Act 1 of The Assassini by Jon Courtenay Grimwood.
I read The Fallen Blade a while ago, and I’ve just picked up the sequel, The Outcast Blade.
I admit he had me at ‘fantasy renaissance Venice’. He had me twice at that glorious, eerie cover art. And this series definitely delivers – so long as you’re prepared to work for it.
This is what you might call ‘high-brow fantasy’. With no disrespect intended, as I place myself firmly in the ranks of low-brow fantasy authors. What I mean is: it’s written in a more ‘literary’ style than the kind of paranormal romance or female-focused UF that typically comes out of NY. No instant gratification here. And no being beaten about the head with character motivations.
The central character, Tycho, is a monster. We’re not sure what kind, to begin with, and neither is he. But something is clearly wrong with him. We begin with him walled up in a tiny prison compartment on a ship, for reasons he doesn’t understand. People want to kill him, capture him, make him their ally or their slave. We meet dukes, soldiers, enemy caliphs, secret societies of magical assassins and wolf-men, conniving princes and feisty young heroines of every flavour. The political machinations are worthy of A Song of Ice and Fire, with shades of The Borgias and Assassin’s Creed II. There are no good guys and bad guys. There are just guys. And monsters, who act like what they are: unhuman.
Tycho himself is fascinating: tough yet strangely innocent, hungry and amoral yet desperately romantic. The author’s Venice is smelly, colourful and dangerous, but it’s elusive. It isn’t written the way you’d imagine, with an in-your-face fantasy world where everyone knows who’s who in the zoo and the rules are firmly established from the beginning.
Instead, the truth is drip-fed, mainly through the eyes of Tycho, who has no idea what’s going on, and the main heroine, a young noblewoman named Giulietta, who has barely set foot outside her father’s house until now. They’re unreliable narrators at best.
What is actually going on? We’ll have to keep reading to find out. The Fallen Blade is a welcome, gimmick-free change from mainstream UF or historical fantasy. It’s subtle, and sometimes maddening, but well worth the effort.
Paranormal Unbound 
Looks great, Erica, Thanks for the rec!
This sounds AWESOME. I may have to let it cut in my TBR line.
I’ve had that book on my radar for a while, Erica. Anything with the word “Venice” is good with me. Gosh, my attention span has gotten so short, I wonder if I could even read a novel with literary aspirations these days!
I know what you mean, Suzanne. If you read this one, let me know what you think of it. 🙂
I have the sequel all ready to go… but it’s been a while since I read book 1. Might have to re-read!
Hi Erica! I have to say that your description really intrigued me. This is not the usual type of book in which I immerse myself, but there are elements that appeal to me, such as the writing style you describe and the fact that there seems to be alot of ‘gray’ area in it, not clearly black and white. I find that sometimes, if done well, those are the most interesting characters, and the ones who surprise us. So, I think Im going to need to read these 2 books and find time to indulge in between the 3 I am now reading and the gazillion I have yet to crack!! Thank you!
Another one for your TBR 🙂 it’s fun to try something different.
This sounds intriguing. And yes, what a great, moody cover. Adding it to TBR right now. 🙂
Erica, I love your description of not being hit over the head with character motivations. LOL. What an absurd feature of the popular genre that we all tolerate as if we sit around thinking like that in real life! I do like books I have to work for, so I plan to check this one out. And, to edit my WIP with an eye for being at least a little more subtle!
Hey, I’m the first to gleefully smack readers over the head with what my characters want 🙂 It’s kind of the way it’s done in paranormal romance. That’s how you set up the conflict, right? But I think in fantasy and UF, we have more room to be subtle and/or ambiguous.