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The fantasy genre has its share of tropes, and a lot of authors are content to grab a handful of them, staple them together, and call it a book. Fortunately, Zbasnik is not one of those authors. "The King's Blood" consistently sidesteps, inverts, or outright mocks fantasy cliches, sometimes all at the same time. This not only makes the book quite funny in places, but also makes the twists and turns of the plot harder to anticipate-- whenever you think the story is heading down a predictable path, it more often than not is about to pull the rug out from under you.
The nice thing is, Zbasnik's dedication to skewering tropes doesn't come at the expense of the story. "The King's Blood" isn't just a collection of jokes; it's an honest-to-goodness epic fantasy that also happens to satirize its own genre. Sometimes it's laugh-out-loud funny, and at other times it's nerve-wrackingly dramatic. And it all *works*. The humor and the pathos play off each other, rather than fighting for attention. The end result is a story you actually care about.
A big part of this is due to the characters, all of whom are excellently realized. They aren't pawns being moved around at the whims of the plot-- they feel like actual people, and the plot is a consequence of their actions, not the cause of them. Whether sympathetic or horrifying, likable or repulsive, they come across as genuine people. Zbasnik's aversion to cliche shows up here as well-- a couple characters look like stock archetypes when they first show up, but are eventually revealed to have unexpected depths.
Upshot is this-- I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book, and was very pleasantly surprised at how awesome it was. If you're looking for something original in the fantasy genre, give "The King's Blood" a shot.
I love this book! I love the writing style of S.E. Zbasnik. Her writing really made me feel like I was living in a time where there was magic and soothsayers. As I read the book, I imagined that I was Ciara and what it would be like to be a teenager at a time like this. I absolutely love the character of Ciara.
The flow of the book was great. I never got bored. I was always on the edge of my seat, waiting for whatever came next. As well as being quite dramatic, the book was also fun to read. Who doesn't love a good adventure?!?
The book was well-written, intriguing and interesting. Trust me, with this book, you will never be bored while reading. I don't want to give any spoilers, here... but how could it be anything other that exciting reading the trials and tribulations of a 15 year old trying to save an entire Empire?
A delightfully modern take on classic fantasy! The King’s Blood dances nimbly between gritty intensity and plucky humor with surprising grace. Zbasnik's characters are immediately familiar and real, making everything they experience feel that much more rich to the reader. A wonderful, easy read with delightful twists and turns, and laughter all the way.
"Dwarves In Space" is an incredibly entertaining work of fiction. It's set in a sci-fi universe where the universe has been settled by the diverse races familiar to any fantasy reader. Elves, orcs, and of course dwarves all show up, as do dryads, genies, and a host of others as well. It gives the universe a diverse feel, without having to throw a bunch of brand-new alien races at the reader, and works surprisingly well. Zbasnik never overloads the reader with technobabble or info dumps, doling out background when it's necessary, without slowing down the plot.
The setup of the book is superficially similar to the late, lamented television show 'Firefly'. Like that show, "Dwarves In Space" follows a starship that's seen better days, crewed by a group of misfits trying to make their way through a frequently-uncooperative universe. Zbasnik's characters are all their own, however. While some get more of the spotlight than others, they're all well-realized characters with distinct personalities. The interplay between them makes for some of the book's best moments.
"Dwarves In Space" isn't an out-and-out comedy, per se, but it doesn't take itself completely seriously, either. Zbasnik effortlessly shifts from intense action to tongue-in-cheek joking and back again, without detracting from either. I found plenty to laugh at, while still caring very much about what was going to happen to the characters. Ultimately, when I finished the book, my immediate reaction was to want more-- more of this delightful universe and its quirky inhabitants. Bottom line, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Thanks to Joss Whedon’s long-standing status as Official Nerd Darling, pretty much any space adventure with a rag-tag crew of misfits getting into scrapes and having snarky dialogue with each other gets compared to Firefly. And I’ll admit, that’s a correlation I drew at first too. There are definitely similarities, and it’s very easy to say “Oh, did you like Firefly? Well, you’ll like this too!” But to be honest, I think that does Dwarves a bit of a disservice. For one thing, Dwarves actually feels like a world, rather than a tiny little sliver of a world that’s supposed to feel big but isn’t actually represented. We actually get to explore the different cultures available in Dwarves and in a way that was really satisfying, rather than just hearing lore about all of these different places and wishing we could maybe go there someday. (Or worse, as in Firefly, seeing trappings of these cultures used everywhere but never actually seeing the people the cultures represent) The crew is also, in my opinion at least, more nuanced than the folks over on Firefly, who unfortunately get sucked into a lot of very common sci-fi tropes, never to escape. And finally, there is the very obvious element of D&D-esque fantasy in Dwarves that Firefly doesn’t possess.
So now that we’ve all gotten that out of our systems, how about we stow the Firefly comparisons for the rest of the review. Instead, let’s focus on how funny and genuine this book is, because I really do want everyone reading this review to go and get themselves a copy.
Long-time readers of this blog will already know how much I need (and want) to connect with the characters in my books. If I can truly form an emotional bond with one (or more) of your characters, then I am yours. With Dwarves, this bond formed almost instantly. There wasn’t a single character on the Elation Cru that I couldn’t imagine myself hanging out with. (Or, in Ferra’s case, keeping my distance from very respectfully so she doesn’t throw a space-wrench at my head.) They all feel like people, which may sound a bit funny but in my opinion this is one of the hardest things to achieve in books. Making your characters feel realistic and relatable is the holy grail of speculative fiction, and in Dwarves, the author does it with ease. When I can close my eyes and predict how a character will act in a certain situation because I know them just that darn well, you know you’ve hit paydirt.
I was also surprised–and delighted!–to discover that there is romance in this book! But it is not the frustrating, treacle-y kind of romance I am used to seeing shoehorned into sci-fi novels, where some naive farm boy stumbles over his words or some naive farm girl hates herself when she thinks about touching somebody’s junk. Nope, this is a romance where two adults who have Seen Some S*** realize that they really really want to touch each other but aren’t quite sure how to handle it. Dear Universe, please give me more relationships like this–my spoon is polished, cleaned and ready for me to eat them up with. While I have nothing against naievete, let’s be honest: That concept h as gotten its moment in the sun. There are way more folks out there who aren’t quite sure what to do with their emotions and their Pantsfeelings, and seeing two people who I already loved try to figure out how to love each other was SO satisfying. #TeamWantToSayTheirNamesButCan’tCauseSpoilers.
Oh hey, did I almost forget to mention the badass action scenes? Yup. No joke, I’ve lost count of how many sci-fi (and fantasy!) novels I’ve read where any kind of fighting or action comes across with all the dynamism of a wet paper bag. Thanks, but I don’t need to know about every bead of sweat meaningfully trickling down the side of our protagonist’s face, nor do I need to know what their hopes and dreams are as they attempt to plunge their sword/lightsaber/sonic buzzsaw into the other party’s chest. But not Dwarves in Space! I kid you not, the author somehow manages to make things like pulling wires or hitting buttons on a console seem intense. It’s great. This applies to both personal fight scenes, and ones which take place in Ye Olde Voide of Space. The fighting in this book was also enjoyable to me because it doesn’t feel like it’s taking place of the plot or the story; rather, it’s happening because of the story. You know, like fight scenes should. It’s not just padding.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this book is funny. Genuinely funny. Granted, humor is a subjective business and I can’t say for sure that you’ll be tickled by it the same way I was, but damn it, when was the last time I read a sci-fi novel that was actually amusing? I don’t even remember. They’re all usually trying to be so damn Serious Business that they forget how humor works. Or worse, they try and rip of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Monty Python so hard that they come across as self-congratulatory flatulence. Reading something that laughs both at itself and at the situations unfolding was a nice change.
In conclusion, you should absolutely order this book. You should read it, hopefully enjoy it, and do a little dance that this is a sci-fi book that doesn’t rely on technobabble or each member of an alien species all being the same in order to make its point. We could definitely use a lot more of those.
"Dwarves In Space" is the first volume in a series and by the time you've finished with it, you'll be very glad that there's more to come. If there is any justice in the alternate universe of genre fandom, this will quickly rise to become one of the most beloved of franchises. The comparisons to Pratchett and Adams are obvious, but don't expect Pratchett or Adams. The satire and absurdist humor is there, as is the quirky prose, but this author has a style all her own. It may seem odd to say about a story involving elves, dwarves, djinn, et all, but the characters are all very human-- and a novel, or franchise, is made or broken on the characters. In chapter one, you will be amused; by the final chapter, you will want to sign on to the crew. Just be sure that your affairs are in order.
The story itself is equally strong, with all the effortless world building of Niven and shoulda-seen-that-coming plot twists of McDevitt. I'm tempted to say it's a roller coaster ride, but it's more like the Kooky Kastle (if your childhood was blessed with one of those). The climax is grueling-- by the time you get there, you'll be so invested that your fingernails will be digging into your palms, so you might want to pick up a pair of gloves.
In a couple of years, I expect the name "Dwarves In Space" to be rolling off the collective tongue of fandom as trippingly as does "Discworld" or "Hitchhiker's Guide" or "Star Trek" or "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show." Get in on the ground floor so you don't have to take the stairs.