SFF Author: Greg Keyes

The Briar King by Greg Keyes

The Briar King is the first novel in the (planned) fantasy quartet, Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone by Greg Keyes. The gist of my review is this: The Briar King is perhaps the first wonderful fantasy book of the 21st century and worthy of a place beside A Game of Thrones (George Martin) and Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb) on your shelf reserved for engaging,

The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes

The Charnel Prince succeeds in what should be the immediate and least of goals for second books in series — it moves the plot along. The book is well-paced, moving quickly through various storylines and transitioning nicely from one point-of-view to another. The shifts occur smoothly and repeatedly act to increase suspense (some may tire of the tactic; it never really bothered me). The different stories are mostly well-balanced, each carrying its own weight in terms of plot and character. Though I’d say one is noticeably weaker than the others,

The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes

Anyone who reads a lot of fantasy knows by now to come with some trepidation to any sort of “bridge” book — the second book in a trilogy or the 2nd or 3rd book in longer series. Too often they simply exist to get us from the exciting stuff that got us hooked in book one to the exciting stuff that will wow us in the conclusion. Other times they read like they simply exist because the author can sell a trilogy more easily than a standalone or a simple sequel and so plot events are stretched out so thinly they almost snap.