Ky Vetta’s return deserves a warm ‘Welcome’
Welcome back, Ky Vatta — we’ve missed you.
It’s been nine years since Elizabeth Moon wrapped up the five-part “Vatta’s War” series with “Victory Conditions,” and after a dip back into her excellent Paksennarion world, she gets us back to Ky Vatta and her space opera
with “Cold Welcome” (Del Rey, $28, 411
pages) — and luckily, there are more to come after this one.
But to get full value for the hardback money, it would make sense to go back to the very first Ky Vatta novel, “Trading in Danger,” and settle into a universe with planet-spanning empires, tramp traders and pirates. Ky Vatta’s struggles and successes in that setting are nothing out of the ordinary, but Moon is an exceptional writer and keeps the pages turning as Vatta deals with enemies, known and unknown, and navigates treachery and outright warfare.
All in all, “Vatta’s War” was one of the most enjoyable series I read in this sub-genre, and “Cold Welcome” is as good or better than the previous books. In short, start reading sooner rather than later.
Tracy Hickman is best known for his high fantasy with Margaret Weis, but “Unhonored” (Tor, $24.99, 268 pages), the second of the “Nightbirds’ novels, has little in common with his previous work. Instead, “Unhonored,” co-written with his wife Laura, is a psychological novel that brings the inner demons — and angels — of the protagonist to life in a strange, dreamlike world.
As with most volume twos, there’s more setup than resolution, and clearly there are plot twists that need to be unraveled down the road, but I think most readers who are expecting a more traditional Tracy Hickman book will take some time to adjust. In addition, “Unhonored” is far from a perfect book, and the idea that Ellis Harkington and the men in her life work through their issues in a magic-driven limbo while desperately searching for a way out didn’t kindle an insistent desire to read the next installment – and in fact, I doubt I’ll be on board as the “Nightbirds” series plays out.
On the other hand, “Black City Demon” (Pyr,
$18, 365 pages) is a reset of Kevin Hearne’s popular “Iron Druid Chronicles” and volume two of this series pretty much lives up to its progenitor.
Richard Knaak is a veteran writer who has you in thrall in Prohibition-era Chicago, where a long-lived Nick Medea, who hosts a dragon in his brain that constantly wants to take over the body they share, battles an assortment of ghosts, demons and other urban fantasy stalwarts.
And in yet another homage to the “Iron Druid Chronicles,” Medea even has a doglike companion who serves both as a comic foil as well as a key figure in the constant action scenes. So basically, it comes down to this: If you have read and enjoyed the “Iron Druid Chronicles,” you will like “Black City Demon” and the first volume, “Black City Saint.” If you haven’t read either, I would suggest starting with Hearne’s “Haunted,” as the original has a little bit more to offer.