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A review of Karen Azinger's The Assassin's Tear

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Published on Friday, 27 January 2012 10:15 pm

Written by Seregil of Rhiminee

Karen Azinger's The Assasin's Tear was published in December 2011.

Karen Azinger is the author of The Silk & Steel Saga. Her debut book, The Steel Queen (the first book of The Silk & Steel Saga), was published in 2011.

Click here to visit Karen Azinger's official website.

Here's a description of The Assassin's Tear:

Explore the medieval kingdoms of Erdhe, raid the tomb of the first emperor of China, and unravel the enigma of the Dark Space in this collection of fantasy and science fiction stories from the author of The Silk & Steel Saga. The two signature stories, Prophecy's Twist and The Assassin's Tear, are set in the fantasy realm of Erdhe. Prophecy's Twist discovers the dark deceit that started the War of the Wizards, forever changing the kingdoms of Erdhe. The Assassin's Tear follows the exploits of a petty thief whose ambition leads him to unravel the dark secret of the Mordant's Citadel.

And here's the review:

A REVIEW OF KAREN AZINGER'S THE ASSASSIN'S TEAR

A while ago I read and reviewed Karen Azinger's The Steel Queen, which is the first book of The Silk & Steel Saga. It was an interesting fantasy book and a good start for an enjoyable fantasy series. Now that I've read Karen Azinger's short story collection, The Assassin's Tear, I think that she's an author to watch, because she has her own writing style and she has a talen for writing entertaining and addictive short stories.

The Assassin's Tear is a charming short story collection, which offers something for everybody, because the stories range from fantasy to science fiction. Two stories (The Emperor's Shadow and Snakes and Ladders) are almost mainstream stories, but they contain speculative fiction elements.

The Assassin's Tear contains the following short stories:

• Prophecy's Twist
• The Assassin's Tear
• The Emperor's Shadow
• A Man's World
• Pieces of Truth
• Snakes and Ladders
• The God Planet

Here's more information about the stories:

Prophecy's Twist tells what started the War of the Wizards (the events take place before the war). It's a story about a Kiralynn monk called Tyock who travels to the city of Azreal and finds out that everybody has been killed. He finds a memory stone and uses it to see what happened to the city. He sees how Emrath tries to save her city, but she is betrayed and the city is doomed to die in a horrible way. In my opinion Prophecy's Twist is a fantastic story, because it reveals what happened before the great war and what events led to the war. Karen Azinger demonstrates her writing abilities in this story, because it's a touching and well written story about what happened to Azreal and its residents.

In The Assassin's Tear the author tells about the city of the Mordant, the dark Citadel. It's a story about young Dolf, who wants to find a better place for himself and is willing to take risks for it. He's a resourceful thief and he knows that he can do what he wants to do. It's a story about courage and survival in a hostile environment. I think that all fans of The Silk & Steel Saga will love this story, because it's nice to read about the dark Citadel.

I'm sure that these two stories will be of interest to every fan of The Silk & Steel Saga.

The Emperor's Shadow is an archeological adventure story about a group of Americans, who try to break into the tomb of the first emperor of China in order to make the Chinese believe that their sacred tomb has been violated. The purpose of this mission is to destroy China and its power. I'm sure that fans of Indiana Jones and the new Mummy movies will like this short story very much.

A Man's World is an interesting post-apocalyptic story about miners, who notice that they're the only men left on Earth. It's a story about Danny and Bart, who try to survive in the new world without women (they encounter trouble, but they don't give up). I like this story very much, because the author explores what can happen when only a handful of men survive a mysterious catastrophe.

Pieces of Truth is a story about a time traveller called Linus, Einstein and Einstein's wife, Mileva. Linus has traveled back in time to meet Einstein, because he wants to know more about him. This is an interesting short story, because the ending is surprising.

Snakes and Ladders is a fascinating story about a woman's place in the oil business. This story tells about Lynn Gallant, who works hard, but never gets what she deserves. Because Lynn is fed up of being treated badly, she seeks help from a Tarot card reader. I like the way the author tells about the woman's place in the oild industry and how hard it is for Lynn to become accepted and get recognition for her work (the author explores difficult themes surprisingly well). The mystical elements of this story are intriguing.

The God Planet is a story about a group of Seekers who travel aboard the Psalm Singer to a mysterious God Planet to learn its secret. The Seekers don't have much in common, because they're different from each other. Each of them will have to travel to the surface of the planet alone to find out the truth. The God Planet is one of the best stories in this collection, because the author writes fluently about religion, beliefs and artifical intelligence (the android Varjis is an interesting character, because he's almost a human-like android).

It's a bit difficult to choose my favourite stories, but if I had to choose three stories, they would probably be the Erdhe stories (Prophecy's Twist and The Assassin's Tear) and The God Planet. These three short stories are excellent stories and their story arcs are satisfying. Snakes and Ladders is also a great story, because it's easy to imagine how hard it must for women to have successful careers in certain business environments.

The cover art by Peggy Lowe looks nice and it fits the book perfectly.

The Assassin's Tear is an almost shamelessly entertaining short story collection. I can highly recommend this short story collection to readers who enjoy reading entertaining fantasy and science fiction stories. I'm sure that several readers will find these stories fresh and interesting.

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