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.

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.                    

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 Dragon's Path

The Dragon's Path, by Daniel Abraham, is an excellent book to read if you're looking for a well-crafted fantasy.  I wouldn't classify it as epic fantasy--it's more sword and sorcery--actually it's a bit difficult to pin down the sub-genre it would fall under.  Say it's fantasy.  Say it's good fantasy.  Works for me.

The author is George R.R. Martin's protege.  Because of this, I was expecting a fairly dark, morose tale.  I can see the series as a whole going this way, but this first book never quite wandered in to that edgy, post-modern area of gray fantasy.  (One character falls from grace, but it didn't have that dark fantasy feel to it.)  I was pleasantly surprised by this, even though I had been anticipating another direction from the opening pages.

Marcus is a renowned general, who will no longer fight for lords.  Now he sells his sword.  Cithrin is an orphan raised by a bank.  She will stop at nothing to gain power.  Geder is a soft, pampered lord, who has learned of the world only through books.  He will make everyone pay who has insulted him.  Dawson is a noble of the king's court, watching as his country crumbles around him.  He will not let his nation go down the dragon's path.  There's my little summary of the book.  Pretty darn good, if you ask me.  Maybe the publisher should pay me to write for them...

The world in TDP is like this: once, the dragons ruled.  They were lords of a massive empire, like Rome.  They created thirteen races of humans to serve them.  And then they fell.  The story picks up quite a while after the dragons' decline, though I can't remember if the time elapsed is ever specified.  It has been long enough that the dragons no longer exist, except in history.  The setting is reminiscent of Renaissance Europe, with a definite Italian feel.  The Italian flavor isn't as apparent as it is in Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, but I'd say it was the starting point for the book's culture.

TDP is one of those fantasies with very little magic onscreen.  I tend to like this kind of fantasy better.  Like A Game of Thrones, it feels more historical than fantastic.  That isn't to say that there isn't magic, however.  I'd say it shows up around 3/4 of the way through, and plays a large part in the plot of one character.  My biggest complaint would be that the thirteen races feel a bit D&Dish, and some of the political scheming is somewhat dull.  But the characters--primary and secondary--are intriguing, fully-realized, and worth spending time with.  Daniel Abraham definitely knows how to spin a good yarn.

George R.R. Martin suggests voting for The Dragon's Path for the Hugo this year.  I wouldn't call it Hugo worthy, but it is absolutely worth your time and dime.  If you choose to go the audio route like me, the narrator does a nice job with the voices.

The Dragon's Path gets 3.5 stars out of 5.