Paul Witcover

Due to life, it took me several weeks to finish this book. But like a good cup of hot chocolate, this was a book to be savored. It was twisty and full of political machinations, and I loved it. (Though side note: The plot was not nearly twisty enough, or subtle enough in its twists for me. But maybe that was the point? Since the book mimicked a season of a TV show, foreshadowing could be a little heavyhanded deliberately.)

I had not read the original Riverside books, though they are on my show more shelf. I will have to rectify that very soon because I am very intrigued by this world Kushner has created. And given how much I liked Tremontaine, I suspect I'll like the original books as well.

The good: It's complex, and gritty, and full of really compelling characters. The characters aren't black and white good and bad. They're as complex as the plot, fully realized, and realistic. They do selfish things in their own interest. They struggle with ethical quandaries and don't always do the right thing - and often, in this book, take a morally ambiguous path. Also, the diversity! I swoon at the diversity.The ended was satisfying, even though it was open ended. There will be more adventures and I look forward to reading them.

The bad: I think I gained about five pounds while reading this book, because I kept craving hot chocolate. And I have the good stuff from local family-owned and run chocolate shop, which means extra calories. My pants are a bit snugger than they were pre-Tremontaine.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Chocolate as currency, swashbuckling women with swords, lively Mesoamerican traders, unremarkable queerness, a fantasy of manners -- as marvelous as light quasi-fantasy fare can be.

Tremontaine is set in the world of Swordspoint, though fifteen years earlier, and it is written as a weekly serial by authors including Malindo Lo and Ellen Kushner herself. Though the plot is more mundane than I'd expected from the opening chapters, I found myself pulled back again and again due to the show more atmospherics and the characterization. A duke pulled into an affair, a duchess struggling to keep her position, a farm girl who earns money gambling to pay for her friends and study of mathematics, a disgraced spy-merchant having a love affair with a forger in the bad part of town -- what's not to enjoy? show less

It has been forever since I read Swordspoint and I honestly don’t remember much about it and that is fine since this is a prequel to the books. The book is set up as serial but not every chapter ends on a cliffhanger and the story arc builds and completes nicely in the book. The cast of characters is certainly diverse and isn’t built off the European tropes you see so much in fantasy and that makes for a nice change of pace. Lots of growth for several characters and along with love and show more second chances for several. Not every story line ends well for everyone and that makes for good storytelling.

A fun read and I’ll pick up the next book when I get a chance.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss. show less

1785 and Britain is at war with France, an invasion with Bonny Prince Charlie is rumoured. Daniel Quare, is an ambitious member of the secretive guild “The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers” and he is been sent after a much sought after innovative watch. A watch that everyone wants, even as they fear it and Daniel is going to be dragged into a nightmarish world of intrigue and murder, of dragons and gods.

A strange, wayward book. A book that holds the idea of genre trope of fast paced show more fantasy action adventure with huge contempt. This is a book that stops what it's doing to let a minor character (at that point) to tell his story and only then do you begin to grasp how fantastic this duology(?) is going to be.

It is a book that starts off seemingly happy to play with the urban fantasy/clockworkpunk genre within Georgian British empire and it's secret society stockpiling the latest time technology. It has a female master thief and clueless everyman, political machinations and sword fights, doomsday devices and flying machines. It is all good fun if a tad genteel but when that character takes our hero and spins a tale, oh boy do you start to see its riches. The slow unfurling of magic in the world, the power that Time has and the shifting hidden meaning of the "other" world. Although at no point is the book completely honest with you, it’s a hidden nefarious, lying book and well that is part of the fun

Whilst it is layered it does follow a relatively simple plot arc and luckily this holds the weight of the complex, mutable world. It helps too, that its hugely visual with some evocative moments: the dark labyrinth streets of a snowed in mountain top village, a chase through the dark canyons of underground London under the mesmerising rain of glowing mushrooms.

Of course it will not be to everyone's taste, those with more prudish sensibilities be warned, the humans reaction to the "other" is sexual. Witcover’s style is rich and it took me a page or so to get into the flow. I think I have already put off anyone who dislikes complexity or confusion, anyone who needs a rollicking ride but again be warned. It could be said to be overblown and too full of, well everything, but to be honest I would disagree. The main protagonists is a passive idiot too but oddly this didn't drive me mad.. Lastly it is part of a series and does end mysteriously on a cliff hanger that makes you go "what the?".

But look it does become gripping. No really. Plus it has dragons and ninja monks, well I think it does at least, and the creepiest town clock ever.

Recommended, although whether you wait for the sequel is up to you, it’s a rich experience in itself show less