[DiapDealer]

I enjoyed Beaulieu's short fiction quite a bit, so I was excited when The Winds of Khalakovo was released. I was quickly disappointed as well. Two separate forays into the first book of that series never saw me past the one-third mark (and only part of my difficulty had to do with the "sound" of gunfire "lighting up" the sky). "Awkward and lumbering" would be my two-word review.

I DO want to try his second series (The Song of Shattered Sands), though. The short fiction of his I enjoyed was based on a desert culture as well. Perhaps I'll have better luck with that.