Smorgasbord Fantasia

Anna Smith-Spark , the queen of grim-dark is back at it again, with this viscerally ambitious follow-up to the dark salvo, Court of Broken Knives  (that I enjoyed, ah so much!) that introduced us to the Empires of Dust and a motley crew of dark, broken damaged characters headed by Marith Altrersyr, King Ruin and his queen, Thalia. Book One was a study in violence and darkness but one that shone bright with the raw beauty of Anna's writing that was punchy, moving and just so immersive in it's unpredictable quality to enthral and shock. This one, Book Two was an emotional drain on my senses. In a good way, really. An overload of vicious no-holds-barred violence underlined by a disturbing brooding sense of darkness - Book Two in the Empires of Dust, Tower of Living and Dying is still full of those very same unforgettable characters who made book-one such a pleasure to read. They still worm and storm their way into your hearts, squirm under your skin and truly truly go thr...

Anna Smith Spark 's debut has been hailed as the new grimdark blockbuster - and for good reasons. The book definitely has its share of darkness, seething madness, the blood, grit and the gore aplenty. But it would be a shame - and an injustice to possibly just highlight this aspect of well narrated, epic story set in a beautifully realized vast world. And hey - it features dragons! Did that pique your curiosity? It should. Because Anna Smith has the gift of language - and of storytelling, albeit wrapped and twisted in layers of grime and shiny darkness that possibly retracts a bit from the overall heft that the story and narrative aims for. Court of Broken Knives - well, what a lyrical name. The quality of writing is far above debuts we have seen in the recent past and yet, the book is not without its flaws. The pacing falters and certain characters are under utilized but this apparently is just the opening salvo in  a series called Empires of Dust, so we will wait. Because...