BOOK REVIEW | SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS | DAVID C.SMITH

Hello again! Here we are for another book review. This time it is Sometime Lofty Towers by David C. Smith. 

I have to admit that I knew nothing about this book, but when I saw that New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine were reaching out for reviewers, I knew I wanted to read it.

New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine is a publication that is made with love for the classics. It is edited by Oliver Brackenbury and holds 45,000 words of Sword & Sorcery fiction as well as interviews, essays and book reviews. 

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Will be released under the Brackenbury Books imprint. There is currently a crowd funding campaign to get backers to bring this story by one of the veterans of the genre to the wider public and runs until July 19th. 

The book was originally published in 2021 by Pulp Press and despite the love for the book shown by the publishers, it just didn’t get the backing that the book deserved. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

“This Will Be a Quick War”

Twenty years ago, Hanlin and Thorem fought side by side as mercenaries in the Border Wars, hired by rich landowners and the settled business interests to push the western frontier farther into lands held by the westlings—the kirangee, the People, who have lived there for untold generations.

Now the business interests intend to encroach still farther on the territory held by the People. Hired by the wealthy Lady Sil of Tidon to assist in this enterprise, Thorem cannot convince Hanlin to join him on another campaign. Following the earlier battles, Hanlin had gone to live with the kirangee, learned some of their ways, married a kirangia woman—and has no interest in making war against them again.

But Hanlin’s and Thorem’s destinies will nevertheless become entangled once more as both are drawn back to the frontier that saw their earlier glories—and failures.

David C. Smith, recognized for a career spent writing sword-and-sorcery and weird fiction, here offers an insightful, often brutal modern novel that vividly brings to life the ferocious wills and dark hearts of the skilled mercenaries and the redoubtable kirangee. The People will raise the sorcery of their ancestors to defend their land at all costs, but Lady Sil will not be deterred, for as Thorem tells his old friend, “As mothers breed sons, the sons breed war.”

REVIEW

Taking its title from Sonnet 64 by William Shakespeare, Sometime Lofty Towers is a book that explores the brutality and horror of colonialism. Originally released in 2021, the book is getting republished and revamped by Brackenbury Press who have given it a stunning new cover by Saša Đurđević.

The story revolves around ex army captain Hanlin who is scouted for a new mission by his friend Thorem.

Theorem is currently in the employ of a wealthy expansionist, Lady Sil, who is planning to undertake a mission to oust the native population, the Kiragnia, and subsequently take their land.

However, Hanlin who once lived with the Kirangia and learnt their ways does not feel the same way. He recognises that Lady Sil has an irrational hate of the Kirangia and that ultimately she is a bully whose only desire is to subjugate the local population. 

Sometime Lofty Towers by David C. Smith is an interesting mediation on colonialism and the power of the rich. At times, the book can be brutal and tread paths into what would be grimdark. However, whilst the book starts with the grimness of the current situation, it emerges into a hopeful tale about finding your place in the world.

The book tackles the inhumanity and savagry of colonisation by powers greater than native settlements. He illustrates it by showing the brutality of the invaders. However, this is not just in the physical sense, but in the psychological sense too. There is one particular scene in which a Kirangian prisoner is interrogated by the rich Lady Sil, and she constantly refers to the prisoner as ‘it’, thus depersonalising the man to less than an animal and giving credence to her acts. 

Whilst the book can be seen as referring to the Americas and the acts of aggression that were perpetrated towards the indigenous population, Smith cleverly makes the situation more generic and the story can actually refer to any incidence of aggression throughout history. In addition to this, it does not refer to the native population as honourable savages. 

Hanlin is an interesting character who on one hand abhors the violence visited on the Kirangee, but at the same time recognises that he is a man driven by rage and violence. In addition to this, he is a man that has never found his own place in the world and bears more resemblance to the Kirangee as he comes from a similar set of people to the Kirangee.

Ultimately, the book follows Hanlin’s journey from being driven by his rage at past events, to finding some semblance of peace and an understanding of himself. 

The writing is interesting too. Smith never glorifies the violence in the book and it is almost put on the page in a clinical, almost documentarian manner. He never wastes a word and every sentence is precise and surgical.  However, that is not to say it’s a dull book, it isn’t  as Smith imbues most of the book with life. He describes the environment that the book is set in with colourful adjectives, to the point where you can almost smell the forests or the grime of the cities. 

Sometime Lofty Towers is an interesting and thought provoking book that gives the reader a fulfilling story written by a master storyteller. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David C. Smith has been a published writer since 1978 when he began to publish stories about the barbarian Oron. Since then, he has written twenty seven novels and countless short stories. 

He has also written a number of novels with Richard L. Tierney, who wrote many novels and poems set in the world of H. P. Lovecraft. Smith & Tierney, published six novels about Robert E. Howard’s other warrior, Red Sonja. 

In addition to his works of fiction, Smith has also written a number of non fiction books. Revolving around Robert E. Howard and other aspects of Sword & Sorcery fiction as well as a book about English Grammar.

Sometime Lofty Towers currently has a CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN, just follow the link to find out more.