Curtis Craddock
Auteur van An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors
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- 20th century
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- Curtis Craddock is an American author and artist. He has published several books.
Curtis Craddock was born on March 28, 1968, in Houston, Texas, United States. He is a son of Wade and Sandra Craddock.
In 1990 Curtis Craddock received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from New Mexico State University
In 2000 Curtis Craddock published his fist book Sparrow's Flight. His debut novel An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors was released by Tor in August 2017. This novel is about an intelligent heroine and her guardian, a royal musketeer.
A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery (2019) is the second novel in Curtis Craddock's critically-acclaimed high fantasy Risen Kingdoms series, continuing the engrossing tale of courtly intrigue and breathtaking magic, and starring our fiercely intelligent heroine Isabelle des Zephyrs with her loyal musketeer Jean-Claude. In 2020 The Last Uncharted Sky will be published.
Curtis Craddock is best known as the author of An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors. His works received high praise from critics.
Curtis Craddock once told about his influences: "The book I’ve re-read the most times in my life is probably Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. When I was young I read it for the adventure. When I was older I read it for the social commentary. Stylistically the author who’s had the most influence on me is Lois McMaster Bujold. She does characters better than just about anyone, and her stories are always fun. I also draw from Andre Norton, Poul Anderson, CJ Cherryh, Neil Gaiman. Carol Berg, Tony Hillerman, Isaac Asimov, and too many others to mention."
Curtis Craddock is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers.
Father:
Wade Craddock
Mother:
Sandra Craddock
Spouse:
Wendy Figueroa
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The Last Uncharted Sky door Curtis Craddock
Lots of adventure in store as the strange and capable crew of the earlier volumes go on a voyage more dangerous than they can imagine with others racing toward the same and diverse goals. While everyone has challenges to overcome, painful and difficult, the author is not quite so hard on characters and readers as has become epic fantasy norm.
½
Sometimes, for no apparent reason, you put off reading a book and this one falls into that category. Maybe the cover? Maybe the title? Maybe nothing? In any case, I enjoyed the story very much -- and am somewhat in awe of the ins and outs of a complex plot which nonetheless I could follow. That is not a simple thing to do. Although I make that comment as a writer who can barely move people from one room to another. The characters are tolerably good, especially the strong relationship between Jean-Claude and Isabelle. The setting also is entertaining and well described albeit full of unexplained phenomena, but who cares, this is fantasy! Well done, I will continue the series! ****… (meer)
I have started this review in four different ways—incoherent verbal flailing about how good the book is, slightly more coherent flailing about the characters, exhortations to read the book so there’ll be a second one, and demands that you read the book because it’s just that awesome. And I’ve deleted all four because they all fall short.
Craddock absolutely knows his way around a novel. The characters are complex and well-defined even when falling into tropes, the world is rich and different, and the plot doesn’t stop. The first hundred pages alone felt like they could’ve been a whole novel in someone else’s hands and the intrigue was captivating, deliciously twisty, and kept me guessing to the end. There’s adventure and action, horrific villains, a lot of heart and it’s feminist and calls out ableist mindsets!
Seriously, guys… the way Isabelle grows from a timid closet mathematician to a genuine badass, the magic system with shadows and mirror-walking and holy genetics, the French- and Spanish-derived cultures on floating islands, the fact that Jean-Claude reminds me strongly of Sam Vimes, the end results and reasons for the political everything… I do need that second book, I really do.
This is beautifully written, entertaining, epic, captivating, and all-around excellent. Go read it.
Warnings: Muslim-coded people are historical “heathen” invaders only. Use of “swarthy” (to refer to Spanish-coded people). Mind-controlled slaves and associated instances of body horror. Abusive parents. Sexist and ableist characters.
9/10… (meer)
Craddock absolutely knows his way around a novel. The characters are complex and well-defined even when falling into tropes, the world is rich and different, and the plot doesn’t stop. The first hundred pages alone felt like they could’ve been a whole novel in someone else’s hands and the intrigue was captivating, deliciously twisty, and kept me guessing to the end. There’s adventure and action, horrific villains, a lot of heart and it’s feminist and calls out ableist mindsets!
Seriously, guys… the way Isabelle grows from a timid closet mathematician to a genuine badass, the magic system with shadows and mirror-walking and holy genetics, the French- and Spanish-derived cultures on floating islands, the fact that Jean-Claude reminds me strongly of Sam Vimes, the end results and reasons for the political everything… I do need that second book, I really do.
This is beautifully written, entertaining, epic, captivating, and all-around excellent. Go read it.
Warnings: Muslim-coded people are historical “heathen” invaders only. Use of “swarthy” (to refer to Spanish-coded people). Mind-controlled slaves and associated instances of body horror. Abusive parents. Sexist and ableist characters.
9/10… (meer)
I’ve put off writing reviews for too long because it’s a bit hard for me now to articulate what I liked about this book. The characters, definitely! I still like Isabelle a lot and still see a lot of Sam Vimes in Jean-Claude, and the supporting cast has a lot of new and interesting figures in it. Powerful women! A dashing guard! Nasty villains! And more! And by and large they continue to be eminently sensible about how they go about things, which is already refreshing.
I also enjoyed seeing the world expand, getting a better sense of the wider world and the political structures and seeing other magical abilities woven in, though sometimes that all got to be a bit much and detracted from the adventure and escapism of the story. (All of that info gets used and to good effect, though, and I’m interested in seeing how much crops up again in the next book.)
The story itself, the mystery and intrigue, was a little bit more standard. More expected things happen, more character development hits common notes, and I found myself ahead of Isabelle a few times, where in the last book I was right on par, if not a bit behind. That said, there still were moments of shock and thrill and glee and having the rug pulled out from under me, and some proper swashbuckling, and where the first book was largely about Isabelle’s personal journey, this one’s shaking much deeper foundations.
This book was also funnier than the last one, but maybe I’m mis-remembering. There are some really good lines. Really good. There’s more of a sense of vim and adventure too, like Craddock’s let himself have fun with the story instead of writing page-turning intrigue. And honestly, if Craddock’s sequelitis—or middle-of-a-trilogy syndrome, not sure—results in a smidge more infodump, a slightly weaker plot, and a joy in the writing, that’s fine by me. It’s still a strong book and sequel.
To bear in mind: While this book is imo excellent re: feminism, it’s still imperfect re: queer characters and fat jokes. Not ickily so, but there are moments. Also, there’s some reasonably graphic gore and some pretty awful described torture, as well as other similar body-in-peril situations.
8/10… (meer)
I also enjoyed seeing the world expand, getting a better sense of the wider world and the political structures and seeing other magical abilities woven in, though sometimes that all got to be a bit much and detracted from the adventure and escapism of the story. (All of that info gets used and to good effect, though, and I’m interested in seeing how much crops up again in the next book.)
The story itself, the mystery and intrigue, was a little bit more standard. More expected things happen, more character development hits common notes, and I found myself ahead of Isabelle a few times, where in the last book I was right on par, if not a bit behind. That said, there still were moments of shock and thrill and glee and having the rug pulled out from under me, and some proper swashbuckling, and where the first book was largely about Isabelle’s personal journey, this one’s shaking much deeper foundations.
This book was also funnier than the last one, but maybe I’m mis-remembering. There are some really good lines. Really good. There’s more of a sense of vim and adventure too, like Craddock’s let himself have fun with the story instead of writing page-turning intrigue. And honestly, if Craddock’s sequelitis—or middle-of-a-trilogy syndrome, not sure—results in a smidge more infodump, a slightly weaker plot, and a joy in the writing, that’s fine by me. It’s still a strong book and sequel.
To bear in mind: While this book is imo excellent re: feminism, it’s still imperfect re: queer characters and fat jokes. Not ickily so, but there are moments. Also, there’s some reasonably graphic gore and some pretty awful described torture, as well as other similar body-in-peril situations.
8/10… (meer)
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- Werken
- 5
- Leden
- 411
- Populariteit
- #59,241
- Waardering
- 3.8
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- 18
- ISBNs
- 14