Dan
Let's be clear, there is no point reading this concluding volume if you haven't read the previous two books. It throws you in at the deep end, with little recapping or concessions to new readers. But if you have read them, you can rest assured that this is a worthwhile conclusion to one of the most different and interesting SF series in a long time. If you ever wanted a set of books full of esoteric blood drenched mathematics, calendars that affect reality, and eldritch technology, I've got good news for you....
The last Tyler Keevil novel I read was his phantasmagorical road trip The Drive, which I hugely enjoyed. This is a different beast, one much more grounded in reality, but it's just as good a read. Our narrator is a fisherman, working a difficult but above board life until his brother, out of jail and involved with some gangsters, shows up needing his help....that's all the plot description you're going to get, because the twists, turns and reveals of the novel are half the fun. Basically, if you like Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album, you're going to love this. It captures that same sense of hardscrabble lives, of trying to live the best you can under impossible circumstances. One of the epigraphs at the beginning is from the song Highway Patrolman, and it's perfect for this tale of brotherly loyalty trumping the sensible and safe, frankly better, alternatives. Sometimes it's sad, sometimes it's (darkly) funny, sometimes it's unbearably tense, but it's always very very readable.
This new thriller follows Sarah Pinborough's breakthrough hit Behind Her Eyes, and like that book it's a fast paced compulsive thriller, with plenty of twists and turns on the way. At the outset, it presents as a fairly straightforward tale of menacing by a nasty ex-partner, and I was on the verge of dropping it for being so unoriginal and uninteresting, but I should have known better. Once you're about a quarter of the way in, the narrative begins to change, and you soon discover things are not what you thought they might have been. One interesting thing is that it's quite morally murky, as we end up rooting for a heroine who {MASSIVE SPOILER REDACTED!], but somewhat disappointingly there's an easy cop out to smooth this over for the reader. Fans of the genre and Sarah Pinborough's last book will love it, and there is indeed plenty to like here, but I have to say I miss the supernatural horror elements of her earlier books. I hope us genre fans haven't lost her to crime forever...
My first reaction on finishing was that nothing really happens, and that it felt more like a fictional documentary about life in the Exodan Fleet than a novel, but that's not really fair. The more I think about this one, the more I like it. The characters we follow change and develop, and all their stories come to a resolution. There's no gosh wow action setpieces (well, maybe one), and all the drama comes from characters talking and thinking. It's a very human story, full of compassion for people at all stages of their lives. It's also a well thought through and executed future setting, painting a convincing picture of far future off planet life. Another winner for Becky Chambers.
This is probably Gareth L Powell's best book yet. He is back in the space opera territory of The Recollection (there's no narrative link between the books, they're just in the same broad field). Not only do I love that subgenre, but it's also fair to say that he has grown considerably as a writer since that novel. So basically I'm onto a winner here.
There are shades of Iain M Banks in the sentient warships, and of Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space in the bizarre alien archaeology, but there is also plenty here that it purely Powell. There's lots of invention (if ever you don't like one of the ideas here don't worry, there'll be another one along in a minute), a (mostly) likeable cast, and an engaging narrative structure with a series of shifting first person viewpoints. It also does the excellent trick of setting up a series while still working as a self contained novel. Bring on the next two volumes.
Basically terrible. A decent idea ruined by a plot that relies far too heavily on coincidence, a nonsensical villain, and a cod profundity that looks shallow next to a mass produced Ikea kitchen poster. Gets a bonus star for repeatedly namechecking a pub I drank in a lot twenty years ago but still a massive disappointment
I liked this one a lot. There's something in it that taps into the SF I loved when I was thirteen (which we all know is the real Golden Age of Science Fiction), but that's not to say it's old fashioned* or childish. It's more to do with a sense of wonder and exploration, mystery and revelation. There's a background which is filled in with little drips of information scattered throughout the book, and I wanted to keep reading to find out more about what was going on. The ending goes up and on and out like all the best ones do, leaving you on the brink of a sequel that I kind of hope is never written** (I mean, come on, who remembers any of the Heechee books after Gateway?). There's a kind of pure quality about it, where you can tell it was written by someone who really loves SF, and I can totally get behind that. A good book.
*the narrator is a) a woman and b) hmm...I don't want to say mentally ill, let's go with neurodiverse. Trust me, there was no one matching either description starring in any SF book in the St Budeaux library in the late seventies. Yes, it feels traditional, but let's remember that tradition is an evolving, changing thing. And I speak as someone who willingly listens to folk music, dig?
**yeah, I know there are other books in this universe, but as far as I know they don't directly follow this one
I enjoyed The Ninth Rain a lot. The characters were unusual for epic fantasy, and the world was intriguing, so I am happy to report that The Bitter Twins maintains this standard. It really is a good read, with strong character relationships that you will care about, some excellent action sequences and a nice line in sarcasm. That said, it's hard to review as a standalone book. A plot breakdown would spoil the first volume, and with the third as yet unpublished, it'd be rash to look too far ahead. It's very much the middle volume of a series, with the standard tropes of our heroes splitting and going on different far flung missions, and while the climax is certainly exciting, there's an awful lot left unresolved. It is great fun while it lasts, however, and I reckon the finished trilogy will stand as one of the best of recent years. Bring on the third volume!
This is a sequel to The Prefect, and a part of the wider Revelation Space series, but it's not essential to have read the other books before this one (I read The Prefect about ten years ago and given that these days I can't remember what I had for breakfast by half past two I was a bit daunted about jumping straight into this one, but I needn't have been).
Good Sf should always reflect the times in which it was written, and this is probably Reynolds' most political novel yet. Reynolds of course spent a large part of his career in Europe, and this book is haunted by Brexit. A key plot element concerns a demagogue whipping up secessionary sentiment, and there's an underlying theme about the use and fragility of democracy. But it's not a dull, dry read. There is more of a crime novel feeling than his previous books, with plenty of incident and mystery. The action keeps rollicking along, with well timed shifts and developments in the case. The very end is possibly slightly too infodumpy but it's a niggle, that's all. I suspect that given the simultaneous rebranding of The Prefect to Aurora Rising, this is intended to kickstart a Dreyfus series, and I'll happily be along for the ride.
If you've read this far, you'll know what Watling Street is, so I won't rehash that. John Higgs travelled this road in summer 2016, when the idea of British identity was much on our minds. This ancient track becomes the setting for a mix of travelogue, social history, personal memoir and political musing. It's tempting to view him as a sort of countercultural Bill Bryson, and there is indeed that brand of obscure and entertaining facts and stories throughout this book, but also a kind of philosophical objective. He uses the conceit of a noosphere, a concatenation of myth, history, legend and fact that creates our own image of who we are, a sort of British Dreamtime.Through this he finds the ancient in the modern, as in the striking and surprising prologue, which links Stonehenge and Milton Keynes, to reveal our country as layer upon layer of stories, traditions, influences and ghosts that are still present in the here and now. It's a vision of Britain that celebrates Alan Moore as much as Churchill, that gives equal weight to Thomas Becket and the Winchester Geese, and one that struck much more of a chord with me than a thousand frothing Daily Express front pages.
I have to say that ultimately I was disappointed with this one. I'd heard a lot of good things about it, but it didn't quite pan out that way for me. It started promisingly, with an intriguing world set up, but for me at least, it just ran out of steam in the second half. The background to the novel is right up my street, all plucky anarchists versus big corporate power, and I found the pharma stuff and background about biodegrable organic tech really cool. In the end though, the characters are nothing like as interesting as the set up warrants - I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot more than I did the second. I honestly did not care about the fledgling relationship between Eliasz and Paladin, and their propensity for brutal murder didn't exactly help to make them sympathetic either. There's potential here, some good stuff, and I'll look out for Annalee Newitz' next book, but this one just doesn't ignite.
(over to my ten year old daughter for her review:)
This great story is the sequel to Dragon's Green. It continues with the story of Euphemia Truelove (Effie) whose mother, Aurelia Truelove, disappeared on the night of the Worldquake - a worldwide earthquake which deleted all technology. Effie finds out that she is a True Hero shortly after her grandfather, Griffin, is murdered by a Diberi (Book Eater). In this book, the villain Skylurian Midzhar - a Diberi - is burning all the copies of The Chosen Ones, a book about magic. When there is only one copy, she plans to be its last reader to travel to inside the book and never return, absorbing all the power from the book. Will Effie and her friends save the day?
I enjoyed this book because it is funny, gripping and emotional. The plot is very clever because when you think that you've completed the puzzle, something happens to prove you wrong. I think it should be rated 5 stars.
There's an awful lot to chew on here, so much so that it feels almost wrong to write a review after one reading. It demands a reread, but I think I could read this a hundred times and still not find every allusion, every sly reference, or unpick every layer. It's a big, brave book, wrapped in a future dystopia but echoing back through time, with plenty to say about our current society and the directions it could be headed in. It won't be for everyone, but if it clicks with you, it'll really click. Good work, Mr Harkaway!
I really enjoyed Silvia Moreno-Garcia's previous two novels, but I have to admit to having my doubts about this one. On first look, it appears to be a historical romance slash costume drama inspired by nineteenth century English fiction. Exactly the sort of thing that sends me diving for my headphones and some industrial metal when my wife wants to watch the BBC adaptation on a Sunday evening, in other words. And, by and large, that's what it is. There is an element of magic involved, but it's not central, and it wouldn't have taken a fundamental rewrite to dispense with it all together. Essentially, it's a (sort of) love triangle, set against a background of strong social rules and manners. Let's be honest, I'm going to take ultraviolent psychopathic Mexican vampire drug lords over ruffs and fretting about etiquette any day, but I can still acknowledge that Ms Moreno-Garcia has turned in another good one here. There's a good sense of location, some sharp dialogue and by the end I was genuinely invested in what happened to the characters (and really hated Valerie). An away win, and one which shows that this author can handle some very different settings. I'll be looking for her next one.
This sequel to Nevernight continues the adventures of Mia Corvere and her shadowy companions. Look, if you liked the first book, and I very much did, you're going to love this one. It's Nevernight turned up to 11. More violence, more sex, more betrayal, more sarcasm... this is now one of my favourite ongoing fantasy series, and I can't wait for the third volume!
2022 reread edit: possibly got a bit carried away up there! Still a very fun and entertaining read, although some of the ickiness bothered me more this time than it obviously did first go round
I have been waiting for a new John Ajvide Lindqvist book for a long time. A Swedish friend of mine had suggested that this one might not not come out in the UK because she thought so many of the references were so Sweden specific they might not survive the rendition into English. I'm happy to report that this isn't the case. Either it was an unfounded fear, or the translator has done a superb job. Yes, I'd never heard of Peter Himmelstrand prior to reading this, but I don't feel I was missing anything. In fact, most of the appeal of the book is in its strangeness and foreignness. The characters are well drawn with convincingly mundane backstories, but the world they find themselves in is abstract and mysterious. It's a surreal nightmare, where logic and reason don't seem to apply, and fresh horrors arrive out of nowhere. I kind of hope that future volumes ( a sequel is already out in Sweden, I believe) don't explain too much of what is going on - it's the random, unexplained nature of the world the stranded campers find themselves in that gives the book the edgy unsettling quality it has. Another hit for Mr Lindqvist.
It's great to see Michael Marshall donning the Smith part of his name again. The SF novels he published under that byline are among my very favourites, funny, sassy, imaginative and clever. This new book carries on that tradition, although it's not really SF, more a tale of higher powers interfering with mortal(ish) lives. Hannah Green is a young girl living in Santa Cruz who takes refuge from the breakup of her parents' marriage in staying with her eccentric grandfather. In another strand of the plot, there's a guy walking round who seems to be locating evildoers and then out-evilling them. What's he up to? What's his connection with Hannah's grandfather?
Anything more would be too spoilery, but you can be assured that this lives up to the reputation of the earlier MMS books. If I had to grumble, I'd say that tonally it can be a bit weird - there are long stretches where I was thinking that my bookworm nine year old daughter would really love this, and then there's a sudden burst of casual violence that drives those thoughts right out. Nevertheless, it's a fine read. It's funny, inventive, and reads like a modern fairytale. It also does a good job of making a good guy out of possibly the least likely candidate ever for such a role. If the lead character of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens had been an eleven year old Californian girl, it might have turned out a bit like this, and that's pretty high praise where I'm concerned
This is the next Laundry novel from Charles Stross, and the first for a couple of books to be narrated by the original series hero Bob Howard. That might sound like a return to the earlier books, but if anything, this is Laundry 2.0. The events of the previous novel mean that this most secret of organisations has had its cover comprehensively blown, and it has to cope with some intense media scrutiny. Can the Eater Of Souls ever be a match for Jeremy Paxman? And of course, there is plenty of occult-y, eldritch-y, demons-from-another-dimension-bent-on-reducing-our-world-to-a blasted-charnel-pit-y action to be had. It's the usual fun mix of technobabble, spies, and ancient mystic evil. I admire the way Stross has taken a series that could have been in danger of becoming stale and shaken it up with new viewpoints and narrators (good news - the two leads from The Nightmare Stacks are back!). He has successfully set a new course for these novels, and I will be along for the ride.
This fantasy debut is getting a lot of attention, and the good news is that it's (mostly) merited. It's set in a far future post apocalyptic world, with just a few small enclaves of humanity left in a wasteland known as the Misery (which put me in mind a bit of the Cursed Earth from Judge Dredd, with more freakiness). There are powers in this world - the evil Dead Kings want to destroy the towns and outposts left, while the Nameless oppose them, although it'd be a stretch to call the Nameless the good guys. Our mercenary hero is indentured to one of these Nameless, and it's a message he receives (via the medium of a crow tearing itself out of its tattooed likeness on his arm) that sets our story in motion.
There's a lot to like here. The world building is original and well done, with enough locations outside the story hinted at to make you feel that this is a thought through world that could support several more novels set in it. Likewise, the author cleverly leaves enough threads dangling to set up the sequel without leaving you feeling shortchanged by the ending of this one - it's definitely a complete novel in itself. The action writing is viscerally brutal, and although only three or four characters get any real depth of characterisation, it's still effectively done. My only gripe is that the narrator is constantly at pains, like on almost every page, to remind us just how DARK and GRITTY he is, and that he deals with his TRAGIC PAST with ALCOHOL and VIOLENCE, because he is DARK and GRITTY with a TRAGIC PAST, etc, etc. Nevertheless, it's a good book, and I'm on board for the next one.
Yoon Ha Lee's universe is dense and complex, with a bewildering civilization at its heart. I read SF to be bamboozled by new ideas, to leave my head spinning, and Lee delivers this quality in spades. Yes, it is baffling at times, and you're thrown in at the deep end of calendrical law, hexarchate relations and exotic weapons, but there's also plenty of treachery, backstabbing and massive space battles - all the good stuff in other words. Okay, you need to read this book carefully, but it'll reward you. This series (and you really should read Ninefox Gambit before attempting this) could well turn out to be some of the best SF of the decade.
John Niven is a terrifically entertaining writer. Working around the music business, I laughed and winced at Kill Your Friends in equal measures, The Amateurs literally made me fall off the sofa laughing (to be fair, I was sitting a bit funny), and The Second Coming's description of Jesus playing Born To Run on American Idol (yes, really) is one of the best bits of writing about the elevating and exhilarating power of rock music I know. He does sometimes misfire though - I didn't care much for the hackneyed boozy lecturer of Single White Male at all. No Good Deed isn't quite a misfire, but it's not up there with his best. I'l skip outlining the plot, you can all read the synopsis, but what it all comes down to is the relationship between two men at opposite ends of Boethius' wheel. It's an enjoyable read that I lapped up over two days, but I felt somewhat let down by the ending. Obviously veering close to spoiler land here, but the motivation revealed at the climax is a thin thing, and it didn't convince me at all. It's a shame because that retrospectively coloured my experience of the rest of the book. I'd been enjoying it a lot, but it suddenly all became insubstantial and pointless.