Lamentation (Psalms of Isaak) [Hardcover]

It's always exciting to check out a new author, to see whether the storytelling ability and world creation is up to the usual standards of the fantasy genre (or above them, if you think they're already too low). It's even better when you stumble upon a first-time author's second book that looks so good that it makes you want to check out the first one. Such was the case with Ken Scholes and his "Kingdom of the Named Lands" series. I knew I had to start at the beginning, so I quickly devoured Lamentation. It was well worth it.

Some ancient technology or magic has destroyed the city of Windwir, home of the Androfrancine Order and the collected knowledge of most of the world both before the cataclysm hundreds of years ago and today. Sethbert, Overseer of the Entrolusian City States, glories in the results of what he has done, but others are also quick to react. A former member of the Androfrancine Order comes to see for himself the destruction that was wrought. Rudolfo, Lord of the Ninefold Forest Houses, comes to exact justice for the perpetrator of this foul deed, and other leaders of the Named Lands do as well. War is brewing as all sides play the game of politics. These leaders will have to choose which side of the game they will join.

Scholes's novel (and, I presume, a series) is the best political fantasy I've read since George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire," only not as grim as that series. Lamentation jumps from character to character, as all players maneuver around the political battlefield and the wasteland that was Windwir.

Scholes has also created some fascinating characters to build the story around, though not all of them will live to the end of the first book - again, much like Martin's series). A bit of a fop, Rudolfo has caroused his way through life even after becoming lord when his parents were murdered, yet he is also a man of honor and tradition, coming to the aid of the Androfrancines when Sethbert unleashes his deadly ferocity. He's the one who, upon finding the mechanical man he calls Isaak (who survived the destruction and has a secret of his own), realizes that he might be able to recreate some semblance of the library that Sethbert destroyed.

Lady Jin Li Tam, 42nd daughter of master strategist and financier Vlad Li Tam, is initially Sethbert's consort at her father's direction, tasked with getting information from him. Once the horror is unleashed, though, she quickly gets away and will eventually become a major player in this political production.

Her role in the book is just a bit too thin. She's the only real female character, destined to bear an heir and support one of the other male characters. She works initially under her father's direction, but even when she's not, she's more of a helper than anything else. Another female character, who looks like she's going to play a bigger role in future books, doesn't get much to do in this one.

That is the only real fault I find with Lamentation. A few other things - such as the hand-waving semi-magical explanation for how the mechanical men remain powered, for instance - are questions you ask only once, before giving in to the conceit of the novel, as Scholes's storytelling takes you away.

Scholes weaves all of the characters into a dance that will have far-reaching repercussions for everybody involved. While very little "action" takes place in the novel, a lot is happening - sometimes a bit more quickly than you would like, as Scholes jumps around a bit and keeps the plot moving forward. Occasionally, his section beginnings (there are chapters in the book, but each chapter is divided into sections devoted to a single character) start ahead of the action and flashes back to how the character got there. Scholes handles these instances without too much confusion.

Lamentation is not a perfect book, but it is an excellent first novel if you like the politics/fantasy mix. This isn't a good choice for big Michael Stackpole fans who want lots of swords swinging and limbs flying. If you want a well-told story with a little bit of magic and a lot of big ideas, though, you can't go wrong with this one.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book © Dave Roy, 2010

The most powerful city of the Named Lands is Windwir, home of the Androfrancine Order and their attempts to rebuild the lost technology and wisdom of ancient times. Then Windwir is scoured from the face of the world by ancient sorcery, throwing the Named Lands into turmoil. The scattered remnants of the Androfrancine Order have become divided over the succession of the Pope, whilst Rudolfo, Lord of the Ninefold Forest Houses, falls into conflict with Sethbert, Overseer of the Entrolusian City States, over who is to blame for the disaster.

From the south, House Li Tam is manipulating events to its own ends, whilst in the north the enigmatic Marshfolk see the destruction of Windwir as a sign that their long exile may be coming to an end. Amongst the ruins of Windwir an old man and a young boy find their destinies united as they seek to bury the remains of the dead, and a mechanical lifeform is uncovered who holds the key to the secrets behind the disaster.

Lamentation is the first novel in The Psalms of Issak series, a five-volume sequence. The series is epic fantasy filtered through the Dying Earth subgenre with just a dash of the New Weird thrown in for good measure. The setting is a post-apocalyptic world where people imperfectly try to understand the science and sorcery of what came before.

Ken Scholes's debut novel is an effective first book. It is fairly short by genre standards (350 pages in length) and is well-paced. There are a lot of interesting ideas being worked on here, with the author skirting close to some deeper themes on religion, knowledge, power and responsibility, although the book's short length and fast pace means that these cannot be explored thoroughly. These flashes of extra depth hopefully hint at some more intriguing things to come in the latter four volumes.

As it stands, Lamentation is a solidly enjoyable fantasy novel. The prose is brisk and effective, the characters sympathetic and relatable even if some of them are a little on the thin side. The two central figures of Rudolfo and Jin Li Tam are not quite satisfyingly developed in the book and both come across as a little too perfect for comfort. Other characters such as Petronus, Neb and the metallic and titular Issak are far more interesting. Jin's father, who emerges as a figure of some importance, is also over-the-top in the psychohistorical levels of his forward planning and contingencies, which starts to become vaguely comical towards the end of the novel, eliminating tension as the next disastrous turn of events is defused by, once again, Jin's father having already foreseen it and worked out a counter decades previously.

In addition, the worldbuilding is somewhat lacking. Scholes's abilities with description are good, such as his evocation of Windwir's transformation from bustling city to a vast tomb, but he never really convincingly suggests that much of a world exists beyond the bubble the characters travel around in. This is not helped by the fact that the area on the maps is apparently traversable in just a few days yet stretches from a frozen waste in the north to tropical lands in the south.

What Scholes does have is a readable, page-turning style, some nice and unexpected plot twists, some solid and well-drawn characters and a nicely different, vaguely steampunk-influence setting to the standard epic fantasy template.

Lamentation (***½) is a flawed novel, but enough good points shine through to make reading on worthwhile. The book is available now in the USA but does not have a current UK publisher. It is available on import.

I couldn't put this book down.After reading a 100 pages I bought numbers 2 and 3 in the series. Absolutely enthralling.