[Lisa’s Take] Before They Are Hanged: First Law Book 2 (Joe Abercrombie)

My review of The Blade Itself, the first book in this trilogy, was one of the more vicious reviews I’ve written. I really picked the book apart, and probably dog-eared 20 pages with things that irked me so I’d have solid ammunition.

I felt a little bad, ripping something apart like that, especially after a few people whose opinions I usually trust in books said I was being too harsh. So as penance I picked up the second book, Before They Are Hanged, as soon as it hit the shelves. Last week I was out of work with a fairly nasty cold, so I holed up on the couch and ready it pretty much straight through in 2 days. I thought it would be fun to go back through my first review and see how Mr. Abercrombie has progressed in his second stab at the fantasy genre.

Gripe #1 – Mishmashy, undefined plot
After TBI, I complained that the plot was not well defined, that it didn’t go anywhere, that it was predictable, and that it was all set up with no money shot. This problem was absolutely remedied in BTAH. There are three major plot lines, and each one has a good introduction, build up and climax. I think it helped this time around that the distinct groups were well separated from each other, so the author didn’t have worry about them overlapping and muddling each other up. In book 2 you’ve got 3 groups: the unwitting heroes searching for a mystical artifact, the men manning the front of the war in the north, and the Inquisition investigating drama in the south. Each plot line was equally well developed, had good screen time, and (most importantly) was engaging, interesting, and less predictable. I had some vague guesses as to what would happen when and where, but it was much more rare that I’d think “and now X is going to happen!” then turn the page and be proven correct.

Gripe #2 – Crossing the proverbial streams
In TBI the author had a lot of trouble keeping his POV characters separated and straight. This was much less of an issue in BTAH. There were still 3 or 4 times in the book that I got a little turned around, but whether because I had a better handle on the characters or because I was expecting it, I never had to re-read to figure out what was going on. I don’t know if Joe got himself a better editor, or if he’s done with some of the New Writer Blunders – but let’s hope it’s both. He also did a much better time distributing his POV time in book 2... there were no “primary” and “secondary” POV characters – they all got even screen time and actually made contributions to the plot.

I did experience one slightly jarring moment during the book’s end game: throughout the story the author had established a fairly smooth cycle of rotation through his characters and groups of characters – he rarely dwelled on one group for many chapters in a row. Then, during the climax of the book, he got stuck on the group of treasure hunters and stuck 3 or 4 chapters of theirs all together. I understand that it was a necessity, and that he just had extra chapters for them, but... it just broke up the flow of the book again, after such a nice cycling had been established. Tiny gripe.

Gripe #3 – Character Clichés
Boy, I was pretty vicious about the character clichés when I reviewed book 1. Man. I feel a little bad... but then I was pretty displeased after the first book. In book 2 Mr. Abercrombie makes significant improvements in his characters. They are all more solid and (largely) less prone to crazy out-of-character episodes. Bayaz still has some moments that don’t quite seem to follow, but he’s the only one I can complain about. Book 2 also spends a lot of time deepening and expanding upon the characters, so they’re less stereotyped, I think. Contributing to this is the point I mentioned above about the author giving more even face time to everyone, so we get more than just an initial impression.

That said, I did still have one new character gripe in this installment: I felt like some of the characters “reset” at the start of the book. It was as though they had started to develop a little in the first book, then when the second book started they went right back into the rut. Jezal, especially, suffered from this, as did Ferro. Luckily it mostly worked itself out after a couple of chapters from each POV.

I lied: two character gripes. The other problem I had is that Mr. Abercrombie isn’t very adept at making immediately memorable secondary characters yet. I’m a little spoiled – when GRRM creates a secondary character he does so in such a vivid way that the next time the character is mentioned the light bulb immediately goes off. In BTAH there are a few secondary characters that you meet in the beginning of the book, then don’t see on screen again until the end, and in some cases the re-introduction didn’t go smoothly. He got there eventually in all cases, so maybe by book 3 he’ll have it down.

Gripe #4 – Guttural Utterances
I complained in the first book that I was sick of Abercrombie’s characters saying their guttural utterances. Either he got a little better about it in this book, or I just didn’t seize upon it as something annoying. It did bother me how often people replied to questions with “Uh.” as a statement. “Uh” to me is a sound of uncertainty, rather than a reply – I really would rather he went with “Mm.” or “Hn.” or something. At least this time when I’m writing this paragraph I’m chuckling, rather than seething.

Well. I think revisiting all those points serves pretty well for a review. If it’s not obvious by now, I enjoyed the second book much more than the first – almost all of the issues that kept me from getting into the first book were resolved. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the humor, and the surprising twists. I’ll certainly be picking up the 3^rd book – and if you don’t mind having to bull your way though some of the first book’s issues, I’ll revoke my “don’t waste your time” judgment on the series as a whole.

[Lisa’s Take] Temeraire Book 4 – Empire of Ivory (Naomi Novik)

There’s a big dragon plague killing off all of England’s dragons. Temeraire goes to Africa to look for a cure. We also address the matter of slavery a bit, as well as loyalty and honor. Yay we have a plot!

I don’t mean to be too blithe about the premise of the 4^th book in this series, because it was really an enjoyable read – it was just also awfully easy to codify down into a few short words. I don’t think that makes it less of a good book, but maybe a little simplistic.

There really isn’t a whole lot to say other than reiterating that it was a fun book... I feel a little bit like the series has gone down hill since the first installment, but maybe I have my hopes set too high. I think part of the problem is that Temeraire has been less of a major character with each continuing book... he seems to be getting flatter, rather than more developed, and he often takes the back seat to the plot.

Granted I could just be knit picking because Ms. Novik pissed me off at the end of the book – there’s very, very, very little that I dislike more than a jarring cliffhanger. I can handle being left in suspense, but turning the last page of the book and being totally baffled that it doesn’t continue leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Come to think of it, that’s how she started book 4 as well – just jumped right in to what was happening when the last book closed. Hnn.

That came off as harsh, but it should be taken in light of all the other extensive praise I’ve lavished upon her earlier books. I’ll definitely be picking up book 5... it just won’t necessarily be something that requires immediate reading. It can hang out and wait to break up the harder, more grown up fantasy.

Lisa's Take - Swordspoint (Ellen Kushner)

Swordspoint is the precursor to Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner. I don’t want to call it a “prequel” because they’re certainly not directly intertwined by any stretch – you can absolutely read Privilege first, then go back and read Swordspoint. In fact – that’s what I’d recommend.

I recommend reading in the reverse order for a very simple reason: I guarantee that if I had read Swordspoint first I would have put it down in disgust after a few chapters, and never picked it back up. As a result, I never would have read Privilege, and that would have been an absolute shame, since it was very enjoyable. You see... Swordspoint is SO very much a First Novel. It’s a little painful to read. I’m not even sure I can quite explain it... it’s like the author doesn’t describe or connect well enough. Some of it is just bad editing – POV jumps that aren’t differentiated, for instance. Other bits though... it’s like she’s expecting the reader to infer more is reasonable. She’s got her court intrigue and her implications all set up, but in some places it’s like you’re missing puzzle pieces or overtones that would make conversations and motivations make sense.

The result is that the first half of the book is rather disjointed and kind of frustrating to wade through. Luckily I was entertained enough to be reading about familiar characters that I stuck with it – and by the second half of the book she started hitting her stride and telling the story well. I’m not sure if she just got smoother as a story teller, or if I got enough grasp on the characters to fill in the holes.

Either way, I was very much enjoying the story by the end... and it entertained me so much that I’m currently re-reading Privilege. It’s pretty awesome to have some of the back story that’s implied (but never elaborated upon) brought to light, and it really gives a much more exciting tone to some of the scenes – particularly between Duke Tremontaine and Lord Ferris. I remember when I read Privilege for the first time that whole scene struck an odd note with me... but this time it makes so much more wicked sense.

So. If you enjoyed Privilege, by all means read Swordspoint. It’s good by the end, and certainly worth consuming if only to get some great back-story and have a greater appreciation for some of Privilege’s characters. Just don’t read it first, as it would be a shame to be entirely turned off of the entire series, solely because of some new-writer issues.

Lisa's Take - Sir Apropos of Nothing (Peter David)

A few months back a friend tipped me off on a book title that she found entirely hilarious, called Woad to Wuin. I also got a pretty good chuckle out of it, and figured that with a title that entertaining, I should probably think about picking it up. I came across it by chance a couple of weeks ago, and discovered that Woad to Wuin was actually a sequel to a book called Sir Apropos of Nothing. Feeling obliged based entirely upon the clever titles, I decided to pick the first book up.

A quote on the front of Sir Apropos of Nothing calls is “excellent fantasy satire.” But I’m not entirely sure that’s what it is. It’s certainly fantasy (sword fights, fantastic creatures, damsels in distress, magic, phoenixes, the works!) and it has some satirical qualities, I suppose (the main character hijacking his best friends’ destiny, knowingly and reflectively). Still, calling it satire makes it feel more clinical than I think it deserves. Maybe I’m just over thinking things, though.

Anyway, Apropos is born the son of a whore, but his mother is just sure he has a great destiny, since she swears up and down she saw a phoenix being reborn just before Apropos was brought into the world. He grows up largely being jaded and put upon, though he’s mentored by an orphan he meets in the woods. Eventually the plot contrives to have Apropos end up at the palace, where he accidentally gets to become a squire, and he sets out to retrieve the king and queen’s daughter from a life of seclusion.

If the plot sounded hackneyed, I assure you that it’s knowingly so, and does its best to laugh at itself as frequently as possible. It also makes ample use of opportunities to make horrible, horrible puns, which is always entertaining.

However, the most entertaining thing about the book, but what a Grade A ass Apropos is. Seriously – it’s pretty rare to get a bad person as the main character of a book, and it’s even harder to really do it well (*cough*ThomasCovenant*cough* …sorry, uncalled for, but I couldn’t help it). Sure, some of George R. R. Martin’s main characters are pretty nasty, but he’s got good ones to offset. Outside of him, I have a hard time coming up with anyone – even Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards aren’t bad bad – they’ve got loyalty and honor to each other and the cause and all that.

But no – Apropos really is as much of a self-serving jerk as you can get… and it makes for an incredibly entertaining read. I won’t get into potential for salvation and all that, since I could go on (even) longer and would risk spoilers, so let’s just leave it at this: I really appreciate how well Peter David wrote (and stuck with) Apropos’ flawed personality.

I’m rambling; I better get to a bottom line here. Sir Apropos of Nothing is definitely worth reading, especially if you’re starting to feel some drudgery in the fantasy genre. It’s got great characters and fantastic wit – and it will certainly read quickly, in spite of being 600-odd pages long.

[Lisa's Take] Fire Study - A follow-up

I accidentally got stuck with nothing to read shortly after I set Fire Study aside, and as a result I picked it back up. One sitting had me read far enough that my favorite character in the series was introduced, so I actually ended up finishing the book, figuring that it didn't really cost me anything just to git 'er dun.

I don't really have anything positive to add - the plot didn't pick up, the story didn't become more compelling, and I continued to not give a damn about what was going on - but I did finally manage to place my finger on why the book was so bland and empty compared to Poison Study.

Maria V. Snyder doesn't re-introduce her characters, nor does she really do much to support them or change them once they have been introduced.

Take Valek, one of the major protagonists. I know what he's like from the first book, and I know why he's awesome. But when he showed up in this book, the author did NOTHING to describe him. You got no physical description. You got next to no backstory. You might be able to imply “boy he sure is sneaky!” from the way he showed up, but that was about it. Looking back, I started to realize that was the case for ALL of the characters. If they’ve shown up in a previous book, they get absolutely no loving attention to their personalities as far as memory-refresh or further development. Additionally, they don’t change AT ALL. The one guy’s a dick. The other guy’s a joker. The other one is mysterious. I don’t think she even bothers to use different adjectives to describe them. It’s really bad.

So, there’s my observation. I feel vindicated for finally being able to point concretely at what was pissing me off. Woo.

Lisa's Take - Black Ships (Jo Graham)

Man, I need to take that “be careful what you wish for” thing to heart. I was ruminating recently that I hadn’t read a single book that really got me riiiiight there since Lies of Locke Lamora. In general I was a little grumpy about the lack of emotional impact in the majority of the books I’d been reading – there were a number of books that were good at it, but not great.

Black Ships got me right there. I can only imagine how I looked sitting in the cafeteria snuffling and wiping away tears over the remnants of a Clementine.

This book is a re-telling of Virgil’s The Aeneid from the perspective of an oracle who traveled with Aeneas. Usually I shy away from historical fantasy, but I figured this one was set far enough back and had enough of a gods-and-magic twist that I’d give it a try. I’m supremely glad I picked it up, because it was an extremely enjoyable read. The characters were fantastic, the pacing and story telling just right, and the prose was lovely and evocative.

This was Jo Graham’s first novel, but it really didn’t feel like it at all. As she mentioned in her acknowledgements, she’s been working on it since she was a teenager, which I imagine gives you lots of time to perfect. I wouldn’t have guessed this was a first novel just from reading it, though, which is always an accomplishment.

So, if you want some good character-driven fantasy, pick this book up. Even if you don’t read many books based upon actual historical settings, I promise this one is excellent – you can just squint your eyes a little and pretend there are no real places involved. Black Ships is definitely well written, and I’ll absolutely be watching for Jo Graham to publish more books. I’m just going to go back to my melancholyish bittersweetfull malaise now, don't mind me.

Lisa's Take - Sabriel (Garth Nix)

So every time I finish a book, I open up a template for a review of it. I usually keep them in my Drafts folder on gmail, as a way to remind myself to get it done in a timely fashion. This particular review has been sitting in draft-form for well over a month now, and I haven't come up with any interesting or witty ways to approach it. I feel kind of bad, because it was an enjoyable book - I just don't know that I have a lot to say about it. Part of the problem is that this book is YA, which I'm proving to be pretty awful at reviewing. Maybe I should have done a mini-review. Feh.

Ok, enough stalling, let’s get going on the review. This is a great little book, and it's got some very interesting ideas. The main character, Sabriel, is the daughter of a necromancer, and has learned his trade - being able to walk the rivers of death, and using bells to control the souls there. This particular variety of necromancer is good, rather than bad, as they keep demons and restless spirits from making trouble in the real world.

The short of the story is: father goes missing, Sabriel goes to find him and inherits the role of her family namesake - Abhorsen, the leader in the fight against the underworld. She's helped out by all sorts of interesting magical contraptions, accompanied by a demon-cat, and falls in love with a random dude she finds trapped in statue-form, who was instrumental in some historical event that lead to the current trouble with wild magic. There’s drama, adventure, and a couple of climaxes. Yay.

The book is short and a quick read – I took it out in an afternoon or two. There are some really cool settings and vivid images painted. In general the characters are good and believable, and the story is absorbing. I liked it. My one gripe is that the whole love-interest thing was waaaay predictable and almost… out of place? I think I would have had more respect for the author if he had pulled a Scot Lynch (re: Sabetha). Still, that’s a pretty small gripe.

Overall, I’d put Sabriel at the top of the list of YA I’ve read lately, and I’ll definitely be picking up the sequels at some point. Tasty stuff.

Lisa's Take: Fire Study (Maria V. Snyder)

I should have known. I should have known when I couldn’t find this book on release day and I had to ask the nice shop attendant to show me where it was and he led me to the freaking Romance section. That should have been a dead give-away, but did I listen? Nooo, I had to be optimistic and shove all my other reading aside so I could consume the third book in this series as soon as it came out.

I made it almost half way through - a good 170 pages or so - before I threw this book aside in disgust. The first book in this series was so very good! It took me completely by surprise – I wasn’t expecting anything deep when I picked it up, but I got some really gritty themes, interesting characters, novel and surprising situations, and even a number of plot twists that I didn’t see coming until I was caught up in them. Did I mention the extremely compelling love interest? The second book had a marked downward slant in terms of quality and impact, but it was still a fairly worthwhile read. The characters had stagnated a bit, and the new introductions just weren’t that interesting. It felt very middle-school.

Fire Study can’t even claim that much. This is like… a 14-year-old’s first stab at a novel. If I went back and re-read the 150-odd pages of the book I tried to write as a teenager, I bet it would read juuuust like this. “It’s so exciting! And then THIS happened, but she was really awesome so it was ok! And then THIS happened, but she’s got these amazing powers, so she beat it. And then THIS happened but she’s a natural leader, so it was ok, too. Oh, she might have used her powers for evil, but it's for the greater good, so she's totally over accidentally killing those guys. And oh, boo hoo, isn’t she a tragic figure, so very outcast and exiled?” Christ. I’m not even exaggerating here, I swear. I recently read a rant by Ms. Snyder about how she doesn’t understand that people sometimes call her main character a “Mary Sue.” At the time I agreed with the MS-ness a bit, but not too much. Fire Study, however, had proven just how very much her main character epitomizes what it means to be a Mary Sue. It’s kind of pathetic.

I’m struggling to find anything at all good to say about this book. Um. I guess I’d rather see it in the YA section than in the Romance section. I mentioned in my review of the second book that it read like Mercedes Lackey, but better… the third book is definitely more of “it reads like Mercedes Lackey, but worse,” yet I still think it would be marginally entertaining for younger readers. Well, except for Snyder’s propensity for rape and killing – maybe not so much with that for 13-year-olds. Though, I guess I did start my little sister on Martin when she was 15ish, so I could just be overly prudish.

Right, I need to stop wallowing in the mudpit of self-pity formed from seeing a great series turn to crap. Don’t waste your money on this book, it’s boring, flat, and useless.

Lisa's Take: Otherland Book 2 - River of Blue Fire (Tad Williams)

River of Blue Fire. Let me ‘splain.... no, there is too much. Let me sum up.

…Oh wait, there’s too much for that, too. This book is so huge, it’s ridiculous. Just to name a few of the worlds/genres that are touched upon in this particular installment of Otherland: there’s Oz, War of the Worlds era London, Xanadu, Venice during the Renaissance, near-future sci-fi, hard fantasy, ancient Egypt, and a cartoon kitchen-land populated with characters from various brands of food and cleaning supplies.

You see why I can’t sum up. Instead, let me gush a little. Good gods does Tad Williams ever have an imagination in him. This series of books defines “multi-genre” in a way I can’t even express. It’s really damn impressive, and consistently entertaining. Perhaps even more impressively: he has these really incredible worlds that (incidentally) also have really engaging characters in them. I know! Imagine! He probably has a core cast of 12-15 major characters, and they’re all distinct, colorful, well-defined, solid, and any other adjective you can use to describe excellent characterization.

At first I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this second book in the series – I waited a year before starting it, because I was feeling wishy-washy – but it was definitely worth it. I would recommend spacing the books out a bit, so you don’t burn yourself out. Luckily the author provides a very good 10-page summary at the start of each book, highlighting the big important events (and some events you didn’t necessarily realize were important) so you can take some time off but still be drawn back in.

My single, solitary gripe is that none of the big reveals in River of Blue Fire really caught me by surprise. There was one plot point in particular where Mr. Williams was leading the reader reeeeal hard down one pathway of thinking, and that in itself clued me in that I should be suspicious.

Still, the Otherland books are definitely worth reading. I look forward to the 3^rd book – after a nice healthy break for some candy and/or strict fantasy.

A Week of Mini Review - In Closing

Well! That about finishes off the week of mini reviews. Between the two of us we knocked out miniature-ramblings on 18 books! I'm very glad to have my queue clear so I can stop feeling bad about missing so many.

From now on: a full review for every book! ...At least until I get lazy and fall behind once again.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - Wild Sheep Chase (Haruki Murakami)

(What's up with this review?)

This book was a great break from my usual fantasy-only regimen, and I’m quite glad it was forced upon me. The plot was surreal and intriguing, with enough fantasy elements to keep me hooked, but still plenty of deep implications and a literature-bint. Ironically, Murakami is known for trying to sound American when he writes (in his native Japanese), but the translation sounds very japanese to me in it’s phrasing. Maybe I’m crazy.

I’d definitely like to hit up some more Murakami in the future, especially when I’m looking for something a little more deep.

The Bottom Line: Thumbs Up

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - The Gentleman Bastard Series (Scott Lynch)

(What's up with this review?)

Lies of Locke Lamora

JD has already reviewed this, so I’ll keep it short: This was the BEST book I read in 2006. Easily. Hands down. I cannot be more thrilled that Scott Lynch has a lot more planned.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

A solid continuation from Lies. I had a few more gripes this time (mostly because I was able to get over my awe and look at the book critically). For instance – The Bastards go galavanting off in the middle of one heist to take care of another (they’re compelled, to be fair) and then when they come back to the first heist, the end-game is very rushed. I’m pretty sure Lynch just hit his page-limit and had to cut back *shrug* Still, it’s freaking phenomenal. Consume it like the amazing, gritty candy it is.

The bottom line: it don't get more thumbs-up than this.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - Un Lun Dun (China Mieville)

(What's up with this review?)

Hmm. I’ve restarted this review about 4 times. Nothing I say about it comes out quite right. Un Lun Dun was a good enough book I guess, but it was still YA fiction, which almost always lacks a punch for me. I was trying to review it without the YA slant… but it just wasn’t working.

Anyway, like all of Mieville’s work, this has some really neat ideas. Very creative. But… it’s still YA. I didn’t really care about the characters, and there was very little emotional tie-in. Who knows, maybe if I were 13 I would have thought differently *shrug*

The bottom line: skip it and read The Scar instead.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (Gordon Dahlquist)

(What's up with this review?)

This book was a very pleasant surprise, and yet another novel that deserves a full review. Ah well, maybe if that slacker JD ever reads it he can give it the review it deserves.

Glass Books is kind of a Victorian, steam-punk, fantasy hybrid. You know – canes with swords inside, masquerades, dirigibles, huge machines with lots of gears, monocles, &c. It’s also POV driven – you get chapters each from the perspective of one of the 3 main characters.

The book is really quite entertaining and excellent. I wasn’t expecting to like it – I nearly stopped after the first chapter – but in the second chapter things really pick up. I’d suggest if you get off on the wrong foot to make sure you read each of the first 3 chapters so you can be introduced to each of the main characters. It’s highly worth the read!

The bottom line: Thumbs up! Read it!

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take – Briar Rose (Jane Yolen)

(What's up with this review?)

A bunch of sci-fi fantasy writers got together a few years ago and released a series of novellas that were classic fairy tales crossed with some sort of other story. I had no idea that’s what was going on when I picked up Briar Rose – I honestly just grabbed it because it was short and because I loved Jane Yolen when I was a tween. Turns out Steve Brust also did one of these, as did a number of other authors I’ve read. I kind of wish they’d release them in compiled volumes – I’d definitely pick them all up.

Anyway, I’m divided about Briar Rose overall. I noticed this problem when I reviewed The Kite Runner. I get kind of stand-offish about books that deal with real-life content that the reader is required to feel emotional about. Briar Rose is about a Holocaust victim – of course it’s going to be painful and touching. You can’t do anything about it, and if you review it callously, you’re going to get your stuffing ripped out.

So I’ll divide it up.

• The parts of the book that dealt with the Holocaust were very well handled and very touching. I would have had a favorable impression of the book if the section that was a character re-telling his Holocaust experience was the entire story.

• The parts of the book that dealt with the telling of the fairy tale are… interesting. At least somewhat engaging.

• The parts of the book that dealt with the main character searching for the history were entirely useless. I didn’t give a damn about her, and I didn’t really care if she succeeded. Her love interest was bland and predictable, and all the secondary characters were either flat or obnoxious.

The Bottom Line: ….I really don’t know. The book got a lot of critical acclaim, so maybe it’s just me. Still, I’d say skip it unless you’re looking to depress yourself, or just want to debate with me about it.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take – Neuromancer (William Gibson)

(What's up with this review?)

So when I said that George Alec Effinger had ruined me on Cyberpunk, I was pretty much referring to Neuromancer. I know, I know, Gibson did it first and he deserves kudos for defining the genre. But… after reading Effinger and his fantastic characterizations that meshed so well with his incredible world… I just couldn’t get into Neuromancer. This was before I imposed my 100-page rule on books (give it 100 pages before you give up on it) so I put down Neuromancer after a few chapters and have had zero initiative to pick it back up. Really, if my 100-page-rule had been in place, I would have already been through half the book, so I could have finished it easily and reviewed it. Alas! ...or not.

The Bottom Line: If you want good Cyberpunk, read George Alec Effinger. If you want to reconnect with the roots of cyberpunk or you’re brand new to the genre, read Neuromancer. Otherwise, skip it. Thumbs down.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take – When Gravity Fails/Fire in the Sun (George Alec Effinger)

(What's up with this review?)

George Alec Effinger has ruined me on cyberpunk. Holy hell, he’s SO DAMN GOOD. Seriously. I just want to cram all of his words into my brain all at once… it’s a trial to space them out.

So. These books are CyberPunk, near-future, with an Arabic twist. They have extremely interesting and plausible technology (people chip-in “moddies” to give themselves extra information, or whole new personalities). It’s pretty cool. But perhaps the most impressive part is that while the technology is definitely highlighted, the characters are still the major focus. Effinger creates some really impressive, emotionally involving characters… all very realistic and sympathetic and flawed. I kind of get a twinge in my chest thinking about them. Everything about these books is just smooth and incredible and engaging.

My one caution with these books is that they can be extremely brutal, much like some of China Mieville’s work. Particularly in the second book there’s a scene where Our Hero takes a fairly vicious beating, and I actually had to put the book down for a while and calm down. It wasn’t just gore or vivid descriptions – the books are just that evocative; you really get that involved in the characters. For better or for worse.

The Bottom Line: It sucks UNIMAGINABLY that Effinger died, because I have never read better cyberpunk. You absolutely must read these books.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - The Wolfblade Chronicles: Wolfblade, Warrior, Warlord (Jennifer Fallon)

(What's up with this review?)

Much like 100 Years of Solitude, these books deserved their own individual, full-on reviews… but I am a big slacker and put it off too long to do them justice. I suppose it’s not quite as big of a slight as it was for 100 Years… after all, these books are just fantasy, not literature. But enough justification: the reviewing!

Jennifer Fallon is the new Robin Hobb. Those of you who have read some Robin Hobb will know that means Ms. Fallon is a Mistress of Angst. Oh gods does she ever know how to set up the impossible situations and pluck the heart strings. Couple that with a very interesting story, a solid world, great characters and enough wit to make you chuckle from time to time… and you’ve got an excellent trilogy. Several excellent trilogies, if you want to count her older work. Did I mention that I love her take on The Gods?

My only complaint: you know when I complained in my review of The Gunslinger about authors wishing they could go back and revise previous works? I specifically had Jennifer Fallon in mind. This trilogy falls chronologically before her Hythrun Chronicles, even though the latter was written first. The Wolfblade Chronicles also deal with a lot of the secondary characters from HC. And to be frank… some of them feel very different than the initial impressions I got in the HC – a danger of prequels, I fear. It’s not a big deal, but since I brought it up recently, I thought it worth a mention.

The Bottom Line: If you haven’t read any Jennifer Fallon, pick up The Second Sons trilogy (Lion of Senet, Eye of the Labyrinth, Lord of the Shadows) first, because it’s a bit better than this trilogy. Still, The Wolfblade Chronicles are definitely interesting and worth the read.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take – Nightwatch/Daywatch/Twilightwatch (Sergei Lukyanenko)

(What's up with this review?)

I picked these books up because I loved the movies so much, and it turns out they’re really much more worthwhile than the films. Don't get me wrong - the movies are fantastic and entertaining and interesting, but like most movies-based-on-books, they just fall a little short.

The books have a lot of interesting themes, and in general are much more thought-provoking and philosophical than the Nightwatch and Daywatch movies. The plot is fairly similar for the first book, then diverges quite a lot for the next 3 books. I’m definitely looking forward to Final Watch coming out this summer.

Bottom Line: Read ‘em and weep. (That's a good thing, right?)

[Mini Review] JD’s Take - Devices and Desires (K.J. Parker)

I bought this book because it was a fantasy novel featuring an engineer as the protagonist. I mean... how could I *not* buy that? And while I think that idea has a lot of potential, this novel (or rather, the first half of this novel, I got bored and wandered away at about that point, and haven't picked it up to finish it) reads like a novel about an engineer who the author idolized, but who broke her heart. The flaws of a stereotypical engineer are magnified (emotionless, socially disconnected, arrogant, perfectionist, anal-retentive, etc, etc) to an extent that makes it impossible to sympathize with the character. This is balanced out by the stereotypical abilities of an engineer (jury-rigging, perfectionism, planning, scientific understanding, determination, patience, etc, etc) being magnified to the level of super-powers. Also, nothing happens. Ever. No plot advances, no plans take shape, no clever devices are built.

This is the first in the three book series that I have no interest in finishing. It takes itself far too seriously for a book in which the main character bests two guards who have captured him and are going to execute him... while his hands are tied... with no physical training or combat experience... using only his knowledge of mechanics. Seriously. If physics classes taught us how to kill, I imagine engineers would get a lot more respect.

Bottom Line: Pass.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - A Nameless Witch (A. Lee Martinez)

(What's up with this review?)

I believe that in my journal I originally said I wouldn’t review this book, because the review would be just like every other review of an A. Lee Martinez book, which is to say:

SQUEEEEE! I <3 this book, so damn good and entertaining and fun and high-larious and CANDYCANDYCANDY!

Luckily, this is a mini-review, so I can get away with Just That.

The Bottom Line: Up! Up! Up!

[Mini Review] JD’s Take - Elminster: The Making of a Mage(Ed Greenwood)

This was another attempt at picking up classic D&D fiction, and it went much better this time. Although this book feels like a rushed, hacked-together, novel-length advertisement for the Forgotten Realms, that's only because that's EXACTLY what it is. I read this in The Annotated Elminster, which is interesting mostly for the lengthy, arrogant, rambling of Ed Greenwood after each book. In this case it said: "I was told to make a story about a Elminster, I had 2 weekends to write it, and he had to be all four classes so that nobody would feel left out". Ouch.

That said, the book was entertaining, if predictable, and explored D&D lore that is interesting. It rarely surprises, but it show a lot of potential from the author, and I'll continue the other books in this volume to see if he lives up to that potential. Moreover, it was basically exactly what I wanted: modern pulp fantasy. Easy, accessible, throwaway junk fantasy set in an existing world... but not so bad I cringe when I read it.

Bottom line: If you're in the right mood, or you're a fiend for D&D, this book can satisfy. It isn't going to challenge you, it will ask absolutely nothing from you, but it'll fill some time and entertain while it does it. There's something to be said for that.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - 100 Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Márquez)

(What's up with this review?)

100 Years of Solitude deserves better than this. It really, really deserves a full-on review with a detailed, insightful, in-depth analysis of its deep themes and implications. It deserves to be treated like a mistress – grand ball gowns, fine champagne – but I’m treating it like a parking-lot hooker (sucky suck, 5 dollar?).

It’s my fault entirely – I waited too long to write this review because I had so much bouncing around in my head, and because it was such a challenging read. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy review to write (see my rant about not being able to review non-fantasy over in my Wicked review), and I had a hard time approaching it, so I just put it off, and now it’s been relegated to a Mini Review. Sigh.

Reasons you won’t want to finish this book:

• It starts off strong and interesting, then drags reeeeal bad through the middle. I have as hard of a time with military-themes as I do westerns.
• Everyone has the same name. It’s a Spanish thing. It starts to get confusing around the half-way point, even though you have a convenient geneology.
• If you speak Spanish, the translation might frustrate you, because you can just… feel how amazing the prose must be in Spanish, but the English doesn’t quite capture it the same way

Reasons you really ought to finish this book:

• The end is as good as the beginning, even though the middle is tough
• The images that Marquez puts in your head are truly astounding
• The conclusion will leave you staring into space for a good half hour, trying to reconcile how you feel.
• Did I mention the part where the images he creates are haunting and lasting?

It took me SO LONG to finish this book – I broke it up with 3 other easier books and I still had to claw my way through the middle kicking and screaming. But it was so very worth it… I’m reminded that I ought to read a lot more literature. I also ought to re-read this book in the original Spanish.

The Bottom Line: Thumbs Up, but consider yourself warned. You will have to be tenacious to reap the rewards of this book.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - King Rat (China Mieville)

(What's up with this review?)

I realized that so far all of my reviews have been positive, so I figured I better shake things up a bit.

Why oh why can China Mieville be So Very Good sometimes, but So Damn Bad other times? Perdido Street Station and The Scar make the cut for “top 20 books on my shelf that you Must Read.” But then there are books like Iron Council and King Rat that are just really crappy. At least King Rat has an excuse – it was his first novel(la?) so he was still getting his feet under him. He really really wanted to pull off the dark, gritty, gruesome feel that he captured so well in PSS, but he hadn’t figured out yet how to do it subtly instead of bashing you in the face with it.

The story was mediocre, the imagery was mediocre, the violence and grit were more worthy of a cheap horror movie than the subtle-yet-pressing chills that Mieville usually manages to inspire. I didn’t really care about the characters, either, which didn’t help. It took me weeks to finish this (very short) book, because I just didn't feel like reading it.

The one thing that he did well was his descriptions of music – he really did manage to capture the essence of breaks and jungle in words much more effectively than I think I’ve ever heard. I need to pull that text from the book and keep it somewhere; it’s quite impressive.

The Bottom Line: Meh. Thumbs Down. Skip it and read PSS or The Scar instead.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Corey Doctorow)

(What's up with this review?)

I love Corey Doctorow so damn much. So So Damn Much. Sorry, had to try that phrase again with the appropriate capitalization. This book of his is yet another sci-fi-almost-cyber-punk-not-so-far-in-the-future imagining – it’s his favorite genre to write, you can’t blame him.

Down & Out certainly isn’t my favorite book of his (that award easily goes to Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town), but it’s still a damn fine read. It has some really interesting themes (every geek needs to know about Wuffie), and it will instill in you an appreciation for Disney World that’s… kind of unnatural.

My one gripe is that Corey really does have a formula of betrayal that he likes to follow – if you know how the betrayal happens in Eastern Standard Tribe, you can pretty much figure out how Down & Out is going to go. Still, that’s easily set aside by having the privilege of reading such entertaining candy. This one is easy to consume all at once in an afternoon.

The Bottom Line: Up! Read it!

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - War for the Oaks (Emma Bull)

(What's up with this review?)

My review for War for the Oaks will look a lot like my review for Territory, minus the philosophical wanking about westerns and mental blocks. Both books have the same strengths and weaknesses. WftO is still pretty darn good in spite of all the knit picks I could enumerate, and it’s well worth reading. Good characters, good story, fun world... and boy do I ever approve of single-shot books that go down easy and aren't contrived for a sequel.

The Bottom Line: Yay, delicious! Thumbs Up.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - Dzur (Steve Brust)

(What's up with this review?)

Somehow Steve managed to get this books onto the shelves with me having NO idea that it was coming out. The Book Squeal that was emitted when I saw it sitting at the book store cannot be captured in mere words – I was entirely ecstatic. Brust did not let me hopes down either; Dzur was really great. The descriptions of meal courses at Valabar’s just about killed me – it’s not fair to be eating a tuna fish sandwich when he describes those incredible dishes with such realism. The story was fantastic; like all Vlad novels, it was short, but it was also a return to some of Vlad’s swashbuckling ways, so it felt like putting an old, well worn glove back on.

My one problem with the book is that it had been… oh… maybe 3 years since I finished the other Vlad books, so I had a hard time remembering some of the finer plot points. Ah well – to me that just sounds like an excuse to re-read them all. It’s not like it would take long!

The Bottom Line: An exuberant thumbs up! But then, you probably knew that if you have any passing familiarity with this blog and my Brustian Fandom.

[Mini Review] Lisa’s Take - The Long Price Quartet (Daniel Abraham)

(What’s up with this review?)

This series is one I picked up on a whim – goodness knows I have a hard time resisting interesting-looking new releases. When I started the first book and realized it was the first in a quartet, rather than a stand-alone, I cursed a whole lot; after all, I was trying very hard at the time to prune my stack back down into double digits. Hah.

A Shadow in Summer
I don’t know quite what I was expecting from this book, but it surpassed those nebulous expectations. It was filled with well-thought-out characters who were very human and fallable and easy to relate to. The plot was concise and solid, but not at all predictable. The world was a complete surprise: with heavy Japanese influences, totally original magical ideas... I was duly impressed. Most of all, I didn’t expect the author to be quite so… brutal with his characters, so the ending really got me. Wow.

A Betrayal in Winter
I thought book 1 had gotten Abraham’s levels of ballsy-ness out on the table, but I was wrong. In this book he took even more bold steps – and the associated leaps forward in time. I was expecting a direct sequel, but this one took place further down the road, which gave the series a whole new light. The Long Price Quartet definitely took a more epic slant with this book… I was very impressed. Abraham introduced a whole new deck of interesting characters, and dealt with some very mature themes. He also developed and solidified my handle on the magic-system, which continued to be intriguing.

The Bottom Line: This is very good, interesting, solid stuff. I’ll definitely be finishing off the quartet.

A Week of Mini Reviews

So I have a depressing backlog of books that I'd like to review, but for whatever reason can't put together a full-on review of. Sometimes it's just been too long since I read it for me to get a solid plot summary, sometimes I just can't wrap my head around words that express what I'm trying to say, and sometimes I'm just lazy.

As a result, I've decided that this week will be a week of Mini Reviews - reviews that are just a paragraph or so long, followed by a bottom line: thumbs up or thumbs down. Hopefully my fellow reviewers will get in on this action as well, in order to clear out their review queues.

If this works out well, maybe I'll make it a once-or-twice a year thing. Let me know what you all think about it!

Lisa's Take - The Soldier Son Trilogy (Robin Hobb)

Robin Hobb seems to alternate her trilogies: one will be amazing, then one will be ok, then one will be amazing, then one will be ok, &c. The Soldier Son Trilogy is definitely the latter - just ok. Not mind blowing, but also not mind numbing. Walking the line between subject matter that piques your interest a little, versus subject matter that really grabs you and engages you.

High level plot summary: Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a New Noble - which is to say nobles elevated to their status as a prize of war, rather than by inheritance. As a second son, it's Nevare's place in life to enlist in the military, train to become a cavalla officer, and make his family proud defending the country. Unfortunately, Nevare gets caught up in the magic of his country's sworn enemies, and the two forces war for possession of him. Book 1, Shaman's Crossing, primarily follows Nevare's entry into the military. Forest Mage recounts his status as an outcast and struggle to stay in his world when the magic is pulling him away. The final book, Renegade's Magic, largely focuses on Nevare's role in the magical world. There's obviously a lot more to it than that, but I'm already edging close to spoilers, so that will have to do.

I think I proved in my review of Territory that a story that's good enough can make me get over any preconceptions I have about how much I'll dislike the world. When I started Shaman's Crossing, I immediately recoiled from the very harsh military aspects of the book, and considered putting it down for a while. Luckily, Hobb developed Nevare, his supporting cast, and the magical world surrounding them well enough that I stuck with it. Honestly the book had some Ender's Game-ish overtones... but I suppose that's to be expected when writing about the hazing that teenage boys are capable of.

Forest Mage really did the best job of the three books at showing off the Angst that is Robin Hobb's specialty. Let's face it - she does angst better than anyone else out there. She just has a way of making it really hit home and be believable. So while I never got all that into the second book... never really saw where it was going, or what the expected start and end points were - boy did she ever twist the knife slowly. The Whole Damn Time. Ouch.

I really thought that the final book would be my favorite of the trilogy, as it had the most fantastical focus, but it just didn't grab me all that thoroughly. I think it's largely due to the fact that I never liked the supporting cast of the last book as much as the cast from the first two books, so basically the only person who got screen time that I gave a damn about was Nevare. I didn't really care about the feelings or fate of anyone else in the 3rd book, and that did a lot to detract from the plot.

Overall though, I feel like the characters weren't as well developed as I can usually count on from Robin Hobb. Her emotional wrenching is largely based in the fact that she creates such vivid, engaging characters, and that was really lacking here. It's too bad, because the world she crafted is quite interesting and original - I can't think of any book I've read that has anything like it. It just seemed like the big overarching themes never quite connected with the actual people and situations. It's hard to put my finger on.

Hmm, this review is sounding more mediocre than I intended. I've mostly been comparing Robin Hobb to herself, which isn't entirely fair, because she's still leaps and bounds above the majority of other authors I read. This trilogy is no exception - it really is a good read, and worth finishing... it's just not quite as shiny as her Farseer books, for instance. I also think that people not quite as off-put by the military theme might enjoy it even more than I did; it can be hard to really get back into things after a start that rocky, regardless of how great the story is.

Hmm. I'm rambling a lot. Bottom line: it's good, read it. Be ready for Hobb's Trademark Angst - you won't be disappointed (though you may wonder if she's starting to go a little soft in her old age).

Lisa's Take - The Dark Tower Book 1: The Gunslinger (Stephen King)

It seems to me that it's cheating to get to go back and "fix" the first book in your series years after it's released. How many authors would benefit from this? Especially epic fantasy writers, whose books span thousands upon thousands of pages over the course of many years - how many of them would love to go back and fix the little details, or re-introduce characters who have changed? I can think of a lot of authors who would surely love to, and a lot who probably don't care at all. One way or another, I think very few of them could get away with it, either from a publishing perspective, or a fan-base perspective.

And yet, that's what Stephen King did with The Gunslinger. Granted, he had a 30-odd year gap in there - he started The Gunslinger when he was a sophomore in college (1970), then the updated content was released in 2003. Maybe when you've been on The Scene that long, you can bend the rules a little - god knows that people change a lot in that many years, and that one's writing skills can come a long way.

Still, it seems like cheating.

In the introduction to The Gunslinger, King justifies just why he made the updated edition, mostly citing how the series had changed and developed on the way to the final book, as well as describing some of the first-time-writer mistakes he had made, and some character introductions he wanted to clarify, etc etc. Honestly, I wish he had done this justification -after- the text of the book, rather than at the start, as it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I would either have liked to have not known, or to have known before I bought the book so I could have looked for an older edition. Regardless, it got the story off on the wrong foot for me.

The general gist of The Gunslinger is that Our Hero, Roland, is chasing a mysterious Man In Black (not that Man In Black) across the desert. The story has a very "old west" feel to it, which also put me off initially (see my review of Territory for a ramble about Westerns), but I was intrigued enough by the first chapter or two to persevere. As the novel develops you start to get some interesting glimpses into Roland's past, and a the idea of Roland's world as a parallel world to ours begins to develop. There's also a very entertaining Dark Magic undertone that develops, which (predictably) appealed highly to my love of fantasy. I can't really say much more about the plot without starting to give things away, so I'll leave it at that.

The plot's subtones, the short length of the book, and the high praise I've heard for the Dark Tower series kept me reading through the end of the book, even though I wasn't wowed. I ended the book on the same note that I started it... interested, but a little sour.

I've rambled a lot in this review about some "meta" issues that aren't entirely valid for basing a whole review on, but I felt that they were worth mentioning, as they did influence my opinion of the book. Stripping those aside, I still feel like I can't give The Gunslinger a hearty thumbs up. I will say that it's goddamn impressive for having been written by such a young and inexperienced writer. Overall... I will also say that it's "pretty good" without any other qualifiers. Some of the themes King gets into are interesting, and the blending of genres is very fresh. I think it was good enough to convince me to try out the second book - though I'll admit I'm in no hurry at this point. Next time I'm looking for a foray outside of hard fantasy, and I don't have any other "fluff" books to fill in, I'll probably track down The Drawing of the Three.

Nigel's Take - Billions and Billions (Carl Sagan)

English books are a rarity here in Japan. My American coworker, a bibliophile, has taken to ordering books via Amazon to feed his habit. He inspired me to make some purchases of my own. I've been saving some links to books I thought interesting, and dusted them off a few weeks ago. When I got back from my vacation to Australia last week, I was delighted to find a big Amazon box waiting for me. My first review will be of one of the books I ordered: Carl Sagan's last book, "Billions & Billions".

"Billions & Billions" is a collection of essays written and compiled by Sagan in the last few years of his life. They cover a broad array of topics and disciplines, but they all focus on causes and ideas that Sagan held in high regard. There are three parts, with each part broken into 6 or 7 chapters.

Part I is "The Power and Beauty of Quantification" and focuses on just that; the endless human quest to classify and quantify; to urge to discover. Sagan meanders through such diverse concepts as the hunter-gatherer nature of professional sports in our modern society to the methods of discovering extrasolar planets.

Part I contains the most "hard" science and math, with a few exercises that help demonstrate the power of mathematics and the scale of the numbers Sagan works with throughout the book. Fret not, mathematophobes, as Sagan does an excellent job of helping the reader through these examples step by step.

Part II is called "What are Conservatives Conserving?" and covers Sagan's thoughts on protecting the world from humans, and humans from themselves. He discusses global climate change from the point of view of an economist as well as a planetary biologist. His examples demonstrate, quite elegantly and simply, the causes and dangers of global warming.

With tact he refutes (and subtly rebukes) claims that global climate change is either a complete sham or not nearly as serious as the scientific community at large believes it to be. This section explores the possibilities of alternative energy, while simultaneously cautioning against the dangers of nuclear energy, especially the utter insanity of nuclear weapons technology and the Cold War arm's race.

Part III is "Where Hearts and Minds Collide" is a collection that deals with mankind. One essay, which was published in both America and Soviet Russia in the midst of the Cold War, seeks to enlighten both sides to the very human nature of their adversaries, rather than propaganda-fueled caricatures. Another article discusses abortion from many different angles, but primarily from the idea of when it is "OK" to abort a fetus.

The final chapter deals with death, specifically the death of Carl Sagan. Sagan relates the discovery of the disease that would eventually claim him, and his struggles against it. He talks of his family, of the treatments, and of both hope and despair. He mulls for a few pages about death, and what dreams may come, or in his case what does not.

The last passage is written by his wife and partner of over 20 years, Ann Druyan. She relates the final struggle of Carl Sagan, against pneumonia. She tells the all-too-human story of their love, and the love their family shared.

This was a very moving book for me. Though I've long known the name Carl Sagan, I have only recently begun to explore his works and philosophy (if it could be called that) in earnest. This book embodies Sagan's core ethos and modus. He was a man who passionately sought enlightenment and betterment through science and education. He, like so very few humans, saw beyond the mundane happenings of our little planet, but, like fewer still, it made him realize the fragility, beauty, and rarity of our existence.

The book is suffused with Sagan's trademark wit, humor, and warmth. His writing style is very conversational and inviting, and never feels elitist or haughty.

"Billions & Billions" should be mandatory reading for anyone who fancies themselves a scientist, no matter what their discipline.

Lisa's Take - Territory (Emma Bull)

I'm really glad I didn't read the description of this book before I bought it. My thought process was something along the lines of "hmm, I've got extra money on this gift card, and I may as well just use it up-- oh, there we go, Emma Bull has a new release. She's written at least one book that I enjoyed *gank!*"

You perceive that my book buying process is always well-reasoned and carefully planned.

Anyway, if had read the description, I wouldn't have bought the book, and that would have been a damn shame. As it turns out, Territory is a western, with a touch of fantasy and magic. And I - well, I don't like westerns. Or at least some little corner of my brain is convinced that I don't; I'm really not sure where the perception came from. I know when I was little my mom did her best to feed them to me, and I loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid... years later I discovered and came to adore Firefly... over Christmas I read The Gunslinger (review forthcoming) and was at least not bored by it. And yet, if someone says "Western" to me, I cringe and make faces, without fail. It's entirely irrational.

Woo! Tangent! Where was I... Ah, yes: Territory. It's a western. With magic. And I'm really glad I bought it, because it was very, very tasty. The story takes place in a New Mexico Territory town called Tombstone and follows a number of colorful characters. There's Mildred Benjamin, a young widow with a venomous wit (get it? Widow? Venomous? Heh.) and dreams of becoming an writer (whether she realizes it or not). There's Jesse Fox, a mysterious drifter who tames horses and is fleeing to Mexico when he happens across Tombstone. Oh, and then there's Wyatt Earp, his brothers, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and a number of other well known cowboy figures. I didn't quite notice that the book was a western until I realized that the name Doc Holliday sounded familiar for a reason... shows how knowledgeable I am when it comes to that genre.

The premise of the story is that there has been a stage coach robbery and different groups of people are vying to have the participants covered up or brought to light. Mildred and Jesse get drawn into the conflict separately and unwittingly, and we go from there. The whole thing is very character driven and interesting, with a lot of emotional impact for such a short book. The element of magic is veeeeery subtle and develops to be a bigger and bigger part throughout the book. It's a really interesting approach overall, and I liked it a lot.

I had a couple of small gripes, as I am wont to do. The first is that it's short, and it feels short. I was left wanting more in (kind of) an unpleasant way, rather than a nice way. The second problem was that the end felt a little cobbled together... I don't know if it was rushed, or if the climax wasn't... explosive enough or what. It just seemed like the last 30-40 pages didn't quite work as well as the rest of the story. I'd be willing to attribute the latter to something stylistic with the western genre... but honestly both of these things are issues I had with War for the Oaks (Emma's other book) as well. Both of the books' endings just sort of clattered to a stop, a little bumpily. Hard to put my finger on a more precise description, as nebulous as that is.

Still, don't that that put you off. This was a great, fast, entertaining read, and I'd definitely recommend it. I hope Emma continues to put out more literature.

Lisa's Take - Thomas Covenant Book 1: Lord Foul's Bane (Stephen R. Donaldson)

I tried SO hard on this book - really I did. I tore and crawled and kicked my way through 380 pages of it, leaving my knuckles bloodied and my brain numbed - but I just couldn't do it. I might have been able to persevere but for the fateful release of Robin Hobb's newest book... but with that glistening gem begging me to read it, knowing it would go down smooth and wonderful and interesting and not hackneyed or contrived... I just couldn't keep going with Thomas Covenant. After nigh-on 400 pages, less than 100 pages from the end, I threw in the towel and abandoned it.

What a relief.

I don't even know where to being in the list of Things That Put Me Off This Book. The original title of this list involved the word "hate," but I changed it in deference to all of the people who have insisted that T.C. is amazing - I just don't have the heart to use the H word in the light of their glowing adoration. But... it was just so awful, and so bad, and so useless. I may have exaggerated about the bloody knuckles, but the brain-numbing was entirely true. I was just so frustrated and sick of this book, I was at my wit's end.

The setting: Thomas Covenant is a leper. He had a golden life before - a successful author and family man - then he got sick and his wife took their son and left him. The start of the book is explaining this scenario, and expounding upon Covenant's ostracism from society. "Leper, outcast, unclean" is drilled into the reader's head here, and will continue to be for the rest of the book - I assure you. Then one day as Covenant is walking into town, he gets hit by a car. Would that he had just died there - but alas he suddenly finds himself in a fantasy dream world. This start was at least a little promising.

Unfortunately, from there the book degrades into Trite Overdone Epic Fantasy. Turns out Covenant is related to a historical hero in this new world, owed to the fact that he has half a hand. Oh, and also because he has a Magic Ring (definitely not the One Ring. Definitely.). He's discovered by the townspeople and they take it upon themselves to get him to The Revelstone (not Rivendell, I promise) so that a Quest (not Fellowship) can be formed to go the Mt Thunder (not Mt Doom) and foil the evil plans of Lord Foul (not Sauron) who hopes to destroy the land. You might begin to get an idea of my first real problem with this book. Don't even get me started on the parallels to Ring Wraiths, Ents, Riders of Rohan or whole other slew of minutiae.

Now, don't get me wrong - flagrant ripping off of one of the foundations of the fantasy world is bound to happen. There will always be ties in fantasy to the pioneers of the field, though this is a particularly glaring example. In spite of the glaring connections to Tolkien, I at first held out hope that the book would be good. The opening of the book was at least a bit compelling, and the idea of Thomas Covenant not as a reluctant hero, but as an "absolutely viciously opposed to the whole idea and entirely incredulous hero" had some serious promise. Unfortunately, Donaldson was a lot more preoccupied with this grand fantasy world that he'd obviously been planning meticulously and mulling over for years, than actual character development. Who needs characterizations when you have all sorts of exotic words and magical plants to talk about?

I've actually got two character development issues. The first is the secondary characters (because I feel like doing seconds first, so there). With the exception of 2 or 3 of the secondaries... they all blur together. They have no individual personalities or defining traits, or anything at all to make them interesting and unique. Once The Quest was formed, I spent pretty much the whole time going "wait, who was that again? I know he's old... and magical... um..." It was not a good thing. The second character issue is Covenant himself. His internal struggle with his self-image could be interesting, but... I'm not sure. It's just not well done. A lot of the thought paths the character follows don't make sense in any light, even considering that he has no self-worth. His approach to self-appraisal doesn't change or develop in spite of what's happening in the book, and he has absolutely zero motivation to be going along with the Grand Historic Events that he's being dragged through, so everything just doesn't really make much sense in the end. It's frustrating to see what could be such an entertaining premise be executed so poorly.

Those are all the major issues I had with the book, but I did have a few other knit picks that really drove me nuts. Ever since I read "The Blade Itself" I've noticed myself getting hung up on things like this more and more often. Honestly, I don't know if it's a -bad- thing, per se, because if I'm going to review with a critical eye, I need to point to specific instances. Still, some of them edge towards the "really bad" end of the spectrum, rather than the "pet peeve" end, so they bear mentioning.

The most glaring item is the fact that the book is made up entirely of the absolute more boring, bland, dull prose you can imagine. I don't think there's a single interesting word in the thing, except for the ones that Donaldson made up to go with his fantasy world, and all of those are contrived. The next best thing caveats nicely.... any time you're writing a book riddled with enough esoteric high fantasy pulled-out-your-rear words that you feel the need to create a glossary - just don't. Glossaries are just SO annoyingly useless. How about instead you describe things meaningfully and create a rich world that's memorable, rather than one that has to be constantly defined? Finally, tied in again with uninteresting prose... if you're going to have you character curse all the time, come up with something more imaginative than "hellfire." I kid you not, there was one 3-page section where Covenant said "hellfire" "with great emotion" over 10 times. You have no idea how hard I had to try not to start keeping a tally. It was really, really bad.

So - I actually left this review sitting for a while, thinking I might have the willpower to go back after a break and try to finish the book. As it turns out: I didn't. I don't plan to. I have absolutely zero interest in reading any of the other Thomas Covenant books. I've been told that some of Donaldson's other work is really great, so maybe I'll try that here in a year or three once I've had a chance to recover from this one.

Lisa's Take - The Somnambulist (Jonathan Barnes)

I've always had a knack for walking into the bookstore, glancing at the bookshelf, and picking out a book that will be good. It's like I'm sometimes drawn towards certain books - and I hit much more often than I miss when it comes to these. The first time I can remember doing it was with Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy... they just sort of jumped off the shelf at me, so I picked them up, and they're what really shoved me into the thick of Good Fantasy back in high school.

Anyway, while I was in Seattle I entered a Barnes & Noble and toodled my way over to the fantasy (heh, misspelled that "fantasty" the first time) section. My eyes were drawn directly to a new release called The Somnambulist. I got the "this is going to be a good one" premonition, but I figured I'd read the first couple of pages, just to be sure. The following is what my eyes met, so you can see how I was convinced to go ahead and buy it.

Be warned. This book has no literary value whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in drearily pedestrian prose, frequently ridiculous and willfully bizarre. Needless to say, I doubt you'll believe a word of it

Well. If that doesn't epitomize one of my favorite narrative styles, I don't know what does. Tongue-in-cheek, self referential, verbose, and well spoken? Yes please!

It turns out I was right - The Somnabulist was a real treat. It's sort of a... "post-VictorianSteampunkMagicalHorrorTrue-crime" mashup. Yeah, I think that more or less covers all of the genres spanned, though I might need to throw in a dash of "conspiracy theory" just to be thorough. The only book I know of that can compare to it thematically is Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - which is also excellent.

The story follows a man named Edward Moon and his stage partner, the Somnambulist. Edward is a magician who sometimes doubles as a investigator, and was once a high man in society, well renowned for his amazing shows and his detectively abilities. However, the book meets up with Edward a little later in life, when he's started getting a little shabby around the seams - less popular, and perhaps less sharp than he once was. The Somnambulist is Edward's partner and friend, and he is a paragon of The Silent Protagonist. Also, he doesn't bleed, which makes for a dandy addition to Moon's nightly magic performance.

I should mention that there's really a 3rd major character - the narrator that I gushed about above. The narrator is absolutely my favorite character in the book. He's entirely biased, kind of an ass, and as he warns you in the first page, quite happy to lie to you in order to further the plot. Granted, he usually comes out and admits his biases and deceptions in a timely fashion, but he's totally unrepentant about it. I've never encountered such a well-developed third party.

Anyway, the book follows these three and an extremely color cast of secondary characters through a murder investigation shrouded in mysterious circumstances. I can't say much more without starting to give the plot away, but some generic listing of the supporting cast might intrigue you, as you get to meet circus freaks, butcherous knaves with the manners of schoolboys, mediums, harlots, poets, condemned ex-allies and albinos. Oh My.

There really isn't much more to say, other than to reiterate how damn much I enjoyed The Somnambulist. Truly. It was a complete surprise and absolutely riveting until the end... I didn't guess a single one of the Big Reveals, which is more than most books can say these days. Go read it now!

Dresden vs Blake - A Comparative Rant

For a while now I've been turning over the compelling points of a rant I have inside of me about the Anita Blake books by Laurel K. Hamilton. Still, I feel a little guilty commandeering this bookish space for something that's not a review, so I've refrained from fleshing out and posting said rant. However, last weekend I finished the latest Harry Dresden novel, by Jim Butcher, and I realized that if I did sort of a "comparative rant," it would be nearly like a review, and as such wouldn't deviate nearly so excessively from the theme of the blog. Right? Right??

*cough* Justification Stated! Begin rant—er, comparison!

First of all, what do these series have in common? A bulleted list, for your pleasure:

• Proliferation. Butcher and Hamilton each put out a couple of books a year in their various series, which amounts to about one Blake and one Dresden book a year. The Dresden novels are about to have their 10th book published, while the Blake books are coming in at number 16. The former series started in 2000, and the latter in 1993, so they're pretty similarly paced for churning out books.
• Genre. It can be argued that Hamilton was a pioneer of this particular genre, which roughly falls into the category of Fantasy-Horror-Mystery. Somewhere around book... oh... 7 or so, Hamilton started wandering more into the Romance-Fantasy-Horror-Mystery genre, but we'll get to that.
• Character profile. Hard-ass, wise-cracking detective solves crimes, helps out the police, calls on the forces of the fantasy world, believes in the power of Good, makes deals with the bad guys anyway, and is worried their being seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. Yup, that about sums up both Anita and Harry.
• Candy! These books are not deep or thought provoking. Occasionally they can be moving, but they aren't great works of literature. They are pure Candy Fantasy - you suck them down in a few hours, a day or so at most, then blink in confusion when you realize they're all gone already. They're not filling, but they sure were delicious going down.
• Formula. Both of these series have books that are formulaic. That's absolutely not a bad thing, for reason's I won't go into, but if you'd like a fairly decent argument, check out this blog post. The formulas vary a bit between the two series, but both tend to follow a fairly straight-forward pattern resembling:

1) bad stuff starts happening
2) mystery circumstances appear and develop
3) bad guys materialize
4) clues appear
5) bigger bad guys or worse stuff shoes up
6) events get complicated by extenuating circumstances
7) the showdown goes down
8) everything getting resolved tidily.

Obviously, that's quite a number of overlapping points. Both series have a very similar tone and gritty feel to them. So, what's my problem with the Anita Blake books? It's simple: I flat out despise the latest installments. The last book I found even slightly worthwhile was book 9 (Obsidian Butterfly), and everything from then on has been an utter, useless waste of time. Unfortunately, Laurell K. Hamilton has a fantastic hook to keep drawing me back with... the first 6 books or so were really really damn entertaining, and so I got attached to the characters. I was also a young impressionable 15-year-old when I started them, which probably had a lot to do with it. I cared a lot about the people and the world, so now I can't put it down, even when the whole thing has gone to crap. The latest book (The Harlequin) made a teeeensy bit of progress back in the direction of "actually a decent book" but only the most minuscule of improvements.

Oof - that's just the sort of ranting that I set out to avoid, so let me stop before I really get going and start breaking this down point by point in that comparative fashion I started out with.

Perhaps the most glaring change that has come over the Anita Blake books is that, like I mentioned earlier, they've gone from Fantasy-Horror-Mystery in their genre to being more of a Romance-Fantasy-Horror-Mystery. I strongly resisted the temptation to write "Romance" in all caps. Seriously. Don't get me wrong, the books always included a very strong sexual overtone (kind of comes with the vampire territory, after all), and from the very start there was lots of sexual tension. It worked well with the story, and it made sense. Even in book 6 (The Killing Dance) when Anita finally caved and started doing the nasty, it was still good stuff. People have sex, yay! Books should have romance, sex, and relationships. That's what real people do, so books should do it as well.

...but then the sex started commandeering the plot. In a big way. Sure there's a contrived reason behind all the sex, but honestly book after book after book a greater percentage of pages were just sex scenes. Occasionally the scenes fed the plot; more often they were just gratuitous. Book 12 (Incubus Dreams) didn't actually have a mystery in it. I know, go figure! That's practically a mystery in itself! I went through a romance novel phase when I was 18ish, and there just isn't any differentiation between “Fantasy-influenced Romance” (a burgeoning genre, as it turns out) and the tripe that Laurell K. Hamilton started dribbling out around book 10 or 11. I suppose you might be able to call the shift "series evolution" but I can't really be sympathetic to that argument when the plot is so non-existent. Even shojou manga has deeper plots than this, and certainly more memorable characters - which brings me to my next point:

Characterizations and character development. If there's one thing that can be said for Jim Butcher, it's that he knows how to make some solid characters (actually, if there’s only ONE thing to be said, it’s that his goddamn hilarious. But that’s beside the point). Honestly, he's a lot like George R. R. Martin (or at least GRRM writing A Game of Thrones): when a character is introduced, he's described from a deep perspective... you get looks, sure, but you also get an immediate grasp on personality, motives, etc. Butcher and Martin both have a knack for making you remember. I'm not entirely sure what the whole of the trick is, but I do know it's something that Hamilton frankly kind of sucks at, outside of perhaps 3 characters. When Hamilton introduces a character, the first thing she goes for is the clothes. It's always the clothes. Don't get me wrong - she really churns out some sumptuous, vivid, brightly colored descriptions of the lovely and amazing things her characters are wearing. Truly impressive mental pictures. But, think back to high school now... can you remember what everyone at your table at prom was wearing? I honestly have to struggle to remember my own dress, much less everyone else's. Hamilton tries to juggle a limousine-full of characters in beautiful costumes... and she fails, because all she told you was what dress Girl Number One was wearing, rather than regaling you with the tale of how Boy Number 2 got all tangled up in his napkin and cutlery.

Hamilton's supreme lack of solid characterization is a problem for mentally managing the many, many, many characters... and it's also a problem because it impacts character development. It's impossible to develop character that were wishy-washy in the first place, so you end up with a cast of secondary characters (and even some primaries) that you just don't give a damn about. Pretty much the only characters that really develop throughout the series are her original 3, and even these three only grow in superficial ways. I suspect the mediocre-to-crappy development also plays a role in point number... er... 4, maybe? I lost count. Anyway, plays a role in the next point:

Their angst just isn't believable anymore. For 9 books now, I've watched while Harry Dresden got the absolute shit knocked out of him (predictably, he always does), and I've watched Bad Stuff happen to people he cares about. And it gets me EVERY time. The people that Jim Butcher has created in his fantasy world are so very real - they change, they mature, they are subject to faults and reconciliations, and stupid decisions or brilliant insights. I know them all really well, so I actually give a damn. After book 7 or 8, Hamilton stopped taking the time to make her characters memorable, so she lost the ability to make the reader care.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that she (the author) doesn't care. She constantly professes in her blog how attached she is to her characters, how good of "friends" they are. I can totally understand the sentiment - I was in mourning for weeks, maybe even months when I finished The Khaavren Romances because I missed the characters so much. The problem in this case is that Hamilton is so attached that No One. Ever. Dies. Period. She started the series off solidly with a major-ish character being offed in the first book, and then that was it. Sure, bad guys die, cannon fodder dies - eeeeevery once in a while someone who could be maybe construed as a tertiary character (in the grand scheme of the series, if not the book) will kick the bucket. But as a reader, you never ever ever have to worry about something bad actually happening to a main character. I think maybe the day Laurell gets over this hangup and grows a pair – the day she puts some bite behind the realities of death in a world as dangerous as the one she's created, -will be the day that the series starts to be good again. At least it would inspire some emotion in me.

Jim Butcher has no such compunctions. Harry's world is a dangerous and bloody one, and people die. That's how it goes. It hurts, and it may be a cheap emotional hook, but it does its job.

Oh my, it seems I've come to the end of the little list I'd compiled. It feels like maybe there are a few things I've glossed over or forgotten, but when it comes right down to it, I'm feeling pretty great now that I've gotten this long-stewing rant off my chest! Let me wrap this up quickly with a couple of final caveats:

1. Anita Blake isn't all bad. The first few books really were quite good, though their sense of style is getting a little dated now, 15 years later. I mentioned in passing that the last book in the series was an improvement, and that's entirely true. It at least had a good plot line and less romance-novel sex, which is enough to keep me reading "just one more" for now.
2. Harry Dresden isn't all good. The first book or two really took some time to ramp up while Butcher hit his stride. Still, I can't leave these things alone - I try to space them out to break up other books, especially the un-good ones, but it's really hard to leave them sitting on my stack for long. And hey, who knows, maybe when Butcher hits book 10 in April he'll take a similar downwards spiral. I guess we'll see.

Right! That's it! Congrats if you made it to the end of this REALLY long rant! I'll stop now.