Bill Wood

I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. I knew it was considered a classic. It is a collection of thematic vignettes of varying lengths, from just a few paragraphs to several pages. The book is short. The beginning was rather cheeky, with several expeditions to Mars and the results of them. I found the middle of the book a bit meandering, but it really hit its stride with several of the longer stories being very riveting.

My favorite stories were:

–And the Moon be Still As Bright - a commentary on colonialism
Usher II (which I found brilliant) - a commentary on the cost of censorship
The Martian - a commentary on loss and grief
The Luggage Store - a pithy short but meaningful conversation
The Off Season - where the plot takes a dark turn
The Silent Towns - a statement on our materialism and shallowness
The Long Years - where not everything is as it seems
There Will Come Soft Rains - almost a meditation on the potential disaster of nuclear war
The Million-Year Picnic - a poignant end

Having gone back through the book to pull out my favorites made me realize how much I did enjoy the book. It provoked a lot of thought.

One thing to be aware of, though, is one story (Way in the Middle of the Air) that addresses racism through the eyes of racists in the Jim Crow south and is one of the few stories that take place on Earth. It is disturbing in its portrayal of the bigotry and actions of the main character and in the repeated use of the n-word. It does not feel as gratuitous and “natural” as the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, but is jarring nonetheless. It is a commentary on racism, and having been written in 1948 by a white man lacks any subtlety, but fits the theme of the book in calling out humanity's shortcomings.

Overall a very good book and it entices me to want to read more of Bradbury. The prose is often beautiful, full of imagery and poetic phrases.

Let me start by saying I'm very fond of Glen Cook as an author. The Swordbearer was one of the first fantasy books I read, and one scene in particular has stuck out for decades. I've gone back to reread that one, and several of the Dread Empire novels.

This was my first foray into the Black Company books.

Wow, the parallels with The Malazan Book of the Fallen are profound. I felt like I was reading a prequel, knowing this came out much earlier and played a big role as an influence.

I can't really say I related well to any of the characters. Raven was interesting and enigmatic. Silent was fun when he was front and center towards the end. Croaker, though, the POV character, was sort of just there.

There were elements of the story that I really enjoyed, like the forvalaka (I LOVED the forvalaka), and the milieu at large, with the Taken characters and the Circle of Eighteen, but though there were political machinations it felt a bit muddled. Sometimes all the character development a character received was their name. Maybe I was just slow to understand what was happening, but I felt confused at the wheels within wheels approach.

I did give it four stars. Three because of the story, one because of the seminal role it has played in influencing “dark, gritty fantasy.” I'm not compelled to continue the series, but I'm sure I'll keep pecking away at it.

Did I just damn this book with faint praise?

It was entertaining. I didn't get bored while reading it, but it was just a bit YA for me. Too many silly examples of dialog and writing that jarred me out of immersion, like “That's what she said.”

Not just once, but twice that I remember.

Seriously? I know you want Gideon to be edgy and cool and angsty, but that just didn't work for me.

The world building was interesting. The mystery setting was interesting.

I had a hard time following everyone since they were referred to by many different terms and names.

“Thanks, Palamedes.”
“Sextus was a marvel.”

Those are the same person, referred to in two consecutive sentences, and aren't the only terms used to identify that person. I was reading an ebook and not a physical book, and if I was reading the physical book I'd have been able to easily flip back to the Dramatis Personae to help with that issue.

I bumped this up the TBR because a good friend raved about it as one of his favorites. Perhaps the expectations were too high.