I'm taking LibraryThing's 50 Book Reading Challenge for 2010. This is my 14th read of the 50.

There are six books in the King's Blades series. They are:

1. The Gilded Chain
2. Lord of the Fire Lands
3. Sky of Swords
4. Paragon Lost (review forthcoming)
5. Impossible Odds (review forthcoming)
6. Jaguar Knights (review forthcoming)
   

The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan is the first in his six book King's Blade series. While the story in each novel takes places in the same world, each work stands alone as a tale unto itself. This first book tells the story of Durendal, a waif with little future who is recruited to become a King's Blade, a swashbuckling swordsman bound by magic to serve either the king or whoever the king so chooses.

The enchantment is important as it defines the identities of the Blades as a whole. It goes beyond mere allegiance as each Blade is bound magically to protect, serve, and always hold their ward's safety and life in the highest regard. Blades do not sleep, they can stomach only one glass of wine when on duty, and they look upon everyone with suspicion or at least as a potential threat. They do not do this willingly; the enchantment makes them. While there is great loss of freedom in choosing to serve as a King's Blade, it is also considered the highest honor.

Durendal is, of course, special. It is a common practice for each Blade to take the name of a previous Blade and, in doing so, aspire to live up to the previous Blade's deeds. There is one name, Durendal, that none will take for the bar was set too high when that first Durendal served. Not so for our young hero as he claims the name for himself and not only meets the challenge but far exceeds it. What begins as a bit of a predictable tale, with Durendal bound to a nothing lordling, does an about face when that lordling is killed early on. The tale picks up from there, introducing a completely different tale from what one expected based on the book's summary. This works out for the best, for Durendal is sent to learn the whereabouts of a missing Blade and to unravel the mystery of a gladiatorial arena where the gladiators cannot be killed.

I've been reading a bit of Duncan's work lately, namely The Alchemist series of Venetian fantasy/mysteries, which is one of his more recent works. The Gilded Chain goes back a bit to 1998. It's interesting to note the differences in style between this book and Duncan's more recent novels. I can see signs of maturation in both the author's ability to tell a tale and in his writing chops. Regardless, The Gilded Chain is an excellently written work, with a good balance of endearing characters, plot intrigue, adventure, and even a bit of mystery. Duncan does an excellent job of bringing the overall story full circle with a bit of a twist ending that I did not see coming.

The Gilded Chain is a fun read and I'm looking forward to picking up the next book in the series.

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Robert A. Heinlein was one of the "grand-daddy's" of science fiction. He lived from 1907 to 1988. In that time, he had a prolific writing career, with one of his most well-known works being Starship Troopers.

When someone like Heinlein gives writing advice, one should listen. While many others have called out these rules, I thought I'd list them here for my own benefit if nothing else. Here they are.

1.) You must write.

I'm reminded of similar advice given by Mur Lafferty of the I Should Be Writing podcast. Her first rule is "Butt in chair." It's as simple as that. Getting your butt in the chair is the first step to writing. Another way to look at it is that you must write if you want to be a writer.

2.) You must finish what you write.

If you don't, you're wasting time and effort. Sure, some writing is practice. The general rule on first novels is to shove it in a drawer and forget about it; most first novels are crap, so consider it practice and move on to the next one. However, if you never finish that first novel you'll never get to the second. It's not done until it's done, and you can't do anything with it until you've finished it.

3.) You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.

This one is tough. I aspire to greatness. You probably do, too. My editing process involves several passes of the entire novel, then a chapter-by-chapter review. I hammer away at each and every chapter for as long as it takes. I risk exhaustion with this process, but it's what works for me. But at some point you have say, "I'm done", and resist all further temptations to re-write any more. If you think about it, a piece of writing is never really "done". There's always something to change or add or remove. But if you aspire to becoming a professional writer, then at some point you have to get your writing in front of someone who will pay you for it. That's not going to happen if you enter into a never ending rewrite cycle.

4.) You must put the work on the market.

You have to get your writing in front of someone who will pay you for it. Don't fear rejection. Embrace it and make yourself stronger from it. Or something like that. Bottom line: when you finish something, send it out.

5.) You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

Once something is finished, send it out. If (or when) it comes back rejected, already have your next destination for it in mind. Only when all possible outlets have been exhausted should you consider stuffing it into a drawer or, if you're sure it's of high quality and representative of the kind of work you want people to read, put it on your web site or blog as a freebie.

Those are Heinlein's Rules of Writing. Robert J. Sawyer, author of Flash Forward and many other science fiction novels, adds a sixth rule to Heinlein's five:

6.) Start Working on Something Else

Once something is shipped, start working on the next story or novel. Not always easy, but it is essential to always have something in the pipeline. You might even find yourself juggling multiple, simultaneous projects. Some writers do this to keep from getting "stuck" when working on just a single project. The change in story or characters can really help keep the writing process flowing.

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One of the things I often do as I'm reading a novel or short story is keep track of words whose definitions I do not know or that I find interesting. Either way, these interesting words are ones I feel might be of use in my own writing. That, and it's good to expand one's vocabulary every once in a while.

Read my review of Crystal Rain. 

cleat: a fastener (usually with two projecting horns) around which a rope can be secured

cordon: cord or ribbon worn as an insignia of honor or rank

gimbal: a pivoted ring mounted at right angles to one or two others to ensure that something such as a ship's compass always remains horizontal

sextant: a measuring instrument for measuring the angular distance between celestial objects

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Now that I own an eReader and thus a viable way to read eBooks without having to print them, I plan to read and review each of the featured Tor.com giveaways. This is the sixth of those reviews.

Also, I'm taking LibraryThing's 50 Book Reading Challenge for 2010. This is my 13th read of the 50.

Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell is the first novel of Buckell's set in his Caribbean-style sci-fi world. Buckell himself is a native of that region of the world, though he now resides in landlocked Ohio. You can follow the author on his blog. Buckell contributed a Pepper story to the Seeds of Change anthology, of which I received an advanced reader copy and reviewed. I also previously reviewed Sly Mongoose, which is the third novel (and I believe last as the publisher decided to not move forward with anymore novels set in this world) in Buckell's Caribbean sci-fi series.

Events in Crystal Rain are such that Caribbean natives come to a far-off world to colonize and are then trapped there when the wormhole that they arrived through is closed. It's either that or face annihilation from an alien enemy. The mechanism which closes the wormhole also renders inert most technology, so the world is set back into a traditional Caribbean way of life, though there are elements of steampunk in the form of steam-powered watercraft and airships.

Much of the story told in Crystal Rain revolves around John deBrun, a man who arrived on the planet under mysterious circumstances and who doesn't remember anything prior to his arrival. That was some twenty years ago. As the novel opens, another stranger to this world arrives, a cyborg named Pepper. Genetically modified to fight the ancient alien enemy which forced them to close the wormhole those hundreds of years ago, Pepper has come looking for John. John soon learns that Pepper holds the key to his past, and that their destinies are woven together whether John deBrun likes it or not.

Crystal Rain is an enjoyable read, but I couldn't help but feel it was missing something. The character of John deBrun is hard to pin down; he's interesting, but ultimately feels flat. The same goes for many of the other characters with the exception of Pepper who was the most interesting of all. Sadly, the novel is really about John, though Pepper gets his fair share of narration.

The title of the novel seemed a bit misplaced to me. It refers to snow, which the people of the novel experience only when an expedition ventures far north. Perhaps there is some deeper meaning here which I missed.

Overall, a good read, but I'm not overly compelled to go read Ragamuffin, the next in the series. I did, however, enjoy reading Sly Mongoose, which is a story that centers around Pepper.

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