Customer Reviews

Canticle (Psalms of Isaak)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Canticle, the follow-up to Ken Scholes' Lamentation, shares some of the same flaws and strengths as the first novel, including a rough start, but like its predecessor overcomes its flaws to turn into an engrossing, if not action-packed, novel.
Canticle picks up a few months after the events of Lamentation and it's Scholes' concerted effort to recap for readers just what those past events were that makes the opening somewhat flawed, as much of the exposition feels forced and awkwardly inserted. I think he would have been better served with a simple prologue recap rather than filtering the events through the conveniently-placed reminisces of his characters. Luckily, the clumsiness only lasts for a few dozen pages before Scholes deems us sufficiently caught up and lets us move into the new plot.
And there is a lot of plot here to get to. Similar to Lamentation, which opened with the destruction of the entire city of Windwir and its priceless storehouse of old knowledge, Canticle starts with a bang when a celebratory feast hosted by Rudolfo, the Gypsy King, is attacked by a wave of assassins magicked into invisibility by old, forbidden "blood magics", all while his wife Jin Li Tam is in labor with their firstborn child. In short order (and I mean short), several rulers are dead (though Rudolfo has been mysteriously purposely spared), Jin Li gives birth to a sickly, apt-to-die son; the former Pope Petronus is attacked; the hidden girl-queen of the Marshers--Winter--is forced to come out from her concealing shadow and declare herself; Neb, the Marshers' prophesied homefinder, becomes part of an expedition chasing a rogue mechanical man into the Churning Wastes in hopes it will lead them to a second Great Library; Vlad Li Tam--Jin Li's father and architect of much of what happened in Lamentation--is made captive; civil war rages threatens to rage across the Named Lands, and an ancient and up-to-now unknown prophecy rises, built around the long-dead Wizard Kings responsible for the Churning Wastes.
Continuing the style/structure begun in Lamentation, the point-of-view shifts quickly among a raft of characters, with most chapters being only a few pages long. The sheer amount of plot plus the quick pov/chapter shifts combine to create a fast-moving read. The plot tends to focus on political machinations; like Lamentation this is not a book filled with battles or swordplay (though it has its few small fights). This isn't a complaint, merely an acknowledgement. Those who like epic warfare or small bands of stalwart underdogs fighting their way through armies should look elsewhere. Personally I liked the focus on schemes, politics, and characters, the strange alliances and sudden betrayals. The subplot involving Jin's father Vlad is especially tense and gripping, while the story of Winter's ascension to queen has much the same potential though it isn't mined quite as intensely or richly.
At times Canticle shares with its predecessor the problem that the quick shifts sometimes rob us of some depth of characterization, not allowing us the time we'd like to spend with any single character or in any single scene. Vlad is the most compelling character, a combination here of his sharp, long-range thinking and probing; his personal moral complexities, and the intensely emotional situations he's placed in via the plot. Jin, one of the stronger characters in Lamentation, unfortunately isn't as interesting here, her dual roles of new mother/new queen feeling a bit perfunctorily acted out. Petronus, Isaak the mechanical, and Neb also feel a bit washed out in comparison to their roles in Lamentation, but this is offset by the emergence of Winter into a strong character and the introduction of several new and intriguing characters.
World-building remains a bit thin, both in terms of a full sense of place and politics and vivid setting, though the unveiling of the Churning Waste opens up a bit more of the world and its history. And there were times I thought Scholes could pull back a bit from the internal monologue, the filtering of emotion or motivation through the characters' interior thoughts, such as the effect of becoming parents on Rudolfo and Jin or Winter's anxiety.
Several of the plots come to resolution by the end, others remain hanging and still new ones are raised in the last few chapters. The series as a whole has a good sense of rising intensity of action as villains lie behind villains and the crises move from small-scale to epic clashes. Change looms in the air--big, complex, frightening change and while most of it seems ominous, some of it is also less sinister in the reader's eyes, such as the burgeoning movement toward democracy rather than autocracy in some of the regions. And without knowing the full history of this world, the reader doesn't yet feel fully comfortable in pigeonholing the proponents of such change. This is a bit more sophisticated than Dark Lord bad: Status Quo good. Lamentation was a strong opening despite its flaws and Canticle similarly more than compensates for its own faults while also side-stepping the usual problems with a series' bridge book. Recommended.

More than any other book released in 2009, I was most looking forward to Canticle, the second volume in Ken Scholes' Psalm of Isaak series. Scholes came out of nowhere with the amazing Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak), and I was dying to see where he would take this powerful new fantasy series.

Lamentation ended with an uneasy peace after the Desolation of Windwir (Scholes' equivalent of the Vatican). That peace is shattered quickly in Canticle when blood magicked intruders storm a feast held by Lord Rudolfo of the Gypsy Scouts and assassinate several key leaders of the Named Lands. Soon all of the main characters from Lamentation are scattered to the corners of the earth - Vlad Li Tam in search of the threat beyond the Named Lands, Rudolfo in search of Li Tam, Neb and Isaak out in the wastes in search of Sanctorum Lux, Winters in pursuit of threats within her own people, and Pope Petronus on trial for the execution of Overseer Sethbert. It soon becomes apparent that an outside threat is responsible for all of these developments, and the consequences to the Named Lands will be devastating.

Scholes wastes little time totally dismantling the status quo in this book. Whatever comforts his characters may have earned by the end of Lamentation are quickly eliminated in Canticle. This book is all about breaking and forging, both in terms of key players and the very land they inhabit. As with Lamentation, Scholes weaves another fascinating tale of magic, politics, love, hate and hope in the face of incredible adversity.

Canticle seems more like a transitional story designed to get the various players in the Named Lands arrayed against their newly revealed foe, but it is no less effective or moving than Lamentation, and it maintains this series' status as one of modern fantasy's best sagas. Fans of George R.R. Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay in particular should find the Psalm of Isaak highly enjoyable.

Canticle by Ken Scholes- This is the second book in The Psalms of Isaak series. The first book is Lamentation, the third book is Antiphon and was recently released September 2010, the fourth book, Requiem, and the fifth book, Hymn, are yet to be released with no set release date at the time of this review. Ken Scholes has written only one other novel called Last Flight of the Goddess. He has written a number of short story and even has a book of his collected short fiction called Long Walks, Last Flights and Other Journeys. Canticle is published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC under Tor and was first released in hardcover in October 2009 and then in August 2010 it was released in paperback.

After the destruction of the Windwir and the loss of the Androfrancine Order, the Named Lands are still coming to terms with the catastrophe. However, the orders wealth and knowledge was passed to Lord Rudolfo and the Ninefold Forest Houses. Rudolfo is getting his Gypsy Scouts ready for the birth of his son with his soon to be wife Jin Li Tam. With a lot of nobles attending the party, one would think that nothing bad could happen to the guests. While the party is going on, the gate to the barren land of the Old World called Churning Wastes, gets a unique visitor with a message. A cryptic message meant for the ears of the Hidden Pope Petronus.

Criticisms:
1) Slow. This is the biggest problem that Canticle had, the pacing of the story was incredibly slow. There are things that do happen that do speed up the story in some parts, but overall the story unfolds at a snail's pace. It hampers the story slightly, because it seems to take forever for things to unfold. There were times where things seem to be repeated over and over. It could have been because there wasn't a lot of action scenes, and the story relies more on political intrigue and conversation. This wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact, all the intrigue was exciting. One would think that an exciting story wouldn't have been a quick read, however this isn't the case. While the slow pacing is understandable, it just took way too long to read through an exciting story.
2) Repeating Background. Another problem that can be associated with the slow pacing is that everything seemed to be repeated. Having to be reminded that Jin Li Tam is the forty-second daughter of Vlad Li Tam every time Jin had a scene did become a little old fast. It didn't help that Jin is a main character and has a scene come up once every ten or so pages. This kind of thing does happen at least a few times with each main character, always highlighting something repetitively. It wouldn't have been so bad if it occurred to a more minor character. If that was the case, it would have been welcome and not as intrusive. However, once again, this problem doesn't really impact the whole enjoyment level of the story.

Praises:
1) Characters. The characters were all very unique and distinctive. Each main character, and minor, had a different personality, a different character arch, and a different path to take. There were times when reading the character viewpoints that almost made it feel like I was reading a totally separate story. It was almost like a book full of short stories that all connected to one another in some way, shape, or form. Aside from that, the characters never felt repetitive, it never seemed like they were the same characters. Like I mentioned, they had separate personalities and were different from one another in that regard. Also, the characters all played a role, to varying degrees. All in all, the characters were unique and different from one another.
2) Story. The story itself was very interesting. I should mention that Canticle is not an action orientated story. There is some action scene, but they were barely mentioned or happened. Instead, we have a story that's more based in political intrigue than anything else. I, personally, am not a political interested person. In fact, I could care less about such things. That being said, I was amazed by how focused I was on the story and all the little facets how things are ran in the Named Lands. I was very surprised that I found myself caught up in the political alliances that each separate state had. While the political intrigue played a large role in the story, another premise kept popping up. Canticle is very family heavy. What I mean is that the story brings the idea of how having a family can change a person. This whole arch is mostly found in Rudolfo's and Jin Li Tam's relationship and the birth of their son. You see how these characters drastically change from how they were in the first book. If there was a theme to be found in Canticle it's how having a family affects a person. All in all, the story was just plain wonderful, full of intrigue with a heavy theme of how a family affects people.
3) World. The world that is created in The Psalms of Isaak is really intriguing and seems to stand on its own. I've never read a series that relays so much on the reading understanding the world that is created then in here. It may be a turn off for some readers, I know I was more than a little annoyed by the lack of exposition in the first book, Lamentation. However, if you have read the first book, you start to see that the world itself has a long, interesting history. In fact, I think that somewhere down the line another author could, potentially, try their hand in the world. I'm not saying that it should happen, it's just with a world so rich as the Named Lands is, I could see it becoming a shared world almost. The world is just rich in history and the unknown that it could open up so much more.

Side Notes:
1) Italicized Sentences. This is something that did bug me, but not enough to harm the story over all. On almost every single page there is a word, or sentence, that is italicized. Now, it wouldn't have been as annoying if it was someone's thoughts or the sign language that this world has. But instead it's used to emphasize a point. A point that would have been better left not italicized. It didn't really add much, and could have been toned down.
2) Dark. I never really expected the story to be as dark as it was. There were times when I was at a loss for words by how brutal and disturbing things got. The best part was, it never seemed violent, it just felt violent.
3) Cover Art. Canticle has two covers, one for the hardcover and one for the paperback, by different artists and has a different style and look. I didn't pick up the hardcover (which is below), but from what I can the see from shots online, it's just generic. That's it, just generic. My copy Canticle is the paperback so I'll talk about that one first. It's interesting. The color scheme is nice because Jin Li Tam really stands out. It the red really draws your eye. Plus, she looks good.

Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
Canticle improved on what I found wrong with Lamentation. However, the slow pacing of the story still was an issue. It wasn't as noticeable as before, but it still impacted how enjoyable the story was. The other issue was repetitively mentioning certain things over and over. This was part of the cause of the slow pacing. However, even with those problems, Canticle still shines in its characters and story. The characters all felt unique and different from each other. They all went through their own experiences and had their own stories to tell. The story was just fantastic. It didn't rely on action sequences to carry the story along. Instead the whole story relies more on political intrigue, and it works surprisingly well. I will say that recommending Canticle is kind of hard to do. I will say that you need to read Lamentation before jumping into this, else you'll be lost with all the history and back ground.

What can I say, I really like Ken Scholes' writing. He avoid's cliches, his characters act & talk like real people and I find his writing clear and easy to follow. I also like that this book & the first one, Lamentation, both have very tidy endings. I think the author is very considerate in wrapping up most the events of each book, with the understanding that "larger" forces are at work in his 5 book arc. These days, it seems many authors end on a cliff hanger to get you to buy the next book. The trick is fellas, write a great book and you don't have to worry about using a cliffhanger to get people to buy the next one. It'll sell itself. This book & the one before are the kind of book I read slowly and completely. Going back and re-reading a section if the kids distracted me etc... the books are that good.

I don't want to give too many details or spoilers. Suffice to say that all the plot lines from the first book are moved ahead, we begin to understand the forces that were at work with the fall of Windwar and some of the hidden threats from the "old world" - so to speak. The story is told from a handful of character perspectives, I thought that was fine. The only POV I thought could have been defined a little more was the Entrosulians. For some reason I wasn't clear on all the characters in this section, but a minor quibble. Possibly I was not paying attention well enough at one point. That "group" didn't seem as well defined as the Forest Gypsies or the Marshers etc..

I eagerly await the 3rd book. According to the author, there will be 5 books so lots more to go! I really like when an authors states that they are writing a set # of books in a series. I am fine with another series later (re: ray feist) but I'd like each series' to have a completion, a logical exit point for the reader and not one that simply goes on for 10+ books. Maybe I obsess.

Do yourself a favor, on the [...] site, there is a free short story that precedes this entire series by about 2000 years - it ties in nicely with the events of this book. Read it after Canticle for a nice wonderful treat. Search for the author's name and you can read it online or download to your fav ereader. Some of the characters from that short story are mentioned in Canticle!

I didnt like Lamentations very much, due to what I felt were serious flaws. I felt Canticles was much better, partly because these flaws were less pronounced and partly because I knew what to expect.

On the upside, Scholes writes a brisk paced and highly readable novel. The prose flows very smoothly and the pages fly by. The action picks up instantly and the novel never really tapers from cover to cover. I also found myself much more engrossed in the characters in Canticles than I was in Lamentations. I think with roughly 50 more pages, Scholes allowed himself just a little more depth to this novel, which serves him well. Its hards to write a realatively short novel (390 pages) from the perspective of 10 different characters and keep the reader engrossed in all of them. For example, George RR Martin cut out half the character persepctives from his last novel and it was still almost 800 pages. But I felt this novel spent just a little extra time with each character than its predecessor and benefited from that.

On the downside, I have the same complaints as with Lamentations: 1. technology that doesnt fit with the world 2. a lack of good time a geography orientation 3. three different character perspectives per chapter (ussually 3-4 pages per perspective) gives the book a stacatto feel. On the technology side you have futuristic tech (robots with emotions and vast memory abilities) combined with civil war tech (steam powered iron ships) combined with revolutionary war tech (rifles and cannons) combined with medieval age weapons (swords and knives) set in an otherwise typically medieval fantasy setting. This really bothered me in book one; knowing to expect it didnt bother me here. I was hoping for more explanation though as to the metal men. I still feel this is a potentially brilliant plot device (after all the series is named after Isaac) that goes woefully underexplored. On point 2, the author rarely gives us a season or time shift, so I have no reference as to how long the novel is taking. Also, when people travelled, I rarely grasped how far they travelled or how long it took. I can reference the map, but without scale, I have no idea how big the world is. Characters leave one end of the map at the end of one chapter to appear at the other end of the map the next chapter without a sentence of travel. It would only take a paragraph or sentence to remedy these issues and orient the reader better. To point 3, the choppy feel to the novel was less in this book but still persistent. I hope in novel 3 he will continue to lengthen his writing and consider devoting one chapter at a time per character.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this novel. I think some of it was the author maturing from his first to second book and some was that I knew what to expect this time. I would probably give this novel 3.5 stars if possible, but I did read it in one setting tonight(partly because the book is short), something I rarely do, and I think that makes it a 4 star read. If you liked book 1, you should really enjoy book 2. And perhaps, like me, you will even like it better. The best thing in this series is the promise I feel in Mr Scholes to develop into a truly fantastic writer.

I have really been taken away by this series so far. There are going to be five books in all. The characters are well developed and you really get a feel for them all, even the ones you think may be the "bad" guy or girl. The world that is created in these first two books is amazing. You have different cultures, religions, believes and gods. All well done to give you just what you need to understand the rules and what is going on, yet enough to keep you with the feel of mystery.

I think Ken Scholes is an awesome author with an epic tale to tell. He lays the paths of possible ways the story could go, we just have to wonder if we are thinking the correct path. Just when you are on the right path you come to a fork in the road again. The story can change directions at any time, but the rules never change and the information is there to keep you on the correct path of thought, thus creating a great mystery adventure.

Being a second book of a series Ken has started us right into the next story. Not even 50 pages into the book and I was caught up with where I left off on the first book and full scale right into the middle of another great mystery of the Whymr maze in this amazing fantasy book.

This book has; mechoservitors ~ Kens' term for metal men, magick ~ which has limits, Gods ~ are a distant past but are there in the background, an ancient vendetta of two old families and ways of lives, and current people trying their hardest to find where there home is.

These books are amazing reads from the point of view of the characters. You learn so much in this way with the way Ken writes it. Very well done to understand what is going on, just pay attention to get the details.

"Canticle" is a worthy sequel to "Lamentation".

With the establishing of the Named Lands, and the rule of General Rudolfo, Scholes takes us into a political-social atmosphere that is intriguing. The massacre of nobles on the eve of a celebration, and appearance of a strange figure with a message for Petronus, the Hidden Pope sets off a chain of events that demand crisp, taut storytelling. Schole's style defines the narrative as readers follow the journey of Rudolfo, Jin Li Tam, Vlad Li Tam, Winters, Neb, and Pertonus to an amazing interlude as the Watcher lays down his pen.

Scholes creates a narrative framework that allows a wide cast of characters to interact and move within. His unique style moves this book quickly, yet fast enough to keep our attention, and at times, it does seemingly drag(though not often). The Psalms of Isaak is a warm up to a fantastic career. Outstanding fantasy from a new voice that will define excellence for many years to come.

Tim Lasiuta

Canticle is the second in breakout author Ken Scholes's "Psalms of Isaak" series. Aside from a few pacing issues, it's even better than the first one (which was pretty good on its own). Reportedly, this will be a five-book series, and the second does its best to take things in a new direction, introducing a force that has been influencing events for many centuries. If Scholes continues to do things like this, he'll be able to keep the series fresh even as he tells his epic story. I know I'll be along for the ride.

The ancient Androfrancine city of Windwir is gone, destroyed by an ancient weapon used with misguided intentions. Windwir was the seat of power and knowledge in the Named Lands, and the last Androfrancine Pope, Petronus, has charged Rudolfo, the leader of the Ninefold Forest Houses, with protecting what remains of that knowledge and potentially rebuilding it through the mechanized men that the Androfrancines were hiding. It's been nine months, Rudolfo will soon have an heir, and he is holding a celebratory feast. Suddenly, strange hidden assassins burst into the room, killing the noble guests from the various other lands, with the strange exception of Rudolfo himself. At the same time, another mechanized man appears at the gates to the Churning Wastes with a message to Petronus, a message that will spark an exploration of the Wastes in order to find what knowledge may have been hidden away - or what ancient enemy may be finally willing to reveal itself.

Canticle starts out with a bang with Rudolfo's feast being so rudely interrupted. One would hope it would go on from there, with almost 500 pages of action, whether violent or political. For some reason, though, the pacing in the novel seems off at times. Long stretches are a little boring, potentially building up character or the political situation in the series but otherwise lying flat. It's not that these scenes aren't important, because they do further the plot. They just aren't particularly engaging. Mostly these were the scenes involving the democratic revolution in the City States and Petronus's trial, but even some the scenes involving Rudolfo and his wife, Jin Li Tam, scenes are like this too.

Other than these slow scenes, though, Canticle is marvelous. The political intrigues are absorbing; the humiliation of Vlad Li Tam as the secret network that he and his father built over many years suddenly comes down around his ears, all of this makes for riveting reading. Jin Li Tam has much more to do this time (answering one of my criticisms of the first book), and Neb doesn't seem quite so annoying this time around.

Scholes's character work is strong. None of the players are perfect; they make mistakes and misjudgments, including one weakness which will make life a lot harder for those in the Named Lands. None of them fall flat, though Esarov (the leader of the Democracy movement) comes closest.

The author's world-building, too, is exquisite. While the map seems small, a lot is going on in the various countries and territories. The Churning Wastes - the remnants of the old civilization that was destroyed 500 years ago - makes an interesting new setting to explore as it slowly reveals its secrets. Sometimes it's hard to believe that so many secrets and hidden organizations, so intricately timed and managed, can actually work, but it's never completely implausible.

The squeamish should be warned: there are some torture scenes, though nothing exceedingly graphic. Still, be wary if that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable.

There isn't a lot of violent action in the novel, but the political and societal maneuvering is top-notch. Scholes keeps everything well-organized and understandable for the reader, and there may even be a surprise or two in there as well.

Overall, Canticle is another great book in this series. I can't wait for the next one to come out in my price range.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book © Dave Roy, 2011

This is better than your typical fantasy novel. It's not cliche and it's not predictable. It's not full of stock characters and archetypes. What it is is intriguing. More people should write books like these. You turn the pages not because you want to know what happens, but because you want to understand.

Nine months have passed since the destruction of Windwir. The kingdom of the Ninefold Forest Houses has taken up the mantle of 'the light', the collected wisdom of ancient times, and built a new library to preserve the remnants of what was lost when Windwir fell. However, war and civil war wracks the Named Lands and House Li Tam has sailed into the southern ocean, following a hint that previous events are being orchestrated by a hidden power for their own, inscrutable ends.

Canticle is the second novel in The Psalms of Isaak series and the sequel to Lamentation, a reasonable debut novel which overcame its lack of depth and polish with fast, readable prose and good pacing. Canticle is a better book, making character motivations considerably more complex and murkier, expanding the world and scope of the story and adding some new factions previously only hinted at in the first volume.

It pains me to say it, but Canticle is also 'darker' than Lamentation, with one of the characters being captured by the shadowy enemy and undergoing particularly grim and unpleasent torture for what feels like half the book. The process adds to the character's development and is somewhat uncomfortable to read, contrasting the first volume's 'safe' feeling that occasionally tipped it too close to the 'bland' end of the spectrum for comfort, although Scholes always steered the story away from that fate.

Some of the issues with the first book remain, such as Jen and Rudolfo being less interesting than most of the remainder of the cast and some story developments feeling mechanical rather than organic. There's also a slight issue with repetitive story structure, with the plot once again hinging on everything our characters knowing turning out to be the result of a masterful secret agenda set in motion decades ago for shadowy purposes. The closing section of the book is also somewhat annoying for suffering from Lost syndrome, with characters resolutely refusing to ask people in the know just what the hell is going on, or if they do remember to do this getting needlessly enigmatic replies.

Still, Canticle is a more interesting read than its predecessor. Winters, a supporting character in the first book, becomes a key protagonist here and her journey very well-depicted despite over-familiarity (young female ruler having to overcome inexperience to become a plausible leader). There's also a host of new revelations which continue to show that the series is a post-apocalyptic science fantasy more in line with The Dying Earth and Nights of Villjamur than yet another MOR epic fantasy, which Scholes handles well.

Canticle (****) is an entertaining, effective fantasy novel which builds on the successful elements of Lamentation and eliminates some of its key weaknesses. It is available now in the USA and in the UK on import.