This one is from Deathray magazine (February 2008 issue) in the UK, written by Owen Williams – another 4 out of 5 stars for The Shadow of Tyr.

I must admit to my shame that I don’t know this magazine.
I am guessing, but I think Williams is someone who has a love-hate relationship with the genre, and I’m relieved to find I fall on the good side of the divide! The review was certainly entertaining and had me thinking about my own work, which is always a good thing. Go out and buy the February issue to read it all. Here are some exerpts:

Heart of the Mirage was “immediately notable for fantasy world building that owed more to the Roman Empire and the Arabian Nights than to traditional medieval genre tropes. The follow-up The Shadow of Tyr…shifts the action to the heart of the Empire and replaces the Arabian elements with some shades of the American War of Independence.”
…
“Larke’s writing is breezy and refreshing, conveying some heavy themes with a light touch and a deft vocabulary; uniquely among fantasy authors, she knows the correct usage of ‘disinterested’. There’s also a lot of humour in the novel; a level of wit – rather than out-and-out comedy – that sets it apart from some of its more po-faced contemporaries, in a way a little bit reminiscent of Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar series.”
…
“Really strong and believable female leads like Ligea are all too rare in a genre where even exceptional writers, such as Robin Hobb, generally use men as their protagonists. The threat of Arrant taking the limelight from Ligea is worrying…”

I must admit, I had no thought of the American War of Independence when I was writing the book; I was thinking in more general terms, but I certainly was basing my story on a background of any Empire resulting in inequality and the misuse of power, and whether the struggle to be free is worth the price paid.

The bit about Fritz Leiber blows me away. Wow.

As for the last bit – well, I kind of thought of both Heart of the Mirage and The Shadow of Tyr as being Ligea’s story, while Arrant’s story is covered in The Shadow of Tyr and The Song of the Shiver Barrens. Ligea is in the latter too, and her role is important and crucial, but she doesn’t take centre stage. I don’t look on her as being overshadowed by her son though – she is far too strong an individual for that, but it is Arrant’s book. And I hope it is still good for all that…

Another 4 out of 5 star review, this from Rhian Drinkwater at SFX Magazine in the UK (Jan 2008).

Here are some of the nice things said:

“The Shadow of Tyr …stands up successfully as a story in its own right. It tells the tale of Ligea Gayed, a woman with powerful magical ability who is trying to end slavery and bring down an empire, and of her son Arrant, who’s born into the middle of a war and turmoil and who simply – and heartbreakingly – wants his parents to be parents and warriors or kings.

“It’s this frustrated desire that provides the driving force of the climax of the book, and though the major plot points are war, rebellion, death and strategy, it’s the intense emotions of the main players that really shine through.”
…

“The Shadow of Tyr is not for those looking for bloody depictions of war, but for those more interested in the emotional costs of rebellions and politics, it’s a well-written and satisfying read.”

This is by way of apology to all the people who either bought Heart of the Mirage recently in Australia as a result of meeting me at Swancon, or who received a free copy of it as a result of buying Feist’s latest – and then found that Book 2 in the trilogy The Shadow of Tyr was temporarily unavailable.

I sincerely hope you enjoyed Heart of the Mirage and it distresses me that The Shadow of Tyr was allowed to go out of print at such an inopportune time. I scoured Perth while I was there in both March and Arpil, and never found a single copy on sale anywhere except the speciality shops (bless ’em). I know, I know, it was totally ridiculous to run what was in effect a marketing campaign for the book and then not have it available – but that’s the kind of inanity that happens in the publishing business.

However, rest assured, The Shadow of Tyr is now in print once more and it should be back on the shelves very soon, if not already.

Here’s the prologue, just to whet your appetite:

Temellin stood on the sea wall and watched the Platterfish manoeuvre through the moored fisher boats. In the windless waters of the fishing harbour, four oars stroked in unison from the lower deck, while the sail hung like a rumpled blanket from the top spar. On the top deck, a woman leant at the railing, looking back at him.

Ligea Gayed, who was also his cousin Sarana Solad. She really was leaving him, taking his unborn child with her. Nothing he’d said had persuaded her to stay, and his sense of betrayal was matched only by the intensity of his loss. She could have chosen to rule this land alone, she could have chosen to share his rule, she could have done neither and just chosen to stay anyway. Instead, she had put her own quest for revenge, justice — call it what you would — before their love.

He understood, yet was bitterly angered, but it made no difference anyway: he loved her and always would. Mirageless soul, how was he going to live a life without her now that he had known what it was like to share it with her?

As the boat slipped past the arms of the narrow entrance and out of the harbour’s embrace, the shipmaster manning the stern sweep called out something to Ligea, and indicated the limp sail. She laughed and waved at Temellin, pointing to it in turn. He knew what they were asking, and obliged because he liked the irony of it ─ using his own power to send the woman he loved away. A breeze sprang out of nowhere to fill the flaxen squares ribbed with leather along the joins.

She raised her hand in farewell as the boat picked up speed and slid over the first of the ocean swells. Even across the distance, he felt the emotion she let free for him to sense: that mix of love and sorrow and determination that was peculiarly hers.

As he watched, he saw Brand come and stand by her side. Damn his eyes. And yet he was grateful the Altani was there for her. Gratitude and jealousy, side by side … nothing was simple any more.

Cabochon take it, Sarana, you turn a man inside out.

A voice spoke softly from behind him, echoing his sentiments, but for a quite different reason. ‘She should not go. No Magoroth should leave Kardiastan now. Not when those murdering blond bastards walk our streets and war is coming.’

He turned to look at the speaker: a crinkle-skinned fisherman weaving closed a tear in the side of an aging lobster pot, a man too ancient to sail with the fleet any more.

‘She will still fight our battles, old man,’ he said. ‘She will be in a position to stop legionnaires from landing on our shores, one day.’

The fisherman grunted, his disbelief strong in the air. ‘How much longer, Magori?’ he asked. ‘How much longer before I don’t fear to walk me own streets again? Will these old bones last long enough for this ancient to see freedom once more, eh?’

Temellin gave a grim smile. ‘You look as tough as shleth leather. You’ll make it.’ In his heart, he wasn’t so sure. It was one thing to start a war — they could, and would, do that soon. They’d been on the way to begin when Sarana had brought the news of the Stalwarts attack across the Alps. But win? That was another matter.

Hostages, he thought as he walked back along the sea wall towards the town. The Tyranians have a land full of hostages, and they’ll use them, too. How much stomach will we have to go on fighting when they can attack the innocent?

Sands take it, maybe Sarana was right. Maybe her help in Tyr would be crucial. Maybe without it, Kardiastan would never be free, for all their Magor power. Power, he mused, his thoughts bleak, even Magor power ─ it’s not everything. It might not even be enough.

Weird first.
A Malaysian supposed-to-be-Muslim woman has been send to jail for apostasy. For two years.

I am mystified why religious idiots think one has a choice about belief. One believes, or one doesn’t. You can’t suddenly force yourself to believe, for example, that the moon is made of green cheese, simply because someone says you must; any more than a devout person will suddenly disbelieve in God because he has been told he must.

The only thing you can do – which thousands upon thousands of so-called Muslims do across the world – is lie about your lack of belief so you don’t get punished. (And from what I can see, in the US, if you are standing for an elected government position and you are an atheist, you’d better lie or you can say goodbye to winning. After all, we all know that atheists cannot possibly be upright, decent, honest citizens…)

I may think the Malaysian lady is a bit daft (her beliefs border on the bizarre – the cult she belonged to had links to a giant teapot sculpture…), but I admire her principles. Would I go to jail for a belief? I doubt it. I’d just lie like mad.

Disastrous second.
My computer keeps on slooooooooooooooooooowing down. And I mean SLOW. Press one key and wait up to a minute for it to react. Only cure is to close down (which takes approximately half an hour) and reboot. During one of these annoying episodes, it failed to save my work properly – and I lost a huge chunk of Rogue Rainlord. I didn’t notice and blithely OVERWROTE my good backup copies with the corrupted one. Clever, clever, Glenda. Fortunately I did have a print out. Now I am having to retype.

Encouraging third.
The Shadow of Tyr (Orbit UK) has gone to reprint. Nice.

…is transected with peaks and gullies.

In the past 24 hours, I have:

• received my first copy of “The Shadow of Tyr” with its lovely comment from Karen Miller – a superb writer and a bestseller herself – and I just love it. I keep stroking the cover…
• been told by my agent that my German contract has been cancelled. I’d signed the contract, and been paid the initial advance – and then the editor involved left and no one has picked up the baton. Sigh. Especially distressing as the German reading public loved “Havenstar” and were very supportive.
• received my Voyager diary for 2008 which is just gorgeous and full of zany quotes and idiocies from the Voyager-Australia authors, including myself. Buy a load of Voyager books in December in Oz and you will probably get a free copy…
• seen a stack of copies of “Heart of Mirage” Orbit edition on sale in MPH MidValley Kuala Lumpur. Hey, I am still kid enough to be thrilled by things like that. (So whaddya waiting for, KLites? Get down there!! I suspect it is also available in Borders and Kinokuniya, but I haven’t looked.)
• received my Russian contract for “The Tainted“. They have a 5,000 initial hardback print run too. I am dying to see the cover.
• received my Russian advance.

Actually that’s a lot of peaks to only one gully.

I am a lucky son of a gun.
And, oh yeah, another gully – most of the photos on my Cameron Highlands post have mysteriously vanished. Huh? How did that happen? I shall put them up again.

I see that the cover of The Shadow of Tyr is already up on Amazon here, so I guess I can post it here too. I love it, love it, love it.

Another great cover from Larry Rostant (the cover artist) and the design team at Orbit, who produce the best covers in the business, bar none.

And there on the front cover is a terrific quote from another of my favourite authors of unputdownable books. Kate Elliott did the one for Heart of the Mirage, and now I have Karen Miller – love these guys.

And just look at the art work. We have the Tyranian city of Tyr in the background, but the cracked sky above is that of the Mirage.

And there’s the winged spear and symbol of Tyrans – but look, the shadowed pattern to the right is the pattern of the Mirager’s sword (see the cover of Heart of the Mirage). And if you look carefully, you will notice that the wing to the right is dark and broken and drooping. Tyr is in trouble – Ligea is on her way to extract revenge for the wrongs done to her….

That is one heck of a good cover.

And just to add to my cup of Amazon goodies, I see that they have put up the first advert for the French version of The Aware here. No pix as yet, or release date, but ah, those magic words: GRANDS FORMATS.
Yep, my first trade paperback (i.e. large size), and it comes from J’Ai Lu…
C’est formidable…

The title? CLAIRVOYANTE , book 1 of Les Iles Glorieuses

Life is so exciting. And today I am off to tropical isles…more about that in another post if I have time before I go.