the world would be to grow up and be a librarian. I even got the degree. Once I hit the workforce, I discovered how poorly most librarians are paid, and I ended up in high tech instead.
But I live my life surrounded by books and story. Selling my own tales still comes as a surprise to me. The characters and worlds I build have been given loving care by some pretty spectacular editors. I’ve been very lucky. I continue to launch my words into the world, for all to read if they have the mind. I just hope you are entertained in the process. The opportunities for you to read my work has just gotten even better.
Tor Publishing has agreed to purchase the first three books in my Black Blade series. The first — BLACK BLADE BLUES — comes out in trade paperback and hardback April 27th, 2010.
Of course, if you want a sneak peak on the novel, you can read the short story which launched it all in the DAW anthology Swordplay, edited by Denise Little. It was released June 2, 2009.
My other short fiction can be found in such fine magazines as Fortean Bureau, Talebones magazine (issue 36 and forthcoming in issue 39) as well as two additional DAW anthologies Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies (Oct 2009), and The Trouble with Heroes (Nov 2009).
I have a BA in English and a Masters of Library Science from University of Kentucky. In addition, I am a graduate of the Oregon Coast Writers Workshops with Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. When I’m not writing, you can find me practicing martial arts with my children or spending time with my lovely wife.
I am a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
I can’t remember a time I wasn’t absorbing and creating story. I read early, and became a regular at my local library. There for a while, I thought the coolest thing in the world would be to grow up and be a librarian. I even got the degree. Once I hit the workforce, I discovered how poorly most librarians are paid, and I ended up in high tech instead.
But I live my life surrounded by books and story. Selling my own tales still comes as a surprise to me. The characters and worlds I build have been given loving care by some pretty spectacular editors. I’ve been very lucky. I continue to launch my words into the world, for all to read if they have the mind. I just hope you are entertained in the process. The opportunities for you to read my work has just gotten even better.
Tor Publishing has agreed to purchase the first three books in my Black Blade series. The first — BLACK BLADE BLUES — comes out in trade paperback and hardback April 27th, 2010.
Of course, if you want a sneak peak on the novel, you can read the short story which launched it all in the DAW anthology Swordplay, edited by Denise Little. It was released June 2, 2009.
My other short fiction can be found in such fine magazines as Fortean Bureau, Talebones magazine (issue 36 and forthcoming in issue 39) as well as two additional DAW anthologies Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies (Oct 2009), and The Trouble with Heroes (Nov 2009).
I have a BA in English and a Masters of Library Science from University of Kentucky. In addition, I am a graduate of the Oregon Coast Writers Workshops with Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. When I’m not writing, you can find me practicing martial arts with my children or spending time with my lovely wife.
I am a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 284 reviews
July 6, 2012
2.5 out of 5 stars
Oy. I have had the hardest time trying to review this book. It was such a mixed-bag: Parts of it were good, parts were merely okay, yet none of it elicited any strong emotions in me. So I'm going to make this a bare-bones, flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants review (and for those of you clapping and cheering at being spared reading another one of my long-winded reviews, well, that's just rude).
The Good:
-This was only the second book/series I've read featuring a female blacksmith (the first being the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews). Not only was the lead in Black Blade Blues a blacksmith, she was also a lesbian, which is rare for a mainstream-published fantasy novel, at least as far as I'm aware. The only other gay characters I've encountered, in a series also published by TOR, are those in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar: The Last Herald Mage trilogy (Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price, Magic's Promise). For some reason, mainstream publishers assume the general public can't handle leading characters who are gay and thus such characters are typically relegated to specialty publishing houses.
-I love the mix of stuff in this book; it makes for a unique and interesting setting. There's Norse mythology (not to mention actual creatures which pop up, including giants, dwarfs, witches, Valkyries—complete with Pegasus. Oh, and Odin masquerading as a homeless guy [that's not a spoiler; as soon as you meet that particular character, even if you merely have a passing knowledge of Norse mythology, you'll recognize who he truly is]); the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and its associated kingdoms, shires, and mercenaries; Renaissance Faires; B-grade independent movies about goblins, aliens, and Elvis; and dragons camouflaged as people.
-While it personally annoyed me, Sarah's backstory of growing up in an ultra-religious, narrow-minded and bigoted environment, and her resulting discomfort with her sexuality and attraction to women, gives a depth to the character which isn't normally found in fantasy novels. (What annoyed me about this particular point is discussed below.)
The Bad:
-Yeah, Sarah has a complex about her sexuality and a helluva lot of baggage to deal with because of her upbringing, but her recurring whinging and moaning and disinclination to actually deal with her issues, not to mention her complete willingness to let those issues derail her life on a regular basis, is grating to the extreme. You know what the problem is--bring it out into the light, talk about it, work with it, and learn to live your life in spite of it. Damn!
-I really can't say there was anything bad bad, but... the whole novel felt disjointed and bumpy. There wasn't a steady build of story, leading the way to a dramatic denouement and thrilling climax. We're introduced to a supernatural plot point early on, but we have to deal with the complete breakdown of Sarah's personal life before we can get back to that supernatural plot point and build it up to a working story line. And when we finally do get to that story line, I have to use the word “bumpy” again, along with “slow.” Plus, I never encountered any true heart-pounding moments in the action scenes.
-For a blacksmith who's ultra-protective of her work, especially her swords, the fact that Sarah would just casually let an actor, a very clumsy and irresponsible actor at that, use her prized sword as a prop in a movie is just completely uncharacteristic. It's a stupid move on the part of Pitts.
-Once again, Pitts relied on that tried-and-untrue literary cliche, overused by so many in order to create drama: Having the characters not reveal to each other relevant information. Sarah's lover, Katie, and Katie's brother, Jimmy (who happens to be the seneschal [leader] of Black Briar, the mercenary band which belongs to the local SCA kingdom) both know more about what's going on as far as Sarah's sword and how it pertains to the dragons, yet neither one of them let Sarah in on the information. True, she wouldn't believe them, not initially, but still... I hate it when authors do that; it's such a lazy way to create tension.
The Ugly:
-When it came to the protagonist, it was abundantly obvious this book was written by a man. Listen up, guys: Lesbians are not males dressed up as females. They do not have a man's brain in a woman's body. They do not get a metaphorical hard-on every time they see an attractive woman pass by. Every time Sarah had to deal with her interpersonal relationships, the resulting dialogue or prose was like a neon sign proclaiming “A Man Wrote This!” The protagonist, Sarah, was like some sort of avatar for male voyeurism: As Sarah ogled, lusted, and reminisced over her sexual adventures, male readers could ogle, sigh, and titter along as their hormone-fueled imaginations conjured up all sort sorts of accompanying mental pictures. Though Sarah's complex about her sexuality felt authentic, her actual behavior didn't.
Overall, I'd have to rank Black Blade Blues as “disappointing.”
See more of my reviews at: http://lollyslibrary.blogspot.com/
Oy. I have had the hardest time trying to review this book. It was such a mixed-bag: Parts of it were good, parts were merely okay, yet none of it elicited any strong emotions in me. So I'm going to make this a bare-bones, flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants review (and for those of you clapping and cheering at being spared reading another one of my long-winded reviews, well, that's just rude).
The Good:
-This was only the second book/series I've read featuring a female blacksmith (the first being the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews). Not only was the lead in Black Blade Blues a blacksmith, she was also a lesbian, which is rare for a mainstream-published fantasy novel, at least as far as I'm aware. The only other gay characters I've encountered, in a series also published by TOR, are those in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar: The Last Herald Mage trilogy (Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price, Magic's Promise). For some reason, mainstream publishers assume the general public can't handle leading characters who are gay and thus such characters are typically relegated to specialty publishing houses.
-I love the mix of stuff in this book; it makes for a unique and interesting setting. There's Norse mythology (not to mention actual creatures which pop up, including giants, dwarfs, witches, Valkyries—complete with Pegasus. Oh, and Odin masquerading as a homeless guy [that's not a spoiler; as soon as you meet that particular character, even if you merely have a passing knowledge of Norse mythology, you'll recognize who he truly is]); the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and its associated kingdoms, shires, and mercenaries; Renaissance Faires; B-grade independent movies about goblins, aliens, and Elvis; and dragons camouflaged as people.
-While it personally annoyed me, Sarah's backstory of growing up in an ultra-religious, narrow-minded and bigoted environment, and her resulting discomfort with her sexuality and attraction to women, gives a depth to the character which isn't normally found in fantasy novels. (What annoyed me about this particular point is discussed below.)
The Bad:
-Yeah, Sarah has a complex about her sexuality and a helluva lot of baggage to deal with because of her upbringing, but her recurring whinging and moaning and disinclination to actually deal with her issues, not to mention her complete willingness to let those issues derail her life on a regular basis, is grating to the extreme. You know what the problem is--bring it out into the light, talk about it, work with it, and learn to live your life in spite of it. Damn!
-I really can't say there was anything bad bad, but... the whole novel felt disjointed and bumpy. There wasn't a steady build of story, leading the way to a dramatic denouement and thrilling climax. We're introduced to a supernatural plot point early on, but we have to deal with the complete breakdown of Sarah's personal life before we can get back to that supernatural plot point and build it up to a working story line. And when we finally do get to that story line, I have to use the word “bumpy” again, along with “slow.” Plus, I never encountered any true heart-pounding moments in the action scenes.
-For a blacksmith who's ultra-protective of her work, especially her swords, the fact that Sarah would just casually let an actor, a very clumsy and irresponsible actor at that, use her prized sword as a prop in a movie is just completely uncharacteristic. It's a stupid move on the part of Pitts.
-Once again, Pitts relied on that tried-and-untrue literary cliche, overused by so many in order to create drama: Having the characters not reveal to each other relevant information. Sarah's lover, Katie, and Katie's brother, Jimmy (who happens to be the seneschal [leader] of Black Briar, the mercenary band which belongs to the local SCA kingdom) both know more about what's going on as far as Sarah's sword and how it pertains to the dragons, yet neither one of them let Sarah in on the information. True, she wouldn't believe them, not initially, but still... I hate it when authors do that; it's such a lazy way to create tension.
The Ugly:
-When it came to the protagonist, it was abundantly obvious this book was written by a man. Listen up, guys: Lesbians are not males dressed up as females. They do not have a man's brain in a woman's body. They do not get a metaphorical hard-on every time they see an attractive woman pass by. Every time Sarah had to deal with her interpersonal relationships, the resulting dialogue or prose was like a neon sign proclaiming “A Man Wrote This!” The protagonist, Sarah, was like some sort of avatar for male voyeurism: As Sarah ogled, lusted, and reminisced over her sexual adventures, male readers could ogle, sigh, and titter along as their hormone-fueled imaginations conjured up all sort sorts of accompanying mental pictures. Though Sarah's complex about her sexuality felt authentic, her actual behavior didn't.
Overall, I'd have to rank Black Blade Blues as “disappointing.”
See more of my reviews at: http://lollyslibrary.blogspot.com/
March 30, 2015
I wanted to like this a whole lot more than I did. There are a lot of things about Sarah that seem like they should add up to a lot of cool story opportunities. A ren-faire blacksmith with martial training and a bardic girlfriend who reforges an ancient magical dragon-killing sword? What's not to like, right? Well, that's kind of the problem. All of these pieces just didn't add up and I ended up feeling like Sarah was a mosaic without an actual pattern.
Part of that is how very scarred she is from her upbringing. She lives with the voice of her father in her head telling her how much of a sinner she is for loving women. This could have worked, maybe, if the father didn't come off as simply an amalgamation of the worst features of every bigot Pitts could think of. I mean, it was pretty out there already but then he piled on "dancing is a sin" and I just lost all respect for Sarah's supposed background. You know you're getting to the bottom of the scumbag barrel when you're stealing plot elements from Footloose.
To point out how much of a joke this is, bear in mind that Sarah has also had Tae Kwon Do training since she was a child (where she gets her butt-kicking skills). So we have a father who is poor (trailers are mentioned—the kind with wheels), moves around a lot looking for religious fellow-travelers, keeps his wife two steps behind him (seriously, Sarah says so), thinks Footloose is a dandy documentary if you remember to turn it off in time, and spends idunnohowmany dollars on his daughter being taught oriental religion and fighting skills. Yeah, that makes sense to me, too. I know I want children I'm keeping under my thumb to learn how to fight back someday...
This wouldn't be so bad if the first two-thirds of the book didn't present Sarah in a shame spiral flamboyantly self-destructing every aspect of her life based largely on the voices in her head left over from her upbringing. If you're going to put that much weight on a background, it had better be able to bear the load. This one did not.
By the time Sarah had trashed her love life and both "careers" I'd about had enough. I kept going because the action kicked up about there and it held me, barely, to the end. Not that there weren't problems there as well. Pitts has a tendency to get lost in the action a bit and there are portions where Sarah seems to be a spectator for an awful long time, doing nothing, while the bad guys do all the convenient things for themselves. At one point, Sarah jabs a big-bad and then: someone else stabs him with a lance, he rolls over, a minion steps in to remove the lance, speaking carefully, minion has to take two heaves to get it out, minion backs carefully away speaking quietly reassuring words because evil-rage-thingy, big-bad rages evilly and eats minion and then Sarah thinks, "hey, maybe I should go poke the big-bad again". That's only the most egregious example as there were other bits where an awful lot happens around Sarah without her doing anything about it. It got better once she was one-on-one with Mr. Big-Bad, but that's not really saying much by that point.
So yeah, Pitts does a lot of biting off more than he can chew. The world building doesn't quite work with the dragons both too powerful and oddly not enough. The tone isn't up to carrying the carnage and death-count of the big scenes. The relationships don't quite survive scrutiny, either. I mean, I loved Katie (she may be the biggest draw that kept me interested), but even she was a little capricious about the relationship that she clearly cherished.
So yeah. Loved Katie. The rest was mostly a wash.
A note about Steamy: There's not any steam, but there are some strongly sexual bits that were a lot heavier than the story could support. Worse, they're part of Sarah's self-destruct stupidity and have the weakest support and strongest consequences of any of her other self-destructive stupidity. It's the low point in the novel, so if you get that far, know you've weathered the worst...
Part of that is how very scarred she is from her upbringing. She lives with the voice of her father in her head telling her how much of a sinner she is for loving women. This could have worked, maybe, if the father didn't come off as simply an amalgamation of the worst features of every bigot Pitts could think of. I mean, it was pretty out there already but then he piled on "dancing is a sin" and I just lost all respect for Sarah's supposed background. You know you're getting to the bottom of the scumbag barrel when you're stealing plot elements from Footloose.
To point out how much of a joke this is, bear in mind that Sarah has also had Tae Kwon Do training since she was a child (where she gets her butt-kicking skills). So we have a father who is poor (trailers are mentioned—the kind with wheels), moves around a lot looking for religious fellow-travelers, keeps his wife two steps behind him (seriously, Sarah says so), thinks Footloose is a dandy documentary if you remember to turn it off in time, and spends idunnohowmany dollars on his daughter being taught oriental religion and fighting skills. Yeah, that makes sense to me, too. I know I want children I'm keeping under my thumb to learn how to fight back someday...
This wouldn't be so bad if the first two-thirds of the book didn't present Sarah in a shame spiral flamboyantly self-destructing every aspect of her life based largely on the voices in her head left over from her upbringing. If you're going to put that much weight on a background, it had better be able to bear the load. This one did not.
By the time Sarah had trashed her love life and both "careers" I'd about had enough. I kept going because the action kicked up about there and it held me, barely, to the end. Not that there weren't problems there as well. Pitts has a tendency to get lost in the action a bit and there are portions where Sarah seems to be a spectator for an awful long time, doing nothing, while the bad guys do all the convenient things for themselves. At one point, Sarah jabs a big-bad and then: someone else stabs him with a lance, he rolls over, a minion steps in to remove the lance, speaking carefully, minion has to take two heaves to get it out, minion backs carefully away speaking quietly reassuring words because evil-rage-thingy, big-bad rages evilly and eats minion and then Sarah thinks, "hey, maybe I should go poke the big-bad again". That's only the most egregious example as there were other bits where an awful lot happens around Sarah without her doing anything about it. It got better once she was one-on-one with Mr. Big-Bad, but that's not really saying much by that point.
So yeah, Pitts does a lot of biting off more than he can chew. The world building doesn't quite work with the dragons both too powerful and oddly not enough. The tone isn't up to carrying the carnage and death-count of the big scenes. The relationships don't quite survive scrutiny, either. I mean, I loved Katie (she may be the biggest draw that kept me interested), but even she was a little capricious about the relationship that she clearly cherished.
So yeah. Loved Katie. The rest was mostly a wash.
A note about Steamy: There's not any steam, but there are some strongly sexual bits that were a lot heavier than the story could support. Worse, they're part of Sarah's self-destruct stupidity and have the weakest support and strongest consequences of any of her other self-destructive stupidity. It's the low point in the novel, so if you get that far, know you've weathered the worst...
May 14, 2010
Sarah Beauhall, heroine of Black Blade Blues, was a woman after my own heart from the very beginning. Not only is she a lesbian and a blacksmith — traits that set her apart from the Standard Urban Fantasy Heroine — she also attends sci-fi conventions and hangs out with Ren Faire and SCA enthusiasts. This isn’t just a character I’d like to have a beer with. This is a character I feel like I’ve already had a beer with! Like lots of her compatriots in urban fantasy, she does have anger-management issues, but there are reasons for this.
I have to admit, though, that I didn’t quite understand Sarah’s decision, at the beginning of the book, to let her prized antique sword be used in a friend’s B-movie shoot. Other characters said she was crazy to do it, and I actually kind of agreed with them. She’s a blacksmith, after all; why not make a convincing fake and keep her prized possession out of harm’s way? The plot requires that the sword be broken, and the movie shoot does achieve this aim, but it just doesn’t seem like the most realistic way of getting it broken.
Sarah decides to reforge the sword, and in doing so, attracts all sorts of supernatural attention. Turns out it’s a magical sword linked to the god Odin. Now Sarah has a stubborn dwarf trying to convince her to use the sword for heroic purposes, a couple of dragons (disguised as humans) who will stop at nothing to keep her from using it, and all sorts of mythical nasties threatening her friends.
And as if this weren’t enough trouble for one woman, her girlfriend Katie wants to take their relationship to the next level. But Sarah, who was raised by a Fred-Phelps-esque father, has lots of lingering angst about her sexuality and isn’t quite comfortable with who she is.
I really enjoyed the blacksmithing scenes. J.A. Pitts shows us how much Sarah loves the work, and how much work it really is. The battle scenes are also excellent, in a horrific sort of way. Sarah teams up with a group of SCA fighters to combat the villain, and the violence is rendered incredibly gritty by the fact that the heroes are all just humans, with no magical powers, pitting their courage and skill against dragons, trolls, ogres, and giants. People die; people suffer ghastly injuries. If Sarah and her friends were superpowered, these scenes wouldn’t be nearly as wrenching.
The climax comes earlier in the book than one might expect, followed by a rather long denouement. I kept thinking I was about to reach the ending, only to find another chapter of conversation. But Pitts ties up all the necessary ends, gives Sarah some great character development, and sets up a tantalizing plot hook for book two. I’ll be looking forward to it!
I have to admit, though, that I didn’t quite understand Sarah’s decision, at the beginning of the book, to let her prized antique sword be used in a friend’s B-movie shoot. Other characters said she was crazy to do it, and I actually kind of agreed with them. She’s a blacksmith, after all; why not make a convincing fake and keep her prized possession out of harm’s way? The plot requires that the sword be broken, and the movie shoot does achieve this aim, but it just doesn’t seem like the most realistic way of getting it broken.
Sarah decides to reforge the sword, and in doing so, attracts all sorts of supernatural attention. Turns out it’s a magical sword linked to the god Odin. Now Sarah has a stubborn dwarf trying to convince her to use the sword for heroic purposes, a couple of dragons (disguised as humans) who will stop at nothing to keep her from using it, and all sorts of mythical nasties threatening her friends.
And as if this weren’t enough trouble for one woman, her girlfriend Katie wants to take their relationship to the next level. But Sarah, who was raised by a Fred-Phelps-esque father, has lots of lingering angst about her sexuality and isn’t quite comfortable with who she is.
I really enjoyed the blacksmithing scenes. J.A. Pitts shows us how much Sarah loves the work, and how much work it really is. The battle scenes are also excellent, in a horrific sort of way. Sarah teams up with a group of SCA fighters to combat the villain, and the violence is rendered incredibly gritty by the fact that the heroes are all just humans, with no magical powers, pitting their courage and skill against dragons, trolls, ogres, and giants. People die; people suffer ghastly injuries. If Sarah and her friends were superpowered, these scenes wouldn’t be nearly as wrenching.
The climax comes earlier in the book than one might expect, followed by a rather long denouement. I kept thinking I was about to reach the ending, only to find another chapter of conversation. But Pitts ties up all the necessary ends, gives Sarah some great character development, and sets up a tantalizing plot hook for book two. I’ll be looking forward to it!
November 16, 2011
Just came in from the library...moved to the top of the pile with several other library books.
Well, not for me. For one thing it's in many ways more a romance than a fantasy adventure and that's not something I'm into. There are some odd moments and some "why did you make that decision" moments. I sort of wanted to enjoy this one but by 50 pages in I could tell I wasn't going to get into it.
I think if your into romance especially the the "my life's been hard" and "I haven't been understood till now" school of romance you might enjoy this book more.
I find this to be one of the more common reasons why I end up not liking some books I pick up when looking for an Urban fantasy. Sometimes they turn out to PNR (Paranormal Romance). The two genres run close together, but are not interchangeable... and I'm not really a romance fan, paranormal or otherwise.
Well, not for me. For one thing it's in many ways more a romance than a fantasy adventure and that's not something I'm into. There are some odd moments and some "why did you make that decision" moments. I sort of wanted to enjoy this one but by 50 pages in I could tell I wasn't going to get into it.
I think if your into romance especially the the "my life's been hard" and "I haven't been understood till now" school of romance you might enjoy this book more.
I find this to be one of the more common reasons why I end up not liking some books I pick up when looking for an Urban fantasy. Sometimes they turn out to PNR (Paranormal Romance). The two genres run close together, but are not interchangeable... and I'm not really a romance fan, paranormal or otherwise.
June 10, 2017
I was really glad to discover “Black Blade Blues”: it features a lesbian blacksmith with a sweet, caring girlfriend, a mystical sword, dragons, dwarves, ogres, witches and goofy humans who love love love role playing characters from the Middle Ages.
Unfortunately, the book was annoying to read, and I really disliked Sarah, the MC. Sarah loves private time with her girlfriend Katie, but is ashamed of being lesbian, therefore despises PDA and even pushes Katie away time and time again. As “the chosen one”, or “the destined one” or whatever, Sarah is expected to save the world, yet she spends her days either avoiding her fate, or making really, really bad self-destructive decisions.
Some of her friends are likable, but several are not. Some of her friends are more aware of the “real” world than they let Sarah know….nice of them to let her suffer through a learning curve that nearly costs her her life.
The final battle scene is detailed and gory. Listening to it felt like the extended-cut version of a movie which makes you appreciate tight editing that results in much of the extended-cut material being cut.
Throughout much of the book, I couldn’t get another series out of my head, which I thought I’d managed to forget about because I hated it so much: “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever” by Stephen R. Donaldson. That series, with it’s VERY unlikable white gold wielding “hero” just reminds me so much of Sarah Beauhall and her reforged sword.
There are sporadic uses of Norse mythology, and Odin is featured throughout the book as sometimes all powerful and sometimes helpless….in the end, he asks Sarah for help.
I just can’t shake the feeling that the author is still living in his parents’ basement. Definitely not the best male author writing a lesbian character! With all its flaws, this book still has so much going on that you just can’t quite turn away….like driving by a bad accident scene. I can envision some future moment of curiosity where I give Book Two a try, but I’m going to try very hard to read every good book I can find before succumbing. 3* for “Black Blade Blues” – 2.5* for the book, rounded up because the narration was entertaining.
Unfortunately, the book was annoying to read, and I really disliked Sarah, the MC. Sarah loves private time with her girlfriend Katie, but is ashamed of being lesbian, therefore despises PDA and even pushes Katie away time and time again. As “the chosen one”, or “the destined one” or whatever, Sarah is expected to save the world, yet she spends her days either avoiding her fate, or making really, really bad self-destructive decisions.
Some of her friends are likable, but several are not. Some of her friends are more aware of the “real” world than they let Sarah know….nice of them to let her suffer through a learning curve that nearly costs her her life.
The final battle scene is detailed and gory. Listening to it felt like the extended-cut version of a movie which makes you appreciate tight editing that results in much of the extended-cut material being cut.
Throughout much of the book, I couldn’t get another series out of my head, which I thought I’d managed to forget about because I hated it so much: “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever” by Stephen R. Donaldson. That series, with it’s VERY unlikable white gold wielding “hero” just reminds me so much of Sarah Beauhall and her reforged sword.
There are sporadic uses of Norse mythology, and Odin is featured throughout the book as sometimes all powerful and sometimes helpless….in the end, he asks Sarah for help.
I just can’t shake the feeling that the author is still living in his parents’ basement. Definitely not the best male author writing a lesbian character! With all its flaws, this book still has so much going on that you just can’t quite turn away….like driving by a bad accident scene. I can envision some future moment of curiosity where I give Book Two a try, but I’m going to try very hard to read every good book I can find before succumbing. 3* for “Black Blade Blues” – 2.5* for the book, rounded up because the narration was entertaining.
February 7, 2012
This is the first of a series, but I won't be reading any further books (either in the series or by this author). I finished it just to get it over with. It had promise: a seemingly strong lesbian protagonist (a modern blacksmith no less) in a real-world-meets-fantasy setting. Unfortunately I found the setting of the book was too serious and would-be gritty for what it was, both detracting considerably from the believability of the book. Also several of the implied assumptions were offensive, including that the protagonist could only be strong because she'd had a rough upbringing. Some of the characters' behaviours were too glaringly inconsistent, at times to the point of being offensive (especially where it comes to women's sexuality). The whole way through the book, something just didn't sit right - although I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt to the end. Once I finished I realised the author is a guy, and although I don't think that men can't write good female characters (including lesbians), this one just didn't. Disappointing.
August 1, 2016
If I were forced to describe this book in only a couple of words it would be: it tries too hard.
I like the premise of a reforged mythical sword created for dragon killing. I also like the dragons and the way they behave. I am guessing there will be more of that in the instalments.
What I didn't like is the main character. I don't think there is a single thing about her I liked. I wonder if people who dislike insecure female characters (or claim they do) in other genres would forgive this one's behaviour. Anyway, there are a lot of reasons I hate a character like Sarah, but I'll just leave a note for myself here to know why (because I am going to forget about it). There is tough and there is tough. Most of the time I am told she is special and stuff, but her actions were annoying as hell.
I've read this a couple of days ago and I still can't think of one thing I should like about the protagonist.
I like the premise of a reforged mythical sword created for dragon killing. I also like the dragons and the way they behave. I am guessing there will be more of that in the instalments.
What I didn't like is the main character. I don't think there is a single thing about her I liked. I wonder if people who dislike insecure female characters (or claim they do) in other genres would forgive this one's behaviour. Anyway, there are a lot of reasons I hate a character like Sarah, but I'll just leave a note for myself here to know why (because I am going to forget about it). There is tough and there is tough. Most of the time I am told she is special and stuff, but her actions were annoying as hell.
I've read this a couple of days ago and I still can't think of one thing I should like about the protagonist.
February 6, 2022
This book was a big disappointment for me.
It has things I'm interested in, crafts people, props manager for low-budget movies, a medieval re-enactment group. But the one thing it didn't have were characters that I cared about. The MC spent the first half of the book in angst about her sexuality, her father and religion for such a bad ass she was just way to conflicted for me. The time spent on that took away the time I thought would be spent on the things I cared about.
It has things I'm interested in, crafts people, props manager for low-budget movies, a medieval re-enactment group. But the one thing it didn't have were characters that I cared about. The MC spent the first half of the book in angst about her sexuality, her father and religion for such a bad ass she was just way to conflicted for me. The time spent on that took away the time I thought would be spent on the things I cared about.
February 19, 2012
*Gnashes teeth in frustration*
This was another book I sooooooooo wanted to like alot....and just didn't really get into.
Probably would have given it 3.5 stars, if that were possible. It was just very uneven.
The ideas here are totally kick-ass awesome.
Blacksmith protagonist dealing with sexual identity? Very cool. Underlying Norse mythology? Awesome.
Society for Creative Anachronism friends being used as a cover for people who are aware of magic in the world? No brainer-good idea.
Pacific Northwest Setting? Totally detailed and fun to read.
And yet...the execution leaves something to be desired. Sarah the Blacksmith is awesome, but some of the major plot points just didn't make sense to me in terms of her character, or the obvious mechanisms that allowed her to cope felt like a cop-out to me. So she allows her prized sword to be used as a prop by a jerk of an actor....didn't make sense. Loses many people she loves in a fight with a dragon...and a rune is used as an excuse not to let us experience the full effects of her emotional and human frailty? Cop-out. Sarah's descent into alcohol-fueled slutdom also seems forced...with all her internal struggle about her sexual identity and who she wants to be versus her father's puritan morals made that seem unreal and forced.
Sarah's sweetie, Katie, and the rest of the Black Briar SCA gang had the potential to by mighty awesome, and some hints they knew more than they let on at were sprinkled throughout the text...but they never acted on it until the big bad fight at the end, and that felt wrong. I kept yelling at Katie and her brother (Black Briar boss) that they should be tailing Sarah, or telling her about the magic, or preparing better for a fight.
I also felt the POV changes were uneccessary and distracting. The dragon POV unbalances the story by letting us get to know one dragon very well, and then Sarah ends up in the pivotal battle against a different one. Even if the first dragon is being set up as the big bad for the series, it lessened the impact for me that the villain I got to know had almost nothing to do with most of the last third of the book.
So, in short, very cool ideas, some interesting characters, and a plot that hinged on too much suspension of disbelief for those characters' actions. So I really agonized over the number of stars..hovering over 3, then 4, then 3.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: Pita chips with a bowl half filled with hummus and half filled with mango salsa...it looks and sounds really good, and for the first few bites the freshness of the taste is appealing, but as you go along you realize there's a kind of jarring aftertaste that keeps you from wanting to finish the whole portion.
This was another book I sooooooooo wanted to like alot....and just didn't really get into.
Probably would have given it 3.5 stars, if that were possible. It was just very uneven.
The ideas here are totally kick-ass awesome.
Blacksmith protagonist dealing with sexual identity? Very cool. Underlying Norse mythology? Awesome.
Society for Creative Anachronism friends being used as a cover for people who are aware of magic in the world? No brainer-good idea.
Pacific Northwest Setting? Totally detailed and fun to read.
And yet...the execution leaves something to be desired. Sarah the Blacksmith is awesome, but some of the major plot points just didn't make sense to me in terms of her character, or the obvious mechanisms that allowed her to cope felt like a cop-out to me. So she allows her prized sword to be used as a prop by a jerk of an actor....didn't make sense. Loses many people she loves in a fight with a dragon...and a rune is used as an excuse not to let us experience the full effects of her emotional and human frailty? Cop-out. Sarah's descent into alcohol-fueled slutdom also seems forced...with all her internal struggle about her sexual identity and who she wants to be versus her father's puritan morals made that seem unreal and forced.
Sarah's sweetie, Katie, and the rest of the Black Briar SCA gang had the potential to by mighty awesome, and some hints they knew more than they let on at were sprinkled throughout the text...but they never acted on it until the big bad fight at the end, and that felt wrong. I kept yelling at Katie and her brother (Black Briar boss) that they should be tailing Sarah, or telling her about the magic, or preparing better for a fight.
I also felt the POV changes were uneccessary and distracting. The dragon POV unbalances the story by letting us get to know one dragon very well, and then Sarah ends up in the pivotal battle against a different one. Even if the first dragon is being set up as the big bad for the series, it lessened the impact for me that the villain I got to know had almost nothing to do with most of the last third of the book.
So, in short, very cool ideas, some interesting characters, and a plot that hinged on too much suspension of disbelief for those characters' actions. So I really agonized over the number of stars..hovering over 3, then 4, then 3.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: Pita chips with a bowl half filled with hummus and half filled with mango salsa...it looks and sounds really good, and for the first few bites the freshness of the taste is appealing, but as you go along you realize there's a kind of jarring aftertaste that keeps you from wanting to finish the whole portion.
June 7, 2016
I was given this book as a good lesbian protag book and obviously, as both a woman and a lesbian, I was very interested in it. Now, I want to say first that it isn't that at all. It is a book written by an obviously heterosexual man who mistakenly conflates "strong female hero" with "woman written as a macho man". The first half was good, despite the main character being an appalling cliché of a butch lesbian, and the second half exploded into casual misogyny as the story crashed.
I wanted to review everything that's terrible in this book, but I don't want to spoil it too much— rather, I would like to provide a warning to those who would read it, especially women, lesbians, and I guess, considering the casual misogyny and whorephobia of the book, sex workers.
What you will find in this book : a somewhat believable depiction of someone struggling with internalized lesbophobia. That's the only thing that got this book one star, to be honest (I suspect someone told the writer their story, here). What you will also find : casually sexist one liners such as "fight like a man!" or "you're getting beaten by a girl!", disgusting victim blaming, systemic raping and damseling of main characters as a driving force for the hero, randomly hypersexualized characters that seem to come from someone's sexual fantasies, overused clichés, a very creepy attention to details when it comes to women getting murdered, slut shaming, machism, and tropes like "butch lesbians and hetero men being partners in misogyny"
To be honest, I'm even surprised this was published. Its treatment of women is akin to erotic adventure fiction, only with a woman in lieu of the macho dude. In fact, the second half of this book is your run of the mill macho sexist fantasy book, only with a woman. But it's ok to be misogynistic right? I mean, she's a woman who digs chicks! She gets it yknow!
I wanted to review everything that's terrible in this book, but I don't want to spoil it too much— rather, I would like to provide a warning to those who would read it, especially women, lesbians, and I guess, considering the casual misogyny and whorephobia of the book, sex workers.
What you will find in this book : a somewhat believable depiction of someone struggling with internalized lesbophobia. That's the only thing that got this book one star, to be honest (I suspect someone told the writer their story, here). What you will also find : casually sexist one liners such as "fight like a man!" or "you're getting beaten by a girl!", disgusting victim blaming, systemic raping and damseling of main characters as a driving force for the hero, randomly hypersexualized characters that seem to come from someone's sexual fantasies, overused clichés, a very creepy attention to details when it comes to women getting murdered, slut shaming, machism, and tropes like "butch lesbians and hetero men being partners in misogyny"
To be honest, I'm even surprised this was published. Its treatment of women is akin to erotic adventure fiction, only with a woman in lieu of the macho dude. In fact, the second half of this book is your run of the mill macho sexist fantasy book, only with a woman. But it's ok to be misogynistic right? I mean, she's a woman who digs chicks! She gets it yknow!
November 29, 2016
this book got auto-dnfed when it graphically described a sexual assault on a drunken woman, and then had three women: a doctor, a police woman and a teacher ALL TELL THE MAIN CHARACTER THAT IT WASN'T ASSAULT.
September 25, 2015
Mmmm, I wanted to like this, I really did! But something was off and not quite enough... I do not know, but hope the next one gets better....
June 21, 2016
2 1/2
So much potential, so much wasted potential. All flushed to the toilet in a story that doesn't really work out.
I disliked Sarah, and worried I was a bigot. But the problem is, she has nothing I wanted to read about. There's no connection, does she move around as a male character as some other reader suggested? It could be. I know so many things made no sense, from Sarah, to the world building, to some plot points, like the bar scene and the out of body experience. What was tha meaning except an authorial heavy handed intervention to isolate her? Without the hocus pocus I might have bought the self destructive reasoning, but as it was presented it was a WTF moment.
I honestly didn't like Kate at all. She's way too pushy and un-respectful of other people's opinion. Yes, Sarah is a whiny, shameful lesbian. It's her right to be. You don't push your agenda on others. And her lies too.
But really there's so much disappointing points that a bullet list would be pages long. And it's a pity, as it has some good points, too.
So much potential, so much wasted potential. All flushed to the toilet in a story that doesn't really work out.
I disliked Sarah, and worried I was a bigot. But the problem is, she has nothing I wanted to read about. There's no connection, does she move around as a male character as some other reader suggested? It could be. I know so many things made no sense, from Sarah, to the world building, to some plot points, like the bar scene and the out of body experience. What was tha meaning except an authorial heavy handed intervention to isolate her? Without the hocus pocus I might have bought the self destructive reasoning, but as it was presented it was a WTF moment.
I honestly didn't like Kate at all. She's way too pushy and un-respectful of other people's opinion. Yes, Sarah is a whiny, shameful lesbian. It's her right to be. You don't push your agenda on others. And her lies too.
But really there's so much disappointing points that a bullet list would be pages long. And it's a pity, as it has some good points, too.
June 16, 2016
Awesome book, love the writing style and the humor in it. Very refreshing and the fact that the main character is a lesbian and has a girlfriend, is even better. I really, really loved reading this book!
dnf
October 4, 2024DNFed because of the writing.
July 13, 2012
This is a really neat urban fantasy book with a strong dose of Norse mythology, but what really made it shine for me was the human story. The main character is a young woman blacksmith who has no idea that any of the stories from the ancient lore could possible be true, despite spending her weekends with her friends The Black Briar clan swinging a sword in mock battles at renaissance fairs and Society for Creative Anacronism events. But when she meets a guy who says he's a dwarf who needs her to slay a dragon, all hell breaks loose for poor Sarah on fantastic side of the story.
At the same time, she's wrestling with her personal life, which is going through some turmoil as well. Sarah was raised by some emotionally suppressive and damaging people on several levels, and she has the self esteem to prove it. And she's gay and in the first relationship of her life with the outgoing and lovely Katie, a bard she met at the renaissance fairs. And boy is Sarah wrestling with the situation. Katie just told Sarah that she loves her, but there's still a part of Sarah that feels shame about what her family and community indoctrinated into her as being an inappropriate way to live. And as much as I do not believe that to be true, when I was reading the book I couldn't help but feel deeply for her and the internal battles that she was going through, for her self-esteem issues, her confusion over her identity, her hopeless love for Katie, her jealousy of Katie's friendship with her ex-girlfriend, the consequences all of this caused, Sarah's sorrow over screwing up her relationship with her boss, Julie, and on and on; there was just so much great real life depth and emotion in this book. It's funny actually, I saw a review where the guy didn't like it because he thought it was more of a romance than urban fantasy (despite the dragons, dwarves, giants, goblins, Valkyries, sword fights, explosions, helicopter crashes, etc.). Usually that's my complaint, romance usually just isn't my style. But this didn't feel like romance to me. It's certainly a more sophisticated love story than the love-at-first-sight, based on nothing, they barely know each other but somehow they both just know that this is meant to be, love stories that I really don't enjoy. This is a real adult romance with all of the bumps and bruises that go along with that. And even though it was a theme that is often explored in traditional romances, a woman who has always felt awkward for whatever reason and is now in the middle of her first adult relationship, it felt fresh and real and true. And having the relationship take place between two women gave the author a lot of issues to explore in addition to the usual issues of insecurities and first mistakes, and made the newness make more sense than in some of the romance books I've read when the woman is supposedly awkward and the guy is the most desirable guy on the planet.
I also really like how much the author seems to respect women too. It's pretty rare, from female or male authors, to see women heroes portrayed as just so darn human, really brave but also fully vulnerable, smart and witty without being obnoxious, strong and capable, occasionally stupid, and with so many well-balanced characters throughout the book. I liked what I saw from the men in the book as well, but I would like to see more from the guys as the series develops.
As for the urban fantasy aspects of the story, that was the most inconsistent part of the book. There were a lot of things that I liked, but the storytelling was a bit up and down pacing-wise. And the depth of Sarah's personal story took up a bit of the time that might have been given to developing a deeper plot. It was good, but not stellar. I liked the way the mythology was woven into the story, it wasn't too heavy-handed. And there were some great moments. Like pissing herself in terror when she first saw the dragon, that was a good realistic moment. I liked the humor of the stuff with the Valkyries. And I really liked the way she actually kept telling everyone what was really going on once she figured it out instead of the secrecy that abounds in every other urban fantasy book. She may not have known what to say in her personal life, but she was good about trusting the right people when it came to the crazy stuff that was going on, it was a refreshing change. I also like that when the battles happened it was really a mess, people died, things burned, it was a disaster, it wasn't all magically neat and clean somehow. Big stuff happened, people's lives were changed and I'm eager to see what happens next and how they deal with it. There is actually quite a bit that I'm intrigued about the more I think about the things that were revealed in the book about the dragons' society, as well as the Black Briars, so I'm definitely glad that I have books 2 and 3 already lined up to start right away.
At the same time, she's wrestling with her personal life, which is going through some turmoil as well. Sarah was raised by some emotionally suppressive and damaging people on several levels, and she has the self esteem to prove it. And she's gay and in the first relationship of her life with the outgoing and lovely Katie, a bard she met at the renaissance fairs. And boy is Sarah wrestling with the situation. Katie just told Sarah that she loves her, but there's still a part of Sarah that feels shame about what her family and community indoctrinated into her as being an inappropriate way to live. And as much as I do not believe that to be true, when I was reading the book I couldn't help but feel deeply for her and the internal battles that she was going through, for her self-esteem issues, her confusion over her identity, her hopeless love for Katie, her jealousy of Katie's friendship with her ex-girlfriend, the consequences all of this caused, Sarah's sorrow over screwing up her relationship with her boss, Julie, and on and on; there was just so much great real life depth and emotion in this book. It's funny actually, I saw a review where the guy didn't like it because he thought it was more of a romance than urban fantasy (despite the dragons, dwarves, giants, goblins, Valkyries, sword fights, explosions, helicopter crashes, etc.). Usually that's my complaint, romance usually just isn't my style. But this didn't feel like romance to me. It's certainly a more sophisticated love story than the love-at-first-sight, based on nothing, they barely know each other but somehow they both just know that this is meant to be, love stories that I really don't enjoy. This is a real adult romance with all of the bumps and bruises that go along with that. And even though it was a theme that is often explored in traditional romances, a woman who has always felt awkward for whatever reason and is now in the middle of her first adult relationship, it felt fresh and real and true. And having the relationship take place between two women gave the author a lot of issues to explore in addition to the usual issues of insecurities and first mistakes, and made the newness make more sense than in some of the romance books I've read when the woman is supposedly awkward and the guy is the most desirable guy on the planet.
I also really like how much the author seems to respect women too. It's pretty rare, from female or male authors, to see women heroes portrayed as just so darn human, really brave but also fully vulnerable, smart and witty without being obnoxious, strong and capable, occasionally stupid, and with so many well-balanced characters throughout the book. I liked what I saw from the men in the book as well, but I would like to see more from the guys as the series develops.
As for the urban fantasy aspects of the story, that was the most inconsistent part of the book. There were a lot of things that I liked, but the storytelling was a bit up and down pacing-wise. And the depth of Sarah's personal story took up a bit of the time that might have been given to developing a deeper plot. It was good, but not stellar. I liked the way the mythology was woven into the story, it wasn't too heavy-handed. And there were some great moments. Like pissing herself in terror when she first saw the dragon, that was a good realistic moment. I liked the humor of the stuff with the Valkyries. And I really liked the way she actually kept telling everyone what was really going on once she figured it out instead of the secrecy that abounds in every other urban fantasy book. She may not have known what to say in her personal life, but she was good about trusting the right people when it came to the crazy stuff that was going on, it was a refreshing change. I also like that when the battles happened it was really a mess, people died, things burned, it was a disaster, it wasn't all magically neat and clean somehow. Big stuff happened, people's lives were changed and I'm eager to see what happens next and how they deal with it. There is actually quite a bit that I'm intrigued about the more I think about the things that were revealed in the book about the dragons' society, as well as the Black Briars, so I'm definitely glad that I have books 2 and 3 already lined up to start right away.
December 28, 2023
TW: sexual assault
There was certainly room for improvement, especially as I process more, hence changing my original review. I was pulled from the narrative more than a few times for mechanical or stylistic reasons. The characters were compelling, the concept equally compelling, but there were many places where the execution failed to deliver as others have said.
My biggest qualm is that the only real "steamy" section was essentially a couple guys assaulting the main character while she was drunk at a bar that the author justified by the character wanting it even though she was (a) extremwly drunk, (b) astral-projected over her body and horrified by what she saw, and (c) had been a lesbian from the start of the book to the end. That whole section was unnecessary, disgusting, and showed that the author had done little to contend with his own opinions regarding SA. It did nothing to further the plot that couldn't have easily been accomplished another way. So, if you do decide to read this book, huge trigger warning there.
I wanted it to be better and think it could have been without the SA and without the corny lines where the main character is possessed by the spirit of a middle grade narrator, like describing the dragon's roar with "think lion but 40 times scarier". That was plenty to rip me out of the story every time and ruin an otherwise enjoyable fantasy book.
There was certainly room for improvement, especially as I process more, hence changing my original review. I was pulled from the narrative more than a few times for mechanical or stylistic reasons. The characters were compelling, the concept equally compelling, but there were many places where the execution failed to deliver as others have said.
My biggest qualm is that the only real "steamy" section was essentially a couple guys assaulting the main character while she was drunk at a bar that the author justified by the character wanting it even though she was (a) extremwly drunk, (b) astral-projected over her body and horrified by what she saw, and (c) had been a lesbian from the start of the book to the end. That whole section was unnecessary, disgusting, and showed that the author had done little to contend with his own opinions regarding SA. It did nothing to further the plot that couldn't have easily been accomplished another way. So, if you do decide to read this book, huge trigger warning there.
I wanted it to be better and think it could have been without the SA and without the corny lines where the main character is possessed by the spirit of a middle grade narrator, like describing the dragon's roar with "think lion but 40 times scarier". That was plenty to rip me out of the story every time and ruin an otherwise enjoyable fantasy book.
May 5, 2011
Sarah Beuhall is pretty sure she needs therapy. Her personal demons of doubt and self-identity keep her from being happy with her life, even though at first it appears to be going well. She's got a job she loves (blacksmithing; props for a local B movie director), beautiful girlfriend who loves her (Katie), and a chosen family in her Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) reenactor friends--so why does everything still seem to go wrong?
But none of those problems are nearly as bad as the ones that revolve around her ownership of a black-bladed sword: these more immediate problems involve dwarves, Old Norse gods, and dragons. BLACK BLADE BLUES (no, I can't believe he named it that, either) by J.A. Pitts is your typical urban fantasy novel with some gettin-together by the main characters, the heroine learning that magic really exists, and swords--don't forget the swords.
The story takes places in modern-day Seattle, and even though Sarah likes fighting in skirmishes at the occasional Ren Fair, she's never believed that magic really exists. That is, until a movie extra claims he's a dwarf and that the black-bladed sword Sarah bought at an auction is magic. Then everything changes.
BLACK BLADE BLUES starts off slow. This is an urban fantasy novel, and UF is generally shorter, so a writer can't dilly dally with set-up and has got to start out at a dead run. He doesn't. Pitts probably thinks that the short chapters would solve the pace problems and choppy flow. They don't. Neither can they successfully hide awkward progression. You don't even really know what the 'story' is until well past page 100.
Sarah is the first-person PoV, but we occasionally see third-person via Katie, or a dragon (in human form) and a witch who consider the Northwest their territory, the people in it as chattel. Sometimes these switches help to advance plot and they're often more interesting than Sarah's part of the story; Katie's PoV scenes are used to advance the romance. However, it's Sarah's voice that will hook readers long before the plot, or before even liking her as a protagonist: it's full of attitude, sarcasm, and opinions. But readers will have a hard time liking Sarah since she spends so much time questioning Katie's attraction to her, she's got a dismal self body image, and she ruminates on an unpleasant childhood with a religious nut father--all of this was ham-handed and gloomy. On the plus side, while the F/F protagonist's relationship is an important part of the story, it doesn't feel like it's there for diversity's sake, and was for the most part believable.
Pitts' prose does get cliche. The conversations are vapid. The action scenes nothing to get too excited about. The climax is a SCAdian dream come true, and becomes over-the-top with trolls, dragons, and witches fighting reenactors on their horses and using homemade swords and mail. If you're looking for nerdy fun, then great, this is for you. Personally I thought it was a little silly.
What we end up with is a mixed bag, and a result I'm not really certain who the target audience is. Lesbian blacksmith protagonist who's uncomfortable with her sexual orientation, and becomes an important player in the fight against evil. Dragons and witches vying for control over humans, but we don't really understand why or how. SCAdian reenactors who on the outside seem really cool, but not much time is spent in that world other than the convenience of Sarah having friends who can call up an army to fight trolls. So, yeah, I'm going to have to say skip this one.
But none of those problems are nearly as bad as the ones that revolve around her ownership of a black-bladed sword: these more immediate problems involve dwarves, Old Norse gods, and dragons. BLACK BLADE BLUES (no, I can't believe he named it that, either) by J.A. Pitts is your typical urban fantasy novel with some gettin-together by the main characters, the heroine learning that magic really exists, and swords--don't forget the swords.
The story takes places in modern-day Seattle, and even though Sarah likes fighting in skirmishes at the occasional Ren Fair, she's never believed that magic really exists. That is, until a movie extra claims he's a dwarf and that the black-bladed sword Sarah bought at an auction is magic. Then everything changes.
BLACK BLADE BLUES starts off slow. This is an urban fantasy novel, and UF is generally shorter, so a writer can't dilly dally with set-up and has got to start out at a dead run. He doesn't. Pitts probably thinks that the short chapters would solve the pace problems and choppy flow. They don't. Neither can they successfully hide awkward progression. You don't even really know what the 'story' is until well past page 100.
Sarah is the first-person PoV, but we occasionally see third-person via Katie, or a dragon (in human form) and a witch who consider the Northwest their territory, the people in it as chattel. Sometimes these switches help to advance plot and they're often more interesting than Sarah's part of the story; Katie's PoV scenes are used to advance the romance. However, it's Sarah's voice that will hook readers long before the plot, or before even liking her as a protagonist: it's full of attitude, sarcasm, and opinions. But readers will have a hard time liking Sarah since she spends so much time questioning Katie's attraction to her, she's got a dismal self body image, and she ruminates on an unpleasant childhood with a religious nut father--all of this was ham-handed and gloomy. On the plus side, while the F/F protagonist's relationship is an important part of the story, it doesn't feel like it's there for diversity's sake, and was for the most part believable.
Pitts' prose does get cliche. The conversations are vapid. The action scenes nothing to get too excited about. The climax is a SCAdian dream come true, and becomes over-the-top with trolls, dragons, and witches fighting reenactors on their horses and using homemade swords and mail. If you're looking for nerdy fun, then great, this is for you. Personally I thought it was a little silly.
What we end up with is a mixed bag, and a result I'm not really certain who the target audience is. Lesbian blacksmith protagonist who's uncomfortable with her sexual orientation, and becomes an important player in the fight against evil. Dragons and witches vying for control over humans, but we don't really understand why or how. SCAdian reenactors who on the outside seem really cool, but not much time is spent in that world other than the convenience of Sarah having friends who can call up an army to fight trolls. So, yeah, I'm going to have to say skip this one.
December 16, 2015
Warning: Some Spoilers Ahead
Overall I was fairly unimpressed with Black Blade Blues. I disliked the main character, she was immature and made terrible choices and had a crap attitude. Now i know some of those choices were out of her hands (which i think is a lazy plot line to create extra drama) but that doesn't excuse everything away. I did on occasion feel for her, i can understand her reaction in relation to the PDA, at the time she was stunned and not coping very well with all the mixed emotions and guilt coming up, but you make a mistake and you apologize for it. It wasn't terrible, embarrassing maybe but not unforgivable, but she had to drag it out and make it TEN TIMES WORSE. The whole time i was just cursing what an idiot she was. And it wasn't just that - there was so much emotional and drama crap until about 3/4 of the book. filled with angsty, brooding miserable main character, who was in a lesbian relationship (once again could have been better) where i personally didn't see much connection, a tiny bit of black smiting (there was a lot of potential here that wasn't taken advantage of, least the author seems to know a decent amount about horses) some weird crap to do with a movie set (who didn't appear to be very successful. and was filled with assfaces). Then we were introduced to the action - this is what i had been waiting for!! everyone (okay some people) said this is where it gets good! and okay it got more enjoyable, but still managed to flop in some places, how can one flop when fighting dragons, trolls, ogres and giants? HOW?
Sarah likes, oh no the evil dragon has my GF i have to rescue her, she means everything to me. so does she go rescue the GF? no of course not, that would be expected, instead she runs off and kills a whole bunch of bad guy minions, occasionally looks over to make sure the GF hasnt been taken by the dragon in the helicopter which was RIGHT THERE (cause you know, of course a normal women would be able to fight off a dragon for a good 10 mins, even though he's already beaten the crap out of her and she can barely stand, makes sense yea?) then after skills hacked and killed most dudes and has run back and forth a few times she decides now is a good time to take on the dragon and save the GF, never mind she's all broken and crap from all the previous fighting. Yes least the hardest fight for last - good strategy, no way you'll end up dead.
and don't get me started on that fucking dwarf.
On the plus side, in the last 10 pages i was like yea, this is pretty good i might read the next books. then i thought of all the shit i had to read to get here and decided nope. Unless it is 100% amazing and declared by all I'm not picking it up. I will enjoy someone's spoilers instead. quicker and easier.
rated 2.5 stars
Overall I was fairly unimpressed with Black Blade Blues. I disliked the main character, she was immature and made terrible choices and had a crap attitude. Now i know some of those choices were out of her hands (which i think is a lazy plot line to create extra drama) but that doesn't excuse everything away. I did on occasion feel for her, i can understand her reaction in relation to the PDA, at the time she was stunned and not coping very well with all the mixed emotions and guilt coming up, but you make a mistake and you apologize for it. It wasn't terrible, embarrassing maybe but not unforgivable, but she had to drag it out and make it TEN TIMES WORSE. The whole time i was just cursing what an idiot she was. And it wasn't just that - there was so much emotional and drama crap until about 3/4 of the book. filled with angsty, brooding miserable main character, who was in a lesbian relationship (once again could have been better) where i personally didn't see much connection, a tiny bit of black smiting (there was a lot of potential here that wasn't taken advantage of, least the author seems to know a decent amount about horses) some weird crap to do with a movie set (who didn't appear to be very successful. and was filled with assfaces). Then we were introduced to the action - this is what i had been waiting for!! everyone (okay some people) said this is where it gets good! and okay it got more enjoyable, but still managed to flop in some places, how can one flop when fighting dragons, trolls, ogres and giants? HOW?
Sarah likes, oh no the evil dragon has my GF i have to rescue her, she means everything to me. so does she go rescue the GF? no of course not, that would be expected, instead she runs off and kills a whole bunch of bad guy minions, occasionally looks over to make sure the GF hasnt been taken by the dragon in the helicopter which was RIGHT THERE (cause you know, of course a normal women would be able to fight off a dragon for a good 10 mins, even though he's already beaten the crap out of her and she can barely stand, makes sense yea?) then after skills hacked and killed most dudes and has run back and forth a few times she decides now is a good time to take on the dragon and save the GF, never mind she's all broken and crap from all the previous fighting. Yes least the hardest fight for last - good strategy, no way you'll end up dead.
and don't get me started on that fucking dwarf.
On the plus side, in the last 10 pages i was like yea, this is pretty good i might read the next books. then i thought of all the shit i had to read to get here and decided nope. Unless it is 100% amazing and declared by all I'm not picking it up. I will enjoy someone's spoilers instead. quicker and easier.
rated 2.5 stars
July 17, 2010
Black Blade Blues enters a field inundated with new titles, the fiercely competitive urban fantasy sub genre. As such I almost didn't read it, which would have been a shame. For once, a newcomer to the scene has managed to write something more than an imitative rip-off of the established stars.
Pitts gives us a protagonist that at first blush made me think "Here we go, another tough chick heroine". But Sarah Beauhall is different than your prototypical urban fantasy tough girl. Sure, she's physically strong, studied martial arts when younger, tends to throw quips as a defensive gesture. That's almost de rigueur for an urban fantasy.
But Sarah is different. She's a blacksmith, a lesbian, tremendously self-conscious, emotionally under-developed, and only partially succeeding to overcome a strict religious childhood. Pitts depiction of Sarah and her foibles, and the problems they cause, are a refreshing change from the standard hero who throws out one-liners while getting their ass kicked. As a bonus, she doesn't run around thinking about how "dreamy" that vamp is, or that werewolf, etc.
Nordic trolls, giants, and ogres, dragons that have changed for modern times and taken human form, and dwarves that aren't the least bit Tolkienish are found throughout the novel. Pitts creates a world based on Norse mythology, and while I wasn't too excited about that at first, he does it well.
Sarah's life changes when she needs to reforge an antique sword she is using on a B movie where she works as the prop master. It is, of course, more than a normal sword and working on it sets things in motion in the world around her. Pitts does a nice job of slowly revealing this new world to Sarah and the reader during the novel, avoiding too much info-dumping which is often deemed necessary by lesser authors.
Now don't get me wrong, Black Blade Blues is not high literature but good old fashioned adventure, and there's nothing wrong with that. Once Sarah realizes the true nature of her sword and the world around her the action really takes off and the pages turn quickly. In some ways, the action reminded me of Jim Butcher--large set pieces in which the sh*t really flies, and people actually die.
This book is a fun read indeed, and well worth seeking out if you are in need of an urban fantasy that avoids most of the cliches of the genre. Recommended.
Pitts gives us a protagonist that at first blush made me think "Here we go, another tough chick heroine". But Sarah Beauhall is different than your prototypical urban fantasy tough girl. Sure, she's physically strong, studied martial arts when younger, tends to throw quips as a defensive gesture. That's almost de rigueur for an urban fantasy.
But Sarah is different. She's a blacksmith, a lesbian, tremendously self-conscious, emotionally under-developed, and only partially succeeding to overcome a strict religious childhood. Pitts depiction of Sarah and her foibles, and the problems they cause, are a refreshing change from the standard hero who throws out one-liners while getting their ass kicked. As a bonus, she doesn't run around thinking about how "dreamy" that vamp is, or that werewolf, etc.
Nordic trolls, giants, and ogres, dragons that have changed for modern times and taken human form, and dwarves that aren't the least bit Tolkienish are found throughout the novel. Pitts creates a world based on Norse mythology, and while I wasn't too excited about that at first, he does it well.
Sarah's life changes when she needs to reforge an antique sword she is using on a B movie where she works as the prop master. It is, of course, more than a normal sword and working on it sets things in motion in the world around her. Pitts does a nice job of slowly revealing this new world to Sarah and the reader during the novel, avoiding too much info-dumping which is often deemed necessary by lesser authors.
Now don't get me wrong, Black Blade Blues is not high literature but good old fashioned adventure, and there's nothing wrong with that. Once Sarah realizes the true nature of her sword and the world around her the action really takes off and the pages turn quickly. In some ways, the action reminded me of Jim Butcher--large set pieces in which the sh*t really flies, and people actually die.
This book is a fun read indeed, and well worth seeking out if you are in need of an urban fantasy that avoids most of the cliches of the genre. Recommended.
November 19, 2011
Geektastic modern fantasy with smart mythological references and sensitive characters. The 'urban fantasy' set may not love this; it's less about slick, dark, sexy action than it is about average geeks dealing with extraordinary problems (and ordinary but still tough ones).
I said geek twice in the first paragraph, because this feels like a book with a definite target audience: mainstream modern geeks. Renn faire lovers, DIYers, sword enthusiasts, techies, con-goers, queer-friendly folk, star wars fans, and people who are comfortable talking about 'teh interwebz.' If that's not you, it shouldn't be inaccessible, but that's where it's coming from (the author is a dude in a kilt) and that's primarily who it's speaking to.
Sarah is frustratingly imperfect but charmingly self-aware, and does grow over the course of the story. What it does better than maybe any other book I've read is give you a window into why a hero resists a calling: y'know what, the hero is fucking busy and has a dinner obligation and bills to pay. Dresden tries for this and is never quite so convincing.
The writing stumbles in a few places; it feels a little like a first novel, but I'll be looking forward to the second and third.
I said geek twice in the first paragraph, because this feels like a book with a definite target audience: mainstream modern geeks. Renn faire lovers, DIYers, sword enthusiasts, techies, con-goers, queer-friendly folk, star wars fans, and people who are comfortable talking about 'teh interwebz.' If that's not you, it shouldn't be inaccessible, but that's where it's coming from (the author is a dude in a kilt) and that's primarily who it's speaking to.
Sarah is frustratingly imperfect but charmingly self-aware, and does grow over the course of the story. What it does better than maybe any other book I've read is give you a window into why a hero resists a calling: y'know what, the hero is fucking busy and has a dinner obligation and bills to pay. Dresden tries for this and is never quite so convincing.
The writing stumbles in a few places; it feels a little like a first novel, but I'll be looking forward to the second and third.
May 17, 2012
I gotta tell ya, at first I didn't expect much from Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts. I know we're not supposed to judge a book by it cover but (as my daughter pointed out to me) really, a blacksmith in a crop top? Seems like a recipe for burnt belly button. But the book was better than I thought it would be. Pitts, a man married to a woman and with kids, does a great job getting into the mind and body of a lesbian who's only recently out. (Yes, I know a man married to a woman can be gay, thank you.) Details of smithing, martial arts (taekwondo and swordplay), Norse mythology all ring true. Great action, especially battle scenes, with descriptions carefully rendered. Nicely plotted as well, so that what seem to be small details early on resonate and become crucial. Can't say more than that because I do hope you'll read the book and I don't want to spill any spoilers here. Pick this one up.
June 28, 2015
i love the d&d / Norse mythology theme. girl with sword and a bard for a girlfriend? takes me back to text based gaming days. i do think the tedious battle scenes would have dragged on a bit if i were reading and not listening. loved the theme but bored by the plot. I'm debating getting book 2 but i probably will at some point. 3.5
May 13, 2016
I feel like this book didn't live up to my already overblown excitement for this book. While this book was definitely good, and there are some very interesting and fun ideas in it, I just couldn't really fall in love with it.
March 23, 2020
Whoa boy...this is a difficult one for me. I don't generally like to give bad reviews, but then there are also things that irk me. SPOILERS ahead: First off, I felt as if the entire chapters of 1-6 were all about how completely hot and perfect the main character's girlfriend was - you get one reprieve in chapter four, then it's back to how sexy Katie is all over again.
I originally picked this book up, because it looked and sounded very cool. Great cover art, kudos to Dan Dos Santos for that beauty. I was excited for all of the mentions of Norse mythology, as I am very interested in such. However, all of that fell flat.
Over halfway into the book and the main character is still struggling with her sexuality, which I get it, that can be a very scary and difficult thing to come to terms with. I just feel as if that was the main plot in all of this, and not the original having to do with a sword, dragons, etc.
I also wasn't too keen on the mentions of trying to force a lesbian to be straight, I found at least two. Characters are personalities with their own beliefs as well, and that shouldn't reflect on the author. It was just something that didn't sit well with me.
In the end, I started to enjoy the fight scenes and Sarah's character development, yet it wasn't enough to convince me to read the rest of the series.
Two stars seems a fair review. I hope there are people out there who will enjoy this book, I just can't be counted as one.
I originally picked this book up, because it looked and sounded very cool. Great cover art, kudos to Dan Dos Santos for that beauty. I was excited for all of the mentions of Norse mythology, as I am very interested in such. However, all of that fell flat.
Over halfway into the book and the main character is still struggling with her sexuality, which I get it, that can be a very scary and difficult thing to come to terms with. I just feel as if that was the main plot in all of this, and not the original having to do with a sword, dragons, etc.
I also wasn't too keen on the mentions of trying to force a lesbian to be straight, I found at least two. Characters are personalities with their own beliefs as well, and that shouldn't reflect on the author. It was just something that didn't sit well with me.
In the end, I started to enjoy the fight scenes and Sarah's character development, yet it wasn't enough to convince me to read the rest of the series.
Two stars seems a fair review. I hope there are people out there who will enjoy this book, I just can't be counted as one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2014
I feel like I need to preface this review with a caveat - I adored the first 250 pages of Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts. Utterly adored it. The last third of it, however, was not as good. Allow me to explain.
Sarah Beauhall works as a Blacksmith doing whatever odd job she can get. Stints in the Renaissance Faires have attracted admiration of her swords craft which, in turn, has landed her a job in the movies. Working as a prop manager she attends to all of the weaponry needed for a medieval period drama type piece. When the main actor's sword gets cracked Sarah has to repair it, gaining the attention of one of the Extras - Rolph. Rolph claims to be a Dwarf. He also claims that the sword Sarah is reforging is the legendary Fafnir's Bane from an old Nordic tale. Sarah thinks he's insane, and writes him off.
But things begin to happen to test Sarah's conviction. Runes surface from the skin on her leg and more and more things begin to go wrong. Her relationship with her girlfriend, Katie, falls into jeopardy and the only thing Sarah can do is believe the unbelievable, but is she strong enough to accept everything based on faith?
Like I said, I adored the first two thirds of this book. The dialogue is snappy and the characters are fun to run around with. Sarah's journey makes for an interesting character to read. She's gay and hates herself for it. She was raised in a very religious household and can't seem to get over the notion that anyone who is gay is "unnatural" or an "abomination". This undermines her own self-esteem to such a degree that it threatens her inter-personal relationships with everyone, least of all her girlfriend. This twist on the Urban Fantasy/Damsel-in-Distress romance is dynamic and fresh.
My problem came in with the latter part of the book where Sarah has galvanized herself to accept the quest. Throughout the book we have shifting narratives from first person (Sarah) to third person (anyone who is not Sarah). The third person shifts become confusing in the later part of the book, and somewhat unnecessary. Pitts could just have easily turned all of the third person to first person, or vice versa. I'm not sure that he is a strong enough writer to pull off both with a degree of success and this book proved it. The first chunk is largely Sarah's part and very engaging. The rest is meh. Also, the battle scenes were overlong. I grew bored reading them, and began to skim.
I was all interested to see where Sarah went so the possibility of reading the sequel Honeyed Words appeals to me on some level. The fact that I didn't even finish this book, however, speaks volumes as for my interest. I think Pitts strength lies in character driven stories but he sucks at the dismount, to put it bluntly. Maybe in a few weeks I'll see if my curiosity demands it but I don't typically read sequels if the end of the first book was driving me crazy. I would only be reading it for Sarah's relationship. Frankly.
3 out of 5 stars. I really did love the beginning. That alone is worth the read.
- review courtesy of www.bibliopunkkreads.com
July 31, 2011
I finished reading Black Blade Blues a couple of weeks ago. It’s a fun romp. I’m a bit of a Norse Mythology fan (after discovering Thor comic books in the mid-sixties) and this had just enough Norse gods undertone. (Norse Code (2009) by Greg Van Eekhout is especially fun if you’re into that sort of thing.) The main character in Black Blade Blues, Sarah Beauhall, is a part time blacksmith and part time movie props manager in the Pacific Northwest. She’s also one angry and confused young woman.
Given the author’s initially name and the female lead, I assumed (sexistly?) when I bought the book that it was by a female author. Apparently I’ve been unduly influenced by author names like C.L. Moore, C.J. Cherryh & J.A. Jance, and not enough by names like H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft & J.R.R. Tolkein.
Anyway, Black Blade Blues is urban fantasy, but unlike a lot of the urban fantasy I’ve read (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (1996) and Kraken (2010) notwithstanding), Sarah is not a believer. She has to be dragged kicking and screaming into a world she not only doesn’t believe in, but a world she doesn’t want to believe in.
Before reading Black Blade Blues the sequel, Honeyed Words (2011), was released. I bought it with mixed feelings; as always I’m unsure I’m interested in starting another series. Now that I’ve read Black Blade Blues, I still have mixed feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Black Blade Blues a lot, and I thought Sarah was a very entertaining lead character. But part of her charm was her stubborn unbelief in what was happening around her. And part of the charm of the book was watching her slowly being forced to accept it.
Presumably the sequel will forgo a lot of that. Hopefully Sarah’s new knowledge (and acceptance?) won’t totally change her and she’ll still be an interestingly flawed human being in the sequel.
Black Blade Blues is a good read and it works pretty well as a standalone novel. After having read just it, I don’t feel like I’ve only read part of the story.
Given the author’s initially name and the female lead, I assumed (sexistly?) when I bought the book that it was by a female author. Apparently I’ve been unduly influenced by author names like C.L. Moore, C.J. Cherryh & J.A. Jance, and not enough by names like H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft & J.R.R. Tolkein.
Anyway, Black Blade Blues is urban fantasy, but unlike a lot of the urban fantasy I’ve read (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (1996) and Kraken (2010) notwithstanding), Sarah is not a believer. She has to be dragged kicking and screaming into a world she not only doesn’t believe in, but a world she doesn’t want to believe in.
Before reading Black Blade Blues the sequel, Honeyed Words (2011), was released. I bought it with mixed feelings; as always I’m unsure I’m interested in starting another series. Now that I’ve read Black Blade Blues, I still have mixed feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Black Blade Blues a lot, and I thought Sarah was a very entertaining lead character. But part of her charm was her stubborn unbelief in what was happening around her. And part of the charm of the book was watching her slowly being forced to accept it.
Presumably the sequel will forgo a lot of that. Hopefully Sarah’s new knowledge (and acceptance?) won’t totally change her and she’ll still be an interestingly flawed human being in the sequel.
Black Blade Blues is a good read and it works pretty well as a standalone novel. After having read just it, I don’t feel like I’ve only read part of the story.
December 16, 2012
I ripped thru this book pretty quickly, and enjoyed it all the way to the end. I liked the lead character, Sarah, and I thought the author did a good job of telling her story. Some of the dialog seemed a little silly at times (you'd think a dwarf who's been living among humans for centuries would learn to talk like someone who wasn't a character in a Ren Fair), and I've yet to read a guy author who's done a perfect job of writing women characters (much less conflicted lesbian blacksmiths with baggage), but on the good side the dragons were a-holes (finally!), there was heaps of explosions, Sarah's a real bad-ass with a forge hammer and sword and, best of all (angry GF issues with conflicted lesbian blacksmiths aside) it wasn't a friggin' paranormal romance!
A lot of the reviews are spending a lot of time concentrating Sarah and her propensity for being a jerk. Okay. So Sarah could be a jerk sometimes. She also knew that she was being a jerk to her friends and GF, but there were reasons. Did the bits where she was being a jerk seem to be a bit too many? Perhaps, but each time she was being a jerk led to something that would or would not have happened if she'd not been jerking. Anyway, there were reasons for it. She's dealing with a lot of shit! Jeeze!
I reada couple of other reviews that said it started off too slow. I was just the opposite. I was having a really hard time right off the bat in believing that so many people knew so damned much about Norse gods, goddesses, history and lore. One chapter in and she's talking to dwarves? Sure, she was hanging with a bunch of SCA enthusiasts, but come on. Really? I have to think that for 99% of people anywhere, the bulk of what they might know about Norse lore is what they learned in the movie Thor. That being said, I liked the time that the author used to build up the characters. He was building the groundwork for a series, and I don't feel it was wasted.
By the way, another cover that's just not even close. The covers for the sequels look even more off the mark. Do these guys even read the books?
A lot of the reviews are spending a lot of time concentrating Sarah and her propensity for being a jerk. Okay. So Sarah could be a jerk sometimes. She also knew that she was being a jerk to her friends and GF, but there were reasons. Did the bits where she was being a jerk seem to be a bit too many? Perhaps, but each time she was being a jerk led to something that would or would not have happened if she'd not been jerking. Anyway, there were reasons for it. She's dealing with a lot of shit! Jeeze!
I reada couple of other reviews that said it started off too slow. I was just the opposite. I was having a really hard time right off the bat in believing that so many people knew so damned much about Norse gods, goddesses, history and lore. One chapter in and she's talking to dwarves? Sure, she was hanging with a bunch of SCA enthusiasts, but come on. Really? I have to think that for 99% of people anywhere, the bulk of what they might know about Norse lore is what they learned in the movie Thor. That being said, I liked the time that the author used to build up the characters. He was building the groundwork for a series, and I don't feel it was wasted.
By the way, another cover that's just not even close. The covers for the sequels look even more off the mark. Do these guys even read the books?
April 10, 2012
There's a lot to like about this new urban fantasy title, and a few serious dislikes, too. Let's start with the likes and the general story.[return][return]Sarah Beauhall is a blacksmith by day, a B-movie props manager by night. When her favorite sword is broken on the set, one of the movie extras approaches her. That sword isn't some mere antique. It's Gram, an ancient magical sword, and she's supposed to kill a dragon with it. And the movie extra claims to be a dwarf (a six foot tall one at that). Sarah has a few choice words, after she successfully reforges the sword strange things happen. Her emotions flow out of control. Her girlfriend breaks up with her. The strange one-eyed homeless guy begins spouting bizarre lines. Oh, and the slick guy who buys into the movie's shares happens to have a dragon's shadow.[return][return]The concept of this book is awesome (and it takes place in my old stomping grounds of Seattle and Everett, a huge plus for me), but the execution can best be described as uneven. It's a long book at almost 400 pages in trade paperback. The first one-hundred pages are very, very slow. There are hints at magical things, but the main plot does not start moving. The sub-plot about Sarah coping with her sexuality takes over the book. It is certainly an important aspect of her character, but the main plot of the book just... wanders away. Oh, and Sarah is a completely unlikable jerk for a time. But when things do come together, the climax of the book goes on for something like 150-pages. The denouement is long to tie things up, but it still doesn't resolve some of the major questions of the book.[return][return]It felt kind of like driving at 30 miles her hour, revving up to 100 for an hour, then dropping to 20 before crawling to a stop.[return][return]I still have to rate this book high for the concept, but the pacing will make me hesitate before buying the sequel.
July 12, 2011
I picked up this book after I sat in on a norwescon session on gender in speculative fiction. J.A. Pitts was the sole male representative on that panel, and after hearing the discussion on the challenges of stepping outside ones gender in writing characters, I decided to give his book a try.
I probably set the bar pretty high as far as the content of this book goes. I'm a Seattle native, and I am part of various alternative communities. I've also tended to read urban fantasy written by women, as that's what's out there, and I like female protagonists.
And I like Sarah, the protagonist of Black Blade Blues. The first half of the book was heavy on character development. Sarah's internal emotional conflicts with her sexuality, her relationships and the crazy events happening around her were quite real to me. As I'm all about empathy with the characters in the fiction I read, this was quite a big positive for me. I will say that J.A. Pitts did well in crafting a protagonist who's a woman, who's lesbian, and who's a blacksmith.
The action doesn't really take off until the last third of the book, but the major action sequence was dramatic, exposing the protagonists to both loss and success. Still, if you like to focus on the action aspects of urban fantasy, you may have a bit of a time getting through the first half or so.
I also rather liked the Norse mythology take on urban fantasy. Not your typical vampire and werewolf fare, even though I love that stuff too. The mythology was sufficiently familiar to me that I had a context in which to experience the story. It might be a bit more challenging for those who aren't familiar with some Norse mythology.
This book was an obvious setup for a series, the end leaving enough open that I look forward to reading Honeyed Words.
I probably set the bar pretty high as far as the content of this book goes. I'm a Seattle native, and I am part of various alternative communities. I've also tended to read urban fantasy written by women, as that's what's out there, and I like female protagonists.
And I like Sarah, the protagonist of Black Blade Blues. The first half of the book was heavy on character development. Sarah's internal emotional conflicts with her sexuality, her relationships and the crazy events happening around her were quite real to me. As I'm all about empathy with the characters in the fiction I read, this was quite a big positive for me. I will say that J.A. Pitts did well in crafting a protagonist who's a woman, who's lesbian, and who's a blacksmith.
The action doesn't really take off until the last third of the book, but the major action sequence was dramatic, exposing the protagonists to both loss and success. Still, if you like to focus on the action aspects of urban fantasy, you may have a bit of a time getting through the first half or so.
I also rather liked the Norse mythology take on urban fantasy. Not your typical vampire and werewolf fare, even though I love that stuff too. The mythology was sufficiently familiar to me that I had a context in which to experience the story. It might be a bit more challenging for those who aren't familiar with some Norse mythology.
This book was an obvious setup for a series, the end leaving enough open that I look forward to reading Honeyed Words.
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