The Waking Engine by David Edison

Book 15 started, Book 13 finished

The Waking Engine by David Edison
Published by Tor Books, February 2014

NOTE: This book was provided by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a debut novel from Mr. Edison and there are some very good things to say about it.

The premise is fascinating.  In this universe, when you die, you reawaken on a new planet in an idealized version of your self-image to live another life.  At face value, that sounds great until you consider doing that over and over and life becomes awfully long and drawnout.  There are a few places where True Death can be achieved; one such place is the City Unspoken which is the setting for the novel.

The city is massive.  It is breathtaking in its architectural grandeur and also in its decay.  The descriptions of it made it come alive in a way reminiscent of Miéville’s New Crobuzon from Perdido Street Station or Bacigalupi’s Bangkok from The Windup Girl; the city itself it as integral to the book as the characters themselves.

The writing style is very poetic.  Edison has a fantastic grasp of language and does some very interesting things with it.  There is a certain grace to it that can be entrancing.  It’s wonderful to read but can also be distracting at times.  Here is a sample from early in the book:

The circle of sky hung distant, darkened but cloudless, a deep royal blue that seemed worlds away from the brooding umber sunset of the music fair he'd passed through to get here.  Fragrant smoke of a dozen flavors poured from the many openings, scrolling upward toward the promise of starlight far above like a pilgrimage of ghosts.  But Cooper could see that the darkened doorways were mere facades and nothing more - no vaulted tombs or flame-wreathed altars lay beyond their gaping doors.  Cooper realized with nervous awe that he was standing at the bottom of an immense well lined with the faces of a hundred religions, scalped and mounted.

….

“Welcome to the Apostery,” said a voice.  “Where we bury our faith.”

The Waking Engine

It’s so charming and evocative.   At times, it appears the language overwhelms the action in the story.
I found myself having to reread a section after finding myself enjoying the language and not the actual story.

But, that may have been one of the points.  The characters in the book are all well-conceived and interesting and their vignettes often distract from the main story line.  At times, these stories become much more interesting than what plot there is in the book.

Overall, I have mixed feelings on this book.  I loved the writing itself and I loved all the little sub-plots but, as a general rule, I don’t usually like books with a weak plot.  While, this book is intentionally designed this way, I still found myself looking away at times and losing interest.  As a first novel, it’s solid.  Edison is definitely an author I’ll keep an eye on for future novels.  I say check it out.

3.5 stars.

The Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

Book 14 started, Book 12 finished

The Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan  

Published by Orbit, 2013

This is an historical fantasy set on an alternate Earth in an equivalent to our late 18th Century.  It is a time of enlightenment where learned men do not believe in gods and where they yearn to live in a system that isn’t headed up by a king.   This book opens on the night of a coup in which a Field Marshall and his cabal have overthrown the king and killed the sorcerers protecting him.

The book has multiple stories going at once – the Field Marshall’s story, his son’s search for a missing sorcerer, an inspector working for the Field Marshall and a laundress whose life was turned upside down by the coup.  All are well written and the transitions between one to the other are often at chapter breaks so they’re not as startling as they can sometimes be by unskilled authors.

The magic system in the book is tiered with different people having an affinity for different types of magic; there are the Privileged who are essentially traditional sorcerers, the Marked who draw their power from gunpowder and are especially skilled with guiding bullets and then the Knacked who have a single talent that can give them an edge over normal people – like the need not to sleep.  The Privileged and the Marked work in opposition to each other which adds to the overall drama in the book.

This book is well done and thoroughly enjoyed it.  However, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the author or the publisher has chosen to use replacement swearing.  The characters all use the word ‘Pit’ as an expletive which is fine in and of itself, but they use it over and over every page or so.  It became tedious after a while as it was the only expletive used.  

I give the book 4 stars for the quality of the book itself but I have to take away a star for the over use of that single world.  Be more creative with your replacement swearing.

3 Stars.

On Swearing ....

I'm reading The Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan.  The actual review is coming later as I’m currently only 45% through the book.  Suffice to say that I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

However, the author is using (or the publisher made him) use that standard ploy of replacing swear words with substitution words so reader knows the characters are swearing without using profane language. In this case, the word 'hell' is substituted with 'pit'. A lot. I think, the only swear word in the first 40% of the book used is 'pit'. Pit, pit, pit.

Now, I’m sure there’s a Catch-22 for publishers where some readers will scream about any swear words and how it ruins a book while others think it’s awkward not to use them when they seem to fit naturally into a conversation.  Then, what is the proper level and when is it in context?  And, many publishers seem to take the conservative, corporate way out and go for zero swearing.

The entire thing ratchets up many notches when the book in question is YA or a tween book – then many think that all curse words, like all alcohol, drug use or sexuality, is inappropriate for the delicate sensitivities of young, innocent readers.  That opinion seems to hold true regardless how the person spoke or behaved as a young person themselves.

Personally, I think that casual swearing can be a crutch and can be a sign of poor writing skills.  I also think more often it can be very appropriate with certain types of characters and circumstances.   I think the fear of swearing is a fear that if x people complain about it, that must mean that 100x more people must feel the same way – regardless of the demographics of the book’s target audience.  It’s financial based fear.   And, since most people who don’t mind the swearing also won’t complain that it’s not there, then it’s a sort of win/win.

To be honest, I don’t even mind substitutions, when they’re smart.  When a science fiction characters says, “Galaxy!” or “Space!” as an expletive, that’s stupid.  But taking the time to create something that fits into the context of the fictional universe can actually be clever.  Case in point, Battlestar Galactica’s use of “Frak!” was fantastic.

In the case of The Promise of Blood, the only reason I even noticed it was McClellan used it over and over and over at least once a page.  It’s too much.  It went from clever to tedious quickly.

So, Two Books ….

Book 12 started, Book 11 finished

Grantville Gazette volume 20 edited by Paula Goodlett

Published by Baen Books, 2008

This version of the gazette is perfectly fine but not one of the better ones.  There’s a good opening story story about the expansion of crochet and the Committee of Correspondence into Hamburg – an odd combination but it was enjoyable.  There was also a good story set in the Russian Embassy to the USE that I don’t remember being included in the later book, 1636: The Kremlin Games.  The rest are fairly mediocre.

3 stars.

Book 13 started, Book 11 finished

The Man who Crossed Worlds by Chris Strange

Published by Cheeky Minion, 2013

This is an urban fantasy set in a decaying Earth connected to another world or dimension or reality more chaotic than ours as far as the rules of physics are concerned and peopled with a race who are like us only different.   This is a typical urban fantasy in that it’s the story of a loner and small time criminal type caught up in a larger conflict between rival gangs and the police.

It’s well edited, it’s well written.  It’s just not what I’m interested in reading at the moment.  I thought I was when I picked it up.  But I’m at 13% in and I don’t really care about the main character/narrator or the story that’s beginning to unfold.  I think, for me, it's that nothing really stands out.  It reads like just another urban fantasy; one among many ....

Maybe I’ll pick it up again later.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Book 11 started, Book 10 finished

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Published by Rosettabooks, 2012 (1953)

I went back and forth on this book.  It was well reviewed, Mr. Forstchen is a respected writer, and I disagree with his politics which are seen in this book.  So, I looked at it for a long time.   Then it went on sale on Amazon for $3 so I figured I’d give it a try.

This is the story of a small North Carolina town and what happens to it when an EMP burst takes out all electronics in North America.   It’s told from the perspective of one man, a retired Colonel, who is forced into the position of helping support the town first as part of the Town Council and later as their General while also trying to protect his family.

Now, EMP burst apocalypse stories are standard fair among a certain conservative set and many of them are quite shrill and full of Fine Upstanding Americans fighting off starving hordes of amoral big city liberals.  This doesn't do that nearly as much as some.  The main characters are all very conservative and there are pretty rude descriptions of liberals and how they might react to the event – elsewhere.  There are some portions where the author goes off on brief socio-political lectures, but they’re not screeds and they’re few and far between.

That aside, for the first 80% of the book, I thought this was decently written but not completely original.  I enjoyed it enough to keep reading but I wasn't loving it.   By the end, however, various characters are killed or otherwise die and I found myself very emotionally moved over their deaths.  So, the book did touch me on some level more than I thought it did.

Overall, it was well written and well edited even if I disagreed with much of the author’s positions.  It was enjoyable but not enough for me to continue to read his other books.

3 stars.

Expedition to Earth by Arthur C. Clarke

...Had to go with the cool older cover ....

Book 10 started, Book 9 finished

Expedition to Earth by Arthur C. Clarke

Published by Rosettabooks, 2012 (1953)

It’s good to read some of the works of the forefathers of science fiction.  It’s been decades since I’ve read any Clarke and it’s like visiting an old friend.  These are 11 tales originally published between 1949 and 1953 and are, of course, of varying quality individually.  Combined, they’re fascinating in style and content and a joy to read.

Most of these stories aren’t about laser guns or space battles – although I enjoy that kind of science fiction – but about the human condition.

Second Dawn – This is a cautionary tale.  A race of psychics discover a psychic weapon of mass destruction in war time.  In their horror, they turn away from it and the knowledge that lead to it and instead down a path of physical sciences ….

If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth – A child looks upon the radioactive wastes that is the Earth from the relative safety of the Moon.

Breaking Strain – A spaceship loses its oxygen reserves.

History Lesson – Long after humanity is gone, what will be found to show who we were and what will be made of us?

Superiority – A military tribunal holds a reminder that superior technology and superior hubris does not necessarily guarantee success on the battlefield.   This is a truism that’s often forgotten and this story is a very nice reminder.

Exile of the Eons – A tyrant saves himself at the end of his empire with 100 years of suspended animation that ends up as eons and eons beyond imagining.

Hide and Seek – A spy, a battle cruiser and a moon of Mars, what could go wrong?

Expedition to Earth – Humans centuries more advanced than us find and Earth full of primitives.

Loophole - When Martians insist the Earthicans give up research into rocketry and set up monitoring stations to enforce their edict, those wily humans find an itty bitty loophole.

Inheritance – A little ditty about test pilots and vivid dreaming.  I’m not sure I really grokked this one.

The Sentinel – This is the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and considered a classic.  But, it’s far from my favorite in this collection.  There’s just no there there for me to love it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection and I need to revisit the old masters more often.  But, I may also be overdosing on short stories this month, too …

3.5 stars.

X-Men: Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont

Book 9 started, Book 8 finished

X-Men: Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont (Author), John Byrne (Illustrator)
Published by Marvel, 2012 (1980)

OK, a little back story.  I first read these in 1982 or 3.  My friend Marc had a full set of X-men going back to the original ones and may still have them.  I loved the alternate future as told in volumes 142 and 143 and this little story arc helped set the stage for years of storylines in the escalating paranoia over mutants and the fear of the different.

Throughout these stories are the introduction of Kitty Pryde to the X-men.  I forgot she was only 13 when she came to Xavier’s school.  I hated her at first and I hated her superhero name, Sprite.  Still feel mostly the same.  I like her much better when she grows up a bit.

# 138 – Elegy – This is Jean Grey’s funeral and Scott Summer’s narrative of her entire story as Marvel Girl, Phoenix and Dark Phoenix.  It’s a serious reminder of how the X-men used to think in a narrative form back in the day.

Annual #4 – Nightcrawler’s Inferno – The X-men go to Hell - Dante’s Inferno to be precise.  If memory serves, I read this not long after reading the inferno so I thought it was brilliant when I was 16.  Now, it’s enjoyable but a little light.

# 139 – Something Wicked This Way Comes! & #140 – Rage! – Wolverine and Nightcrawler help Alpha Flight fight a giant Yeti looking thing.

#141 – Days of Future Past – This is the classic X-men tale set in a dystopian future of last year, 2013.  North America is ruled by the Sentinels, our cities are in ruins, most mutants and other super beings are either dead or enslaved and the rest of the world is ready to declare nuclear war to stop the Sentinels from spreading out.  This is some wonderful stuff and the basis for this year’s new X-men movie.

#142 – Mind Out of Time – Kate Pryde is 46 and goes back in time to her teenage body to convince the X-men to help her prevent the death of Senator Robert Kelly at the hands of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (stupid name).  I wonder who all will die in the movie …..

#143 – Demon – Kitty Pryde runs from a thing that looks just like Alien on Christmas Eve.  Yawn.

5-stars for Futures Past.  3-stars for the rest.

The Last Bad Job by Colin Dodds

Book 8 started, unfinished

The Last Bad Job by Colin Dodds 

Published by Author, 2012

This was presented as the story of a journalist doing onsite research for a story on a potentially suicidal cult.  He’s never fully identified – at least not in the part I read – but the various members of the cult are.  They are not, however, fleshed out as real people.  They felt like constructs designed to fill simply occupy a portion of the story and little else.  Well, that and have sex with each other.

The first sentence of the story is crude.  The first chapter has a suicide no one seems to care about.  But, that’s a lead in to how the next chapters read; things happen, people are crude and there’s nothing behind it.

Now, in the last book I read, there was a certain banal attitude that made the entire book work; in this one there is also a feeling that the shocking is commonplace but it just doesn’t work. 

I couldn’t read more than about 12% of the book.  I didn’t care about anyone in it or what was going to happen.  Other than the suicide, nothing much had, but I wasn’t willing to wait around to see what eventually would.

The Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Book 7 started, Book 7 finished

The Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Published by Ace Books, 2011

What can I say about this book?  It’s amazingly good. It's dark; it’s exceptionally dark. It’s violent and cruel, but it’s not graphically violent.  There is a certain banal treatment to the brutality of the book, both in detail and in the character’s attitude towards events, that’s so calm and collected.  That more than makes it horrifying to my mind.   I have to admit I was shocked at first then soon wrapped up in their nonchalant approach to it all.

Many of the things in the opening chapters are possibly off-putting to some - beheading the dead and almost dead, rape, burning villages, torture, casual dismemberment - from the start, it’s not clear who Brother Jorg is or why he and his men are so awful. They're clearly anti-heroes but it's less clear what made him and them the way they are or why we should like them.

But, I quickly found myself fascinated with 15yo Jorg. I liked him even as he casually watched his men destroy a peasant village. I found myself wondering what made him such a hard young man; he's no wandering innocent and this is no coming of age tale of a peasant destined to be a great warrior.

As the story unfolds, so does Jorg’s backstory.  It’s a horrible tale and it keeps getting darker with each detail.  The final bit that shows the complete lack of morality in this world doesn’t come until the final pages, and then it’s just a casual statement like all the other horribly dark portions in the book.

It’s not clear where or when this world is set.  I’ve heard it described as a dystopia but it’s not really one in the classical sense.  Often dystopian novels are set in a world that has a strong central government of one political bent or another carried to an extreme or a generic totalitarian regime to be overcome.   In this book, it’s more of a feudal medieval Europe without any sort of hierarchical order or religious/philosophical guiding hand; it’s feudal anarchy.

Still, it's a mostly Christian world - Catholic even - where magic works. There are 100 kingdoms in what was once an empire.  It’s a patchwork of warring groups looking for advantage and all trying to become the new Emperor. From descriptions, this empire fell apart some time back and the fighting has been going on for some time, but there are no clear details as to time scales.

The map provided at the beginning may or may not be an alternate Earth or it may be a future Earth. There are indications that this is set some time after the fall of a technological society, but there are no details on that either.

This is one of the better swords and sorcery fantasies I've read in some time. I was about 60% into the book when I bought its sequel.  There are two more books in this series and then a 4th books coming out this summer that may be a 4th in the series or simply set in this universe.

4.5 stars.

Ring of Fire II by Eric Flint, etc.

Book 6 started, Book 6 finished

Ring of Fire II by Eric Flint, etc.

Published by Baen Books, 2008

Continuing on in the Ring of Fire universe, this time with an ‘official’ anthology.  It’s somewhat hard to comment on these stories as some are in recently read copies of the gazettes while others are new novels but here I go …

Of all the stories, one of my favorites in this collection is one of the shortest stories, Ellis Island by Russ Ritters.  This is the story of a Jewish family with nothing trying to get to Grantville in the snow in search of a better life.  It’s just touching.  It could have been a heavy-handed attempt at sympathy or a pale comparison to OUR Ellis Island, but it’s not.   It’s just a wel-done story.

Malunga Seed by Jonathan Cresswell-Jones is another I particularly enjoyed.  An African Jesuit, Mbandi, shows up at Dr. Nichols door late one night bearing chinchona bark and seeds, the plant needed to make quinine, and stories of life in Changes to Brazil and hoped for changes in Africa.  It’s a good story with lots of interesting details about these two 17^th century continents. 

To a degree, it seems the information about chinchona and quinine getting from Germany to Brazil to trigger the plans and start this story rolling is a lot to happen in a relatively short time, but A LOT has happened in this universe in the 4 or 5 years since Grantville arrived in 1631.  But, that’s part of the fiction so I guess I’ve accepted that so much rapid change will happen.

The Main Novella anchoring the book is The Austro-Hungarian Connection by Eric Flint.  This is in part about Austria’s attempts to gain technology from Grantville.  In this instance, they’ve received some openly but have also convinced some Americans to defect and to steal tech as part of their plan to flee.  The rest of the story then is Nichol Murphy’s attempts to stop them.

Nichol Murphy, now Stull, is one of the characters who only really appears in the short stories but is an interesting woman who pops up fairly regularly as a field agent for the State of Thuringia-Franconia.  She’s a bit of a loner and an interesting character who’s been developing nicely as a person throughout these different stories and this one is no different.

Overall, this isn’t the best book in the collection but it’s a solid 3-stars and an enjoyable continuation of the series.

Something Like Summer by Jay Bell

Book 5 started, Book 5 finished

Something Like Summer by Jay Bell

Published by the Author, 2011

I finished this book a couple days ago and I’ve been thinking about it since.  In some ways I really liked this book, in other ways I wanted to throw my kindle across the room the characters annoyed me so much.

There are really two stories in this book, a story of teenage romance between an openly gay 16yo and a closeted 17yo.  Then there is the story of a college student, a flight attendant and an adult relationship.

The book opens with a story between Ben and Tim – two high school students in a wealthy Houston suburb.  One had distant, disinterested parents and the other had exceptionally permissive parents.  They went to a school where apparently few teachers cared if they attended class and they pretty much did as they pleased.  Their story was fun and cute and it somewhat reminded me of how new, shiny and wonderful love was as a teenager.

Ben behaved occasionally like a dumb kid but sometimes he became this super kid who hold the world exactly how things were going to be and how people were going to behave – and the world did as instructed.  Tim as a typical jock stuck between wanting to conform and wanting Ben.   And, it ended like most of our high school loves ended.  With anger, hurt, and shame.

The second story is the story of Ben and Jase.  Ben is now 20 and in College when he meets Jase, a 26yo flight attendant.   They fall in love, they fight, they make-up.  They do all the things a young couple do when starting their life out together.  All goes well for years until Tim comes back in Ben’s life ….

I didn't always get Jase and Ben as a couple but they worked.  I didn't always believe them as a couple – some of the years went by pretty fast – but still it seemed to work.

In the end, I enjoyed the book.  It didn't end the way I hoped and I didn't end the way I feared.  Like I mentioned, I've been thinking about it for a couple days now.  

It wasn't until the end that I realized this is the first in a series of books telling the story from different perspectives.   This one was Ben’s perspective.  The next is Tim’s story.  I’m still on the fence about reading it.

3 Stars.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Book 4 started, book 4 finished

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
published by Delacorte Press (Random House), 2013

I’m not sure how this man writes so much and continuously puts out such high-quality books.  Every time I turn around, there seems to be another book or series by Brandon Sanderson.  I hope he doesn’t become like Stephen King for me and instead of quality, I start to just see indulgent hack.  We’ll see.

But, that is so not the case with this book.

Steelheart is based on a fairly common theme in Superhero fiction where some event suddenly imbues people with super powers.  The powers appear apparently at random, they cover the standard range of powers, we’ve come to know, they range in intensity from invulnerable to just some guy with a neat power and love from decades of comics and some become heroes and some become villains.  The difference, in this world, is after the event, called the Calamity, is that they all become villains.

A little ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ and we’re off.

It is ten years after the Calamity and the dystopian world we find is a patchwork of different fiefdoms run by dominant Epics and their lesser strength Epic henchmen and assorted other lackeys.  It’s a messy world but we see little of it outside what was once Chicago.  Newcago is run by Steelheart and consists of an upperworld of gangsters and bureaucrats and an underground world of gangs, child labor factories and beggars.  It’s a pretty bleak place but also presented as one of the better run cities.

The story itself is listed as one for grades 8 and up.  I didn’t notice that until after I was finished.  It was centered on an 18yo boy, David, but it didn’t read like a book geared towards junior high aged boys.   He wants revenge on Steelheart for killing his father and tracks down a group of Reckoners, normal people fighting back against the Epics, and convinces them to take on a scheme to take down the head Epic in Newcago.

It’s a bit of a coming of age novel, a bit of an adventure thriller and a bit of a superhero novel turned on its head.  The book is fast paced, well-written and fun.  It’s not going to win any literary awards but I’ll definitely read the next one on the series.

3.5 stars.

Grantville Gazette Volume 19 edited by Paula Goodlett

January 4, 2013

Book 3 started, book 3 finished

Grantville Gazette Volume 19 edited by Paula Goodlett
published by Baen Books, 2008

I started re-reading the Ring of Fire series in Mid-July 2013 and decided then to include all the Gazettes as I went through them.  I’m reading them in order and reading them in publication order between the release dates on the novels.  I’m not quite half way through but I’m really enjoying it.

While the individual stories don't add to the overall story arcs in the Ring of Fire universe, I do like that they add so much extra color and depth to them.  They really make this new timeline feel like their 1630's are much different than our 1630's in all the small ways but the ways important to daily life.

For a bit, around gazette's 8 or so, they got fairly dull.  It felt like there were too many cutesy 3 or 4 page stories that were clever but that was it.  Now, many of the stories feel like they have some teeth in them and are quite good by themselves.

Volume 19 does not disappoint.  As always, there are a variety of short stories covering a variety of new and favorite characters in the Ring of Fire universe.  Some of the highlights include:

• There are two more installments on the Anaconda Project.  These are longer than the first ones, but still so short.  I hope they end up expanded upon into a full-fledged novel.

• There's another story about Felix and Brigit - the artist and chess playing wife.

• There is a new story about Professor Gribbleflotz.  This time he’s tackling Viagra.  I had to look that up and Viagra was around – barely – before Grantville was sent back to the 17th Century, so OK. 

• There’s another story about a Jewish family and how they are acclimation in Grantville.  I quite like these stories around religion as that was one of the major forces of the time and it’s been turned on its head completely.

• There’s a fairly long story about an incident on a Germany to Italy flight by the Trans European Airline and what happens when they need to make an unscheduled landing.

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

January 3, 2014

Book 2 started, Book 2 read 

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
published by Tor Books (Macmillan), 1992

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book - a space opera, perhaps a planetary romance, perhaps a mix of both?  In the end, it was both and so much more.  Half the book took place on a planet with a medieval alien society of dog-like creatures and half took place in space spanning multiple races and multiple solar systems within a galactic conglomeration of advanced societies.

I really like the concept of the galaxy being splint into The Unthinking Depths, The Slow Zone, Beyond and the Transcend. It took me a bit to figure out that each were regions of space and each had different sets of physics that allowed different types of both life and technologies to exist. Very intriguing idea. I'm curious why there are the 4 types of space dividing the galaxy but then I also like that it's just what's so and left without too much detail to try and make it into a scientific reality. When they are discussing the different areas, the time scales boggle my mind a bit - the interstellar empires in the Slow Zone only lasting a couple thousand years each and then disappearing to be recreated later, the timescale in the Beyond covering eons as if they're nothing and then the Powers in the Transcend existing in time scales of a single decade. It was fascinating that sentient life evolves in the Slow zone where FTL flight isn't possible, these races slowly find the Beyond - by accident mostly - to become the galaxy traversing races of the Low and High Beyond until moving into the Transcend to become Powers.  Or, a single race may exist in all three levels at the same time in different groups. 

Planetside, the native Tines are presented as a collective conscious and are amazing.  It took a while to figure out how to think about them as they are so unusual.  Using a pack mentality instead of a hivemind or similar as the foundation is clever and I like what Vinge has done with it. At times, they act like humans in their goals and aspirations but all the details around dominant and submissive parts of the pack and adding in new members are brilliant. The trouble with packs crowding each other is interesting and the differing levels of intelligence based on the pack's physical configuration as well as size is very well done.

In other details, the existence of a galactic newsnet web is fun. Since the book was written in the early '90s, I'm sure it wasn't quaint then, but it is kind of amusing that even in this far future, there are still angerboys, trolls and armchair experts all over the web.

Overall, I enjoyed the book - although I think there are parts of this book that could have been removed without changing the overall book itself.  It was creative and much more original than I thought it was going to be.

4 Stars

Star Trek: The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward

January 1, 2014

Book 1 started   Book 1 read

Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward - Book 5 in Star Trek: The Fall
published by Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster), 2013

This book is the conclusion of one of the better Star Trek: TNG series written since the release of the movie Nemesis was released so many years ago.  To a large degree, it also feels like the conclusion of a major story arc that began with the final Borg invasion of the Federation, continued with the Reconstruction, the rise of the Typhon Pact and then the events in this series leading to the confrontations between the interim president, Ishan Anjar and his supporters and the more traditional elements of Starfleet.

My expectations were high for this book since each book in the series was better than the one before.  In some ways this one didn’t disappoint, but in some ways it did. 

The book is well-written.  It is fast paced and tight.  There is little extraneous dialogue or backstory thrown in as filler.  Each character has a distinct voice that is easily recognizable as the characters we all know and care for – which is often no easy task in a shared universe such as this one. 

The primary subplot revolves around Beverly Crusher and she just didn’t come across strong enough as a character to carry it.  There is a scene with Starfleet Special Forces opponents against Beverly and her team where they attack Tom Riker assuming he is in charge; this is fairly indicative of their entire time on the planet Jevalan.

Picard’s portion of the story is up to its usual quality with the crew if the Enterprise E facing insurmountable odds and squeezing out a win in the final seconds.

The epilogue opened up the possibility for new Star Trek storylines that move away from the politics heavy ones we’ve seen for the past few years and back to ones with an emphasis on exploration.  It also suggests openings for entire new crews that can be introduced and new directions the franchise can be taken.  Time will tell, but I’m looking forward to what’s in store.

3.5 stars

The Best of 2013

It's the 31st so it's time to share the favs of 2013.  Here are mine.  I've read 151 books in 2013 and these are my 14 favorites in no particular order:

1.  1635: Music and Murder - This is the latest in a series about a small West Virginia town sent back in time to 1630's Germany and turned the Thirty Years War on its head.  This one is about the introduction of 350 years of music does to the musical world....  

2.  The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor  This is the story of Phillip Blake, his family and friends as society collapses and the zombies take over.  This is his transformation from a man protecting his daughter to the lunatic we know and love from The Walking Dead.

3.  Star Trek: The Fall  This is a 5 book series and the final book isn't out until Dec. 31 but this is one of the best Star Trek story lines since the Dominion War.  It's intrigue, politics, murder ... lots of messy goodness.  (OK, this is 5 books - so sue me)

4.  The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes  I've put off Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels even though I've heard great things about them.  I've just read this volume this month and it's fantastic.  Now I want more ....

5.  God Plays Favorites  I just enjoy Charlie Carillo and this book doesn't disappoint.  This is the story told my a man looking back to his first journalism job in the late 80's for some NYC rag and the lessons it taught him about life.  Very good stuff.

6.  Tell Me Its Real  This is a m/m romance but it's not a formulaic thing like so many romances - it's smart, witty, sarcastic and thoroughly enjoyable.

7.  Black Wind  This is a large portion of historical fiction with some fantasy thrown-in.  Japanese American life in San Francisco in the 20's and 30's followed by a great story around World War II.

8.  The Accidental Proposal  Very entertaining Lad Lit about a guy unsure if he's really engaged and if his fiancé is really into marrying him.  Very funny book and part of a great series.

9.  The Old Man and the Wasteland  This takes Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea and sets it in the Arizona Desert 30 years after the Apocalypse.

10. The Perseid Collapse  This is the first in an Apocalyptic military thriller trilogy and the sequel to an earlier pandemic novel.  

11. The Given Sacrifice: A Novel of the Change  The final novel in the second series set in a world I've been reading in for a decade - with a very satisfying end for characters in both series.

12. I Am Not Myself These Days  The memoir of a 90's era drag-queen.  This is funny and disturbing and wonderful.

13. The Edge of the World (Terra Incognita)  The only one on the list I listened to as an audio book.  Complex fantasy in a world divided by religion and on the edge of an Age of Exploration.

14. Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond  Short Story Anthology by some fantastic authors re-imagining Oz and all the characters therein.

 

 

Time for another Book Blog ....

December 31, 2013

Hi.  I"m Geoffrey.

I've been thinking about this for a while now.  I read quite a bit and I occasionally write up a review for Amazon or Goodreads before moving on to my next book.   I read 151 books in 2013 - not counting the ones I abandoned for this that or the other reason - and I wrote 24 reviews.  So, let's say 15% of the time do I write something after finishing a book.

So, my goal starting now is to write something about every book I read just because.  We'll see how that goes.

I'm sure I'll post all or at least some of them on goodreads and on amazon but I decided to start up this blog to keep them all in one place as well.  Now at the moment, no one knows this exists, so it's me talking to myself a bit - about reading.  

sounds a little geeky.  But if you want my fun side, go find me on google+.

Oh, and I moved this from it's original spot, so on the first 4 or posts, the dates are off.....