Colours in the Steel: 1 (Fencer Trilogy)
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Product Description
Review
'incredibly vivid, refreshing, fun, thoughtful, absorbing' - SFX 'Action-packed adventure . an intriguing tale of magic, manipulation and revenge.' STARBURST
Book Description
COLOURS IN THE STEEL is the richly imaginative, masterfully written first volume in the FENCER trilogy and marks the debut of a wonderful new talent in fantasy fiction
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Never having heard of the author, I bought this on impulse (maybe the magic working its quirky effect on me? - no headaches though!) and Joy! - something refreshingly different! Here is an author who is obviously intimately familiar with law, fencing, medieval ballistics and human interaction. I don't know the gender of the author, but the style 'feels' distinctly feminine - no I don't mean Barbara Cartland, more like Barbara Wood or Sheri Tepper - but with all the extra fine detail that sets it apart. Add to this a wry, self-depracating humour and a magical theme that runs through as a mostly unobserved undercurrent and you have a book that almost sets its own genre. I'm still trying to work out who really is the magician in all this.... maybe the next book will reveal more? Oh, I sincerely hope it fulfils the promise of this one - rarely have I read such a wonderful book, especially a debut novel..... more please! I can't recommend this highly enough.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Why do I give colours in the steel only three stars if I thought it was a "great book." The problem is, you read this book. You like Parker's style, his attention to detail and some of the concepts he's developing. After that you go out and buy the sequels and you are utterly crushed - the story just doesn't go anywhere, the ending of the third book is a cop out and the whole thing leaves a bad taste in your mouth. So if you have the will power to read the first part of a trilogy and leave the rest, go for it, otherwise you're better off elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having been reading the fantasy genre for many years, I have become jaded with the stock formulaic swords and sorcery epics that seem to the norm these days. Thus, have bought the book on a whim, without any preconceptions, it was a delight to find a consistent universe, character driven, yet with a refreshing twist to it. The main protaganist is a lawyer, yet in this world, law is decided by the art of fencing - to the death for serious cases, to first blood for civil matters - divorce and so on. The background to this is that of the internal and external politics of the city-state in which it is set.
I cannot promise huge swashbuckling magical duels, yet magic is a part of this world, but in a subtle way, that leaves you wondering, rather than the mechanistic science of magic derived from role-playing spinoffs. (I must admit, they *are* however one of my weaknesses as a sub-genre!)
However, the plot is riveting - the main character is a fencer-at-law, and a semi-disgraced ex-soldier. Now retired from active practise, he teaches, and attracts a pupil with a hidden agenda. He is also called upon to lead the city militia. As a parallel plot, a new leader for the plain tribesmen arises, and, makes a trek to the city, to learn the ways of technology. This, he applies to the art of war, with ominous consequences...
This book was, in short, a very good read, and has had me scouring the net for details of the second book promised in the series. Oddly unhyped, partly due to the unsensational nature of the story, it stands head and shoulders above its current rivals, and is as engaging as early Brooks, or even, oddly, reminding me of Snow Crash, by Stephenson. Buy it and read it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great but only for those with a strong stomach
I am a huge KJ Parker fan, but i would not like to live in his head. Definatly adult only book, and even some adults may find themsleves having nightmares. Read more
Published 14 months ago by D. Beecher
Hang on... This is familiar...
This is not the first Parker book I've read - I started the Engineer trilogy back in 2005 and enjoyed the mix of real life engineering and political intrigue. Read more
Published on 12 April 2008 by ellenvannin
Good book but avoid the sequels - seriously
As a number of other reviewers have mentioned, this is an enjoyable book with some quite likeable characters. Read more
Published on 4 April 2008 by hokers
I enjoyed this thoroughly - BUT...
I enjoyed this book: it was well-written and entertaining. The information Parker provides (throughout the trilogy) on weapons / weapons-making is fascinating, and his characters... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2001
This is an excellent book
I agree with the review by the other reader. This book is brilliant. It grips from the word go and is a real through to early morning read. Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2000
Unbelievable!
This was the only book I have bought without being sure that I could get the next in the series. Am I ever glad that I did! By the end of the first chapter I was hooked. Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2000
Hugely Disappointing
Having read the reviews by Orbit and other Amazon readers I ordered this book. It has a new and intriguing idea at it's centre,agreed, but it is totally spoilt by the 20th. Read more
Published on 17 May 2000
Rivetting. different. I loved it, im buying the sequel.
I'm doing this author the highest honour possible and shelling out hard earned cash on the next one because this was so good. Read more
Published on 13 April 1999
Stupendously Well-Written
I also bought this book on a whim, expecting the formulaic fantasy nonsense so common now. The first few paragraphs convinced me I was reading excellent prose, full of wit and... Read more
Published on 7 April 1999
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