Re-Read, Book Review: Requiem by Ken Scholes

Requiem by Ken Scholes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

****SECOND READ through:
This series is just as amazing as it was the firs time I read it. The world is in flux with the changes happening. Who has the upper hand this time? Y'Zirites or those fighting against them?

Things are playing out with each event and character. People are separated and doing what they need to do to keep things moving forward.

As I wrote before, I love this world, characters, and events. A great read for fantasy lovers.
~~~~~~~
All the lives of people we've meet are greatly intertwined, no matter the distance between them.

Again, Ken never ceases to amaze me. The world, the story, the character depth. Plain master piece.


****FULL REVIEW****
The world is in upheaval and seems on the axis of great change. The feel all is falling further away from what everyone knows it to be.

Jin Li Tam is on an island with her son, the one the Y'Zirite's call the Child of Promise. Being worshiped as she tries to come to grips with what she now knows her destiny is. Vlad Li Tam travels the vast sea, following a ghost, to do what needs to be done with the Crimson Empress and the Child of Promise. Neb finds himself on the Moon with Petronus, and no idea what he's to do now that he's lacking the tools he needs to do what he is called to do. Lost as he tries to find his way in a new world, his world. Winters is still searching the final piece of the Final Dream. Hoping to help her people find their way home to their world. Rudolfo is struggling with the unexpected leave of his wife with his one and only son. The absence of his son weighs heavy on him, not knowing what his wife was thinking going into the center of danger as she did. Rudolfo comes to learn his own pieces in the Y'Zirite plans and makes plans of his own.

We get a feel that the people struggling to stop the downward slide are losing. Things are not going well and they are at opposite ends of the world trying to correct it on their own. None know what the other is doing. Secrets are crossing. And the results are...amazing, heartbreaking, reviving, hopeful. Everything all in one.

The beginning brings us quickly back to where we are after Antiphon. The Prelude is a refresher of what's going on in this world, yet at the same time drawing curiosity, making me want more. It's felt like ages for me since I finished Antiphon, and Ken draws me in quickly with refreshers of what happened and where we are now. Perfect. Flawless.

The connections to the world (and moon) all become clearer. The further we follow Ken through his Whymr maze the closer we come to the truths of what is happening and why. It seems now, as things come out, that it was tried very hard to replicate the culture lost on the moon. But things were never quite right. Things are still incomplete but starting to come in the open on how to fix them. All that the Wizards and Younger Gods fought over, and the results becoming clearer with each page.

We have all our familiar characters Point Of Views. And love seeing the troubles they get themselves into. We also have a new POV, Marta. Marta gives us a view of innocence and a connection to one we want to see more of and his connections to everything. I found all the POV's intriguing. I loved what I learned from all the views. The history and workings of the Y'Zirite are heavy and well designed that you need all these POV's to get the feel for what is happening and why. It's so easy to follow these POV's. Ken writes them with a grace that makes you feel he's been doing this for lifetimes. I really enjoyed getting to see more POV from Vlad Li Tam as well. Wow, the Li Tam family has got serious connections through out the world and can influence just about anything it seems, but this still has them in a bind as well.

Oh my gods! This series is amazing. Out-of-the-box crazy-amazing read. Love it! A book to be savored by each word. This read is not a light one. When you pick it up be ready to be submersed and mentally mapping all that's happening. This is a read to read over with an eyeglass and ponder over with a pipe Yes, all that and more!

Absolute read for fantasy fans.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Requiem

Requiem

By:  Ken Scholes

Publisher:  Tor

Publish Date:  June 18, 2013

Format:  Hardback 366pgs

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  4th book in The Psalms of Isaak series; 1st Book ~ Lamentation, 2nd Book ~ Canticle, 3rd Book ~ Antiphon

Recommendation:  Oh good grief YES!! And if you have waited this look for book 4, you NEEEED IT!!

Synopsis:
When we left the Named Lands at the end of Antiphon, our main characters were scattered between earth, sea, and sky.

Jin Li Tam has left General Rudolfo, taking their son with her.  She has accepted the "invitation" of the Crimson Empress's regent, and has boarded his ship, steaming into unknown seas.  With her, secretly, is Rudolfo's Captain Aedric as guard.  She is playing a very dangerous game, more dangerous than usual, even for a daughter of Vlad Li Tam.

Rudolfo was left at the head of his army, only to discover her apparent betrayal when Winters and her people arrive on foot in the Ninefold Forest.  Winters has won exile for herself and her faithful people at the price of her own blood.  Her sister Ria is now in complete control of the Marshlands, under the rule of Empress's regent.

Vlad Li Tam has been cast up on a desert shore.  He followed his obsession with the ghost of Amal Y'Zir into the mouth of the Behemoth, and now she has led him to the shores of Espira, in search of her father's spellbook.  Whatever that might be.

Neb, now revealed to be the son of the Younger God Whym, is flying to the moon aboard the antiphone.  With him is Petronus, the last Pope of the Androfrancines, as well as the metal men who built the ship and carry the dream that Neb is to fulfill.  For Neb is both Homeseeker and Younger God, and only he can open the Moon Wizard's Tower.

And the metal man Isaak is lost.

Return to the Named Lands, and the greater world that is unfolding before us.

First Sentence:
A gibbous moon hung in the predawn sky, casting shades of blue and green over a blanket of snow.

Purchase At:
Amazon   /   Barnes & Nobles   /   Book Depository

**I requested a copy of this book for review from the publisher.

My Thoughts and Summary:
The world is in upheaval and seems on the axis of great change.  The feel all is falling further away from what everyone knows it to be.

Jin Li Tam is on an island with her son, the one the Y'Zirite's call the Child of Promise.  Being worshiped as she tries to come to grips with what she now knows her destiny is.  Vlad Li Tam travels the vast sea, following a ghost, to do what needs to be done with the Crimson Empress and the Child of Promise.  Neb finds himself on the Moon with Petronus, and no idea what he's to do now that he's lacking the tools he needs to do what he is called to do.  Lost as he tries to find his way in a new world, his world.  Winters is still searching the final piece of the Final Dream.  Hoping to help her people find their way home to their world.  Rudolfo is struggling with the unexpected leave of his wife with his one and only son.  The absence of his son weighs heavy on him, not knowing what his wife was thinking going into the center of danger as she did.  Rudolfo comes to learn his own pieces in the Y'Zirite plans and makes plans of his own.

We get a feel that the people struggling to stop the downward slide are losing.  Things are not going well and they are at opposite ends of the world trying to correct it on their own.  None know what the other is doing.  Secrets are crossing.  And the results are...amazing, heartbreaking, reviving, hopeful.  Everything all in one.

The beginning brings us quickly back to where we are after Antiphon.  The Prelude is a refresher of what's going on in this world, yet at the same time drawing curiosity, making me want more.  It's felt like ages for me since I finished Antiphon, and Ken draws me in quickly with refreshers of what happened and where we are now.  Perfect.  Flawless.

The connections to the world (and moon) all become clearer.  The further we follow Ken through his Whymr maze the closer we come to the truths of what is happening and why.  It seems now, as things come out, that it was tried very hard to replicate the culture lost on the moon.  But things were never quite right.  Things are still incomplete but starting to come in the open on how to fix them.  All that the Wizards and Younger Gods fought over, and the results becoming clearer with each page.

We have all our familiar characters Point Of Views.  And love seeing the troubles they get themselves into.  We also have a new POV, Marta.  Marta gives us a view of innocence and a connection to one we want to see more of and his connections to everything.  I found all the POV's intriguing.  I loved what I learned from all the views.  The history and workings of the Y'Zirite are heavy and well designed that you need all these POV's to get the feel for what is happening and why.  It's so easy to follow these POV's.  Ken writes them with a grace that makes you feel he's been doing this for lifetimes.  I really enjoyed getting to see more POV from Vlad Li Tam as well.  Wow, the Li Tam family has got serious connections through out the world and can influence just about anything it seems, but this still has them in a bind as well.

Oh my gods!  This series is amazing.  Out-of-the-box crazy-amazing read.  Love it!  A book to be savored by each word.  This read is not a light one.  When you pick it up be ready to be submersed and mentally mapping all that's happening.  This is a read to read over with an eyeglass and ponder over with a pipe  Yes, all that and more!

Absolute read for fantasy fans.

Who? What? Where? (122)

Who are you with? Where are you at? What's happening?

Share with us just a little bit of what is happening in the book you are reading, right where you are now.

Just a tiny taste of what's happening, remember try to not give spoilers of the book.

his is a new meme I'm going to try and will tweak as I go. And please don't laugh at my lame attempt at drawing. ;D )


Since my husband had me digging a ditch and building a wall all weekend, I'm still in the same book from last week.

This Week:

I'm with Lysias, and his secret army, we have entered hidden tunnels and searching them as we go.  He just found a man he once knew, along with others, hidden away.  This is interesting as there is more people to fight for the Light than thought. Maybe we can win this war.

Requiem
By:  Ken Scholes

Others have shown interest in joining in this post, and linking up.  So I've created a linky for that.
My only requests; copy the picture to use, and link back to My World...in words and pages.
Please visit any joining in.
Thank you!

Teaser Tuesday (171)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

Melissa's Read:

Of course, the dreams rarely went all night even at their peak.  But whatever Charles experienced was different.  Her dreams had been a part of her heritage, in the bones and blood of her family.  The old man's dreams came from the mechoservitor, and if Micah and Hebda were correct, they were the stirrings of the Final Dream.

Requiem
By:  Ken Scholes
206pg




Oh, oh, oh.  This is one amazing fantasy series I've started, and can't wait for Ken to publish the next book.  Amazing world and creation.

I would highly recommend starting with the first book, Lamentation:

Mama Bitchstress' Contribution:

And the next time you insult me, petty little princeling, I shall call you to account for it as if I were a man, and this the age of duels.
She strode from the Throne Room, her face set and white, and her Shield followed.


The Red Plague Affair
By:  Lilith Saintcrow


Check out my review of The Red Plague Affair later today, along with a chance to win a Lilith Saintcrow book!

You can start with the first book, The Iron Wyrm Affair:

Looking Forward To...(122)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the ever growing list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

It's been a while since I've done one of these Friday Looking Forward posts.  And I miss doing them.

Next Book Is...

Requiem
Psalms of Isaak  #4

By:  Ken Scholes

Due Out:  June 18, 2013

Ooooo, now this series.  Oh yes.  I've been loving these books since day one.  So much to the world.  Every word is valuable.  Dang this is goooood stuff.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ken Scholes’s debut novel, Lamentation, was an event in fantasy. Heralded as a “mesmerizing debut novel” by Publishers Weekly, and a “vividly imagined SF-fantasy hybrid set in a distant, postapocalyptic future” by Booklist, the series gained many fans. It was followed by Canticle and Antiphon. Now comes the fourth book in The Psalms of Isaak, Requiem.

Who is the Crimson Empress, and what does her conquest of the Named Lands really mean? Who holds the keys to the Moon Wizard’s Tower?

The plots within plots are expanding as the characters seek their way out of the maze of intrigue. The world is expanding as they discover lands beyond their previous carefully controlled knowledge. Hidden truths reveal even deeper truths, and nothing is as it seemed to be.

Cover Reveal: Requiem

Oh, I've loved this Whymer maze, knotted circle of a fantasy tale by Ken Scholes.  And it's a series I think many fantasy lovers should try.

Ken has announced today on his Facebook account the new cover and date of his next release!!

Requiem

The Psalms of Isaak #4

By:  Ken Scholes

Due Out:  June 2013

He mentioned this is Vlad Li Tam.  If you enlarge the picture you can see the markings on his left arm, so great to see this detail!  Vlad sure has much to tell us after the last story, Antiphon.

Vlad is looking pretty good!  Oh, I can't even hint to you what I'm looking forward to in this book.  It's just an amazing tale, and I'm going to have to go back through my notes to refresh all the important things.  Oh so many!  I'm getting soooo excited!! Eep!