Kelly McCullough

I discovered Kelly McCullough's [b:WebMage|975638|WebMage (Webmage, #1)|Kelly McCullough|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309288685s/975638.jpg|960534] series a few years ago and found his unique interpretation of computers and mythology fascinating. With Broken Blade, the first book in a published trilogy, he has branched out into a more traditional assassin fantasy. Alas, while McCullough does bring inspired character development to a rather traditional story, I found it paled in comparison to the WebMage series.

Broken Blade opens in a tavern, where a former religious master is struggling with the loss of his order, sinking himself in drink and taking jobs of dubious ethics to finance his subsistence lifestyle. A clandestine meeting with a mystery woman (in a red dress, no less) provides an opportunity for some coin, and to introduce the reader to Aral's over-active shadow-familiar. To absolutely no one's surprise, the woman's errand lures him out of the taverns and into deeper currents of kingdom politics and his former identity. Partway through the job, Aral discovers that one of his religious brothers has survived, becoming an assassin for hire in a new assassin's guild.

While the overarching story is not particularly unusual, McCullough always has a fascinating spin on his world building. As Aral argues with his Shadow, Triss, we learn Aral's backstory, a master assassin in a religious order who served a goddess of justice. Although certainly the concept of 'justice' could lend itself to an ambiguous morality, nearly all the wrongs mentioned are egregious and lend a particularly ethical bent to a potential anti-hero. Unfortunately, after the goddess used Aral to punish a king, retaliation by the king's successor wipes out the order, and presumably kills the goddess; Aral is one of the few devotees remaining and has a price on his head.

Characterization is where McCullough shines. Creatively taking the standard fantasy mage-familiar bond, he gives it an unusual dimension by pairing the assassins with a 'Shade' from another realm. The Shade Triss occupies Aral's shadow, and the permanent bond that results is one of the only things left holding Aral to life. I like the relationship between Aral and Triss, the shadow. Both stretch their limits, developing new skills and understanding of each other. There are other branches of mages working with other types of familiars, and if it perhaps seems cutesy at times--looking at you gryphinx--it's still an interesting relationship. Similar themes resides within the Webmage works as well, along with the evolution of the dependent into independent, so I look forward to seeing what he does here.

Much of the emotion of the story centers around Aral's notion of identity and justice. When with the order, he was young and unquestioning in his devotion. Now that the order is gone, he's lost his faith, but with his latest job, finds himself finally asking the hard questions. How can one believe in a dead god? Where does identity come from? If the order was about justice for the wronged or dead, what does that imply about justice now? It's an interesting character struggle that actually shows development over time, rather than wallowing in self-pity and depression.

Pacing is perhaps a tad uneven, vacillating between world-building and fight scenes. A romantic storyline is awkwardly inserted and somewhat trope-burdened, leading me to feel it would have been better to have skipped it altogether. World-building was standard medieval fantasy with vague Asian overtones, and except for a few memories with the order, insufficiently fleshed out and not particularly unique. Plotting was unremarkable. I get the feeling that someone was checking necessary plot-points on the current fantasy success list (fight scenes--check; kingkiller--check; gypsies--check; smart but tough woman who challenges hero--check).

Despite my criticisms, however, it was a far more pleasant read than many assassin stories, especially [b:The Way of Shadows|3227063|The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327881551s/3227063.jpg|3261241], largely because of more coherent storytelling, stronger female characterization and more robust character development. I'll check the next book out.

Three Shadowed stars.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/161/… (more)

BROKEN BLADE, the first in McCullough's new fantasy series "Fallen Blade", seemed to me the perfect answer to my assassin/thief/fantasy blues. I haven't really found anything to replace Brent Week's "Night Angel" trilogy yet, and this sounded perfect. Fallen Goddess, assassin on the run, complex fantasy society--seemed to fit the bill.

In some ways it was diverting and intriguing, but the problem was more in the execution. McCullough relies a bit too much on coincidence and unspoken rules. He doesn't ever spell out Triss' powers so each time Aral ran into some sort of problem he couldn't talk, kill or escape his way out of, Triss had the answer. She had a near unlimited bag of tricks it seemed and that ruined the suspense for me.

The world McCullough sets up was certainly the highlight of the book for me. I enjoy fantasy world politics and dark humor, both of which are in abundance here. The world is populated by the ruthless, god and mortal alike, who manipulate and scheme to oust one and other. Aral, by his current and former occupations, finds himself stuck in the middle of these machinations more often than not, which leads to some hairy situations.

This is in many ways set up like a mystery, the fantasy elements incidental and sometimes a distraction from the plot. You have beautiful woman, shady deal, murder and deceit--I kind of expected Sam Spade to jump out or Matlock to ring a peal over the culprits' heads. McCullough tried to combine too many genres at once, not really meshing them together in a coherent fashion hat didn't have one trying to dominate.

As I said though this was diverting and did keep me interested throughout. I didn't feel a pressing need to finish it right away, nor did I miss any sleep over it, but it kept me entertained consistently.

Review was originally posted at Night Owl Reviews… (more)

This review published by The Children's Book and Media Review

Evan Quick loves superheroes more than almost anyone else, and he would do anything to be one. He has no flying, super strength, or any of the other superhero skills that he wants desperately to have. When he somehow manages to survive a supervillain’s death ray and save his favorite super hero, he is sent to the Academy of Metahuman Operatives. The school is different from what he expects, and his mentor, Foxman, is not thrilled to be a super hero. As he learns about the school, he discovers that there is more to being a hero than he might expect, and even the heroes might not be as heroic as he had always expected.

The book is a wonderful homage to comic books and superheroes. It’s somewhat cheesy, but it’s cheesy in all the right ways for fans of the genre. The characters are so fun, from the old, tired former alcoholic mentor to the teacher and guidance council. Evan is a great character. He’s not the smartest or most skilled, but he works hard and wants to be a good person. People who aren’t fans of superheroes and comic books might not enjoy the book, but people wanting a fun superhero story are likely to enjoy it.… (more)