Elizabeth Bear: Range of Ghosts

Range of Ghosts is the first book in Elizabeth Bear's epic fantasy trilogy The Eternal Sky. Drawing on a wide range of Asian cultures as the starting point for her intensive world building, Bear has created a rich tapestry in which to embed the story of two heroes - Re Temur and Sardukar-la - both displaced royals, from very different cultures, who join together to fight a hidden power that seeks to destroy all that they know.

The blurb on Bear's website says of this novel:

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive the machinations of his ruthless uncle.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards.

These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

Much of this novel is essentially an introduction to this wonderfully detailed and diverse world and the characters that will play a role in the events to come. Bear takes her time in setting up her narrative, and I'm very glad she does this, because this world is well worth getting to know. But there is nothing wasted here - every element is necessary to enable the reader to fully engage with the vastness of the setting - which, were it set on our Earth, would span the entire Asian continent, from the Middle East to Japan - and the depth of the characters - each of whom arrives with a full and complex backstory, unique individuals from the moment we meet them.

In Range of Ghosts, Bear demonstrates her mastery of yet another subgenre of speculative fiction, and further cements her position as one of the best writers operating in that field today. Yeah, I'm a fangirl. Deal.

Kathy Reichs: Bones on Ice

Bones on Ice is set in the world of extreme mountain climbing, with its main crime scene being the death zone on Mount Everest - or Sagarmatha, as it is officially known in Nepal. Kathy Reichs had almost finished work on the novella when two devastating earthquakes hit Nepal, on April 25 and May 12, 2015. She writes in her Afterword of her decision to finish and publish the novella:

I stopped writing, uncertain. I didn’t want to exploit such a tragedy. At the same time, I more than ever wanted to share the stories of Everest. I’d been touched by the heartbreaking losses and the triumphant victories. I decided to complete this work to honor those lost, and to direct attention to organizations providing disaster relief, and to groups dedicated to improving long-term conditions for the indigenous communities of Everest.

I'm glad she finished it, because it's one of her better works in recent years. She does well at conveying the ways in which the community of high-altitude mountaineers are different from us low-risktaking folks, and the experience of trying to complete an intensely athletic undertaking in severe cold while starved for oxygen. Her characteristic info-dumps were well-woven into the fabric of the narrative.

And the plot unfolded nicely, such that I didn't figure out the key plot turns until just before she unveiled them. She's even noticed how silly it is that Tempe always puts herself in danger - and while she does it again, this time there's a voice in her head telling her she's going to far, and she consciously ignores it.

Another enjoyable forensic mystery from Reichs.