Lamentation

Psalms of Isaak #1

by Ken Scholes

An ancient weapon has completely destroyed the city of Windwir. From many miles away, Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, sees the horrifying column of smoke rising. He knows that war is coming to the Named Lands.

Nearer to the Devastation, a young apprentice is the only survivor of the city – he sat waiting for his father outside the walls, and was transformed as he watched everyone he knew die in an instant.

Soon all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will be at each others' throats, as alliances are challenged and hidden plots are uncovered.

This remarkable first novel from an award-winning short fiction writer will take readers away to a new world – an Earth so far in the distant future that our time is not even a memory; a world where magick is commonplace and great areas of the planet are impassable wastes. But human nature hasn’t changed through the ages: War and faith and love still move princes and nations.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Steampunk

368 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2009

About the author

Ken Scholes is the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of five novels and over fifty short stories. His work has appeared in print for over sixteen years. His series, The Psalms of Isaak, is published by Tor Books and his short fiction has been released in three volumes by Fairwood Press.

Ken's eclectic background includes time spent as a label gun repairman, a sailor who never sailed, a soldier who commanded a desk, a preacher (he got better), a nonprofit executive, a musician and a government procurement analyst. He has a degree in History from Western Washington University.

Ken is a native of the Pacific Northwest and makes his home in Saint Helens, Oregon, where he lives with his twin daughters. You can learn more about Ken by visiting www.kenscholes.com.

Reviews

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm surprised at some of the negative commentary listed below, as far as this book is concerned. Despite being hardly fair, a lot of it is downright inaccurate.

I really enjoyed this novel. I think that the last time I got so excited about a series was when I read A Game of Thrones. Something that other reviewers likely didn't appreciate was the fact that this is a story that tells itself, while the author just nudges it along. Yes, it is a very ambitious tale and yes, we only get to see little parts of it via the numerous characters' point of view. That's what makes this a living, breathing world. Also, bear in mind that this is a kick off to a series and some loose threads will remain untied. The prose in this book is something else and really bolsters the pacing. This novel never really gets bogged down, but just keeps moving.

As far as the story itself is concerned. On the surface, it's about the destruction of a city. Not just any city too, but the seat of religion, albeit it somewhat science based, and knowledge in the Named Lands. Of course, political and religious turmoil erupts as fingers are pointed and countries prepare for war. Beneath the surface, however, there's a lot more going on. A labyrinth of conspiracies, treason, double crosses and triple crosses where nothing is quite as it seems. In the final paragraphs of the novel, Mr Scholes is still busily changing our perceptions about the key players (and introducing potential new ones).

Like the Shannara series (The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks), Tales of the Dying Earth (The Eyes of the Overworld, Jack Vance)and the Death Gate Cycle (Dragon Wing, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman), this is a fantasy based on a future earth, as opposed to a past, or historic, earth. Yet it remains a fantasy. And what a fantasy world it is!

I thought Lamentation was a marvelous book. I am relieved to say that my trust in the opinion of Orson Scott Card was affirmed by reading this. It goes without saying that the estimations of a renowned writer should carry more weight than those of the average goodreads user, although everybody is entitled to their opinion. This includes me and Mr Scott Card.

There it is. If you're looking for something fresh and exciting in a new series. This is the place to start looking.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant discovery for me. I delayed reading this series until the third book was out, and it seems the initial buzz has quieted down and the Psalms of Isaak is flying under the radar compared to Sanderson or Brent Weeks or Peter W Brett, who I think share a similar style and whose series I would rate a little below Scholes.

I apreciated the narrative flow and the clarity of the exposition. Good pacing and likable characters compensate for a certain lack of originality. Being mostly fantasy with some SF elements I was able to ignore some logical inconsistencies (plot holes) and a magical system that seems constructed around the principle : magic will do whatever the hero needs it to do, like invisibility or voice projection or fertility. The introduction of mechoservitors (robots) could have led to an analysis of Asimov's third law of robotics, but it was a missed opportunity, with Isaak having too many human personality traits to make a convincing A.I. and benefiting from a "get out of jail free" magical immunity. Another minus goes for the implementation of the hand signal language - very unconvincing - I can understand giving battle orders this way, but transmitting subtle, complex messages in a discreet way? I didn't buy it.

So, I am left with a promising new writer (Scholes) and an entertaining debut that may not be in my all time top 10, but oferred a fun ride.

edit for spelling, and for mentioning there's a new installment scheduled for 2015!

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the good news is that this novel actually got a bit better than I thought at first, but it's still not the earth-shattering genre-defining debut that the nice publicity folks at Tor make it out to be.

In terms of world-building, it reminded me a bit of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Fantasy-world that once had advanced technology but now has reverted to standard medievaloid status, aside from some remnants of those high-tech times still being around and/or being re-discovered. (I always thought that was the most interesting thing about WoT, and that flashback scene in one of the books where you go back to the high times of the Aes Sedai was fantastic, but I still gave up in book 8.) In "Lamentation", a religious order acts as the keeper of the knowledge of those times, and in the first 5 pages or so, that order's central city gets completely obliterated by a magic spell that was originally designed by the order's rival, about 2000 years ago. Oh, and the moon is terraformed, which gets mentioned in passing but really piqued my interest.

So far, so good.

The aspect of this novel I really didn't like is, frankly, the characterization. To make another comparison, I felt like Scholes was going for Guy Gavriel Kay. There's a hero, tragic and glamourous and strong and romantic, a soldier of soldiers, loved by all his men, blahdeeblah. When GGK does this, you feel like you know that man. You admire him. You want to meet him and shake his hand. You know? He can make you care about his characters.

With Scholes, it feels more like they're... templates. He does everything right, and the characters say and do all the right things, but there's just no connection. I just didn't feel it. Not just with Rudolpho (the heroic soldier-king), but also with Neb-the-orphan-scholar) or Jin Li Tam, the nobleman's daughter (and consort of the cardboard-cut-out villain) who of course falls in love with Rudolpho. They're all recognizable and definitely have some depth, but just not the level of depth I was hoping for. This may be a case of overly high expectations (that's what you get for hyping this thing to pieces), but the end result is that I felt let down. Not that this makes any sense whatsoever, but I kept wishing Scholes had handed his world and story over to Kay.

So. A good story, set in an interesting world, peopled with characters I didn't give a damn about. It has a lot of potential, and I may actually read the next book (I believe there are 5 installments projected --- at least it's not another trilogy), but I just didn't feel satisfied after reading it. Maybe I'm just becoming jaded (ha). Anyway, I give it three stars. Also, you know what? Given that this is only his first novel, I think this guy could turn out something really good in the future. There's definite talent there.

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

A deeply heartfelt "meh."

I started reading this Easter Day (2011) because I had finished The Mammoth Cheese - two thumbs up! waaaay up! - and wanted to mentally vegetate for a bit.

There's nothing particularly memorable about Ken Scholes' debut novel nor anything particularly awful about it. It's just another title among the myriad that crowd the SF/Fantasy shelves at any bookstore.

As with any book, there's almost certainly an audience out there to whom Lamentation speaks or for whom a character takes on a special life but it's not me. The writing and story are pretty pedestrian and uninspiring; and there're far too many instances where Scholes tells you how clever his characters are but you're left wondering "In what way?"

And for a world that is supposedly millennia in the future, why is the hero's name Italian, the heroine's vaguely East Asian, her father's Slavic, the bad guy's Anglo-Saxon, and another's Latin?

Stefan's review makes the point well: "With Scholes, it feels more like they're... templates." This is a paint-by-numbers work by a competent but not inspired or inspiring writer.

Sadly, because I enjoy finding authors whose next book I look forward to.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Интересна и многообещаваща книга първа.

Богатство от герои, планове, интриги и събития.

Една звезда по-малко, заради схематично нахвърления свят, надявам се авторът да се поправи в следващите книги.

За съжаление и тази поредица е прекъсната от Бард. Мисля, че работят крайно непрофесионално. Издават началото на добри поредици, които после зарязват уж поради липса на интерес от страна на читателите. А това, че такъв интерес трябва да се изгради и поддържа, явно не е тяхна работа. Съвсем дилетантски окепазяват издаването на качествени творби, с потенциал над средното ниво...

Продължавам с втората част.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those stories that told a story rather than shown it. I bought it upon the recommendation of Fantasy giant Orson Scott Card but now I am severely doubting his taste. The narrative took on a daring task to begin with an apocalypse that was seemingly far too big and ambitious for the author to handle. I wasn't convinced that a civilization was going to waste here. Just random props people screaming, and oh, ash and bones. Thus opened a book that had consistently been written lousily, weak, and achingly shallow.

Its characterization was very dry too. We seem to be looking at flat stereotypes that fail to endear us to any of the personalities. Without the zings of description, emotion, or passion that drives each person, we couldn't care less what happens to them. How the novel quickly shifts its focus from one character to another also revealed a rushed short-cut plot which led to missed opportunities for scenes that could have been developed more in depth. It also failed to build up a sense of danger, doom, and suspense as we always are informed of what is happening (again no thanks to the shifting perspectives, pretty magick dusts, and those amazing messenger birds no one even thought of ambushing). Sure there was a dash of intrigue or two but with these joyless characters it all amounts to nothing. Names like "Glimmerglam" and "Library Hill" just threw me completely off the loop. Admittedly, beyond the main characters' names that we keep seeing as chapter headings, I don't recall anything else.

The novel was such a let down that it failed to realize its own potential. Needless to say, I won't be purchasing any sequels.

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...


Every now and then, I encounter a book that haunts me, but I just don’t have the time to read. Lamentation is such a book. The very moment I encountered a review for it, I ran to the store and bought it. An epic series filled with political intrigue, religion, action, and manipulation—that must be good! Added to that is the premise of a great and powerful city destroyed by an ancient artifact long thought to be nothing but a myth. It felt like a modern version of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, but from an author who manages to publish a big volume every year.

However, I was reading other books at the time, thus the book merely sat on my bookshelf for over a year. Then came the day I finally picked it up for Ranting Dragon’s book club… And was intensely disappointed. Lamentation is a decent work of epic fantasy, written by an author who clearly has a way with words, but both the story and characters are lacking.

Destruction? Where?!
This is evident from the very start of the novel, when the city of Windwir—a technological and cultural capital of the world—is destroyed. This is an event of epic magnitude, of similar proportions to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. While that event propelled the world into the Cold War, Lamentation‘s event—as seen through the eyes of the five viewpoint characters Rudolfo, Neb, Jin Li, Sethbert, and Petronas—lacks in emotional impact. The characters hardly seem to care at all, continuing with their lives of manipulation and intrigue almost immediately.

The alternating viewpoints of the main characters—nearly every chapter contains each character’s point of view, varying in length from a single paragraph to several pages—made it easy for me to get absorbed into the story of Lamentation. However, the characters soon reveal themselves as shallow, flat, and stereotyped, with a consistent flawlessness to their respective personalities. The good guys are too good, and the bad guy is both too evil—he doesn’t seem to have any higher motivation for his acts—and too stupid to play a genuinely meaningful role in the story, increasing the lack of impact Lamentation had on me.

Prelude to the Psalms
Where Scholes truly lost my interest, however, was when he decided to insert prophesies and meaningful dreams into the narrative. These elements appear completely out of the blue, and their contribution to the story is one of convenience, clearly added by the author to create direction for his story.

These prophesies, along with the absence of a believable antagonist, reveal both the biggest strength and biggest flaw of Lamentation because, like so many authors of epic series’, Scholes has fallen into a familiar trap. Lamentation is the first book in The Psalms of Isaak, a series that was intended from the start to have five books. Because of this, there is little incentive for the opening novel to tell its own contained story. Instead, Lamentation reads more like a prelude to the rest of the series. Gradually, Scholes uses a smaller plot to establish a much bigger plot—a plot that never comes to fruition in this book. Instead of being the author of a great epic in Lamentation, Scholes becomes a chess player, moving all his pieces into their necessary positions for the rest of the series. He certainly does this with graceful skill, feeding his readers subtle—and not-so-subtle—foreshadowing and creating a world where every character, good or bad, is seemingly manipulated by a greater force at work. In this lies significant potential for future books in The Psalms of Isaak—of which the next two volumes, Canticle and Antiphon, have already been released. Unfortunately, this potential doesn’t do Lamentation any good. The stakes are too low, the story too meaningless.

No crusades in this one
After all my criticism, it must be said that there was one element I truly enjoyed in Lamentation: its world’s philosophy is truly a marvel. Fundamentally, this is a religious story, but this world’s religion differs from our world’s—and especially religion in our history in its peacefulness. Instead of wanting to bring the light to unbelievers, the religious folks of The Named Lands, Scholes’ world, want to guard it. This way of thinking seems almost alien to that of humans on earth, yet it made sense. At some deep level, this philosophy connected with me. That, if nothing else, proves that Ken Scholes is a genuinely talented writer!

Why should you read this book?
Lamentation is only for the most patient fans of epic fantasy. Ultimately, the question might not be whether or not Lamentation itself is worth picking up, but whether the continuation of The Psalms of Isaak warrants the investment of hours reading what seems a mere prelude to the series at large. This question, I cannot answer. I may well give Canticle a try, but if I do, it will probably take me another year, if not longer, to get to it.

[Matt Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many thousands of years into the future, on an Earth scarred and fractured by multiple apocalypses, stands Windwir, greatest city of the Named Lands. Home to a powerful order of scholar-priests, Windwir gathers knowledge of the old world destroyed two millennia ago according the precepts of their mythological founder. But when Windwir itself is destroyed in a matter of minutes, the light of knowledge threatens to gutter, and all of the Named Lands, a civilisation built from the ruins of near-extinction, are dragged into war.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with Lamentation at all. I can’t say it’s a bad book, and it certainly has it’s virtues. The plot rockets along at a really fast pace, and the world is somewhat intriguing. The magic(k) system is cool. The writing is very clear and easy to understand, something a lot of fantasy often struggles with. There’s plenty of action. But it all feels a little too simple. There isn’t any depth here, not with the characters, not with the setting, not with anything. Scholes typically delivers the information he wants the reader to know – this character is smart, that one is evil, this battle happened – and then moves on to the next thing. A perfect example of this is the Ninefold Forest Houses, a group of disparate towns united under one ruler. What are the names of these towns? The ninth manor. The seventh manor. And so on. That alone isn’t something that I’d get hung up on, but there’s a similar lack of ambition throughout the novel. Nothing really sticks, everything is broad strokes. It was never a chore to read, but it never once grabbed my attention, either.

Also this book committed a cardinal sin for me – CRYING ROBOTS. There’s a crying robot in this book. They call him/it a “mechoservitor” but it’s a robot. And it cries. A lot. There are few sci-fi concepts that annoy me more than emo goddamn robots. Give me killer robots. Give me smartass robots. Give me prissy English butler robots. Give me anything other than crying robots. I really, really, really hate crying robots. Especially when they cry as much as this one. You have a robot and out of all the cool awesome shit it could do, you have it act like a whiney teenager? Goddamit.

I’d be willing to check out the next book and see if there’s any improvement, because there is some promise here and because I’ve really enjoyed Scholes short fiction, but Lamentation itself was a bit of a disappointment.

[Liviu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting setup and clear writing talent as well as a good ending with the hook set for the next volume which I intend to read, though not as an asap. However there were 3 major things that just did not work for me.

1. The "main" - secret - plot, based on long term conspiracies, arranged chains of events and such. This kind of plot is always a minus for me since I just have a hard time believing that chance ain't going to screw up even the best long term plans

2. The writing style - it would have worked well for a sf adventure, and I guess Lamentation can be regarded as a post-apocalyptic such to a large extent - but it does not work for a fantasy. Consciously postmodern ironic writing style never does it for me in something billed as epic/adventure fantasy

3. The main character on which the novel turns - Rudolfo - is just boring
There are interesting characters, but when the main one is such a bore, it's hard to keep interest.

So overall Lamentation is so far the most disappointing high-profile fantasy novel for 2009. Ok and a fast read, but it could have been so much more.

[Melissa Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Lightreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Query: how can this book be “fresh” and “groundbreaking” when for decades people have been writing fantasy novels full of dueling penises and about 10% as many vaginas, all for sale?

If you’d asked me about this book anywhere in the first two thirds, I probably would have given it a grudging two stars for occasional world building interest. This is the start of an epic fantasy series about – well, I’m not honestly sure where it’s going, but this book is about the destruction of a library-city with an ancient weapon, and the political/military/cultural aftermath. I have been known to like this sort of thing. This version, not so much. The only actual female character in this book (who is, incidentally, a red-haired courtesan-assassin, sigh) spent the first half fucking whom who whom her father told her to, then switched partners on command, at which point her father told her to get pregnant post haste, and then she found her “freedom” by breaking with her father and constructing her entire identity around, um this is awkward, marrying the guy he had told her to and getting knocked up.

The last third of the book just rescued itself with the hint that not every vagina is for sale, and also some all-too-brief suggestions that this is actually a post-apocalyptic science-fantasy as much as a traditional epic. Visitors from the moon? Which was . . . terraformed? Science and magic blended? Tell me more.

. . . If I can be bothered enough to find the sequel. We’ll see.

Dear Tor marketing: Next time just say, “it’s a book,” and save us all the trouble, okay? Okay.

[Ethan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lamentation is full of the kind of cliched artifice that gives mainstream fantasy such a bad rep. Sure, there's tons of intrigue, but it's all entirely contrived; for instance, nobles speak in a complex system of hand signals when they want to make sure they're not overheard, and yet you never have a reason to suspect anyone's ever eavesdropping on these people (in fact, the one time I can recall someone's hand signals being "overheard," it was by a sympathetic character who basically signed back, "fyi, I know whut u're sayin bout me!!" I hate that glib, cutesey shit).

The characters are all entirely predictable, as are most of the major plot movements. The good guys are entirely infalliable and badass-ified (to the point where Scholes goes so far as to point out that the main character gave his wife THREE ORGASMS on their wedding night...thanks for pandering to the middle schooler in all of us, Ken, but it's really not necessary), and the bad guys are utterly ineffective and inept. Don't expect anyone to show any kind of resourcefulness or cleverness. Not that the good guys have to work very hard to outwit their enemies - not only do they win every skirmish they're involved in, they literally massacre opposing forces, and maybe incur the loss of one life in the process. I fail to see what's interesting about this kind of writing.

Scholes has an irritating habit of ending 35% of his chapters by repeating an ominous/deep/thoughtful quote someone uttered a few paragraphs ago. This is supposed to imply that his characters are reflecting on what they've learned, but really it's just lazy and banal authorship.

The POV narrative is sloppy; at least twice I got the impression that Scholes switches from the POV of the chapter's character to the character their speaking with. Since everyone's motives and thoughts are entirely obvious (except to the villains, who are oblivious to pretty much everything), it doesn't really matter. There's no stylistic difference in Scholes' writing from character to character.

The few surprises in the plot come out of the blue, from sources outside of the main story (kind of like in daytime television, where Aunt Martha's presumably dead sister-in-law knocks on the door to claim her part of the family's forture), and then dropped or resolved before they can really add any level of excitement to the story. It bears repeating: one of the characters ever did anything that surprised me.

The one potentially interesting character (and this is a bit of a spoiler), is Vlad Li Tam, who uses his legions of children as human missiles, sacrificing them for his mysterious personal goals. Towards the end of the story we're supposed to see some depth to Vlad's character in that he supposedly grieves deeply for each of his fallen children. This effort is largely toothless, seeing as how Scholes didn't even bother NAMING any of the fallen children. They're treated as extras, and we're supposed to grieve for them (along with Vlad) as if they were leading characters.

If you want us to believe a character's grief, show us a relationship that is grief-worthy. If you want us to think a character is resourceful and clever, show us him or her doing something resourceful or clever. If you want us to respect the necessity of secret tongues and hand signals, show us why intrigue is a necessary part of life in this world. Ken Scholes seems to think that it's enough to just tell us these things all exist in his novel, but doesn't do the work of actually showing situations where they take place. There is a term for this: bad writing.

This fantasy of the gutless, unimaginative kind. If you're a fan of GRRM's nuanced and surprising characters, or RJ's detailed and imaginative cultures, you'll be disappointed. If you like your stories straightforward and with no teeth, give it a shot. Maybe I'm being over-critical, but I found myself rolling my eyes a lot throughout the story.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by this book. It seemed to lay out all the pieces slowly and then take off after the first few chapters. I thought the heroes were going to be the heroes and the madman was going to be the madman, but as you progress and get used to the world Ken Scholes has created, you realize that there are more pieces to be placed. He does it very well. I look forward to the rest of the series. I hope that Jin Li Tam stays a formidable feminine character.

My favorite sentence in the book is when he uses glossolalia in a sentence. It truly made me smile and laugh a little. I paused to savor the word and it upgraded the book for me, but then he uses the word two or three more times after you turn the next few pages, and I stifled my praise. Once was great. Twice was too much, especially so soon after.

[C.S. Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. Very fast paced with some very interesting characters and story lines. It did suffer from a few first novel issues but they were small and didn't bother me that much.

I liked that the book ended with the completion of a story line and the hint of the future mystery. I have always felt that series books should do that. I hate feeling like I go to the end of the book with no resolution what so ever.

I also thought Scholes did a very nice job of laying out his world. Giving us hints here are there but not revealing everything. There is a big mystery in the background of this book and he hints at it all the way through. I liked his mix of fantasy and tech. Will read the next one when it come out in October.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

First discovered this title a few months ago in the library used book room. It was a library cast off and it was a dime. Thick door stop epic fantasy. Well, I promptly forgot about this title. Until a few weeks ago it turned up at my local library as an audiobook...

Narrated by several performers. Each personifying a different character. Some more pleasing and enjoyable than others. Interesting concept for me.

A story filled with far reaching machinations and intrigue. A world reclaimed from a major cataclysm centuries gone, reels from the complete annihilation of a major city. A weapon long lost, has been rediscovered. Armies march, players take their places, and the stage is set.

This can totally be read as a stand alone. Although, after the final revelation, you will want to hunt down book two. I know I did. Sadly, I assumed that this was a trilogy. It actually has five books. Not sure if I'm ready to go down that rabbit hole.

Regardless I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

Recommended!

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to like it, and occasionally did, but I just couldn't get away from it feeling like a second-rate Guy Gavriel Kay. Which isn't the most damning criticism, as Kay is a great writer (despite being a bit purple at times).

I'm usually opposed to excessive infodumps, but I think in this case it might have helped me care a bit more about the characters, who mostly felt like lifeless pawns being moved about by the plot. Jin Li Tam was probably the most interesting, though her father's story was borderline presposterous (again, maybe with more context I might have squinted and suspended my skepticism).

I'm not opposed to reading the next one, but am in no hurry.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this one on audio and finished it in regular book form. The four readers were good, but I think I would rather have had just one. There were more than four characters for them to cover, and they presented some of the characters differently, especially Isaak.

The chapters are set up as point-of-view chapters like George RR Martin's books, but they're much shorter. We get the viewpoints of most of the major players, whether good, bad or in between. There are some great protagonists here-Rudolfo, the gypsy king; Jin Li Tam, the spy; Petronus, the fisherman with a secret past; and Neb, the young man with a mysterious destiny.

The character that had my heart from the first was Isaak, the mechoservitor. From that first scene when they find him weeping in the woods to the limp he walks with due to a damaged leg, Scholes does a wonderful job of humanizing the inhuman. I felt instant empathy and protectiveness for the character, the only principal character who doesn't get point-of-view chapters.

The world-building is as smooth as anything--no info dumps in the form of unrealistic dialogue or long paragraphs of exposition. Scholes told his story while gracefully weaving in the history, customs and religion of his unique world. One of the things I love most about the plot is the focus on restoring the library of a great city that has been destroyed.

This work is original and skillfully done, and I'm glad there's more to read.

2023 reread

Well, rats. This did not hold up for a reread 11 years later. I was rereading it because book 2 in the series is on my Clear Your TBR shelves reading challenge this year, and I knew I'd need some review. I was disgusted with all but one of the POV characters (they all use people and treat them as tools and justify it in one way or another) by the end, and in a terrible mood by the time I finished the seemingly never-ending ending this morning. I think Scholes had a touch of Sandersonitis in his world building, repeating common phrases/philosophy of the world ad nauseam until I added this to my notes app:

"Change is the path life takes." Oh, shut up already. "Whymer Maze." Also, shut up.

2023 Emily, if she had not quit this book, probably would have given it 3 stars if reading it for the first time. For Neb. For Isaak. For a major plot point being the preservation of knowledge and restoring a library. To balance the 5-star enthusiasm of 2012 Emily, I subtracted one star for my overall review.
Anyway, I'm still reading book 2, because I am glued to my reading challenge and because this was still a decent first novel, so maybe the second will be better. Stay tuned, gentle readers!

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up (got it from the library) based on the synopsis...and found I'd tried to read it before some time ago. I'd found it dry and rather convoluted and finally laid it aside.

Well, I don't disagree with myself. The book is still rather convoluted and dry. Oh there are many scenes of action buried in the book and if you're looking for discussions of philosophy draped in fantasy fiction you may not find it as dry as I did.

I wouldn't call this a "fantasy" per se. The synopsis calls it an epic fantasy. I'll call it an "epic steam punk fantasy". The world is one that's seen a long history some of which has been lost. There is (or was) a great library. Mechanical servitors were a part of the world and other vestiges of "something" are still around. Of course the book opens with the complete destruction of the great city with the great library. The plot(s) track here and there following their own somewhat internal logic. The writer does a good job of world building and character building. He pulls his strings together slowly with affairs of the heart tangled with politics, prejudice, hatred and secrets.

I jumped ahead to approximately the point where I'd abandoned the book before...and then skipped through to the end. I will say this. If the entire book had been as good as the "what's next" ending I would probably have liked it better.

I can't really recommend this book, I spent most of my time in it rather bored with a "come on, get on with it" sort of feeling. Will I follow it up? I don't really know but I don't have any plan to for now.

So, rather slow, a convoluted plot with moments of excellent prose. You'll have to decide how you feel, not one I really cared for.

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't like epic fantasy, I really don't. So 5-star review and a sleepless night is a big deal. This is a terrific book. It's more SF in the Canticle For Leibowitz vein than it is Tolkien, by far: the setting is a world marked by serial collapses of an advanced technological civilization, an era ruled by collectors and hoarders of the past who maintain their power by carefully doling out information and technology.

At an abstract level, it's a wonderful investigation of psychohistory and technology policy, and I encourage my SF-loving friends in science policy and STS to pick this up. The basic scenario is one of control biting the controller in the ass, in a truly awful way, but one that may enable a culture to begin to look to its future rather than its past.

As a story, Scholes' prose style is rogue-like: razor sharp, swiftly beautiful, and you'll find yourself bleeding out from cuts you never saw coming. The plot is brilliantly twisty (I scared my my cat more than once by screaming at developments I hadn't seen coming), the characters compelling. It's somewhat like Game of Thrones, but less dark, less endless, and without any "oh please get me past this" shifts of character viewpoint. And it really doesn't hurt that one of the main characters is Natasha Romanov (The Black Widow)'s much taller sister :)

My only negative note is that I found it strained credibility a bit that all the plots, coups, and military actions succeed. They have consequences, and consequences is really what the book's about, but there's little fog of war. The author's a D&D gamer: I got to hoping that a character might fail a skill check at some point :)

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was strangely compelling, still I did not know whether to give it a 3 or a 4. Yes it was good, but was it great? I think that I will go for the later as it was the world and the plot that made it so. What a plot!

There was once a world, yes might just be Earth but it was destroyed. Some escaped the Wastelands to the New World and built a life there. Now they have magic, but there are remnants of the old world technology. A couple of robots and ships of iron. Also you should not dig too deep into the past, you might not like what you find. Which brings us to the utter destruction of a city of religion and learning. And where the book starts.

I really liked that there had been wars and ruin in the old days and now thousands of years later this is what we have. The almost typical fantasy society. Except for a a few tech things.

I am usually not a fan of too much religion and this was just that, but still it worked. There is a Pope, but the religion is strange. That made it different.

And I really want to know about the Old World! What truly happened. I liked the plot, what a finely woven web, I was impressed by it. And the end, omg the end people! Awesome, best thing in the book.

Good characters too. I like the weird Marsh People, I liked young Neb, Of course I liked Vlad cos he was a mastermind and the Gypsy Scouts and their king were cool.

I do want to read more of this series. Old and new mixes so well.

Cover
Eh

[Jodi Davis]

2% in and I've got prostitutes who have been pardoned by a gracious gypsy king who then has put some of them in his *rotation*, a *consort* who has just rewarded someone with a glimpse of her breasts - but not too much of them - and no other women... BLERGH!!!!!!

[Мелани Шакири]

Здравейте,книжни дракони! Вчера вечерта завърших втората от книгите от поредицата "Псалмите на Иссак" на Кен Сколс. Поредицата съдържа общо 11 книги,но само две са преведени на български. Никъде досега не съм чувала някой да ги обсъжда или чете. Не са много известни май,но аз ви казвам,че със сигурност си заслужават.

Първата прочетох на един дъх,независимо от всичките ангажименти,които се опитваха бавно да ме задушат. Останах много впечатлена от героите и връзките между тях. Чувствата им бяха нормални и разбираеми, не както се среща в мнозинството от книги, нечовешки. Тук наистина изпитваха съжаление,когато убиеха човек и знаеха как да обичат без да е като обич от пръв поглед (нещо доста нереалистично по моя преценка). Много съм доволна и от завършека на 'Рид��ние" (първата част). Последната глава на книгата изтича и после има кратичка подсказка на това какво ще се случи в следващата книга. А главите бяха нещо страхотно. Винаги съм си падала по книгите при които всяка глава е разказана от гледната точка на различен герой. А ако двамата подледователни герои участват в една и съща сцена става още по-интересно.За мен е много чуден начина, по който писателят е успял да вкара религията (фентъзи религия) като нещо ключово за сюжета и същевременно изобщо да не се натрапва в очите на читателя. Попринцип съм атеист,но нямам нищо против изповядващите някоя религия,и все пак ще ме разберете като кажа, че е много досадно,когато някой автор се опита да ви накара да вярвате в нещо чрез героите си. Искам да кажа,вярвай си,но остави другите да решат за себе си.

Втората част беше още по-вълнуваща. Първата си бе свършила добре работата и вече познавах героите,начина им на мислене,стремежите и страховете им. Сега от мен се очакваше само да се чудя какво ще стане нататък. Обожавам края на книгата. Много тъжен, дори плаках. А аз рядко плача. Но пък завърши с толкова много въпросителни. Много ми се иска "Бард" да бяха превели и останалите части,но както казах по-горе най-вероятно не е имало достатъчно търсене. Жалко,книгата е страхотна! Много ще се радвам ако я прочетете!

Друго нещо което ме очарова,не толкова в историята,колкото в направата на книгата,беше картата. Или по-точно картите. И двете книги имаха карти на първите страници,но и двете бяха различни. Тази на "Ридание" обхващаше само няколко от страните на Познатите земи, а тази на "Песнопение" изобразяваше целият свят на романите. В зависимост от това къде ще се развиват действията в определената книга.
Картата на снимката вдясно е от първата книга.

На двете книги заедно давам 5/5 звезди! Приятен ден!

Цялото ревю на линка по-долу 👇🏼
https://melithefangirl.blogspot.com/2...

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing: 4.5
Story/Plot: 4.5
Depth/Detail: 4.5
Enjoyment: 5

You ever get that time where you find something new, the thing that other people seem to know about but you never did, and when you finally experience it, you have that "how the hell did I live without ever knowing about this?!" moment? For me, my biggest moments were finding Le Bistro Montage in Portland, and finding this book by St. Helens, Oregon author Ken Scholes.

In a similar vein to Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series, Scholes' Lamentation introduces you to a post-modern fantasy world, following some kind of downfall that is only hinted at (unless I'm stupid and missed some blatant mention). Having just finished the Broken Empire series, I was already in a mode for this kind of story, so this fell right in line with that in the best ways possible. It helped that it was an extremely creative version, that the writing was well above average, very engaging, succinct. No wasted words, no filler garbage, just go-go-go without feeling overwhelming or exhausting.

The inclusion of the robotic men was very cool without feeling overly cheesy - they felt a bit like a steampunk version of the maid on the Jetsons', with it being clear that Isaak, the "main" robot, was a bit different from the others, his programming boards were different and unique, and he will clearly play a much bigger role going forward (being as the series is named after him). A gun made an appearance as well, much like it did in King Of Thorns, but again did not feel cheesy, abused, misused - and the pope handled it exactly how I would have envisioned he would have. In fact, their approach to technology was both completely understandable and heartbreaking - the same way that it makes me want to vomit to think about past cultures and religions going through and destroying monuments, ancient structures, technology, etc, thinking about how much religion has held back science and progression in the past; oddly when put into the shoes of these people, who see destruction they blame on this technology, a bit of slippery slope theory in the name of protecting themselves, and getting rid of it suddenly makes a bit of sense. Heartbreaking, but with sense.

The story didn't exactly go the way I'd planned, but it also didn't exactly go against how I envisioned it, either. The actual end result was similar, but the "getting there" was not. Again, the writing was fluid, dialogue realistic, characters engaging. I loved the book, I look forward to starting the next one tonight, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to others.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orson Scott Card is perhaps a bit of a cheap date in the blurb department. This isn't better than the work of today's best fantasy writers as he implies, but it's good, and Scholes is a writer I will follow.

This is a multiple-narrator fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic world. An order of monks who have guarded the knowledge of the past are obliterated by a spell as the book opens, one of the nastier bits of that past knowledge (although the magic in this book may be science, it's not entirely clear).

The book that follows involves the political manipulations of several different leaders as they try to determine who is responsible for the destruction, who will assume power in the vacuum that has been created, and what should be done about protecting the remainders of the knowledge the monks guarded. There is a strong ongoing theme about the nature of manipulating others, how far such manipulation can go, and what the limits of it might be.

Scholes draws fascinating characters--for instance a gypsy forest king, a clever consort, a mechanical man finding sentience, a young monk buried in survivor's guilt, and a leader who walked away from his power. I'm invested in them and will certainly continue the series.

One star off for switching narrators just a little too frequently; for needing just a little more action, a little less intrigue; and for a little bit too strong of a much-more-is-yet-to-come cliffhanger ending, but don't let that stop you from trying a talented new voice in fantasy.

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really, really enjoyed Lamentation. One of my favorite quotes from the book that I think I should strive to remember daily:

And he saw how lamentation could become a hymn...

The character feeling this is reeling from a revelations that rocked and defined his entire life, from a desolation that is the subject of this novel, and yet, he sees how the lamentation of those events can be rewritten into a beautiful hymn. Whoo! From the author in an interview about that very passage:

I felt that what the story was really about is how cataclysm changes people. How it affects relationships and your place in the world and how you can build something from that.

There is something so powerful about that idea, and Ken Scholes executed it masterfully. I don't have very much else to say about this book. I loved it. There were Sherlockian twists and turns, wonderful characters who I cared about and a super interesting plot. Oh, and lest I forget to mention it again, it has ideas that made me think against the backdrop of an awesome story with great writing.

Can't wait to continue the saga!

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasies are a lot of work.

First there all those strange names. Then you have to memorize the geography and the names of all the Kingdoms and their various Kings and Queens. Then there are the myths, legends, prophecies, histories, scrolls, sacred books and sayings to internalize. Then you have to deal with the religions, the good one as well as the bad ones, in order to understand why everybody does all the inexplicable stuff they do. Then you have to figure out how the elves, faeries, orcs, goblins, dwarfs, sorcerers, goblins and wolf people are going to play into this thing. Then you have to figure out how some innocent powerless prepubescent orphan is going to overcome the all powerful ruthless ruler of the entire known galaxy and bloom into the mythical Messiah as foretold by his/her magical mentor and do this despite the totally unexpected treachery of somebody he or she loves.

After that you have to wrap all these loose ends into a nice bow, making sure it can never happen again, but at the same time leaving a loophole to make sure it does happen again so we can have a sequel.

It's a lot of work. In this case I'm not sure it was totally worth it.

[Beth Cato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ken Scholes's debut novel is a stunning work of epic fantasy. The action begins from the very first page as the mighty city of Windwir, home of the greatest library in the world, is utterly destroyed. The high pillar of smoke draws key characters to the point of destruction - some to celebrate, others to grieve, others to prepare for war. The pace of the book is quick and ruthless. Scholes' background is in short story writing, and it shows. The world-building is effective and doesn't drown in detail. Each chapter switches between several major viewpoints, each with a distinct voice and viewpoint that shows Windwir and the ensuing political and military warfare in a different light.[return][return]I loved this book, and I can see why it generated so much buzz. It really does have a different feel than most epic fantasies, and I think that would make it more accessible to those who don't usually read the genre. Some of the characters were very moving. I loved Isaak the mechanoservitor and Jin Li Tam. This is the first in a series of five, and I'll definitely pick up the rest as they come out.

[Marin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just about perfect summer reading: fast-paced, relatively uncomplicated, entertaining, and intriguing. It's fastasy I suppose, but the characters and sub-plots were thick and rich enough for me to overcome the boredom that I often feel for fantasy novels. It does use fantasy character roles for its main characters (Pope, gypsy, herb woman, etc.), but there's a fun twist in this world where a small group of scholars act as archeologists, uncovering technologies and writings from a more technologically advanced society in the past.

I strongly recommend the audio version of this book. The writing style lends itself beautifully to this format.

The characters have old-fashioned nobility of character, reminiscent of Shakespeare's heroes. They are also real enough that when they realize their mistakes and or struggle with moral questions, I care. I look forward to reading the next book in this series, due to appear sometime this fall.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars.

I do not have much to say that is positive about this first novel in the Psalms of Isaak series. This is very standard fantasy fare that just did not work for me. The plot is all about long time secrets and hidden motives that too me just played out so inconsequentially.

Neb is an interesting young boy that has potential to be a great hero/character.

Petronus is my favorite character in this novel. He reminded me of Father Philip from Ken Follets Pillars of Earth and that is a great thing. He has the most depth, secrets, and is nit boring.

Rudolfio, great name boring and uninteresting protagonist.

There is magic here but is not really explored and is otherwise quite dull.

Mechanobots that seem out of place and are poorly developed.

Oh well, I do not know if I will ever go on to the next book in this series....

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Despite some clunky writing toward the beginning of the book, a slow start and something lacking with overall characterization, Scholes has laid the groundwork for an impressive series here. The world and conflict are both quite interesting. The book is short enough to be a quick read, but has enough depth and layers to give readers that epic feel many are looking for, without being oppressive with it. This is the start of a five book series, and though it has its problems, Lamentation shows great promise and Scholes shows skill as a writer. While I wasn’t absolutely blown away with this work, I was impressed enough to start looking for the next installment of this series.

Read my full review here:

http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/201...