CANR
WORK TITLE: The Reign of the Departed
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Keyes, J. Gregory
BIRTHDATE: 1963
WEBSITE:
CITY: Savannah
STATE: GA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 11, 1963, in Meridian, MS; married; wife’s name Nell (a jewelry maker).
EDUCATION:Mississippi State University, B.A.; University of Georgia, M.A., Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
University of Georgia, Athens, faculty member. Has worked as a night guard and as a newspaper ironer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Greg Keyes is an author and instructor at the University of Georgia in Athens. When Keyes was a child, his father’s job took the family to an Arizona Navajo reservation. Keyes became bilingual and fascinated by language. As an undergraduate, he studied Russian, French, Mandarin, Japanese, and old Norse. On the reservation he was exposed to the storytelling that led to his first writings, which were retellings of Indian legends and myths. After receiving an M.A. in anthropology, he began teaching and researching folklore and mythology in addition to subjects relevant to his class.
Keyes was inspired to write his first fantasy, The Waterborn, because of a world history class he took as an undergraduate and discussion of ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, that were organized around the control of water. The Waterborn is the first book of Keyes’s series “Chosen of the Changeling.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer called it “a satisfying, robust, impressive debut that offers some genuine surprises.” In The Waterborn two young people make their way in separate plots that interweave in a tale of mythical beasts, gods, and fantasy. Hezhi is a young princess, the daughter of the emperor of Nhol. Her blood carries the seed of the powerful River god who controls Nhol. Hezhi is searching for her cousin, who was taken away by priests. The other plot begins in the distant land of the Forest Lord, where Perkar, the son of a chieftain, falls in love with a Stream Goddess who is threatened by the River. Perkar vows to kill the River and is drawn toward Nohl, where Hezhi lives, after dreaming of a girl calling to him. In his quest, he encounters monsters and magic and engages in sword fights. “Keyes has created a memorable world,” said Sally Estes in Booklist. Estes called The Waterborn a “richly detailed tapestry, steeped in American Indian myth and lore.” Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Sandra M. Lee wrote that Keyes “provides engaging battles, strong characterization, and solid relationships to tie blood and quest into final confrontation and maturation.”
The Blackgod is Keyes’s sequel to The Waterborn. Hezhi flees from the River, who sends a ghoul to find her. She and her bodyguard take refuge with the horse-worshipping Mangs, where Brother Horse teaches her how to bring forth her own powers. Blackgod the Raven reveals to Hezhi how she can defeat River at its source. River sends the ghoul Ghe into the mountains to kill Hezhi. A Publishers Weekly reviewer described Ghe as “a wonderful, Dostoyevskian character, at once repelling and touching,” and noted Keyes’s “mastery of the internal lives of his characters and his artful, theatrical shifts of point of view.” Library Journal reviewer Susan Hamburger commented that the book is “enriched by spiritualism, mystery, and cultural detail.” Writing again in Booklist, Estes asserted that The Blackgod “a richly developed page-turner for the fantasy cognoscenti.”
Newton’s Cannon is the first book of Keyes’s alternate history series, “The Age of Unreason.” The book begins in 1715, when the young Boston printer’s apprentice Ben Franklin studies alchemic devices invented by Isaac Newton. One of Newton’s discoveries is used as a weapon, and a struggle ensues between England and France, whose Louis XIV has been prolonging his life with elixirs. Franklin’s discoveries put him in danger, and he turns to Newton for protection. Jackie Cassada noted in a Library Journal review that Newton’s Cannon is “intricately crafted, elegantly delivered.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor felt the book “is colorful, intriguing, and well handled, if somewhat difficult to swallow.” The story is “eminently worthwhile reading for both fantasy and alternate-history lovers,” concluded Roland Green in Booklist.
In the next book in the series, A Calculus of Angels, cold has shrouded the Earth after its collision with an asteroid. Franklin and Newton are in Prague, looking for the secrets of the beings whose science and powers have nearly destroyed the world. Other historical figures woven into the story include Peter the Great, Cotton Mather, and Blackbeard, the pirate. Keyes “supports this unique, ultimately plausible combination of alternate history and alternate science with good research and excellent storytelling,” remarked Green. A Publishers Weekly contributor called the novel “a bravura performance.”
In Empire of Unreason, book three in the “Age of Unreason” series, war rages throughout North America as Indian and European armies struggle for supremacy. The malakim, a group of malevolent spirits, seeks to destroy mankind by throwing the various human factions into conflict with each other. European leaders plot their own intrigues after their alchemical tinkering has brought about a new ice age in the northern lands. A number of human-based factions are rising up to oppose the malakim, including the American Junto, a group of American Indians, freed black slaves, and European intellectuals (including Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin) who want to see the malakim defeated; Red Shoes, a Choctaw heading west to destroy the malakim-sent dreams that threaten mankind; and a beautiful French scientist, Adrienne de Mornay de Montchevreuil, who manipulates individual malakim in Russia and who launches her own search for her son, said to be the leader of the malakim’s battle against humanity. The novel “offers deliciously skewed portraits of historical figures as well as a genuinely intriguing plot,” noted the Library Journal contributor Jackie Cassada. Keyes remains “master of the details that make much of this universe believable, and the amount of action definitely makes the book exciting,” stated Green.
The fourth book of the series, Shadows of God, concludes the “Age of Unreason” with the culmination of the war between the angels, demons, and humans. Alchemist Benjamin Franklin uses his skills to forge a sweeping alliance among various warring factions, all with the goal of saving the direly threatened human race. Despite Franklin’s efforts, the opposition remains strong, led by Adrienne de Montchevreuil’s son, Nicholas, known as the Sun Boy. Adrienne, herself a powerful witch, is careful not to let anyone know what side she favors in the conflict. Meanwhile, powers in England want to recapture their lost colonies, while Russian troops march toward the destruction of the United States. Keyes also provides details of the technology of the world he has created, including airships that levitate by demon power. “Keyes entertains both with details of everyday life and with the conversations of people who may not have met but should have,” commented a writer in Publishers Weekly.
The Briar King inaugurates a new series for Keyes, the “Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone.” The kingdom of Crothenay and the world of Everon are populated by fantasy beings who were transported there from the world of humans. As the novel opens, the Sefry, who have lived in the King’s Forest for centuries, flee for their lives in anticipation of the awakening of the Briar King. Human sacrifices at ancient sites of power, as well as the appearance of a fearsome creature, the greffyn, suggest the rumors of the awakening are true. Should the Briar King return, however, legends have foretold the violent and bloody end of the world. A novice monk discovers manuscripts of unholy curses connected with the Briar King’s return, while the king’s court is in disarray, plagued by murder and betrayal. The Briar King can be stopped only if a queen of the Dare clan sits on the throne of Crothenay at his awakening. Only two women fit this description: Dare queen Murielle and her youngest daughter, Anne. Queen Murielle quickly finds herself in mortal danger from the evil forces that work to revive the Briar King. “Keyes takes all the genre’s conventions and, while never overstepping their boundaries, breathes new life into them,” commented a Kirkus Reviews critic. “Keyes mixes cultures, religions, institutions and languages with rare skill,” concluded a Publishers Weekly contributor.
The second “Thorn and Bone” volume, The Charnel Prince, “continues to deliver impressive magical creatures, nonstop thrills, and engaging, believable characters,” wrote Paula Luedtke in Booklist. The Briar King is awakening, and Queen Murielle’s rule is increasingly threatened by rival political and religious dynasties. With war seemingly imminent, Murielle’s daughter and heir to the throne, Anne Dare, disappears, and the desperate queen sends her strongest champion to find her. Praising the novel in a Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction review, Charles De Lint wrote that “the sense of wonder one hopes for but so rarely finds in recent fantasy novels is still present, rich and evocative.” A reviewer for Publishers Weekly admired Keyes’s “fresh and imaginative” story, striking prose, and thought-provoking themes.
In The Blood Prince, Anne Dare’s mad uncle, Robert Dare, sits on the throne. He has imprisoned Murielle and is hunting for Anne, who must use all her wits to escape him. “Keyes creates a sense of wonder on every page,” wrote Charles De Lint in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A writer for Publishers Weekly deemed the book part of a “sophisticated and intelligent high fantasy epic.” The “Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone” series, De Lint concluded, “will be considered one of the very best” series of the 2000s.
The Born Queen is the final book in the series. It finds storylines from the previous three works coming together. Narrated by multiple characters, the volume solidifies their fates and that of the world in which they live. A writer on the Fantasy Book Critic website suggested: “The ‘Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone’ may never be held in the same esteem as J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time or Steven Erikson’s Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, especially in terms of depth and complexity, but taken on its own merit Greg’s series is an exciting, skillfully rendered epic that both embraces and challenges the fantasy genre, and can be a wonderful experience if given the chance.” Dustin Kenall, contributor to the SF Site website, commented: “Perfection isn’t always good enough. With The Born Queen, Greg Keyes delivers a stellar conclusion to his quartet ‘The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone’ that nevertheless leaves the reader earthbound in an ultimately conventional, if unconventionally well written, epic fantasy.” Kenall added: “On a technical level, it is difficult to dispute that Keyes has accomplished everything he set out to on the terms of the story he intended to tell. But by playing the genre so traditionally, however impeccably, he has revealed its limits, even if they are not coterminous with his own.” De Lint, the reviewer in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, asserted: “The Born Queen is an utterly fascinating conclusion to a superb series. … If you only read one recently published fantasy series, let it be this one.”
The Infernal City: An Elder Scrolls Novel is the first book in a series inspired by the video game, Elder Scrolls. Characters from the game, including Attrebus Mede, appear in this volume.
“We are left with a rather abrupt and unsatisfying ending,” commented a reviewer on the King of the Nerds website. The reviewer continued: “If you’re an Elder Scrolls fan looking for your next fix while waiting for the distant fifth Elder Scrolls game then by all means give The Infernal City a try. Non-fans, especially interested in the setting, might want to steer clear as the novels serves as poor introduction to the setting.”
In his standalone novel, Footsteps in the Sky, Keyes stages an intergalactic conflict involving large corporations, aliens, and descendants of the Hopi Native American tribe. These Hopi have been living on a colonized planet. There has been a rift among their people, pitting progress-embracing coastal Hopi against traditional desert-dwelling Hopi.
Footsteps in the Sky received lukewarm reviews. A critic on the Bob’s Book Reviews website remarked: “It wasn’t great, but it certainly was different.” A contributor to the Big Shiny Robot website suggested: “It’s an enjoyable, if not remarkable, novel. Using the allegory of the Hopi religion was a strong start.” The contributor continued: “If you’re a voracious reader in need of some middle of the road sci-fi, this is as good place to go as any.”
A devoted daughter, Aster Kostyena, harnesses the powers of a man who survived a suicide attempt, Errol Greyson, in The Reign of the Departed. Aster snatches Errol’s spirit and takes him on a quest to help her father. In an interview with Joel Cunningham, contributor to the Barnes and Noble website, Keyes stated: “Most of my work has been inspired by mythology and folktales, but here I wanted to play with that material in a different way, a way which in some sense takes those stories more at face value rather than trying to rationalize them. I also wanted to begin a story where I began—the Sowashee of Errol and Aster is essentially Meridian, Mississippi and the rural areas surrounding it—the forests and fields where I spent my days as a youth.”
A writer on the SFF World website commented: “There were gaps in the plot and some transitions were uneven.” However, the writer added: “There are enough strong elements around some of the characters and particularly the world (or worlds) Keyes hints at in this novel that the inevitable second novel is indeed welcome.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer described the book as “ambitious but flawed” and noted: “Most readers will give up and drift away well before the end.” A contributor to the Koeur’s Book Reviews website remarked: “There was not one character that was uninteresting. The world building is epic.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 1996, Sally Estes, review of The Waterborn, p. 1324; March 1, 1997, Sally Estes, review of The Blackgod, p. 1068; May 15, 1998, Roland Green, review of Newton’s Cannon, p. 1601; April 15, 1999, Roland Green, review of A Calculus of Angels, p. 1518; May 1, 2000, Roland Green, review of Empire of Unreason, p. 1655; April 15, 2001, Roland Green, review of Shadows of God, p. 1540; December 1, 2002, Paula Luedtke, review of The Briar King, p. 652; August 1, 2004, Paula Luedtke, review of The Charnel Prince, p. 1913.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 1998, review of Newton’s Cannon, p. 537; November 1, 2002, review of The Briar King, p. 1578.
Library Journal, April 15, 1997, Susan Hamburger, review of The Blackgod, p. 123; May 15, 1998, Jackie Cassada, review of Newton’s Cannon, p. 118; April 15, 1999, Jackie Cassada, review of A Calculus of Angels, p. 148; May 15, 2000, review of Empire of Unreason, p. 129; June 15, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of Shadows of God, p. 106; August 1, 2004, Jackie Cassada, review of The Charnel Prince, p. 73; November 15, 2009, Jackie Cassada, review of The Infernal City, p. 59.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April, 1997, Michelle West, review of The Waterborn, p. 130; March, 1999, Robert K.J. Killheffer, review of Newton’s Cannon, p. 35; December 1, 2004, Charles de Lint, review of The Charnel Prince, p. 31; October 1, 2006, Charles de Lint, review of The Blood Knight, p. 32; September, 2008, Charles de Lint, review of The Born Queen, p. 46.
Publishers Weekly, June 10, 1996, review of The Waterborn, p. 90; March 24, 1997, review of The Blackgod, p. 63; April 13, 1998, review of Newton’s Cannon, p. 57; March 22, 1999, review of A Calculus of Angels, p. 74; May 1, 2000, review of Empire of Unreason, p. 54; May 14, 2001, review of Shadows of God, p. 57; November 25, 2002, review of The Briar King, p. 47; June 21, 2004, review of The Charnal Prince, p. 47; June 5, 2006, review of The Blood Knight, p. 42; May 28, 2018, review of The Reign of the Departed, p. 79.
Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1997, Sandra M. Lee, review of The Waterborn, p. 252.
ONLINE
Barnes and Noble website, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (March 21, 2018), Joel Cunningham, author interview.
Big Shiny Robot, http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/ (May 26, 2015, review of Footsteps in the Sky.
Bill’s Book Reviews, https://bmackela.wordpress.com/ (May 27, 2015), review of Footsteps in the Sky.
Charlie Hopkins website, http://charliehopkins.wixsite.com/ (March 20, 2018), Charlie Hopkins, review of Pacific Rim Uprising: Ascension.
Emerald City, http://www.emcit.com/ (August 2, 2007), Cheryl Morgan, “The Princess Grows Up.”
Fantasy Book Critic, http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/ (March 17, 2008), review of The Born Queen.
Imperial Library, https://www.imperial-library.info/ (July 16, 2010), author interview.
J.Gregory Keyes website, http:// www.gregkeyes.com (August 2, 2007).
King of the Nerds, https://kingofthenerd.wordpress.com/ (December 4, 2009), review of The Infernal City.
Koeur’s Book Reviews, https://koeur.wordpress.com/ (April 9, 2018), review of the Reign of the Departed.
Locus, https://locusmag.com/ (June 8, 2018), Carolyn Cushman, review of The Reign of the Departed.
Science Fiction, http://sciencefiction.com/ (June 25, 2014), Stuart Conover, author interview.
SFF World, http://www.sffworld.com/ (August 2, 2007), Rob H. Bedford, review of The Blood Knight; (June 19, 2018), review of The Reign of the Departed.
SF Site, http://www.sfsite.com/ (August 2, 2007), Victoria Strauss, review of The Charnel Prince; (September 18, 2018), Dustin Kenall, review of The Born Queen.
Starkville High School Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project website, http:// www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/ (October 5, 2005), Ashley Rice, profile and interview with J. Keyes.
Series
Chosen of the Changeling
1. The Waterborn (1996)
2. The Blackgod (1997)
Chosen of the Changeling: The Complete Series (omnibus) (2017)
Age of Unreason
1. Newton's Cannon (1998)
2. A Calculus of Angels (1999)
3. Empire of Unreason (2000)
4. The Shadows of God (2001)
The Age of Unreason: The Complete Series (omnibus) (2017)
Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone
1. The Briar King (2002)
2. The Charnel Prince (2004)
3. The Blood Knight (2006)
4. The Born Queen (2008)
Elder Scrolls
1. The Infernal City (2009)
2. Lord of Souls (2011)
XCOM 2
Resurrection (2015)
High and Faraway
1. The Reign of the Departed (2018)
2. Kingdoms of the Cursed (2019)
Novels
Interstellar (2014)
Footsteps in the Sky (2015)
Collections
The Hounds of Ash (2008)
Series contributed to
Babylon 5
10. Dark Genesis (1998)
11. Deadly Relations (1999)
12. Final Reckoning (1999)
Star Wars : New Jedi Order
7. Conquest (2001)
8. Rebirth (2001)
18. The Final Prophecy (2003)
Edge of Victory (omnibus) (2001)
Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm (2014)
War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations (2017)
Caesar's Story (2018)
Independence Day Resurgence
Independence Day: Crucible (2016)
Pacific Rim Uprising
Ascension (2018)
Gregory Keyes
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Gregory Keyes
Greg Keyes (Epinal, France, 2010)
Occupation
Novelist
Genre
Fantasy, science fiction
Gregory Keyes is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and Greg Keyes.
Contents
1
Early life
2
Writing career
3
Style
4
Works
4.1
Chosen of the Changeling
4.2
The Age of Unreason
4.3
Babylon 5: The Psi Corps Trilogy
4.4
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order
4.5
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone
4.6
The Elder Scrolls
4.7
Other
5
External links
6
References
Early life[edit]
Keyes was born in Meridian, Mississippi, as John Gregory Keyes. He received degrees in anthropology from Mississippi State University and the University of Georgia before becoming a full-time writer.
Writing career[edit]
He is famous for his tetralogy The Age of Unreason, a steampunk/alchemical story featuring Benjamin Franklin and Isaac Newton. He wrote the Babylon 5 Psi Corps trilogy, a history of the Psi Corps and a biography of Psi Corps member Alfred Bester.
In 2003 he began a fantasy series titled The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, the first volume of which was The Briar King. The second book in the series The Charnel Prince was published in 2004 and the third, The Blood Knight, was published in July 2006. His fourth and final book of the quartet, The Born Queen, was released in March 2008.
In 2009 it was announced that Keyes would be writing two novels based on the successful computer game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The first of these, The Infernal City, was published by Random House in November 2009.[1] The second, Lord of Souls, went on sale on September 27, 2011.[2]
Style[edit]
Greg Keyes builds his stories around multiple main characters who meet only rarely, but allow the reader to follow different threads of the same events. Most of the chapters in his books focus on one of the main characters. Chapters often end in a surprise or a cliffhanger as the story moves to follow another character.
Keyes' knowledge of fencing and linguistics also figures heavily in his books. For example, Stephen Darige, one of the main characters in The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, is an adept linguist, and his knowledge and skills play an important role in the development of the story.
Works[edit]
Chosen of the Changeling[edit]
The Waterborn (1996), ISBN 0-345-40393-2
The Blackgod (1997), ISBN 0-345-40394-0
The Age of Unreason[edit]
Newton's Cannon (1998), ISBN 1-56865-829-X
A Calculus of Angels (1999), ISBN 0-7394-0260-9
Empire of Unreason (2000), ISBN 0-345-40609-5
The Shadows of God (2001), ISBN 0-345-43904-X
Babylon 5: The Psi Corps Trilogy[edit]
Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps (1998), ISBN 0-345-42715-7
Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant (1999), ISBN 0-345-42716-5
Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester (1999), ISBN 0-345-42717-3
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order[edit]
Edge of Victory I: Conquest (2001), ISBN 0-345-42864-1
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth (2001), ISBN 0-345-44610-0
The Final Prophecy (2003), ISBN 0-345-42875-7
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone[edit]
The Briar King (2003), ISBN 0-345-44066-8
The Charnel Prince (2004), ISBN 0-345-44067-6
The Blood Knight (2006), ISBN 0-345-44068-4
The Born Queen (2008), ISBN 0-345-44069-2
The Elder Scrolls[edit]
The Infernal City (2009), ISBN 978-0-345-50801-0 - based on The Elder Scrolls video game series
Lord of Souls (2011), ISBN 978-0-345-50802-7 - based on The Elder Scrolls video game series
Other[edit]
The Hounds of Ash: and Other Tales of Fool Wolf (2008), ISBN 1-894063-09-0
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm (2014), ISBN 978-1783292257
XCOM 2: Resurrection (2015), ISBN 978-1608877126
Independence Day: Crucible (2016) ISBN 978-1785651304
War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations (2016) ISBN 978-1785654725
Gregory Keyes (born April 11, 1963) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and Greg Keyes.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Lanelle Keyes.
QUOTED: "Most of my work has been inspired by mythology and folktales, but here I wanted to play with that material in a different way, a way which in some sense takes those stories more at face value rather than trying to rationalize them. I also wanted to begin a story where I began—the Sowashee of Errol and Aster is essentially Meridian Mississippi and the rural areas surrounding it—the forests and fields where I spent my days as a youth."
Greg Keyes Answers 5 Questions About His Father-Daughter Portal Fantasy The Reign of the Departed
by Joel Cunningham/
March 21, 2018 at 10:00 am
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Greg Keyes is one of those authors with an unpredictable bibliography—he’s written everything from space opera, to steampunk, to epic fantasy. His next novel, The Reign of the Departed, is something else again: a portal fantasy that jumps from our world to the fantasy kingdom of The High and Faraway as is follows a fractious relationship between a father and his daughter.
Today, we’re showing off the cover of the book, featuring art by Micah Epstein and design by Claudia Noble. Then, we talk with Greg about what inspired the book, and what kind of spin he’s put on the tropes of portal fantasy. You’ll find all of that below the official summary…
Errol Greyson hadn’t intended to commit suicide. Or so he told himself. But waking up after his “cry for help” in the body of a wood-and-metal construct magically animated by Aster—the strange girl from school—was not a result he could have imagined.
Aster’s wild explanations of a quest to find the water of health that would cure her father seemed as unreal as her description of Errol’s own half-dead existence, his consciousness stuck in an enchanted automaton while his real body was in a coma from which it might never wake. And of course, they would need to recruit a girl—a virgin, no less—who had been dead for thirty years, to lead them through something called the Pale, beyond which a bunch of magical kingdoms existed. Plus, the threat that Aster could turn him off like a light switch, sending him into a hellish oblivion, was a convincing incentive to cooperate.
It all seemed quite mad: either Aster was nuts or Errol was hallucinating. But if it meant a new chance at life, he reckoned it was worth playing along.
Here’s Greg to answer a few questions about the book, out in June from Night Shade:
You’ve been publishing for more than 20 years, with a lot of variety: Newton’s Cannon is an alt-history steampunk story; The Briar King is epic fantasy; you’ve also written media tie-in novels in the worlds of Star Wars, Babylon 5, and Elder Scrolls, as well as film novelizations. What appealed to you about making your next project a portal fantasy?
I like to try things that are different. I didn’t set out to write a portal fantasy, because until very recently, I hadn’t heard the term.
The High and Faraway is set in a continuum of Kingdoms or Reigns that range from quite fantastic and magical to barely magical at all. The story begins on the far end of that continuum, a place so unmagical (our world, basically) that it requires some arcane help to cross the border to the next realm—but it is more a border than a door.
The story grew out of reading countless fairy-and-folk tales from all around the world, as well as tales of gods and great heroes that exist at a different level, and I wanted to play with these tropes and the relationships between them. Particularly inspiring was a book I read on the relationship of Lithuanian Folktales to earlier, more mythic stories of those people, and my own work as an anthropologist with the tales and mythologies of the Native Americans of the Southeastern U.S.—Choctaw, Muskogee, and so forth.
Most of my work has been inspired by mythology and folktales, but here I wanted to play with that material in a different way, a way which in some sense takes those stories more at face value rather than trying to rationalize them. I also wanted to begin a story where I began—the Sowashee of Errol and Aster is essentially Meridian Mississippi and the rural areas surrounding it—the forests and fields where I spent my days as a youth.
Reign plays around with the traditions of plot-driven quest narratives. You have a diverse cast of protagonists “going down the road.” What did you find most directed the book’s writing, character or plot?
Both had their place, of course, but while I generally knew where my characters were going, I did not know from chapter to chapter what they were going to do, and that in turn often set me off course. The three point-of-view characters have very strong personalities, as does the more enigmatic character, Dusk. Whenever I felt I was pushing any of them to do something they wouldn’t to keep my plot going the way I wanted, I knew I had to back up and do something different.
Issues of agency are often at the core of quest narratives—a protagonist seeking power or the ability to affect change. One of Reign‘s protagonists is fairly ruthless in pursuit of her goals, often at others’ expense, and this coercive nature of magic and power is a theme you return to often. Was this intentional, or did these themes emerge naturally from the story?
In some of my books—The Waterborn, for instance—magic is achieved mostly by negotiation, by reciprocal relationships between humans and gods or spirits. People who live close to the land, especially in hunter-gatherer, herding, or early horticultural societies often view “magic” in this way. Their concepts of the supernatural reflects their social structure, which also tends be more cooperative than coercive.
But in city-building cultures, where kings, queens and emperors are imbued with divine importance that ordinary people don’t have, magic becomes coercive; you don’t ask lightning to fall from the sky, you command it. Magic bends spirits, elements, and people to the will of the magician—and this is the sort of magic we see the most of in the High and Faraway. The relationship of magic to power, and power to relationship and culture, I think, just arises from my point of view, rather than being themes I consciously set out to explore. My goal is primarily to tell a story, not write a thesis.
That said, I always knew that the character you reference was willing to use and coerce others to get what she wants, although her motives are more complicated than they first appear. It’s a part of what makes her tick. On one level, she’s the sort of person who thinks she knows what is best for everyone else, and so feels justified in her choices. But she is also very young, and not nearly as confident as she wants to appear to others.
The relationship between a father and daughter is another central element in the book. How have you own familial relationships informed or inspired this story?
I have a daughter, now nine years of age. When she was younger—three, I think—I had a dream of carrying her in my arms through strange and frightening landscapes. In the dream, I feared I was failing her somehow. That dream formed the nucleus of this book, and it’s why it [became] so important to me—because of that bond with my daughter, and the hopes and fears that go along with it. My relationship with her isn’t the one portrayed in the book (thank goodness); that is, in fact, what I hope our relationship will never become.
For well-read readers familiar with common tropes in portal fantasy, tell us something unexpected or unusual about your take on the subgenre.
I believe I cover some fresh territory in the folklore I draw on to imagine this world and its relationship to the “real” world. It was really a joy to write, because it made me feel like an explorer in uncharted territory. I hope the reader will feel the same.
Preorder The Reign of the Departed, available June 19, 2018.
Exclusive Interview With Author Greg Keyes
0 Posted June 25th, 2014 by Stuart Conover
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Greg Keyes is the author of the recently released ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm‘ which bridges the gap between ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes‘ and ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes‘. If you’ve been wondering what happened in the eight years between films this is a book that you are going to want to check out! If you’ve already read through it or his previous work this is the interview you’ll want to check out to learn more about the author himself! Within you’ll learn more about the book, his writing style, and more!
ScienceFiction.com (SF): First if you could share with our readers a little bit about what ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm’ is about?
Greg Keyes (GK): It’s about the first couple of weeks after the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes – how Caesar and his troop learn to survive in the Muir Woods and escape the humans trying to capture them. It’s also about the beginning of the pandemic hinted at in the end credits of Rise.
SF: How did you get attached to the novel? Were you pitched it or were you actively trying to work within the franchise?
GK: An editor from Titan contacted me to ask if I was interested in doing the book. I was a fan of the movies (and original book) and so I agreed.
SF: The novel takes place between ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes‘ and ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’, how many times did you watch ‘Rise’ to prepare for the novel?
GK: At least four. Then I would watch parts of it to get specific details as I was writing.
SF: How much information and direction were you given to bridge the gap between the two films?
GK: I got to read the script for ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,‘ which was immensely helpful. We also had a big conference call early on, in which we discussed the boundaries and possibilities for the book. It was important that there be no spoilers for the movie, which is one reason it’s set closer to ‘Rise’ than ‘Dawn.’ Beyond that, I was able to submit questions about anything to the folks at FOX. They responded quickly and thoroughly each time, and I had plenty of questions.
SF: What kind of research went into building the world you were writing?
GK: Well, we’ve just discussed a lot of it. The world of ‘Firestorm’ is still essentially ours, but it’s coming apart fast. The other elements – the science fiction elements – were provided by the two movies and the original movie. My University degrees are in Anthropology, and I brought that knowledge to book, along with some specific research on apes and the humans that interact with them. In particular, I had long talks with friends of mine who have worked extensively with apes. They were able to give me personal experiences as well as point me toward the pertinent literature. I also brushed up on my history of some African countries and their history, notable the Democratic Republic of Congo. I read a good bit about pandemics, and built a model of what the epidemic in the book would look like in terms of transmission and mortality based on what we know from ‘Rise’ and ‘Dawn.’
SF: If they end up making another film in the series would you be interested in writing what takes place between the next two as well?
GK: Sure. This was fun.
SF: When writing the Ape portions of the novel did you put yourself in any kind of a different mindset to keep their patterns different from the humans or did you attempt to humanize them as much as possible?
GK: I tried to get into their heads. This was at time exhausting, especially with Koba.
The trick actually was to not make them too human, because even though they’re becoming smarter, they aren’t turning into hairy humans – they’re becoming smarter versions of chimps, gorillas, and orangutans.
SF: You’ve written quite a bit in both the science fiction and fantasy genres. What is the draw for each of them for you?
GK: The shortest, honest answer is that I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy and as a result, that’s what I want to write. But if I were to intellectualize that predisposition I would say that science fiction is a game of ideas, and like most games, it’s fun. Fantasy allows me to play with really ancient tropes, the stuff of our collective dreams and nightmares – mythology, epics, folktales, and so on, all of which really speak to me.
SF: Speaking of previous works you’ve done both original work and working in established franchises. What do you enjoy from each side of the creative spectrum here?
GK: My original (published) work is constrained by the expectations of publishers and their perceptions of what people want to read. I also feel like I’m answering to possible future critics, sometimes – so when writing ‘The Age of Unreason,’ for instance, I felt that I needed to get the details of the eighteenth century right, even though it was an alternate eighteenth-century. So while I feel very free in writing my original stories, I’m still working within an envelope, at least if I want to be published and appreciated.
When working with a franchise, the envelope is narrower, the constraints more limiting. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing – a haiku has a very narrow structure, but working within that structure forces you to really distill what you want to say.
Sometimes It’s actually freeing to work with a franchise. If I had tried to write and sell a space opera trilogy back in the nineties, I’m not sure how much luck I would have had publishing it. But writing for ‘Babylon Five’ gave me exactly that chance. The same is true with the ‘Planet of the Apes.’ I got to do some things in this book I couldn’t have done elsewhere. As well, I’ve been a fan of all the properties I’ve worked with – ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Babylon Five,’ ‘The Elder Scrolls’, and ‘Planet of the Apes.’ It’s fun and an honor to have been asked to contribute to these movies, books, and games.
Bottom line, I’m excited about everything I decide or agree to write, and I try to write the best book I can. With licensed work the biggest challenge is often time. For valid reasons too complicated to go into here, these books often must be written very quickly. Like writing a haiku (or a news story, for that matter) it requires that I decide what’s most important it get that done within deadline. There is little time for dithering.
SF: What current projects do you have in the works?
GK: I’m finishing up a novelization of ‘Interstellar,’ the upcoming film by Christopher Nolan. If the script is any indication, the movie should be fantastic. When that’s off my plate, I a few of my own projects lined up.
SF: What is your ideal writing environment?
GK: I don’t know. I used to do best holed up in my office (which is in my house) but lately I’ve found that switching it up by going out into the backyard increases my productivity. I need to be solitary, though. Having people around distracts me because I want to watch and listen to them. When I’m around people, I can become pretty social, which obviously can’t happen if I need to get some work done.
SF: For readers who enjoy your style do you have any particular authors that you’d love to suggest that they would also find enjoyable?
GK: That’s tough. I haven’t read a lot by my peers in many years, mostly because I feel guilty when I read – I feel I should be writing. And if I am reading, it should be for research. I’m not sure who a “write like” or who “writes like me”. My deepest influences probably lie with authors like Asimov, Heinlein, Niven, Vance, Tolkien, Andersen, LeGuin, and so on. I will say two writers I have read and enjoyed in the past few years are Joe Abercrombie and James Enge. But there are probably dozens of young (or at least current) authors I would recommend if I ever got around to reading them. The world is not lacking in talent.
SF: Do you have any advice to upcoming authors out there?
GK: You have to write, not think about writing, not talk about it, but write it and finish it. Then you have to find someone who has valid criticism of your work (and does not charge for it), and you have to learn to listen to that criticism. This will not usually be another wanna-be writer, and sorting valid from nonsensical criticism requires a clear head and some subversion of ego. When I was twenty, I thought everything I wrote was perfect, and anyone who didn’t agree was obviously too dense to understand my genius. It was only after I got over this attitude that I started getting anywhere. And reading that old stuff now — if I was a literary genius at twenty, at fifty-one I’m way to dense to understand my former brilliance.
And do not major in creative writing.
SF: Thank you for your time. In closing would you like to say anything to your fans or those interested in learning more about your work?
GK: Every writer hopes that if a reader likes one of his books, they will read them all. I’m no different.
Interview With Greg Keyes
Submitted by The Librarian on Fri, 07/16/2010 - 10:59
Author: Various
Librarian Comment:
This is an interview with Greg Keyes, the author of The Elder Scrolls Novel: The Infernal City. Thanks to Greg Keyes and also to Gstaff for facilitating the interview.
TIL: First of all, The Imperial Library sincerely appreciates the acknowledgment in the novel. While conducting your research, what were some of the more useful things about TIL? In your opinion, what could be on the site?
GK: I just found it to be a well-organized body of lore. I played Oblivion, and later Morrowind, but of course didn't read every book in the game. The timelines, the maps, the Guide to Daedra – all these were very useful. The compilation of names in Zeph's TES treasury helped me work out the names for the characters in the book. In the outlining and initial writing, I was at the site constantly.
TIL: Could you briefly explain the planning process? We assume there were a lot of preconceived ideas. Did you receive a detailed outline of events that had to be written into the book? How much freedom did you have when it came to your own ideas for the novel?
GK: Things were pretty wide open, in terms of the story I could tell. I was given a preliminary outline of history after Oblivion, but I was also told that some of it was negotiable. I wrote a number of different short proposals, which were reviewed by my editor and the guys at Bethesda. Once the basic idea was settled on, I wrote a longer, more detailed outline, which then went through a few changes. All through this process I had access to Bruce Nesmith and Kurt Kuhlman at Bethesda, so I could bounce ideas off of them, ask whether I could or couldn't do something. Of course, it had to be a TES story, so I was constrained by lore -- although not, interestingly, by game mechanics. I was told specifically that no one wanted to "hear the dice rolling" so to speak. We are to imagine the world of TES to be a real place, of which the games are merely representations. My book represents that world in another way. Geographical distances, for instance, are contracted in the game -- in my books they aren't, so it takes days or weeks rather than hours to run from one city to another.
TIL: What was the hardest part about writing a novel based on the rather extensive Elder Scrolls history? Conversely, were there things that made your task easy?
GK: Well, it's not unlike writing a historical novel; the amount of lore is daunting because I don't want to get it wrong or re-invent the wheel. On the other hand, when I had a question about something, I could search the Imperial Library for the answer or ask Kurt or Bruce, who usually replied within the day. Finally, there is the game itself; I could walk around virtual Cheydinhal and then imagine everything about it bigger, fuller, more detailed. And of course, a few decades later.
TIL: And those Argonian swear words, any funny stories you can share with us?
GK: A few are actually Breton (coac', for instance) and I used distorted words from the Breton language still spoken in France. With the Argonian, I looked at all of the words and names, worked out a grammar that I thought explained them, and then created my own words. That's not funny, really, but I will say that most of them are based around the word for cloaca.
TIL: Finally, can you tell us anything at all about the second Elder Scrolls novel? What can we expect in the second part of the story?
GK: I don’t think we’re ready to drop spoilers at this point. Not everyone is going to die, I guess.
TIL: Thank you for answering our questions, and good luck with the second Elder Scrolls novel.
QUOTED: "ambitious but flawed."
"Most readers will give up and drift away well before the end."
The Reign of the Departed: Book 1 of the High and Faraway
Publishers Weekly. 265.22 (May 28, 2018): p79.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Reign of the Departed: Book 1 of the High and Faraway
Greg Keyes. Night Shade, $14.99 trade paper (360p) ISBN 978-1-59780-937-5
This ambitious but flawed first installment in Keyes's High and Faraway series veers into puzzling and convoluted territory without enough backstory to keep it anchored. After attempting suicide, Errol Greyson wakes to find himself trapped inside a wooden body, his human form lying comatose in the hospital. His spirit has been married to the automaton by Aster Kostyena, who's compelled to restore her father's cursed memory and needs Errol's help to travel to the magical Kingdoms and find the water of health. Joined by a cast of mystical characters, Aster and Errol traverse the dangerous terrain, narrowly evading the Sheriff of the Marches and a number of his allies as he pursues them in hopes of settling his own debt. Romantic side plots inundate Errol's story line; this contrasts bizarrely with repeated depictions of underage female characters being sexually assaulted, and with the introduction of a pedophilic antagonist. Keyes (Lord of Souls) often deliberately withholds vital information, but this tactic breeds more confusion than interest in reading further, and most readers will give up and drift away well before the end. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Reign of the Departed: Book 1 of the High and Faraway." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 79. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638817/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5bb16bae. Accessed 3 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541638817
Keyes, Greg. The Infernal City: An Elder Scrolls[R] Novel
Jackie Cassada
Library Journal. 134.19 (Nov. 15, 2009): p59.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2009 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Keyes, Greg. The Infernal City: An Elder Scrolls[R] Novel. Del Rey: Ballantine. Dec. 2009. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-345-50801-0. pap. $14. FANTASY
The appearance of a sinister flying city, complete with its army of undead warriors, threatens the empire. Attrebus Mede, son of the emperor, along with a group of warriors, thieves, and mages, attempts to overcome the ancient force that threatens destruction. Keyes (The Waterborn; the "Age of Unreason" series) lends his talent for wordsmithing to this novel set in the universe of the popular Elder Scrolls[R] video pmes. VERDICT This action-based fantasy will find a following among YA and adult garners.
By Jackie Cassada, formerly with Asheville Buncombe Lib. Syst., NC
Cassada, Jackie
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Cassada, Jackie. "Keyes, Greg. The Infernal City: An Elder Scrolls[R] Novel." Library Journal, 15 Nov. 2009, p. 59. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A212852431/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=81c2caf8. Accessed 3 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A212852431
QUOTED: "The Born Queen is an utterly fascinating conclusion to a superb series. ... If you only read one recently published fantasy series, let it be this one."
The Born Queen
Charles De Lint
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. 115.3 (Sept. 2008): p46+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 Spilogale, Inc.
http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/
Full Text:
The Born Queen, by Greg Keyes, Del Rey, 2008, $26.
I'm always amused how, with a series such as Keyes's The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone, the author and his publishers expect readers to retain the details of the many characters and subplots of the books, for all that there's usually a year or more between installments. Even TV shows have a little "last week on ..." clip to bring one up to date, and they come out on a weekly basis, rather than annually.
Maybe I just have a bad memory. Or maybe they're so close to the material that it's all still current for them. I don't know. But I do know that it's the mark of a good writer when their latest installment keeps your interest, even when your memory is scrambling--and not always successfully--to fill in the blanks.
The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone is a big, sprawling story with more characters and plot threads than I could possibly sum up efficiently in the space I have. And this being the fourth and last book, my trying to do so will only spoil it for readers who have been happily reading it as each book comes out, as well as for readers who decide to give the series a try for the first time.
So let me simply restate what I said in reviews of previous installments of this column: what makes this series so satisfying is how it reclaims the sense of wonder that first attracted many of us to reading fantasy in the first place. Yes, the plotting is deft and surprising, the characters fully realized, the world fascinating. But you can say that about a lot of books. What too many of them lack, however, is that feeling of wonder. The sense that the world is a bigger, more mysterious, and stranger place than we usually take it to be.
The Born Queen is an utterly fascinating conclusion to a superb series. You might not like the fates of all the characters, you'll certainly be very surprised at the choices some of them make, but you won't feel cheated for a moment. This is big storytelling that takes the time to give us a little more than just the salient details. I also really liked how Keyes finishes with an epilogue that gives us a glimpse at a few of the key characters many years after the conclusion of the story.
If you only read one recently published fantasy series, let it be this one.
Material to be considered for review in this column should be sent to Charles de Lint, P.O. Box 9480, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1G 3V2.
De Lint, Charles
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
De Lint, Charles. "The Born Queen." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept. 2008, p. 46+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A182977300/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=47237393. Accessed 3 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A182977300
The Silver Sword
Publishers Weekly. 254.11 (Mar. 12, 2007): p42.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2007 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Silver Sword DAVID ZINDELL. Tor, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-765-31674-5
Set in the world of Ea, Zindell's plot-driven sequel to The Lightstone, which was notable for its lively characters, falls short of the first book's promise, but delivers plenty of action. Having gathered together his band of seven adventurers and recovered Alkaladur, the legendary silver Sword of Fate, in accordance with ancient prophecy, Prince Valashu "Val" Elahad leads his friends deep into enemy territory to find the fabled Lightstone, the Cup of Heaven. Guided by the glowing silver gelstei, the magical stone in Alkaladur, Val's party fight their way to the great library of Khaisham, where they learn they must seek the Lightstone in the dark halls of Argattha, an ancient underground city once ruled by evil Morjin. At Argattha, Val will face his most difficult test, coming face-to-face with Morjin and choosing between killing him or saving the sacred Lightstone and completing the quest. Fans of Terry Goodkind, Greg Keyes and Steven Erikson will find much to like. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Silver Sword." Publishers Weekly, 12 Mar. 2007, p. 42. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A160713614/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bf657922. Accessed 3 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A160713614
QUOTED: "We are left with a rather abrupt and unsatisfying ending."
"If you’re an Elder Scrolls fan looking for your next fix while waiting for the distant fifth Elder Scrolls game then by all means give The Infernal City a try. Non-fans, especially interested in the setting, might want to steer clear as the novels serves as poor introduction to the setting."
Review: The Infernal City by Greg Keyes
On 4 December 2009 By MikeIn Books, Fantasy, reviews
The Infernal City by Greg Keyes
The Infernal City: An Elder Scrolls Novel
Greg Keyes
Del Rey, 2009
Forty years after the Oblivion crisis a strange floating city appears over the oceans of Tamriel and begins a long journey towards the continent of Morrowind. Swept up in its wake is the youthful and alchemically inclined Annaig and her long time Argonian friend Mere-Glim. The two find themselves drawn into the strange ecology of the floating city Umbriel as it leaves destruction in its wake. Drawn by Annaig’s magical plea for help is the world-famous hero Prince Attrebus who suddenly discovers some hard truths about himself and his friends. Thrown into the mix is a hardened dunmer somehow tied to the Daedric Prince Azura.
There are two starting points from which one can look at The Infernal City: as a fan of the Elder Scrolls world or as someone new to the Elder Scrolls world. Despite my actually having never finished either of the recent Elder Scrolls games, Oblivion or Morrowind, I would still count myself the former. I have a fairly solid geographical picture of the Elder Scrolls landscape and a firm knowledge of the various races that inhabit it. While I didn’t read every tome I stumbled across in either game I have at least a passing familiarity with some of the lore and history surrounding the game. All of which definitely added to my enjoyment of the novel since I have an established working knowledge of the world.
For me, at least, this is unabashedly good thing and I thought that The Infernal City did a wonderful of job of highlighting the juxtaposition of typical medieval fantasy with twisted oddities that makes the Elder Scrolls world so enjoyable. The Elder Scrolls have always been fantastic at crafting a unique feel and the elements that Keyes explores here, particularly the city of Umbriel, its inhabitants, and its inner workings have a wonderfully original feel and chock-full of twisted somewhat unhinged ideas. Unfortunately, for readers not already acquainted with The Elder Scrolls world, The Infernal City might not be the best choice of reads. While I found the original elements of The Infernal City, particularly the characters and the titular city, to be well thought out and explained quite nicely there is a certain lack of detail or explanation involved when more familiar Elder Scrolls elements show up.
Perhaps part of the problem is the novel’s scant size. In around 300 pages the novel covers around 4 character perspectives. One of those perspectives, that of an imperial secret agent, seems somewhat superfluous to the main plot of the novel itself. I rather liked the chapters to feature the secret agent as in a few small strokes Keyes managed to paint a fascinating character who I wanted to know more about but his chapters don’t really dovetail into the main plot. Though they do add a bit of background intrigue to what is happening elsewhere in the story they feel more like a tangent then anything else. Keyes’ ability to craft believable characters is in full force throughout the rest of the novel and the relationship between Annaig and Mere-Glim is touching and forms a solid foundations for their actions while the inner and outer conflicts of Prince Attrebus are both heartbreaking and thrill inducing; the confrontation with some soldiers turned bandits was particularly entertaining.
Unfortunately we only really get half a novel. There is literally no resolution at the end of The Infernal City and we are left with a rather abrupt and unsatisfying ending. While I enjoyed reading The Infernal City a lot of that enjoyment comes with my own familiarity with The Elder Scrolls world and even that knowledge doesn’t alleviate my disappointment over the novel’s ending. If you’re an Elder Scrolls fan looking for your next fix while waiting for the distant fifth Elder Scrolls game then by all means give The Infernal City a try. Non-fans, especially interested in the setting, might want to steer clear as the novels serves as poor introduction to the setting; it isn’t a bad read by any means but one with a few too many problems for me to recommend whole heartedly to the every day fantasy reader.
QUOTED: "It’s an enjoyable, if not remarkable, novel. Using the allegory of the Hopi religion was a strong start."
"If you’re a voracious reader in need of some middle of the road sci-fi, this is as good place to go as any."
'Footsteps in the Sky' by Greg Keyes Review
May 26, 2015 10:49 a.m. This Review by baldassbot in Books
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‘Footsteps in the Sky’ (6 out of 10) by Greg Keyes. Published by Open Road Media. Available 5/26/15.
Science fiction is a great medium for pulling in many different aspects of society and social structures. “Footsteps in the Sky” is a great example of this, utilizing the Hopi religion as an analog for space exploration. Unfortunately, that’s one of few great traits of the novel. Everything else just falls into the good but not outstanding category. And that’s okay. I’ve spent plenty of time with plenty of books that didn’t even fit into the good category, let alone great.
The basic premise is pretty boilerplate hard sci-fi with a few slight twists. Humanity has reached the stars and begun to colonize new worlds. Naturally, this is funded by mega-corporations. In a futuristic spin on history repeating itself, many of these worlds are colonized by subsets of humanity rather than large cross sections. The particular world in focus in this novel is, basically, a Hopi reservation. Even amongst the Hopi there is a rift. Some of the settlers are wishing to return to the old way of life, eschewing all technology and making a fresh world without the evils of the men they’ve left behind. Other factions have a more pessimistic expectation. They’re spending a couple generations terraforming the planet from barely survivable to actually livable. But they fully expect their parent corporation to show up once it’s a usable world and take it back. This faction is working the long game and preparing for war.
This accounts for three of the four parties involved: the corporation, the traditionals, and the… let’s call them rebels, though they aren’t the heroic type. The fourth faction is the alien race who already seeded this world for themselves centuries ago and are now coming back to check on the fruits of their farming. Throw in a bunch of spies, double-crossers, mercenaries, and greedy self-servers and you have all the makings of a plot – albeit one that’s way too late to use many of these tropes and still sound original.
If you’re a well-read science fiction fan you can probably start filling in the gaps here and you likely won’t be wrong. But if this much has your imagination going enough to do that, you might as well read it. It’s an enjoyable, if not remarkable, novel. Using the allegory of the Hopi religion was a strong start and is a theme I would like to have seen explored a little better. If you’re a voracious reader in need of some middle of the road sci-fi, this is as good place to go as any. If you’re limited on time and only read the best things available, go ahead and skip this one.
“Footsteps in the Sky” by Greg Keyes is available from Open Road Media today, 5/26/2015. You can get it Amazon Kindle here, or at your favorite book seller.
Pacific Rim Uprising - Ascension by Greg Keyes
March 20, 2018
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Charlie Hopkins
This might be the most unneeded review I’ve ever written, I mean how many people actually enjoyed the first Pacific Rim movie enough to read a book that chronicles the events taking place between it and the sequel. Well from the looks of the Goodreads page I’m the only person, not only to read but to show any interest at all!
Let’s get something out of the way - I loved the first film. It was so bad it was amazing. The clunky script complete with terrible Australian accents, the outlandish action with delayed introduction of the most basic weaponry, actors like Charlie Day, Idris Elba and Ron Pelrman running the show, it all worked. I even saw it on a plane for the first time, which as you can imagine is a terrible place to see a movie about giant robots but for some reason it filled a popcorn shaped hole in my heart. Anyway I’m very excited for the second movie and am looking forward to them improving on some of the lesser elements of the original. Sadly that is one of the reasons this book was pretty diabolical.
Focusing on two new cadets at the Jaeger training school named Jinhai and Vik and their first few weeks, the story involves the sabotage of a Jaeger, and the administrations and students attempts to discover the responsible party. Was it a dangerous and unpredictable Kaiju worshipper, a student who has been compromised or a once loyal pilot who has lost his way? You’ll find out but it doesn’t really matter. Nothing in the book matters to the story and I get the sense the writer was given absolutely no information about the events of the second movie it just all feels so inconsequential.
After looking at the author’s page it is obvious that this is something he ‘specialises in’ as there are countless movie novelizations, prequels, adaptions etc. I hate to say it but when you have to wonder if someone who wrote books covering Thor the Dark World, Independence Day 2 (or 1.5), and a number of Planet of the Apes tie-ins really has a story to tell that will enhance the original material or is just fulfilling a contract and collecting a paycheck.
It is also horribly edited with the story jumping between current day and multiple flashback time lines like a two year old on kids youtube. Several times the final page of a chapter seems to have moved to near the end of the book to create a sudden culmination of events that brings everything together but it just feels manufactured and I read it more to get it finished than anything else.
I would not recommend this book to anyone. It gets a two because of the Gravity Sling which was kind of cool.
2/10
QUOTED: "There was not one character that was uninteresting. The world building is epic."
04.09.18
by koeur
Book Review: The Reign of the Departed by Greg Keyes
Publishing Date: June 2018
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
ISBN:9781597809375
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.4/5
Publisher’s Description: Errol Greyson hadn’t intended to commit suicide. Or so he told himself. But waking up after his “cry for help” trapped in the body of a wood-and-metal construct magically animated by Aster—the strange girl from school—was not a result he could have imagined.
Review: What a surprising find…in a good way. This novel starts in the realm of normalcy and quickly descends into the favorably bizarre and surprising. Errol is definitely emo (not the punk/rock music genre) in that he is depressingly inverted. He is recovering from a first love disaster and his Father’s death. His mother is dis-interested in well, mothering and traipses around with her drunk boyfriend. Things come to a head when Errol takes sleeping pills and whisky and wakes up as an automaton.
The movement is non-stop and walks hand in hand with ALL of the characters development. Even characters firmly established, like the Sheriff and Dusk, have their pasts come to the fore in a sudden reveal. Really, there was not one character that was uninteresting. The world building is epic. A magical realm that mirrors earth while residing under a curse was not only inventive but enthralling.
“So why you no give 5 stars!?”. The sudden inclusion of love triangles, sudden love interests with a YA bent derailed this novel for a bit. It settles out and moves on in glorious form but the after-taste lingers.
I will say that the story line takes you to a place you want to go…….another novel in the series!
Carolyn Cushman Reviews The Reign of the Departed by Greg Keyes
June 8, 2018 Carolyn Cushman
Greg Keyes, The Reign of the Departed (Night Shade 978-1-59780-937-5, $14.99, 348pp, tp) June 2018. Cover by Micah Epstein.
Errol Greyson says he didn’t intend to commit suicide – but he wakes in a body carved of wood and joined by wire and bolts, and his classmate Aster tells him his real body’s in a coma. She’s originally from another world, and needs to return there for the magic water of health to save her father, and maybe help Errol. For her quest, she needs three companions: one mostly dead (Errol), one completely dead, and a giant – so off they go to find a local ghost, Veronica, a girl who’s been dead for 30 years. Errol goes along, stumbling through a series of strange adventures in a world of nightmarish creatures, curses, and transformations, where twisted fairy tale elements mix with Weird Western bits, and some references to Pinocchio. At times the story reads like YA fiction, with its messed-up young protagonists and recurring theme of bad parents, but it’s a dark tale; not horror, exactly, but seriously twisted and dramatic, though with the worst of the violence (including rape) offstage. Ultimately, the peculiarly anticlimactic ending twists things around still more, with new betrayals, deaths that don’t stick, and people who weren’t what they seemed – but by this point it’s a little hard to care. This is only the first book in series The High and the Faraway, so a tidy conclusion wasn’t to be expected, but it’s hard to imagine where this strange tale is headed next.
QUOTED: "It wasn’t great, but it certainly was different."
A Review of Footsteps in the Sky by Greg Keyes
May 27, 2015 bmackela Leave a comment
Footsteps in the Sky
by Greg Keyes
This was an interesting, but kind of schizophrenic sort of book. First it is a book telling the story of a conflict between the Traditional Hopi living up in the high mesas and the Modern Hopi living in the lowlands near the coasts. It’s a conflict between a Native American group who wants to continue with the Old Ways. They hold on to their gods and old stories. They believe that the way to succeed is to only embrace the tools and technologies that they understand and can fix. The city dwellers want to have every new thing, even if they can’t keep the devices going on their own. Sounds like a pretty normal story from the plains of the American South West, doesn’t it. But this story takes place on a far distant planet in another solar system. These groups were settled on this world to terraform it. Their job is to make it livable for the general population.
The other monkey wrench is that this planet had already been changed. Another alien group of planet changers had started adjusting the world to their needs. They had used robotic ships to start the process many thousand of years ago. The ships have returned and discovered that there were humans on their world. But these robots have become damaged, and may even be insane. They may need to sterilize this world and start over.
Mr. Keyes uses multiple Points of View to tell this story. He jumps back and forth between the different groups and different individuals in those groups. You might be seeing something though one of the alien’s eyes, then jump to a human ship traveling from earth, then down to the different people on the surface of the planet. It’s a lot to keep track of, but it is possible.
I had fun reading Footsteps in the Sky. It wasn’t great, but it certainly was different. I give it 3 1/2 Stars out of 5. If you like a quirky sort of hard Science Fiction, you should check this out, just remember that this book was the author’s first novel, written in 1994. It has that first book feel.
I received a Digital Review Copy from the publisher.
QUOTED: "Perfection isn't always good enough. With The Born Queen, Greg Keyes delivers a stellar conclusion to his quartet The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone that nevertheless leaves the reader earthbound in an ultimately conventional, if unconventionally well written, epic fantasy."
"On a technical level, it is difficult to dispute that Keyes has accomplished everything he set out to on the terms of the story he intended to tell. But by playing the genre so traditionally, however impeccably, he has revealed its limits, even if they are not coterminous with his own."
The Born Queen: Book Four of The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone
Greg Keyes
Del Rey, 464 pages
Greg Keyes
Greg Keyes was born in Meridian, Mississippi, to a large, diverse, storytelling family. He received degrees in anthropology from Mississippi State and the University of Georgia before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of the Age of Unreason series and the Children of the Changeling series, as well as several novels set in the Star Wars and Babylon 5 universes.
Greg Keyes Website
ISFDB Bibliography
SF Site Review: The Charnel Prince
SF Site Review: Newton's Cannon
SF Site Review: The Briar King
SF Site Review: The Briar King
SF Site Review: Dark Genesis
SF Site Review: Newton's Cannon
A review by Dustin Kenall
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Perfection isn't always good enough. With The Born Queen, Greg Keyes delivers a stellar conclusion to his quartet The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone that nevertheless leaves the reader earthbound in an ultimately conventional, if unconventionally well written, epic fantasy. Keyes executes each of the key elements of the genre as masterfully as his dessrata (fencing) champion Cazio dispatches enemies. He properly reconstructs rather than simply incorporates uncanny linguistic and anthropological sources from this world to breathe verisimilitude into his own. He deals, at a lethally brisk pace, hands of fate to his characters that no card-counting reader could anticipate. His prose hustles the reader forward into the story rather than the other way around. On a technical level, it is difficult to dispute that Keyes has accomplished everything he set out to on the terms of the story he intended to tell. But by playing the genre so traditionally, however impeccably, he has revealed its limits, even if they are not coterminous with his own.
Keyes's saga began with the publication in 2004 of The Briar King, in which is recounted the assassination of the greater part of the royal household of Dare of the kingdom of Crotheny; the defense of its fled princess, Anne, and her maid, Austra, by a dashing, sunkissed fencer, Cazio; and the intersecting journeys of a young nobleman scholar, Stephen Darige, with a holter (guardian) of the King's Wood, Aspar White. In 2005, readers returned to his world with The Charnel Prince, in which was witnessed the usurpation of the throne by the resurrected Robert Dare, paternal uncle to Anne. Then, in 2007, Keyes released The Blood Knight, a penultimate volume revealing the murder of the forest-guardian Briar King, the rise and fall of a poisonous Dune-esque worm, Anne's awakening to her supernatural birthright, and the identity of the eponymous sanguineous chevalier.
The Born Queen resumes the story in the thick of things without leave to catch your breath -- readers are encouraged to review the previous books or at least freshen up via wikipedia. If in the prior volumes the story simmered, here it blasts on full boil. Keyes weaves the novel from five separate points-of-view: short, staccato-sharp chapters that, by the last 100 pages, accelerate and collide in a heady stampede. The stakes of the previous novels (whether certain characters live or die, who occupies a temporal throne) alternate with a grander scheme in The Born Queen that concerns the fate of the world. Surprises are, if not liberally, precisely sprinkled. Keyes otherwise avoids complacency by a careful attention to the mechanics of prose: diction, syntax, micro-level organization. His paragraphs are as measured and dynamic as his chapters. Careful word choice (e.g., glister, bedimmed, churr) in both dialogue and descriptive passages infuses the prose with the breeze of another living world, much like Gene Wolfe's use of archaic neologisms did for The Book of the New Sun.
The conclusion, brilliant but flawed, is frustrating. Two major revelations occur, both of which are unexpected. In the earlier of the two, a legendarily insane historical figure is reincarnated. The first disappointment is that little distinguishes this character's voice from the voice of Robert Dare, his contemporary foil. The second is that these too baroquely evil madmen never meet. By contrast, the second revelation is a gem perfectly hidden in plain sight and not revealed until the very end. As an additional pleasure, in a codex, Keyes honors another character with a poignant Atonement-style valediction.
So what's wrong with Keyes's endgame? Primarily, the fact that everything (plot, characters, destinies, stakes) gets too big too fast and then hinges on one individual's sentimentality. In the first place, the background for the struggle (a heap of exposition concerning three magical thrones) is conveyed almost entirely through dialogue rather than drama. Keyes does his best with the constraints (4 books, 400-plus pages, 5 years -- amazing) he's imposed on himself, but the reader is rushed to comprehension, which falters in places: I'm still not sure what the purpose of the Blood Knight was, who he worked for, and why he collaborated with the Sarnwood Witch. Additionally, there's too little recognition of the role of historical chance or the tragedian's feel for misunderstanding and disaster. The fate of the world hinges on the outcome of the struggle between the corrupting taint of absolute power and the moral accountability of friendship. I should have been harrowed but instead was reminded of Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And herein lies the heart of the problem. While Keyes was planning and composing his series, the genre evolved. Today, television shows such as Battlestar Galactica and movies such as The Dark Knight succeed not because of their spectacular settings but because they adapt genre conventions to contemporary issues such as terrorism, emergency ethics, group psychology, and the unstable definition of heroism. In fiction, fantasy such as David Anthony Durham's Acacia tackles the issue of pragmatism versus idealism in a multi-ethnic, multi-polar world confronting the quandary of global governance. Even George R.R. Martin's continuing (and continually delayed) series has evolved. What began as a historical-fiction approach to the fantasy epic substantially indebted to the style of Sharon Kay Penman has grown into a unique meditation on the imperatives of realpolitik and the end of the (post Cold War) bipolarity of good and evil. Keyes's series, in distinction, most resembles Lost, a story that irresistibly commands the subject's attention but cannot definitively rebut the accusation that its virtuosity is a shell game hiding a Rube Goldberg.
But these quibbles pale in comparison to the virtues of Keyes's sequence. Simply put, The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone is one of the finest traditional fantasy series of the past two decades. It's too bad that's not the same anymore as calling it a classic.
Copyright © 2008 Dustin Kenall
Dustin Kenall is a lawyer working and blogging in DC. Accordingly, if at any given moment he's not reading or writing, it's probably because he's unconscious. His blog, readslikealawyer.blogspot.com, is always wide awake, though.
QUOTED: "The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone may never be held in the same esteem as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time or Steven Erikson’s Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, especially in terms of depth and complexity, but taken on its own merit Greg’s series is an exciting, skillfully rendered epic that both embraces and challenges the fantasy genre, and can be a wonderful experience if given the chance."
Monday, March 17, 2008
"The Born Queen" by Greg Keyes
Official Greg Keyes Website
Order “The Born Queen” HERE
In fantasy literature, particularly that subset known as ‘high’ or ‘epic’ fantasy, there are certain authors and series that are universally recognized by fans—including Tolkien, The Chronicles of Narnia, George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time just to name a few—but the genre is much vaster than many readers realize and there are a number of terrific series out there that can be just as entertaining and rewarding as anything produced by the field’s superstars even though they aren’t afforded the same fanfare or recognition. The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone by Greg Keyes is such a series.
A quadrilogy, The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone began in 2002 with “The Briar King” and transported readers to Crotheny, a kingdom heavily influenced by European medievalism and the Roanoke colony and was founded over two thousand years earlier when the Born Queen Virgenya Dare freed humanity from the enslavement of the Skasloi demons. By the novel’s end, a daring plot to take over the throne had been carried out, a creature of myth & folklore was awakened, an ancient prophecy was revealed, and the law of death was broken, thus setting the stage for what promised to be an exciting new series in epic fantasy. Fortunately “The Charnel Prince” was, if anything, even better and while “The Blood Knight” suffered some from that dreaded ‘middle volume syndrome’, all of the pieces were put in place for a dramatic endgame…
For three books now, readers have followed the memorable adventures of Virgenya Dare’s descendant Anne Dare, the king’s holter Aspar White, the honorable knight Neil MqVren, the studious monk Stephen Darige, and the roguish Vitellian dessrator Cazio among others, and in “The Born Queen” Greg Keyes delivers the payoff. Storylines converge, major questions are answered—Will Anne save the kingdom or destroy it? Who is Kauron? Will Cazio ever find out who murdered his father and does he love Austra more or Anne? Where is the fourth Faith? Will Aspar ever get his revenge against Fend? Is Hespero an enemy or an ally? What are the three thrones of power? Will Neil ever find love & happiness? Who is the author of The Codex Tereminnam—destines are fulfilled, and not everyone survives to the end. Of course getting to that point is half the fun, and like the previous books “The Born Queen” is narrated from several different point-of-views where numerous plotlines are occurring at the same time. These include Anne growing into her role as Queen and discovering the full extent of her power while waging war against Hansa and the Church; Aspar fulfilling his geos to the Sarnwood Witch who wishes to birth a new Briar King; Stephen searching for—and finding—Virgenya Dare’s lost journal and the secret faneway that granted her the power to defeat the Skasloi; and Leovigild Ackenzal trying to compose a song that will mend the boundary between life & death which continues to unravel, while complicating matters even further is the prophetic Hellrune, the unkillable Robert Dare, the Kept, and the return of the Black Jester, all leading to an unforgettable convergence at the place where it all started…Eslen.
Because of the medieval setting, the alternating narratives and the realistic stance that Greg takes with his characterization & worldbuilding, The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone is often described as George R. R. Martin-lite. Now while I can understand the comparison to GRRM’s A Song of Ice & Fire series, personally I was reminded more of Kate Elliott’s excellent Crown of Stars saga and David Farland’s the Runelords; the former partly because of the strong religious emphasis and its own ASOIAF comparisons, and the latter for its breathtaking action & nightmarish monsters. Of course The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone has its own personal idiosyncrasies like the cliffhangers that end the chapters and are picked up later in the story, but after the fact; how swiftly times moves in the book—sometimes days or weeks will flash by from one sentence to the next—and how Greg draws on his experience in both anthropology & fencing for key elements in the story such as the fencing connoisseur Cazio, Stephen’s expertise in linguistics, and Aspar’s distinctive accent ;)
As far as the series being criticized for having stereotypical characters and a plot that utilizes numerous fantasy tropes, I can’t refute either accusation but I do think it’s blown out of proportion. For instance, while the characters may be molded from familiar templates they are all extremely likeable, have different voices from one another, convincingly evolve throughout the series—particularly Anne and Stephen—and are surprisingly complex morally. This is most evident in “The Born Queen” where heroes become villains, enemies become allies, and saviors arise from the most unlikely of places :) Of the story, it’s true that Greg employs several common plot conventions that will be recognizable to experienced fantasy readers, but at least he writes them with flair and does offer a unique spin here or there which mixes things up. Once again this is especially true in “The Born Queen” where a number of revelations were refreshingly unexpected, although I have to admit the ending was a bit textbook, specifically how many characters lived to see their ‘happily ever after’. In short, yes Greg Keyes’ The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone is largely traditional fantasy, but it’s traditional fantasy done right.
In closing, The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone may never be held in the same esteem as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time or Steven Erikson’s Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, especially in terms of depth and complexity, but taken on its own merit Greg’s series is an exciting, skillfully rendered epic that both embraces and challenges the fantasy genre, and can be a wonderful experience if given the chance. As for myself, I really enjoyed the first three volumes in The Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone and with the highly satisfying conclusion Greg Keyes has only confirmed the series as one of my favorite fantasy epics of all time…
8:58 AM | Posted by Robert |
QUOTED: "There were gaps in the plot and some transitions were uneven."
"There are enough strong elements around some of the characters and particularly the world (or worlds) Keyes hints at in this novel that the inevitable second novel is indeed welcome."
THE REIGN OF THE DEPARTED by Greg Keyes (The High and Faraway #1)
Rob B June 19, 2018 0 Comment
Greg Keyes has been actively publishing in Science Fiction and Fantasy for just over twenty years, with the majority of the last half dozen years spent churning out well-received media tie-in novels in worlds like the Elder Scrolls video game and the recently rebooted Planet of the Apes cinematic milieu. With The Reign of the Departed, the first novel of his new series entitled The High and the Far Away, Greg Keyes returns to fantasy in a setting of his own creation, something fans of his Age of Unreason and Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone saga have been hoping to see.
Cover Art by Micah Epstein
Errol Greyson hadn’t intended to commit suicide. Or so he told himself. But waking up after his “cry for help” in the body of a wood-and-metal construct magically animated by Aster—the strange girl from school—was not a result he could have imagined.
Aster’s wild explanations of a quest to find the water of health that would cure her father seemed as unreal as her description of Errol’s own half-dead existence, his consciousness stuck in an enchanted automaton while his real body was in a coma from which it might never wake. And of course, they would need to recruit a girl—a virgin, no less—who had –––been dead for thirty years, to lead them through something called the Pale, beyond which a bunch of magical kingdoms existed. Plus, the threat that Aster could turn him off like a light switch, sending him into a hellish oblivion, was a convincing incentive to cooperate.
It all seemed quite mad: either Aster was nuts or Errol was hallucinating. But if it meant a new chance at life, he reckoned it was worth playing along.
The novel starts from a pretty dark place – the suicide of a young man, and it doesn’t quite raise its head from there. Although Errol attempted to take his own life, his soul has been placed in a wooden automaton by a classmate, Aster Kostyena, who is much more than he remembered her being. Not only is Errol in the body of what is essentially a man-sized puppet, he’s no longer in Mississippi, but a world parallel to our own with monsters, shapeshifters, and magic.
Aster is assembling a group of people to go on a quest to gather healing water for her ailing father and the next member of the party they find happens to be a girl who has been missing in Errol’s (our) world for decades. Aster essentially resurrects the girl and they are now a trio. From there, they encounter a strange family, a mysterious stranger who bears some resemblance to Aster, and a “Sheriff” who is hunting Aster because of things her father did before he fled this fantastical to hide on Earth.
I liked a lot of what Keyes was doing in the novel, in terms of the story itself, the characters, and laying the groundwork for a multi-book narrative. The world where Errol awakens in his new body has a lived-in feel, a world with history and mythology of its own. Some of that mythology may be familiar or possess familiar elements to some readers, but on the whole, the High and the Faraway does have a feel of its own.
Keyes does a good job of building up empathy in Errol, he’s a kid with family issues that become even more sad as we learn more about him. In and from Aster, Errol doesn’t get much explanation and neither do we as the reader. She’s clearly driven to save her father no matter the cost, whether it is alienating people or potentially disposing of them once she feels she has no more use for them.
There’s more to many of the characters (and the world) than readers initially are introduced to at the outset. One seemingly innocuous character turns out to be a truly despicable creature by the end of the novel, while another grows from being selfish and unlikeable to almost upbeat and willing to help.
Despite many of the strong elements of the novel, I found some elements lacking. There was a continual withholding of information, partially on Errol’s part, but most predominantly on Aster’s part. It isn’t quite like the mentor withholding information from the young character who must learn something themselves rather than being told, it seemed to simply be a withholding to lengthen the plot. Whatever it was, that sense of holding back from the characters held me back from enjoying the novel completely. I also felt there were gaps in the plot and some transitions were uneven; or that things happen without a strong enough connective scene. If I’m being honest, this all points to the fact that maybe the novel could (or should) have gone through a tighter developmental edit. I will also say the book has a really eye-catching cover by Micah Epstein that is only more impressive when you examine it more closely.
At times the story reminded me of Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars, others I felt resonance between this novel and the two novels of Edward Lazellari, Guardians of Andor.
As it stands, The Reign of the Departed feels like it is a little short of what I’d come to expect from Greg Keyes, especially since I really enjoyed his Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone four book series. There are enough strong elements around some of the characters and particularly the world (or worlds) Keyes hints at in this novel that the inevitable second novel is indeed welcome. Admittedly, this could be in part due to nostalgia’s sake and how much I enjoyed many of Keyes’s previously published novels.
© 2018 Rob H. Bedford