Maybe it is wider margins. Or maybe it is just sheer readability. For whatever reason, I’m surging through John Maddox Roberts’ Stormlands books at nearly the same pace I used to read as a kid. The first book, The Islander, was engaging and moved right along. The second, The Black Shields, shows no let up.
While the first was rather episodic, providing set-up and travelogue, world-building and character introduction, the second book has a more focused narrative, suggesting the direction of the rest of the series: a showdown, military, political, and personal, between the main character and his nemesis. We get such a showdown in this book, but, as with any series villain worth his salt, the bad guy escaped to fight another day.
The world-building continues, offering the reader glimpses into a handful of other post-apocalyptic cultures. A plot seed or two gets planted for future volumes. And our hero’s Hun/Parthian cavalry tactics are put to a practical test in the field. The centerpiece might be the detailed, engrossing, and bloody depiction of an attempted sea-borne assault on a fortified city. Even knowing how it was likely to end (for narrative purposes it had to go that way) it nonetheless gripped me.
Good stuff.
Vacation is also good. I drove MBW and the HA to Pensacola, Florida. I’m writing this post from an apartment overlooking a marina, perhaps a trifle the worse for yesterday’s poolside indulgences. The HA has had a marvelous time, playing in the sea, swimming with a “mermaid” in lazy river, ziplining, climbing, and racing go-karts. I particularly enjoyed the visit to Fort Pickens. I believe this qualifies as my first trip to a Civil War battle site.
On the publishing front, the next book is nearing release. The publisher emailed me mockups of the covers of the paperback and hardcover editions. Looking good. I hope to share more later.
If you are interested in reading anything of mine currently available, browse here.
And now, here are a few vacation pictures.
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