Customer Reviews

Lamentation (Psalms of Isaak, Book 1)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Imagine a world not too many generations removed from a great and terrible apocalypse. In this world, knowledge, reason, and understanding - the "light" that guides the known world - are cherished and maintained by the Androfrancine religious order in the city of Windwir, home to the great library. Now imagine that great city and all its inhabitants reduced to ash and corpses in a matter of seconds by an act of techno-magical terrorism. What does that do to the fragile balance of power in a world still emerging from a long period of darkness and despair? This catastrophic event opens Lamentation, the astonishingly impressive first novel in The Psalms of Isaak series by Ken Scholes.

I have to admit that my expectations weren't high going into this novel. George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series has pretty much ruined me for every other fantasy author, so all I really look for in a fantasy novel any more is to be entertained for a few hours. I got more than I bargained for with Lamentation. Newcomer Scholes merges the character development and political maneuvering of Martin with the emotion and beauty of Guy Gavriel Kay, the result of which is a breathtaking mixture of A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) and The Lions of al-Rassan (and that's about the highest praise I can possibly give). Scholes's meticulously planned world (it's easy to imagine that volumes have already been written about its history), fascinating characters and fast paced, ever twisting plot engaged my heart and my mind, and had me racing to the finish knowing full well that it wouldn't be long before I came back for a second reading.

The thing that really kills me about Lamentation is that it is Scholes's first novel. His first! If the guy is this good straight out of the gate, the rest of The Psalms of Isaak series has enormous potential.

I can't recommend Lamentation highly enough. If future volumes are as impressive as this novel, we're looking at the next great fantasy series. If nothing else, it will give George R.R. Martin fans another intelligent and moving fantasy series to read while waiting for the next installment of A Song of Ice and Fire.

So is this science fiction or pure fantasy? Thousands of years (really?) after a technology crash, a religious order guards all pre-apocalyptic information and doles out arbitrary bits of it to curiously passive client states. So we have steam-powered(?) robots, but no telecommunications; stealth "magick" and contraception but (officially) no guns, steel shipping but no road or rail vehicles. Oh, and tactical nukes. This all feels arbitrary and implausible, especially after seeing the "information custodian" theme explored so well in Anathem.

With all that said, I found myself reading "Lamentation" compulsively, grabbing a few pages at every opportunity. I'm not sure why. It certainly wasn't the narrative arc; while there are many well-drawn episodes, they're usually linked up by "just-so stories" and the occasional "deus ex machina". I think the reason was the interesting mix of characters, and the growth and challenges that each of them faced.

I'd definitely recommend this to those who enjoy the fantasy genre. Sci-fi enthusiasts too, although they may get annoyed by the back-story. This is supposed to be the first in a series of five books, and the requisite number of loose ends and narrative options are provided for that purpose. Most of the time I find that I revise my three-star ratings after a while to two or four; if "Lamentation" improves with time, I may try the rest of the series.

"Lamentation" is unusual and entertaining enough to deserve the thinking reader's attention. Congratulations and thanks to Ken Scholes for his remarkable contribution to the fantasy/SciFi collective.

Fantasy 'world creation' comes in a number of flavors and repetitions. Ken Scholes has brought a new bag'o tricks to bear in Lamentation.

At page 1, the reader is dropped into the middle of an H-bomb like conflagration of Lamentation world's spiritual hub and largest, most important city. You begin to understand that this is curious in this 14th century-esque world. There's little to suggest the cause or motivation of the city-cide. "Now what do we do?" is the quandary of the Lamentation world and "What is going on?" is the parallel quandry for the reader. The Lamentation characters unravel a story that spans ancient myth, crafty manipulations and political machinations. Scholes' finely crafted characters are seen to work through rationalizing the past and considering their futures to find the answers required of the moment.

Every author's task is to squeeze plot, character, setting, theme and style, into an enjoyably coherent narrative. Lamentation is a character based story amidst an intense, multi-leveled plot. Scholes weaves the story among the perspectives of about 10 characters. Each is progressively developed as they unfold their perspectives and place in the calamity. This technique creates a "slow start-up" feel because the reader is plunged into so much unknown. A maze of confusion is presented the reader in interesting parallel with the characters confronting their own confusion. The story and the reader are brought into focus as the characters are brought to life. Great character development makes a great story. We get refreshingly believable and memorable characters.

Scholes shows how to end an `epic' volume. This reader very much appreciates Scholes expert and succinct closing. The neatly packaged ending is among the best I've seen for epic-volume closure.

The book draws-in the reader ... who finally gives-in to an all night sprint read to the end. Lamentations sets up a unique fantasy/SciFi opera. The foundation for a "Great Saga" has been poured with Lamentation.

Lamentation is a well written albeit a bit different Fantasy novel. Ken Scholes takes you to the familiar theme of post apocalyptic earth, with the twist that out of nowhere, the next apocalypse is at hand. The story is a very unique view of a mixture of "magick" as they call it in the book, and the remnants of the science of the old civilization. There is romance, sword play, magic, politics, and robots in an equestrian travel society. It is a faun read, with many point of view changes that are thankfully named before each change happens.

If you are in the mood for a Fantasy story, and are tired of the "same ol' same ol'", give Lamentation a read; I think you'll be glad you did!

"Lamentation" begins "The Psalms of Isaak" saga by mixing science (mecho-servitor and other rare modern technology) into what appears a futuristic post-apocalyptic fantasy Earth. The characterization clearly switches between four primary individuals and environmental descriptions are decent where I could somewhat imagine the world. The plot contains a lot of intrigue and political maneuvering as opposed to action sequences.

All of the main characters have their appeal. Petronus, a fisherman carrying an emotional burden from his strong Androfrancine background, struggles to remain unassuming while helping those around him. Petronus interacts with Neb, a young assistant of the Androfrancine order, the sole human witness to the devastation of Windwir. Meanwhile Rudolfo, young King and General of the Gypsy Army, searches for the reason behind the destruction and encounters Jin Li Tam, a master manipulator and spy, in the presence of the deranged Lord Sethbert. Tying them all together is Isaak, an engaging and sympathetic mecho-servitor survivor from the Great Library in Windwir. The overall method, top manipulator, and the reasons behind Windwir's ruin are only conjecture, so hopefully distinct answers will be in a future novel.

The magic system is not clearly defined. People perform earth magick through the same mystical powders, whether to hear better or move silently and invisibly. The story didn't have fireballs or magic shields or enchantments. But apparently mecho-servitors can perform serious magic by speaking certain words of power.

The editing leaves a lot to be desired. Dozens of title and word descriptions are hard to determine without an immediate or any definition. The word "that" is used too often throughout the novel, in many places removing it would have been sufficient. The brief shocker was the Marsh King, a good surprise in an otherwise fairly predictable story. Hopefully the second novel will improve the series.

A detailed map of the significant terrains and comprehensive appendix would have been useful.

Thank you.

(A very minor spoiler below...you probably won't realize what it is unless you read the book anyway. But just tossing out a heads-up.)

Ken Scholes is a gem of a writer, much the same way Glen Cook is. A hidden treasure. Ever since I read a Realms of Fantasy story by him (one the book is based on, come to think of it), I've always wanted more. Here's the more.

Lamentation is a story about political intrigue, love, death, and human nature. These are woven together in an exotic and complex fabric that leaves you always wanting more. There are several characters whose tales are focused on. The first that comes to mind is the Gypsy King Rudolfo, a dashing figure, extravagant and used to luxury, but also with an edge and hardened in combat. He has the gifted mind of a strategist and spy. Lady Li Tam is next - someone who is never quite what she sees, a woman and a daughter woven up in the elaborate plots of her father's house whose influence seems endless. Nebios - orphan and innocent boy who witnesses an unspeakable tragedy and becomes tormented by it, all of it made worse to him personally by what would have been an otherwise harmless mistake. Then there is Petronus, the old fisherman, and in an interesting fisherman-like metaphor is also far more than he seems. Most curious of all, one of the Androfrancine mechanical men, dubbed Isaak by Rudolfo (I won't spoil why he chooses that name) has somewhat of a unique personality. He carries a heavy weight on his artificial shoulders.

What I liked best about Lamentation is that...well. There are two kinds of epic fantasy. One is where the story is important, or the message behind the story. This is the focus, and so the characters are merely made to dress in the costumes that allow this. These are stories about the land, generally, and while interesting, they aren't my favorite. Lamentation is about the people. They are unflinchingly complex, brutal, honest, sad, horrible, and kind - much like real people are.

All these vastly different people are thrown together by one thing - the destruction of the major city Windwyr, which is one of the hearts of Androfrancine influence (they're like Catholics with mechanized men, so they are cooler). This draws everyone out of the woodwork - from all of the Kingdoms of the Name Lands and even the mysterious (and greatly feared) Marsh King and his eerily spiritual people. Mystery after mystery unfolds like a rose opening, surrounding the strange circumstances of the weapon that destroyed the city.

The book is written very well, and the language was technically good. It was divided by chapter into segments for each character, writtenhttp://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reviews/preview-active._V18593237_.gif from their third person perspective, which made it interesting to get multiple views of a single situation. This drives some folks crazy though, so your mileage may very. It often makes for moments of, "that's not really what she thinks! Augh!" and so forth.

There are some downsides to this. A few minor characters get their day, as it were, and they aren't as well developed...or at least, don't feel as flushed out. Orvis for instance, and his (seemingly) hasty connections to everything. While it makes sense to be sure, it seemed..dunno. Cut short a bit, I guess. The touching moments make up for this, like when you learn of the story behind Isaak's name. One of the drawbacks to the character flipping style, is that sometimes when character perspectives switch this often, there's a tendency (at least for me) to "skip" ahead and jump to their next narration if you're into their story. Doing this here would hurt you somewhat, because the stories continue when they aren't at center stage - so you can miss a lot doing this.

I haven't read an epic fantasy this good in a long time. I really can't make a good comparison to another writer, because it's a fairly unique spin on the plot at hand. I will be eagerly waiting for the next one.

Lamentation by Ken Scholes- This is the first book of The Psalms of Isaak series which will consist of five books. The second book is titled Canticle.

The city of Windwir was the heart of the world, but now lies in a field of ash and desolation. The destruction of the city is seen from miles around. People come to investigate the disaster. Among them is a man named Rudolfo, the Lord of the Gypsy Scouts and of the Ninefold Forest Houses, who seeing the smoke and comes rushing to the ruined city of knowledge. Elsewhere, an old fisherman by the name of Petronus, sees the smoke and goes to the city in which he once called home. The army of the city-states of the Entrolusion Delta were on their way to the city when their leader, Sethbert, calls his army to a halt when he sees the smoke and smiles at the destruction. Sethbert's constort, the lovely Jin Li Tam, sees the desolation and is horrified by it and Sethbert's reaction to it. Finally, a young boy and his father make their way out of the city, when the boy, Neb, forgets an important letter and his father goes back to get it, when the city explodes. Neb's world is turned inside out from losing everything he once knew. Who would cause this tragedy? What happens with the knowledge that is lost from the destruction of Windwir?

Negatives:
1) Overwhelming Name Dropping. This is the biggest, most frustrating problem of the book. The reader is pretty much blindsided from all the unknown names, unfamiliar terms, and the references that are made. It really does bog the book and story down a lot, causing the reader to be taken out of the story. To make matter worse, most of these terms are never explained until much, much later in the book. Even then they are hard to follow and the explanations were broad. It doesn't help that everything seemed to be repeated every other line, over and over again. Why not include a simple word or two describing who so-and-so is? It was painful, as a new reader to this world, to not know anything about everything that is being mentioned. It wouldn't have been bad if there were explanations. As a mentioned before, it really takes the reader out of the story.
2) Awkward Sentences. A lot of the wording felt awkward in the beginning. Words didn't seem to fit right and some of the action and dialogue seemed forced. There were times when a character was doing one thing and they really never finished what was happening, or at least that's what it felt like. Really, it felt like whole sentences and paragraphs were forced down the readers throat. It made it even harder to follow the action.
3) Pointless Descriptions. For some reason, food seemed like it was really important to the story. You have all these descriptions of wine and food that it seemed like the author was hungry when writing certain scenes. Not to mention, they were random. For example, you have one scene where something important was being discussed, and a paragraph was inserted explaining the food that was before them. It just felt pointless. Yes, we know characters have to eat, and a little information may be needed at times, but was there really a need to go into excruciating detail about the "chilled peach wine that was tart and sweet"?

Positives:
1) Characters. The characters were really well written throughout the story. The chapters are set up in a way that you have sections when a certain character is in the lead role and it really adds depth and an interesting look into each characters thoughts. Rudolfo was your ordinary "knight in shining armor" so to speak. However, he was ruthless and cunning. Jin Li Tam your average beauty, but with cunning and a perfect match to what Rudolfo is. Petronus, Isaak, and Neb were the better characters of the story. They each were deep, thoughtful and complete characters. You got a sense of hope and hopelessness that this characters felt throughout the story. Petronus in becoming something he doesn't want to be but is forced to, Neb in his feelings of hurt and revenge along with finding something akin to love, and Isaak with the knowledge of what he has done but that it wasn't his fault. Overall, these characters really made you feel sorry and happy during certain times in the story.
2) Story. When not being taken out of the story, it was really good. It's not your average fantasy story. There isn't many action sequences or huge battles, instead it's more of a personal and political story. The concept is fairly original. You see how this destruction impacts the characters lives and the world around in a way that is fresh and new. Basically, the story is character driven and it works well. The whole mystery behind the disaster is really it's center point as this characters slowly figure out who is manipulating who.
3) "Twist". There is a villain twist that I felt was really well done. Throughout the story you know who destroyed Windwir, Sethbert. No big spoiler here as he pretty much boasts about it from the beginning of the story. However, it's slowly reveled the someone else was pulling everyone's, and I mean everyone's strings. You can kind of guess how it is, but nonetheless, it's still somewhat of a shock. Even when this person is reveled, you find out that their reason for doing this is for "the greater good", so to speak. But then, later on, after you think you know what is happening, another bombshell drops.

Side Notes:
1) Things Left Unsaid. There really were a lot of things that were left unspoken and up to the reader to know what they were. I didn't know. I didn't understand what the purpose for leaving out some things that you would think you'd normally would be told, are left up up in the air. It was just weird, but it didn't really have that big of an impact.
2) About the First 150 Pages. They were a chore to read through. Mostly because of all the name dropping and the awkward sentences. You really have to get past those pages to really start to like the story.
3) Cover Art. It's bland, generic. It's like something you'd see in a museum, look at it for a second and move on. It doesn't catch your eye, the colors are dull and blend into one another. It's boring, because it's just so generic.

Overall: 3/5
Final Thoughts:
This was a really hard book for me to read. I didn't have any background of the events and people named in the book so at first I really hated it. In fact, when I was in a bookstore and saw this book, all I felt were rage and utter disappointment in it. However, after the halfway point, the story really picked up a little and it did become more and more interesting. It was even hard to put down at times. If you can get past the first half of the book, then it's a wonderful story. If you can't, it really isn't for you.

In the post-apocalyptic future an ancient weapon is unleashed and results in the cataclysmic destruction of Windwir, the most advanced city of the Named Lands. But as the new world appears destined for civil war and another dark age Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, arises to try to preserve the new world order.

Not the first time a sci-fi fantasy author has written about the post-apocalyptic world. This time author Ken Scholes does a masterful job in creating an engrossing plot with a strong cast of uniquely compelling characters. He creates a wonderfully original world where science and magic are blended as one.

The storyline moved at a very brisk pace as the intricate alliances, hidden conspiracies and character drama kept the pages turning. A very enjoyable read that I would recommend for those who enjoy this genre.

This story to me is like the Whymer Mazes used as a meditation device by the Androfrancines. The maze circle that seems to never end and always turns back on to itself. I loved this story, there's always a mystery to figure out. Who and why did they destroy the city of Windwir, the home to the Androfrancines who protected the rest of the people in the world from the technology and dark pieces that could be used to destroy the world and only trickling out the small pieces of information they feel the people of the world can handle.

There is talk of an ancient Wizard whom created the Seven Cacophonic Deaths, which no one is to know what the words are inorder to protect everyone and anyone from causing distruction.

However, the book starts right off with the distruction of Windwir and only one metal man from the city, being fully functional, seems to have somewhere in his memory some idea yet no idea as to what happened on that tragic day. Isaak is the name given to this metal man.

There are many creative secrets in this book, such as the letters with secret messages intertwined within, the tapping out of messages while talking to another person on their skin, and the wonderous magic of running so fast and not being seen either running or standing still. Then you have Isaak the metal man, who is powered by a constant steam source.

I loved the writing style of a view from each characters point of view. When I first say this was the writing style I was nervous that information would be lost in the translation. After I read through this book so far, I did start taking notes so I didn't forget all the wonderous details to help with the mystery, but found that I really liked the way the author wrote this with the point of views. I actually got more details from seeing and knowing what each character did.

Did the right man pay the price for the distruction of the city? Could he have weaved the web that you see in this book? The further you go in the book the more intricate the web becomes. The more I thought on the book after reading and trying to piece together information from through out the whole book I have a very my idea of what is going on. I am curious to read what really happens. I had a wonderful time piecing the pieces together and making the story go the way I think it may.

Lamentation was very entertaining and it inspired images in my mind of the places and characters one meets in this action and intrigue fantasy novel. Although the beginning bothered me, because of the magiks some characters used and the plot I deemed silly, the story picked up and changed my mind on plot and the magiks. I' am used to asian novels where the fighters use magic, or power, that they have learned or were inherently endowed with where as American novels the character's powers come from powders, potions or elixirs. Lamentation uses these powders but in a way that was entertaining and to me unique. I recommend this novel to anyone who likes fantasy novels or anyone who likes a good story. Lamentatin has intrigue, betrayal, love, war, deception, genocide, political in-fighting, and other plot points that make reading this book entertaining. I have used the word entertaining a lot in this review because that is what Lamentation is, Entertaining.