Books read in 2011: No. 25 - Swords of Talera

by Charles Allen Gramlich

Started: May 22
Finished: May 29

Notes: Though I would not label ourselves as friends, Charles Gramlich is one of the few authors of whom I keep tabs online and with whom I have some casual banter with from time to time. He sometimes posts on my blog, and sometimes I post on his. To a large extent, more than I'm sure Charles is aware, I consider him a gentleman and a scholar, in the traditional sense and not in any modern cynical fashion. Admittedly I do not know Charles Gramlich personally, and likely never will, but he has impressed me with his writing and his online personality. I've read some of his shorter fiction, but have yet to delve into his longer works, such as this book. It is time I made the jump. This, the author's first book in what I understand to be a Sword and Planet series, sounds like a good starting-off point.

Mini review: All kinds of awesome to be found here. I'm not all that well read in the Sword and Planet genre, but I've read some Edgar Rice Burroughs ... and this is better, far better. Swords of Talera could easily be considered a modern equivalent to A Princess of Mars. All the right ticks are there ... 19th century male protagonist, unknown world, a little sorcery, monsters, alien races, female love interest and more ... yes, it's all there. But it's also all different. The world is different, as are the protagonist and the love interest, and I mean different not only in a technical sense but that they are thematically different, as well. The writing is modern, yet hearkens back to the likes of Burroughs. For anyone who is interested in Sword and Planet fiction, or any of the sub-genres of old-school pulp fantasy, you need to read this book. It's better than the originals. Burroughs would be proud, and perhaps a little concerned about keeping his throne as king of S&P fiction.