| "The Map of All Things" by Kevin J. Anderson (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu) |
 |
 |
 |
| Books & Stories - Books | |||
| Written by Ares | |||
| Wednesday, 23 June 2010 11:14 | |||
 Official Kevin J. Anderson Website Order "The Map of all Things" HERE Read FBC Review of The Edge of the World Read FBC Review of Enemies and Allies INTRODUCTION: In the December 2009 post about my 2010 Anticipated books I said the following about "The Map of all Things": "If you want a complex series with multiple happenings, lots of plot threads and "swords and sail-ships" as sense of wonder, Terra Incognita is for you. Written in the author's clear prose I enjoyed a lot the series debut The Edge of the World (FBC dual review with Cindy) and I am looking forward to read more about the fate of its many characters." I started "The Map of all Things" the moment I got it and it picked up where "The Edge of the World" ended. I provided a lengthy overview of the setting and main characters in the review linked above but for newcomers to the series, its basics facts are as follow: There is the legend of the world creator Ondun and his three sons, of whom Aiden and Urec set across the seas in great arkships and supposedly settled the two known continents of the present, Tierra and Uraba which are separated by a narrow isthmus of land; there has been a centuries long conflict between the Aidenists of Tierra and the Urabans that follow Urec's teachings, conflict that seemed just to be settled by a treaty, when it actually flared into the nastiest war ever between the two people due to a set of unfortunate circumstances and the logic of escalation; there are also neutral map-makers and scientists/philosophers called Saedrans who are supposedly the surviving remnants of Joron's people, the third son of Ondun who remained in the ancestral continent of Terravitae now assumed submerged under the sea. FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: "The Map of all Things" stands at about 580 pages of the story divided into 125 chapters named by their respective setting. In the author's tradition from The Seven Suns saga, the book starts with an 11 page "Story so Far" summary of "The Edge of the World" and a map, though I have to say I remembered the first book so well I did not use the refresher. At the end there is a Glossary, an author's note about music created specifically to accompany the two novels in the series and an extract from The Key to Creation, the book three of the trilogy. Soldan-shah Omra of Uraba, Imir his father and retired Soldan-shah now adventuring across the desert, when not enjoying his quiet life, Saan, Omra's stepson of Tierran parentage, Istar, Omra's main wife, mother of Saan and of two princesses with Omra, princess Anjine heir and de facto ruler of Tierra, Mateo her childhood friend and superior officer in the Aidenist army, Criston Vora former sailor, hermit and now ship captain, prester Hannes fanatic Aidenist clergy, terrorist in Uraba and escapee from Uraban mines lead a huge cast of characters in several threads that intertwine, all of course within the background of the terrible and continually escalating war between the Aidenists and the Urabans. The ending is on moderate cliffhangers in some threads and on a big one in one of them but the heft of the book makes it quite acceptable since a lot happens between its covers. The Map of all Things is "swords and sail ships" epic fantasy. ANALYSIS: While I liked The Edge of the World quite a lot, The Map of all Things is even better despite its transitional middle volume character for three reasons: 1: The action is more compact in time and the character set is the same - at least the surviving ones since the author does not shy in killing characters - while under the pressures of total war new radical technologies develop so the world of the series expands materially quite a lot. 2: The Map of all Things is even darker and *more realistic* at least as politics go and we see the full impact of fanaticism, as well as how otherwise reasonable people can be caught in a spiral of atrocities on both sides and do horrible things; so the Urabans use the ra-virs to break an Aidenist attack by assassinating the army commanders, the Aidenists massacre hundreds of prisoners of war and throw their heads into the Uraban camp and so it goes with atrocity topping atrocity on both sides; the other threads that do not involve the war have their own darker sides too. 3. There is a lot of exploration, sense of wonder and finally we have quite a few voyages of discovery going on, as well as considerably more magic and strange creatures of the seas and deserts than before. So the world of the series expands geographically significantly too. The clear prose of the author makes the book a fast read despite its length since it's a page turner you do not want to put down. While I saw some of the twists and turns of the book, there were quite a few surprises both with the evolution of some characters as well as with the story itself. We also re-encounter some colorful secondary characters from The Edge of the World in quite interesting roles here. The Map of all Things has everything you want from a fantasy epic - intrigue, land and sea battles, assassinations and assassination attempts, discoveries, magic, strange creatures - as well as sense of wonder that is usually associated more with space opera, but the author managed to transpose that in the "swords and sails" context superbly. Overall I thought The Map of all Things (A+ from me) a step up in the series taking it to the top level of current secondary world epic offerings, while The Key to Creation trilogy ending novel has the potential to make Terra Incognita a series for the ages and it will feature high on my list of anticipated novels for 2011. 
|
Fantasy Art Is A Genre Of Art That Depicts Magical Or Other Supernatural Themes, Ideas, Creatures Or Settings
In literature, fantasy is a form of fiction, usually novels or short stories
Perhaps the most common sub-genres of fantasy--or at least most commonly associated with the term \"Fantasy\"--are sword and sorcery and high fantasy Further blurring the definition, some suggest there is a distinction between \"Fantasy\" proper as a genre, and \"the fantastic,\" the latter being a fantasy-like element in other fiction.
Translate this site
Joke of the article
Business jokesTwo government economists were returning home from a field meeting. As with all government travelers, they were assigned the cheapest seats on the plane so they each were occupying the center seat on opposite sides of the aisle. They continued their discussion of the knotty problem that had been the subject of their meeting through takeoff and meal service until finally one of the passengers in an aisle seat offered to trade places so they could talk and he could sleep. After switching seats, one economist remarked to the other that it was the first time an economic discussion ever kept anyone awake.
Quotes Related to Article
It was no Insurrection or Rebellion, or even Civil War in any proper sense of these terms... The war... was a war between States regularly organized into two separate Federal Republics... In the beginning, and throughout the contest, the object of the 'Confederates' was to maintain the separate Sovereignty of each State, and the right of self-government, which that necessarily carries with it. The object of the 'Federals,' on the contrary, was to maintain a Centralized Sovereignty over all the States on both sides. This was the fundamental principle involved in the Conflict, which must be kept continually in mind.ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS
Google 
Facebook 
Twitter 
Myspace 
Linkedin 
del.icio.us 
Blogger