The Year of the Knife
G.D. Penman
Published by: Meerkat Press
Publication date: November 28, 2017
Genres: Adult, Thriller, Urban Fantasy
Agent -Sully- Sullivan is one of the top cops in the Imperial Bureau of Investigation. A veteran witch of the British Empire who isn’t afraid to use her magical skills to crack a case. But Sully might need more than a good education and raw power to stop the string of grisly murders that have been springing up across the American Colonies. Every one of them marked by the same chilling calling card, a warning in the form of a legion of voices screaming out through the killers’ mouths: -It IS tHe YEAr oF the KNife.-
Sully’s investigation will drag her away from the comforts of home in New Amsterdam, the beautiful but useless hyacinth macaw that used to be her boss, and the loving arms of her undead girlfriend, in a thrilling race against time, demonic forces and a shadowy conspiracy that will do anything to keep its hold on power and ensure that Sully takes their secrets to her grave, as soon as possible.
G.D. Penman’s imaginative The Year of the Knife is a fun, fast-paced urban fantasy mystery with an engaging set of characters, most notably Agent Sully of the Imperial Bureau of Investigation.
Top
10 Heroes from Literature
I am not sure that any character that I
write could correctly be called a hero, and that carries over into a lot of the
books that I read too. My favourite stories have a bit of moral complexity to
them, and what you or I might consider heroic now is going to differ massively
from the opinions of those writing literature even a few decades back. Politics
are going to get involved and that just ends in screaming and hair pulling.
To make matters worse, my favourite character in any book is almost inevitably going to be the villain… so I am going to start off with my favourite protagonists from literature and see how it goes from there.
To make matters worse, my favourite character in any book is almost inevitably going to be the villain… so I am going to start off with my favourite protagonists from literature and see how it goes from there.
Lilith
Iyapo
Right off the bat we are into the morally grey areas; Lilith is incredibly conflicted throughout the entire Xenogenesis Trilogy because she simultaneously loathes the purpose of the invading Oankali, while also loving individual members of that species and, through her love empowering them to wipe out humanity’s culture and uniqueness forever.
Right off the bat we are into the morally grey areas; Lilith is incredibly conflicted throughout the entire Xenogenesis Trilogy because she simultaneously loathes the purpose of the invading Oankali, while also loving individual members of that species and, through her love empowering them to wipe out humanity’s culture and uniqueness forever.
Logen
Ninefingers
Logen himself seems to be a more or less moral and decent character, but unfortunately he carries his berserk alternate personality “The Bloody Nine” along for the ride through all of the First Law books.
Logen himself seems to be a more or less moral and decent character, but unfortunately he carries his berserk alternate personality “The Bloody Nine” along for the ride through all of the First Law books.
Merricat
Blackwood
This young lady is probably the least heroic of all the protagonists on this list. Over the course of We Have Always Lived In The Castle, we get to experience the terrible internal strains that she is struggling with, alongside the world that she perceives around her, but she certainly does some things that can’t be called heroic, despite her struggles.
This young lady is probably the least heroic of all the protagonists on this list. Over the course of We Have Always Lived In The Castle, we get to experience the terrible internal strains that she is struggling with, alongside the world that she perceives around her, but she certainly does some things that can’t be called heroic, despite her struggles.
Carlos
Delacruz
Carlos is the coolest dead man that you are ever going to meet, blending a profound wisdom with a taste for the finer things in life and passions that even the end of his life couldn’t abate. Of all the characters on this list, the star of the Bone Street Rumba books is the only one who wouldn’t be insufferable to hang out with for a long period of time.
Carlos is the coolest dead man that you are ever going to meet, blending a profound wisdom with a taste for the finer things in life and passions that even the end of his life couldn’t abate. Of all the characters on this list, the star of the Bone Street Rumba books is the only one who wouldn’t be insufferable to hang out with for a long period of time.
Lestat
DeLioncourt
This character is a complete and under arsehole, but because almost every story in the Vampire Chronicles is written from his perspective, he gets the opportunity to paint his villainous behaviour in a more flattering light.
This character is a complete and under arsehole, but because almost every story in the Vampire Chronicles is written from his perspective, he gets the opportunity to paint his villainous behaviour in a more flattering light.
Kvothe
On the other end of the spectrum is our other unreliable narrator Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles, who is widely held up as a mythologically wonderful character within that world, yet tells his story in such a way that you can’t help but feel sympathy for his struggles.
On the other end of the spectrum is our other unreliable narrator Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles, who is widely held up as a mythologically wonderful character within that world, yet tells his story in such a way that you can’t help but feel sympathy for his struggles.
Anita
Blake
Anita is an interesting example of a hero because she has a measuring stick for evil throughout her stories which she is able to check herself against. As a religious character in a world where the love of her god can literally protect her from the monsters she fights, she can always just whip out her crucifix and make sure that her moral compass is still pointing straight despite the fact that she is murdering and torturing people to get her way.
Anita is an interesting example of a hero because she has a measuring stick for evil throughout her stories which she is able to check herself against. As a religious character in a world where the love of her god can literally protect her from the monsters she fights, she can always just whip out her crucifix and make sure that her moral compass is still pointing straight despite the fact that she is murdering and torturing people to get her way.
Granny
Weatherwax
The leader of the witches in Discworld was always firmly on the side of heroism while simultaneously being incredibly annoyed about the fact that she has had to spend her entire life being “the good one” and not getting to experience the joys of being a wicked witch. Just a few minutes experiencing her philosophy is usually enough to make readers a convert.
The leader of the witches in Discworld was always firmly on the side of heroism while simultaneously being incredibly annoyed about the fact that she has had to spend her entire life being “the good one” and not getting to experience the joys of being a wicked witch. Just a few minutes experiencing her philosophy is usually enough to make readers a convert.
Agnieszka
Uprooted is an amazing fairy tale deconstruction, but at the heart of it is the genuinely heroic Agnieszka, who is willing to sacrifice literally everything for others. The fact that she does not jump to resolving every problem with power makes her more heroic than about half the people on this list without even trying.
Essun
While the other women in The Fifth Season may be more active, Essun is the one who has the clearest vision and purpose, so I guess she climbs on top of that pile of heroes to get all the praise heaped on her. The world she inhabits is actively hostile, and she responds to it as such, but she doesn’t let it make her cruel or blind to the good things, which is a whole other kind of heroism.
Uprooted is an amazing fairy tale deconstruction, but at the heart of it is the genuinely heroic Agnieszka, who is willing to sacrifice literally everything for others. The fact that she does not jump to resolving every problem with power makes her more heroic than about half the people on this list without even trying.
Essun
While the other women in The Fifth Season may be more active, Essun is the one who has the clearest vision and purpose, so I guess she climbs on top of that pile of heroes to get all the praise heaped on her. The world she inhabits is actively hostile, and she responds to it as such, but she doesn’t let it make her cruel or blind to the good things, which is a whole other kind of heroism.
Author Bio:
G D Penman writes Speculative Fiction. He lives in Scotland with his partner and children, some of whom are human. He is a firm believer in the axiom that any story is made better by dragons. His beard has won an award. If you have ever read a story with Kaiju and queer people, it was probably one of his. In those few precious moments that he isn’t parenting or writing he likes to watch cartoons, play video and tabletop games, read more books than are entirely feasible and continue his quest to eat the flesh of every living species.
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3 comments:
Thanks for hosting today, Pam! :)
Sounds good to me. Thanks for hosting.
Your welcome. This book sounds interesting and love the cover very eye catching
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