Legacy of Light by Matthew Ward - Blogtour

Welcome to Day 4 of the Legacy of Light blog tour. Today sees a guest post by the author himself, Matthew Ward, on how the next generation step up and come into their own in this final book in the series. It's a good one, so, without further ado... 

HEEEEERE'S Matthew... 

Passing the Torch

I’ve loved generational storytelling for as long as I can remember, though it took me a long time to figure out why. 

I think in the beginning, I liked that The Lord of the Rings had a bunch of familiar names from The Hobbit, which is reassuring when you’re seven years old, and tackling a book that everyone is (wrongly) very clear that you won’t understand¹ . But I think even at that point I appreciated that Bilbo and Glóin were still around, and had families – even if I was upset that Balin fell down a mine shaft onto some orc arrows² . It meant that I wasn’t just reading a story, but a history. It made it all real.

The same was true when I stumbled onto Shannara a few years later. Except here, between the first two series anyway, you’re talking about four generations of Ohmsfords and Leahs entangled in sorcerous shenanigans. 

Shannara also added something new to the mix. While The Lord of the Rings leans towards the idea that heroes are predestined to be leaders (and vice versa)³  and therefore naturally rise to the fore of weighty events, Shannara takes the line that ‘well, weighty events once touched your ancestor, so now you and all your descendants are screwed, because magic remembers and someone’s got to do the heavy lifting’.

Sidestepping genres and media into the world of superhero comics, the same’s true of the Geoff Johns/James Robinson/David Goyer run on JSA (Justice Society of America)⁴ . Where most superhero comics are frozen in time – Peter Parker has been Spider-man for 60-odd years at this point – JSA sees costumed identities passed down to inheritors across the decades from the team’s original 1940s founding to the early 2000s and beyond¹¹. 

As you might expect, JSA’s a bit cheerier than epic fantasy fare (although not without its bleak moments), and it finally offered up the missing piece of the puzzle. 

In The Lord of the Rings and Shannara, we seldom see the generations actually interact¹² . Generally, the elder folks are dead and not available for comment¹³ . In JSA, they’re mentors, role models, cautionary tales and slices of living history. Crucially, their presence and deeds offer a new perspective on the world they inhabit … not only to the reader, but also to their inheritors. In turn, their inheritors’ perspective – and more importantly, how they react to the examples set by their predecessors – makes that world a richer, more dynamic place.

Because let’s be honest, in real life or fiction, no generation comes of age without casting a leery eye at the preceding one.

JSA set my love of generational tales in stone. You see, more than anything else, a story has to feel alive. Great characters are vital, sure, as is a setting that lives beyond the words on the page to keep unfolding in the reader’s mind. But the real magic happens when the characters and world evolve in step with one another. There’s no finer way to show this than with the passing of the torch, and the rise of a new generation … and how the new generation rises.

Because we see this play out all around us, all the time. In our families, in our workplaces, in the many-headed hydraic¹⁴  horror that is the rolling news cycle. Half of what we know about our world is seeing how other people grow and adapt to it. We take note of what works and what doesn’t, and plot our own course accordingly … with mixed results.

Why wouldn’t our characters do the same? The choices they make – or don’t – tell us so much about their role models and the society they’ve grown into. And it’s never more dramatic than when children come of age and find their place.

So it’s probably not surprising when I say that the Legacy Trilogy was always going to be a generational story²¹ . Hell, it’s there from the start. Legacy of Ash is predominantly about Viktor, Josiri and Calenne wrestling with their parents’ mistakes. In Legacy of Steel it’s Melanna’s turn. And by the time we get to Legacy of Light, it’s time for the new generation to emerge from the shadow of those decisions²² .

Though they’ve been present in previous books, Legacy of Light marks the first time that Sidara, Constans and Altiris really get to grips with what they want, and how far they’re prepared to go to achieve it. Though she’s a few years older in both years and mileage, the same can be said of Melanna Saranal, who’s starting to realise – as so many of us do – that the challenges don’t go away, they merely change form. All four are fighting to find their place in a tumultuous world, eyes cast back at their role models with everything from adoration to disdain.

Where do they end up? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out, but the joy in the writing – and hopefully the reading – is seeing whose influence they embrace, whose they reject and what these characters determine for themselves. The fate of the Tressian Republic and the Hadari Empire will turn on those choices …

Matthew Ward is a cat servant, creative consultant and author of the Legacy Trilogy, the final book of which – Legacy of Light – is available now. Follow him on Twitter (@thetowerofstars) or check out his website www.thetowerofstars.com 

 ¹ Fog on the Barrow-downs scared the absolute living shit out of me, however.

 ³ Actually, this always upsets me whenever I re-read The Lord of the Rings. Goes to show a little characterisation goes a long way.

  ⁴Think about it. How many non-magical characters are royal, or royal adjacent? Gimli is of Durin’s line, cousin to both Thorin and Dáin. Legolas is a prince. Frodo, Merry and Pippin are all (presumably) landed gentry. Boromir is a pretender to the throne. Only Sam, bless him, represents the common folk, led on a merry chase from court to palace to evil overlord’s dungeon …

  ¹¹ Which I heartily recommend to anyone who loves superheroes. It’s some of the finest serialised storytelling going.

  ¹² There’s a fair chunk of time travel, so it gets a bit squirrely in places.

 ¹³ This is true of a lot of fantasy fiction, of course. It doesn’t pay to be the wise mentor, esteemed parent or suchlike to the plucky chosen one. Disney get a lot of stick for the ‘dead parents’ cliché, but they’re hardly alone.

 ¹⁴ In The Lord of the Rings it tends to be the work of orcs although rivers seem to play a prominent role. You heard it here first: Tolkien had a phobia of fast-flowing water – he was a vampire all along. Or something. allowed to make words up. It’s in the job description.

  ²¹And in turn part of a much larger generational story, but we’ll see where we get to.

  ²² Or, you know, die trying.

(apologies for the strange numbering on the footnotes, for some reason the numbers didn't appear when I copied the file and my phone, on which I blog, only does small numbers from 1-4)

 

Thank you very much indeed to Matthew for inviting me to join the tour and share space with some awesome fellow bloggers - please take time to have a look at their posts (and share them around on social media if you feel that way inclined).

Legacy of Light by Matthew Ward is published by Orbit and will be available to buy from the 19th of August. As with the previous volumes (Legacy of Ash, Legacy of Steel) it's a humungous beast of a book and a cracking read so far (I'm nearing the end of my review copy and will post a full review when I'm done) 

 

Devil's Fjord by David Hewson

 

                        Book Description

A remote island. An isolated community. A terrible secret.

If the new District Sheriff, Tristan Haraldsen, thought moving to a remote village on the island of Vagar would be the chance for a peaceful life with his wife Elsebeth, his first few weeks in office swiftly correct him of that notion.

Provoked into taking part in the village’s whale hunt against his will, Haraldsen blunders badly, and in the ensuing chaos two local boys go missing. Blaming himself, Haraldsen dives into the investigation and soon learns that the boys are not the first to have gone missing on Vagar.

As Tristan and Elsebeth become increasingly ensnared by the island’s past, they realise its wild beauty hides an altogether uglier and sinister truth.

                          My Thoughts

I do have a soft spot for Scandi Noir, I must say. Crime fiction set in Denmark, Norway, Iceland etc always seems just that little bit darker. Well, with Devil's Fjord I can now add The Faroe Islands to that list.

With the new District Sheriff moving to a quiet village for a more peaceful life (Hahaha, these people, they never learn) he soon finds himself neck deep in tradition, whale hunting and missing boys. The deeper he digs the more sinister it gets.

 I think what really set this novel apart for me was the setting. I know of The Faroe Islands but not much about them but the author made them feel real (and certainly somewhere I'd love to visit one day) and the community felt very insular which you would expect of island life I guess. It's the not aways knowing if people behave in certain ways because they ARE sinister or just because that's how they've always behaved. The bond between the Sheriff and his wife worked as a good juxtaposition to the general feeling of isolation.

 I would highly recommend this novel (I'll certainly be reading it again when the nights get darker) and have no qualms about giving it the full 5*

HOWEVER!!!

 With the whaling scenes I understand this may not be to everybody's taste so please be aware that these can be somewhat graphic.

Thank you, as always, to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour. Please, if you can, have a look at the posts by the other bloggers on this tour (below)

Dog Rose Dirt by Jen Williams

 

                        About The Book

What if your mother had been writing to a serial killer?

A convicted murderer with a story to tell

 

Serial killer Michael Reave – known as The Red Wolf – has been locked in Belmarsh Prison for over 20 years for the brutal and ritualistic murders of countless women.

 

A grieving daughter with a secret to unearth

 

Ex-journalist Heather Evans returns to her childhood home after her mother’s inexplicable suicide and discovers something chilling – hundreds of letters between her mother and Reave, dating back decades.

 

A hunt for a killer ready to strike again

When the body of a woman is found decorated with flowers, just like his victims, Reave is the only person alive who could help. After years of silence, he will speak to Heather, and only Heather.

If she wants to unearth the truth and stop further bloodshed, she’ll have to confront a monster.

                      My Thoughts

 Right, just getting this out there from the off, I know Jen Williams as a fantasy fiction author (The Copper Cat Trilogy, The Winnowing Flame Trilogy) of the highest order. When I heard she was writing a mystery thriller (my other favourite genre) I was excited to see what she would do, how she would switch from a genre known for 'sprawl' to one which needs to be tight - and I'm happy to say she absolutely nailed it. 

 The lead character returning to a home town they vowed they'd left forever has been done many times before but somehow Williams has made it feel fresh. This may well be down to Heather Evans herself - no simpering, loveable homegirl here, Evans is often quite unlikeable and not easy to get on with but her spine is a rod of determination and ballsiness. When she is going through her recently deceased mother's things and finds she has been writing to a convicted serial killer you just know she won't let that lie. 

 And then the murders start again, but Michael Reave is locked up, so who is the copycat killer? Who is leaving creepy messages for Heather. To solve all this Heather is going to have to come face to face with The Red Wolf, dig back into her family history and brace herself for what she may uncover. 

 I found this to be a very tense read (in a good way) and thought I'd sussed out what was going on most of the time but I was still caught out by the end. I've read this book twice as the American version (released as A Dark And Secret Place) came out earlier and I managed to bag a Netgalley copy of that so to find I was still struggling to put it down on the second read says a lot to me about the quality of the writing. 

 One of my favourite and most enjoyed thrillers of recent times. Very Highly Recommended 

5/5*

Thanks as always to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this Blogtour and Harper Collins for providing the book to review (which didn't influence me at all. As always all views are mine and mine alone) Please have a look at the posts by the other bloggers on the tour (below) and see what they have to say 

The Basel Killings, Hansjorg Schneider

 

About The Book

It’s the end of October, but it could be December. It is just after midnight when Basel Police Inspector Hunkeler, on his way home and slightly the worse for wear, approaches old man Hardy sitting on a bench under a streetlight. The usually very loquacious Hardy is ominously silent—his throat a gaping wound. It turns out he was first strangled, then his left earlobe slit, its diamond stud stolen. The media and the police come quickly to the same conclusion: Hardy’s murder was the work of a gang of Albanian drug smugglers.

But for Hunkeler that seems too obvious. The trail leads him deep into a dark world of bars, bordellos and strip clubs, but also into the corrupt core of some of Basel’s political and industrial elite. On a more sinister level, he will soon discover the consequences of certain events in relatively recent Swiss history that those in power would prefer to keep far from the public eye.

                           My Thoughts

 Although this book is set in Switzerland it feels very much like it would be at home in the Nordic Noir section of the bookstore. When this novel starts and our hero, Hunkeler, finds a man murdered and left on a bench you can just feel the cold air, the 'Nordicness' of it all. You can almost see the BBC4 subtitles in the picture your mind creates. 

  Hunkeler is at the later end of his career, he's grumpy, old, battered and probably drinks too much. While his younger colleagues are quick to blame 'foreigners' (in this case Albanians) Hunk is not so sure and digs deeper (you knew he would really, didn't you. These old grizzly cops never just let things lie). 

 His investigations soon dig up secrets others, many of whom are in positions of power, would rather see remain buried. 

 I have not read many crime novels set in Switzerland (if any) but if they are half as addictive as this I will be adding it to my list of countries to search out more from. 

4.3/5*

 

Thanks again to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour and providing the review copy. Please look at the reviews by the other bloggers on the tour (below) 

What Goes Around by Ann Bloxwich

 

About The Book

Vicky Wilson is dating Ray Diamond, legendary stripper and renowned bad boy. She goes backstage to see him during a show with friends and disappears.

When a woman’s body is found behind the club, DI Alex Peachey and his team are called in to find out who killed Vicky. But with his home life in turmoil, delving into the adult entertainment industry is the last thing he needs, especially with a case as complex as a spider's web. But due to his colleague’s sudden illness he doesn't have a choice.

Ray Diamond claims he’s being framed. His complete disregard for others means there are a lot of people who would love to see him fall from his pedestal. The question is, does anyone hate him enough to push him? And will DI Peachey be able to prove him culpable of murder before he strikes again?

My Thoughts

 Well, this was what we up north call 'a good un'. I wasn't sure it would work for me with the male stripper angle but Bloxwich seems to have got the whole business nailed down. The insights into 'life backstage' worked really well for me. 

 When a missing woman and a dead body enter the story and the police procedural stuff kicks in the story really picks up. As you may expect in this kind of story the police lead (in this case DI Alex Peachey) has 'issues'. With Peachey this is a disabled son whose behaviour is getting harder to handle but again the author managed to put this across really well. 

 The book has short chapters so is quite a pacy read and the author shows a lot of promise. I can see this becoming a long running series and if it is then this reviewer is certainly going to be along for the ride 

4/5*

Thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour. Please have a look at the other reviews by the bloggers on the tour (below) 

Rory Hobble and the Voyage to Haligogen by Maximilian Hawker

 About The Book

Eleven-year-old Rory Hobble has it tough: he gets upsetting thoughts all the time and they won't go away – 'Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)', the head doctors call it. His mum hasn't been very well for a long while either. Perhaps it's his fault... Maybe that's why she doesn't always feed him; maybe that's why she screams at him. At least Rory has his telescope – gazing at the unchanging stars keeps him calm. But, one night, Rory sees something impossible in the sky: mysterious lights – artificial and definitely not of earthly origin.

When his mum is abducted by the shadowy Whiffetsnatcher, Rory – accompanied by his space-faring, care-experienced social worker, Limmy – travels beyond the Earth, chasing those mysterious lights to the frozen ends of the Solar System. Along the way he must outwit a breakaway human civilisation living on a Martian moon; survive the threat of otherworldly monsters; and learn to speak to alien whales.

But his greatest challenge left Earth with him and it will take all the courage he has not only to overcome his OCD, but to decide whether he wants to rescue an abusive mother if he gets his chance…

My Thoughts

 An 11 year old boy with OCD, troubling thoughts and a not always happy life at home - seems like this is a book that will resonate with many younger readers today. Thankfully it is a Middle Grade  book rather than a Young Adult one so gives the hero, Rory, a chance at adventure in the far reaches of space instead of moping around on Earth. 

  For me the idea of a human colony living on Mars was fun but when Rory meets aliens and space whales the story reaches into what feels more like Roald Dahl territory and was, for me, where the story was strongest. 

 It is a well written story that handles it's core subjects sensitively and well, making the reader (well, at least this reader) feel that he knows about the issues. I feel that this, while being an enjoyable read, is also a book that could get young readers talking about themselves, how they relate to Rory, and that has got to be a good thing. 

4/5*

 Thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour and introducing me to a book I might otherwise have missed. Please have a read of the posts by the other bloggers on the tour (below) 

Masterpiece by Janet Pywell

 

The Blurb

NOT EVERYONE GETS A CHANCE AT A FORTUNE. BUT SHE'S ONLY ONE BURGLARY AWAY…

Photographer, artist and art forger Mikky dos Santos has had a tough life and now she’s about to steal the world’s most famous stolen painting – Vermeer’s The Concert – worth $200 million.

When Mikky’s flatmate is commissioned to paint one of the world’s most famous divas her life begins to spiral into chaos. An evil investigative journalist and a dangerous businessman are on the hunt to uncover Mikky’s darkest secrets and threaten her detailed plans.

The race is on.

My thoughts

I do like a decent heist story and Masterpiece certainly delivered. Set in Mallorca, London and Dresden this novel has a definite European feel and as we haven't been able to go on a foreign city break for the last 18 months this is the closest I'm going to get for now. It's a good job the descriptions were so good at bringing the places to life (and helping me decide where I fancy visiting next. 

The main character, Mikky Dos Santos was an interesting one. I do like a flawed lead and seeing how her life journey made her who she is today made for interesting reading. I've always enjoyed art so an art thief/forger was an appealing hook for me - and I only had to stop a few times to look things up (and so learnt more). 

With plenty of twists and danger this was a very enjoyable read for me on a week off work. 

Highly recommended 

4.5/5*

I have not read this author before but I'll certainly be looking at these other titles first chance I get

Thanks to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for inviting me to review this book. Please have a look at the posts by the other authors on the tour (below)