This week’s book was the Anvil of the World (Fantasy 350 pages) by Kage Baker. I’d have to say that out of all the books that I’ve read so far this year, this is my favorite.
I found the world-building and imagination of this book absolutely fabulous. In fact, this may actually be a steam punk story, considering it has elements of both fantasy and engineering. Travellers use some sort of steam-engine trains to travel across the land and the story contained demons, people of the forest, humans, and other mystical creatures.
Right from the very start, Smith is a character that I cheered for. When I read the back of the book, I was a little concerned that I would be confused by all the different characters named Smith but the story is so fluid and well-written that I never had any issues figuring out who everyone was.
The cargo transport in the very beginning with the beautiful, decorative eggs was wonderful and I was very impressed with the completely different types of dangers the caravan faced.
Overall, this was a wonderful book, and perhaps I shall add to my review at a later time when I have more time to write. I’m just sorry that it took me so long to read it.
C.A. Jacobs
Thanks for the review. You were so enthusiastic that I decided to get the book out of the library and read it myself. I was very glad that I did.
You might like to know that there are two more books with the same setting: “The House of the Stag” and “The Bird of the River.” I didn’t think “Stag” was quite as good as “Anvil,” but I loved “Bird of the River” and thought it was far and away the best of the three. But I recommend both of them.
Regrettably, Baker died of cancer about three years ago, so there’ll be no more books in the series.