Alex Marshall's debut epic fantasy novel, A Crown for Cold Silver, begins with a massacre. A regiment serving the Crimson Empire surrounds and slaughters a village full of men, women and children in a failed attempt to murder a retired, and legendary, general known as Cobalt "Cold" Zosia.
This incident spurs a dozen plots and subplots, with Marshall ably jumping among characters scattered across a huge and well-imagined world. Cold Zosia's blood-soaked quest for revenge as she takes up arms again forms the backbone of a narrative that encompasses fanatical religions, ethnic conflict and enough fiendish political maneuvering to make George R.R. Martin jealous.
A Crown for Cold Silver is distinguished by the sheer thrill of its action scenes, which benefit enormously from Marshall's pulp-infused prose. One character named Maroto, a veteran and former addict, is endearing largely thanks to his semi-comic displays of aggression: "There hadn't been as much bubbly left as he had hoped, so he stretched his arm back and casually rapped the empty bottle against Hassan's noggin. Something cracked, and as the noble fell away Maroto held up the bottle to make sure he had just broken the glass and not the boy's skull."
Marshall compounds the accomplishment of his storytelling by having it take place in his wholly engaging world. The Crimson Empire and its outlying territories are libertine and surprisingly progressive in some respects--a wonderful backdrop to the bloody business Marshall depicts so well. --Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books