Reviews
"If there were stars for world-building, Irenicon would be a five-plus, no question. Harte brings a level of intelligence to the book that's impressive."'e" Jon Courtnay Grimwood, SFX, "The book is a fountain of gorgeous detail, festooned with enriching codices and enlightening, subtly subsumed exposition. Well written and conceived, we look forward to Harte's future works with relish."'e" Sci-Fi Now, "Irenicon is a fantastical mash up of traditional fantasy and elements of steampunk and military histories. The story sucks you in immediately, and then hauls you along for the ride while Harte weaves a tale that's engrossing and fulfilling... The world that Harte has created here is full and rich with amazing detail of martial styles and the emergence of the worlds engineers. You can almost feel the world teetering on the precipice between the older hand-to-hand combat styles and the new combat styles devised by the engineers."'e" Novelnaut, "If there were stars for world-building, Irenicon would be a five-plus, no question. Harte brings a level of intelligence to the book that's impressive." --Jon Courtnay Grimwood, SFX "The book is a fountain of gorgeous detail, festooned with enriching codices and enlightening, subtly subsumed exposition. Well written and conceived, we look forward to Harte's future works with relish." -- Sci-Fi Now "An excellent piece of world-building by someone with a real feel for renaissance Italy . . . To sum up, Harte is a brilliant new voice in historical fantasy, and this is quite simply the best piece of fantasy that I have read so far this year."--Lawrence Osborne, Interzone , "This leaves me seriously impressed both by the quality of the ideas and the ingenuity with which they are explored in the text.... Irenicon is completely fascinating, leaving us poised on a wholly unexpected note as a new temporary balance in the power structures is achieved."'e" David Marshall, Thinking About Books Best Alternate History Novel, BookPlank, "Harte's use of descriptive language is absolutely haunting. I didn't think anyone could write chapters and chapters about building a bridge and make it sound epic, perilous, and romantic. He can literally make a tree stump sound inviting."'e" Fanboy Comics, "If there were stars for world-building, Irenicon would be a five-plus, no question. Harte brings a level of intelligence to the book that's impressive." --Jon Courtnay Grimwood, SFX "Harte's use of descriptive language is absolutely haunting. I didn't think anyone could write chapters and chapters about building a bridge and make it sound epic, perilous, and romantic. He can literally make a tree stump sound inviting." -- Fanboy Comics "The book is a fountain of gorgeous detail, festooned with enriching codices and enlightening, subtly subsumed exposition. Well written and conceived, we look forward to Harte's future works with relish." -- Sci-Fi Now "Add some time-controlling kung fu nuns, a terrible prison of dark waters and lightning, and a young kickass Contessa, and you've got a pretty good time on your hands." -- Geek Smash "An excellent piece of world-building by someone with a real feel for renaissance Italy . . . To sum up, Harte is a brilliant new voice in historical fantasy, and this is quite simply the best piece of fantasy that I have read so far this year." -- Lawrence Osborne, Interzone "This leaves me seriously impressed both by the quality of the ideas and the ingenuity with which they are explored in the text. . . . Irenicon is completely fascinating, leaving us poised on a wholly unexpected note as a new temporary balance in the power structures is achieved." -- David Marshall, Thinking About Books Best Alternate History Novel, BookPlank , "Add some time-controlling kung fu nuns, a terrible prison of dark waters and lightning, and a young kickass Contessa, and you've got a pretty good time on your hands."'e" Geek Smash, "If there were stars for world-building, Irenicon would be a five-plus, no question. Harte brings a level of intelligence to the book that's impressive." -- SFX "The book is a fountain of gorgeous detail, festooned with enriching codices and enlightening, subtly subsumed exposition. Well written and conceived, we look forward to Harte's future works with relish." -- Sci-Fi Now "An excellent piece of world-building by someone with a real feel for renaissance Italy . . . To sum up, Harte is a brilliant new voice in historical fantasy, and this is quite simply the best piece of fantasy that I have read so far this year."--Lawrence Osborne, Interzone , "An excellent piece of world-building by someone with a real feel for renaissance Italy... To sum up, Harte is a brilliant new voice in historical fantasy, and this is quite simply the best piece of fantasy that I have read so far this year."'e" Lawrence Osborne, Interzone
