Review: The Sable City
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2012
Every Fantasy writer, indeed every writer, has their own style.  Series, or Epic, Fantasy is my favourite genre. I read it and I write it. So, though my time is limited, I opened this new book with relish, knowing that if I liked it I could live in this world for a few more volumes. Sable City did not disappoint. While McNally's style is very different from mine, I enjoyed this first book in the Norothian Chronicles immensely. McNally paints pictures vividly for us, helping us immerse ourselves in his rich world.Tilda, the central character, matures and develops as we follow her through her many adventures. Yet she is not the only one we get to know. There are many characters in this sweeping saga, all of them multi-faceted and interesting.  Some are good, some bad, most a combination of both, none boring. There are many species, drawn for us in detail, both with regard to their appearance and to their speech and culture, adding depth and breadth to the world and to the story. And all are connected, in some way, to the fabled Sable City, where all eventually find themselves facing dangers none could have imagined.McNally manages to weave the disparate threads that bring all the various groups and characters into a final conflict with a skill that makes it look easy, though I know it is anything but. The reader is drawn into each thread as if it were a tale on its own. Indeed each could have been a separate tale until they all culminate in the final adventure.If I have one small critique, it is that, for the first third of the book I feel less descriptive detail would have allowed the story to flow more easily. But this is only for that beginning. Once we pass that stage it is no longer an issue for me. I am aware that this is McNally's first book. I know it takes time to find that perfect balance in style that makes writing appear to flow seamlessly. Certainly the remainder of the book shows that McNally has found that flow. I look forward to the next three volumes with eager anticipation. Now if only there were more hours in a day to devote to reading.