I just finished Ken Scholes’s first novel, Lamentation.  This book has been getting a lot of buzz, and so I asked Ken for a copy.  It actually took awhile, since the copies have been going out to regular reviewers (I don’t review; I recommmend what I like, partly as a way to show what a writer is reading).  Well, I loved Lamentation. 

Ken has built us a new and fascinating future world, mostly fantasy with a salting of sf ideas.  The world is strong and sure and interesting, the characters full of great soul faced with grave challenge.   It’s a smart world with a smart plot, and Ken trusts his readers to follow him through a  breathless string of events.  He wields his words with the power of swords, and the book feels stronger than a first novel has any right to be. 

Even though I have an advanced reading copy, I went off and pre-ordered a hardcover so I’ll have a first edition.  Maybe I’ll even get a second one for pleasure reading and possible passing on.  This will be a series worth collecting. 

Lamentation is coming out in February, 2009 from Tor Books, and can be pre-ordered as a book and in audio.   And if you can’t wait, well, his short story collection is out, too.  I recommended that last month.