Amanda Downum

Amanda was born in Virginia, and has since then spent time in Indonesia, Micronesia, Missouri, and Arizona, with brief layovers in California and Colorado. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a BA in English Literature, a minor in German, and a Technical Writing certification.

The Drowning City Review

The Drowning City
the first book of the Necromancer Chronicles is Amanda Downum’s debut release from Orbit books. Right from the start this book seems to promise something special. The sleek and dark cover just calls to you from the shelf with the promise of eastern mystery; this is not your safe well trodden medieval fantasy.

The story itself is set in the tropical city port of Symir, located on the border between the expansionist Assari Empire and the northern Kingdom of Selafai.
“Symir: The Drowning City. Home to exiles and expatriates, pirates and smugglers. And violent revolutionaries who will stop at nothing to overthrow the corrupt Imperial government.”
And its here we meet our main protagonist Isyllt Iskaldur, Necromancer and Spy accompanied by her mercenary body guard Adam. She is tasked to bring chaos and rebellion to the island in order to bring a halt to the Empires long feared invasion.

The imagery used throughout this story is amazingly detailed and rich, Symir is a dank and dangerous place crisscrossed by canals infested by the flesh eating Nahk who are only just kept at bay by wards and charms, the inhabitants themselves are divided by political allegiance, social status and family clan. The resistance is divided into two camps, fighting each other as much as the Empire. Even the cities restless dead take sides or are bound and forced to obey there masters will.

The problem at the heart of this work however is that the characters never really seem to work in the setting, almost as if the cast from a soup had somehow managed to get onto the set of a Cameron blockbuster. Which is an unfortunate as the whole tale hinges on the choices people make due to honour, duty or love and for that it needed much stronger characterisation? If you can get past this “the drowning City” has it all, assassins, rebels, ghosts, zombies, a volcano all wrapped up in a luscious backdrop.

Amanda Downum is definitely an author to keep an eye on in the future as she has a true talent that shines throughout this book; I just got the feeling that this was not exactly the book she was thinking of when she started. But hey, I could be wrong.

I would: Loan this from a library, and if you like it buy the set once it’s finished.

Reading this Week

Reading now.
Next By Michael Crichton

So far a little slow.

The Officer's Prey: A Quentin Margont Investigation
By Armand Cabasson

My first book by this author and so far so good.

Just Finished

The Drowning City
By Amanda Downum

A very good read if not as dark as you would expect. Hope to finish a review by midweek

UNDER THE DOME

Under the Dome

On a seemingly normal, fall day in Chester's Mills, Maine, the town is mysteriously and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when--or if--it will go away.
King returns home with a bang in his latest masterpiece

Stephen King

Stephen King is the bestselling author of more than forty books. He lives with his wife, the novelist Tabitha King, in Bangor, Maine.

8th Confession

Few people are interested when a local preacher, is found brutally executed. Reporter Cindy Thomas, is fascinated by his story. He was loved by so many – who would want to kill him? Could the down-at-the-heels Good Samaritan have been hiding a deadly secret?

When a rock star, a fashion designer, a software tycoon and a millionaire heiress are all murdered in mysterious circumstances, Detective Lindsay Boxer is quickly assigned to the high-profile investigation.

Both Lindsay and Cindy need the help of their fellow members of the Women’s Murder Club to crack these complicated cases; but as tensions run high, will the friends be strong enough to stick together, or will the strain tear them apart?

368 pages

James Patterson

James Patterson is one of the best-known and biggest selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the bestselling series of the past decade: the Women’s Murder Club, the Alex Cross novels and Maximum Ride, and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand alone thrillers. He has won an Edgar award, the mystery world’s highest honour. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.