Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 9315580" data-attributes="member: 3649"><h3></h3>Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher - low-magic Russian-inspired industrial fantasy. Their magic consists of placing skills and personalities into stones that, when worn, give you that ability. It also comes with partial personality traits as well, so many users have a group of stones giving them desired traits. They are almost exclusively the purview of the military. Anyone caught with one outside their official capacity is assumed to have stolen State property and immediately executed. (And get used to that phrase - they execute people at the drop of a hat).Katyushka Leonova applies to the Norylska police force as a secretary but is dragooned into investigative work; the war has killed off many, many young men so now they must ape a horrible practice of the soutthern cities: the hiring of women. No, worries, this necklace of stones will give you the skills and mental fortitude you need to survive on the tough streets of the city.Genndy Antonov, broken and battered by his time in service, is fired from his job of cutting apart megafauna corpses, and falls into the arms of a criminal syndicate that only has his best interests at heart.Rough grimdark fantasy with some fascinating low-magic goings-on.After that, I needed a palate cleanser so I read the third book in the Founding of Valdemar series. The cover does spoil the major deal, however; this is 10 years after the first two books and the nascent city of Haven is starting to come together. Duke Kordas' now-adult son is starting to learn the business of being a ruler, and then we get the introduction of the Companions and the founding of the Heralds. The B-plot is Valdemar facing the first real challenge to it's existence. In the C-plot we get the real story behind ShadowDancer and SunSinger; by even Vanyel's time they are the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, the greatest tragic love story of their age. The reality is somewhat different.[ATTACH=full]357549[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]357550[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

Verification