2003; 350 pages. New Author? : No. Book 1 (out of 3) in the “Anvil of the World” trilogy. Genres: Fantasy; Steampunk Fiction; Novellas. Overall Rating : 6½*/10.
Well, Smith, it’s time we found you a job.
How’s about we try you out as
a caravan master? There’s one leaving
from Troon shortly and going to Salesh.
Yeah, I know, you have no experience as a caravan master and the road to
Salesh is known to be full to robbers and demons, but maybe you’ll do okay.
If you’re still alive when the
caravan reaches Salesh, and don’t think that job’s for you, there’s an opening
for a proprietor at the Hotel Grandview.
It’s a boring job, but all you have to do is make sure no one dies
while they’re staying there. You think
you can handle that?
If that doesn't work out, all
that’s left is to send you on a quest for something called the "Key to
Unmaking". That job is idiot-proof
because we’re pretty sure the Key doesn’t exist. All you’ll be doing is confirming that it’s a
hoax.
Good luck, Smith. Try not to get yourself killed.
What’s To Like...
Neither the Amazon blurb nor the hype on the
paperback cover hints at it, but The Anvil of the
World is actually three novellas scrunched together to make a
novel-length book. The stories all
follow the same main characters, Smith and Ermenwyr, and do appear to be
presented in chronological order, but each is an independent storyline.
The first novella, the
“caravan” tale, seems primarily aimed at presenting the book’s tone, the
world-building, and the various races and creatures that dwell therein. Kage Baker does a marvelous job of
this. There are three races: humans (the “Children of the Sun”), demons (who try their best to be evil, but don’t always succeed),
and Yendri (who are into New Agey things like
meditation and vegetarianism).
The tone is delicately lighthearted, which
was a pleasant surprise. The action is set
in a sword-&-sorcery world, but might usually trumps magic, as alluded to
in the second excerpt, below. I loved
the way Kage Baker chose names for the various characters. For example, Lord Ermenwyr’s bodyguards are
dubbed Cutt, Crish, Stabb, Strangel, Clubb,
and Smosh, and other surnames include
Greenbriar, Crossbrace, Coppercut, and Beatbrass.
There’s a bunch of wit and
humor running throughout the book, such as the deadly “Fatally Verbal Abuse” duel in the second
story. I was also thrilled to see
Chemistry play a part as well, in the form of a caustic drain cleaner, dubbed “Scourbrass’s Foaming Wonder”. The novellas have no titles and there are no
chapter divisions, but there are paragraph breaks aplenty, which means you can
always find a convenient place to stop.
Each novella has its own
ending, with the most significant one coming, appropriately enough, at the
close of the third one. Amazon and
Wikipedia indicate there are two other books in this series, one of which, The House of the Stag, is a prequel that was
published five years after The Anvil of the World. It doesn’t appear that either of the other
two novels are available in e-book format.
Kewlest New Word ...
Princox (n.) : a self-confident young fellow.
Ratings…
Amazon:
4.3/5
based on 122 ratings and 45 reviews.
Goodreads: 3.89/5 based on 2,030
ratings and 195 reviews.
Things That Sound Dirty, But Aren’t…
“Mr. Hummyhum is ready to play now.” (pg. 180)
Excerpts...
“Hear, mortal, the lamentable tragedy of my
house,” Lord Ermenwyr intoned gloomily.
“For it came to pass that the dread Master of the Mountain, in all his
inky and infernal glory, did capture a celestial Saint to be his bride, under
the foolish impression he was insulting Heaven thereby. But, lo!
Scarce had he clasped her in his big evil arms when waves of radiant
benignity and divine something-or-other suffused his demonic nastiness,
permanently reforming him; for, as he was later to discover to his dismay, the
Compassionate One had actually let him capture her with that very goal
in mind. But that’s the power of Love,
isn’t it? It never plays fair.” (pg. 155)
“Could you summon us up a catapult that’s
bigger than theirs, then?” Smith inquired.
“Don’t be silly,” said Lord Ermenwyr
severely. “Sorcery doesn’t work like
that. It works on living energies. Things that can be persuaded. I could probably convince tiny particles of
air to change themselves into wood and steel, but I’d have to cut a deal with
every one of them on a case-by-case basis, and do you have any idea how long it
would take? Assuming I even know how to
build a catapult—" (pg.
247)
“Hey nonny no! (. .
.) Light the hubblebubble, Nursie dearest.”
(pg. 111)
There’s a fair amount of
cussing in The Anvil of the World. I counted 17 instances in the first 20%, but
they were all mild ones of the eschatological ilk. Later on, the phrase “What in Nine Hells” was
used a number of times, which I don’t really think counts as profanity.
There are also quite a few
allusions to “adult situations”, and the partaking of drugs, in particular
“opiates”, is a common vice. And some
bars have edgy names, one of which was “The Winking Tit”.
Alas, The Anvil of the
World wasn’t a page-turner for me. The
stories are too short for any depth to be developed, and the reader has
to start fathoming a completely new plotline at the start of each new novella. I think this is unavoidable though; it’s just the inherent property of three
novellas posing as a single novel.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled when
I’m roaming the used-book stores for the other two books in this series. If they too are a combination of novellas,
I’ll probably give them a pass. But if
they are written as actual novels, this is a series worth reading more about.
6½ Stars. One last thing. Every human’s surname is simply “Smith”. A few have first names, but most humans just have a modifying adjective added for clarity’s sake. Examples: “Old Smith”, “Young Smith”, “Mrs. Smith”. Surprisingly, the inhabitants of Kage Baker's world don't find it confusing at all.
