James Maxey

My favorite stories were:

-"Falling Off the Edge of the World" by Suzanne Palmer. Two survivors on a wrecked spacecraft are rescued decades later, but by then they are both much changed. Although on the same ship and able to communicate, the two have been physically separated the whole time. This was haunting and oddly relatable.

"Lonely Hill" by James Maxley. Bereaved widower discovers spacecraft buried behind his house.

-"The Long Revenge of Chanda Sebalko" by Tom Purdom. Does the old adage show more "If you seek revenge dig two graves" still apply after the singularity?

-"When the Signal Is The Noise" by Rajan Khanna. A first contact, weird alien-object-hanging-in-sky story. If humans can't even communicate with their sweethearts, how can they communicate with life from other planets?

"Forty-Eight Minutes at the Trainview Cafe" by M. Bennardo. When we don't have bodies anymore, how can we live in the present and savor what is really happening?

I have to say the general tone of the stories was kind of a downer, but we have to write what we know. show less

As is my usual preamble, I received this book as part of a GoodReads giveaway. In fact, I would like to thank the author once again because not only did he send me this book in specific, but also the two predecessors as well. Despite this very kind consideration, I give my honest feedback below.

So, you’ve no doubt noticed that in addition to this book I also made my way through the previous two books the author sent along. When I received the unexpectedly voluminous package in the mail I show more will admit that my first thought was, to put it succinctly, “I sure hope these don’t suck.” There’s nothing worse than 1100 pages that you feel mildly obligated to read. Luckily, those thousand plus pages were really quite engaging.

In previous reviews I’ve gone on and on about Maxey’s originality, his ability to stretch the typical “ogres and dwarves” platform to entertaining limits and his unique ability to mix sex, violence and fantasy in just the right ratios. In deference to those recent reviews I won’t prattle on further about those characteristics. However, a new thing that I realized about the series in this book specifically was that he has a very solid way of just letting things go once they’ve played out. In a lot of modern books characters and plotlines carry on far beyond their welcome. They’re like Joe Montana in a Chiefs uniform. You can understand why someone might have thought it was a good idea but ultimately you just wonder if it would have been better had things just ended. Authors seem to get married to their characters and drag them on and on through book after book. In Maxey’s books when a character’s work is done they just die. You mourn for a moment and then, like life, Maxey comes along with something else to entertain you. He’s an author who’s in love with his world, but like any God he’s willing to just let bits and pieces go for the benefit of the whole. It’s surprisingly refreshing.

In summary, I will relate a brief illustrative story. My fiancée perused a few pages on the strength of my previous reviews and after a short read she handed it back to me and stated simply, “reads like Tolkien.” Early on I had the same thought but felt it rather cliché to put such a thing in a review but I think she’s right. There’s just something that rings true about Maxey’s work, a richness that’s missing in almost of all of his modern peers. It should be noted that my fiancée didn’t express any desire to read the rest; this is clearly ‘guy lit’ but that should not diminish the positivity with which it should be regarded. show less

I enjoyed Bitterwood, so it was a no-brainer to go ahead and read the sequel as soon as I got my hands on it. Also, PRETTY COVER.

The premise: there are those who want the age of the dragons to end and become a time of peace and equality between dragons and humans. However, there's those who want the age of the dragons to keep on as it has been, while there's others who believe it's time for humans to overthrow dragon oppression and take their rightful place as masters of the Earth.

Amongst show more all these goals, Maxey continues the adventures of Bitterwood, Jandra, Pet and Zeeky. He deepens their stories while weaving new ones in the mix, and the new characters add even more depth and interest to the world. Characters change: Bitterwood has to make a decision whether to continue to let hate guide his hand or to let compassion for others do so instead. Jandra is becoming her own woman, still torn between what it means to be a human raised as the daughter of dragons. Pet finally grows a pair, and Zeeky's seemingly magical ability to talk to and understand animals turns out not to be so magical after all.

One thing I admire is Maxey's determination to keep things as plausible as possible. Yes, this is science fantasy at its purest, but for every magical detail, Maxey as a "scientific" explanation guiding the events of the story and the characters. Sometimes I found my believability to be stretched a wee bit thin, but given the constraints and revelations that Maxey already established in Bitterwood, I was able to take that leap of faith.

I think too that Maxey handles his world-building much better in this novel. Now that the reader knows the truth of the world, humans, and dragons, there's very little for the author to hide, though he does have a few surprises up his sleeve in this book, though I will say, nothing I hadn't already guessed by time we got there.

I loved the adorable love story between the sky dragons. The valkyries were also a really, really cool touch. Hex has become one of my favorite characters, and Burke's background and history really make my ears perk up. Despite some occasional cheese in the writing, the book was fun, a fast read, with an obvious set-up for a sequel. I don't know how many books Maxey plans on writing in this series, but so far, I'm entertained.

My Rating

Worth the Cash: those who enjoy the writing style of Joe Abercrombie will also probably enjoy Maxey's style as well. Granted, the stories and plots are completely different, but if you enjoy that particular voice, Maxey is right up your alley. I would strongly recommend reading Bitterwood before tackling Dragonforge, but it's hard to say for sure if that's truly necessary. I read the books too closely together to be allowed to forget important details from the first, but since I always like to read things in order, I don't mind giving out that advice. show less

I'm not sure why I'm not enthusiastic about this book. It's a nice story, with a few twists that are rather surprising. Well, until you've read the hints that is. The book tends to lift the veil a bit, and afterwards to explain the entire thing. Unfortunately, after the veil has been lifted, the idea is pretty much clear. Perhaps the problem is that the goal of the book is to assemble the puzzle, and that the characters feel as pieces of the puzzle because of that. As a result, I can't show more really care about them. At the end (the last quarter or so), I wanted to finish the book to see how the last loose ends would be tied together, not because I really cared. Still, the ideas in the book are a nice surprise, and not what you'd expect when you start reading. And it's really not that badly written, so I expect others will have a higher opinion of this book. show less