Elitist Book Reviews

When I want to treat myself to a good book, or when I desperately need to forget a terrible novel that makes me want to give up on literature entirely, I find that I turn to a very, very small selection of authors.

James Barclay is pretty close to the top of that list.

You see, I know that when I pick up a Barclay novel, I won't be disappointed. Reading Barclay is like having your favorite steak, cooked to perfection. The first book in his Elves Trilogy, ONCE WALKED WITH GODS, is the kind of book where I can forget I'm a critic. I just get to sit down, dig in, and enjoy the hell out of it.

You remember Barclay's Raven novels? This series is a prequel to them involving the Elves. I know, I know. Elves. Aren't we supposed to hate them now? Isn't that the the "in" thing? In most cases I would say yes, but not here. I love the way Barclay writes his Elves, and I was eager to see how he would tackle a book focusing on them almost exclusively. After all, one of my absolute favorite characters of all of Barclay's works was the Auum.

Imagine my childlike glee when a young--and even impressionable--Auum stepped "on screen" in ONCE WALKED WITH GODS. Awesome. Just...awesome.

I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. I just get so excited when I read a James Barclay novel. Back on track! ONCE WALKED WITH GODS follows the elves as they struggle for an internal identity. They've had a thousand years of peace amongst themselves, and they escaped the Garonin--an event eluded to in RAVENSOUL. But this peace can't last. The different "races" of elves are mired in racial hatred and at the brink of civil war. And embroiled in all of this are the humans. They want the elven continent, and they'll massacre everyone there to get what they want.

At the very beginning, we are introduced to one of my new favorite Barclay characters. The elf Takaar. He is an elf torn by guilt and shame over his actions ten years prior to this novel, and yet he still manages to exude a certain menace as a warrior and respectability as a leader. It's a fine line to walk, and the credit goes to Barclay for not just making it work, but making it awesome.

While I enjoyed the side characters--and they are well done in the limited time they are given--the draw for me as a reader was Auum and Takaar. The dynamic between the two is volatile--due mainly to Takaar--yet it never feels forced. Everything they say, everything they do...it all feels natural. This has been my main observation of Barclay's work. His characters always act like they should. Not once have I ever stopped and said, "Huh. I'm not sure he/she would have actually done that."

As expected, the action in ONCE WALKED WITH GODS is fantastic. Remember, this is a prequel to the Raven series. In those novels the elves had magic, and they were a force to be reckoned with both in martial prowess and in magical skill. In this novel, the elves don't have magic. They've never seen it or heard of it. To see Auum's first contact with a human mage...man, it was a joy to read. Again, it all feels natural and effortless. Personally, I never get tired of scenes involving the TaiGethen. They are artists in their killing ability, and Barclay writes them as such. While this is the elves first contact with magic, this is also the human's first contact with TaiGethen. The result is bloody, tense, and absolutely brutal.

Just how I like it.

The last thing I will mention is how much I enjoyed the overall tone of the novel. It is dark, with hope dwindling as each page is turned. Don't expect the typical book 1 happy ending. Expect things to be at their near-worst, with a glimmer of hope.

James Barclay has never let me down. Ever. And I don't expect him to. He has written to many awesome novels for me to expect anything short of excellence (no pressure or anything). ONCE WALKED WITH GODS is on par with the best of the Raven books, and we haven't even gotten to the point in the series with the emotional gut punches Barclay is know for.

ONCE WALKED WITH GODS is incredible, and yet I'm left with the feeling that the best is yet to come.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Infrequent, but strong in a few places. Mainly with humans.
Violence: All sorts. This is a bloody novel, but the interesting thing is how it is bloody and brutal from the human's PoVs, and artistic from the elven PoVs.
Sex: Rape is mentioned, but never shown.

Import only for you US readers, but when has that ever been an excuse to not buy an awesome novel? Here's your link:

ONCE WALKED WITH GODS

James Barclay. You know the name. You know that his Raven novels made him one of my favorite authors. If you live in the US, finally getting his novels has been a welcome breath of fresh air. That’s all great and dandy, but there is something we in the US are missing that our UK buddies still have exclusive.

The Ascendants of Estorea.

You see, James Barclay, being the ambitious writer that he is, decided he wanted to write something that could be used not only for the pleasure of reading, but also for weight-lifting. CRY OF THE NEWBORN is a huge novel, both in size (a trade paperback of 800+ pages), and scope (covers 15 years of time). This isn’t the flashy, up-close-and-personal Raven series. No, this is a tale of the Estorean Conquord, a religious empire that has stood for 850 years. It feels very much like the Roman Empire. There are two main stories going on here, spread across numerous PoVs.

The first story is of the Conquord itself as it does what all huge empires do: expand. There comes a point in an empire’s life that in order to survive, it has to continually expand. This idea has been illustrated in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series, and is presented to us with amazing clarity here in CRY OF THE NEWBORN. The thing is, the bigger an empire becomes, the easier it is to become complacent, over-confidant, and foolish. It lends to disaster. The first half of the novel is showing the pride before the fall. The second half of the novel is of everything going wrong.

The second main story follows four children from birth until the age of fourteen. They are the first pure Ascendants. They have control over all the elements, and can shape them to do their bidding (read: magic). Some see them as salvation. Most everyone else sees them as an affront to God. Blasphemy incarnate.

I could go on for pages about the setting, the characters, and the story. There is an amazing level of detail and world-building in this novel, all of it executed with care and precision. This world feels alive. Rich. Vibrant. The first half of the novel is very slow due to all of the set-up, but its payoff is truly incredible.

None of the setting, or any of the time and effort put into the history of this world would be worth two pennies if the characters weren’t solid. But this is James Barclay. Character is what makes his Raven novels work, and it is what makes CRY OF THE NEWBORN live. The four children Ascendants are great—a nice mixture of childishness and beyond-their-years maturity. Paul Jhered, a tax collector for the Conquord, was my personal favorite. Seeing his attitude change over the course of the novel was once of the best parts. Then of course there are the dozens of other PoVs, all of which are interesting and unique. I loved some characters, hated others, and felt a bit of both towards others still. Loved it.

There is a lot of war in this novel. Sieges, open-field battles, and naval warfare. Where Barclay’s Raven novels tend to focus on the few of the Raven taking on other small groups attacking them, CRY OF THE NEWBORN showcases big, epic battles. There’s no flash to them, just hard, brutal fighting and carnage. As a reader, you will truly feel the devastation war brings. There is a particularly poignant section towards the very end of the novel where an army begins a battle-chant about how they understand that each side of the conflict is made up of singular people who want nothing more than to survive and return to their families…but death will prevent that. The battles in this novel will cause your heart to pound in your chest, and no one is truly safe.

The only thing, in my mind, that keeps this novel from being absolutely perfect is how long it takes to get going. But once it does, CRY OF THE NEWBORN is a prime example of incredible Epic Fantasy. Hey, it has a Steven Erikson cover quote on it. CRY OF THE NEWBORN is epic, ambitious, thrilling, and horrifying all at the same time. It is one of the finest novels I have read in quite some time. Now I know first-hand what all you UK readers have known for ages; The Ascendants of Estorea is freaking incredible.

And I still get to read the second half of the series, SHOUT FOR THE DEAD. Folks, this is why I read books. You should totally import this. Now.

Recommended Age: 17 and up.
Language: Very, very sparse.
Violence: This book is FULL of war and violence. You feel the horrific devastation, but you never feel it was just thrown in.
Sex: One very brutal scene that was handled as well as I have ever read.

DEMONSTORM was the end of the Legends of the Raven series. Main characters died horrible and glorious deaths. As readers we all shed a collective tear (or twenty) at the sacrifices the characters made. But then James Barclay wrote another end to the series with RAVENSOUL. I mean, really, what's a guy to think? There wasn't really any room to add onto this story. It was done.

Or so I thought.

James said an interesting thing to me in an email that I think really changed my viewpoint on the novel for the better. He said that DEMONSTORM is the end, but to think of RAVENSOUL as a bonus story full of closure. Having read RAVENSOUL now, I can say that this helped me a great deal. This novel is the last ride of the Raven. As awesome as DEMONSTORM was (and I freaking loved it), I felt like some things were kind of left floating. RAVENSOUL gives the reader a massive sense of "This is totally the end."

This novel picks up a while after the finale of DEMONSTORM. Sol, once the Unknown Warrior, is now the ruler of Balaia, and Denser is Lord of the Mount. The rebuilding of the world is coming along nicely...and the the dead start returning. This includes those of the Raven who died in previous novels. A dimension hopping race known as the Garonin have sealed off the afterlife and are after Balaia's mana.

Barclay's strengths have always included characters. No matter which novel of his you read, you can bank on the characters being very easy to like (or hate depending on what he wants you to feel). RAVENSOUL feels a bit like meeting a few of your old friends for dinner. You see how they've changed, and how the last few years have molded them into completely different people--for better or worse. The trademark wit and action of the previous Raven novels is here in abundance. The novel feels like the natural progression of the series.

I want to point out how well Barclay manages to make the reader feel emotion. Not gonna lie, DEMONSTORM had me shedding more than a few tears. I didn't think Barclay could outdo that level writing excellence. But man, there is a scene at the end of RAVENSOUL that just thinking about it makes my eyes get watery. It's one of the most emotionally powerful scenes I've ever read.

So this is it for the Raven. I'll admit that this isn't my absolute favorite Raven novel. I think DEMONSTORM still holds that position. But this is a close second for me. The Garonin are worthy foes for the Raven and for the Elves. RAVENSOUL is a must read for those of you already reading this series. If you haven't read Barclay yet, I'm beyond confused. You should have started reading the series the minute you read my review of DAWNTHIEF back in the day.

The bad news? This marks the end of the Raven. The good news? There is still more Barclay to read. Not only does he have an Elves prequel series focusing (partially) on Auum, he has another series called the The Ascendants of Estorea. Yep, there is more Barclay to read. All is well in the world.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: At times it pops up, and it can be quite strong.
Violence: No Barclay is complete without copious amounts of blood and gore.
Sex: Nope.

How do you end a series? We're sure this is a question every author asks at some point during a career. We've read quite a few series from start to finish, and have decided that writing that satisfying ending and conclusion must be the hardest thing to do. Why? We chalk it up to expectations. This can be crippling to the final book in a series, especially when the series has been SO good.

You all know what fans we are of James Barclay's work. From the moment we opened DAWNTHIEF, we were hooked. He improved as a writer and storyteller from novel to novel, and the stories got progressively more awesome. Simply put, he's one of our favorite authors. Period. DEMONSTORM marks the "end" of the Raven. We realize that there is still another novel, but keep in mind that RAVENSOUL is more of a bonus tale. DEMONSTORM is the true end. With as much as we enjoy Barclay's work, we were worried that the final novel wouldn't live up to our unfairly high expectations.

OK, we've led you on enough. Plus you probably already read the tag we attached to this review which reads "Books We Love". It really is as simple as that. We loved this book. We loved it more than any of the previous Raven novels.

What made DEMONSTORM so satisfying and awesome? The same thing that captured us from the very beginning of DAWNTHIEF: the characters. The truth of the matter is that a series cannot survive the test of time and the readers' patience if the characters don't grab you. Through the Raven novels we have become ridiculously attached to the characters of the world. We have been through so much with them that we identify with them. This novel is really the Raven's last ride, and the immediacy of that statement is felt right from the beginning of the novel.

Balaia is screwed. Yeah, that's the short version of the whole novel. Xetesk, in their greed and arrogance, opened a rift between the world of Balaia and the Demon dimension making that whole dragon problem from NOONSHADE seem like Hello Kitty's Island Adventure. Demons flood Balaia and essentially enslave everyone. It's a grim beginning to a grim tale. There isn't a lot of humor in this novel because there isn't room for it. Throughout it all, the Raven have but themselves into exile. They are hunted by humans. Coveted by demons. They feel betrayed by the world they have saved over and over again.

And yet they go back to save it again. It's who they are.

In most novels, the final third of the book is the climax. In DEMONSTORM, the entire novel is the climax. It is one, big moving war. And in war, there are casualties. Barclay has never been shy about killing off characters. This book is no different. The carnage in DEMONSTORM is steep. The cost of fighting these demons is shocking. Our biggest worry, honestly, was that Barclay would take the easy way out. Cheat. Just so you know, he didn't. We cried.

It is our duty to tell you of any shortcomings. The only ones of note were the sudden time jump early in the novel--it just kinda happened with no real warning. A bit confusing. The only other bit was during the final confrontation. We wish it had been a bit more from Erienne's PoV. Personally we feel it would have made the already insanely awesome ending absolutely perfect. But that's just an opinion, and none of this is actually harmful to the immense enjoyment of the novel.

Us readers here in the US have been spoiled. Look how quickly we have been getting Barclay's novels. A decade's worth of material has been brought to us in two years. We aren't quite sure what else we can tell you other than, "Go get his books NOW!"

DEMONSTORM is an emotional and thrilling ending to the Raven. It will make you laugh a little, and maybe even cry a lot. It is Barclay's best Raven novel by far, and one of our favorite books of the year.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: Some, and strong when it gets used.
Violence: Please. There is more violence in this novel than perhaps his last two or three combined.
Sex: Mentioned, but not shown at all.

James Barclay's Website:

http://www.jamesbarclay.com/

You all know by now that James Barclay has become one of our favorite authors. Action. Character. Tragedy. Humor. Love. He somehow manages to blend all these themes perfectly. So when we got the opportunity to interview James, we jumped on it with fanboy glee.

So here you have it...

***The Interview***

1. Hello there, James. Glad to have you here at our illustrious blog. Our tradition here at EBR is to give the authors we are interviewing a chance to brag. So let loose, James. Tell us what makes you and your novels awesome.

Hello. It’s lovely to be here and sit for a while where I normally drop in only too briefly. Brag, eh? Well, you know how we authors hate to talk about ourselves in any but the most self-deprecating ways but I’ll do my best.

It’s like this. My books are awesome (good word, that) because they’re fantastically exciting heroic action fantasy thrillers and because they are so much more than fantastically exciting heroic action fantasy thrillers. That’s (partly) because every blow in every fight lands in one of my readers’ hearts. And THAT’s because there is a moment, in every Raven reader’s journey, when it dawns on them that they really, really care. They feel like they are reading about family and that makes the wounds hurt, the tears sting and the laughter the purest of releases. And there is nothing they can do about it. (And can I just say at this point for those of you who didn’t wait until that happened, it is absolutely your loss. Absolutely.)

All this means that I am not awesome. The awesome people are the readers who get The Raven. Get the facts that while they are extraordinary individuals, they are prey to the same things as the rest of us; love, loss, grief, fear, laughter. They bicker, they moan, they fight and they would die for those they love. And in amongst all that, they struggle to save their world for the ungrateful, the unborn and the unworthy. This is what heroes do.

Ah, now that means The Raven are awesome, doesn’t it? And I created them. So that makes me awesome too, doesn’t it? Excellent. Then all is well with the world.


2. We’ll start with some easy questions before we put your feet to the branding irons. When was it that you realized you wanted to be an author?

I was eleven. A tender age indeed but it was then that I made both my career choices. Actor and/or writer. Simple really and a triumph of youthful optimism over common sense. On the other hand, since I’ve now published ten novels and two novellas plus just recently appeared in a feature film, it all makes perfect sense.

3. Give our readers a little back-story on how you got published.

You have to understand that I have always loved writing stories; right from infant school, as soon as I could write. So a back story could be a gargantuan exercise, a bit like the long form version of Marx’s ‘Capital’. So I tell you what, I’ll start when I was sixteen and began to take it all rather seriously.

It was at that time that I began to write the most horrific derivative bunch of toss. Some might say I never stopped doing so but they are few and even now, they are being hunted down. I wrote a novella length thing for an English project and I was in competition with my mates for body count. Next was a pompous fantasy/sci-fi fusion for another school-based project and following that a proper novel length piece that was really a long Star Trek episode. I mention all these because within them are the germs of the character and action-driven novels I eventually published. And to point out that, at sixteen I was an embarrassing distance from being publishable.

Happily, I can fast forward to the time it became apparent that The Raven was a proper idea, worthy of expansion and eminently publishable so long as I could imbue the story with enough quality and other writerly stuff like plot, character and a coherent narrative structure. It’s no secret that the genesis of The Raven was table-top dice-based fantasy role playing and readers of Dawnthief will no doubt sense that though it is not apparent (in my mind anyway) in Noonshade and beyond.

I remember very well, my twenties and the various iterations of Raven novel ideas and how they began as a sort of comedic entity shot through with horrible violence and ended up the grumpy but magnificent world-savers we know and love. I submitted Dawnthief all over the place, along with much other work, and have many a rejection slip to show for it.

Mine was the classic patience and belief journey and it was not until I submitted to Gollancz the first time that hope was truly kindled. Even then, the comments were not wholly positive and amounted to a rejection with an invitation to resubmit. ‘The idea is fine.’ I was told. ‘But the book is like a skeleton with no flesh on the bones. The world is incomplete and there is no notion of existence beyond the sphere of the main characters.’

That is not a direct quote but it sums up the conversation pretty well, I think. But I took it as massive encouragement and to cut a long back story slightly shorter, I worked my arse off to improve what I had and nearly did it second time around. Third time around, I got the call every aspiring author dreams of. I only filled up when I saw Dawnthief on the shelf for the first time. That’s the moment when you know it’s all for real. That was 1999.

4. Elves. We typically hate them. For whatever reason, yours don’t rub us the wrong way. Lately there seems to be a collective eye-roll when elves are mentioned in the synopsis of a novel. Why did you personally decide to go with elves in your Raven stories, and why start another series that focuses on them?

I don’t think I ever thought about not going with elves. They were present in much of the stuff I read as a youth and were always there, irritating the crap out of my characters in role playing games so to me, they’re part of the family.

I also didn’t ever think: “Hmm. Got elves here, I really need to make them different.” They just came out as they came out. Now of course, they are different from the more classical ideals of the trope and I think that has helped me a great deal because people aren’t reading about the hoppity, skippety, portentous-speaking, effeminate horse-riders they are used to.

But I think the key to writing a well-worn trope like elves is not to keep on reminding people they are elves. You have to remember that they are as unremarkable in the fantasy worlds they inhabit as are humans. So readers find out about them by degrees just like any other character. And, in the same way I don’t remind you a human doesn’t have pointed ears, I don’t remind you that an elf does. My elves are different by dint of their culture, their homeland and their religion. Just like humans, then.

As for the Elves series well, for every reader who cannot bear our faerie cousins appearing in a fantasy novel, there is another who cannot get enough quality work about them. This was of course of interest to the commercial side of the Barclay/Gollancz partnership. There’s more to it than that, mind you. The elves of Calaius have been a fascination to many of The Raven’s readers, particularly the TaiGethen but for the whole elven cultural package too. And I have grown to love them and have wanted to write more about them for years.

And why not? Rain-forest dwelling, isolationist and super-religious beings liable to remove your liver and show it to you before you know you’ve been attacked are fascinating on many levels.

They have complex societal and religious structures tied to the rain forest and what it gives them. They are subdivided into ‘threads’, each of which has a different typical lifespan and this has been the seat of every inter-racial problem they have ever experienced. The protectors of their faith, the TaiGethen, are an elite fighting force like no other in fantasy and every action they take is in the name of their god.

They are an incredibly proud and ancient people who cannot quite reconcile themselves to their own internal problems. And then some idiot goes and invites humans in to shift the balance of power. And shift it they do.

Enough of that. Suffice to say that I think my elves are a genuine breath of fresh air in the genre. The first Elves book, Once Walked With Gods, is my best-selling trade paperback so far. That’s because it’s really, really bloody good, by the way.

5. How has the reception been to your release of novels here in the US? Why did it take so long for them to make their way over here?

It’s been really positive, thanks. The Chronicles trilogy sold very well and was positively reviewed by some exceptional review sites. Can’t think of any particular names off-hand… I’ve had great feedback from readers too and that is particularly gratifying. Of course we could always sell more and I firmly believe it is incumbent on every man, woman and child in your vast and magnificent country to furnish themselves with Chronicles novels. The Legends series is only just coming out now so it’s too early to say if they’ll repeat the goodness; but if the early reviews, and Raymond Swanland’s astonishingly fine covers are indicators, then we should do very nicely indeed.

Why did it take so long? I haven’t a clue. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Sometimes I think books slip between the cracks in the pavement however well they do in other countries and such it was with mine. That’s life. I know that Lou Anders at Pyr Books was surprised to find the rights still available and I’m really grateful to him for getting them on US shelves. Sure I could have wished to have been published in the US ten years ago but then I’d not be working with Lou Anders and frankly, that was worth waiting for.

6. In a similar vein, why oh why aren’t your Ascendants of Estorea novels here in the US? Can our US readers expect them anytime soon?

I think with the Ascendants the scene is a little different. I know editors in the US looked favorably on them when they were first written but the sheer size was off-putting – don’t forget they would have been my first books published in the US and would have been a tough sell. The first book is three hundred thousand words long and that would have represented a major leap of faith.

If the Raven sell well enough through Pyr then maybe they’ll want the Ascendants too but that’s in the lap of the gods and Lou Anders. Is that tautological? Probably. Anyway, I do hope US reader get the chance to see the Ascendants. I’m immensely proud of those two books – about the birth of magic in a Roman-esque empire teetering on the brink of implosion, and manifesting itself in four young people – and again they’ve garnered plenty of praise over here in the UK.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

7. How far ahead do you plan novels? Your Elves series is going strong in the UK, but have you thought past it at all?

Generally speaking, by the time I’m in the final throes of a series, I’ve got firm ideas and a proposal for new novels, series, whatever. Right now, I’ve got many notions running around in my head. Some are stand-alone and others are multi-book sequences. But I don’t spend too much time agonizing over these things when I’m bang in the middle of a series like now. Ideas suggest themselves and I write them down. There, they ferment away and some demonstrate great potential while others dissolve or are subsumed into other, better notions.

By the way, I’m diversifying slightly as well. I’ve got a young adult trilogy out on proposal at the moment and we’ll see what comes of it. I’ve many other YA ideas too right now which is a good thing. They’re all within the broad church of our magnificent genre but more contemporary in nature.

8. What do you consider your greatest weakness as an author?

I’ve always had this tendency to charge into drafting a novel before I’ve tied down enough of the direction, plot, character development and all that stuff. Once or twice it has worked spectacularly well but more often than not, the opposite is true. I’d like to tell you that I’ve eradicated it from my working life but that would be a massive lie.

The first Elves book was, I thought, going terribly well and then I read a good chunk of the draft and had to start from scratch because it just wasn’t working. The same happened with the second book. I think it stems from me being able, in the past, to hold so much more in my head in terms of the complexities of a novel and now I can’t do that nearly so well.

The positive I take from it is that, in the past, I might have tried to mould what I had into something acceptable and then have an almighty struggle come editing and revising to make the book right. These days, painful though it is, I’ll stop, file the original under ‘utter bollocks’ and start again to ensure the result is of far higher quality from the first completed draft. It saves a lot of time (and certainly a lot of hassle) in the long run but at the time, it hurts baaaad.

9. Who do you consider your main influences?

First up has to be David Gemmell. First I was a fan devouring every book and later, hugely fortunately, a very good friend of his. We spent many a fabulous hour jawing away over things like the nature of heroism, how to make fights better, ways to develop character and the state of anything and everything. His attitude to work and his fans, his methods and his sheer professionalism have affected me greatly. I will be aspiring to his heights in all of these things forever.

The other main one is not a who, it is a single book. It’s ‘The Legacy of Heorot’ by Niven, Pournelle and Barnes. Bloody hell, what a book and what an influence it had. For me, this is the only text book you need on how to write character driven action novels in probably any genre. If you want to write that sort of stuff, then once you’ve read my books (having bought a pristine set), then go get the source text. It sets the bar high, very high.

Inevitably, all my influences stem from my formative years and from before I began to write novels with a ghost of a chance of being published. I don’t feel I’m influenced by any of my contemporaries. For those I rate highly, I reserve emotions such as jealousy, awe and massive respect.

10. When you aren’t writing or planning your next novel—we know right? How dare you do anything but write!—what occupies your time?

The demands on my time are many and various. Number one is my son, Oscar, who is four in January. Watching him learn, develop and grow, and engaging in all his play and his imagination is simply joyful. For another, I’m chief cook in the house and get bored of recipes easily so I like to experiment if I get the time. Then there’s the dog. She’s sitting with her chin on my thigh at the moment and if I should misspell a word anytime, it’ll be because she’s nudged my arm for some attention.

Because I’m nearly middle aged, I do like pottering around in the garden and because we own an old house, there is an endless list of repairs and the like to keep the place upright and passably smart.

Increasingly rarely now, I play computer games. I’m a PC gamer though Oscar and I muck about on the X-Box Kinect and the Wii from time to time. Nothing beats a quality shooter and of course, the daddy of them is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. When the elves book is done, I’ll go back and play that again, then play its slightly lesser sibling before charging into book three (see question 8 above ).

I watch TV but only either late at night or at lunchtime when I get to catch up a little bit with stuff like Stargate Universe and The Walking Dead. I hardly read at all… only for research these days.

The fact is that fatherhood is the dominating part of my life after the day’s work is done and quite frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

11. You’re in a bookstore, in the SF&F section, and a customer mistakes you for an employee. He/She asks you to recommend a novel. You can’t recommend your own novels (because OBVIOUSLY the customer has read them all). What book/series do you recommend?

The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss. Beautifully written.
The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch. Just brilliant.
The Troy Trilogy – David Gemmell. The man at his very best and written just before he died (indeed, the third book was co-written by his amazing wife, Stella after his death).
Germinal – Emile Zola. It is an utterly gripping, terribly depressing and achingly brilliant novel about the effects of a strike on a poverty-stricken mining community in northern France under the second empire. Right, not SF&F but there is more to life and this book, written in 1885, is extraordinary.

12. What do we have to do to have cameos in your next book where we die violent deaths?

You want that? You got it. All you have to do is furnish me with your ideal fantasy versions of your names in the style of those already in The Raven and I’ll do the rest. That’s you, the Elitist crew, not the earth’s population in general.

13. Again, James, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. As always, it has been a pleasure. Any last words for the readers?

Yes I have. In one way only, I want to be like JK Rowling and find it easier to create a list of those who haven’t read my books rather than the lengthier one of those who have. So go and buy my books and then make all your friends do likewise (and their friends and so on and so forth). Much appreciated.

Seriously though, this genre is full of richness and talent and variety and extraordinary people. Never walk away and, if you can, get one more person to read your favorite genre title. This is surely the true path to global enlightenment.

Thanks for inviting me in. No need to get up, I’ll close the door on the way out.

We get asked all the time who our favorite authors are. Two years ago the answers would have been absurdly simple, but we read a lot more novels these days. A WHOLE lot more. As a result, who we consider our favorites tends to shift and slide. Barely more than a year ago we hadn't yet read anything by James Barclay. Now with each novel of his that we read, he solidifies himself as one of our favorite authors.

The Legends of the Raven series, though it contains many of the same characters from the Chronicles of the Raven, is extremely different from the mentioned trilogy. The emotions of the characters are more raw. Conflicts are closer to the surface. It is with SHADOWHEART that we truly are able to see how good of an author Barclay is. Our UK readers already know all of this, but his novels are completely new to us here in the US, and we are lucky to be getting them all in quick succession. The previous novels are still fresh in our minds, which makes it easy for us to look over our shoulders and say, "Man, those first three Raven novels were great, but they don't have ANYTHING on the latest few."

SHADOWHEART picks up right where ELFSORROW left off. It's hard for us to say a lot about SHADOWHEART without spoiling the ending of ELFSORROW, so we'll just say that The Raven are dealing with tragedy. Like we said before, the emotions of the characters are exposed for all to see. Perhaps our own emotions as readers were right there as well having just read ELFSORROW. We felt for the The Raven. The mark of any good writer is his or her ability to make the reader feel the emotions of the created characters. In this Barclay--to us at least--has succeeded on a level very few authors have achieved.

The war that threatened in ELFSORROW is in full swing in SHADOWHEART. The Colleges of Magic are in direct and bloody conflict. Some want balance, some want to reset the balance, and other factions--the Wesmen--want magic gone entirely. Xetesk is regaining control over dimensional magic, and have no qualms about using it against anyone who attempts to disrupt their plans. Also all the colleges have discovered the Erienne has inherited the One magic. As usual, The Raven are out to preserve Balaia at all costs.

SHADOWHEART is a full, full novel. Barclay does a fantastic job of showing how betrayed The Raven feel throughout everything. No matter what they do, or how many they save, they are still hunted for the power they hold and represent.

The Raven as we know them are coming to an end. SHADOWHEART has an underlying sense of inevitability throughout. The Raven have lost people in the past, and it is clear that they will lose people in the near future. Every novel the mercenaries get a little more beat up. A little more worn down. This novel was no exception. It's a bit like walking the plank blindfolded; at some point the fall is going to come.

A few very minor problems? Erienne's complete 180 somehow seems sudden. She goes from hatred towards the people she blames for the death of her daughter to complete reliance. It can feel a little disingenuous. It's the lack of her previous mistrust that stands out. Also, there are times when the size of armies gets a bit muddled. Like we said, minor problems, and and none of them should affect the overall enjoyment of an amazing novel.

It's worth repeating that these novels get better with each offering. Barclay's skill in foreshadowing is impeccable. His large-scale battles in this series better done than in the Chronicles trilogy. His character dialogue, and interaction is better. The up-close action is brutal and fierce. Emotions are honest and raw. SHADOWHEART, like every Raven novel that precedes it, is a must-read. If you want to write action and character driven novels, you should be devouring everything Barclay writes. Twice.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: It pops up in its strongest forms at times, but it never feels like it is swearing for swearing's sake.
Violence: Of course. It is a VERY violent novel, yet it never once seems over-done.
Sex: Nope.


PS--Tune in tomorrow for an interview with James Barclay. It's one of the best we've done.

There is something oddly comforting about reading a James Barclay novel. It's like when the holidays roll around and the smells of good, home-cooked meals automatically make you relax and enjoy the day a tad more than usual. ELFSORROW fits this role perfectly.

The novel starts with a very tense scene depicting the chaos Balaia is in. We are seeing the after-effects of the events from Barclay's first trilogy, and things are dire indeed. The Colleges of Magic are at war, and it seems like the whole continent's population has been made into a contingent of refugees. And that's just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. A plague, called Elfsorrow, is decimating the elves following the desecration of one of their temples. The Black Wings are leading a crusade of sorts against all magic. Crazy, crazy stuff.

The first thing we want to mention is that you probably shouldn't start with this novel. This is our opinion of course, and we realize every reader is different, but still. Every character in ELFSORROW has motivations that directly link back to the the Chronicles of the Raven trilogy, so without those books as a foundation you will be lost, and your enjoyment will suffer. So if you haven't read that trilogy, we suggest you get on that ASAP starting with DAWNTHIEF.

Next, we want to assure all you readers that the pacing of this novel flows effortlessly. From actions scenes to general exposition to conversations...man, it is done sooooo well. None of Barclay's novels are exactly short, but you easily get swept away and soon find that you are creeping up on the end of the novel.

But really Barclay's Raven novels are about character. Say what you want about the RPG flavor of his first two novels, or about the inclusion of traditional creatures from fantasy--we mean elves here. None of that matters when Barclay writes. In ELFSORROW, the PoVs switch frequently and every character is very distinct and fantastic. The characters you hate are fascinating to read because you can see their motivations. the characters you love are put in situations where you fear for them (you know, since Barclay will actually kill of main characters). The banter between characters was familiar and perfect, yet beneath the surface of it we could see the strain these characters are living with.

A large chunk of the novel is set on the continent of Calaius, the home of the elven race. Barclay does a terrific job of illustrating the differences between Calaius and Balaia. Such effort is put into showing how this new continent really feels alien to the characters of the story. Very well done. We always like when authors show off new portions of their world. The elves in this novel were actually great. Barclay has improbably rescued them from the depths of the cliché to make them cool again.

ELFSORROW, like any book, isn't perfect. Our main complaint about the novel deals with the Elfsorrow plague. There is a section midway through the novel (and leading into the last third of it) where everything seems to slow down. There is a lot of travel involved, and Barclay is very specific that it is taking weeks to get to places. The Elfsorrow plague is essentially lethal over the course of a few days. What happens is this sense of urgency seems to get forgotten for this small portion of the novel. Elves are dying, but we don't really get a sense of the danger and grief involved in it. Fortunately, things get back on track quickly. It's a fairly minor problem, and we doubt it will bother many readers.

The ending of ELFSORROW is crazy. It is actually very focused and personal even though the result of it is epic. It punched us in the gut. Twice. Then it picted us up and gave us a hug. Not many people, in our opinions, can write tragedy as well as Barclay. He can put just the right amount of sadness and hope into the story. You thought the ending of NIGHTCHILD was grim and heart-wrenching? ELFSORROW is more-so. We almost wept. No joke.

Somehow Barclay's novels get better and better. All of you UK readers already know this--yeah we are jealous. These novels aren't just romps through the countryside anymore. There are deeper issues involved and explored. Simply put, you need to be reading James Barclay. He is on our list of "We'll read anything by this author and probably be impressed while simultaneously jealous of his skills. We love him long time."

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: A bit. Less than usual in his novels.
Violence: We've been looking forward to some Barclay-styled violence since we put down NIGHTCHILD. He doesn't disappoint. Awesome, bloody, descriptive and easily visualized.
Sex: Nope.

NIGHTCHILD. So here we are, the third and final novel of The Chronicles of the Raven series by our friend James Barclay. So does it stay true to the prior novels? Does it elevate the series to new heights?

Easily. This is by far the best of the trilogy.

If you’ve been reading this series, you know what makes this series work. Fast-paced, bloody action. Battles and journeys of epic proportions. Grim tones amidst witty banter from, the stars of the series, the mercenary group The Raven. Saving the world. With NIGHTCHILD, Barclay had some heavy expectations to fill. How do you go bigger than the Dawnthief spell from the first novel, DAWNTHIEF? How do you go bigger than a rift to another dimension full of dragons like we saw in NOONSHADE? This is the trap that many authors could fall into.

With NIGHTCHILD, Barclay perfectly avoids the pitfall. Instead of going bigger, he goes personal (as we know, bigger isn't always better...). The result is a much more character-driven novel, and in our opinion, a much more powerful reading experience.

The Raven have changed. They are older. They have families. They have responsibilities. Do they need to save the world again? Well yeah, it wouldn’t be a Barclay novel without our heroes saving the world. But NIGHTCHILD is so much more than that cliché. The world saving bit is almost a secondary issue. The real plot of the story for The Raven is racing to prevent Denser and Erienne’s daughter, Lyanna from being killed. In theme with the more personal nature of the novel, the huge-scale battles of the prior novels have been condensed and focused on The Raven to wonderful effect.

Why is NIGHTCHILD so powerful? In this novel we get to see that our “Heroes” are not “Super Heroes.” We see how strained their relationships can become, and how vulnerable they really are. We witness the tough personal and moral choices that they have to make that will inevitably have serious consequences. We, as readers, get to experience the benefits and drawbacks that loyalty brings…as well as the demands it makes. By the end of the novel, you will be satisfied and thrilled. However, in true James Barclay fashion, you will also feel saddened at what The Raven had to sacrifice.

It’s not a common occurrence to have every book in a trilogy be completely awesome. The Chronicles of the Raven should be on the shelves of every reader of Heroic Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery. Heck, it should be on the shelves of every reader of the Fantasy genre in general. NIGHTCHILD brilliantly concludes the trilogy, and it makes us both positively giddy with excitement for the US release of the four-book series, The Legends of the Raven. Barclay’s writing and story telling improved tremendously, and made NIGHTCHILD a true treat to read.

Just imagine how his other books will be.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: As usual in Barclay’s novels, there is a little. When it happens, it is strong, but it doesn’t come close to saturating the novel.
Violence: Uh, yeah. The great thing about it? It is so CLEAR. We could see exactly what was going on. Love it.
Sex: Two small scenes, fairly graphic, but very short. You could probably skip over them if you were inclined.

Look forward to an interview with James Barclay later on here at Elitist Book Reviews. The guy is a complete class-act.

http://www.jamesbarclay.com/

Remember that guy, James Barclay, who's book DAWNTHIEF we reviewed a few weeks ago? If you don't remember, shame on you! Go here for that review of a terrific novel. That first novel was one of the higher quality novels we had read all year, so we had some fairly high expectations for NOONSHADE. Do we ever not?

The story of NOONSHADE picks up, literally, minutes after the first book, DAWNTHIEF, ends and throws us right back into the exploits of the mercenary band, The Raven. In the first few pages we are given a brief, "Hey, look! There's a big-A hole in the sky as a consequence for saving the world in a dangerous way in the last book." summary. Then BAM! (Emeril, not only are we more attractive, we even say your catchphrase better. Eat your heart out.) we get right into the events of the current book. Salvation brings its own can of worms in this worms. Actually it isn't a can of worms, so much, as a rift in the sky through which all manner of destruction can manifest. By, "all manner of destruction" we mean interdimensional dragons that want nothing more than to obliterate everything, and kick your dog. Twice.

Yes we know what you are thinking, its not an entirely unique premise, and if it sounds familiar, it should. The creation of new problems by the method of solving the old is a well used mechanism for fantasy stories. However Barclay takes this trope and does it right (unlike one of the members of the authors-who-shall-not-be-named club).

Hold on you say? Dragons? Yes well, let's address that. One of the first things that astonished us both, while reading NOONSHADE, was that within the first few pages there are elves, a dragon, (actually more than one), and they weren't obtrusive in the slightest. In fact they are really cool.

A very good friend of ours, you may have heard of him, Brandon Sanderson, once wrote an article entitled Kill the Elves. While Dark Fantasy (AKA Gritty or 'Realistic' Fantasy) is certainly trendy right now (We aren't afraid to say, especially to all you mainstream critics, that we love this trend.), it has been around for decades but has, previously, been overshadowed by the more traditional High Fantasy. You know the fantasy we all grew up with that had Dwarves, Elves, Mages, dragons, etc.

Well, back to the point at hand... In the Kill the Elves article Brandon Sanderson talks about how the time of these fantasy tropes has passed, and the genre is in search of the new successor to the throne. We agree with him, and not just because he is our friend.

However, James Barclay shows us in his Chronicles of The Raven series that perhaps Brandon's depiction of the death of the elves is perhaps not always correct. For us to be saying this means that these elves were done very well. Its not about their pointy ears, or hoidy-toidy attitudes (we are the ones that are supposed to have that attitude), or even their ubiquitous racism. They are characters just like everyone else.

This leads us to perhaps the most important part of our review. While completely full of action, (Seriously, we were well sated on the action aspect of this novel.) James didn't forget that Fantasy stories are about the characters and character growth. The emotions, ambitions, concerns, and thoughts of each of the characters are as tangible to us as the book in our hands. We know and understand what each of the characters are feeling. No small accomplishment in a book with dragons, eh? Oh speaking of dragons, as if making elves cool again wasn't enough, James does it with the dragons who are strong characters themselves!

Multiple plots are detailed and woven together in an incredible fashion. The story yanked us along and we loved every minute of it--all the way up to, and including, the satisfying conclusion. At this time we would like to remind you all that this is, in fact, the second book of a trilogy. So let us repeat this. There is a satisfying conclusion. Let there be much rejoicing in the land!

Typically when you read the middle novel of any series (especially trilogies), the first half of the book is telling you what happened in book 1 while the last half tells you what will be important in book 3. It gets real old, real quick, and we figure that is why many authors are getting away from traditional trilogy set-ups. You know why Barclay is swiftly becoming one of our favs? His novel doesn't suffer "middle-book syndrome." It doesn't have a stand-alone feel by any means, but it certainly doesn't succeed on the coat-tails of it's predecessor and the promise of it's successor.

We'll admit that we worried about how this book would read. Would the style get old? Would NOONSHADE suffer the 2nd Book Slump?

The answer to all those questions is a resounding, "No!"

In NOONSHADE, we are given everything that made DAWNTHIEF incredible, with added layers of detail of the world and its characters. We are positively thrilled that we finally have these novels here in the US! Seriously, if Barclay's next novels continue to be this enjoyable, we may have found the guy that tops our Heroic Fantasy list of favorite authors. NOONSHADE bears a cover-quote from the late and great David Gemmell. It is one of the few novels that actually deserves those words of praise from the Legend.

Whatever it is that draws us all to stories about the exploits of mercenary bands, James Barclay knows what it is. This a group of mercenaries that we don't see ourselves tiring of. Go buy Barclay's US releases of his novels RIGHT NOW!

DAWNTHIEF - Chronicles of the Raven Book 1
NOONSHADE - Chronicles of the Raven Book 2
NIGHTCHILD - Chronicles of the Raven Book 3

James Barclay's Chronicles of the Raven sets the standard for Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. Anyone who is writing about a group of mercenaries needs to read these books and ask themselves, if they can do it half as well.


Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: Nothing explicit.
Violence: This book is action packed. With swordplay aplenty, this is a definite yes.
Sex: Nothing of note.


You know the drill. Go give James Barclay and his US Editor Lou Anders some love:

http://www.jamesbarclay.com/
http://www.pyrsf.com/
http://louanders.blogspot.com/

The next time you run across Lou Anders from Pyr SF&F, buy him a drink. In fact, buy him two, he won't mind. Then, ask him where you can find James Barclay so you can buy that gentleman a drink as well. In Lou's on-going crusade to bring the US great fantasy titles from the Brits, he brings us James Barclay's DAWNTHIEF, and in doing so takes us on and honest-to-goodness adventure.

Do you remember a few reviews back where we reviewed WINTERBIRTH? Do you remember how upset we were with the comparisons people had been drawing between it and David Gemmell's work? Well, we are pleased to tell you that Barclay's DAWNTHIEF is truly worthy of the comparison to the works of the late Gemmell. In fact, we are quite sure Gemmell would be more than proud of Barclay's work, and the reception it is bound to receive here in the US.

Now, there are a few things to make note of when reading this novel (getting our few nitpicks out of the way early). DAWNTHIEF was originally published back in 1999 in the UK. In the fantasy industry, that was a very long time ago, and the state of the genre has changed. The novel feels very much in the tradition of 90's Heroic Fantasy based in role-playing games. Also, to our initial dismay, it has elves in it. We don't exactly like elves in novels anymore... Lastly, there are some rough transitions from scene to scene, likely due to this being Barclay's first novel.

Alright, now that those small things are out of the way, here is the good news (and there is a lot of it). We want you to picture a collaborative dream in which Gemmell and George R.R. Martin worked together. You have the intense, fast-paced, heroic action of Gemmell mixed with the brutal tone that Martin is famous for. Sound awesome? It should, and that is exactly the type of novel Barclay gives us with DAWNTHIEF. It is definitely much more brutal than Gemmell's novels, but not quite as harsh as Abercrombie's. Let's just say the body count is...high. Just how we like it.

Elves. Even the mention of them bothers us. It especially bothers us when authors try to fool us by using elves, but calling them by different names (once again, see our review on WINTERBIRTH). So, call us pleasantly surprised when we realized we enjoyed the elves in Barclay's novel. What made it good for us? Barclay didn't force it down our throats. He essentially just said, "Hey, this guy is an elf. Nifty huh?" If he hadn't told us there elves, we wouldn't have noticed. It was just a character trait. In DAWNTHIEF, it worked surprisingly well.

The characters are enjoyable, witty, and extremely skilled in the art of killing you dead. The world is surprisingly deep for what many will erroneously consider (but not you right? RIGHT?) a hack-n-slash generic fantasy. To us, it was obvious that Barclay extensively built the back-story of his world. There are few times where he "tells" rather than "shows," but we get a good sense of a world deceptively rich in history and detail.

Remember, this is Barclay's first novel. He has published eight other novels since (and 2 novellas). With a first novel that holds so much promise, DAWNTHIEF has made us quite excited to read further in the series. Barclay himself said his books got better and better with each novel under his belt.

DAWNTHIEF was supposed to be released next month (September), but is apparently on sale early on Amazon.com. Go grab yourself a copy of Barclay's first novel, and pre-order NOONSHADE which will be released in October (though more than likely it will be available in late September judging by Amazon's track record with releasing Pyr novels early).


Recommended Age: 17 and up for content (see below).
Language: Every now-and-again we get some strong language. Nothing close to what we see in Abercrombie, but notable all the same.
Violence: Hello? Love child of Gemmell and Martin...of course there is violence. The main characters are all mercenaries. They kill for a living.
Sex: Two scenes, both fairly graphic, but not overly long.

Judging from Barclay's website, he seems like a pretty awesome guy. Go by and say "hi," and thank him for one of the best action novels released in the US in a long time. And tell him we sent you.

http://www.jamesbarclay.com/

And yes, we were serious when we said go buy Lou Anders a drink. Just don't get him too drunk, we need him to keep working so we (and you too) have good books to read. Go thank him. Now. Honestly, if you haven't gone to this website yet after all of our linking, you have issues.

http://www.pyrsf.com/