Aqiul
I tried, I really did. After reading the praises I really thought maybe I read the wrong book?! But this book is simply bland. The world seems great and is full of mysteries but the rest is merely passable.
The first half of the book was entertaining and I read about 60% in a couple of days. The last 40% took me a good couple weeks because it was such a slog. Ever since Agia came into the story, I just wanted to “quickly get to the end”.
And here I take the author up on their challenge, “Here I pause. If you wish to walk no farther with me, reader, I cannot blame you. It is no easy road.”
Well, consider me off the road.
Read the full review - Book Review: Children of Time
It's going to be difficult reviewing this book without giving away the plot or details about the species on the planet but I will try. The story goes that humans have expanded out into space on their slower-than-light ships and colonized several systems. Dr Avrana Kern is in charge of overseeing the terraforming of planets for future human colonisation. She is also conducting a massive experiment of uplifting monkeys on a terraformed world to prepare it for humans.
With the help of a virus that speeds up evolution, Avrana Kern wants her monkeys to become intelligent and serve the humans as needed. Everything, of course, is not happy and peaceful in this Empire of Man. A faction opposes this uplifting of lower species and with some considerable effort manages to push humanity to war. A sabotuer has infiltrated Avrana Kern's crew and causes the destruction of her ship and the death of all her crew with Avrana Kern barely escaping in her shuttle and stranded centuries away from any other humans. Eventually, the surviving humans seem to have gotten their act together to set out on colony ships and one of those ships is headed to Avrana Kern's planet.
All this happens in the first chapter; talk about exciting! The book sets a good backdrop of a story offering you just enough information to keep you hooked. While Kern sleeps in her cryo pod, waiting for rescue, the planet below her has been colonised by something other than her monkeys.
The alien species on the planet is very well written. The complex social structures, interactions and their societal development is brilliant. I genuinely felt more for these aliens rather the surviving humans who can't think past next week and keep making the same short-sighted destructive decisions that led them to where they are. There are so many parallels to our own current society. The author has highlighted human social structures are all based on selfish decisions and I can't help but keep comparing it to the real world.
The aliens are as entertaining as they are alien. Portia and her ilk are my favorite characters. Watching their society develop over several centuries was a wonder to read. I applaud the author for showing me a society that does not base its technology around metals and fire. A species that lives with nature rather than trying to destroy it and create its own structures. In so many ways, the aliens are complete opposites of humans. This is not to say that their society has its own flaws, many of which are deeply rooted in their own biology. Fabian and Biance are noteworthy mentions here as rebels against a society they feel is unjust.
On the human side, Holston was my favorite. As a historian and one of the oldest humans alive on the human colony ship, Gilgamesh, he managed to get into the thick of things as the plot evolves. His chapters are a joy to read. He is a character deep in turmoil, unclear of his role and always doing the right thing. Holsten's involvement in the ships affairs along with Lain and Guyen over nearly five centuries is very well written. As Holsten keeps going back to his cryo pod, he watches the people around him age and change. The grief and loss he feels, well I felt it too. The book really takes you there, on the ship, as humanity's hopes and dreams are about to come crashing down.
There's a lot more to be said about Avrana Kern, the humans and the aliens but I really don't want to spoil anything here. This book is a masterpiece and I'd rather have you enjoy it like I did; without any foreknowledge.
It's been a while since I have given a book 5 stars and this book definitely deserves all 5 of them.
Read full review - Graphic Novel Review: The Vision Vol 1 and 2
The Visions are what a normal American family looks like. There's a hardworking dad, a strong mom who can do more than just run the house and take care of the kids and the two teenagers who complete this picture perfect family. If only it were that simple!
This is not a superhero graphic novel. Don't be fooled by the fact that its protagonist is The Vision. This is a book about family and what lengths we will go to protect them from the world.
Vision, a synthezoid and a member of the Avengers, lives with the family he created for himself in Arlington, Virginia. His wife, Virginia and their two kids, Viv and Vin. They have a nice house with a kitchen then don't really need. They live in a good neighborhood. Their kids go to school even though they don't really need to. All in the pursuit of achieving freedom and a sense of purpose in the world of humanity.
The Vision himself has struggled to not be like his creator, Ultron. An early discussion between Vision and Virginia shows the the amount of effort that the Vision has put do things differently than Ultron intended. To be more human.
The graphic novel starts off with neighbors arriving at the Vision family house to introduce themselves. They bring cookies which of course the Visions don't need. We get to see Viv and Vin being teenagers and showing off their powers to other kids. We see how the Vision goes to work at the White House and wonders if he'll get a salary. When the kids go to school for the first time, we see Virginia cry and ask the Vision why they must leave. It's mundane. The sheer normalcy of the events might make you believe you're reading some version of Archie comics instead of the Vision.
This normalcy ends soon though. An old enemy of the Vision shows up at their quiet home and attacks them. Everything that follows in this story is directly a result of this attack. As events start unfolding, the family dynamic gets even more complex simply due to the fact that the Visions all have powers.
Tom King has done an excellent job here with the story. I really felt for the Visions. I wanted them to succeed as a family as I kept reading. The story invokes something in me where I want this to be a fair world. Everyone deserves happiness and that's all the Vision is trying to do.
Volume 2 is way darker than volume 1. We get some backstory on what went on between Vision and Wanda and the Avengers come into the picture as well. Personally, I felt the second volume strikes an excellent balance for the plot in the first volume. Vision really strikes me as far more human than he'd like to admit it. I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him things would be okay.
I really didn't expect this graphic novel to be commentary on the values we have and how they affect our decisions when family comes into the picture. A peaceful and loving family is never more fragile than here in the Visions. This is an absolute must read. Don't miss it.
Read the full review - Book Review: Constitution
I have read military scifi before so maybe that's where this recommendation comes from. I like the genre because the books are usually quick to read, full of action and very entertaining. That was sadly not the case with Constitution. This book is as cliched as military scifi could possibly be.
If you've watched the first episode of the new Battlestar Galactica, you kind of have an idea of what is going to happen in the first 100 pages of this book. It also reads like a lot of other military scifi books that are based on the ‘aging hero ship' concept of one lone ship standing against an invasion while other more advanced ships blow up like cans full of confetti.
To recap,
1. Humanity was in a war once which they barely won due to the ships of the time being super dependable.
2. The enemy hasn't been seen in 75 years and now there's a new fleet of advanced ships that are replacing the old ships.
3. The last of the old ships has been slated for decommissioning and is being turned into a museum; it's captain is a controversial figure in the space navy and its XO is a drunk old war vet. (oh hey Saul Tigh is here!)
4. The enemy is now back and the new ships are weaker than a wet tissue paper. Only the last remaining old ship can save everyone now!
Even the enemy sort of resembles the Cylons. They have a hive mind of some sort and for some reason unknown to us, they want to wipe out all humanity. On their path of destruction, they have already wiped out entire planets full of humans. Billions of lives have been lost in the single greatest tragedy in humanity's history. All of this is just glossed over with a few sentences in the book. ‘Oh the Russian sector isn't responding and has probably been wiped out' gets a lukewarm reaction from a ship crew, admirals and more.
The person assigned to decommission the Constitution and turn her into a museum doesn't get along well with the captain at the beginning. But then, as she proves her worth in battle, they seem to become fast friends. The new ships built by humanity have smart armor which can become useless by something equivalent to “knowing the right frequencies”. Even Star Trek makes it difficult to get the right frequency and once attacked, they realize that their shields aren't helping. The space fleet here doesn't realize it through the entire book. Every last ship is wiped out and no one thinks to ‘change the goddamn frequency'. In the empire of Cliches, there is prosperity and wealth.
Most other reviewers have bashed this book for being a ripoff of Battlestar Galactica and I completely agree with them. If that wasn't enough, the ending couldn't be worse. Well it could have been worse if Superman suddenly showed up and blew the aliens out of the sky.
At any rate, there's a ton of other good military scifi books that are worth your time. Instead of reading Constitution, go watch Battlestar Galactica, you'll thank me later. Or go read Armor by John Steakley.
Skip this book if you can.
Read the full review on my blog - Book Review: Countdown City
After reading the excellent opening book of this trilogy there was no doubt in my mind that I would go through the remaining two books. The first book set an excellent plot in motion and ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Countdown City is a great follow up to The Last Policeman and brings us closer to the end of the world with just 77 days till impact.
This time, a woman who used to babysit Henry and Nico, Martha Cavatone, approaches him and asks him to track down her missing husband, Brett Cavatone. Martha offers to pay Henry for his services but he politely declines and says he's doesn't want anything in exchange. Henry starts his investigations which lead him from Concorde to the University of New Hampshire which is now a country of its own with its own laws. With no cars or other vehicles to speak of, Henry travels around on his trust 10 speed bike along with his dog .
I keep wondering why does Henry want to spend his time looking for someone he barely knew when the world is going to end in 77 days? I feel this is how Henry finds purpose in his life before the bitter end. The death of Naomi Eddes has of course had an effect on Henry, leaving him lonely. He lives with his new dog and I can't but help feeling sorry for him and so many people around in the world in similar situations. There's just 77 days to go before the end of everything we know and love, that's a lot to process. There's a deep undertone of melancholia in people and their actions that is just impossible to miss.
If being a detective was difficult in the last book, it's worse in this one. With no access to the resources of the police department, Henry no longer has access to phones, internet, cars etc. Now there's no electricity either. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be to find someone without phones. Henry has his trusted 10-speed bike and a gun, that's all. With some additional help from Trish, Culverson and McGully, he finds enough leads to start his investigations.
Nico continues her shenanigans to save the world with the crackpot scheme of the group she is a part of. During his investigation to track down Brett, Henry goes to his sister for help and she is more than happy to offer it on one condition; that Henry listen to the plan they are working towards with an open mind. Knowing Henry, that was not an easy feat. Henry and Nico have had a complicated childhood and he is very protective of Nico. Still, he does realise that Nico will do what she wants, to make sense of what is happening. Everyone has their own coping mechanism.
I'd say that the case Henry has in this book is maybe better than in the first book. Brett Cavatone is an interesting man. The glimpses of his character we get to see as Henry moves from clue to clue shows a man who is dedicated and determined. The plot leading up to the point where Henry tracks down Brett and their interactions is amazing. The turmoil and slow deterioration of society is very well detailed in this book. There's only a few new characters in this book and Cortez is a gem amongst them. I hope there's more of him to be seen in the next book.
4.5/5
Read the full review on my blog - Book Review: Persepolis Rising
The Expanse series has been one of the best space opera in recent times and with timely releases every year, it's easy to stay hooked. The television show based on the books is just the icing on the cake. With the release of book 7, there's now only two books left to go and so many questions that need answering. PR has of course raised way more questions than it answers but man, was this a brilliant book.
First off, let's discuss the fact that the plot starts of 30 years after the events of Babylon's Ashes. This almost seems like a reboot of the series. Our favorite crew is all there, just older and slow. Even the Roci is old and outdated by current standards. Amongst this brave new future, the old gang is still doing odd jobs for the planetary governments while staying together as a family does. I'll admit that I was a bit wary at first with the big time leap. It took a while for things to settle and for me to start accepting the almost senior citizen versions of the characters we all love. You don't realize how many years have passed till you read Holden and Naomi discuss retiring and settling down somewhere. All is not lost of course, it gets better the more pages you read.
The book starts off with the Roci being sent on an assigment to the colony of Freehold. Drummer, now head of the Transport Union, is angry at Freehold for not obeying the rules laid down for gate travel and doing what they want. She wants the Roci to go tell them that they're being cutoff from all trade. Holden and the crew realize its a death sentence for a fledgling colony and well, we all know Holden by now.
The inner planets and the belt are at peace and have been since the events of BA. A peace which seems has been accepted fairly well across all the worlds; a peace that was probably only present before the events of Leviathan Wakes. With human colonization progressing each year and more and more distant colonies being settled through the gate network, things are looking good. During this long period of peace, the Laconians decide to show up. Admiral Duarte and his merry band of Martian Navy deserters have been locked up in the Laconia system for thirty years. No one knows what they have been upto all this while and most assumed their colony perished without easy access to trade. Clearly, things are not so.
Early on we're shown that Duarte's crew has been heavily experimenting with all things protomolecule and Duarte seems to have become an immortal with its use. He clearly has plans to mess with the peace and sends one, Santiago Singh, as his emissary. And then the story goes from ‘wow' to ‘omg! stop!'.
PR tends to go from 0-200 very quickly. The main plot of the book and all the action starts somewhere around 20% and doesn't stop till the very end. It was a blast to read this and go from shock to horror to a whole range of other emotions which I can't share without giving away too much.
Amos and Bobbie are just as lovable as they were. There are a few scenes between them that made me stop reading and ponder for a while. Dealing with incredible situations while facing mortality and death is never easy but the crew of the Roci have done it all before. Just makes me feel sad to see that it never ends. It was nice to see Avasarala back in the book as well; an old lady she might be but her quips still make you chuckle.
Holden and Naomi haven't changed all that much. It is no surprise here that Holden isn't really the hero of this book like he was for the previous books. It may be a sign of things to come in future books. We'll just have to wait and see where it goes.
Drummer and Saba were excellent characters here. It's pretty good to see how far Drummer has come and she is a flawed but good leader. The Transport Union serves an important logistics purpose and Drummer does a fine job of managing it. Saba on the other hand is a throwback to the old OPA. His methods and operating style really do remind you of the OPA during NG and BA. The two of them are a weird but good combination. Opposites really do attract.
The Laconians are a special bunch. From Duarte to Singh to Trejo, their dedication to the cause and single-mindedness about their objective is just so irritating. At first, its easy to call them the bad guys. Singh really does not help that label much. As an authoritarian force, the Laconians seem to do all the wrong things; terrible punishments, experimenting on their own subjects and crushing and form of dissent with capital punishments. But look deeper and you'll realize that they're probably better than any other enemies in the past 6 books. The Laconians are as grey as they can be. While I may hate them, I am intrigued and excited by what they want and what they're doing.
It would be just repetitive to say I can barely wait for book 8. I might even regret reading book 7 in two days....but hell, was it an amazing ride.
This is an easy 5/5. No question!
Read the full review on my blog - Book Review: The Last Policeman
The Last Policeman has been on my list for quite a while now. What appealed to me at first about the book was the unique plot of a detective novel with apocalypse around the corner. The one perfect question the back cover asked was, “Why solve a murder when we're all going to die anyway?”. That is an extremely powerful sentence which speaks volumes about humanity and how it would deal with an impending expiration date.
At its heart, the book is just a simple murder mystery. Detective Hank Palace gets the case of a ‘hanger'; someone who committed suicide by hanging. Though this case is weird and the victim has chosen to kill himself in the bathroom of a McDonald's. Detective Palace is suspicious about the death and is probably the only one who thinks that the man may not have killed himself.
You see, in a world where everyone knows a large asteroid is on a definite collision course, people have more often than not chosen to end their lives. Suicides are extremely common and very little time is devoted to resolve them. People tend to disappear often, to do their ‘bucket-list' before the world ends. When the date of impact and chances of impact were confirmed, the amount of people who got married spiked. The author has done an excellent job of creating a world full of defeat, depression and a constant feeling of hopelessness.
With all this going on, Hank's younger sister, Nico throws another spanner in the works. Her husband, Derek, has gone missing and she wants Hank to find and bring him back to her so that they may live out their last days together. Nico starts off sounding like a crazy person but she really isn't. It's the weird times which make people crazy. Hank really loves his sister and decides to help her as well, even though he doesn't want to.
Solving a case is no easy feat in this pre-apocalyptic world as Detective Palace soon realizes. Most people simply don't care that someone has died. Can he really blame them when everyone is going to die? Still, Detective Palace goes around trying to gather as many clues he can about the deceased. The characters in the book are brilliant. There's barely a dud character in here and that is a rare quality for a book. In the course of his investigation, Detective Palace meets Sophia Littlejohn, the victim's sister; Naomi Eddes and J.T. Toussaint, friends of the victim and many other people.
Some he connects with and feels like he wants to help out. Some he falls in love with and this is truly painful to see. Imagine knowing that you have only 6 months to live, how many chances do you get to find someone you truly love? It's quite heartbreaking to watch some people amble around trying to live as much as possible while others just have no sense of purpose left.
This is a very good book with a plot that goes far beyond being a murder mystery. The book is definitely not without its flaws but it comes close to being excellent.
Read the full review here - Review: Babyteeth Volume 1
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Babyteeth is the story of Sadie, a 16 year old girl who gets pregnant, hides her pregnancy from everyone but her sister and is scared of the consequences. Sounds simple enough till you factor in that her child is an evil being of untold power known as The Final Son. She promptly proceeds to name him Clark (after Superman). Oh and he also drinks blood.
Excellent plot eh? Yeah, it can immediately hook you into wanting to know more and it definitely did that to me. The story though, is much simpler. There's a demon child and there are forces in the world that want the child dead at any cost. The story is laid down as a narration of events the Sadie is recording for her child. So the events described here have already happened.
Sadie seems like your normal 16 year old college student who got pregnant and is planning on keeping the baby. Her elder sister, Heather, is a badass who is protective of her sister. When Sadie starts getting contractions which lead to earthquakes, Heather is the one driving her to the hospital and starts suspecting that something is off. As the child is born, all earthquakes stop. Sadie's father, a military man, is around to help Sadie with the demon child and is generally accepting of the fact that his 16 year old daughter has given birth. Good on you Mr. Ritter.
The earthquakes are also how the secret organization known as ‘The Silhouette' tracks down where the demon child was born. Soon an assassin is tasked to kill the demon child and anyone else involved in the process. Sadie's child also manages to summon a demonic raccoon through a portal somehow while Heather manages to run into a warlock who wants to help. There's a lot of weird stuff going on here!
Given all its good points, where the story manages to falter is in being utterly simplistic. This is not a bad thing in and of itself and I'm it appeals to a different set of people. For me, I just wanted a bit more from the story. I will definitely still want to read the next volume though!
The art is quite good and I really liked the dark, evil theme that's going on through the book. The copy I received had well over 45 pages full of illustrations and covers. The art here is amazing! I went through these pages multiple times just taking it all in.
Overall, I'd say this was a fun graphic novel to read. 3/5
I received a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. Read the full review here - Book Review - Assassin Marked
This was a quick and fun read. For the amount of pages this book has, it packs quite a bit of story! Damian DuFonte is an assassin at the top of his game. There's hints of something gone awry in his past that he seeks revenge for. Unfortunately for him, the person who betrayed him is a high ranking member of The Syndicate.
The story starts off with Damian and his lover, Victoria, another high ranking member of the Syndicate. Damian is bent on getting revenge but Victoria doesn't want him to do it because of the consequences. To prove her loyalty, the Syndicate charges Victoria to find Damian and end him.
The book is pretty well written. Damian shows all the signs of a man consumed by his need for revenge to the point where he is willing to give up the only woman he has ever truly loved. The Syndicate is a shady criminal organization run by three anonymous people; whatever their objectives and goals are a mystery at this point. The plot is interesting and its a joy to read the violence Damian can do and the love he has for Victoria.
While world building is limited in a book this small, there's still hints all over of the incident in Damian's past that has led him to this point. I'd love to read a larger story which explores this in greater detail.
4/5 for being a quick and fun read!
Martian Time-Slip takes you to a human colony on Mars and explores in detail that no matter where we live, humans will never stop doing to each other what they did on Earth. Greed, power, segregation, discrimination, slavery and more are rampant in the human society on Mars. The story focuses on an autistic boy, Manfred Steiner, and what his perception of time is thought to be. Arnie, with the help of Jack wants to devise a way to communicate with Manfred.
Schizophrenia and autism are dealt with on Mars by hiding all the afflicted at a camp and forgetting they exist. The parents who give birth to such children are often looked down upon and sterilised so that no more autistic kids are born. The Steiner family in the book keeps their boy Manfred a secret so that society does not look down upon them or judge them.
Off the bat, I have to say that the characters in this book were brilliant, deeply flawed and complex. Some notable characters,
Jack Bohlen, an electronics repairman who has a schizophrenic past of his own.
Arnie Kott, a man influenced by greed, power and his ability to take revenge on whoever he feels like.
Doreen Anderton, a stunningly beautiful woman who is Arnie Kott's mistress and eventually becomes Jack Bohlen's mistress.
The Bleekmen, an indigenous and extra terrestial race that lived on Mars. After humans arrived on Mars, they have been treated like slaves and ridiculed for their beliefs. They are often referred to as ‘Niggers' in the book.
There are so many reasons to hate Arnie Kott but he is such a well written character. Manfred Steiner is just an autistic boy but to Arnie he's less than a tool. He couldn't care less if the boy died as long as he gets what he needs.
Living on Mars has its own set of challenges but the society is still just as broken as it is on Earth. Of this, the most shocking was the way the Bleekmen are treated on their own planet. The parallels to human culture and society can't be missed here.
The education system on Mars is another marvel of technology for its residents. The teachers are all droids who personas of famous people from Earth's past. Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison are teachers here at this school. Being machines, they are far more efficient and can remember every child to tune their teaching accordingly. Its hard to believe this book was written in 1964.
While this book was not as trippy as some of PKD's other works, it is still just as good. Definitely worth a read.
Read full review here - Book Review - Martian Time-Slip
All Systems Red is about a half-organic, half-machine security bot that likes to call himself (itself? I don't know) Murderbot. He's managed to hack its governor module which allows him to circumvent or ignore the commands given to it by its owners or contractors. He's a sentient security bot that doesn't have to follow commands but still does so he can get on with life and watch TV shows on the net. Really, just remove the sentient AI part and you can explain his behavior with ‘Netflix & apathy'.
As the story goes, Murderbot has been contracted by a team of survey scientists to help them chart an unknown planet. As the security bot, Murderbot has to make sure all his humans are healthy and alive. The book starts off with a member of the survey team being badly injured by the local fauna and Murderbot saves their life. As more weird incidents start occurring, the survey team realizes that something is wrong with their maps and that all their lives are in danger. The members of the survey team are likable enough, especially Mensah who is the leader of the expedition and Gurathin, an augmented human being who seems to suspect that something is off about their security bot. Very little of actual story covers world building for future books and that's fine by me. We get to see some political and corporate structures of society and get to meet some other security bots who still have functioning governor modules.
The plot moves quick and I really ended up liking Murderbot. He's got this attitude of ‘I don't care' and a really unhealthy dose of pessimism that's just too enjoyable. His character of course got the most attention and he really came out as a complex, likable bot. No one else around him knows about his hacked governor module or the other systems he hacks to avoid detection. He likes to keep his face covered so as to avoid difficult questions from the humans who contract him and he generally just wants to be avoided, do his job and go back to his TV shows at the end of the day. It was very easy to cheer for Murderbot throughout the book and keep hoping no one discovers his secret and takes his freedoms away. The ending felt a bit rushed but it wasn't terrible.
Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book that's easy to recommend for anyone, whether they love science fiction or not.
Read the full review here - Book Review - All Systems Red
Andy Weir's second novel brings us to the lunar colony, Artemis. Artemis is a small colony which serves both as a tourist destination and a place to immigrate for some skilled workers who call it their home. The main plot of the book concerns a heist (of sorts) and a smart, witty protagonist called Jazz Bashara. Andy Weir brings his trademark ‘science' styled writing here and explains in detail how a colony on the moon could survive on its own. Is the book any good? Let's find out!
Our protagonist, Jasmine ‘Jazz' Bashara, is a resident of Artemis. She moved here with her father, Ammar, when she was 6 years old. She is of Saudi Arabian descent and quite a wild child. She often refers to herself as a non-practicing Muslim and constantly keeps reminding us of how her father would disapprove of her activities. She is probably the only character with a somewhat fleshed out back story. We move from when she made a pen-pal who lives on Earth to her troubled teen years and then to the now poverty-stricken life she leads on the moon. Her ‘coffin' apartment is a constant reminder of her choices in life that led her to living a life of a porter managing to earn a measly 12000 slugs a month. She smuggles goods from Earth and supplies it to a variety of characters on the moon to earn a quick buck. This is how she comes across her ‘once in a life time opportunity' which is the main plot of the book.
Other than Jazz, all other important characters felt weak. They are shoe-horned characters who fit a role that the book needs and that's we get to see of them. There is very little detail provided about anyone else. Her father, Ammar, is described as a devout Muslim, a strict parent and the best welder on Artemis. She doesn't seem to have any real friends other than Kelvin, her pen-pal from Earth with whom she has communicated since she was 9 years old. Jazz is a genius at whatever she does but refuses to acknowledge this part of her character. Other notable characters are Dale, her one time friend whom she hates because he stole the love of her life; Svoboda, a scientist stationed on the moon who is a tech wizard; Trond Landvik, a billionaire who relocated to the moon with his daughter Lene who while paralyzed in Earth gravity, is at least mobile on the moon. There are a few others but they don't really play a big role.
The one place where the book is not lacking in depth is the science behind how the lunar colony was built and is maintained. Andy Weir's descriptions and attention to detail really shines in this department as he describes how the colony domes are structured, how life support works, how oxygen is constantly created on the moon in excess and supplied to the colony and how the industry works. The strictness in how EVA's work, the way airlocks can only be opened by professionals, the danger of moon dust is all meticulously explained and constantly hammered in throughout the book. The rich economy of the moon and the way their currency works sounds plausible. I feel I could make a good settler on the moon after reading this book!
The plot of the book can be described as Ocean's Eleven on the moon or how I like to call it, Artemis 7! Our billionaire friend, Trond, has early knowledge of a ground-breaking invention which can revitalize the industry on the moon and bring a lot more settlers there. He wants to use this advantage to corner the aluminum industry on Artemis and take over the facility from the Brazilians who control it. The Brazilians have links to organized crime back on Earth and enforcers on the moon to take care of their interests. Jazz is hired by Trond to cause some mayhem to the Brazilian operation and offers Jazz 1 million slugs to do it! Jazz, porter by day and smuggler by later in the day, accepts it as soon as she hears the magic words - 1 million slugs. Due to an event in her past, she keeps reminding herself that she needs 416,922 slugs for a particular reason. She needs the money and this job is the perfect way to get it.
Of course, things don't always go as planned. This is just as true on the moon as it is on Earth. The plan goes awry and Jazz is on the run for her life after she realizes that the people who run the aluminum operation will stop at nothing to make sure it stays secure. Certain people die and Jazz feels she is responsible, which is true. With the help of her friends, smuggling contacts and a few other surprise characters, Jazz makes a new plan which puts the future of the entire Artemis colony at stake! It takes a special kind of talent to screw up your second plan worse than your first one but Jazz manages to achieve it causing all the inhabitants of Artemis to go unconscious. People will die in 1 hour and only Jazz can fix it!
The plot starts losing credibility about halfway through the book. The events just don't seem important enough to me. There is a sense of urgency towards the end but it doesn't seem to go anywhere which leaves you disappointed. While you might expect some big reveals about ZAFO, it really wasn't so. The book moves at a fast pace, but the plot is a major letdown. Everything is very convenient. All loose ends get gift wrapped with a tiny bow on the top. While this is not a bad thing in and of itself, the way it is done is a bit cringey. The end of the book was a major letdown to me.
Seeing how the rest of the book is filled with shallow characters, even shallower interactions and convenient plot tools in place for the protagonist, the book is not that great. It's a good read for a Sunday when you don't have much to do. You can finish this in a single sitting but you might have a bitter after taste. Nothing in the book hints that there may be a sequel to this but due to the excellent setting of Artemis itself, I feel more books could be possible. Ideally with a lot more depth in both plot and characters.
Overall, I feel it could have been so much better given the content available. I'd give it a 2.5/5
Read this and other reviews on my blog - The Local Simulation
Read the full review here - Book Review: Legion by Brandon Sanderson
Having read some of Brandon Sanderson's books before, I was excited at the prospect of another novella! The back cover painted a very exciting plot and it lives up to it.
The story starts off with our protagonist, Stephen Leeds also known as Legion, who has dozens of hallucinations that each have their own personality, specialty and quirkiness. Off the bat, we get to meet J.C who was a Navy SEAL and loves his guns. We meet Ivy, the detective type of character of the group. There's Tobias who is the scholar and Kalyani who Leeds conjures up when he needs a translator.
Legion is a well chosen name for Stephen Leeds but he doesn't like this moniker. He's made tons of money using his special flaw and lives in a mansion large enough to house each of his hallucinations. One of his hallucinations has his own hallucination, chew on that a bit. Leeds likes to claim that he is totally sane, I am still on the fence.
The book is thoroughly enjoyable and all the hallucinations shown have an interesting personality that I want to read more of! This book reminded me a lot of another novella I read by Brandon Sanderson, Snapshot. It had an excellent plot, a good protagonist and ticked every box in terms of keeping the reader hooked.
Definitely a must read! 4/5
It's taken me a long time to get through this book for a myriad reasons. But my god, if only I knew what was waiting for me at the end, I may have tried to read a bit faster.
I complained about Reaper's Gale being slow and draggy but Toll the Hounds stole that trophy. It's a fair warning to anyone starting this book; it's slow, some parts are a bit boring and there's a lot of philosophizing (is that even a word?). Kruppe has done a voiceover of sorts for many chapters, many important events and in usual Kruppe fashion, its a mouthful!
This book finally takes us back to Darujhistan, my favorite city. Not only does it have Kruppe and the Bridgeburners but a whole bunch of characters are now here. And more are on their way. It was all going to be a massive showdown from the beginning.
It's taken a few books but Rallick and Vorcan are finally healed and loose in the city. Gruntle and Stonny are here doing their own thing. While Stonny is slumming it in Darujhistan, Gruntle signs up with the Trygalle Trade Guild. Talk about crazy, suicidal jobs.
We get to meet our favorite crazy person, Karsa Orlong. He's just being Karsa and doing Karsa things like wiping out a bunch of slavers and leaving a blood trail so long that Samar Dev can find him from miles away. Samar Dev meets up with an unusual ally, Traveller. After all this time, we finally get to see Traveller in action. It's not surprising to see Karsa, Samar and Traveller become fast friends. Like a weird episode of Three's Company.
There's a lot of foreshadowing going on about the Tiste Andii. Rake is planning something big and is slowly moving all his pieces across the board. On the other end, Nimander and company along with Clip are making their way to Coral for a reunion with their kind. I have never understood Clip and his motivations. His anger at Rake has always seemed unjustifiable; as if Rake was responsible for every Andii there ever was.
After what seems like a lifetime of reading and watching Crokus, Spite, Envy, Scillara, Duiker, Fisher, Spinnock, Seerdomin, Rallick, Torvald and so many more, the book finally starts picking up pace. I'm talking about reading maybe 800 pages for the book to finally find its feet! If this wasn't Malazan, I'd have quit long ago.
The events that occur at the end of the book are just mindblowing. I'm going to put it all in a big spoiler here. Please don't read it till you have read the book.
Shadowthrone and Cotillion clearly knew what was transpiring long before it happened. I wonder what their motivation is to guide Traveller to Hood. While Shadowthrone is a known asshole, I genuinely like Cotillion. He's aware of what the world is doing to people who are his friends. He tries warning off Traveller from confronting Rake in Darujhistan, he knows what is to happen. But Traveller is blinded by a rage so powerful that even Karsa refuses to meddle. Now that is something we have never seen Karsa do; back away in fear.Rake's plan to thwart the chaos in Dragnipur and return Mother Dark to her people was some insane stuff. Almost felt like a page out of Danny Ocean's book! That moment when he beheads Hood was just mind-numbing! And then to manipulate Traveller into killing him using his own sword so that even he could go into the Dragnipur warren was beyond belief. I pity Traveller, I don't know what kind of mental state he will be in the future books. But, his plan works and he restores the Gate of Darkness and manages to get Mother Dark to come back to the world. Incredible. I was extremely sad at the prospect of Rake dying and I know I will continue to miss him in future books. The one good thing here was that at least the sword is finally gone thanks to Brood and his hammer.What was incredible to watch was Karsa, Samar, Crokus and the Second stand together and fight the Hounds of Light! Where the hell did they come from? While Nimander and company deal with their own crazy problems, the Redeemer and his soldier are assaulted in Coral. Everything seems to be going wrong at the exact same time. Spinnock has a mission of his own to stop Kallor. Again something that baffles me, why does Rake not just kill Kallor. He went so far as to make sure Spinnock doesn't hurt Kallor.
Initially I had planned to give the book 3 stars but in usual fashion, the finale of the book has swooped in to save it from that fate.
I'll continue reading this series soon. I just need a break to come to terms with everything that has happened so far.