The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I liked the first book in the series. I loved the second.

Right from go, we've had great action scenes directly in the service of both story and character development. I can't tell you or anyone how much I love it when great action actually and truly does service to the story.

In this case, we have yet ANOTHER manuscript that needs to be procured, and as a reader I'm wondering how it's going to be twisted in comparison to the surprises we had in the previous book, but soon enough I'm satisfied that such preparations weren't needed, nor did we need to introduce a full cast of characters. Instead, we are lovingly plopped right into an adventure with people we already love and who have (mostly) worked out their differences, and a few who have either moved on or have been the subject of some rather major changes in the previous tome.

What I wasn't prepared for, and what I was thoroughly amused by, was the never-ending dance of fighting and bad decisions masquerading as the perfectly plausible. We had so many reversals and amusing enemies in the first half of the novel, all of which included planes, trains, and automobiles, all of which was lovingly visual and visceral, that I swore that I was watching one of the best heavy-action heist movies... ever. I mean, I don't think I'll ever forget the Elf or the Hunter. Even Veiled Lightning was pretty damn amazing, and the end of the train-scene was pretty epic, including the funny-as-hell reversal.

I really wasn't prepared for the whole book turning into a fantasy scene of the Gambler, either, with high stakes poker getting only higher when all the current gods and the old gods started staking claims. Oh, and we can't forget mutually assured and instant destruction of the Empire and the Republic.

I was enthralled by the story and was tempted to stay up all night to read it, but damn it, life kept intruding on my enjoyment of this great book!

The final surprises, (and yes, there are multiple surprises,) have solidified my adoration of this author. It has graduated from mind-candy (even though it's a fast and easy read,) into an awe-inspiring tour of goodness. I can't recommend this enough!


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