Point Books To The Anvil of the World (Lord Ermenwyr #1)
| Original Title: | The Anvil of the World |
| ISBN: | 0765349078 (ISBN13: 9780765349071) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Lord Ermenwyr #1 |
| Literary Awards: | Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Adult Literature (2005) |
Kage Baker
Paperback | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 3.89 | 1886 Users | 169 Reviews
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| Title | : | The Anvil of the World (Lord Ermenwyr #1) |
| Author | : | Kage Baker |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | December 1st 2004 by Tor Fantasy (first published August 23rd 2003) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Steampunk. Science Fiction Fantasy |
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Kage Baker's stories and novels of the mysterious organization that controls time travel, The Company, have made her famous in SF. So has her talent for clever dialogue, and pointed social commentary with a light touch. The Anvil of the World is her first fantasy novel, a journey across a fantastic landscape filled with bizarre creatures, human and otherwise. It is the tale of Smith, of the large extended family of Smiths, of the Children of the Sun. They are a race given to blood feuds, and Smith was formerly an extremely successful assassin. Now he has wearied of his work and is trying to retire in another country, to live an honest life in obscurity in spite of all those who have sworn to kill him. His problems begin when he agrees to be the master of a caravan from the inland city of Troon to the seaside city of Salesh. The caravan is dogged with murder, magic, and the brooding image of the Master of the Mountain, a powerful demon, looking down from his mountain kingdom upon the greenlands and the travelers passing below. In Salesh, Smith becomes an innkeeper, but on the journey he befriended the young Lord Ermenwyr, a decadent demonic half-breed. Each time Ermenwyr turns up, he brings new trouble with him. The outgrowth of stories Baker has been writing since childhood, as engaging as Tolkien and yet nothing like him, Smith's adventure is certainly the only fantasy on record with a white-uniformed nurse, gourmet cuisine, one hundred and forty-four glass butterflies, and a steamboat. This is a book filled with intrigue, romance, sudden violence, and moments of emotional impact, a cast of charming characters, and echoes of the fantasy tradition from Lord Dunsany and Fritz Leiber to Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny.Rating Appertaining To Books The Anvil of the World (Lord Ermenwyr #1)
Ratings: 3.89 From 1886 Users | 169 ReviewsColumn Appertaining To Books The Anvil of the World (Lord Ermenwyr #1)
The Anvil of the World is not quite a novel, but rather three novellas, printed chronologically and linked by their cast of characters. I have a minor quibble with Tor in this matter, because the entire volume is divided only by line breaks, with a page break and a graphic of two swords crossing to indicate the start of the next novella, which made finding my page after I had set the book down rather difficult. (I don't use bookmarks.) It also made it less clear that that was to be theThis novel reads more like 3 related short stories featuring the same lead cast. While at the start, it seemed like just loads of zany humor, eventually everything starts to tie together and we start to see some stark realities: overpopulation, ecological destruction, racial tensions, etc.Here's a favorite line of mine that encapsulates the sort of humor found in this novel: "He said that any son of his ought to be able to make mincemeat of a third-rate philtermonger like Blichbiss, and it was
This book has three parts. It went from good to great to oh-my-god amazing. I am awed that Baker was able to make the last section as profound as she made it. There is no pretense to this book, no grasping, no overwrought tropes. It's not perfection incarnate or anything, but it's damned good.
Rating: "A". Near-perfect light, funny fantasy-California adventure stories. 4.5/5 starsMy longish 2004 review:http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfict...Anvil reads something like a Pratchett novel, if Pterry were a native Californian and had a Vancian knack for lush description. The wide-screen plot and wiseass characters are Baker originals. Not to mention Lord Ermenwyr's verbal-abuse death-duel....Do give the book a chance to get moving, as the introduction is largely scene-setting, and it's a
It all begins when a world-weary assassin decides to subtly leave the life. He takes on the alias Smith and becomes a caravan master, where he is responsible for a colorful cast of characters. Theres the athletic courier Burnbright, the sensitive healer Willowspear, the enigmatic and slightly dangerous old lady Mrs. Smith, the whiny but captivating Lord Ermenwyr, and many more. Unbeknownst to him, Smith himself becomes the taciturn and deadpan nucleus in the whirlwind of their insanity. His odd
What a delightfully weird and satisfying little book.
An ex-assassin agrees to lead a caravan on a dangerous journey from Troon to Salesh, with the strange Lord Ermenwyr and his nurse as two of the passengers. It was idealistic and a little preachy (about discrimination against the "Greenies" by the Children of the Sun), but it's Kage Baker, who is always a lot of fun. And it's full of sly humor and what are almost slapstick episodes. Very enjoyable.
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