The Burning Shore

Rating:
Summary: Premature Publication?
Review: The Burning Shore is about Florin d'Artaud, a Brettonian thief and con man who runs card games to earn enough money to pay off his debts. When he decides that the water is too hot for him to keep living this life, he and his "manservant" decide to flee. Where to go, they wonder. And just when they think there are no options, ta da!... the solution falls right in their laps when an old friend pops up out of nowhere and invites them to join him on an expedition to the jungles of far away Lustria.

And after this, it's one silly plot construct after another, as Florin and his "manservant" get out from under the thumb of their bosses with relative ease, con their way onto one of the ships, where Florin manages to land a job as a captain to a group of mercenaries by telling one of the most bogus battle stories I've ever heard. And to make matters worst, his friend is supposed to be keeping an eye on him, but for some inexplicable reason, they're put on different ships. Give me a break!

I won't go on with more illogical elements, but needless to say, there are many more. And that's not all...

There are several illegal Point-of-View shifts, where the author jumps from one viewpoint to another in sequential paragraphs. I've never seen so many in one book. All the authors and editors I've ever talked to say this is a definite no-no, so I wonder just how much time was spent on this novel before it was published. It's a shame, because most warhammer novels are much tighter than this. Admittedly, this is the author's first book, but there's no excuse for some of its problems.

It's only saving grace is that, despite its POV problems, the author's style is relatively simple and easy to read, and that's a good thing. It doesn't take long to get through.

I can only recommend this one to those who MUST read a book about lizardmen and Lustria. Otherwise, there are far better warhammer novels out there.