The Guardian newspaper features The Book of Transformations in its SF and Fantasy review round-up:
The third volume of the Legends of the Red Sun continues the epic story of the city of Villjamur. The series is replete with many of the stock features of high fantasy: evil emperors, battling armies, sinister cultists, occult magic and, not least, the looming, eldritch setting of Villjamur itself. But Newton’s skill lifts the story beyond what might, in the hands of lesser fabulists, have been merely a string of clichés. This is a remarkable catalogue of transformations, embodied in the character of Lan, a “transwoman” making the arduous journey from male to female, from circus performer to an individual whose abilities will help to bring change to a city under threat from forces of evil within and without. The Book of Transformations is a dark and original vision.
Wow congratulations on the Guardian review Mark!
“transwoman”, eh? Seems a bit of a slip for the Guardian’s reviews editor, there, leaving it in quotation marks as if we’re some sort of inside joke.
Thanks, Andy.
Unrav – I suspect it’s more as a highlight of the transformation in question, rather than any sarcasm. The Daily Mail, this ain’t.
Congrats on the nice review!
Interesting that they refer to you as a “fabulist”. I guess this is a posh way of saying you write fantasy and makes it more acceptable for a fancy newspaper to acknowledge your work?
Possibly, though the Guardian does tend to embrace genre pretty well already.