Category Archives: Review

Fantasy, Review

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

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Words of Radicance
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Click for more information

Words of Radiance is the second installment in Brandon Sanderson’s  Stormlight Archive epic fantasy series, published by Tor. This novel picks up where The Way of Kings left off. Those of you who have read the first book know that it ended with many unanswered questions and tons of foreshadowing. With the first in the series having been published in 2010, it has been a long four year wait pondering the ways everything could play out. On March 4th, we finally got what every Sanderson fan has been waiting for.  Since this is the second novel in the series, I will not go through a summary of the world as I assume anyone looking to read this should have read the previous one. If you have not, I strongly encourage it, it is worth the read. I also will not go into much of a recap in case anyone reading this has not read Way of Kings, though there may be spoilers from that book here.

I think most people would agree that Sanderson is an expert both in characterization and in creating magic systems. While most of the characters were established in the first book, they are further expanded here. Some of the bridgemen who were more ancillary characters see stronger stories and deeper roots. Where the character depth really shines is with Shallan. This is absolutely her book. Don’t get me wrong, Kaladin and Dalinar are still major part of this story. I simply mean that while Way of Kings really focused on Kalidin, his back story and his growth, Words of Radiance does the same for Shallan. She really transforms in this book from the way we perceived her in the previous novel. Both her past and her development make you see a different side, which is that of a much stronger, and frankly bad-ass, young woman.

The magic system also shows some growth from where we left off. We more or less understand the significance of stormlight in the magic through not only Szeth, but Kaladin as well. Much of Jasnah’s and now also Shallan’s research expands upon both our and the charter’s understandings of this system. You will see more of it and in a much more developed sense. The other aspect of this system that we see a deeper understanding of is the nature of spren. These strange, semi-natural, yet somewhat mystical creatures do have origins as well as parts to play, as we have seen with Syl and Kaladin.

Another great things about this is story is that it never gets stale . There are perpetual turns which are largely unexpected. Even the expected ones tend to keep you on your toes. The many shifting vantage points of the same situations is another great strength here. You can see the same events happening from multiple perspectives. It really puts an interesting spin on things wen you see the different ways an event is seen as well as how different characters are viewed. I wish I saw this more often. The only really complaint I had with the stories was the same one I had in Way of Kings. I can’t say that I really love the Interludes. There was only one that I really enjoyed, that of Eshonai. I know that most (certainly not all) of these come together at the end, but I tended to find myself pushing through them to get back to the meat of the story.

Though is book is huge, like the previous one (1088pp for the Kindle version, this is why I have not posted in a while), I still manged to read it in less than a week. I could not put it down. I would get home from work, read it within an hour of settling down, and then got to bed way later than I should because I just couldn’t stop. To me, that separates a good book from a great one. I know I am slightly biased as a fan, but I honestly felt this was phenomenal. I easily give it 5/5. I just hope we do not have to wait nearly as long for the third Stormlight Archive novel.

You can find out more about this book, series and author by checking out the corresponding pages at GoodReads, as well as Brandon Sanderson’s own web page.

Fantasy, Review

Arcanum by Simon Morden

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Arcanum
Arcanum
by Simon Morden

Originally scheduled for release last November, Arcanum by Simon Morden is fantasy/alt-history novel set in medieval Carinthia. The publication date was later set to January 28th to be published by Orbit, a part of Hachette Book Group in the US and Little, Brown Book Group in the UK. The novel starts in a palatinate which is indirectly governed by magic. Regular daily functions are made easier by the use of magic -magical lights, boat steering, water- and it is just about necessary for day to day life. Magic is not a skill everyone posses, nor is is simply innate abilities that grants one powers. You can tell a hexmaster (sorcerer) by their white robes. Also, any exposed skin is sure to be covered in tattooed spells. The hexmasters of The Order are extremely powerful and rightfully feared across Europe.

This, however, is not Arcanum’s story. It is a story about challenges. After centuries, the magic stops working. The magic does not just stop working overnight, though for the people, it may as well have. For Carinthia, this provides a unique challenge of how to readjust to life without magic and without hexmasters. People are so dependent on magic, it would be the same as if our power suddenly stopped working, not even batteries or generators. Things that were taken for granted, just cease to function. Needless to say it is a lot a cope with. The book combines that fantasy action scenes with alternative-historical looks at the political situations arising from the newly magic-free world. I have to admit that it took a while to build, but eventually it got to a really good pace.

The story follows several characters, too many to consider any of them the main characters. The major players come from several areas. The Prince certainly one of the central characters, while most of the others work for him in some way. His huntmaster Peter Büber, librarian Frederik Thaler, and fellow book-lovers Sophia Morgenstern and her father Aron, (local Jewish residents of a pagan town) serve the predominate major roles as do members of the Order, depending on how far into the book you are. Without getting too involved in the story and revealing anything, I will simply say there are at least two or three other major roles at any given time, though some are dynamic. The novel is broken up into three parts and they really did feel like three distinct books in a series.

The school of magic in the beginning of this story is very original, and that is something always appreciate. In all honestly, I do wish it existed a bit longer. I felt that our exposure to it was way too short. I really appreciated the political aspects though. The way the author addresses hoe the palatinate deals with the issues that arise, including public works, economics and military considerations, really interested me. I know that this is not uncommon in fantasy books, but perhaps it is the fact that we are talking about real places that added to it for me. I felt that most of the battles were well done. There was one however that  I felt was too short and should have ended more fantastically.

I appreciated the depth of characterization in a number of the characters, though I think there were too many major characters to develop them equally. It was already not a short book. The array of characters did make for interesting dynamics, shifting favor and some well engineered disappointment. I think the Librarian and huntmaster stood out to me the most. The role of the library in general (again, to me at least) was great. As a lover of books, science and history, it appealed to many of my interests.

The messages relating to struggles and overcoming certain issues were ever present and sometimes I thought were a bit strong. I get the re-adjusting, the fighting, and the civil issues. I felt though that the religious issues were a bit too overt and in your face. Messages are laced into many stories, but I prefer that as an undertone as opposed to put right out in front. I understand the purpose and through my own family’s religious background I completely relate. It just seemed a little forced at times. In some segments it fit very well with the story, other times it seemed more like the author was just reminding us. I did appreciate the care taken in language and the accuracy of the belief structures.

I found it somewhat difficult to come up with a rating for this book. I did like the book quite a bit. It is absolutely something I would recommend. Could I keep reading it all night? Yep, certainly could. Was it something I absolutely could not put down and needed to see what happened next? No not really. The slower beginning and some rushed or abrupt scenes took a little away from it in my opinion, so i would have to say 3.5/5 would be a fair rating in my eyes. Still very good and worth picking up.

Check out a preview here on the publisher’s website: Excerpt

Simon Morden’s Website

Review, SciFi

On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee

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On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee Click for more info

On Such a Full Sea is supposed to be a post apocalyptic, dystopian novel. These are some of my favorite books in a SciFi sub-genre. This was probably clear when I reviewed Sand. Chang-rae Lee is a newcomer to this world. He typically writes literature revolving around Asian-Americans  and the cultural issues living in America. On Such a Full Sea was not entirely unlike this. Many of the characters tended to be — but were not exclusively– of Asian descent.

The basic premise is that sometime in the future, “New China” (since China itself had already been destroyed from environmental ruin) became uninhabitable. Many flocked from New China to the already rundown urban neighborhoods of America. Since they were mostly abandoned it was easy to take over and rebuild them. Think Detroit, most of the urban area is a mess, with only the outskirts really used even in present day. The story begins, and constantly focuses on B-Mor, the old city of Baltimore. B-Mor is a walled city where (I suppose) what is equivalent to a middle class live. They are mostly assigned work detail and a good deal of their life is dictated by a Directorate.The more wealthy can open up shops, though this is usually a family business or done after retirement.

The analogue to the upper class would be the Charters. They live in charter villages, have lucrative careers, and pay to live the way they do. Their lives are a little freer, but still heavily governed. Nothing is guaranteed with them and if they lose their money, it is a one way trip to the bottom. Their biggest luxury is their medical access. The world is plagued by “C” which clearly seems to refer to cancer. Everyone gets it, everyone is born with it. The question is how long can you treat it to live your life. The charters get access regular full workups and more expensive treatments. There is little upward mobility. The top 1-2% can test out and be accepted as a charter, or is someone has an exorbitant amount of money, they can buy their way in. The complete opposite of this upper-class life is out side of the walls. The Open Counties.

Basically the open counties are the wild west. There is no government out there. They live in the wastelands and make their own life. Some live comfortable, some struggle to survive the lawlessness. The open counties are also the only way to drive from one place to another, with the exception of “Globals” which are flights around the county for the more wealthy charters. One thing to note, true to the Author’s style most charters and community residents are of Asian decent, primarily New Chinese, some have “native” aka American blood mixed in.

Now, while the story may be about this society, it is really about Fan, and her boyfriend Reg. In the beginning they are typical young B-Mor workers. Fan is a diver in the fish tanks and Reg works about in the grow areas where heavily regulated produce is grown. To really simplify the plot, Reg is called into an office and nobody sees him again. Fan goes on for a while acting normal, but eventually leaves into the open counties looking for him. After this Reg and Fan become folk heroes, cultural obsessions. They are a symbol, but of what I really cannot tell you. I am not holding anything back, I honestly am not sure. They formula to the book is as follows: Fan is in one place for a period of time, something unpleasant usually happens, she gets out and goes someplace else. The unidentified narrator, the anonymous “We” of B-Mor, goes off on a tangentially relevant (at best) exposition and we start again.

So I think the last two lines of the previous paragraph really summed up my thoughts on this book. I know that Chang-rae Lee is an artist with his prose, but I could not get into this novel. Technique is not something which can superseded content. It was as though every time the story began to build, whenever there was an interesting plot turn, it was undoubtedly broken up with some meandering commentary by the narrator about how “We at B-Mor” feel about this, relate to it, or have some deeper insight. I tried so hard to like this book. I kept saying that after this chapter it will surely pick up, it has to! But I was sadly mistaken. If the majority of the “We at B-Mor” and “What we as B-Mors know” or “As we in B-Mor know of our Fan” were taken out, I think the story would have more of a flow. Those sections added nothing in my opinion and only sought to break up and derail an otherwise interesting and cohesive tale. More importantly how does this “we at B-Mor” know so much about Fan’s tale after leaving, and how do they have such an insight into Fan herself? By all description she was extremely quite and kept to herself with the exception of her time with Reg. This little idea completely pulled me out of the story. The frustration from the interludes took my enthusiasm in the way a kick to the chest takes your breath. I struggled to find the desire to continue on to the next chapter.

The story, distilled in essence is a good one. It contained interesting commentary on humanity and showed a reasonable amount of struggle, if perhaps a bit too much for one person is a condensed period of time. For that purpose it succeeds in the realm of dystopian novels. It fails however in making that story into an truly compelling or enjoyable experience. Written differently and with only a select few passages of exposition, I know I would have liked this novel. The writing style and narrative completely ruined it for me.

I cannot in good conscience give this more than 2/5 stars. I do not discourage people from picking this up though. Maybe you disagree with me. You would neither be the first nor the last to do so. I have cut and reworked a significant amount of what I would have liked to say out to prevent spoilers so the story will still be new to you.

Check back for more SF/F book reviews and information. I will try to update more frequently.

Fantasy, Review

Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

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Dirty MAgic
Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells
Click for more info

This was somewhat of a random read for me. I have an ever growing list of books to read, but I felt like picking up something a little different. I looked over the brief description and decided to give Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells a try. It is the first book in her new Prospero’s War series and was published by Orbit just ten days ago on 1-21-14. The concept of magic being used to create illicit potions seemed interesting and I am always up for a fresh idea. The story revolves around Kate Prospero, a beat cop in Babylon, which is supposed to be in the Rust Belt. Think Detroit with a view of Lake Erie. In Babylon, Kate Patrols an area known as The Cauldron. The Cauldron is a particularly rundown area where the potion users and cooks are more dense.

Wizards cook up potions for vanity, greed, sex, energy, pretty much anything. Most of these potions are cooked up and distributed by a few local covens, which unlike actual covens, are really just local magic gangs. While there are legal, clean potions for sell (energy drinks for example or even fuels) most of the potions we encounter are cooked by street wizards with inferior quality, and of course are ‘dirty’ so to speak. These potions become addicting and ruin addicts’ lives as well as appearance. Kate normally arrests the users hanging around on the streets. A new and dangerous potion shows up which transforms the user into a  werewolf with no real control. In the very beginning Kate has to kill the user she encounters, which turned out to be an MEA snitch. Kate ends up getting herself assigned to the MEA (Magic Enforcement Agency) task force. Their job is to locate the source of this new potion and shut them down.

Before I go any farther, I need to say that I really enjoyed this book. It was the first book by Jaye Wells that  have ever read and I was impressed. I will have to grab some more. I have to be honest and say that this was unexpected though. I had some doubts that I would like this book at all for several reasons. First, the title. It sounded like one of those cheesy romantic-urban-fantasy stories. A quick look at the description was enough to contradict that. Next was the detective story angle. I have never considered myself a fan of generic mystery stories either. While they seem to always find their ways to the best seller lists, mysteries just never did it for me. I did reconsider this though, almost exclusively due to the magic spin. I have to say that I am glad I went outside of what I thought I would like and took a chance.

I have only one real issue though. At one point Kate makes it known that she carries a Glock .22. Sorry, no. I cannot accept that. I have several friends in law enforcement. They range from Port Authority and NYPD to federal agents. None of these people would be caught on or off duty with a little .22. It is just unrealistic, especially if you knew the daily beat meant facing people hopped up on anything. Drugs, or in this case potions, makes them harder to put down. A .22 would not cut it. In that situation a .40 would be appropriate. I could understand a 9mm. Without the insight of my LE friends, I do not know if this would have bothered me as much, or if I would have even noticed, but it did take me out of the moment.

Let us return to novel itself though. I did appreciate the building of the main character, something I always tend to focus on. More and more of her history and personality came out over the course of the book which made the “getting to know you” feel very natural. She was was well crafted and showed a bit of depth. I liked the personal and professional struggles and felt they made her more real. I think all of the major players had some good foundations and layers. There were definitely some moments of surprise as well as sudden understanding. Even on the detective side, there were enough twists where it completely threw me, yet not so much the it seemed forced. I enjoyed the interpersonal relationships as well, especially with her brother and her friend. The team member bonding is there as well and runs the expected course. There were many really interesting characters and I really hope that we see them again in the next installation. The ball-busting partner with the hard facade that opens up as well as the blow-hard captain have been done to death, but somehow even those work here. I also really like the realistic language. It is undoubtedly adult. I know a lot of authors in fantasy tend to use softer language to appeal to the wider audience, but in this setting it needed the stronger language.

Using standard ratings, I would give this a solid 4/5 stars. Very enjoyable, something I would recommend to people even if they are not fantasy readers. If you enjoy this one, the next book, Cursed Moon, is already lined up for an August release.

Review, SciFi

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

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ancillary-justice
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Click for more information

Ancillary Justice is the first book in author Ann Leckie’s new trilogy, the Imperial Radch series. The novel begins by introducing us to the main character who goes by the name of Breq. We learn very early on that this name is just one chosen by our protagonist, not one they were always known by. Breq had also gone by One Esk and Justice of Toren.  This character is is very interesting with many levels being peeled by throughout the course of the story. You may have noticed, but I have been a bit evasive as to use and pronouns in identifying Breq. This is because I honestly have no idea what gender the character is. Breq aka One Esk, does not deal very well with the concept of gender or the accompanying pronouns. Everyone for the most part is referred to as “she”, even when they are clearly male.

This makes some aspects rather confusing and somewhat distracting when you find yourself trying to figure out who is really what. On the other hand it does provoke thought in terms of the importance of gender in our language. This is not where the confusion ends though. While Breq is an individual, One Esk is a collection of Ancillaries, which are, formerly human, “corpse soldiers” (not zombies, trust me on this) operating on a hive mind. Their singular consciousness is uploaded to them and they are joined in a permanent up-link with their ship and (fully human) officers. To take this up another level, Justice of Toren is the ship’s AI consciousness. This shift in perspectives between the three states of one mind is actually very interesting as it allows the narrative to take turns a first person view normally could not.

The story also takes place over an extremely vast period of time, often jumping back and forth. As part of the Justice of Toren, One Esk is a part of a Radchaai fleet. The Radch government is basically a human race with visions of colonization and assimilation. They use ancillaries for both military and domestic reasons, yet consider themselves somehow more civilized than any other society. Their civilization is also one reminiscent of feudalism with the idea of fealty. One Esk serves its Radchaai masters without question. It is an AI programmed for such things, yet it does still have feeling and the ability to pass judgement. Regardless of this, all aspects of the AI still obey, even against their own wishes. This ability to think with a conscious is really what makes the plot tick, along with some strife within the Leader of the Radch’s rule. I cannot really say more of this without some plot spoiler that I feel will better serve unspoiled. If people are interested in further discussion, let me know.

I really appreciated the complexity of the main character as well as the various views the book takes. There are some really fantastic ideas and concepts that play out. Ann Leckie really put a lot of thought into the mechanism and that work paid off to build a wonderful system and a great story. The confusing pronouns were certainly a risk, and she acknowledges that. The book is very enjoyable and only gets better as all of the pieces begin to fall into place. The style may not be for everyone, but I suggest giving it a shot. As someone who really digs into the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, something unique like this is always worth a try.

Ancillary Justice was also recently read in two SF/F book clubs which were able to get Ann Leckie involved in the discussion. A word of caution to those who have not yet read this story, these are both taking place during wrap ups and will contain spoilers.

Sword and Laser is a personal favorite of mine. They pick some great books, alternating monthly between Fantasy and SciFi. They have forums over on Goodreads and a podcast hosted by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont. They also just finished filming the next season of their video author spotlights. Keep and eye on them, I doubt any SF/F could be dissapointed. Follow this link to the podcast where they wrap up the book and are joined by Ann Leckie who gets in on the discussion and answers their questions.

The other book club which recently covered this is io9‘s. Here Ann Leckie joined the discussion in the user’s comments and answered many readers’ questions through the threads at the bottom of the page. I absolutely suggest giving that a look.

Review, SciFi

Sand by Hugh Howey

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Sand cover art
Sand by Hugh Howey. Click image for full description on Goodreads

Sand is latest book by Hugh Howey, the author best known for Wool and the rest of the Silo Saga. Like Wool, this was initially published in five parts. I initially read part of the first book, but with a full reading queue I opted to wait for the full version to come out and bump that to the top of my list. Sand starts by taking you into an unfamiliar desert world where we are introduced to a couple of divers- Palmer and Hap. Unlike the type of diving we are accustomed to, these divers traverse the sand by means of a specialized dive suit which causes the sand to flow around it. From the beginning this idea really intrigued me. The idea of swimming though sand hit me as both brilliant and obvious. I had a feeling of “Why didn’t I think of that?” followed by a daydream of swimming through sand dunes. It feels like a thought you would have as a kid sitting on a playground looking at the sand and letting your imagination wander.

We quickly learn is these divers are not on an alien world, rather a post-apocalyptic Earth. The divers use their suits to dive down below the sand dunes to scavenge whatever our modern society has left behind. Story follows the lives of several family members living on the outskirts of one of these desert towns, situated a few hundred feet above modern day Colorado. Palmer is a somewhat accomplished diver, who lives in the shadow of his more accomplished older sister Vic. Their two younger brothers Conner and Rob live at home and are still in school. While neither are divers, both are interested in the family profession. Their mother is around, occasionally supporting them financially,  while their father walked out on them years prior. Though their lives are mostly separate, certain decisions and unimaginable events in their sand covered, dreary world lead them down crossing paths, forcing them to work together to survive this increasingly hostile and lawless world.

The way this world was created was truly imaginative and as the story goes progresses there are several moments of realization that only add to this. What I most enjoy about Hugh Howey’s writing is the care he takes in building solid characters. I find myself actually relating to and caring about the characters because they have such depth and history. They easily feel like real people and I feel like I have spent time getting to know them. While some might find this type of building up slow, I find it to be essential and wholly interesting. If you are one of the people who does not appreciate this as much as I do, the story does build to a much more eventful turn of events that should be able to carry anyone’s interest.

I can honestly say I loved this book because it met and exceeded my expectations of what makes my ideal post-apocalyptic story. The only criticism I have is that there were a few point which I felt were a little too predictable, but I cannot say that it had any negative effect on my enjoyment. Most reviews I have read around time of publication were comparisons to Wool. I find this to be a poor comparison. While they were written by the same author, that is not enough to warrant any expectation of similarity. Howey himself has said these are polar opposites. Wool was about a totalitarian society, whereas Sand is almost anarchistic. Wool is a bit more family friendly, Sand is completely adult with some strong adult themes and language. To the author’s credit, I prefer to judge a story on its own merit.

Then end left me wanting more, but in a good way. I did not feel that it was lacking, I just wanted to know what comes next. At the time of this entry the author has not indicated that this will be a series, but he has said that there is a lot that could be done with this world. I will remain hopeful for now.

You can find more from Hugh Howey at:

HughHowey.com

@HughHowey

Goodreads