Tolkien Remixed

I recently read Jacqueline Carey's Banewreaker. I was looking forward to it, ever since reading her Kushiel stories, and she'd indicated to me that she was working on something to take a different look at Tolkien's fantasies.

The problem with Tolkien is of course best pointed out by critics like David Brin. Why are the royalists, the aristocrats, the good guys? Everything we hear about is from their perspective. What if it's all propaganda?

So Banewreaker was a lot of fun to read. She's written a fantasy that is quite obviously a criticism of Tolkien, but also of Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and any other authors who've modeled their stories after The Lord of the Rings. Carey's criticism is not a spoof, not a Bord of the Rings. It's well written, fun to read, and her jabs traditional fantasy are carefully chosen. I enjoyed the book very much, and plan to read the rest of what I think is supposed to be a trilogy. Book two, Godslayer is already out.