Jen Williams

There are some tall stories about the caverns beneath the Citadel - about magic and mages and monsters and gods. Wydrin of Crosshaven has heard them all, but she's spent long enough trawling caverns and taverns with her companion Sir Sebastian to learn that there's no money to be made in chasing rumours. But then a crippled nobleman with a dead man's name offers them a job: exploring the Citadel's darkest depths. It sounds like just another quest with gold and adventure ...if they're lucky, they might even have a tale of their own to tell once it's over. These reckless adventurers will soon learn that sometimes there is truth in rumour. Sometimes a story can save your life. File Under: Fantasy [ Beware of the Gods | Dungeon Crawlers | The Brood Rises | Prince of Wounds ] From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Copper Promise

Jennifer Williams

There are some tall stories about the caverns beneath the Citadel - about magic and mages and monsters and gods. Wydrin of Crosshaven has heard them all, but she's spent long enough trawling caverns and taverns with her companion Sir Sebastian to learn that there's no money to be made in chasing rumours. But then a crippled nobleman with a dead man's name offers them a job: exploring the Citadel's darkest depths. It sounds like just another quest with gold and adventure ... if they're lucky, they might even have a tale of their own to tell once it's over. These reckless adventurers will soon learn that sometimes there is truth in rumour. Sometimes a story can save your life.

Colleen

4 Stars
 
The Copper Promise is an exciting Sword and Sorcery adventure. What starts out as a straightforward quest for riches quickly goes awry when a trio of adventurers releases something ancient and deadly. 

Making up this trio is Aaron Firth, a surly young lord seeking revenge for the murder of his family. He hires Wydrin (aka The Copper Cat), a tumultuous knife-happy daughter of a pirate, and Sir Sebastian Caverson, a disposed knight with his own past to haunt him. I enjoyed their characters although it was hard to tell what was going on initially. A little more world-building up front would have been helpful. And I really wish there had been a map included.

There is a lot going on in The Copper Promise. It’s an intriguing story full of magic, adventure, treasure, mages, mercenaries, knights, demons, magical artifacts, gods, and monsters. And maybe it was a bit distracting at times. All of that stuff was certainly exciting, but it was also a bit dizzying. Rather than the more common format of having different threads gradually weave together as the story moves along, characters started out together then split apart. I didn’t find out until after I finished the book, but apparently this was originally published as a series of novellas. I think that accounts for the segmented feeling of the story. It’s split into four parts, and even within those parts there are a lot of little mini adventures/quests. They were all thrilling in and of themselves, but eventually the overall number of small, tangential events started to feel like fetch quests. Unfortunately, so much time was spent on the side quests that the grand finale felt rushed. I wish the overarching plot had been stronger and more focused rather than slinging rapidly from one mini quest to the next. I also think it would have helped the character development if there had been breathing room between the quests. But the plot was fast-paced and exciting overall.

Don’t get me wrong, I still had a great time reading The Copper Promise! It had that enthralling spirit of adventure that’s kind of hard to find lately. So many Fantasy novels try way too hard and it gets monotonous after a while. So if you like traditional, quest-based Sword and Sorcery novels, then check out The Copper Promise!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Sarah Escorsa

🐉 This Ain’t ‘Bout No Silly Cat It’s ‘Bout A Bloody Shrimpin’ Dragon Buddy Read with my Ever-Ungrateful MacHalo Daughters and Mascot Son 🐉

Actual rating: 3.36547896548963 stars. 
  And a half.


Jen Williams. Thou art my Winnowing Flame goddess ergo I 💕lurves💕 thee forever after and stuff. That being said (instant Crustacean-to-English translation: uh-oh). Okay. No. Wait. You know what? I was going to unleash the Not-So-Nice-Stuff (NSNS™) first, but in the spirit of all disgusting things revoltingly Chritsmassy to come, I shall be uncharacteristically nice and charitable and considerate and stuff, and start with the Why-That-Was-Pretty-Fishing-Awesome-Indeed-Stuff (WTWPFAIS™) instead.



Sorry, this is what happens when I try to grow a heart and be kind, benevolent and all those horrible things that I am not. I’m afraid it cannot be helped. Allergic reaction and all that.

So. The WTWPFA™. (Yes, it seems I’ve decided to cut the crap most dramatically today. Lucky you and stuff.) Here goes:

1) Creatively creative ideas galore. Which was to be expected. I mean, this is Jen Williams, after all. So QED and stuff.

2) The Bookish Horde of Doom. I can’t really say much about them because spoiler spoiler spoiler, BUT. They are the yummiest characters in this book. Because I said so.
  “We are ruin. We are your children.”
Yes, you are, my babies! And daddy loves you! Oops, sorry, I’m afraid I tend to get carried away when my scrumptiously evil daughters are around. They have somewhat homicidal personalities, you see, and therefore remind me of my other murderous children (you know, the delightfully vicious ones with the serrated pincers?). Anyway, the Bookish Horde of Doom. They are merciless. They are green, they have scales, they have pointy teeth. Ergo, they are sexy as fish. Also, they have a thing for books and works. And that, my Comely Decapods, is bloody shrimping amazing indeed. And that, my Tiny Arthropods, means that they should have been the stars of this book. But they weren’t. Which is slightly unacceptable and a little outrageous, methinks

3) The coolest, most vindictive mini mummies ever. Need I say more? Didn’t think so.

4) Severed limbs aplenty (view spoiler)[
  
 (hide spoiler)].

5) The cutest little girl I have ever meet in the entirety of my entire life. (Her eating habits are a little unusual for a kid her age, but she hasn’t yet eradicated gluten and lactose from her diet so there’s hope for her yet.)

6) Cursed islands, pirates, demon worshipers, lethal lizards (well lethal for some people’s toes, anyway) and griffins. And stuff.

7) A delicious cast of secondary characters that is nearly almost more delicious than the MCs themselves (which isn’t that difficult, really).



No, this is NOT the Copper Cat this series was named after. In case you were wondering.

Now. The NSNS™ (don’t remember what it stands for? That’s so sad):

1) This book is really four novellas hastily put together. And it shows. Oh, how it shows. The narrative is as disjointed as a bipolar barnacle, with each novella—sorry I meant to say “part”—being pretty independent from the others and stuff. Which doesn’t work that well and stuff. Nope nope nope it doesn’t.

2) Underdeveloped everything. Yes, there are really great, fresh ideas here: interesting characters, intriguing world, original-ish (yes, that is a word) magic system. The problem is, they never get beyond the idea stage. It kinda sorta feels like Williams had all these cool concepts swimming in her brilliant little head but didn’t really know how they worked or what to do with them. So you get a clunky, flat world that is full of potential but still at the embryonic stage. (Oh my, what big words I use today.)

3) The main characters. Sigh. I’m afraid they too suffer from acute Underdevelopeditis. (What? You’ve never heard of it? Strange. It’s quite the deadly disease, you know. It’s affected millions of unsuspecting characters already. The Black Death was a complete joke compare to it, from what I’ve heard.) The sad thing is, I actually like all three MCs but they’re just not not not…You know, they’re just not and stuff. There’s great potential there but they lack complexity, and you never get to understand who they really are or what motivates them. Williams never really bothers to explore their personalities and you’re left with Super Extra Sketchy Characters (SES™) with little depth. This is particularly true of Wyd, the heroine, which sucks a teensy little bit considering she’s, um, you know, the bloody shrimping heroine and Copper Cat of little infamy. *waves at her new boyfriend Jojo Cabal* Which takes us too…

4) The Big Kitty Bake Off Rip-Off.



Yes, it is very sad but it is very true, our Slightly Flat Heroine of the Feline Moniker (SFHotFM™) has as much in common with cats as this lovely ancient lady up there ↑↑ Which is to say, pretty much nothing, zilch and also nada. It’s all lame silly, pointless kitty analogies that add nothing to the character/plot/story/whatever/choose all that apply: Wyd is lazy as a cat *eyeroll*, independent as any self-respecting feline *eyerolling intensifies*, and her beloved knives are like cat claws *loses an eyeball* Yay, all hail the Copper Cat and stuff! Might as well have called Wyd the Copper Shrimp, really. I mean, it is a truth universally acknowledged that all shrimps are lazy, independent and that their pincers are like kitty claws. Ha.
5) Too much unnecessary cat foolishness, not nearly enough blood-thirsty dragon yumminess. I rest in my case and stuff.

So. Long crappy non-review short: no, this book isn’t bad. Some people even fangirl/boy/whatever about it. But that’s only because they read it wrong before The Winnowing Flame of Luscious Scrumptiousness was published. It’s an enjoyable enough story, yes, but it lacks the sheer gloriousness and utter magnificence of my girlfriend Vintage and my boyfriend Tormalind and my girlfriend Noon’s splendiferous adventures. QED and stuff.

➽ And the moral of this Jen Williams You Might Not Like Me Very Much Right Now But I Still 💕 Lurves 💕 You So Yay And Stuff Crappy Non Review (JWYMNLMVMRNBISLYSYADCNR™) is: I want to be called Toast when I grow up. Most awesomely ruthless name ever, if you ask me.

· Book 2: The Iron Ghost - on the Back Burner of Doom (BBoD™)
· Book 3: The Silver Tide - to be read when my great grandchildren have great grandchildren



[Pre-review nonsense]

This ain't no gloriously scrumptious Winnowing Flame, my Little Barnacles.



Yeah, I'm with you on that one, Mrs B. By the way, my dear, how are your poor, poor nerves handling this slightly dispiriting experience? Mine are doing better than expected, surprisingly enough. Okay, so they weren't feeling so good earlier, but a very dear Scottish friend payed them a visit a little while ago, and it kinda sorta helped. My poor nerves really have the coolest liquid friends ever and stuff.



➽ Full This Had The Potential To Be Somewhat Awesome Not As Stupendeliciously Amazing As The Yummilicious Winnowing Flame Of Yumminess Obviously But Still Somewhat Awesome It Could Have Been Only That It Bloody Shrimping Wasn't Sob Sob Sob Crappy Non Review (THTPTBSANASAATYWFOYBSSAICHBOTIBSWSSSCNR™) to come.

Michelle Lilholm Bennett

Before I started reading this book, I read a few reviews on it. I cannot agree with them. I got really disappointed, especially after reading a few blog posts from Jennifer Williams, which are quite well written.

The only reason to why I finished the book is that it is short and will count towards my goal for books read this year. 
I didn't really get any proper feelings for the characters, as they are very superficial (and especially Wydrin got on my nerves quite quickly). There are quite a few plot holes. 
And the fact that I could figure out what would happen before it did most of the time didn't leave any room for surprises. 

I'm definitely not gonna read this book again.

The Copper Promise

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