Making Peace, by Adam Lane Smith

[easyazon_link identifier="B0795643YN" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"]The day of this review's release, Making Peace will be on sale for $0.99.[/easyazon_link]

[easyazon_link identifier="B0795643YN" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"]Making Peace[/easyazon_link] is the first novel of Adam Lane Smith. It's a character driven novel that's both scifi and fantasy. And it's just fun

The Story

Our story centers around romance author Belkan Candor. He's got plenty of debts, and he figures this one gig as an embedded journalist with the peacekeepers will settle his debts. What Candor ends up with is being in the middle of a war.

Our hero, Mister Candor (really, Mister Smith? Really?) is essentially sent to serve in a less friendly Ankh-Morpork, only played less for laughs. (Or just shown from street level, which is fairly messy to start with). Only a war between the noble houses is brewing and the peacekeepers are the only ones who can nip it in the bud before there's riots and blood in the streets....

If you're also a fan of Terry Pratchett, you might think of this as Thud!, as told from the perspective of the city accountant who is sent to audit the Watch, only to be drafted into the front lines of the riot squad.

And yes, I'm comparing Smith to Sir Terry. If you have a problem with that, then buy the book, read it, and tell me where I'm wrong.

But, yeah, this was awesome, from start to finish. I wish I had been writing this well for my first published novel.

What's impressive is that this story it starts with a flipping memo, and somehow isn't boring. Which is an achievement all by itself. Then again, the memo has a fun bit of meta-humor. ("I noted that bit in the waiver you had me sign: death by, among other things, giant lizards? This book had better make enough to settle all my debts.")

The Characters

Overall, the characters carried this one for the most part. And there's a nice solid formula for character exposition -- because our narrator is an embedded, so of course he can interview each character for in-depth pieces. That formula isn't even that formulaic, because there's an issue while trying to interview the team barbarian, but what else can you expect from barbarians? We still get the character exposition in a genuine and organic manner -- while being held at knife point.

And yes, I will admit, there are elements that are formulaic and simple, but it's a helpful tool for the readers as they track the six characters we open with, before Smith goes into the depth of each character. And yes, each character has depth. Hell. even the character development and evolution was subtle and so gently sloping that you don't really notice it happening until it's already happened -- and yes, it was happening the entire time.

You could say that this is a very simple fantasy story, but that's only if you're not paying attention.

I spent a lot of [easyazon_link identifier="B0795643YN" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"]Making Peace[/easyazon_link] appreciating this from a technical perspective. "Gee, cute, I can track most character attributes through the names" -- which were Shield, Ugly, Candor and Vapor (the water nano-mage who's part cyborg and part Raven from Teen Titans). It was basically an RPG party-- barbarian, healer, mage, rogue, bard -- which will make the PulpRev crowd happy (I'd note more, but I the closest I've ever come to D&D is Order of the Stick). But this was both highly entertaining as well as technically sweet.

The world

This world is one part fantasy, one part science fiction, and mostly just straight up fun. Smith does a nice does of genre-blending. Mages come from nanite enhancements. We have magic and Valkyries, but three of our characters are from off planet. We have an odd sort of coming of age story, a thriller, at least one romance and total war. He's got political intrigue that easily outdoes George Rape Rape Martin, a story and setting that would make Terry Pratchett happy, and just enough philosophical depth that would entertain John C Wright or Tim Powers (certainly more deep than Neil Gaiman, who is about as deep as a dinner plate in comparison to Smith).

The politics

The politics in this book are all local. Unless you think that meting out justice at sword point is political. In which case, John Wick is a dissertation on PETA.

Content warning

Sword violence. There will be blood and body parts. But if you can handle flying heads of orcs out of Lord of the Rings, you can handle this book.

Why read it?

This is the best epic fantasy novel I've read in years. It's even better than Correia's Son of the Black Sword. He's not John C. Wright, but he'll get there.

Who is it for?

Almost everyone. I'm serious. I think you can read [easyazon_link identifier="B0795643YN" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"]Making Peace[/easyazon_link] then give it to your children. If it were a film, it would be a soft PG-13. Did you like Terry Pratchett? Lord of the Rings? Larry Correia? You'll probably like this one.

[easyazon_link identifier="B0795643YN" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"] Buy it here, now.[/easyazon_link]