Hymn - Ken Scholes

Hymn
Book 5 of 'Psalms of Isaak' 

Read about the first 4 books here

ISBN - 9780765321312
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2017
PAGES - 352
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHERS - Tor

AUTHOR - Ken Scholes

SYNOPSIS - Ken Scholes completes his five-book epic that began with his acclaimed first novel Lamentation. The battle for control of The Named Lands has captivated readers for ten years as both characters and readers have learned the true nature of world called Lasthome.

Now the struggle between the Andro-Francine Order of the Named Lands and the Y Zirite Empire has reached a terrible turning point. Believing that his son is dead, Rudolfo has pretended to join with the triumphant Y zirite forces but his plan is to destroy them all with a poison that is targeted only to the enemy.

In Y Zir, Rudolfo's wife Jin Li Tam is fighting a war with her own father which will bring that Empire to ruin.

And on the Moon, Neb, revealed as one of the Younger Gods, takes the power of the Last Home Temple for his own.

FL Speak - What a ride it has been.

Hymm marks the end of an era. The conclusion we had been waiting for comes crashing down on the Named Lands blurring the lines between mortals and gods, legends and facts. Suffice to say, this is one of those series that completely swept me away by the sheer audacity of the author's imagination. The only other authors I can think of are Brandon Sanderson (to an extent) and the much under-hyped Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Years of gap between publications aside, Ken Scholes takes the book to a rising crescendo before letting it fall in a final blaze of glory. The stories of Isaak, Neb, Petronus, Rudolfo, Vlad and Jin will forever be etched in my heart if not in the hearts of men of the Named Lands. The Psalms of Isaak is a creative mastermind, craftily combining science fiction into a tale that defines the fantasy genre. Like a master chess player going for the kill, Ken Scholes brings all the players into the game in this final novel and begins a bloodbath that even the Gods can't avoid.

The bad guys turn humane and the good guys turn into monsters and in between are the kin-dragons, flying free again. Oh, what a ride this has been.

A fitting end to a grand tale.

RATING - 5/5 stars

Requiem - Ken Scholes

Requiem
Book 4 of "Psalms of Isaak"

Read about the first 3 book here

ISBN - 9780765321305
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2013
PAGES - 398
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHER - Tor

AUTHOR - Ken Scholes

SYNOPSIS - Ken Scholes's debut novel, Lamentation, was an event in fantasy. Heralded as a "mesmerizing debut novel" by Publishers Weekly, and a "vividly imagined SF-fantasy hybrid set in a distant, postapocalyptic future" by Booklist, the series gained many fans. It was followed by Canticle and Antiphon. Now comes the fourth book in The Psalms of Isaak, Requiem.

Who is the Crimson Empress, and what does her conquest of the Named Lands really mean? Who holds the keys to the Moon Wizard's Tower?

The plots within plots are expanding as the characters seek their way out of the maze of intrigue. The world is expanding as they discover lands beyond their previous carefully controlled knowledge. Hidden truths reveal even deeper truths, and nothing is as it seemed to be.

FL Speak - Probably one of the best books in the series. Everything is moving at a rapid pace towards a conclusion. It's not there yet but the plots within plots are revealed anew and the key players emerge from their shadowy places.

What began with the fall of Windwir was not the beginning. The plan was set long ago. Long before these charismatic men and women were born. But even the best-laid plans are as good as the intentions of those who follow it. Requiem is truly the story of Neb, of Rudolfo, of Vlad, of Jim and of Isaak. Ken Scholes wonderfully bridges a far-reaching quest of destiny and connects it with political intrigue and war campaigns. Filled with revenge, blood-letting, dream sequences and a lot of running and flying, this wonderful tale of fables and legends carefully fills the gaps between myths and facts.

By the end of book 4, we know there's more to the Named Lands than the people living in it. We also know the people on the moon and that the desolation of Windwir was just one of the many that ended civilisations and history. This is a grand war for the survival of humankind. Because if the Crimson Princess were to rise, the land of living will return to the Dark Ages. 

RATING - 5/5

Antiphon - Ken Scholes

Antiphon
Book 3 of "Psalms of Isaak'

Read about the previous books HERE

ISBN - 9780765321299
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2010
GENRE - Fantasy
PAGES - 384
PUBLISHER - Tor

AUTHOR - Ken Scholes

SYNOPSIS - Nothing is as it seems to be.

The ancient past is not dead. The hand of the Wizard Kings still reaches out to challenge the Androfrancine Order, to control the magick and technology that they sought to understand and claim for their own.

Nebios, the boy who watched the destruction of the city of Windwir, now runs the vast deserts of the world, far from his beloved Marsh Queen. He is being hunted by strange women warriors, while his dreams are invaded by warnings from his dead father.

Jin Li Tam, queen of the Ninefold Forest, guards her son as best she can against both murderous threats, and the usurper queen and her evangelists. They bring a message: Jakob is the child of promise of their Gospel, and the Crimson Empress is on her way.

And in hidden places, the remnants of the Androfrancine order formulate their response to the song pouring out of a silver crescent that was found in the wastes.

QUOTES - 

“Part of me wants justice for this. Part of me wants to never cause harm to another.” 

“Watch for the ones who leave your mouth hanging open. Study them, find out what they love and what they fear. Dig the treasure out of their soul and hold it to the light. Then Be like them.” 

“Her laughter was an upbeat song set to a minor key.” 

FL Speak - It took me a while to get into this.

I read the second book 5 years ago. Book 3 was a blur. It was hard to connect and make sense of especially when reviews of this epic series are so less. Why internet, why? After a lot of searching and I really mean a lot, I went back to this and for the third time, Ken Scholes blew me away.

Book 1 and Book 2 were fun. This was a revelation of sorts. The bigger picture is still unknown but what was once myths and legends slowly turned into practicality and logic. The use of magiks and technology is a deadly combo especially when you have a nomadic army, invisible scouts, metal men, blood sacrifices and treasure troves of legends in the deserts.

The desolation of Windwir began the series. By book 3, we are getting to know why exactly someone annihilated an entire city and a race of people. Meanwhile, the canticle is still singing. or ringing is it? Music people can hear. The music they hear in dreams. Music metal servitors hear. I must be mad but I stopped wondering what that it could be. I just know it sings and it requires an answer. 

Halfway down book 3, I've fairly grasped the on-goings of the book. The Named Lands are in danger. Grave, grave danger. Neb, the boy who witnessed the fall of Windwir finds himself in the Churning Wastes, a vast desert hunted by strange women under abnormal magiks. Isaak is in the Named Lands, dreaming about a song. It's a compelling book, making you fall in love with the characters over and over again. We see a hint of a bigger plot with more and more impossibilities coming to a fruition. The Watcher and the Crimson Princess? Who are they and what do they have to with a race of people that came out of nowhere. 

The Named Lands face a threat never envisioned before. And within the Named Lands, there is treachery in plenty. Rudolfo and Jin Li Tam face the threat for their baby while the world slowly moves towards its impending destruction.

RATING - 5/5 stars

Canticle - Ken Scholes

CANTICLE

Book 2 of 'Psalms of Isaak'

Read about book 1 HERE

ISBN - 978-0-7653-6092-2
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2009
PAGES - 482
GENRE - Fantasy
BINDING - paperback

AUTHOR - Ken Scholes

BEST-SELLERS - Lamentation

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

NINE MONTHS AGO, the power and the wealth of the Andofrancine Order passed into the hands of Rudolfo, General of the wandering Army and the Lord of the Ninefold Forest Houses. Nine months ago, his consort, Jin Li Tam, told him he'd finally have an heir. Nine months ago, Rudolfo and Isaak began transcribing the books and records from the devastated city of Windwir from the memories of the Mechoservitors, and collecting them into a new Great Library.

Today, many noble allies have come to the Ninefold Forest for a feast in honor of the General Rudolfo's first-born child.

Suddenly, as the feast begins, the doors of the hall fly open and magicked, invisible assassins attack. The Gypsy Scouts are unable to fight them off, and all of Rudolfo's noble guests are slain. And yet Rudolfo himself is not touched.

And at the same moment, on the Keeper's Gate which guards the Named Lands from the Churning Wastes, a strange figure has appeared with a message for Petronus, the Hidden Pope.

Thus begins the second movement of The Psalms of Isaak.

FL Speak - When you read a first book and you realize how much you love it, you tend to have great expectations from the second. And Canticle, did not disappoint.

The war of the Named Lands is over. Although not entirely. The Entrolusian City states are in civil war. In the last book, Petronus, the last Pope, kills Sethbert in front of the public thereby forever voiding the office and power of the Pope. In the second book, all the characters are moving outwards. The Ninefold Forest Houses are attacked my magicked assailants and two of the top rulers are murdered on the day of the feast. The assailants are later found dead but they were Marsh folk, who were the kin-clave of the Ninefold Houses.

And thus begins the tale of Canticle, where enemies roam within allies and friendship can be discarded in a whim. Vlad Li Tam takes his entire family away from the Named Lands in search of the enemy that destroyed Windwir and infiltrated his own network. And a horrible surprise awaits him whose fate he cannot escape. Everything has been planned from before, including the fall of Windwir and including the death of Vlad Li Tam.

When Petronus is hauled for charges against him, the House Y'Zir ascends back to the Named Lands. The Marsh folk are disbanded and a new power has risen. A power that the Ninefold Houses had to accept, a power that could do them all. Lamentation showed how the ruler of the Wandering Army was a pawn in the great machinations of a political game. Now it seems his new born son is the result of the same fate. With no allies and no knowledge of the real enemy, Rudolfo plays a waiting game.

Neb, the dreamer who the Marsh folk believed would lead them home is on a separate journey with Isaak. Looks like the Andofrancines believed the threat to the Named Lands so much that they sent metal men to the Churned Wastes to create the Great Library from scratch again. But the Metal Men changed somehow and the Library is not what it seems. And the identity if the messenger for the Emerald Queen will blow your minds away.


This book is much darker than Lamentation. The torture scenes, specially. However, it adds to the character's development and and reminds us of the sinister shadowy threat they are actually facing.
 
For a series that's called 'Psalms of Isaak', there is very little of Isaak in the novel. Nevertheless, this is one of the most exciting new fantasy series out there. The political intrigue is thrilling and the way it is moving forward is wonderful. Rudolfo is by far the best character, followed closely by Petronus. The world-building is impeccable and Scholes writes a fast paced tale that is bound to keep you turning page after page. How this series moves forward, now its up to the author. And you can bet am excited as hell.

My Rating - 4 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

Lamentation - Ken Scholes

LAMENTATION

Book 1 of "Psalms of Isaak"

ISBN - 978-0-7653-6091-5
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2009
PAGES - 421
GENRE - Fantasy
BINDING - Paperback

AUTHOR - Ken Scholes

SYNOPSIS - An ancient weapon has destroyed the Androfrancine city of Windwir. From many miles away, Rudolfo, Lord of the Ninefold Forest Houses, sees the horrifyng column of smoke rising. Nearer to the Desolation, a young apprentice is the only survivor of the city - Nebios sat waiting for his father outside the walls and was transformed as he watched everyone he knew die in an instant.

And within sight of Windwir sits Sethbert, the Overseer of the Entrolusian City States, gloating in triumph. At his side is Lady Jin Li Tam - her father's pawn in the game of statecraft but destined to become her own Queen on the board.

Soon all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will be at one another's throats.

EXCERPT - It is a bird made of metal, a gold spark against the blue expanse that catches the afternoon sun. The bird circles and waits.

When the song begins below, the golden bird watches the melody unfold. A shadow falls across the city and the air becomes still. Tiny figures stop moving and look up. A flock of bird lifts and scatters. The sky is torn and fire rains down until only utter darkness remains. Darkness and heat.

FL Speak - I've absolute no idea why this book was lying on my shelf for the last 2 months without being read. In the last 2 months, I read 11 non-fantasy books. ELEVEN!! And I still twitched before picking up Ken Scholes. Partly because he's a new writer, I haven't heard of before and partly because I wanted my comeback to fantasy genre with a fantastic book. I shouldn't have twitched.

This book just blew me away. And I've no idea why he isn't so well known. "Lamentation" has everything, everything that every debutant wishes he had in his book. And as soon as I finished it, I snatched the second book of this amazing epic series from the shelf.

Coming back to the book, the Named Lands are in a mess. The most powerful city of Windwir lies in a pack of rubble and bones. The entire city has been destroyed in a couple of seconds, the Great Library demolished and human flesh charred in the fiery heat. It took less than a minute and the city of Windwir is no more. The Gypsy King with his Wandering Army races to the city to offer whatever aid he could find. Another army marches nearby. The Entrolusians under the rule of the Overseer Sethbert is riding towards the fallen city of Windwir, even boasting that it was his doing. But when the new Pope of Windwir evokes the Writ of Shunning to the Gypsy King, it looked like an ever greater war is coming. Because the Writ of Shunning effectively put the The Gypsy King and his Wandering Army as the people behind the destruction of Windwir.

Meanwhile the House of Li Tam has allied themselves with the Gypsy King which puts a bigger question to the fore. Why? What did the ruler of House Li Tam know that no one else knew? Elsewhere, a once forgotten man, believed to be dead, rises and proclaims himself the true Pope and armies rally against both the Popes. And in the aftermath of the confusion, the truth remains obscure until the true Pope begins to peel the layers of deceit. Someone knew Windwir would fall, someone even made sure it would. All that remained to be known was who was manipulating the events. Is the Gypsy King really the victim or was someone guiding him all his life to this very moment. But when armies clash and the sword sings, the only thing left to do is survive.

Wow! I stayed awake all night determined to finish this. Sleep came hours later after my mind repeated the scene again and again, over and over. This is one series that is going to take the world by storm and fling it aside. Lamentation gave me the shivers, the thrill, the absolute joy that any fantasy lovers wish to visit upon.

Ken Scholes writes with such clarity and speed that you're in no way able to even guess what might crop up next. If you believed you've realized the plot, hang on to your hats buddy. You're in for a helluva ride. The reluctant Pope, the arrogant enemy, the sly tactician, the naive dreamer boy, the brave warrior and a smoking lethal lady, this book has it all. And the next book, Canticle, is sure to be a scorcher.

My Rating - 5 stars

PRICE - INR 260/-