“Spellbound” by Blake Charlton (Tor / Voyager)

A strong second outing for hero Nicodemus Weal and his allies

Francesca DeVega is a successful healer in the city of Avel, wielding magical text to close wounds and disspell curses, but her life is thrown into chaos when a dead patient suddenly sits up and tells her to run. Now Francesca is in the middle of a game she doesn’t understand, one that ties her to the notorious rogue wizard, Nicodemus Weal, and brings her face-to-face with demons, demigods, and a man she thought she’d never see again.

It has been ten years since Nicodemus Weal escaped the Starhaven Academy, where he was considered disabled and useless, where he battled the demon who stole his birthright and killed his friends. Unable to use the magical languages of his own people, Nico has honed his skills in the dark language of the kobolds, readying himself for his next encounter with the demon. But there are complications: his mentor suffers from an incurable curse, his half-sister’s agents are hunting him, and he’s still not sure what part Francesca DeVega will play. He certainly doesn’t know what to make of Francesca herself…

Spellwright was one of the surprise debuts of last year, so I was very eager to discover what Charlton would offer up in his second novel. As it turns out, Spellbound is great; it builds nicely on the first novel, expanding the world and unique magic system. I really enjoyed reading this, and am now impatient for the third book.

An Interview with Blake Charlton, Author of “Spellwright” & “Spellbound”

Last year, there was a lot of chatter on the interwebs about new fantasy author Blake Charlton, and the interesting magic system he had created for his new fantasy series. I was lucky enough to get hold of an early copy of Spellwright, which I very much enjoyed. Spellbound, the sequel, is published this year, so I thought it would be a great time to see if Mr Charlton was available for interview. Luckily, he was, and below are his enthusiastic responses to a few questions I posed to him.

2010: A Retrospective – Fantasy & Sci-Fi

I know every blog, magazine and newspaper does one of these, but because 2010 was quite a bumper year for reading, I thought I’d offer a quick run-down of my favourites. I’m not going to reiterate why I thought these books were the best of the year – instead, I’m just going take this as an opportunity to link to the reviews I already posted during the year. And last year was quite busy.

Not only was there a considerable increase in posting (in part thanks to Alyssa joining the reviewing team), but I’ve also been able to get so many books read (including non-fiction, I’ve read 109 books in 2010). Thinking about this post, however, I realise how much my reading habits are changing – I have read and enjoyed far more fantasy novels than thrillers, which makes this the first year I’ve had difficulty coming up with the ‘Best Thrillers’ selection (which I posted earlier today). Also, given the wealth of fantasy novels I’ve read this year, whittling them down to just ten was impossible, so I’ve mentioned all the ones that really stood out (in no particular order).

 

Chris Wooding, The Black Lung Captain (Gollancz)

(I should to take this opportunity to say another big “Thank You!” to Alyssa for giving me this novel. I loved it!)

Col Buchanan, Farlander (Tor)

Kevin J. Anderson, The Map Of All Things (Orbit)

Daniel Abraham, Shadow & Betrayal (Orbit)

Blake Charlton, Spellwright (Harper/Voyager)

Brent Weeks, The Black Prism (Orbit)

N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms & The Broken Kingdoms (Orbit)

Graham McNeill, A Thousand Sons / James Swallow, Nemesis / Aaron Dembski-Bowden, The First Heretic

(Black Library)

MD Lachlan, Wolfsangel (Gollancz)

Lachlan was also kind enough to answer a few questions for me, and his was the first interview we’ve done on the site.

Ari Marmell, The Conqueror’s Shadow (Gollancz)

In addition to the review, Marmell agreed to do a short interview, which can be found here.

(As I mentioned at the end of the Lachlan interview, I’ll be trying to get as many short interviews with authors as possible – either with authors whose books have been reviewed on the site, or exciting upcoming authors, if at all possible.)

There are many more fantasy novels, and a couple more sci-fi novels that could easily have made the cut (for example, Sam Sykes’s Tome of the Undergates, Amanda Downum’s The Bone Palace, and CL Werner’s Wulfrik). But, in order to keep the post as short as possible, and to properly highlight the best of a very good year, I shall leave it at that. Feel free to use the comments to add your own. There are, as with every year, a number of novels I was unable to read. I will catch up on those that were missed, where possible and time permitting.

Anyway. It is time to start looking to the present, and 2011 looks like it will be a very good year for readers of every genre. Keep checking back for more reviews, interviews, artwork, and asides!

“Spellwright”, by Blake Charlton (Voyager)

[UK    /    US]

One of the most hotly-anticipated fantasy debuts of 2010

In a world where words can come to life, an inability to spell can be a dangerous thing…

No one knows this better than apprentice wizard Nicodemus Weal. Nicodemus is a cacographer, unable to reproduce even simple magical texts without ‘misspelling’, a mistake that can have deadly consequences. He was supposed to be the Halcyon, a magic-user of unsurpassed power, destined to save the world. Instead, he is restricted to menial tasks, and mocked for his failure to live up to the prophecy.

But not everyone interprets prophecy in the same way. There are some factions who believe a cacographer such as Nicodemus could hold great power – power that might be used as easily for evil as for good. And when two of the wizards closest to Nicodemus are found dead, it becomes clear that some of those factions will stop at nothing to find the apprentice and bend him to their will.

There’s no doubt that anticipation for Spellwright has been running high for months – in a half-year that seems dominated by hotly-tipped fantasy debuts, Blake Charlton’s novel would need to be particularly good to stand out from an already crowded field of new genre upstarts. Thankfully, on the basis of its wholly original (as far as I’m aware) magic system, Spellwright does indeed deserve your attention.

Taking a lot of classic themes that have been key elements of fantasy for decades (if not longer, when including myths and legends), and coupling them with an obvious love for and fascination with language, Charlton has managed to avoid pitfalls and cliché. Nicodemus is at a magic school, has a mysterious mark that may or may not mean something important (a keloid scar), a ‘disability’ that holds him back (something he must overcome to assume his true potential), and a plethora of other fantasy classics: dragons, gargoyles, magic tomes, and a mysterious killer stalking our protagonist. There is a shade of Harry Potter in here, but don’t take this to mean Spellwright is the same – this is very different, and wholly Charlton’s own wonderful creation.

To write about this book without looking at the magic system would be folly – even if it might seem clichéd or over-done to anyone who has read other reviews: it is so integral to the story and plot, that to gloss over it would leave the reader wholly unprepared for the story they are about to read. The magic in Charlton’s world is based around language and a magician’s literacy in the main magical languages: Magnus and Numinous being the main two ‘higher’ languages (there are more, but these two crop up the most), as well as the mythical ‘Language Prime’ – believed to have been used by the Creator. Charlton’s magic system is not only highly original and interesting, but also very well written – there was always the possibility that a description of any complex or new system would be turgid and boring. Charlton manages to use the setting of a magic school to great effect, giving us more explanation as and when we need it, sprinkled throughout the novel, without making it feel like we’re about to receive an annoying or clunky ‘info-dump’. The way the magic can be used to form constructs is inspired, and adds additional flavour to the world Nicodemus inhabits. [The US cover actually incorporated this better than the UK artwork, and Charlton’s thoughts on that can be found here.]

I found myself sinking into the story easily and pretty much immediately whenever I picked up the book (sadly, life intruded on my reading this in more-or-less one go). Short chapters, coupled with the author’s clipped prose and realistic, believable dialogue make this a quick read. All of his characters are engaging and well-crafted (although I must admit to not initially liking the inclusion of Devin and Simple John). If there is one thing I would pick up on, it’s Nicodemus himself: he has a tendency to over-emote at times, which is confusing as he’s meant to be an adult, so his naïveté is not always understandable or welcome. This is, however, mostly forgivable, given his condition and relative youth compared to the other wizards that feature in the story (his mentor, Shannon, is about 200 years old, for example). In the next novel in the series, Spellbound, I’m sure most of this will have been ironed out.

The story is revealed at a gradual, well-timed pace, without clunky info-dumps, unveiling more and more about the factions and players, the politics and nations involved. The author’s style is great at dragging the reader along, making it difficult to put Spellwright down, and most chapters end on a hook that will force you to read “just one more” (although we know how that always goes). Charlton’s interest and enthusiasm for language itself is inherent throughout the novel, and his obvious enjoyment in writing the book is passed on to the reader.

Different to the more ‘gritty’ fantasy authors currently writing today (think Abercrombie, Sykes, Newton, Morgan and so forth), this book doesn’t veer into graphic violence or other themes that might make some readers uncomfortable; Spellwright is far more classic in feel.

Highly original and an absolute pleasure to read, Spellwright comes very highly recommended. This is a wonderful work of fantasy escapism and world-building.

For Fans of: Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling, Lev Grossman, Christopher Paolini, Tad Williams, Ursula Le Guin, Karen Miller, Trudi Canavan

http://www.blakecharlton.com/