Here's another recommendation that worked out rather nicely. When I was looking out for works of new fantasy authors (well, ones that I had not read yet), someone threw in Tanith Lee. Since she was well-known for the way she dealt with female characters,I figured it would be an interesting read either way. My first look at Tanith Lee's work was Faces Under Water, the first books of The Secret Books of Venus series.

Now that I have read the story, I must admit it takes a bit of time to get into it. But once you get past the second part (book is divided into parts), the story flows relatively smoothly. The setting is 18th century Venice and it is a strange alternate world where folks live under weird taboos. Magic and mystical doings are quite common here. Folks live life to excesses and there doesn't seem to be much middle ground here. Thus, at first, it was hardly surprising that everyone wore a mask which hid their true identity from others. In this setting, you come across the main protagonist, Furian, a somewhat cold-hearted young man who works for an alchemist. He gets thrust into the middle of a strange feud when he finds the discarded mask of a dead musician. From here onwards, he has to figure out what's going on whilst keeping out of harm's way. That has to be a rather vague summary but I also don't want to give away too much.

On that note, this is perhaps not the best introduction to Tanith Lee's works. It was a fantastic book and I am certainly impressed with her skills as a fictional writer but … I am the type to get really attached to various characters in any given fictional work and, in that regard, I was disappointed with the ones here. To be fair, they are well developed in that none of them are clear cut, in a absolutely good or evil sort of way. But, on the other hand, she seems to brush over the characters without getting too involved and the reader ends up doing the same. True, you learn and even get to like Furian as you progress further into the book but you have trouble feeling anything for this character. Actually, I had my eye on Saachen, the eccentric alchemist, as a potential favorite but the story never explored him (his thoughts, feelings or mannerisms) well enough for you to form a proper opinion of him.

Another complaint of mine was her writing style itself. Perhaps to convey the feeling of disconnect because of the people's indulgent habits, maybe to express the language setting, but whatever the case, Lee has opted for shorter abrupt descriptions and expressions. For this reason, I didn't feel like there was a good flow of ideas; like I said, it was only when I learnt a bit more about Furian that the book started to catch my attention.

Having said that, let me point out that the story had other aspects that made it worth reading. Lee has a flair for creating weirdly immersive surroundings. You know how your teachers used to recommend the 'use your senses' methods in creative writing? Well, Lee is one of the few writers who does this really really well. Every description uses sight, sound and touch as the basis for its creation. And, at the end of the day, you feel like you just came out of a bizarre psychedelic dream … or a rather intense gaming session on WoW (take your pick).

In addition to this, Lee also choose a darker tone for the overall story. Thus, you get the rather gruesome murder of the gondolier and the strange condition of Furian's girlfriend. I've mentioned it before, that a lot of fantasy writers shy away from portraying humanity's creepy side. And so, when you do come across a writer who is willing to try their hand at it, it can be an adventure in itself. I always check to see how writers add such a tone and at the same time how they resist the urge to add more blood, gore and torture.