Fun News

So a while back my friend, Tony, mentioned that Adventures in SciFi Publishing, a website and podcast devoted to speculative fiction, was seeking new book reviewers. Shaun Farrell, the podcast creator, was kind enough to let me submit (I approached him after the response deadline) an old review I did here last year as a sort of application. He liked it--or I'm assuming he did--because he got me in contact with an author to get a copy of his book to review for the website. That author was Zachary Jernigan (really cool guy, by the way), and his debut fantasy I received was No Return. 

About a month and a half later I'd finished No Return but hadn't had the time to write my review yet. Shaun recorded an episode of the podcast saying he was stepping down as show runner. It was sad news. I'd been a fan of AISFP for years, and had even met Shaun (along with my friend, Tony) in Reno during WorldCon. I figured the new show runner, Timothy C. Ward, would want to pick his own reviewers, and I didn't bother asking if he still wanted my No Return review. Not long after, however, Tim emailed me and was enthusiastic about me submitting No Return, so I typed up my review, got it approved, and now it's posted! Check it out at www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com!

It's small potatoes, I know. But I'm excited to be able to contribute to the AISFP community, and hope Tim takes my reviews for a long time to come. I read a lot of freak'n genre books and enjoy writing the occasional book review for those titles I think worth mentioning. I'd already grown tired of posting so many reviews here--I'd never meant for my blog to be about book reviews--so I am pleased to be able to write a few here and there on another site. Look for my book reviews at the AISFP website from now on.

That's all!

Mini Reviews #4

Wow. Time flies when you're busy! I've been neglecting the blog for a while for several reasons, but mainly because I've been in a funk for the past month that has been hard to shake. Here's hoping that's all done with. I have several posts in the works--a few more What the Crap? posts and other things besides reviews. It's been so long, though, since I've posted that I need to get these two reviews out of the way before I forget what I want to say about these books. So here goes.

The King's Blood, by Daniel Abraham. It is the second book of his Dagger and Coin series, and picks up right where book 1 left off. In my opinion, TKB takes this series to a new level, and my respect and admiration for Abraham continues to grow. He is proving to be a master at epic storytelling. The pace of the story certainly quickens in this volume, and the characters end up in some surprising places I hadn't foreseen. I can't wait to see what happens in The Tyrant's Law, which is schedule for release in a couple of months.

Abraham is a subtle writer. I never feel like his characters are beating me over the head with their ideologies and positions. It is impossible, I think, to feel completely for or against most of the cast. (I said most, not all.) Abraham is patient with his story buildup. He carefully lays groundwork for every twist and turn. This might be a deterrent for some who want action packed fantasies. Trust me when I say the wait for big things to happen in this series is worth your time.

The King's Blood gets 5 out of 5 stars.

The second book is The Daylight War, book three of Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle. This book was one of my most anticipated releases of 2013, and I have to say that it let me down in almost every way possible. I've had several weeks to think about the book since I finished it, and so can now separate the mixed feelings I had after its end. I hope I can do so without insult to the author--I do think Brett is among the best of our current crop of fantasy writers, and enjoyed the previous installments in the series immensely.

The biggest problem was that the plot wasn't advanced hardly at all. Book 2 suffered this problem as well--retelling a large portion of the story from another character's point of view. In the last book it paid off enough that I didn't mind all that much. It was just too boring to do it a third time. Also, (spoiler) the Daylight War, the prophesied war that this book gets its title from, never happens. Why did Brett mislead readers so much with the title?

The sex was way too gratuitous for my comfort. I think The Daylight Porn would have been a more apt description of the book. And lastly, the "cliffhanger" ending felt a bit smug in its cliffhangeriness.

The Daylight War gets 3 out of 5 stars. I hope that this portion of the story will feel more natural by the time the series is completed.

That's all.

Mini Reviews #3

I've been so busy writing that I don't have a lot of time or energy to come up with creative blogs. So here are some more small reviews. If you're a fan of epic fantasy, or sword and sorcery, then you'll want to check out all of these books I'm reviewing this week. Onward!

First, I want to tell you a little about The Scar, a literary fantasy, by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko. It just came out (translated) from Tor last year. (I think it originally came out in the late 90's.) The Scar is an amazing book. It resonates well with classics like The Count of Monte Cristo, and Les Miserables. It is a beautiful tale about a man who must overcome the most despicable wretch he knows: himself.

Egert is the man. He is the most confident, the most skilled at arms, the best leader, and the best looking man in his city--a city in which physical prowess is admired and praised above all else. Egert always wins. Until a stranger with a sword comes to town, anyway. Egert loses his first duel and flees home in terror and shame. What follows is a redemption story full of poetic prose, deep insight into the human condition, love, and above all else, forgiveness.

The Scar gets 5 out of 5 stars. Don't miss this one!

Next up is The Way of Shadows, by Brent Weeks. Weeks has been gaining popularity over the years and, rumor has it, will soon take over the world with his awesomeness. Awesomeness aside, TWoS is Weeks' debut novel, and my first taste of his writing. I have to say that it was one brutal, captivating, helluva story. It is not for the squeamish! (And young readers, you should probably avoid it.)

The only thing I didn't like about TWoS were some character names. I can honestly say I enjoyed every other part. The story is about a boy who grows up in the violent slums of a city, where the weak are ground into the mud and the strong rule without pity. He believes there is only one way out of his situation: apprentice with the city's most infamous and feared assassin. That is the basic plot, but the book is full of wonderful character development, tense action, political intrigue, and cool magic. This is one of those books that make me so happy I'm an epic fantasy fan.

Beware, The Way of Shadows is for adults. It is violent and dark, and unapologetic. That said, I don't want to overstate its content. I find it comparable to A Game of Thrones, or Best Served Cold content-wise. I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you about The Red Knight, by Miles Cameron. This too, is a more adult book worth your time if you love fantasy. It has some of the best battle scenes I've ever read in fiction. Cameron, who also writes historical fiction under his real name, Christian Cameron, is a medieval expert. His knowledge lends an authenticity to the TRK that is unmatched in fantasy. I've never read a fantasy in which the life of a knight has been so meticulously detailed. I was worried going in that this fact would bog the story down with boring, long-winded info dumps. This isn't the case. Cameron has a strong sense of pacing that keeps the story moving forward.

The Red Knight is about the leader of a mercenary troop, hired by an abbess to solve a monster murder. It soon turns into an all-out siege battle with the continued existence of a kingdom at stake. Monsters, mages, and men clash in this brilliant tale. This is the beginning of a five book series. Its huge scope makes it feel like the penultimate book in a series. I am eager to see where Cameron takes us.

I have some issues with the book. Its alternate Christian reality was a hard one to swallow at first. In a way, it felt like lazy world building. I've read on the author's website why he chose to use Christianity and am now okay with it. The good news is that the story overcomes my issues with it. Also, the frequent switching of points of view was annoying. I'd have preferred Cameron using George R.R. Martin's format of one pov per chapter. It would still allow him to tell a story with a large cast of characters, but also give readers significant chunks of time inside one character's head.

The Red Knight gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

And there you have it. All good ratings this time around! I just wanted to add that I listened to all of these books through Audible. The narrators of each were superb. Now, try one of these out for yourself!

Mini Reviews #2

So I've listened to some more books. Time for a short review of each. Here we go...

1356 is Bernard Cornwell's return to the Hundred Years War. He has already written a trilogy set during this time period, following an archer named Thomas of Hookton. This book picks up Thomas's story several years later and tells of the English victory over the French at the Battle of Poitiers.

Bernard Cornwell is the master of historical adventure fiction. No one does it better. 1356, however, wasn't as good as his previous archer stories. I felt that the central conflict--the Battle of Poitiers--was just thrown in at the end for something for the characters to do. There was no sense of a building conflict that would lead to the fateful battle. I really felt Cornwell phoned this one in. That said, I still enjoyed returning to 14th century France, and archers just plain kick butt. They are way cooler than knights.

1356 gets 3 out of 5 stars. Don't start here if you're new to Cornwell. Try The Archer's Tale or Agincourt first.

It's finally here. A Memory of Light is the concluding volume to one of fantasy's most seminal epics. Twenty three years in the making, folks. Deep breath in... now let it out. Aaahhh... Okay. Now we can get on with it. So did it fulfill all of my hopes and dreams that have been building up since I picked up the first book back in 2002?

No.

But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. I did. However, I thought that there were some serious flaws with this book, and because of it the entire series. I won't discuss it here. I plan to do a post about the entire Wheel of Time series in the future. You'll get an ear full from me then. For now, know this: Brandon Sanderson did an excellent job. Nobody could have done better. But it was never Sanderson's book. Even though Robert Jordan passed away in 2007, he left detailed notes about how things should wrap up. All the flaws and shortcomings are his, not Sanderson's.

You have to read this book if you've been a long-time fan of the series as I have. You have to read it to finish the story. If you've never read the series before, though, I'd suggest stopping after book six. After that, the word count just isn't worth it. I give A Memory of Light 3 out of 5 stars.

Another historical to review. Ironfire, subtitled, A novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades, is a monster soap opera. I didn't like it hardly at all. The only reason I stuck with it, other than the fact that I'd paid to listen to it, was because I was waiting for the siege of Malta to happen. It took way too damn long to get to the battle... which is so idiotic seeing as how the subtitle of the freaking book declares itself to be about the bloody siege! No joke--the final five hours out of thirty-one is all the time the last battle of the crusade got. I'm guessing the only reason this book has its subtitle is because no one would have bought the dumb thing if they knew what it was really about.

What is it about? It's about soap opera romances, modern medieval story cliches, and a bunch of crap completely unrelated to the siege of Malta. David Ball, if I'd wanted a medieval soap opera I would have listened to The Pillars of the Earth. At least that book doesn't use a subtitle to falsely lead readers. Oh, and you suck at info dumping. How boring is it to be taken away from the story to be force-fed historical facts for twenty minute chunks?

And that's all I have to say about that. :D  Ironfire isn't even worth a more detailed review. Don't waste your time on it. If you want a novel about the siege of Malta, read The Religion. It's a bit on the soap opera side, too, but at least the majority of the story focuses on the battle. Ironfire gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Wish there'd been some higher-rated ones to tell you about this time. And it seems there was a theme here: YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO STICK THE ENDING. Otherwise, it just hurts the rest of the book or series. Oh well. I've already got more good audiobooks waiting in the wings to tell you about in a few weeks. Until then, That's all!

P.S. I do have to add that all these books have excellent covers. Well done, marketing people!

Mini Reviews

I've been absent from the blog for a couple of weeks. Mostly because I just haven't had the time. Work, family life, and writing (and Halo 4, let's be honest here) don't leave much time left over for blogging. Also, though, I got tired of the majority of my posts being book reviews. I'm not a book reviewer. I'm actually sick of going in-depth on book reviews, because I've had to be more of a critical reader than I want to be. Critical reading is great... sometimes. Most of the time, however, I just want to enjoy a book. Anyway, I will continue to post reviews but not as often, and I'm now (as the title of the post implies) going to be doing it a different way. From now on a book review post will include several books, and only have a paragraph about each. This will give me the chance to point out books I think you should read or avoid, but also let me do it in a less involved way. I don't want to dissect books anymore. I just want to enjoy them, damnit. And now the reviews...

Red Country, by Joe Abercrombie. This is Joe's latest standalone in his "First Law" world. It picks up several years after the end of his trilogy and continues the story of several characters readers have either come to hate or hate to love. Red Country is heavily influenced by western themes and story devices. I found it to be a bit too heavy handed most of the way through the book. I love westerns, and I love Joe Abercrombie, but the two should be a bit more distinct than they were in this book. Some parts of the story just felt like lazy add-ins because, hey, that's the kind of stuff you'd find in a western. The ending seemed less dreary than Abercrombie's usual fair, but the language and gore seemed pumped up from previous novels. Some parts were difficult to get through. Red Country gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Next up is Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin. This is the first of Martin's solo books I've read besides his massive epic, A Song of Ice and Fire. Also, it was my first true vampire novel. There was a lot about this book that I really loved. It takes place in the late 1850's, mostly aboard a steamboat called, you guessed it, Fevre Dream. The story takes us up and down the Missouri and Mississippi, through pre-civil war America. The characters were great, and the vampires weren't sparkly and pretty. They are monsters, as all proper vampires ought to be. The only problem I had with this book was its pacing. The ending dragged on and on. My mind wandered a bit in the slow parts and that is never a good sign. On a better note, those who have attempted to read A Game of Thrones and put it down for content, Fevre dream is much more a PG-13 book than an R. There aren't any sex scenes or F bombs. It is a horror novel, though, and so don't expect angsty teenagers looking for romance. People die. 4 out of 5 stars.

The last mini review for today is The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is a book that is a bit harder to review because I've read it so many times. Usually the books I review are ones I've just finished for the first time, and so have a stronger sense of what I liked and disliked about them. In my head, The Hobbit is amazing. After listening to it again for maybe the fifth or sixth time, I notice lots of things that are somewhat annoying. Mostly it's the writer in me that finds problems with it, and that's only because the styles writers use today are quite a bit different than how Tolkien wrote. However, if you can look past the dated prose, and the endless songs and such that interfere with the story (very annoying on audio, despite the narrator trying his best to give each a tune of its own), then I think this book can be enjoyed by all readers of all ages. The story itself is timeless, and it holds a fond place in my memories. Read it if you haven't, and re-read it if its been a long time. you'll be happy you did. (And for those of you like me who listen rather than read, Audible recently released this and the Lord of the Rings trilogy unabridged for the first time. Good times.) The Hobbit takes the cake with 5 out of 5 stars.

Sharps

After another lengthy nightstand read, I've finished my second K.J. Parker novel. It's called Sharps, in case you're wondering. And it didn't take me so long to finish because it was a lousy book. Quite the opposite. I'm just a slow reader... and Audible is dumb and doesn't have any Parker novels to listen to. Anyway, Sharps is great, and Parker is amazing. If you're looking for a change of pace with your fantasy, this could be the book for you.

Permia and Scheria are at peace for the first time in forty years. Both countries have been depleted by war. The time has come to toss out an olive branch and reach some sort of reconciliation. How do two nations with little in common do this? Why, a fencing tournament, of course! Problem is, though, that people tend to get killed when swords are involved...

Sharps is the story of a fencing team traveling through a somewhat hostile neighboring country, forced to compete in a sport that may get them killed. Each of the team members (all from Scheria) are forced by their government in one way or another to participate in this risky attempt at peace. It is a lot of fun spending time with these characters, seeing just how hard peace can actually be.

Like the other Parker novel I've read, this is a fantasy without a lick of magic present. I'm not sure it qualifies exactly as fantasy, but that is how Orbit is selling it, so there you go. It's a world other than our own, with different cultures, religions, etc. If that isn't fantasy I don't know what is.

Although Sharps is slow at times, I thought it a worthwhile read. It is told in mostly an omniscient point of view, but Parker certainly cheated a time or two for plot's sake, which ended up bugging me in the end. I'll forgive the book its weaknesses, however, because anything to do with fencing is just plain awesome.

Sharps gets 3.5 stars out of 5. Not as good as The Folding Knife, but still a fun and well written addition to Parker's work. I will be reading Parker's The Hammer or Devices and Desires next. I haven't decided which yet. K.J. Parker is an author every fantasy writer and reader should be reading.

That's all.

-Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Hope you have a great time with family and friends. I have so much to be thankful for in my life, and look forward to the few days of eating and being lazy ahead!  

Cursor's Fury

The third book in the Codex Alera series is, I think, the best of them so far. Jim Butcher is such a great storyteller. The world he has created in these books keeps getting deeper and more defined. It is an epic fantasy series every fan of the genre should read.

Two more years have passed between books. Tavi, now 19, is sent out on an important mission from the First Lord--to impersonate an officer in a newly formed legion, to learn what he can about the movements of the treacherous High Lord Kalare. The legion is supposed to be a safe place for Tavi, but then an invasion of Canim--a wolf-like people--threatens the realm and Tavi's legion is called to action. Tavi is thrust into a brutal battle that could very well mean the destruction of his people should the legion falter.

Meanwhile, the other characters do stuff that didn't really interest me.

For me, fantasy is all about the huge battles. It's what I like. As long as it's done well. Butcher does it well.

I say this is the best in the series so far. It is, but I have to admit that some of the side characters are starting to get on my nerves.

Minor spoilers ahead (for the series and book 3)

Bernard and Amara, for example. Their romance reached a high point in the last book (Academ's). In Cursor's, however, I felt their blushing and sultry looks at each other were unbelievable. They've been married for two years, for crying out loud. They're still acting like annoying newly-weds.

A few minor quibbles. I wouldn't be me if I didn't have any. Cursor's Fury was an excellent book, and I highly recommend it. 4.5 out of 5 stars makes it the best rated in the series so far. Whether you listen like me, or pick this one up to read, you won't regret the time spent in Butcher's fantastic world. (Best to start at the beginning of the series, though.)

     

Academ's Fury

Academ's Fury is the second book in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, and picks up two years after the first.  I liked the first book, despite its issues, but I really enjoyed this second entry.  Butcher expands on the world, the magic, and most importantly the characters.  If you've started the series but stopped after book one, keep going!  I think that this series is as good as any epic fantasy being written.

The main character, Tavi, has gone to the capital of Alera to be the First Lord's page.  Also, he is enlisted in the academy, and is training in secret as a cursor--one of the First Lord's spies.  A threat to the nation arises in the Calderon Valley (again) and Tavi and his family are thrust into the forefront of the action.  Tavi is the only known person in all of Alera without fury crafting abilities.  He is forced to use his wit and cursor training to defend his people.

My main problem with the first book was its pacing, which seemed never to let up.  While AF is probably about as fast in its pacing, for whatever reason it seemed to work better this time around.  Maybe because I didn't have to be introduced to the characters and world.

Kate Reading is great as the series narrator.  Still wished there was a man (preferably her husband who narrates Robert Jordan's books with her) for the male pov's, but Reading does a good enough job that I was able to just get lost in the story and not worry about a woman narrating a man's part.  I highly recommend listening to AF.

If you're into epic fantasy you most likely love the sub-genre for all of the reason I do.  We've already made it through the learning curve in this series by book two, so now it's time to reveal a bit of the past, and give more hints as to where the series is going as a whole.  I love when a fantasy digs deeper.  It's so fun to be immersed in a world that has been fully fleshed out, instead of one that it just a facade.  Butcher knows his business.  His talents as a story crafter are on full display in AF.  

Adventure, action, romance, epic battles, and cool magic.  Academ's Fury has it all.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Pushing Ice

Pushing Ice, my friends, is such an awesome book. If you've never read Alastair Reynolds, this is a great place to start. It's much more of a hard sf story than, say, the Miles Vorkosigan books, but it's worth slogging through the thicker science mumbo-jumbo because the story is thrilling and moves at a good pace. Science fiction fans, give this novel your time!

Pushing Ice is about a group of comet miners in the 2050's, who work the solar system in their ship, Rockhopper. They are out on a job when something unusual happens. One of Saturn's moons--Janus--starts accelerating out of the solar system. Rockhopper is the closest ship to this phenomenon, and Earth sends her crew out to see what they can discover. As the mining crew nears Janus things go terribly wrong, and they are forced to make several hard choices, ultimately landing on Janus for survival. Problem is, Janus is gaining speed. The rescue of Rockhopper's crew becomes all but impossible as they are carried far from Earth, out into interstellar space.

Pushing Ice is excellent science fiction. The characters are wonderful, the settings imaginative and captivating. If I had been sitting while listening to this book I would have been on the edge of my seat for the entire 19 hours.

John Lee narrates, so nothing disappointing there. The ending didn't quite grab me, but 17 of the 19 hours were so awesome that I can live with where things were left. Pushing Ice is a standalone, so you'll have a complete story that will tie up most plot lines. I'd love it if Reynolds came back to these characters and gave them another book.  Pushing Ice gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game

I took a Science Fiction lit course at Dixie College years ago.  In it, I was introduced to several authors I'd never read.  Lois McMaster Bujold was one of them, and The Warrior's Apprentice was the book assigned.  For whatever reason (okay, I know the reason--I was too busy making out with my wife-to-be) I only skimmed the book to know enough to get the test questions right.

College students are bloody idiots.

 I could have joined the Miles Vorkosigan fan club back then.  Luckily I never forgot the book or author, and have just now finished my first Bujold book. It was great.  So great in fact, that I already finished my second Bujold book--The Vor Game--too.

   

This series is Space Opera.  Remember my post about the sub-genre last week?  Now you know what I mean when I say this.  It's great Space Opera.  Miles Vorkosigan is one of those classic characters--flawed but extremely capable and intelligent.  I wonder if Tyrion Lannister was somewhat influenced by Miles Vorkosigan, because they are very similar.  If Miles doesn't grab your interest, I don't know who will.

The Warrior's Apprentice follows Miles as a seventeen-year-old, trying to make it into his society's military academy.  He has high aspirations, and the family lineage and brains to back him up.  Problem is, he was born with serious birth defects--he's 4ft 9in tall, and his bones are as brittle as chalk.  During his physical exam for the academy, he breaks both his legs going over a climbing wall and his dreams of a military career are dashed.

And then he accidentaly becomes the admiral of a mercenary fleet...

TWA is a quick, fun read, and gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

The Vor Game was a better book--it takes place 3 or 4 years after Apprentice.  It won the Hugo back in 1991.  I would love to tell you all about it, but I can't.  Even the smallest of info has the potential to spoil Apprentice.  So you'll just have to take my advice--it's brilliant.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

If you haven't heard of this series, you're welcome.  If you have but haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?  If you like adventure, witty characters, romance, space battles, and just plain good story telling, you must read Bujold's Vorkosigan saga.

That's all!

The Folding Knife, and my discovery of K.J. Parker

I just finished reading one of the best fantasy novels I've read this year--The Folding Knife, by K.J. Parker.  It took me two months.  Not because it's a long book (only 442 pgs) but because I am a slow reader, preferring to listen instead.  Audible doesn't have any of Parker's books available, though, so I did this one the old fashion way.  I will rave about the book in just a moment, but I wanted to point out that I'd never heard of Parker before a couple months ago.  I really have no idea how this author escaped my attention--accept that the books aren't very commercial (I've only read the one so far, but from the bit of research I've done it seems Parker's work is all this way).  They are more literary fantasy than anything, which made The Folding Knife a very different read from what I usually get in to.  That said, Parker is brilliant.  Commence raving...

I loved this book, but for some reason it is hard to pin down why.  You see, it does everything that I've been told not to do by writers in my own writing.  Ever heard of the "show don't tell" line?  Writers (or people who think they know about writing) love to say this.  What it means is that rather than just telling me as narrator what your characters are doing, you show me by putting me behind their eyes, by giving me a window into their minds.  This way I experience the world of your story as if I were in it myself.  It's a hard skill to master, but when it's done right it makes a novel so much better.  Well, Parker is all tell in TFK.  It is the strangest thing, but damnit I was still immersed in this story.  I've found that I think about its main character and the things he gets into.  I find that I care about the people and world.  I guess it doesn't really matter how a story is told as long as it is accomplishing this.

Also, there are huge passages of exposition.  The narrative is told in a mostly-focused-on-one-person omnipotent.  The pacing is slow and there isn't a drop of magic to be found.  This is a different fantasy, probably not for everyone.

The story follows one man's rise and fall from power.  I'm not giving anything away, since the very first pages of the book tell you that Basso has already lost everything.  It even tells you why.  Don't worry, though, knowing that the protagonist will ultimately fail doesn't hurt this tale in the least.  In fact, I completely forgot about being told in the beginning what happens, because I was so engrossed (and it took me a while to read) in Basso's life.  You can't help but admire this complex character.  There's a lot of political maneuvering, tons of economics, and a bit of warfare.  Think of the life of Julius Caesar after he's returned to Rome and you'll have some idea of the flavor of TFK.  If you don't like a heavy dose of tragedy in your fiction... never mind.  I'm not going to tell you to avoid this book if you only like happy endings.  Come on.  Stretch yourself a little.  This book deserves to be read.  It's practically demanding your time.

Not sure why the title is what it is--oh sure, there's a folding knife mentioned, but it isn't a serious theme or anything.  At least not that I caught on my read-through.  And no one is really sure who K.J. Parker is, nor if Parker is a man or woman.  Weird that an author needs so much privacy, but whatever.  Parker is a master storyteller, and this book was very well done.  The Folding Knife gets 5 stars out of 5 from this reader.

Meanwhile, a couple of days later...

Okay.  I know why the book is titled what it is.  Dumb of me not to think of it before, but it did come to me, if a little late.  I'm not afraid to admit I'm an idiot... on occasion.

     

Caliban's War

I grew up reading science fiction.  Dune, Ender's Game, Jurassic Park... all sorts of sub-genres and authors.  I loved being transported to places that might be possible in humanity's future.  In high school my tastes changed and I became primarily a fantasy reader.  Mostly because I love history, and fantasy opened me to worlds in the past.  I've been getting back into sci fi, however, and I've read a lot of great authors in the genre this year--Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton, Dave Wolverton, and John Scalzi. I found that I still love epic science fiction.  There is a lot of great stuff out there, but someone (or someones) always rises to the top and defines my taste of a specific genre.  For space opera--for all science fiction and its sub genres--this is the Daniel Abraham/Ty Franck team of James S.A. Corey.

Caliban's War is book two of The Expanse.  I had to wait to get into it because the audio version didn't release with the paperback a couple months ago (I'm too lazy to read).  I had a fun time with Leviathan (my review) but Caliban is where the story came into its own.  I can't wait to see what Abraham and Franck have in store for book three.

At the end of Leviathan the Universe as humanity knows it has changed.  An alien protomolecule is transforming Venus into Earth's greatest horror.  A tense truce exists between Earth, Mars, and the Belt, but the slightest provocation can set off the biggest war known to man.  And someone is kidnapping children on Ganymede.

James Holden returns as a point-of-view character, and three new-comers join him to continue this kick-ass story.  (Chrisjen Avasarala--a foul-mouthed grandma--is my favorite.)

There was a bit of a plot repeat from the first book that bothered me a little.  One of the characters in Leviathan is defined by his efforts to find a missing woman.  In Caliban one of the pov's spends the book looking for his daughter.  A small gripe, but I can't help that I felt like part of the book was retreading old ground.  Luckily, the two cases are quite different, and each takes the story and characters in different directions.  This for me was a small bump in an otherwise smooth ride.    

The last line of Caliban gave me chills.  Come to find out, Franck--who wrote it--said about the line, "...I think it's the coolest thing I ever did."  He obviously knew what a punch he was giving us, and how it would leave readers dying to get the next installment.  Trust me, it's awesome.  You'll have to read Leviathan first, though, to understand.

Caliban's War gets 5 out of 5 stars.  If you're any kind of sci fi fan, I highly recommend diving into this series.  We'll know in a couple of days if Leviathan took home this year's Hugo.  My fingers are crossed that it does.                    

King of Thorns

Honorous Jorg Ancrath is back, this time with a throne.  He's as mean, as clever, and as unmovable as ever.  Four years have passed since the end of Prince of Thorns.  An army is gathering to dethrone Jorg and claim his land, but they will let him and his people go free if he yields.  However, King Jorg does not like doing what he is told.  

Mark Lawrence has delivered an ambitious sequel, giving us a deeper look into the mind of Jorg.  Jorg is one of the most interesting characters I've come across in fantasy, and I can't help but enjoy the time I spend with him--despite the helping of disgust that comes with the experience.  For me, a writer has proven himself when he can make me feel for his characters.  It ain't all lollipops and sunshine with 'ol Jorg, but he gets at me in ways I can't explain.  He is one superbly-imagined, nasty bastard.

As a novel, I have to say that I didn't enjoy King quite as much as Prince.  It comes down to the structure of the story.  In Prince, there was a much clearer narrative--Jorg was moving inexorably toward a specific goal.  The flashback sequences were more... relevant to the way the story was revealed.  I never felt lost or bored.  King, on the other hand, didn't have the focus, the flashbacks felt awkward more often than not, and I lost track of things a few times along the way.  By the end, everything came into focus--and I enjoyed the climatic scenes and reveals, but it didn't wash out the experience as a whole.  I think the biggest issue was that I always wanted to be in the "Wedding Day" sections of the story, rather than the "Four Years Earlier," and journal parts.  The threat on Jorg's doorstep was all I cared about.

That being said, I still really liked King of Thorns.  I recommend, of course, that readers start at the beginning of the series.  I feel that the third novel, Emperor of Thorns, is going to be epic.  I think that Mark Lawrence is going to be a power-house name in fantasy.  I think everyone should buy and read Jorg Ancarth's story.  There is so much emotion in the pages of this tale--you can't help but be pulled in.    

I'm rating King the same as Prince--4 stars out of 5.  Didn't enjoy it quite as much, but that's just because of my taste in structure.  The writing, characters, and depth are all on par with Prince, if not better.  So a 4 it is.  

-By the way, did the audiobook again.  Great voice and narration like the last book.

Earth Unaware

Orson Scott Card is back with another entry in his Ender series.  This time, however, he is taking us back to the first invasion of the Formics, before Ender was born.  He's teamed up with Aaron Johnston (who co-wrote the entertaining Invasive Procedures with Card a few years back) for this new trilogy and they do not disappoint.  If you love space opera with great characters, Earth Unaware is a book you shouldn't miss.

 Usually I like to write up my own synopsis of the book, but I'm feeling lazy right now, and it was a few weeks ago when I finished the book.  So here's the synopsis from the Tor website:

The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto. Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. So when El Cavador’s telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it’s hard to know what to make of it. It’s massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light.

But the ship has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big. There are claim-jumping corporates bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt. Worrying about a distant object that might or might not be an alien ship seems…not important.

They're wrong. It's the most important thing that has happened to the human race in a million years. This is humanity's first contact with an alien race. The First Formic War is about to begin.

There you have it.  The characters are great, the setting interesting, and the conflict quick and tense.  It reminded me a lot of Leviathan Wakes--which I reviewed not too long ago--though not quite as good.  I think it's the best science fiction novel Card has written in quite some time, and I'm excited to see where the series goes.  It did end abruptly, but I was satisfied with where things were left.  

The audio was a bit annoying.  Card's books typically have a full cast--different narrators for different characters--but EU was missing the familiar voice of Scott Brick.  His usual narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, is present but doesn't narrate any of the main characters.  I wasn't a fan of the two narrators that took up most of the book.  Would have been better to feature Rudnicki and Brick with the others doing for the minor characters.

Earth Unaware gets 4 stars out of 5.  I highly recommend it if you're an Orson Scott Card or space opera fan. 

P.S. Mr. Card, I love ya, man, but please finish the Alvin Maker series before starting another series!!

The Yard

In my last post I mentioned that a book cover rarely sales me on a book.  I must be turning into a big fat sucker lately--or not lately... I usually don't need much of a reason to buy new books--because another cover caught my eye at the book store, and I purchased the book (on audile--sorry B&N).  If you're a fan of Sherlock, you'll enjoy reading or listening to The Yard--the debut novel by Alex Grecian.

The Yard tells the story of several detectives part of Scotland Yard's murder squad.  The setting is 1890's, shortly after the last of the Ripper murders.  London is still reeling from the horror of "Saucy Jack," and the citizens are all too willing to distrust the police's ability to protect them.  When more mysterious murders start happening--one of the victims a murder squad detective--everyone assumes the Ripper has returned.

The characters are fictional, though based on several real-life detectives.  One character--a doctor--is on the cutting edge of CSI theory, and amazes the detectives of the Yard with his analytical and deductive abilities.  It's easy to assume he is the Sherlock of the book, but the doctor doesn't do the actual investigating.  This is left up to two detectives, one an old-school veteran, the other a newbie.  Together, the newbie and doctor give us the Sherlock nod.  Also, there is a beat cop unwilling to let a case go unsolved.  Each of the threads are woven into each other by the end, if only a little too conveniently.  I was completely satisfied by book's end, though, despite a few hiccups.    

There were a few points of writing style that got on my nerve.  For example, when the point of view for the villain is given (third-person limited for the most part), he is referred to as the bald man.  Pointless, since no one would think of themselves this way, and if a name was given he would be as equally unknown to the reader as he is as the bald man.  His identity is revealed so early in the book that it is completely useless to do this little trick.  It was like Grecian had been told to hide his villain's identity from the reader to create suspense, but then decided halfway through to just tell us who the dude was.  Thing is, the suspense came from knowing who the villain was--seeing how close he was to the detectives--and seeing how it all played out with the police on his trail.  If the suspense was supposed to be not knowing who the villain was, there never should have been a point of view for him.    One other thing that seemed odd were a few interludes sprinkled randomly throughout the narrative.  The interludes gave a brief window into the past of three characters--one when a character was a child, and the other two only a few years before the beginning of the story.  I understand why the interludes existed--they are there for an extra view of the main characters.  Problem was that they didn't actually add anything to the narrative.  The information given could have easily been done with a simple paragraph of exposition for each.  I would have liked the interludes to matter more to the tale being told, and maybe a bit more structure as to how they were presented.

I enjoyed The Yard quite a bit.  The narration was excellent, the characters were fun, and industrial London is always an intriguing place to visit.  I would have liked more mystery, and a bit of a darker flavor, but all in all, I can say that it is a novel worth your time.  A sequel is scheduled for next year.

The Yard gets 4 out of 5 stars.    

Prince of Thorns

It is very rare that a book cover will entice me to read a book.  I'm much more of a word of mouth/review-reader buyer.  Illustrations are nice and all, but I want someone to tell me why they liked a book.  For whatever reason, this wasn't the case with Mark Lawrence's debut novel.  The marketing department succeeded this time, however, and I knew I had to read Prince of Thorns because of a pretty cover.  I'm glad I did.  It was an excellent novel.  One every dark-fantasy fan should read.

Okay, I have to amend the above statement... just a bit.  See, beginnings are everything--I had to hook you with my opening.  Now that I have, I'll be honest.  The cover for Prince of Thorns never did it for me.  I saw the book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, and never even bothered picking it up--because the illustration is too... I don't know... graphic-novelish for my taste.  (Not to bag on graphic novels or their readers--I've just never gotten into them.)  But I did say that a cover caught my eye, which is why I put the cover for book two, King of Thorns, up as well.  I haven't yet read KoT, but holy crap!  That is an amazing cover!  Without knowing a thing about Lawrence and his series, I knew I had to read it after seeing that badass owning the throne on a pile of corpses.  

So the cover for book one didn't catch me, but the story and characters did.  The tale Lawrence spins is at times terrifying,  and then beautiful.  I almost feel guilty for liking the main character, Jorg, so much, because he is one hard bastard.  It's quite refreshing, though, to read about a character who is so honest--so brutal because his world has made him so.  In my mind, Jorg compares to Jaime Lannister from GRRM's series (Jaime is by far my favorite character in Martin's world).  Both are the toughest dogs in the yard, and both  do terrible things for gain.  Like Jaime, though, Jorg is deeper than his outward actions.  It takes knowing Jorg's past (which we receive in flash-back chapters) to understand him.  I don't know that understanding him means sympathizing with him, but I believed his arc because of his history.  Pulling this type of character off is no easy feat.  Mark Lawrence knows his business.  I can only stand with my mouth open that PoT is this guy's debut.

Prince of Thorns is the tale of Honorous Prince Jorg of Ancrath, told in his own words.  A brutal tragedy shapes his life at the young age of ten, and he sets off on a path of fire and blood to carve out his destiny in a post-apocalyptic Europe (I think about a thousand years in the future).  The setting is very medieval, with hints of our current civilization in decay.  There are sorcerers, necromancers, mutant-monsters, knights, whores, and blood.  

PoT reminded me of two series while I listened to it (besides Jorg's likeness to Jaime Lannister).  There's a lot of similarities with Stephen King's Dark Tower series (at least the first book, Gunslinger, anyway), and Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series.  The world in PoT reminded me of Roland Deschain's, while Jorg's telling of his story made me think of Uhtred of Bebbanburg.  Both are great comparisons to me.  If you're a fan of either series, you'll probably enjoy Lawrence's work.  

Well, I guess that's enough gushing.  You'll hear more from me on this series and author soon after I give a listen to book two.  (Here's hoping the audio is out the same day as the hardcover--only a couple of weeks away.)  Prince of Thorns gets 4 stars out of 5.  Go read it!   

-Also, check out Lawrence's post about how he became a published author.  It's quite inspiring.           

                  

False Covenant

The second Widdershins adventure by Ari Marmell is in a lot of ways an improvement on the first.  If you have yet to pick up False Covenant and Thief's Covenant, what are you waiting for?  These little books are stuffed full of action, horror, romance, wit, and charm.  The characters are complex, the setting vibrant and interesting.  And, I am happy to say, the series will continue.  Marmell announced on his website a few weeks back that Pyr bought two more Widdershins novels.  This is one series you don't want to leave unread.

FC picks up six months after Thief's.  Our heroine (am I being politically incorrect by using that term?) is still recovering from the events that culminated in the first book's climax.  (Of course I won't give anything away.)  She is a bit wiser, a bit more cautious.  And she wasn't wanting to be a thief anymore.  Well, turns out life is hard when you can't steal for your sustenance, and so Widdershins finds herself in another caper that doesn't exactly turn out the way she had been planning.

Meanwhile, the city of Davillon is in disfavor with the Church.  A new Bishop has been sent to the city to whip its inhabitants into shape.  He certainly means well, but his schemes go sour and put the citizens of Davillon in real, terrifying danger.

I still have some issues with Marmell's point of view.  It's mostly third-limited, but he seems unable to resist pointing things out as the narrator.  Most of the time it doesn't detract from the story--it usually serves as pleasant bits of humor.  I would still prefer a tighter view point, however, but that's only because I'm biased toward a tight third.  Can't help what I prefer.

The horror in FC is brilliant.  The baddie in this book (had to be inspired by Jack, from Nightmare Before Christmas) is one of the creepiest villains I've ever read in fantasy.  I cringe to think what would have happened if this book were written for the adult market.  Things get dark enough with it being written for teenagers.

There was some language (F bombs) that I wasn't expecting.  Not that there is a hard rule in YA that an author must censor words, but it did come as a surprise.  Didn't really put me off... I snarf George R.R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie books like fat kids snarf cake.  Made my wife wince, though.  She loves YA but doesn't enjoy R-rated content.

I missed the out-of-sequence story telling from Thief's Covenant--it was a different approach and I enjoyed it.  I suppose it wouldn't have really worked, since only six months have passed since the end of book one.  Maybe Marmell will do it again in a later addition?

False Covenant gets 4.5 stars out of 5.      

Furies of Calderon

Jim Butcher is best known for his urban fantasy series about wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden.  I tried a Dresden book a few years ago and just couldn't get in to it.  I'm not an urban fantasy kind of guy.  Don't know why exactly.  Too many vampires and tattooed chicks with wrenches maybe?  Luckily, Butcher has also written an epic fantasy--the Codex Alera series.

Codex Alera came about in an interesting way.  If you're an aspiring writer, chances are you've heard the story.  It seems to be told a lot at cons.  Anyway, thanks to copy and paste you can get it from old grandpa Wiki:  The inspiration for the series came from a bet Jim was challenged to while a member of the Delray Online Writer’s Workshop. The challenger bet that Jim could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and Jim countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger’s choosing. The “lame” ideas given were “Lost Roman Legion", and “Pokemon”.

So, Romans and dumb Japanese fighting animals.  Sound fun?  I've never been all that interested in Rome and I was too old for the Pokemon craze (thank heaven), but Butcher does a great job mashing the two ideas together to create an interesting and original world.

Alera is a nation surrounded by barbarians, monsters, and a deadly world.  Every person in Alera can bond to furies of earth, air, fire, water, or metal.  Everyone besides Tavi, anyway.  Tavi is a fifteen-year-old boy who has lived his entire life in the rural Calderon valley, far from anything important.  As you would expect, however, all this changes as Tavi's home becomes the focus of the kingdom.

I really liked several things about this book.  The furies were cool, the politics and setting right up my alley.  Some of the characters were intriguing.  The problem--what is keeping me from really loving this book--is that the story is way too traditional.  For some readers, this won't be a problem.  And I don't think it would have been for me either, had I started this series ten years ago.  I think that fans of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson will really like the Codex Alera series.  I'm a fan of those authors too, but they aren't my favorite.  Far from it.  I'd much rather read Martin, Abercrombie, or Lynch, and so FoC didn't quite do it for me.  I've had enough of the farm boy destined for greatness, the hard-nosed country folk he grew up with.  And I cannot buy into a Roman-based (and yes, they are actual descendants from the lost Legion, so they are as Romanesque as you get in fantasy) civilization being so up-tight about showing skin.  The Romans were some of the most immodest people to walk the Earth.  I'm not asking for Martin levels of sex and nudity--we don't need anymore books out there like that.  But if I want to read about men blushing left and right from seeing a woman's legs, I'll go read The Wheel of Time.  Also, there was too much action.  The pacing got in the way of character development.  I would have enjoyed a few slower chapters.

Okay.  You might be thinking I didn't like the book all that much after the bit of ranting.  That isn't the case.  I liked it, and intend to continue with the series.  I've heard it only gets better.  I just can't like it as much as I want to.  Make sense?

If you haven't checked the Codex Alera series out, you should.  Especially if you've heard good things about Jim Butcher but can't enjoy urban fantasy like me.  It isn't going to be the greatest series you've ever read, but Alera is a fun world to visit, and Butcher's writing is precise and expertly crafted.  He's definitely a great writer worth reading.  Furies of Calderon gets 3 out of 5 stars.  

That's all.

Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes is the first novel by James S.A. Corey, who just happens to be two dudes named Daniel Abraham, and Ty Franck.  Abraham has written many books, while this is Franck's first (as far as I understand it).  I'm glad these two decided to team up, because LW is a very entertaining space opera, the likes of which I haven't read in a long while.  Everyone needs to read this book!

The book begins with Julie Mao, a rich Earther turned Belter sympathizer, incarcerated in a closet aboard the Scopuli.  The unpleasant sounds of crew mates being tortured around her are all she knows for several days.  Then silence.  When she finally gets the nerve to find out what's going on, she breaks out of her prison and discovers that everyone on board is dead... sort of.  I won't say more, but this creepy prologue sets off a chain of events that kept me glued to my iPod for twenty-something hours of sci fi bliss. 

Besides the prologue and epilogue, LW sticks with two pov's: Holden and Miller.  The chapters switch back and forth between them, spreading out screen time equally.  Holden is the XO on an ice freighter, returning from the ice fields of Saturn's rings.  He and his crew stumble upon the Scopuli and wind up in the middle of a conspiracy that could cost them their lives.  Miller is an aging detective given a missing person case; turns out, Julie's family wants her to come home.  It isn't long before Miller and Holden find themselves on the same path, trying to figure out what happened on Julie Mao's ship. 

I don't want to spoil any more of the fun.  All of the story takes place within our solar system, as FTL hasn't been discovered yet.  LW is full of action, great characters, and cool settings.  The tech is absolutely believable based on the world we live in today.  I can't tell you how happy I was when real-life physics came into play and ships weren't flying around like WW II fighter planes.  The ships get the shit kicked out of them in battle, the vacuum of space makes for very dangerous circumstances, and human relations are at an all-time low with Earthers, Martians, and Belters in a three-way slugfest.

There are Mormons.  I got a kick out of this... being one and all.  I usually hold my breath whenever members of the church are described in fiction.  The vast majority of people seem to be ignorant of us, and tend to treat us unfairly.  I can happily say that Abraham and Franck--besides referring once to members of the church as zealots--don't take shots at the church.  They only add more flavor to their story by including Mormons in it. 

The setting: Mars has been colonized, and is in the process of being terraformed.  Because of the difference in gravity, Mars-born humans are shorter and wider than Earthlings.  Colonies have also reached the outer planets and asteroid belt.  Humans born out there are tall and skinny because of low gravity.  I love how the different settings have affected mankind, and it makes for great tension between the different factions.   

I got into a bit of trouble on Twitter the other day.  I was part way in to LW and tweeted, "Not sure it's worthy of a Hugo nom... but it's entertaining anyway."  Daniel Abraham got my tweet apparently, ( I didn't include his @AbrahamHanover in the message) and tweeted me back saying "entertaining anyway" was fine by him.  He seemed--as much as anyone could, while communicating through 140 character texts--totally cool with my offhanded comment.  Thing is, I felt like a bit of a twit afterward.  I reconsidered and thought about this year's Hugo noms.  I've only read one of the others on the list--George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons.  I honestly enjoyed Leviathan Wakes so much more than Martin's latest.  So why shouldn't it be a Hugo contender?  It hit all the right buttons by its ending.  I will never again tweet about a book until I've finished it!

This review is getting overly long, but I've got to say one last thing.  I expected the current fad of gray moral characters to be the type to populate LW.  Abraham and Franck surprised me, however.  Holden and Miller are good.  Neither are perfect, and they certainly make some serious, serious mistakes, but inside... where it counts... they are good.  I really appreciated this about them.  I can only hope that the characters Corey team has created continue on this way.  Thanks, guys, for a great story.  Everyone read this, and pick up the sequel when it hits shelfs at the end of June.

Leviathan Wakes gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.                                         

The Desert Spear

The Desert Spear is the sequel to The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett, and takes several chances as a sequel that I'm not sure I liked.  The major one being that the first portion (almost a third) doesn't even feature the main characters from the first book.  When I started it I wanted to get back to the characters I'd come to love in TWM.  I was forced to wait for nearly 8 hours of audio before Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer got some stage time.  That being said, I still liked the book, if not quite as much as the first.

TDS starts off by jumping back in time, telling the story of Jardir and his rise to power among this world's pseudo-Islamic people.  He is a bit of a villain in the first book, and so it is interesting to gain perspective on his life and culture.  I came to appreciate him for the man he becomes.  Again, though, I wasn't really looking to be introduced to another protagonist.  Those introduced in The Warded Man were enough for me.  I suppose this is a case of the story the author is telling vs. the story I want him to tell.  Luckily, Brett is a great storyteller and I was able to overcome my annoyance with the way he developed things.

In TWM I was fairly certain Arlen, the main protagonist, was the Deliverer, returned to save mankind from the Corelings.  Now, though, I'm not so sure.  Jardir claims to be the Deliverer, while Arlen wants nothing to do with the title.  I really like that Brett is defying expectations.  He's using familiar fantasy tropes, but twisting them.  It makes for pleasant surprises.

(SPOILER ALERT) One twist in particular was the relationship between Leesha and Jardir.  There was a chance Leesha would marry Jardir and become a part of his harem.  It seems it isn't going to work out, but I was actually hoping for it after they'd spent time getting to know one another.  This would have been the ultimate surprise.  I'm still crossing my fingers for it in future volumes. (END OF SPOILER)

One thing I thought interesting: Jardir reminds me a lot of Dave Farland's Raj Ahtan.  I don't know if Brett has read The Runelords, but they are very similar characters... except that Jardir isn't a bad guy in my eyes anymore.  He appears to be the man Raj Ahtan could have been.  We'll have to wait for future books to find out how he turns out.

If you've read The Warded Man you have to continue with The Desert Spear.  The story doesn't move forward all that much, but it certainly deepens and sets the stage for book 3.  The fights with Corelings get tedious at times... there's only so many interesting ways to kill demons, but this is the major conflict in the series, so I don't know how to get around it.  The introduction of mind demons and mimics does help, and I'm eager to find out about more Coreling princes.  Also, I'd like to read more about Jardir's people subjugating the northerners, but I'm assuming that's what the next book (The Daylight War) will cover.

I give The Desert Spear 3.5 stars out of 5, if only because I didn't like it as much as the first, so can't award it the same score. (Maybe 3.75)