Lamentation

The Psalms of Isaak, Book 1

By: Ken Scholes

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Scott Brick, William Dufris, Maggi-Meg Reed

In Lamentation, the first entry in the Psalm of Isaak series, an ancient weapon has completely destroyed the city of Windwir. From many miles away, Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, sees the horrifying column of smoke rising. He knows that war is coming to the Named Lands.

Nearer to the Devastation, a young apprentice is the only survivor of the city—he sat waiting for his father outside the walls, and was transformed as he watched everyone he knew die in an instant.

Soon all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will be at each others' throats, as alliances are challenged and hidden plots are uncovered.

This remarkable first novel from award-winning short fiction writer Ken Scholes will take readers away to a new world—an Earth so far in the distant future that our time is not even a memory; a world where magick is commonplace and great areas of the planet are impassable wastes. But human nature hasn't changed through the ages: War and faith and love still move princes and nations.

The Psalms of Isaak
#1 Lamentation
#2 Canticle
#3 Antiphon
#4 Requiem
#5 Hymn

©2009 Kenneth G. Scholes (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“This is the golden age of fantasy, with a dozen masters doing their best work. Then along comes Ken Scholes, with his amazing clarity, power, and invention, and shows us all how it's done. No more ponderous plotting - Scholes barely gives us time to breathe. Yet he creates vivid characters, a world thick with detail, and wonders we've never seen before. I wish my first novel had been this good. I wish all five volumes of this series were already published so I could read them now.” —Orson Scott Card

“Ken Scholes' Lamentation is a whale of a first novel, set in a world where technological magic has come and gone, and come again, where organized religion has attempted to recover and restore lost knowledge, if with a certain amount of censorship, where no one is quite what they seem, and where parental ambitions for offspring are filled with deep love and sacrifices, along with double double-crosses, conflicting motives, and tragedy.” —L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

“Ken Scholes's Lamentation is an iconic SF story cloaked in fantasy, drawing raw material from classics such as A Canticle for Liebowitz and Earth Abides, but forging something new, with colorful characters, compelling scenes, and unfolding miracles.” —Kevin J. Anderson, bestselling co-author of Sandworms of Dune

Meh

Readers are good but, they should have gotten together and get these speaking patterns for all the characters down. Four very different “robot” voices and a bonkers Vlad Li Tam accent deep into the book. On their own the readers are all pretty great but as a joint effort it’s messy.
Story, well, the world is interesting, the characters less so. The good are purely good and the baddies are cartoons. It tries to play at intrigue and behind the scenes puppet mastery but, everyone magically catches on at the last second. It’s like ever character at some big plot reveal goes “oh yea! I knew that.”
Also the women are written like this dude has never met a woman before. Real “fantasy” writing. They’re only two who matter, both have to be described as gorgeous and both are cunning and capable of holding their own power but ohhhhhh how they need a man. Deep eye roll. Some corny ass line like “his eyes paused at all the right places…” nearly caused my brain to melt.
I may check out the next one…it is an interesting world he set up…but then again, maybe it isn’t. How’s that for a review?

Riveting.

You cannot help but be immersed in the world that Ken Scholes has woven. And the adventure continues...

Good book, but not great

I started off and really liked the beginning of the book. I was quickly drawn into the characters and wanted to know more about them. The plot lines were good and they kept you guessing, but somehow at the end of the book, it just couldn't hold my interest. At first I thought about downloading the second book but now I am glad I waited. I really have no desire to continue on as I just barely made it through the last hour or two of the first book.

Highly Enjoyable

Plot is well developed with excellent pace and characters are penned with a sapient hand. Rather than thin, transparent characters, Ken Scholes writes with insight.

I prefer stories/authors who are able to maintain an interesting tale, something Ken has a strong sense for. When an author is able to meld interesting and character depth it is a satisfying and enjoyable balance!

Contemporary take on fantasy

Interesting mix of traditional sci-fi and fantasy elements set in post-apocalyptic environs. Characters are vibrant and have definite point-of-view.

Terrific first volume of an epic fantasy

Riveting, highly original story, engrossing characters, tremendous writing - this book has it all. I also enjoyed the narrators except for the one who narrated Rudolfo - he was too ponderous and slow for my taste. I can't recommend this book highly enough - can't wait for book 2!

Great Story!

Would you listen to Lamentation again? Why?

Yes. Such a great story. For me it has everything, a little scifi a little fantasy.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Isaak: Because robots rock.

Not much depth.

It's sad, because the setting has a lot of potential. But the characters lack depth, and are hard to relate to. The "events" that take place are presented in a way that makes it hard for you to care about them, almost like watching the history channel. Maybe I've just been spoiled by Mistborn, but this book barely held my attention.


PS. the multiple narrators don't help sell the characters when they overlap.

Mediocre, forgettable potboiler

Lamentation is the kind of book that is so unremarkable that it's difficult to summon the energy for a review. Scholes use of the language bores me. His writing just scrapes the level of a young adult novel. His repetitive hammering of invented terms is a constant reminder that his imagination went into his world and its history, and not its characters or plot.

The characters are flat and predictable, which some (Neb in particular) becoming more annoyance than entertainment. Scholes tries to give his characters the moral ambiguity that is very popular now, but fails utterly. His character have (at most) *exactly* two moral dimensions in which they can only move back and forth with jarring and predictable regularity.

Jin Li Tam and Rudolpho feel lifted almost unaltered from the likes of Dune's Lady Jessica and Duke Leto, but without the freshness of a new idea that made Dune interesting. Neb is a typical young adult novel staple 15-year-old who is as learned and wise or stupid and innocent as the scene requires to fulfill the most proximate trope. I can't pass a single scene with him without wondering if his entire existence is to appeal to boy readers of that age.

Scholes's characters constantly reference his world creation in metaphor, as if he can't let a page pass without reminding us of the particulars of his creation. For example, in both internal psychonarration and dialogue, the phrase "Whymer Maze" is substituted for any synonym of "complex", "difficult", or "intricate". I counted between 10 and 20 such uses.

The book is also very backward by my standards when it comes to how it treats men and women. Other than Jin Li Tam, whose entire world revolves around the men in her life, there are no female characters worth mentioning. There are a few that are peripheral and are obvious tropes, like the girl marsh "king" who is nothing but a vaguely mystical female target of lust and fascination for Neb. It's disappointing but common for the genre, I suppose.

If you aren't looking for especially inspired work or reading, and you don't mind retreading common tropes, and consider a typical magic and steam-powered "boys and their toys" context good enough, you might find more to like in Lamentation than I did. But if you are hoping for complex characters, a mastery of the use of the English language, or something truly memorable, you won't find it here.

Bo-ring.

This book is boring. The characters are boring, the world is boring, the prose is boring, the action is boring. If I was reading this, I would have been able to skim it quickly to see what happened next (if I cared); as it was, I was trapped for hour after hour listening to this totally forgettable yawnfest.

The narrators were good, though, and did good voices. I hope they have more interesting, well-written material to work with next time.