Unfinished - self explanatory really, it was so bad I couldn't finish it
Average - an OK book but one I wouldn't really recommend
Good - a good example of the genre, one I'd recommend
Brilliant- books that everyone should read, really outstanding and memorable
First review on the blog is for - Between two thorns by Emma Newman
Good
The first book to be set in the split
worlds which consist of Exillium (the Fae realm), The Nether (Neither
here nor there) and Mundanus (the “real” world). At some point in the past the
sorcerers banished the Fae from the world (Exillium is Latin for Exile) and
thus created the split worlds. The sorcerers and Arbiters still seek to keep
the influence of the Fae and their human puppets that live in the Nether from
meddling too much in the affairs of mortals in Mundanus (yuck, what a horrible
word that is!). The human puppets have patrons in the Fae like Lord Poppy and
Lady Rose and there are several families of Rosa for example, as a neat way of
avoiding silly fantasy names Newman has just used the Latin names for the
flowers that the families are themed upon, for example Rhoeas-Papaver (a
species of Poppy). Living in the Nether
means that they do not age and seems to be stuck in a regency style culture, at
least in Aquae Sulis (shades of Pride & Prejudice perhaps?).
In this first instalment we follow three main protagonists;
Sam who lives in Mundanus Bath (Aquae Sulis in the Nether) with no idea that
the Nether or the Fae exist who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time, Catherine Rhoeas-Papaver who has run away from the Nether to create a
life for herself in Mundanus Manchester and Max an Arbiter on assignment in
London (Londinium in the Nether). I do wonder if the choice of cities are for
ease of introducing the books to the States being three of the most well known
cities of the UK. Newman drops you straight into the story with little to no
expositionary world building which was nice, although 200 odd pages in one of
the characters explains how the world works to a Mundane which is a bit of an
odd choice as by then you’ve picked it up from what’s been going on.
There’s a lot to like here, I thought the arbiters a neat
idea and especially liked the split soul nature for them & being able to
use statues to communicate. I liked that some of the action was in Bath which I
know quite well. I really liked that you have to work at the world building
rather than have everything on a plate and that the
characters are plausible. There are a few things that made me raise an eyebrow
though, some of the Fae stuff is a little twee - the Tinkerbell style Fae for
example, although they are like the quote from Sandman in Midsummer
Night’s Dream about Puck – “I am that ‘
giggling-dangerous-totally-bloody-psychotic-menace-to-life-and-limb”
The swearing seemed a little incongruous also, I understand, or think I do
anyway, that Newman is using it a shorthand way to differentiate between the
overly formal speech of the folks of the Nether and the more plain, modern
speech of Mundanus but since some folks here don’t like cussing it may alienate
a few potential fans. In summary though the little things that detracted seem a
bit nitpicky and I would unhesitantly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys
modern fantasy.
It’s very much a “first in series” book though and although
one of the plotlines is resolved (although bound to have repercussions in the
later books) others are not and the book ends with a hook drawing you to get
the next, which is not available yet so be warned if you like to read series in
a glut as I do. Newman also wrote a year of stories set in the split world that
are available on her website http://www.enewman.co.uk/free-stories
either as text or audio and you can find out more about the split worlds
here: http://www.splitworlds.com/. I
feel that Emma Newman is going to be a big name with these books and there is a
definite feel of rising star (she was recently featured in SFX).
Overall – First in what promises to be a great series in a
great world
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