Fortified By Books

Of Bone and Thunder, by Chris Evans, is so good that I wasn’t quite sure what to say about it beyond “You must read this book!”  It’s a retelling of the Vietnam War in a Fantasy setting (including dragons).  Though it deals with the horrors of war, it’s not moralistic.  It is vividly realistic, however, and not for those with weak stomachs.  The story is told from several characters’ points of view, which are diverse.  I was pulled into what they were going through in such a way that I didn’t know how connected I was to them until I was crying at one point, and almost snarling every time one of the characters came into a scene.  I realized this isn’t a book; it’s a world to become fully immersed in.  It’s also a roller coaster, with well-timed lulls in the action for much needed breathers.  I never had to take a break from this novel, and that’s all due to the pacing, which I didn’t even notice until I thought about it afterwards.

Two things I did notice while reading were his handling of race and gender issues.  Again, this wasn’t done in a moralistic way.  He simply wrote about the realities during the Vietnam Era.  The race issues are between men and dwarves.  Dwarves are formerly enslaved, newly integrated into Human society, and derogatorily referred to as “mules”.  For the gender issues, women simply aren’t present, mentioned only in passing, with the exception of a very few who have a hard won agency.  They are looked down upon as being inferior by many of the male characters.  Respect is slowly gained as the story approaches its climax, but there remain men who still espouse their beliefs that women belong at home.  Though at first I felt annoyed at the lack of women, that was a knee jerk reaction.  Now, I see it as refreshing to have an author face the ugly truth of sexism without being preachy.

I would love to recommend this book to everyone, but it’s more for those who enjoy war stories or D&D type Fantasy.  I’m giving it 5 stars, and adding it to my list of all time favorite books.

When I started reading, I wasn’t sure if this was a short story or just a sample.  The cover says “World Devoured Part One”, so I was thinking this might be the beginning of a series or trilogy.  I contacted the publisher (All Night Reads), and it turns out that Justice in a Dead Land is the first part of a serial, with each part being released on Mondays starting Oct. 13th.(The Amazon page has since been updated.)

That information shifted my opinion a bit.  Mostly because, while I enjoyed it, as a book, I really don’t think this story would work.  The pacing, character development, dialogue, etc. are all wrong for a book; however, they fit perfectly for a serial.  They would also be perfect for a comic book or a TV show.  Speaking of TV shows, while the beginning was reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Gunslinger, I kept thinking of Captain Mal from Firefly every time the main character,Penelope, spoke.  It’s not that she comes off as mannish, but that her personality is similar.  Though the story itself is very different, I’d say the setting, the kinds of situations the characters find themselves in, and the dialogue would have been perfect for Firefly, except Justice in a Dead Land doesn’t have space ships.  That’s not a negative (unless you absolutely require space ships).  I just don’t want anyone thinking it has everything Firefly had.  There is magic, however, and the descriptions of it made me think of the Dust in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.

All of this, I loved.  If anything, I’d say the only thing I’m a bit iffy on is that it feels more like YA Fantasy than it does any other genre.  YA isn’t horrible, but I’ve read few YA books that I thought were good, much less that were great.  I think that I will continue to enjoy the World Devoured serial, but it’s too early to tell.  I’m definitely buying the next part to find out what happens though, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys quest narratives, independent comic books, or dystopian westerns.