Devices And Desires

KJ Parker is a highly underrated author. His (or her...the author writes under a pseudonym) books are not the normal fantasy fare. Expect complicated characters, moral ambiguity, deep themes, and sharp dialogue. This is not a book full of action, but rather of plotting. IThis book can be brilliant, but it can also be incredibly frustrating.The author puts an incredible amount of detail into her world -- medieval engineering is the central theme running through this trilogy, the power of technology to overthrow the social order -- and this is one of the few fantasy books you will actually learn how to operate medieval machinery.The characters are an interesting bunch -- human, flesh and bone, with motives you can identify with. All of Parker's works are fundamentally human stories at their core and there's a lot of attention focused on the humanity of the characters and human relationships -- the good and the bad.This is low fantasy -- the world is not infused with magic; there are no dark lords to default, no sorcerers to save the day. And the story is better off from it; the problems are human made and ultimately must be solved by human minds.A dark, grim, and fascinating tale that must be read. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. It's not your typical grimdark fantasy, but there are certainly elements of it in the story. Don't expect an Abercrombie style narrative and plot; Parker truly writes some of the more unique fantasy in the genre, but in its own way just as good as anything produced by Martin, Lynch, and Abercrombie.