Martha Wells reminds me of why I fell in love with the sci-fi/fantasy genre in the first place. Wells is a master at world-building. She has a rare talent for painting pictures in a reader’s mind that are so vivid, it is hard to remember that they are pictures of things the reader has never seen and that can never exist. You will never doubt for a moment that her characters and the worlds they inhabit are real. And yet, they are all stunningly original, in appearance, customs, and actions. There is nothing predictable about a Martha Wells book, unless you count how good they are.
The Death of The Necromancer kicks of Wells’ series set in Ile-Rien. The setting is quasi-Victorian, and the book centers around master thief Nicholas Valiarde and his quest for vengeance against the man who had his godfather murdered on false charges of necromancy. The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods) updates the setting to a WWII-type atmosphere, and follows the adventures of Nicholas Valiarde’s daughter, Tremaine, as she struggles to help throw back the invasion that threatens their land.
The Cloud Roads is the first of the three (so far) Books of the Raksura, set in a fantasy world populated by a staggering number of wholly original creatures. And yet, Moon has never met another creature of his own kind…whatever that may be. He is enough like a feared band of shape-shifters known as the Fell to terrify all who meet him, though, and so he seems destined to remain alone. It is once he is discovered by his people and taken back into their society, however, that his real problems begin.
If you would rather not commit to a whole series, Wells also writes stand-alone novels. In Wheel of the Infinite, for example, a disgraced nun travels with her bodyguard in a race to discover the cause of the darkness that threatens to swallow her world.
If you are a fan of fantasy, rest assured that, while you may have no idea where Martha Wells will take you, she will never steer you wrong!
– Lorena N.