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scheu's review against another edition
5.0
Great follow-up to _The Year of Our War_. Swainston doles out more choice tidbits and comes up with new and interesting situations for the the protagonist and his compatriots. Once again, refreshing fantasy.
megapolisomancy's review against another edition
5.0
The continuing adventures of Jant and his fellow misfits, the Circle of 50 immortals tasked with protecting their world from the onslaught of the alien Insects. The latter take a back seat in this entry in favor of a newly-discovered utopian island. Said island is an Athenian democracy (convincingly alien to our protagonists), as opposed to the imperial Fourlands, but the two nations share a struggle with balancing stasis and progress, one of the key thematic touchpoints of the series.
Ironically, given this examination of time and development, pacing and plot were the biggest flaws of _Year of Our War_, which careened from subplot to subplot before a rather abrupt ending, but Swainston has improved on that aspect a thousandfold here, ably weaving Jant's personal crises together with events on the socio-historical stage. Jant's flight is what makes him unique in this world, and Swainston is particularly adept at conveying the physical, mechanical issues of his flying. Same with his addiction to the drug "cat," actually, and it's probably no coincidence that these are both sources of deep physical and mental pain for our POV character. It was a little frustrating to see the drug use pop up again after he shed it in the first book, but that's addiction, I guess. It was not frustrating to revisit the Shift, a kind of gonzo multidimensional parallel world that Jant's spirit visits when he ODs.
Ironically, given this examination of time and development, pacing and plot were the biggest flaws of _Year of Our War_, which careened from subplot to subplot before a rather abrupt ending, but Swainston has improved on that aspect a thousandfold here, ably weaving Jant's personal crises together with events on the socio-historical stage. Jant's flight is what makes him unique in this world, and Swainston is particularly adept at conveying the physical, mechanical issues of his flying. Same with his addiction to the drug "cat," actually, and it's probably no coincidence that these are both sources of deep physical and mental pain for our POV character. It was a little frustrating to see the drug use pop up again after he shed it in the first book, but that's addiction, I guess. It was not frustrating to revisit the Shift, a kind of gonzo multidimensional parallel world that Jant's spirit visits when he ODs.
msaari's review against another edition
3.0
I read the first part of the series ([b:The Year of Our War|1386012|The Year of Our War|Steph Swainston|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355151694s/1386012.jpg|1693774]) in English back in 2008, but for some reason never got the second part (probably because I couldn't get it from BookMooch, and wasn't interested enough to buy it, and when the Finnish translation came out, I wasn't really interested anymore). Now, since the third part ([b:Dangerous Offspring|1418506|Dangerous Offspring (Fourlands, #3)|Steph Swainston|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348072281s/1418506.jpg|1408880]) won the Tähtifantasia award, I decided to read the missing parts.
This was interesting. The world is still curious, and the plot developed nicely. The story whizzes past, and left me somewhat hungry for the next part. I'll read the next one a bit faster, won't take another five years this time...
This was interesting. The world is still curious, and the plot developed nicely. The story whizzes past, and left me somewhat hungry for the next part. I'll read the next one a bit faster, won't take another five years this time...
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/876968.html[return][return]Having enjoyed The Year of Our War, I was looking forward to Swainston's second book; and indeed it was a good read. Here she has put more effort into world-building: the island empire of the previous book is only one of three locales, the other two being Tris, a newly discovered island off to the east, and Epsilon, a parallel dream-city into which Jant, the narrator, escapes when he has taken sufficient drugs. There is less office politics, and more high politics; the humour is a bit more sophisticated (especially the confrontation between the imperial instincts of Jant and his friends and the democrats of Tris). Good stuff.
dearbhla's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the first in this ‘verse, The Year of Our War, and while I didn’t like this one quite as much is still makes for a great read. Our hero, once again, is Jant. A member of the immortal Circle, dedicated to serving the Emperor San and the Fourlands, protecting them. Five years have passed without attack from the Insects, and Jant is clean. Although still a drug addict. And with his wife’s affairs, and San’s orders that he, phobic about the sea as he is, is to be sent on a mission across the ocean, well, lets just say that the call of escape and drugs is getting harder to ignore.
Full review: http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2006/07/20/no-present-like-time/
Full review: http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2006/07/20/no-present-like-time/
nigellicus's review
5.0
Wit it's twitchy, flying, immortal, drug addicted narrator, its voyage of discovery to uncharted lands, its Empire threatened by dissent and rebellion and the occasional sideways jump to the nightmarish dream-logic world of the Shift, the second volume in the Fourlands series has a LOT going on, but the pacing is calm and the plotting assured. Opening with a duel, ending with a bloody mess of a battle or a riot or both, it's also action-packed. What a weird and brilliant mix.
ranaelizabeth's review
4.0
Boo-yah. God, I love a well-written fantasy series with weirdness going on. Seriously. And this one is funny too! No wonder I'm flying through them, I just want to know what happens! More exclamation points!
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