Path: ...!news.mixmin.net!news2.arglkargh.de!news.karotte.org!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan ) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: RI March 2025 Date: 2 May 2025 03:58:57 GMT Organization: loft Lines: 202 Message-ID: X-Trace: individual.net p9GpmnBMnJ6Y5L2sd6yx2wjO1FVwt4UY7TSdlE9FZWsbSYnYR+ X-Orig-Path: not-for-mail Cancel-Lock: sha1:qatHgG49CMFoEZgxOgEeOmlsR3E= sha256:hZXThPBvh46eRSIuXq47Iy/BQLg+tyziJfNTYRb+J2M= X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) Bytes: 9633 As usual, the links are Amazon affiliate ones which could in theory earn me money. == Hell to Pay: Urban Fantasy Action with Witches and Demons (Tear Down Heaven Book 3) by Rachel Aaron https://amzn.to/3EJfLJ2 In the last installment Sumerian demon queen Bex and Witch of the Blackwood Adrian dealt a major blow to Gilgamesh's mastery of Heaven by taking down one of his anchor chains binding the great wheel which both showed he wasn't invincible and got them a really cool fortress/headquarters. Now though, things are rather on tenterhooks as there has been no reaction from Gilgamesh. They know it must be coming, and they know it will be bad, but so far things are hanging fire -- and leaving the pair facing worsening resource drains to keep their troops together and supplied. On a more personal level it seems every time Bex & Adrian might have an actual date, some new mini crisis comes up and keeps them apart. For Bex it is developments within the War Demon ranks that may let her finally bring them fully onside, for Adrian it is the the news that his father is alive (and possibly a gamechanger himself). In the event, Gilgamesh is hardly idle, and neither development is quite what it seems and the final battle is unexpectedly on them... This was another enjoyable outing. Bex & Adrian continue to be very likable characters and the cosmology of the series is interesting. I believe we were intended to guess something that Adrian missed, but it was pretty well done and furthered his development. Bex as well comes to some realizations about her origins and loyalties. We were kind of promised a trilogy here, but since the story is clearly ongoing after the climax, I can forgive Aaron fudging it a little by giving another title to the next arc. The Calamitous Bob by Alex Gilbert Book 1 of 9: The Calamitous Bob https://amzn.to/435noTp In Kazar: The Calamitous Bob book two by Alex Gilbert Book 2 of 9: The Calamitous Bob https://amzn.to/4dcftYd The Death Path: The Calamitous Bob Book 3 by Alex Gilbert Book 3 of 9: The Calamitous Bob https://amzn.to/4cW8GBN Somewhere across the dimensions is a world called Nyil, beset by monsters but also blessed (or cursed) with gods who have won access to that magic for Nyil's sentients and provided (through the [apparent] sacrifice of one of their own) an Interface to that magic. The local top-god Emeric is a bit of a Zeus-like figure who can't quite keep it in his pants and he is (dangerously) on the outs with his wife after another drunken spree of infidelity: "Not only do you cheat on me," the deadly belle intoned, crossing her arms under her modest bosom. "But you do it morphed into a golden manatee? A manatee? Have you gone mad?" The hem of her white dress slowly turned red with fresh blood, an ill omen, if any. However, the King of Gods, who looked no worse for the wear after his recent defenestration on account of being God of Luck as a side gig, ignored it. His overtaxed brain still tried to operate through the cataclysmic hangover harrying him. The words "golden manatee" somehow cut to the haze of immortal-grade alcohol. Disaster struck. The King of Gods, Emeric, smiled beatifically at the memory of his ravishing, plump-nosed shape. "We were off our arses and thought it was funny," he replied. A preternatural silence spread over the entire city. Entire legions of warriors and scholars stopped to a standstill. The dark clouds of fate on the march covered the midday sun like a swarm of locusts. Somewhere in the depth of Emeric's mind, an ancient drive awoke, one that dated back to an era when he was not quite as durable as he was now -- his survival instinct. "Oh SH--" [Divine Killing Blow] [Divine Uncanny Dodge] Both skills fired at the exact same time. A ravine formed in the hallowed ground where Emeric used to stand on a stone said to be indestructible. Clearly the King of the gods needs to lie low for a while. A disguise would not be out of place either. He'd always heard that sex was better for women, maybe he'd try being one for a lifetime or so. And there is that mudball across the realms where they have no magic and nobody would expect a god to go... Viviane Saint-Lys is a combat medic in the French Special Forces. She's rebelling from her manipulative SOB of a father who loves her & whom she loves but can't live with. The Army seemed far enough away, though that has yet to be proved. She's quite pretty, intelligent, in top athletic shape, brave & has a high sex drive that doesn't particularly discriminate on plumbing. A nice package to be sure, but not one that she would expect to get her number rolled from across the cosmos. Unfortunately Emeric is also the God of Luck and good luck for someone usually means bad luck for somebody else. Viviane finds her soul suddenly torn from her body and only an unexpected and sudden pang of conscience from her dispossessor leaves her traumatized psyche robed in a newly created body on Nyil instead of destroyed in the void. Unfortunately, due again to that divine spark of luck and the haphazardness of Emeric's last minute rescue, Viv lands in possibly the absolute worst spot on Nyil to be: The destroyed palace of the Harrakan Empire, a polity that went out in a legendary stroke of infamy when a magical experiment gone wrong destroyed half of the capital city and polluted the whole land with black mana and undead monsters. If Viv is to survive at all, she must leave the deadlands before mana poisoning kills her, though it is more likely that one of the undead monsters (of which zombies which are the least and hardly worth mentioning) will get her first. On her side, she has only two assets: One, She can now access the Interface which provides her with some very basic information including the fact that she can now manipulate mana and Two, if there is nobody living in Harrak, that's not to say nobody is there. In fact an experimental and intermittently genocidal War Golem has kept running after the fall of his masters and his magical AI is willing to chop logic enough to consider that if Viv were "born" in the Palace, where only Imperial children are allowed, she must then be heir to the Empire... Together the two start a trek across the badlands and into history. This series started as an online serial and Gilbert warns up front that the pacing can be a bit leisurely compared with a series of a known number of books. I can see that, but I personally did not find that it drags (so far). I can sense that nature in a couple of other places as well were I am pretty sure Gilbert planned and foreshadowed developments that he decided in the end weren't what he wanted to do and went in another direction. To some extent this works in his favor as it lets him pull off surprises. At any rate, the meta-plot of Viv's ascension towards godhood (never said, but I would be very surprised if that's not where we're going) is never derailed by the unexpected twists & turns. Gilbert is a French expat living somewhere in Asia. In general you would not know that English is not his native language though there are a few foibles. In particular he uses the word "traits" in a confusing manner. I finally worked out that it is facial features and/or sometimes ethnic facial features. He also once found a false friend, implying that "corpulent" meant corpse-like. Aside from that, his prose is very readable. As you may have guessed from my mention of mana and the Interface, the world here is litRPG, but not annoyingly so. I simply skip over all the numbers and don't feel I miss anything. What you may not have guessed from my introduction is that the series is more serious than the farcial opening sequence implies. In fact that scene with Emeric is not exactly what it seems, and he is to some extent running a deep op whose scope we have yet to know (though he was still a high-handed prat to Viv). Also, though Viv was chosen for her sex drive, among other reasons, the series is definitely not erotica. Viv enjoys herself, generally offstage, in serious relationships. That's definitely not to say there is no humor or sex, but it's leavening not the meal. If you are wondering about the name of the series, the first people Viv meets have no 'V' sound in their language. "Hi, I'm Viviane, please don't kill me" ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========