One of my favorite things about fantasy series is seeing Book 1 promise a world far larger than what we see between its covers–hint at and tease mysteries and powers and depths and complexities that you as the reader absolutely know are out there if only the author would show us–and then for Book 2 to deliver on that promise. J.T. Greathouse pulls this feat off in Pact and Pattern, and then some.
The rich fantasy empire set up in THE HAND OF THE SUN KING is widened, but more importantly, our view of it changes. Unlike the first book, in GARDEN OF EMPIRE, we get more points of view than simply Alder/Foolish Cur’s. For a book that is inherently about empire and the colonized/conquered populations of empire struggling for place within a system that both exploits and erases them, this perspective shift is incredibly valuable, and incredibly rewarding.
The fantasy itself, the adventure of learning the mysteries of a magic system and cosmology far more intricate than it appears on the surface, pays off as well. By the end of Book 2, we not only see Alder/Foolish Cur’s continuing walk along the pathway he began to trod in Book 1 (with both predictable and unpredictable complications that are just <chef’s kiss>), we are treated to the reverberations of the struggle within the empire as they ripple through so many people we learned about in Book 1 and new people as well.
The story is developed with a wonderful complexity, and as always the prose is luscious. J.T. Greathouse is one of the most effective prose artists that I’ve read in SFF in a long time. He threads the needle between rich, complex, and vivid prose without making the effort seem like an exercise in indulging oneself for the purpose of looking good in an MFA salon. His prose is *readable* and gorgeous all at once, and perhaps it’s the former execution of the latter that’s most impressive.
Do yourself a favor and do not miss this one. Or use this as the impulse to read THE HAND OF THE SUN KING, and absolutely keep J.T. Greathouse on your radar as his career continues.
Buy it from your local indie, or,
Jon Ficke Writer 