Will Panzo

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2016/12/27/review-the-burning-isle-by-will-panzo/

The Burning Isle is a book that captivated me from the very beginning. It’s fun, fast paced and I immediately felt connected to the protagonist, Cassius. I found myself both rooting for him and also growing more curious about him with each page. The story is told from his POV, and has a series of interspersed flash back chapters that help you piece together both his history and his motivation.

In the start of the book, Cassius has arrived in the island of Scipio, a place where the dregs of society find themselves when they have no where else to go. Lawless and ruthless, this is not a destination of choice. “Five miles of slum on the edge of fifty miles of jungle” is how it’s described in the blurb. While it may generally be lawless, there are powerful people there that have control. The city/slum is divided, each side being ruled rival leaders with the feel of a mob or gang type atmosphere. You know, that fun criminal underground setting that everyone loves to read. But the ultimate power on the island belongs to an elusive general who lives with his soldiers at a fort in the forest. The atmosphere Panzo created here was great. The place is as rotten as the people in it. There is a good amount of infighting and underhandedness.

When Cassius comes to the city, and you know he has an agenda, one that seems to be motivated by vengeance, though you don’t quite know what that agenda is or the reason he feels compelled to follow through with it. In many ways, he can be incredibly ruthless, but at the same time, you get glimpses of a softer side of him. And Cassius does make a couple of ‘friends’ (I use this term quite loosely. Maybe allies?) that let you see that different side of him. He is a character obsessed with doing the “right thing” and making sure the “bad guy” pays for the wrongs he has caused, even if the cost of making the “bad guy” pay can really make him seem like a type of bad guy himself.

Cassius is also presented almost like a mystery for the reader to unravel. Just how powerful is he and where did he come from? From the very beginning these are questions that you want to know the answers to. I am not sure if the author’s intention was for certain aspects about Cassius to be a surprise reveal late in the book, or if he intended for readers to have accurate speculation from the beginning. I found I had very strong suspicions about his character quite early on, but at the same time, I also enjoyed the way confirmation was delayed until the end.

As for the magic in this book, there is lots of it. Some aspects I found more interesting than others. In order to practice magic, spellcasters must wear gauntlets. The gauntlets have jewels that contain spells, so they can cast specific spells only. What is interesting, is that it renders a spellcaster powerless if he/she is not wearing them (I say he/she, but I can not specifically remember any female spellcasters in this book). One thing that didn’t work quite as well for me was the battles that spellcasters would have with each other. They would conjure live animals, and then the animals would battle. I mean, I didn’t dislike it, but something about it just didn’t work as well for me as I would have hoped. I also found some of the action towards the end of the book went on a little longer than I would have preferred. But overall, these were just small aspects of the book, so not even close to a deal breaker.

I am enjoying Panzo’s writing style. According to his bio, he has experience as an editor for Marvel. I really think there are aspects of The Burning Isle that fit that comic book style. I have seen this book referred to as grimdark, and for the first half of the book, I was really unclear why. In the second half of the book, I could understand the label much more, but I am still not certain it quite fits that tone of book for me. Personally, I would say it is more like Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy, which can be dark and bloody, but its just not quite grimdark. Either way, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a label and people always disagree when you try to put labels on things.

The important thing is that overall I enjoyed reading The Burning Isle. I found it to be a very easy read that moved at a decent pace and I look forward to checking out what Panzo has in store next.… (meer)

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to say about it. The story kept me reading through every one of the 400+ pages. Then I got to the final sentence and I thought, "Huh." The whole thing left me feeling a little dazed.

Now that my eyes have lost their glaze, I'm here attempting to put some perspective on my reading experience. I can't say I loved the book, but I definitely didn't dislike it. One thing I can say with certainty is that this story is memorable.

This book would make a fantastic movie. The action is intense and brutal. Magic and violence come alive. The setting is vivid, like the island of Scipio has a personality of its own. These aspects, in my opinion, are where the author excels.

The characters, though, had my head spinning. We have a whole lot of them, constantly moving in and out of the story, and none are particularly well developed. This makes it difficult to connect and understand their functions within the story, particularly through the first third or so, before we get our feet on somewhat solid ground.

Even Cassius, the central character, is rather vague, more like a shadow within the brilliant colors of the surrounding tapestry. I know much of Cassius's personality and history is intentionally cloaked in mystery, but this had the unfortunate byproduct of leaving me somewhat indifferent to his plight.

The plot is fast-paced, unique, and action-driven. But, through most of the book I remained confused by the purpose of the Isle of Twelve, the vicious training, the destruction within Scipio, and the point of it all. Even now, I'm not sure I grasped all of the intended intricacies. I would have enjoyed the story more had I not been working so hard to make sense of all these people and their behavior.

In the end, the best I can offer is this: If you want an intense, violent, magical read set within a brilliant fantasy realm, definitely give this book a try.

*I was provided with an advance ebook copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*… (meer)