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Title: The Etched City by K. J. Bishop ISBN: 1-894815-22-X Publisher: Prime Books Inc. Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Best Fantasy Novel in Many Years
Comment: This book is just brilliant from start to finish. It is totally different to what we think of as being fantasy. It's refreshing, new, exciting and deep - if you want an actioned paced yarn full of two dimensional characters who race through their scenes then stay away from this book. But if you want wonderful action scenes that actually work to reveal more about the characters' lives and you want some slow moody intriguing pieces that always lead you to wanting to know more, then you should buy this book. The character that got me was Gwynn, right from the start. He's the bad man, he does bad things, yet there is something noble about him at the same time - perhaps the angel of death, or like Shiva dancing, an almost godlike figure, understanding that creation and destruction go hand in hand - a character that you despise and respect at the same time. He might also be the anti-Buddha in some odd way, understanding the nature of life and choosing to embrace it with all its faults, rather than rejecting it for a life of retreat.
The prose is excellent and dances across the page. Heavy ideas like those mentioned above are skilfully woven into a plot which turns at every corner. This is story full of mystery and imagination and just bursts with the vibrancy of life. There are no easy answers, but it's an exhilarating journey into another world.
Rating: 3
Summary: Excellent writing, slow story
Comment: Two drifters: a battlefield physician and an introspective gunslinger, are pursued from the deserts of the Copper Country to Ashamoil, ancient city of freaks, art and crime. That's the first three chapters, after which the story begins to explore many different paths. In those first chapters Bishop assembles an oddly old-west atmosphere (her protagonists bear six-shooters and shotguns), a compelling feel soon replaced by the cityscape of Ashamoil. There is beautiful and ambiguous writing throughout, and a perpetual sense that everywhere is hidden deeper meaning. The city is rife with symbols and enigmatic denizens. The dark gunfighter Gwynn, who is the book's main subject, involves himself in a wide range of activities with a cast of diverse characters, including protracted discussions on the nature of Salvation, a love affair with a questionably human woman, and fulfilling his duties as crime-lord heavy. Though all interesting, the various plot lines seemed, at times, to clamor for center stage while suffering from lack of attention. Bishop is a powerful wordsmith, and I look forward to her next work.
Rating: 5
Summary: All hail KJ, Bishop of Ashamoil!
Comment: What a fine book this is! While the world between these pages has been --justly-- compared with M. John Harrison's Viriconium and China Mieville's New Crobuzon, the world of Ashamoil and its environs is uniquely Bishop's own. Bishop's world is every bit as fleshed out as either of the formers', and there's plenty of action and plot to move things along. Ashamoil is not a pretty place, and I found myself immersed in the decadence and savagery of the place.
The author doesn't take the easy path of painting her characters in manichean black-and-white. Gwynn and Raule --the antiheroes and main characters of the story-- are very human in that they are both bad and good, and thus neither completely likeable nor unlikeable. As their paths cross and diverge, and as they confront their respective moral dilemmas, we come to see something of ourselves. In this aspect, she outdoes both Harrison and Mieville.
Should mention that it's written such that you may read it quickly, or linger over it for maximum effect. I chose the latter.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Etched City and plan to return to Ashamoil again soon. Books like this keep me excited about "what's to come" in fiction.
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Title: Veniss Underground by Jeff Vandermeer ISBN: 1894815645 Publisher: Prime Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Light Ages by Ian R. MacLeod ISBN: 0441010555 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Ambergris by Jeff VanderMeer ISBN: 1587154366 Publisher: Wildside Pr Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Thackery T. Lambshead Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases: Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases by Jeff Vandermeer, Tim Lebbon, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Michael Moorcock, Kage Baker ISBN: 1892389541 Publisher: Nightshade Book Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Album Zutique: No. 1 by Jeff Vandermeer, Steve Rasnic Tem, Rhys Hughes, Elizabeth Hand, K. J. Bishop, Jeffrey Ford, Stepan Chapman, D. F. Lewis ISBN: 1892389606 Publisher: The Ministry of Whimsy Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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