The Tropic of Eternity by Tom Toner

Book Title: The Tropic of Eternity (The Amaranthine Spectrum #3)
Author: Tom Toner
Genres: Science Fiction
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Netgalley

Goodreads, Amazon UK for the first book in the series, The Promise of the Child
Goodreads, Amazon UK for The Tropic of Eternity

Plot Summary, without spoilers: It is the 147th century.
In the radically advanced post-human worlds of the Amaranthine Firmament, there is a contender to the Immortal throne: Aaron the Long-Life, the Pretender, a man who is not quite a man.
In the barbarous hominid kingdoms of the Prism Investiture, where life is short, cheap, and dangerous, an invention is born that will become the Firmament’s most closely kept secret.
Lycaste, a lovesick reclusive outcast for an unspeakable crime, must journey through the Provinces, braving the grotesques of an ancient, decadent world to find his salvation.
Sotiris, grieving the loss of his sister and awaiting the madness of old age, must relive his twelve thousand years of life to stop the man determined to become Emperor.
Ghaldezuel, knight of the stars, must plunder the rarest treasure in the Firmament—the object the Pretender will stop at nothing to obtain.
From medieval Prague to a lonely Mediterranean cove, and eventually far into the strange vastness of distant worlds, this series is filled with gripping action and astounding ambition unfolding over hundreds of thousands of years, marking the arrival of a brilliant new talent in science fiction.

  

As usual no spoilers.

Here's my review of the first book.

I got the first book from Netgalley but bought it afterwards because I loved it so much. I also bought the second book and will buy this one, but for now I've got a review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What did I think?

Tom Toner may be the Steven Erikson of Science Fiction, because he drops the reader straight into an unfamiliar world without any explanation.

I'm a fast reader and sometimes tempted to skim more than I should, which works with books set on our world where not every third word is strange and unfamiliar. After reading a third of the first novel, about two years ago, I almost put it away for good, because I had no idea what was going on. I decided to re-start from the beginning and take my time.

I admit, I had to take notes, and while reading the second book I frequently had to use the glossary and look up names, races and places.

Throughout the third book, however, I finally felt like I belonged in this world and was able to navigate without feeling lost.

I've hardly ever been this immersed in a world. Tom Toner presents a world so rich and so fleshed out, I was blown away by every page. It's a creative mix between sci-fi and fantasy presenting an innovative future filled with diverse, unique cultures and breathtaking ideas. The scope alone is immense and the level of complexity, frankly, insane.

More than once I thought: how did he come up with all of this?

At one point, during the second book, I looked up at my partner and said: this is absolutely brilliant.

The books are very complex. While I personally don't mind not knowing what's going on for a good portion of a book, I think Toner expects a lot from the reader. There's a vast cast of characters to keep track of, next to a dozen species and planets.

The prose is wonderful, very descriptive, filled with lush details and striking visuals.

I love all the characters, but I've got a soft spot for Percy and Aaron in particular. The entire cast is fleshed out, well-developed and I find them all incredibly intriguing. I wasn't entirely sold on Lycaste at first, but Toner develops him in fascinating ways, and I grew quite fond of him.

The third book is almost non-stop action, the chapters move with a sense of urgency as an epic conflict unfolds. While this is not the last book in the series it does end on a hopeful note with a few touching chapters at the end that made me smile.

Toner has definitely created something ambitious and memorable, and I am eagerly awaiting new books by him.

I recommend The Amaranthine Spectrum series (for the love of everything, please start with the first book) to everyone who likes a complex and epic plot spanning centuries, and beautiful prose. I think both fans of Gene Wolfe as well as Steven Erikson will appreciate this one.

Check out the other bloggers participating in this blog tour.

Top Ten Tuesday (3) - Top Ten Underrated Books I Read Last Year

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Follow the link to know more about the meme and join up! 

This week the topic is: Top Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books We've Read In The Past Year Or So. You can find this week's post by The Broke and the Bookish here.

This is a tough one, because I don't usually really know what's underrated and what not. I've in the past thought a book was relatively unknown, just to find out that the entirety of the Internet was already talking about it and I was just late to the party.

I've went through the books read last year and looked for those that had a relative small number of reviews on Goodreads.

I found out that I mostly read books that come recommended to me or that I've seen a lot about on Goodreads or in the blogging community. Those are rarely underrated.

Let me start with Tom Toner. Here's his Twitter and here's my review of his book: The Promise of the Child

It's such a good book. Honestly. But before you go and add it to your tbr list, please let me tell you once more: it is for an avid science fiction and fantasy fan, not for the casual reader.
Tom Toner built a world that is fantastic. A world that is our future and Earth is nothing more than a distant memory. Toner drops the reader straight into an unfamiliar world without explanation, its up to the reader to find out how it all connects together.

Here you can find it on Goodreads.
If you're a fan of complex world building and science fiction and fantasy and don't mind putting in some work, do the chap a favour and pick it up, because it was a marvellous read. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, even though it took me a long time to read it and caused a headache or two in the beginning where I was utterly lost. Apparently the 2nd book will be less confusing and more accessible, hopefully that turns out to be true.


  
Annette Marie's Red Winter is a YA fantasy set in a world that is based on Japanese mythology. It's not the best I've read, but it's definitely different. The setting is intriguing and the mythology is gorgeous. My review can be found here.

Meg Elison's Book of the Unnamed Midwife is about survival in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus killed almost all women. As you can imagine a hostile environment. My review can be found here.

Corinne Duyvis' On the Edge of Gone suffers from a few problems. Not enough action. Possibly a lot of diversity just to hammer home the point of 'we need diversity'. But since that point still needs hammering, fair enough. The protagonist is an autistic girl and it's very well written and I enjoyed it despite the lack of action. My review can be found here.

And that's it more or less. The rest of the ones with fever reviews are deep in the fantasy or science fiction genre and have found their readership.

Link me to your lists and I'll make sure to visit!

Wrapping Up 2016 - Hello 2017

I'm glad we're wrapping up 2016. I'm ready to throw it onto a fire and burn it to a crisp. It wasn't good when it came to private matters, it wasn't good when it came to politics and it wasn't good when it came to people I look up to dying. I doubt 2017 will be much better, simply because nothing that made 2016 bad is resolved.

But. I love new beginnings. I love a clean slate. And I have quite a few goals for this year and I'm hoping to bring a better structure to my day and spend more time doing what I love doing.

These are the goals, that I hopefully will stick with for longer than 9 days.

• Run or walk every day. My SO loves running. Not me. But we've got two dogs, and they love when they get to run along. I often choose the lazy version to tire out my dogs and throw a ball for hours while listening to podcasts. This year, I'd like to go for either a run or a walk every single day. Make a habit of it.
• Write a 1000 words every day. Make a habit of it as well. I write a lot, but I also stare at blank pages a lot. Instead of staring, writing... that's the goal.
• More Blogging. I need more ideas for things I can blog about. Hit me with ideas! Please!
• 104 books. I managed to finish my goal this year. I'd like to try again in 2017.

I did actually finish my 104 books. I wasn't sure I'd managed and it's almost midnight. But I am done! My favorite books in 2016:

I hope everyone had happy holidays. We spent most of it in pajamas eating ham and cheese and drinking Sherry. Like an old British couple!

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Promise of the Child by Tom Toner

Book Title: The Promise of the Child
Author: Tom Toner
Genres: Science Fiction
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Goodreads, Amazon UK

Goodreads Summary: Lycaste is a lovesick recluse living in a forgotten Mediterranean cove who is renowned throughout the distorted people of the Old World for his beauty. Sotiris Gianakos is a 12,000-year-old Cypriote grieving the loss of his sister, a principled man who will change Lycaste's life forever. Their stories, and others, become darkly entwined when Aaron the Longlife—the Usurper, a man who is not quite a man—makes a claim to the Amaranthine throne that threatens to throw the delicate political balance of the known galaxy into ruin.

What did I think? Tom Toner may be the new Steven Erikson of Science Fiction, because he drops the reader straight into an unfamiliar world without any explanation. I'm a fast reader and sometimes tempted to skim more than I should, which works with books set on our world where not every third word is strange and unfamiliar. After reading a third of this novel, almost putting it away for good because I had no idea what was going on, I decided to start from the beginning and take my time.

Whew, what a ride. I've hardly ever been this immersed in another world. Tom Toner presents a world so rich and so fleshed out, I was blown away. It's a creative mix between Science Fiction and Fantasy presenting an innovative future filled with diverse, unique cultures and breathtaking ideas.

Now, let me mention a few negative things, there aren't many, but I think they're important. The first thing that bothered me is that this is the first book in a trilogy and it does not stand on its own. It's more a chess board and now all the pieces are set, ready to attack.
The second thing is the complexity of the book. While I personally do not mind not knowing what's going on for a good portion of a book, I think Toner expects a lot of attention from the reader, introducing many characters and a dozen different species and places. I was actually taking notes in the beginning. It's not a fast read either, the prose is beautiful but dense.
The third thing is a small one: one character in particular I had trouble to emphasize with. Lycaste is the typical 'nice guy' who does not understand that a woman can say no and not change her mind. His mind is very childlike though, so maybe he's supposed to just not be mature enough yet. I'm curious to see where Tom Toner is going with him.

Everything else is fantastic. Toner has definitely created something ambitious and memorable. I can't wait to read the other two books and find out more about this universe.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.