Paul Di Filippo has reviewed Lord Quillifer, and the praise, to coin a phrase, is unstinting. Some choice selections:
Williams’s powers of invention have not paled. The interpersonal affairs of all the schemers exhibit the same baroque intricacies of yore. The big military setpieces show a flair for clarity of action and surprise of developments, mimicking the real ups and downs of warfare. The worldbuilding details are richly strewn and often amusing—Quillifer’s regular introduction of new words into the country’s vocabulary is a running gag—and they work to promote tangibility of the scene...
In my dealings with the first book, I invoked a host of famous names, such as Cabell, Sabatini, and George MacDonald Fraser. At this point in Quillifer’s saga, Williams has indubitably affirmed his peerage with them. As Floria says of her lover, “There has never been anyone like you, and people don’t know how to think about you! They don’t see you as a great man; they see you as a freak, one of nature’s monstrosities.”
Luckily for us, we don’t have to live with or judge or appraise Quillifer, but only enjoy his roguish escapades.
I thought it was a good perceptive review. Though I was puzzled by his use of the word “demiurge”. Possibly a mistake for “demigoddess”.
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