reacherfan1909 reviewed on 4/9/2011

Helpful Score: 4

Here we go again. A much anticipated first book of a trilogy set in Renaissance Venice, The Fallen Blade, has it all with all scheming, killing, and mayhem of the period with werewolves, witches and a vampire thrown in. Sounds really promising, huh? The first part of the story was confusing to nearly incomprehensible in its wandering tale told with some of the the most bizarrely tangled sentences ever written. It was like trying to watch a split screen movie without the benefit of knowing it was a split screen. The first and last part of the sentence were unrelated except by time. GAH! Past that the book was riddled with non-sentences. That OK in many cases, other authors do that. Lee Child has been criticized for his use of that technique. Unfortunately, here, key words were missing, apparently dropped somewhere in the drafting process, so the intent was murky and awkward, rather than a staccato style that can be very effective. Several times I found myself going back and rereading things to figure out what word I needed. Worse, the proofreaders must have slept through this one, because we have the plague of homonyms and just plain bad grammar running rampant. Maybe Orbit hired the idiots who did the proofreading at New Concepts Press home of the kindhearted little sole, that is burned into my cerebral cortex forever.

But what about the story? Jeeze. Do you really want to know? OK. Venice has a Council of Ten that rule the city and its seafaring empire, such as it is. Venice is a target for other city states in Italy, as well as jealous rivals who want their trade routes. The heads or the Council are the mother, Duchess Alexa of the next hereditary Duke of Venice Marco IV (portrayed as a mentally deficient, though nice boy), and his uncle, Prince Alonzo, who wants control for himself. He is marrying off Giulietta to King of Cyprus for political gain - but a rather disgusting scene, has her inseminated so she'll arrive at her wedding pregnant and then murder her husband so Alonzo can be the defacto ruler of Cuprus. But Prince Leopold wants Giulietta and commands the krieghunds Wolf Brothers, or werewolves to you and me. The Giulietta gets by the krieghunds masquerading as Moors - gets free and is found by Prince Leopold. The krieghunds and the assassini are the two most powerful forces in Venice. The office of head Assassin answers to both Alexa and Alonzo and is held by a Moor, Atilo il Mauros. He loses most of his assassini in the first recovery of Giulietta, but acquires a new apprentice, Tyco, a vampire. Tyco has no memory and isn't even aware of what he is. Frankly, the oblique and obscure nonsense about his existence - his past and what he is, from Ragnarok to a demon helps neither him nor the reader

There are two basic types of people here corrupt, amoral, grasping, power mad, dissolute, morally bankrupt degenerates with no redeeming qualities which is just about everyone, and Desdaio and Giulietta, two women who have no real character other than to be sweet. Finally we have Tyco who is heaven knows what, but drinks blood, so he's likely a vampire, but he is Fallen. The story that revolves around him, especially his training, is flat. By the end of the book, I just wanted everyone to die. Gruesomely. At my hands. Starting with the author and publisher.

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