I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging more about some of the books that I read. Not doing formal reviews, but just rambling a bit about them.
And so I shall begin, looking at two books: Power and Majesty and The Shattered City, books one and two of The Creature Court by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
I have to say one thing first – Tansy is a huge inspiration to me. I’ve been following her blog and Twitter feed for a long time, and have been constantly amazed by how she balances her life – she is a small business owner, a mother and a writer. And on top of that, she reviews books, and is part of the podcasting team at Galactic Suburbia.
Tansy has given me so much hope that I can find balance in my own life – especially with balancing mothering and writing. I was very happy to be able to meet her at Swancon and thank her for her inspiration face to face.
And now, onto the books. Which, I have to say, have some amazing covers. They reminded me at first of the Australian editions of Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books (which may be intentional, perhaps, because the series do have similar feels to them, in my opinion, anyway).
I adore Tansy’s writing in this. Her voice is so strong in all of it, her characters finely drawn and complex (something that I didn’t appreciate fully until reading the second book, and I suspect will appreciate even more when the third book is released). Tansy has an amazing way with dialogue, too, and reveals so much about her characters through their speech.
I love the world of these books. Honestly, at the beginning of the first book I wasn’t that enamoured with it. I was intrigued, yes – especially with the shapeshifters, which are treated in a very original fashion. It was only at about midway through the first book that I found myself truly lost in this world. But from that point on, I was totally lost.
I am now desperate for the third book, which I believe is going to be released late in the year. And I suspect that I’m going to read it, and then promptly reread the whole trilogy from the beginning again. Because I know that there’s lots of sneaky bits and pieces in the first book that I missed on the first read through 
If you’re a fan of dark fantasy – especially if you’re a fan of Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books – the Creature Court books are highly recommended.
