Rating: 
Summary: Superb, witty fantasy
Review: This is Kage Baker's first fantasy novel after years of writing science fiction. Brings to mind the best of Vance and Zelazny. Very funny, very engaging, very well-written. Check it out!
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderfully warped sense of humor
Review: This is the first fantasy novel by Kage Baker, who is better known for her Company novels. It's a bit disjointed (it's based on three shorter novellas), but it shows much of Baker's characteristic deadpan, tongue-in-cheek humor. One of the best things about "The Anvil of the World" is Baker's truly original take on world-building. The world in which Baker sets her story is not the typical sword and sorcery realm, nor is it the domain of urban fantasy. Instead, it's the Wild West and the Renaissance combined with a little unfettered Industrialism and an eco-conscious indigenous population. Add a retired assassin, a gourmet cook who's been around, a demon lord and his nursemaid, and a few religious terrorists, and you have the makings of a fun novel. I'll not go into the plot, since other reviewers have done that. Besides, any book that begins by describing a "golden city" that's so dusty that all its inhabitants suffer "from chronic emphysema," wheezing is "considered refined, and the social event of the year [is] the Festival of Respiratory Masks" is to be savored as much for its humor as its story.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully warped sense of humor
Review: This is the first fantasy novel by Kage Baker, who is better known for her Company novels. It's a bit disjointed (it's based on three shorter novellas), but it shows much of Baker's characteristic deadpan, tongue-in-cheek humor. One of the best things about "The Anvil of the World" is Baker's truly original take on world-building. The world in which Baker sets her story is not the typical sword and sorcery realm, nor is it the domain of urban fantasy. Instead, it's the Wild West and the Renaissance combined with a little unfettered Industrialism and an eco-conscious indigenous population. Add a retired assassin, a gourmet cook who's been around, a demon lord and his nursemaid, and a few religious terrorists, and you have the makings of a fun novel. I'll not go into the plot, since other reviewers have done that. Besides, any book that begins by describing a "golden city" that's so dusty that all its inhabitants suffer "from chronic emphysema," wheezing is "considered refined, and the social event of the year [is] the Festival of Respiratory Masks" is to be savored as much for its humor as its story.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing Journey
Review: This novel is just plain flat out fun to read. While this book is basically three novellettes cobbled together - the stories flow in a serial fashion. The only thing that differentiates the novellettes from a single story is slight character changes and emphasis and ... that each novellette is more fun, engaging and amusing than the previous one. The world building resembles medieval fantasy with lots that's familiar but with enough original quirks to keep you off balance. As weird as it is, you find yourself wondering - is this world any worse or even better than our own - or just different and shaped by it's own history? There is a good variety of characters and they are all key elements to the tales that unfold. The characters engage you in a way that is ... "dumb and misguided, yet lovable", even when they are doing slightly evil things. They are also definitely "pathetic and weird". I think the author thought that she would see what it was like to put the fate of the world in the hands of the bumbling down-and-out losers that never did anything right and then ask you - the reader - is this world really worth saving? And if it is, could this bunch do it? If fun was the deciding factor in the "Locus" and "Nebula" best of the year awards, this book would grab first place. Wow ... fun and thought provoking. What are you waiting for - go out and buy it and tell your friends about it? To the author ... write more adventures in this world! This is the first Kage Baker book I have read and now she jumps to my "buy on first sighting" list.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: What a great & funny story. Smith who is a retired assasin heads a traveling coach (manned by heavily muscled men who peddle & wind the strings on the caravan)on a supposidly routine trip from the dusy city of Troon to Salesh-By-The-Sea. Only the trip is far from routine, his cargo is far from ordinary & some of his travlers are not quite human.
Half-demons, assasinations, mysterious packages and a gourmet chef are only part of the story.
The characters are so real & funny. I found myself laughing out loud a few times.
Great fantasy book. If you like it try books by Terry Pratchett like Color of Magic & Men at Arms. I found a similarity in humor.
Rating:
Summary: Near-perfect light, funny fantasy-California adventure
Review: ______________________________________
Kage Baker's first venture into book-length fantasy is out, and it's a winner. The setup: three linked novellas, opening with "The Caravan From Troon" (Asimov's, 8-01) [note 1]. The scene: a fantasy-California (more or less). The star: "Smith", an assassin who's trying to change careers. The supporting cast:
Lord Emenwyr, a sickly demigod, half- (or is it a quarter?) demon.
Nurse Balnshik, Emenwyr's minder, 100% demon, but *glamorous*:
"Do you know any other midwife who can also tear apart armored warriors with her bare, er, hands? Lovely *and* versatile". Mrs. Smith (no relation, note 2), two-time winner of the Troon Municipal Bakeoff, caravan cook and, later, co-owner of the Hotel Grandview, Salesh-by-the-Sea. -- and a host of Keymen, Runners, more Smiths, Yendri, bandits, barmen, demons, gods, parents, siblings.... Plus one yellow journalist, recently deceased. And a really, really dumb real-estate developer
The preview:
On the fifth day, they ran aground. Smith had relinquished the helm to Cutt while he downed a stealthy post-breakfast filler of pickled eel. He swore through a full mouth as he felt the first grind under the keel, and then the full-on shuddering slam that meant they were stuck. He scrambled to his feet and ran forward. "The boat has stopped, Child of the Sun," said Cutt. "That's because you ran it onto a sandbank!" Smith told him, fuming. "Didn't you see the damned thing?" "No, Child of the Sun." "What's this?" Lord Ermenwyr ran up on deck, dabbing at his lips with a napkin. "We're slightly tilty, aren't we? And why aren't we moving?"
...
"You have hyacinth jam in your beard, my lord," Willowspear informed Lord Ermenwyr. "Do I?" The lordling flicked it away hastily. "Imagine that. Are we in trouble, Smith?" "Could be worse," Smith admitted grumpily. He looked across at the opposite bank. "We can throw a cable around that tree trunk and warp ourselves off. She's got a shallow draft." "Capital." Lord Ermenwyr clapped once, authoritatively. "Boys! Hop to it and warp yourselves." The inspiration:
"The author would be remiss in not thanking the shades of Thorne Smith, Fritz Leiber, L. Sprague De Camp and Noel Coward for their inspiration; but primarily this world owes its existence to stories made up in preliterate childhood, when the author peered at Maxfield Parrish's fantasy illustrations and tried to imagine what they represented..." P>I should add that ANVIL reads something like a Pratchett novel, if Pterry were a native Californian and had a Vancian knack for lush description. The wide-screen plot and wiseass characters are Baker originals. Not to mention Lord Ermenwyr's verbal-abuse death-duel.... Do give the book a chance to get moving, as the introduction is largely scene-setting, and it's a bit slow-moving. And the episodic, "fix-up" structure has annoyed some readers (not me). Otherwise, it's a near-perfect light fantasy: cinematic, witty, funny, amiable, rambling, baroque, romantic, and fun. If you've liked earlier Kage Baker books, what are you waiting for? And if you haven't tried her yet, ANVIL would be a fine place to start -- especially if you prefer fantasy to SF. Happy reading!
Pete Tillman
_________
Note 1.) The rest of the book is first published here. Note 2.) -- and at least five other minor, unrelated characters named Smith, all distinct. A bit of an authorial showoff, and a play on Thorne, but a welcome contrast to books with characters who have different names but all sound alike...
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