Monday, August 20, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 45 -- The Ginger Star: Volume 1 of The Book of Skaith

by Leigh Brackett

Started: August 16
Finished: August 20

Notes: All my Robert E. Howard-related reading of late has got me in the mood for more action-driven fantasy, so I thought I'd give Leigh Brackett another try. I've not read a lot of Brackett, so I'm hoping for a nice surprise. As luck would have it, I found all three of the books in this trilogy together at a used book store some while back, so maybe the gods were telling me I need to read this series.

Mini review: This was a pleasurable read with a surprise ending that made sense while leaving the door open for the next book in the series without resorting to a cliffhanger. Technically science fantasy, all the story here takes place in something of a post-apocalyptic fantasy world of low tech and some relatively minor magic. But the stars and the spaceships beyond them are beginning to intrude upon this world, and the powers-that-be are not liking it. An emissary of sorts from a galactic federation has been sent to this world, but he has gone missing, and that is where the story begins, with Brackett's Eric John Stark character sent to find this emissary or to discover what has happened to him. Despite the otherworldly backdrop to the story, it really does keep its focus on a barbaric fantasy world that is falling apart. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

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