Disclaimer: This review contains minor spoilers for A Crown of Furious Color.
Salutations, friends!
Today we’re checking out A Crown of Furious Color, the sixth novella in Rob Rimes’s Barbarians of the Storm saga. It’s no secret that I’ve (mostly) enjoyed all that’s come before in this series. Ever since its inception, Barbarians of the Storm has shown itself to hold quite the variety of adventure. Yet unlike Dan the Destructor and Atomic Beasts and Where to Kill Them, this is an anthology that’s more in line with books such as Eyes in All Shadows.
A good thing, at least in Rimes’s case, is that I loved Eyes in All Shadows. So how does this one stack up by comparison?
In short, to quote a famous Super Mario 64 speed runner: “To answer that, we need to talk about parallel universes.”
Well, not exactly. Jokes aside, A Crown of Furious Color contains five short stories in all, with the subject matter varying wildly from one to the next. Some involve thievery and vengeance against darksome cults, whereas others are more focused on traveling in the spaces between stars, worlds contained inside magic trinkets, and precarious fights with almighty dragons.
The anthology is also on the shorter side, and I was rarely if ever bored while reading. If it makes a difference, I finished the book in just a couple sittings; and believe you me, I was laughing, cheering, and gasping just about the entire way through.
This is certainly a testament to the skill and dedication of Rimes, whose ironclad writing method has given us a plethora of novellas over the last couple of years. On top of this, each one has shown a steady improvement in honing his craft.
As one might expect, this book is no exception.
Of all the shorts included in this volume, my personal favorite was The Swift Blade of the Green Serin, a story of thieves I briefly mentioned earlier, followed closely by the narrative sharing the book’s title. Both of these take a lot of what I enjoy from Rimes’s writing - that being quick pacing, fun action, a little tongue in cheek humor, and some creative imagery - jamming it all together in a blender. The lattermost tale, in fact, easily reaches novella length, which is more or less justified considering how much is brought full circle.
All in all, that’s how I would summarize A Crown of Furious Color for those who are curious: it’s an origin story. Not for any one character, mind you, but the world itself.
As for problems or faults, there’s surprisingly little to mention. I’ve spent my own fair share of time criticizing missteps I think Rimes has made in the past, but here it seems he’s fixed just about everything, at least those that I found glaring in past entries. All that’s left, I’m afraid, are nitpicks, specifically ones I thought worth mentioning, as they gave me pause but weren’t enough to tear me out of the experience.
The first is an obvious one: not all of these shorts are equal in quality, which is to be expected for an anthology. The bar is pretty high overall, but there were one or two stories I wasn’t quite as big a fan of. Of Wings and Wrath was probably my least favorite, personally, at least when compared to how insane the others became. That said, there is certainly merit in a tale of dragonslaying, hags, and sacrifice. The execution is also on the better side, but in the end my attention was drawn to the other four adventures.
My second and final point, however, is a tad more substantial. I appreciate the style and brevity to which Rimes goes with these tales. My only possible suggestion for improvement is to provide a little more artistry in scene descriptions. Slowing everything down just a hair. Not much, mind you - but a sentence or two more that accentuates the current mood. Like I said, this is a nitpick, but it’s one of the few things I feel that’s keeping these novellas back from being true, undeniable classics.
This also extends to the dialogue, which can feel a little stiff at times. Not often, but sometimes.
Other than these minor faults, I wholeheartedly recommend you check out A Crown of Furious Color. I wouldn’t put it on the same level of quality as Fenrik 1984 or Eyes in All Shadows, necessarily. That said, this entry in Barbarians of the Storm is more than worth your time.
Final Rating:
Poor | Disappointing | Competent | Fun Read | Page Turner
You can find A Crown of Furious Colors on Amazon.
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