"Dark Hand of Magic", Barbara Hambly

It takes a really good book to make you realise just how colourless all the others have been in comparison. This one starts with a bang and never really lets you go.
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It introduces more action, setting and backstory in the first ten pages —and without the slightest suggestion of info-dump— than many books manage in several introductory chapters, but it also evokes with grinding credibility the hopelessness of tedium and disaster. It's a sword and sorcery story that doesn't romanticise either aspect, a high fantasy that is keenly aware of the realities of mediæval campaigning, from the ruthless trade policies of merchant rulers to the vital importance of getting into winter quarters before the hard weather sets in.( Read more... )