Michael Cummings
A little dated in parts, this was my first foray into a Jacques Cousteau book. For me, Cousteau shined best in this book when recounting his own past. If I can find an autobiography by the man I'd love to read it - his life anecdotes read like a modern day Verne character. Active in WW2, then an explorer of the deeps and all the wonders therein.
I'm still wrapping my head around stories in the Who-verse without the Doctor being present. This story was intended as a spin-off back in the late 60's and survives the test of time - barely. It takes a little while to build up, and there are some assumptions made that current readers/fans might find odd (in particular, an argument for why women should enjoy not having to work and just live a life of relaxed choices). That said, still a good Dalek's rising story :)
The expanse! As an almost western! I'm torn on this addition to the Expanse, because while it was decent enough in its own right, it did very little for expanding our understanding of the Expanse universe. So - new readers will enjoy it, but existing readers won't gain much new from it. 3.5 stars, but on a generous round-up.
For all the fantasy and short fiction I read, I rarely read fantasy short fiction. The Shattered Shields anthology aptly filled this void in my reading, bringing together both familiar and unfamiliar authors. Like any collection of short fiction, not all of the story worked for me. The ones that did resonate, though, were especially astounding. Even considering myself well read, I was surprised at how many of the authors and worlds on display were new to me.
I can't give a rundown of every story in the collection, but here are some of my favorites.
Starlight and Ash - David Farland. I've heard much about Farland over the years, but this was actually my first Farland story. While new to the world, I had no trouble diving in and immersing myself in his world.
The Fixed Stars - Seanan McGuire. There's something about the Celtic pantheon that has always seemed both exotic and familiar, and this story was no different.
Keeper of Names - Larry Correia. I've read some of Correia's Monster Hunter books, but this was the first time I've seen him write fantasy. The story was a little predictable, but still a fun read.
Words of Power - Wendy Wagner. This story could have led the collection in my opinion. I'd certainly read a full length novelization by Ms. Wagner. A mashup World War 1 and golems set in an alternate history, this was a really great story.
Hoofsore and Weary - Cat Rambo. Come on, Cat Rambo says it all. This story of centaurs on the march was a great story and star in this collection.
Vengeance - Robin Wayne Bailey. Woof - magic and death gods tickle a spot in this story. For a short story, it packs an amazing punch in a short amount of space.
There are of course more stories than these, including a Glen Cook Black Company story (Bone Candy). On average, the successes in this anthology were in the majority, making this a worthy read. The stories were consistently on theme, something you don't always see these days, while interpretations of that theme were varied enough to keep the stories fresh most of the time.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Baen books for the opportunity to read this book.
As a fan of Gary Gibson's previous series, the Shoal Sequence, I was excited to get a chance to read this first volume in his new universe. Or multiverse, I guess. Jerry Beche, hero and protagonist, is the last man alive on Earth. A devastating man made plague has wiped out the rest of the human race, or so Jerry thinks until he comes across footprints near his snow bound cottage. While he may be the last human on Earth, he isn't alone. Rescued and taken to an Earth not quite like his own, he is recruited into the Pathfinders. The Pathfinders, a group of explorers from other destroyed Earth, work for the Authority to help explore the parallel worlds. There is some hint to the bigger picture of the multiverse, of braids and strands of possibility.
If this is beginning to sound like an episode of Sliders, I'd agree. Using jump platforms and timed returns, our crew of Pathfinders slips from world to world. When Gibson shines in this novel, he shimmers. The imagined worlds - and their destruction - are each glimpses into Earths that we ourselves might face. Each apocalypse we face in Extinction Game is well thought out and described.
Unfortunately, I found the secondary characters to be somewhat lacking in development. The antagonist and supporting cast were hollow sketches for the most part. The result was a somewhat uneven experience. Between well thought out extinction events and the sometimes cardboard characters that catalog them, there was just enough story to keep moving forward. Recommended as a mashup of Sliders and Doomsday B movies, it just needed a little more than it delivered to wow me.
Special thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for making this ARC available to me prior to US publication.
Let me first dissuade you - if you want to read this book because you expect Nick, Nora, and Asta to make an appearance, this isn't that kind of Thin Man. Nor is this “Gumshoe - In Space!” - not quite. There is a certain homage to Dashiell Hammett in this novel, a flair of the noir in its tongue in cheek references to fedoras and trenchcoats, private investigators, and hunting down criminal masterminds in modern speakeasies. It is very much a science fiction novel, though, of that variety of thriller that was popular at the end of the pulp era. Good guys vs bad, agents on the run and the fate of society in their hands.
Set nearly a century away, humanity has made contact with two other sentient species, acquired FTL travel, and colonized other planets. A political movement has risen up that threatens the peace of the Union, and our two gumshoes, hired on as contractors by a government agency, are trying to track down the location of the leader of the Movement, the alien Helk known as Terl Plenko. Things go from bad to worse when a terrorist attack causes the moon Ribon to crash into the planet it orbits, destroying settlements on both worlds.
The mystery is light, but the tension is kept steady in this science fiction thriller. What may cause some issues for some readers is the disorienting switch in POV between chapters. The novel is written from the perspective of our two chief protagonists, but only one of them is in the first person. The other character's story is written loosely in the third person. In the ARC, this perspective slipped a few times, and I really hope this is an artifact of the pre-edit condition of the novel and not something that made it to print. Because without that detraction, the novel was a lot of fun, fully earning the four stars I've given it. Although the post-climax epilogue ties off some threads while ignoring others, I think that's just Swenson hedging his bets. I'm sure this volume will do well enough to garner more gumshoe stories set in his Union universe.
Special thanks to Tor Books, who allowed me to read an ARC of this novel on netgalley.
There must be a magic to California that draws books of this genre. When I first read James Blaylock and then Tim Pratt all those decades ago, their stories tended to take place somewhere in the golden state, a place where a certain kind of magic still reigned. Sitting somewhere in the borderland between magic realism and urban fantasy, their books blended the ordinary with the extraordinary, hidden magic.
Greg Van Eekhout's “California Bones” takes a rightful place in this pantheon. Set in a not so alternate world where magic is real and California has seceded from the United States, this is largely the story of Daniel Blackland, son of a powerful magician and orphaned at the age of 12. Fast forward to an alternate LA - one where the streets are watery canals and the movie wizard DIsney and the water wizard Mulholland are among the powerful - we find Daniel all grown up, a thief with special talents.
One of Van Eekhout's smartest moves in this book was in not trying to tell us too much. This is a heist story, a crew of thieves sent out to lift some merchandise and a magic sword, and for the most part it stays within the confines of that story. Van Eekhout presents a concise story, one that rarely strays from the heist and the after effects of that heist. What little backstory we get is only in supporting our understanding of our focal character, Daniel. Even when we switch POV characters to Gabriel, grandson of the Heirarch of Southern California, we're still moving towards bringing to conclusion the main story.
Even if you don't care for heist stories (I'm not the biggest fan), you'll still find yourself drawn into this well written story. Although the central story arc is around the heist, this story is really about power, both taken and earned. From the first moments when we see just how osteomancy works and how the Heirarch acquires his power, to the climatic end, we recognize the heist itself as just a means to an end.
Many thanks to Tor-Forge for sending me a copy for review - I devoured the book in five days, bones and all.
Barnes presents in The Garden of Stones a well developed, fully laid out world. The reader is catapulted into the conflict head first, and although those first few chapters are confusing, chaotic scenes of fighting between factions in a war we don't understand, it all makes sense soon enough.
At first, the cast of characters seems daunting. Names, species, factions, how will you keep it all straight? While Barnes' world is fully realized, it is a departure from the familiar. New nomenclatures are nothing new to fantasy readers, which is fortunate. But beneath the strange and new, the book really only focuses on three characters and those that orbit them. Indris, the warrior scholar and principal character. Corajidin, his rival in this book and all around mostly bad guy. Mari, daughter of Corajidin, torn between loyalty to her father and burgeoning feelings for Indris and the honor of her career.
All the while, Barnes paints a promise. There will be action, there will be intrigue, there will be cliff hangers that compel us to read further. I believe Barnes delivers on that promise in this book - the Garden of Stones was well worth the read.
Thanks to Amazon and Netgalley for the review copy of this book. It was provided in exchange for an honest review.
In full disclosure, I didn't even realize this was a YA book when I picked it up. I knew it was Abercrombie, and I knew it was a fresh world, and that was enough for me to begin reading. “Half A King” is the story of Yarvin, a prince who wants nothing more than to be a Minister, learn some lore, and stay out of the light of day. Before the novel even gains too much traction, his father and brother are killed, leaving him the title of king. He's unprepared for the role, and being born with less than a full compliment of fingers on one hand, he is quick to be given the titular half a king.
This being an Abercrombie novel, there should be no surprise that betrayal and a rapid change of fortune is the next step. The phases of this journey will be no surprise to the seasoned reader of fantasy. A boy, cast into the world, must find out who he really is, rising from a somewhat despicable, sniveling child to an adult that knows his own strengths and weaknesses and how to use them to achieve his objective. You come to this story expecting an Abercrombie fantasy, but you stay because despite some of its predictable elements, its told really, really well. The reader will recognize a world that is both familiar and a degree or two off of our own. Like many good fantasies, Abercrombie doesn't try and hide the grit behind feats of magic and enchanted swords. There was magic in the world once, and we occasionally get glimpses of the enchantment that was, but this world is firmly between cold iron and hot blood.
My only criticism of this novel, and the reason I didn't think it warranted a full five stars, was that I found the conclusion to be a little too trite and pat. It could be that I am too jaded a reader, too far removed from the intended audience to be surprised by the final twist, but I found it to be a little too convenient.
That said, I would still recommend the book to readers old and young alike, although in fairness some topics may be less appropriate for younger teens - not because the writing is difficult for younger readers, but because some of the content may not be appropriate.
This review was of the digital ARC provided by Del Rey via Netgalley. Thank you to both parties for the opportunity to read this book in advance - it's been hard holding this review until closer to publication :)
Reading a classic is always a scary proposition. There is a story and expectation built up in the mind, its easy to fear that the actual reading will be a disappointment.
Luckily I had never seen either of the films made out of this book, so my only expectations were that it was a “classic” and that it sat on the edge of the dark noir crime genre. While much shorter than I anticipated (though fitting for a novel written 80 years ago, granted), it was a fun, quick, titillating read of love, murder, and a hot California summer.
This book began with a great hook - an office bet on who can find the most interesting and unique ways to kill media darling, showman, and all around jerk to be around, Henri Kerlerec. Nobody foresaw the agency of his death (less than a dozen pages into the book) at the claws of the native Ilmatar, who naively dissect him thinking him an unintelligent animal.
And then the book trips over itself for a while. Cambias becomes lost in setting the stage, something he could have forgone without any loss to the story. Not helping the story is that our other space faring species, the Sholan, read more like a foreign culture than a foreign species. While there are some physiological differences noted, they feel like TV aliens with pointed ears and green blood - different, but only in culture. Otherwise they are just humans with rubber suits, bent on protecting us from repeating their own mistakes.
What really saves this book - from the portraying an alien species perspective - are the natives of the ocean depths themselves, the Ilmataran. It's not a fair analogy, but reading their POV is like being in the head of a sonar wielding lobster. I was reminded of Vinge's Spiders from A Deepness in the Sky, especially with the ease with which Cambias relates the world of a blind, ocean vent dwelling creature. Cambias really shines when dealing with the Ilmataran, and you get a sense of the potential here. As a first novel, it was good, and I look forward to seeing what else Cambias writes in the future.
The ARC of this novel was provided for review by Tor.
I won't hold back - this is a train wreck of a book. At first pass, these are the stock characters every GM has dealt into an ongoing campaign, the initial quest as straight forward as they come: rob the ancient tomb, plunder some gold, get the magic sword.
Why read it, then? There's an argument there. You could say its because it's a Michael Bay train wreck, a Wachowski style production. Larger than life explosions, Brandon Frazier as one of the male leads, over the top dungeon crawler.
And then chapter one starts.
The Barrow is a well written tale of gritty fantasy. The biggest problem this book faces, I think, is that if you haven't read the comic it's a prequel to, then there's no way to filter the volume of information being dumped on you. What's important? What's filler? I couldn't tell, and that's a problem. In a sea of gritty fantasy epics, this is certainly dark, more adult than most of its competition. Sadly, it didn't work for me, but it wasn't from a lack of style or ability, so your mileage may vary.
The ARC for this novel was kindly provided to me by Pyr for review.
If you are reading this book review, then you have me confused with Andy Weir and this text confused with the start of “The Martian.” I realize they are similar, as both contain words, but you should really be reading his book, not my review of it.
Not convinced? What if I were to tell you that Jack London did not in fact die in 1916, but became a time traveling nomad who ended up in 2012 where he watched reruns of MacGyver, caught Moon Race fever followed by the whole Mars One craze, then returned to his roots of writing survival fiction under the guise of Andy Weir two years later? If I were to tell you all of that, you'd say I was crazy, and I say you should read “The Martian” and you'd know exactly what I meant.
From our first few moments with the Ares 3, we know exactly what kind of book this is going to be. This is Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Except with more explosions (but not the Michael Bay kind), and no space monkeys (like the 1964 classic). The book is fast paced, the bulk of it in the first person in the guise of journal entries. I know that might turn you off - I thought it would turn me off. It doesn't. Mark is exactly the kind of smartass you want to read in the first person. The science in the book is as legitimate as Weir could make it, and everything is actually within reach of us today. Weir may take a few liberties, but there are no hidden teleporters or miracle techs, everything is very real and now.
It was fun, exciting, and I haven't felt this happy about a book in so long, I'm all confused inside and am unable to write a worthy review. But there you have it. I would add that I will be surprised if the Martian doesn't make the list of nominees for a Hugo in 2014.
This book review is based on an ARC that was sent to me by the publicist prior to publication on behalf of the FantasyBookAddict.
It pains me to give a Stephen King book only three stars. Bear with me.
Billed as a sequel to The Shining, I felt this book fell short. I've read the Shining more than once (yes, despite it's awkward at times prose and POV mishaps, it is worth it). Even having read it multiple times and now being in my ahem rather late thirties, when I read the Shining last fall in anticipation of this book, I still had times where I got goosebumps and jumped at random noises and shadows in the house. Despite the fact that it's starting to get long in the tooth (HAH, DS readers will chuckle), the Shining still serves as a great book for getting a bit of creepy fright.
Doctor Sleep, a continuation of that story, held no fright. There was suspense, and even action, but no spine tingling, bone chilling, jump at the shadows because two keys on the piano just started playing and no one's there scare. While a lot of that is due to who King has become as a writer in the last few decades, focussing more on the weaving of a good story over giving his readers the heebie jeebies, in a book that is supposed to be a successor, its absence was noteable. There was a type of urban science fiction (for lack of a better term) that was really popular in the late seventies and early eighties dealing with psychics and ESP. A fine enough topic, and this was a great book in that sub-genre, but without anything to counter balance it I was left wanting. This was a psychic hero explores his life and powers book, not a REDRUM thriller.
As a sequel, then, I give this three stars. It did not stand up to the bar that was set by its predecessor. The book would have been better suited if the lead character had not been named Danny Torrence - then it would have been just another King affectation of setting one novel in the world of another (Sidewinder). Then the fact that we have a book that obsesses over steam, a purported sequel to a book that obsessed over a steam boiler, but that only once almost made a cross reference wouldn't bother me so much.
I'm a sap.
Yes, you have to be dense not to see the threads of conclusion drawing together, to not see the various hints and plot lines draw to a close in this final volume. And yet, there I was, some grain of sand caught in my eye, causing me to get a little teary eyed as I reached the end of the Riyria Revelations. A bit predictable, but satisfactorily brought to a conclusion all the same.
It is no small feat that this is a novel narrated by a selfless AI who is also the most poignant personality. For me, books have flavors, superficial resonances that can usually be expressed verbally as “this books reminds me of FOO, but with BAR.”
What Ann Leckie has accomplished in her debut novel is to give us a story that has all of the flavor markers and hallmarks of a classic C. J. Cherryh novel from the 1980's, with the poignancy of a contemporary story. The novel is first and foremost a top notched space opera. But what has been fascinating for readers is that the language Leckie has chosen to use bring up questions of gender. This is certainly not the first book to talk to gender - even LeGuinn's Left Hand of Darkness wasn't the first genre book to go there. Leckie's fresh approach, though, is in giving us a future society where gender is rendered equal not by neutering it, but by neutralizing it. By removing the bisect of male and female and using only the female gender to reference everything, the society of the Radch blurs the line. By submerging Breq, our AI product of Radch society, into other cultures, we begin to see the how arbitrary some attributes of gender are, and how much they can complicate what should otherwise be a simple worldview.
One of the oldest tales is the tale of vengeance. What is justice, then, but vengeance wrought legal? But what if the system, the ruling mind that defines what is right and legal, is itself what has gone awry? Is the vengeance of ancillary component still justice? I am probably reading too much into this play of words between the title and the straightforward goal of Breq, but these are the kinds of thoughts you have when reading Ancillary Justice. Its really refreshing to find a book that satisfies both my simple interests (Space Opera with boom!) while still being thought provoking.
And there was plenty of explosions and gun play. Just in case you were worried.
Ancillary Justice was a wonderful read, and I look forward to more in this series.
I have a confession to make - I'm not the biggest fan of Tom Lloyd's books. It isn't the mythos, or the violence, or even the characters. There is something in the way that Lloyd constructs sentences that hurts my brain.
I realize that sounds petty and weak, and it is, but it makes reading a full length novel of his difficult. I'm sure listening to a narrated version would be fine - I've learned that lesson with a few other authors lately - but something in the word to brain translation breaks down and I begin to develop a book induced migraine. My internal critic screams at what seem like run-on sentences devoid of punctuation.
Which is why I'm as surprised as you now are to know I'm going to recommend the God Tattoo so highly. This collection of “Untold Tales from the Twilight Reign” follows the same universe as his other Twilight Reign novels, replete with White Eyes and magics and forces both terrible and dark. But somehow, distilled into these short vignettes, each chapter a story in itself, it was actually a really fun and entertaining read.
Of course, like any story collection, not all stories are created equal, and some are better than others. Fans of Lloyd's will enjoy the collection, and fantasy readers interested in a collection of fun fantasy adventures will find something entertaining here as well. This companion book contains a well rounded collection of mysteries, gothic fairytales, and classic adventure stories - set in the world of the Seven Tribes.
Enjoy!
A really enjoyable time travel story, 11/22/63 skips through parts of King's mythos before settling on the titular task of dealing with one man's mission to stop the Kennedy assassination. In a lot of ways this book resonated with me in a way similar to Bag of Bones - it's the love story you walk away with, the other events (horrific or world changing) are just decoration.
Jow Hill's Heart-Shaped Box is the kind of story you don't see often enough these days - a classic ghost story. Not a ghoul-fest, just a classic, straight up haunting and exorcism of a sorts. This is a solid three star book, not quite up to par with Horns, but still a decent read. As another reviewer said, I think my biggest problem was that the level of peril never seemed to be quite imminent. Hauntings run a thin line, and I think Hill was trying to avoid crossing over it, but the final result was a book that didn't quite drag me along in the middle. Plus, living in Fredericksburg, I kept getting distracted for that part of that book :)