Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak) [Hardcover]

Ken Scholes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In his first novel, a vividly imagined sf-fantasy hybrid set in a distant, post-apocalyptic future, Scholes, already highly praised in the speculative-fiction community for his dazzlingly inventive short fiction, turns his talent up a notch. When an ancient weapon destroys Windwir, the Named Lands’ greatest city and repository of knowledge, the only surviving member of the city’s Androfrancine order is the metallic android Isaak. Rudolfo, lord of the Ninefold Forest Houses, finds Isaak surprisingly intact in the Windwir’s smoldering ruins and guilt-ridden over his role in the city’s downfall. Yet Rudolfo quickly begins to suspect that Sethbert, overseer of the neighboring Entrolusian City States, is the real culprit and starts girding his Gypsy Scouts for battle. So begins Scholes’ Psalms of Isaak, a projected five-volume saga containing all the ingredients of a first-rate epic—magic, arcane science, and a handful of compelling protagonists. By the end of the novel, the reader is caring deeply about the characters and looking forward with burning anticipation to the sequels. --Carl Hays

Review

Praise for Lamentation

“This is the golden age of fantasy, with a dozen masters doing their best work.  Then along comes Ken Scholes, with his amazing clarity, power, and invention, and shows us all how it's done.  No more ponderous plotting - Scholes barely gives us time to breathe.  Yet he creates vivid characters, a world thick with detail, and wonders we've never seen before.  I wish my first novel had been this good.  I wish all five volumes of this series were already published so I could read them now.”-- Orson Scott Card

“Ken Scholes is a hot new voice to watch for on the interesting frontier between science fiction and fantasy.  He has a keen eye for action and a keen ear for the sounds of the human heart.  Grab on now, because he's going places.”--Harry Turtledove

"As intricate as a Whymer maze, Ken Scholes' Lamentation will keep the reader up until the wee hours, winding through this splendid labyrinth.  Bravo!"--Dennis L. McKiernan, bestselling author of the Mithgar series

"Ken Scholes's Lamentation is an iconic SF story cloaked in fantasy, drawing raw material from classics such as A Canticle for Liebowitz and Earth Abides, but forging something new, with colorful characters, compelling scenes, and unfolding miracles."--Kevin J. Anderson, bestselling co-author of Sandworms of Dune

"Ken Scholes' Lamentation is a whale of a first novel, set in a world where technological magic has come and gone, and come again, where organized religion has attempted to recover and restore lost knowledge, if with a certain amount of censorship, where no one is quite what they seem, and where parental ambitions for offspring are filled with deep love and sacrifices, along with double double-crosses, conflicting motives, and tragedy."--L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

“The tone of [Lamentation] is precise and just about exactly right: I was engaged from the opening page, stayed up late looking to finish it, and then begged Scholes to let me see the next book as soon as possible…. I’d describe it as intelligent epic fantasy done right and written with all of the flab removed. It’s nothing like George Martin’s first Song of Ice and Fire novel, except that like that book, it has the chance of standing as an important book in the evolution of the epic fantasy form, is a delight, and is a book that readers are very likely to take to heart. It’s one of the best first fantasies I’ve read in some time.”--Jonathan Strahan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1 edition (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765321270
• ISBN-13: 978-0765321275
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #258,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The next great fantasy series begins here, January 5, 2009

By	Justin Gaines "Corporate Rocker" (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

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.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A breath of fresh air to the Fantasy/ScFi genre!, January 1, 2009

By	robert johnston (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

"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.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Compelling characters and a fragmentary yarn against an implausible backdrop, January 15, 2009

By	G. M. Arnold "Geoff, that is" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

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.