The Scroll Of Years
Chris Willrich
PYR, Sep 24 2013, $15.95
ISBN: 9781616148133
Adventurers Persimmon Gaunt and Imago Bone are an odd couple as she is an upper class poet and he is a cursed thief. With her pregnant, they flee from a fire-breathing arkendrake dragon and the ruthless Night’s Auditors assassins who don’t kill their prey they vegetate their victims.
The pair takes sanctuary inside the Heavenwalls of the Qiangguo Empire. However, the artist and the thief find the insular culture stifling with rigid obeisance to customs. Gaunt and Bone obtain allies like the Swan Priestess Eshe, Lightning Bug and Next-One-A-Boy; as they struggle to survive bandits and officialdom, and deal with being an unwanted prophesy.
The first Gaunt and Bone fantasy novel (there are some short stories previously published with one included in this book) is an exciting action-packed tale as the protagonists deal poorly with inbred officialdom that leaves no room for adventurers especially by illegal aliens. Though I would have preferred the outsiders as the final straw catalysts to radical change rather than the “White Man’s (and woman’s) Burden” as external saviors (due to the prophecy), readers still will enjoy this engaging thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Chris Willrich
PYR, Sep 24 2013, $15.95
ISBN: 9781616148133
Adventurers Persimmon Gaunt and Imago Bone are an odd couple as she is an upper class poet and he is a cursed thief. With her pregnant, they flee from a fire-breathing arkendrake dragon and the ruthless Night’s Auditors assassins who don’t kill their prey they vegetate their victims.
The pair takes sanctuary inside the Heavenwalls of the Qiangguo Empire. However, the artist and the thief find the insular culture stifling with rigid obeisance to customs. Gaunt and Bone obtain allies like the Swan Priestess Eshe, Lightning Bug and Next-One-A-Boy; as they struggle to survive bandits and officialdom, and deal with being an unwanted prophesy.
The first Gaunt and Bone fantasy novel (there are some short stories previously published with one included in this book) is an exciting action-packed tale as the protagonists deal poorly with inbred officialdom that leaves no room for adventurers especially by illegal aliens. Though I would have preferred the outsiders as the final straw catalysts to radical change rather than the “White Man’s (and woman’s) Burden” as external saviors (due to the prophecy), readers still will enjoy this engaging thriller.
Harriet Klausner
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