This book was immediately fascinating because many of the main characters are gay men.  I haven't read much of -- oh, wait, come to think of it, none -- of that perspective in any of the fantasy books I've read.  In science fiction, my only recollection of specifically gay male characters are of the vile Duke from Dune and Madrid's transgendered lover in When Gravity Falls.  It's like there is a conspiracy in genre literature to erase variations in sexuality...

I will have to think on this more.

The Fall of The Kings has interesting characters, evocative writing, a lush and gritty setting, and a see-the-plot-several-miles from-the-horizon: it's the last part, the plodding and constant prophetic hints of where the plot is going, the wait-for-it!-wait-for-it! that convinced me to stop reading the book half way through.  (That alone always gives me that annoyed "Here, hold the biscuit on your nose until I say it's okay" feeling that must make the most domesticated of dogs crave to rend human flesh.)

As that annoyance grew, it gave time for other concerns for the story to rise: idiosyncrasies.  For instance, if this is a fantasy world of its own, where are they getting chocolate from?  They have public libraries where you can check out books?  Gah.  I may still finish this book though, when I'm in the mood for it.

Still, a very interesting lessons for writers are here: Not saying something says a great deal, sometimes in very powerful ways. 

It took me three years to read "100 Great Science Fiction Books."  I think it is going to take 6 or 7 years at the least to do the Fantasy version of this list because (1) I work more, (2) fantasy books are noticeably longer than science fiction books, especially early thin science fiction books, and (3) I keep making a detour here and there for a series.

I just read four books in a row by this one author: Newton's Cannon, A Calculus of Angels, Empire of Unreason, and The Shadows of God.  I had to.

I got lured into this steampunkish, alchemical early 18th century tale featuring Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, Louis the 14th, and many of their historical friends and enemies -- and as you can guess from the front end of this sentence -- the first two books were riveting and amazing and demanded I read more -- and the final two were not nearly so enthralling for me.

There was so much that was wonderful about these stories: plot-twisty and fascinating, fantastical logic and inventions, with beautiful writing besides, and I think that is part of what drives my disappointment, because I really hungered for more of that in the last books.  But in the last two books, there were many, many battles, and I'm not a reader of war stories. (How many times can someone's head pop, anyway?)

So, I don't know for sure that there was anything wrong with the writing or the plot twists toward the end, or if the premise and style had started to wear thin on me after four books, but I can say very clever and interesting characters ended up (a) saving the world, (b) in a gigantic battle of immense proportions, and (c) everyone rushed into an ending where they lived pretty happily ever after in yet another stock-fantasy ending regardless of their personalities, with (d) no real deepening or growth of their characters, except marginally, for my favorite, Adrienne.  Adrienne was consistently great.

Again, important writing lessons.  There is a price for all action, one paid before, and one paid after. You might, might be aware of the first price, or at some point become aware of what you have paid for the privilege of making your own mistakes.  But there is no way you can prepare yourself for the second, the price you pay for what you have done.  I think this is what most endings -- including my own -- are missing.

That second price... that second price...

                And Mr. Keyes has written other books, which are probably equally clever...