Book Review: Gun Machine - Warren Ellis

After a shootout claims the life of his partner in a condemned tenement building on Pearl Street, Detective John Tallow unwittingly stumbles across an apartment stacked high with guns. When examined, each weapon leads to a different, previously unsolved murder. Someone has been killing people for twenty years or more and storing the weapons together for some inexplicable purpose.

Confronted with the sudden emergence of hundreds of unsolved homicides, Tallow soon discovers that he's walked into a veritable deal with the devil. An unholy bargain that has made possible the rise of some of Manhattan's most prominent captains of industry. A hunter who performs his deadly acts as a sacrifice to the old gods of Manhattan, who may, quite simply, be the most prolific murderer in New York City's history.







Warren Ellis, like Neil Gaiman and Bill Willingham (amongst others) before him, began his author life penning comics. Warren Ellis penned some of the greatest comics of the 1990’s and 2000’s. Titles like PLANETARY, THE AUTHORITY, GLOBAL FREQUENCY, and TRANSMETROPOLITAN have actually help to shape modern comics and set the storytelling level that is now expected from the books. Without people like Ellis, Morrison, Gaiman, Vaughn ect. we wouldn’t have young bucks like Scott Snyder absolutely winning at writing superhero books.

So it’s kind of a no-brainer when someone like Warren Ellis pens a prose novel that a fan like me (I’ve met the man, and he is that awesome) will be picking it up. His first foray into such a media was 2007’s CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, a bizarre, compelling little volume about a washed-up P.I. who is hired to traipse across America’s seedy underbelly looking for a fabled, secret 2nd United States Constitution. I recall what stuck out about it when I read it was the infinite “readability” of it. The story could have been about a sentient washcloth and Ellis could have made it an engrossing read. It just so happens that he finds the most insane, yet interesting stuff to write about. He always has.

And GUN MACHINE (his latest prose effort) is no different.

The premise is wholly clever, bizarre, and interesting in equal measure, but it’s Ellis’ skill evident in his writing that will keep you reading well into the night. He can make the most pedestrian scene or set of events pop off the page like it’s some secret history. In this case VIA characters who are brilliantly fleshed out. The lead is John Tallow a detective at the end of his “caring” rope who is thrown into an unbelievable situation, and two CSU officers join him to solve it all. Scarly is a self-claimed autistic with a potty mouth, and then there is Bat, a nerdy guy with a temperamental stomach and has a penchant for the strange and robotic. There is a churchlike apartment filled with mosaics of guns from throughout history, each of them used in more than one crime and some of them over 100 years old. A madman named only “the Hunter” who crafted that room for his own purposes. John and crew must attempt to get to the bottom of why the Hunter has done what he did, how he’s gotten away with it for twenty+ years, and at the same time deal with more than 100 unsolved cold-case NYC murders that have come to light with the guns.

When I reached the end of the novel, it had followed a progression. Not a guessable one, but neither was it filed with twists and turns. Once you realize where it is headed you won’t be wholly surprised it went there. This is a story that has a compelling mystery at its heart, but its true success lay in Ellis’ prose which is so spot on that even a pint and bite to eat while chatting about the case sizzles off the page. The man is simply a wordsmith, and can craft a sentence that would be at home with literary masters. But what feeds through even that is the sensibility of someone who knows how people talk, communicate, and interact with each other on a REAL level. One imagines it comes from his years of blogging, tweeting and commenting on the internet, but Ellis knows people. In that vein, he then knows characters. So his characters sing, and we listen.

A wonderfully addictive read GUN MACHINE holds up under the most scrutinized eye. It’s at once a thrilling read with tension and danger at the fore, and also a quiet introspective look at inner feelings, turmoil, and personality. John Tallow is a POV character that it’s easy to get behind because even when he’s not being necessarily heroic, he’s being realistically heroic. It makes him flawed, but it makes him better than the more flawed villains. He’s not Sherlock Holmes, but he at least tries to look at things in more than one light at a time.

So, the first proper read of 2013 is Warren Ellis GUN MACHINE and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. It’s out in stores now, so you too can read it!

DNF: City Of Dark Magic - Magnus Flyte

Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is about to become. Prague is a threshold, Sarah is warned, and it is steeped in blood.
Soon after Sarah arrives, strange things begin to happen. She learns that her mentor, who was working at the castle, may not have committed suicide after all. Could his cryptic notes be warnings? As Sarah parses his clues about Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” she manages to get arrested, to have tantric sex in a public fountain, and to discover a time-warping drug. She also catches the attention of a four-hundred-year-old dwarf, the handsome Prince Max, and a powerful U.S. senator with secrets she will do anything to hide.

I do believe there is only one other DNF (Did Not Finish) “review” on here, so it’s not often I don’t finish a book. It has to be extraordinarily bad or boring to make me put it down without intention of giving it any further chance.

CITY OF DARK MAGIC by Magnus Flyte (pseudonym for Meg Howrey and Christina Lynch) is one of those novels. And to be honest I'm kind of glad I began reading it in 2012, so I don't have to say it's the 1st book I read in 2013.

It had a significant amount of buzz surrounding it, a lovely looking cover, a compelling synopsis on the back cover, and a blurb on the cover by funnyman Conan O’Brien (who called it “madcap”). It SEEMED like a win.

In this case, the marketing dept. should be sat down in the boardroom and congratulated on swindling the random reader into reading this vacuous crapola.

It actually started decently enough. An interesting premise, a somewhat compelling protagonist, some bizarre characters and a few mysteries…and lastly a city that, for all intents and purposes, is still relatively medieval. That was the first 50 pages-ish. After that things go downhill fast. I’m not going to write long diatribes about the badness, but I’ll give you a point form list.

- Protag (Sarah Weston) is a Beethoven and music scholar (top of her class) who apparently finds all other history boring. So much so that anytime anyone else talks about their area of history while exporing Prague…Sarah drifts off and talks about how bored she is. Riiiiiight. That’s plausible. If someone is into Music History, one imagines they wouldn't be ANNOYED by history.

- Sarah is a very sexual creature. In fact, she’s not about sex as an act as anything other than stress relief to help her think. No seriously, She will talk about how her mind is so foggy and that if she’s too horny she can’t think straight. Cue random bathroom/religious statue “bent over” sex with quasi-stranger. Ah! That’s better. Riiiiight. Let me be clear I don’t mind sex scenes at all, when they have a purpose. But here they are used in a totally out of the blue, random manner with zero relevance to the plot. And it happens OFTEN.

- My, but these characters are beige. The duo of authors introduce no less than 10 other researchers in Prague, and not ONE of them is memorable. Even the Texan weapons expert is a bleeding caricature/stereotype. They all traipse around saying things, none of it all that important, and attempt only to move the plot forward.


- The villain is LAUGHABLE. Like not quietly reserved in her goals as a villain should be. Not menacing. Not scary. Just an out and out evil 60's Bond villain archetype (without the charm of one). Pitiful.

- Beethoven. Hmmm, the first 50 or so pages were treating the composer like he’s a huge part of the plot. He is and he isn’t He’s forgotten for long sections and then the spotlight will spin back to him. It’s…scatterbrained.

- History is a second class citizen in this book. The author’s spent some time on Wikipedia for names, dates, and small portions of text about historical events…but it is largely un-researched and is then spouted by characters who A. Don’t seem to care much, and B. Don’t really know what the hell they are talking about.

- Prague. From what I hear it’s a beautiful city, but you wouldn’t know it form this book. It’s all about dropping names of places, and nothing really about description. You NEVER feel like you’re in Prague. You could be in any number of old world cities from the lack of description. Hell, even the castle where the majority of events take place is never really described in any detail.

- Old Toenails are chewed to induce time travel of a sort. No, seriously. I don’t even…*shakes head*

The book I kept comparing this one to in my head was Elizabeth Kostova’s THE HISTORIAN. That book was amazingly well written, compelling from page one to the final page, with relevant, deeply explored characters, and a protagonist who you could get on board with. It treated history with the reverence required, the cities it moves through with thought and description, and most of all it stays with its own main mystery throughout, barely wavering from the goal and sees it through to a satisfying resolution.

CITY OF DARK MAGIC on the other hand is scattered, ill-researched, jumps around like a drug-addled monkey, with an unlikable protagonist who doesn’t even ring true to her own supposed character, who likes bouts of stress relief sex for little to no reason. The further I read, the worse it all got. Terrible book in my opinion. You might like it, but it was most definitely NOT for me.

Lastly, please note: The use of my biggest pet peeve written on book covers by Publishers. "A Novel" under the title. Yes, because clearly it needs to be written there... otherwise people would think they were purchasing an 8-track player or a fire engine?

Book Review: Cold Days - Jim Butcher

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.

He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.

Guess which Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…

His soul.

Only once before during my obsession with Jim Butcher’s DRESDEN FILES have I found one of the books on the shelves early (CHANGES), I proceeded to lose my shit for a moment in the bookstore, squeeing like a Twilight fan, came to my senses, collected myself and walked calmly and confidently up to the counter hoping against hope that they didn’t realize their mistake in putting it out early. They did not and I escaped with my purchase in hand and scampered down the street to get home and crack it open. Well, make that twice now. The latest (14th) DRESDEN FILE titled COLD DAYS, was out over a week early at my local bookstore. I stumbled across it almost by accident…and then repeated the above procedure amplified by ten.

COLD DAYS follows on a book where Harry Dresden has spent a while in a sort of dead not-dead ghostlike state. In such a situation it means that the majority of his friends (even though he saw THEM in GS, they did not see him) have not seen him since he was shot and presumably killed at the end of CHANGES. It turns out they went to his funeral and have spent months mourning their wizardly friend. For his part, after being saved by the sentient, genius loci island Harry calls Demonreach combined with the machinations of Mab (Queen of the winter Fae), he has survived his ordeal and been nursed back to health and in return has taken up the empty Winter Knight mantle (last occupied by the evil Lloyd Slate, who Dresden killed in a previous book) and now works for Mab. So the book starts in the Nevernever and more specifically in the Winter Palace called Arctis Tor. It is there that he spends months training to be Mab’s Winter Knight in which she tries in every elaborate way to kill him to hone his skills…he hopes.

That’s enough plot for you, you plot-mongers. I refuse to take away from you what will inevitably be one of your favourite reads in the entire series (after finishing it I easily placed it at #4 in my rankings, behind PROVEN GUILTY, DEAD BEAT, and CHANGES) so stop looking. No more spoilers, not even minute ones.

What I’d like to tell you about COLD DAYS is that it’s a nice nod to the beginnings of the series. Even though Harry has long ago stopped doing regular P.I. work, this book contains a plot that includes a numbers of villains and thugs, a tight timeline or things go boom, and even a kidnapping or two. It’s a kind of classic look back at Dresden through the eyes of who he has become 14 years on. The long established cast of secondary characters are once again featured (almost in full, though no Marcone in this one sadly), and there are a few new faces to see as well.

If I had to call this book a spiritual successor to one of the previous volumes, it would definitely be SUMMER KNIGHT. There are events in this book that directly reference the events in that book. Especially the ending of SUMMER KNIGHT, so prepare yourselves for a crash course in your own memory, not that Butcher doesn’t fill the gaps though.

It’s funny, as much as a book like CHANGES was a game changer in the series, I feel that there are one or two events in this book that would stand a hundred feet taller over the game-changing events in CHANGES, look down upon those events and laugh heartily while showing us all what a REAL game-changer looks like. Yeah. It’s THAT staggering. It’s also executed so cleanly on Butcher’s part that I didn’t see it coming for one moment before it happened. When it happened I sat there gobsmacked, gooseflesh and all. Basically what this means for the series is that there are a couple of chapters in this book that will be known as defining moment in the storyline and have ramifications for the long arc.

Harry’s relationships are further tested with even things as simple as everyone having thought him dead, and where he’s been in the months he COULD have called from Arctis Tor and didn’t, are shown in a realistic and human light. It’s really interesting to see how each of his friends reacts to that differently. There is also a broadening of older characters. Mac (of Macanally’s Pub) for instance get’s some cryptic, but ultimately interesting growth here that makes you realize he’s not just a guy who runs a pub. It’s also interesting to note that the events of CHANGES and at Chichen Itza have taken enough toll to still be affecting people, like Molly. The gravity of that weighs heavily on Dresden, but he’s also learning his lesson about not letting people in to try to keep them safe. Especially with people like Molly and Murphy he’s come to the conclusion (about time Dresden!) that keeping them out of the loop to keep them safe is not really the most ideal plan.

The pace, I don’t think I need to tell you, is a rocket-shaped madness that will grip you by your unmentionables and pull you along until done. No seriously. I read it in less than 2 days. 515 pages of pure, unadulterated Dresdencrack injected directly into your thinkymeatz. If you are a fan I don’t need to explain that to you. If you’re not a fan or haven’t read the books, what the hell are you doing reading a review of the 14th book?

This book is simply stellar. How Butcher can continue to surprise and amaze me fourteen books in is a feat I’ll never understand but he does it. Every. Damned. Time.

And now, I only have to wait a year for the next one. Sigh.

Book Review: The Coldest War - Ian Tregillis

Someone is killing Britain's warlocks.

Twenty-two years after the Second World War, a precarious balance of power maintains the peace between Great Britain and the USSR. For decades, the warlocks have been all that stand between the British Empire and the Soviet Union-- a vast domain stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the English Channel. But now each death is another blow to Britain's security.

Meanwhile, a brother and sister escape from a top-secret research facility deep behind the Iron Curtain. Once subjects of a twisted Nazi experiment to imbue ordinary humans with extraordinary abilities, then prisoners of war in the vast Soviet effort to reverse engineer the Nazi technology, they head for England.

Because that's where former spy Raybould Marsh lives. And Gretel, the mad seer, has plans for him.

As Marsh is drawn back into the world of Milkweed, he discovers that Britain's darkest acts didn't end with the war. And as he strives to protect Queen and country, he's forced to confront his own willingness to accept victory at any cost.

Last week I read what is definitely the best book I read in all of 2012. I thought I’d read something special when devoured Ian Tregillis’s first book in his Milkweed Triptych series BITTER SEEDS. Now, if I thought that was good then the second book, THE COLDEST WAR, showed the first book to be the opening salvo it truly was in what is an ever-twisting, addictive and endlessly readable series.

THE COLDEST WAR is quite an amazing feat. The premise of the first book (Battery-powered Nazi Superpeople going up against British Warlocks who summon Lovecraftian demons/gods in their defense through blood magic) is taken and not only expanded upon, but perfected. Here we have a volume that takes place 22 years after the first book. The Cold War is in full swing and Britain is attempting to find ways to circumvent the Soviet Union’s seemingly unbelievable secrecy and power, while maintaining Milkweed’s secrecy. Unbeknownst to them they have an informational mole and in the first chapter, someone with similar powers to the Nazi Superpeople from the first book is systematically hunting down British Warlocks.

Immediately you will be aware of the “generational” nature of this tale. Here we are dealing with events quite removed from WWII, the protagonists have aged, as have the villains and the world stage growth is also evident. Milkweed itself is no stranger to this growth, but in a way that is not conducive to protection. With 22 years and the deaths of the higher command in Whitehall, Milkweed is now run by those who were just children during the Blitz and there is now a lackadaisical sense about the place. Complacency if you will. Now, while they are still actively doing things to further the cause, it is unavoidable to see the lax nature in comparison to the blacked out windows and hush-hush secrecy of the 40’s. I enjoyed that aspect of the narrative, as it helps you feel the 60’s and how Britain recovered from the War. An interestingly enough the mystery (while a different one from BITTER SEEDS) is still so thick that you can barely see through it with a map. I loved that, as the twists, when the come, are fast, furious and hard to guess at. Tregillis masterly handles his suspense without sacrificing pacing.

Having the protagonists older and showing how their lives carried on after the War is key to the enjoyment to this book, but the biggest part of that is this was never a “Happily Ever After”. Both Marsh and Will carry scars that never healed and in some cases are still festering. Watching them begin to relive their years at Milkweed and the deeds that can be placed at each’s feet is as interesting and compelling to read than any of the mysteries in THE COLDEST WAR. There is a wonderfully bleak realism about the way these characters interact with each other and how the crimes of the past are revisited on them ten fold. Once that Pandora’s Box is opened there is seemingly no stopping it as the hits keep on coming. Marsh and Will’s relationship is developed further, but it’s actually on the tail end of some very serious rifts that began in BITTER SEEDS and bloom into full flower here and again it’s one of the best relationship-goes-sour I’ve seen in print. It all rings incredibly true. Every time one of the two contests something to the other; you can actually take a side without stretching your own beliefs. That in turn creates a number of very creative moral dilemma’s as well which only adds to the narrative.

Another aspect are the things that Marsh and Will don’t know about each other, the biggest thing being that Will has kept secret just how badly things could have gone in the end of the events of BITTER SEEDS had he not done the thing he did. It’s that aspect of his motivations for what he does in the 2nd book that Marsh is unaware of, and the tension that creates as we go along is palpable.

There is some foreshadowing in BITTER SEEDS about a major component of THE COLDEST WAR’s story, but even with that foreshadowing when the revelation came in this book I was taken unawares and the gravity of it made the hair on my arms stand up. It was absolutely chilling and I truly think that it’s probably one of the more creepy things I’ve ever read in a book.

The German’s in BITTER SEEDS, most importantly the men and women of the Reichsbehörde, in that book come across as evil tools of their creators, but it made them no less evil in their actions. But there was always the inkling that Klaus (at the very least) was not inherently bad, but rather just a victim of circumstance. That is developed further here when he and Gretel see London and Klaus becomes obsessed with how free everyone is to just “live their lives”. It’s something that he’s never had, and he wants it. In his past life as a Nazi Super-GhostMan he might have just taken it if he wanted it, but here the growth in him allows for him to accept that it is something he might have to work for. This is most evident in a desire to paint with watercolours, at which he has to start at the beginning and work at it every day to be good. People are kind to him for the first time, and I think especially his relationship with Marsh is specifically emotionally affecting.

Gretel is still utterly FASCINTATING. I could not wait for stuff to do with her on each page. She is an unreadable riddle most of the time. Is she evil? Mad? Good? Benevolent? Driven? Loving? Dismissive? Yes, she is all of these things and none fo them. She is the heart of this entire trilogy and yet she isn’t at the same time. Tregillis has infused Gretel as the blood that feeds his story, but she is not what pumps it. That is Marsh and Will.

The vaguery of the Eidolons themselves is still this omnipresent menace that while somewhat leashed in the first book, spends the first half of THE COLDEST WAR haunting the edges of the reader’s sensibility. The success of them as characters works because of the nature of them in this very oppressive, dark way that will give even the most stalwart reader the willies. I think any time they showed up in the story I had to prepare myself.

Now, the third act of this novel will most likely do to you all what it did to me so I’m not going to spoil it. At all. I’m not even going to give you the slightest hint. What I will say is that the dénouement in THE COLDEST WAR is probably one of the finest, cleanly assembled things I’ve had the pleasure to read. It made my jaw drop and I actually turned to my girlfriend who was sitting across the couch from me and I said aloud “Holy gods. That was phe-no-men-al.” in a very serious voice. Right to the last sentence. Gobsmacked. Impressed. Yes, I’m aware I’m gushing. This is a gush-worthy book. It’s the kind of novel I will tell my friends about and discuss after in hushed whispers so as not to spoil it for others. What’s even better? There’s a 3rd book coming in April called NECESSARY EVIL and will finish out the trilogy. I personally cannot wait for it. I put it on my pre-order list and I will disappear into a book-reading fugue the day it drops.

The best book of 2012. THE COLDEST WAR. I don’t care what you have to do to get your hands on this book. Beg, borrow, buy, read it in snippets over someone’s shoulder. Just go out and grab a copy today. And if you’ve not read BITTER SEEDS yet…what on earth are you waiting for?

Ian Tregillis’ Milkweed Triptych is an enthralling historical epic full of twists, turns, believable characters and stellar set-pieces. It’s got chills, spying and action aplenty, all executed with the type of prose in which you know that not only every sentence, but every word was chosen deliberately and serves a greater purpose.

READ. THIS. SERIES. NOW.

Book Review: Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

We are not alone.

On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system.

In the vast wilderness of space, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have been keeping the peace for the Outer Planets Alliance. When they agree to help a scientist search war-torn Ganymede for a missing child, the future of humanity rests on whether a single ship can prevent an alien invasion that may have already begun . . .

I’ve said before how picky I am with my sci-fi and that usually what I like falls into the Space Opera category. I like my future and space travel with good action and melodrama, apparently.

Thus it is that James S.A. Corey’s (duo of authors) LEVIATHAN WAKES blew me away when I read it a while back. A rip-roaring space opera with a heavy horror overlay featuring a vast array of characters from all walks of life.

Now, where LW was pretty much entirely seen through the POV chapters of 3 characters, two of which featured most prominently (Space Captain Holden, and nourish detective Miller) throughout the narrative, the sequel CALIBAN’S WAR features Holden and even more POV’s (A scientist named Prax with a missing daughter, a foul-mouthed, elderly politician named Avasarala, and a displaced Martian soldier named Bobby) all of which serve to blow the world-building open even wider.

CALIBAN’S WAR takes what LW built, that of a galaxy at war with various political factions (Earth, Mars and the OPA [Outer Planets Alliance]) all vying for power whilst simultaneously attempting to contain / understand a protomolecule that horribly transforms people into “vomit zombies”, and takes it even further. The politics comes a little more to the forefront in this volume, mostly through the machinations of the hilarious and cunning Avasarala (probably my fave character this time around), but also I found it to be a little less horror and a little more space opera-y. Which is great, and speaks of the talents involved authoring the work, since the gears can change from book to book (this is something I’ve noticed that both Richard Morgan and Alastair Reynolds can do) which puts the Corey duo in great company.

The story this time is basically the aftermath of the protomolecules’ escape from Eros (See: Book 1) and subsequent crashing into and taking over of Venus, and the powers that be in the galaxy using the accident and each other to further their own designs. That rings true to me because for a vast section of time in this book the upper echelon’s of power don’t seem remotely frightened by the protomolecule and just how virulent and dangerous it is. Meanwhile on the ground floor with Holden and Co. even the appearance of the tiny black webbing that signifies the protomolecule absolutely freaks Holden out to the nth degree. It’s a nice braod shot of the universe that these characters inhabit and how far all the gov’ts involved have truly fallen. There is also a significant amount of personal growth and change amongst the crew of the Rocinante up to and including Holden. Everyone is beholden to the effects that their experiences in the first novel had on them. They are totally changed, and it is commented on a number of times by characters noting the changes in character. I really liked that attention to detail since it helps the characters ring truly.

In the end it was a wonderful sequel to the first book that not only continues the story, but opens the narrative up wider and allows for more plot strands to take shape. By the 3rd act of the book it becomes clear that the stage is being set for the finale, with a number of twists and table settings that will have repercussions in the final book. As solid a sequel book as anyone could have hoped for, this middle entry doesn’t suffer from any of the lag that 2nd books sometimes do and succeeds in making me very excited to find out just what is going to happen. Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham (the duo that compose a James S.A. Corey) have truly hit a vein of gold with this series. It’s treading new ground even as it uses classic tropes to tell the tale. Most of all it’s just a blast to read. If you are looking for action, intrigue, tense confrontations and blind heroism, look no further than CALIBAN’S WAR.

Book Review: Katya's World - Jonathan L. Howard

 

The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.

Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.

There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.

I’m not a boat guy. When I read books where large portions of the narrative happen aboard a ship on the ocean, I get bored really, really quickly. The same goes for submarines. Close quarters space, a rather narrow viewfinder through which to see any worldbuilding, and most often a claustrophobic narrative.

So Jonathan L. Howard had his work cut out for him, when I began to read his book... which is basically a sci-fi submarine book.

Thankfully, the book is a fast-paced and entertaining read. Clocking in at just over 300 pages, the slim volume is quick and easy to devour. The prose is workable without being overwrought, and the narrative flows from chapter to chapter with relative ease. So Howard took a setting I normally dislike and made a story I wanted to read. For that I'm totally grateful. Is it a perfect book? No, it's got some flaws, but nothing that he didn't overcome with the story he told me.

But let’s go a little deeper and see what worked and what didn’t.

The characters work. Katya and Kane I think especially pop right off the page with a style that shows us that Howard is a veteran of character work. I cared about MOST of the main characters, if not exactly all of them. There are a few characters here and there that, while not cardboard cut-outs, do seem only a bit more than window dressing. This is not a huge flaw, as it can happen in book of a smaller size when the main characters swing above their weight. Especially interesting here is the blessed lack of a love story. Too many YA titles feel the strange need to shoehorn in a romance to a story which doesn’t need one, or more often than not they cobble a story AROUND a staple romance. Both tropes are tired and annoy me. Howard avoids this altogether in KATYA’S WORLD, and that was a decidedly refreshing thing to see. It's good to see authors out there who know that a YA book needn’t be dependent upon a love story, nor does it require one just for the sake of having it. Katya does have personal relationships though which vary in degrees. From her initial jovial nature with her Uncle Lukyan, to her attempted adult speech around the Russalka military, down to the guarded openness with which she treats someone like Kane. She’s a great, strong protagonist who doesn’t fall back on any stereotypes to get ahead. She simply uses her wits, and it shows from page to page. Again, this was a refreshing protagonist and I found myself easily getting along beside Katya's nature. She's very likeable.

The story itself is great...if not overly complex. The world of Russalka is endlessly interesting, but I never felt like we got too much of a look out the window (if I can use that analogy). It felt like we sat in a room and had a lot of things described to us, but whenever we got into a position for a good solid peek out the window, the author would draw the curtain and we'd all say "Awww, man!". It only happened a few times, but it was noticeable. But that definitely speaks of Russalka being fascinating enough that I wanted more description, and more looks out the window. The non-complexity of the story is actually part of what allows it to rocket along at such a good clip, and for that Howard should be proud. He could have overdone the tale and added lots of twists and turns, but he doesn’t get ahead of himself too much, so the tale is allowed to be organic with an ebb and flow that doesn't ever feel forced. I will note that there ARE a few infodumps, and a few of those ARE a tad repetitive, but it never took me out of the story so I let those slide for the most part, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them.

The end result here is a very solid sci-fi outing with a pace that is hard to match, realized characters that are fun to engage with stand up to be counted, and the whole is a pretty thrilling little story. The dialogue suffers a bit here and there with some clunkiness that sometimes doesn’t ring true, and there is a decided lack of humour which I felt might have lightened the often bleak atmosphere, but that's simply personal preference and I can't imagine it'd be easy to make jokes in a place as forbidding as Russalka.

This is a wonderful intro for young folk looking to whet their whistle with some dystopian sci-fi, and if this is the first book in a series then I can wholly hope that the second volume delivers the same goods. While I wasn’t blown away by the book, which I am certain has more to do with my dislike of submarine tales than anything else; I was totally engrossed in it from beginning to end. It’s definitely a hard book to put down once you’ve started it, and seeing as how I started this on a cottage weekend, it kept me busy in the morning as I gazed out over the lake. Put KATYA'S WORLD on your reading list Sci-Fi fans, it's a great tale!

The book is out in November 13th 2012 from Angry Robot's YA imprint Strange Chemistry. You can pre-order it HERE.

Book Review: Fated by Benedict Jacka

  

Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future--allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success.

But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none

Jim Butcher, Mike Carey, Ben Aaronovich, Kevin Hearne, Kate Griffin, Myke Cole and Christopher Farnsworth. These are a few of the names writing urban fantasy that I’ve been recently enjoying. As I’ve stated countless times before urban fantasy is either a go-to obsessive read for me or an exercise in tedium. Which one it is usually depends on the author. The above-named author’s fall into the category of Obsessive go-to read. Finding these diamonds in the rough can be daunting, and has resulted in my reading of more than a few UF stinkers.

Luckily, along came a few reviews of Benedict Jacka’s new series about British diviner mage Alex Verus. Most of those reviews seem to indicate that this is a series with some serious entertainment value.

Rest assured, it does have that.

Verus is a lead you can get behind. He’s as sarcastic as Harry Dresden is (there is even an in-book nod to Butcher’s Chicago-based Wizard), with a similar repertoire of pop-culture references, but he also is a creation all his own. Once you settle into his POV, you won’t be disappointed to follow him around.

The world-building in the first book FATED is top notch, with an almost immediate immersion into Verus’ world and the society he belongs to of the supernatural and magery. It is clear from page one that the world has been around a long time, there were once wars that we’ve long forgotten about, and there are even relics from that time which are wholly sought after. Imagine, if you will a peek into the history of Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic. A delving into that specific magical history. That’s partially what you get in FATED’s world-building, and Jacka doesn’t hold back on informing the reader about Verus’ world. Does this always work? No, not always. In the beginning of the book there is a tad too much info-dumping going on and it stands out a bit. But as the book goes on and Jacka finds himself more at ease with the way to reveal his world, then it’s much more enthralling with the info dropping at better moments and not in large clumps.

The periphery characters are nicely fleshed out, with the cursed Luna being the most easily acceptable (not to mention intriguing with her specific curse) to the reader. The quasi-villains (Cinder, Khazaad and Rachel), and the grey characters whose motivations we can’t guess at first (Levistus) are done with attention to detail. You also get a giant talking spider, and an airheaded air elemental for the bargain. I don’t know that they are all fleshed out quite as much as they could be, but since this is the 1st book in a series I am fully giving Jacka a pass in that department.

With Verus being on the less powerful (or is he?) side of mage powers, with him only really being able to see various futures and paths, it makes for an interesting narrative choice since he spends a lot of time running and hiding. In contrast to Dresden who goes out of his way to seek out fights, Verus instead is highly sought after and is attempting to keep a lower profile. Now, for my money this ability needs to build in future books to the point where Verus can perfect his magic and be able to get ahead of opponents. I await to see how Jacka plays that particular hand.

There are about two or three major action sequences in the book and while they aren’t perfect (as they tend to be a bit abrupt), they are certainly entertaining and break up the expository chapters well. It’s a short book so not oodles happens, but the finale is really nicely written, if not altogether unpredictable. In fact I think my biggest gripe with FATED would be that I was able to guess pretty much all the major twists before they occurred. That took away a BIT of the tension for me. But it’s not something unfixable, and hopefully it’s something that Jacka can improve down the line.

A really, solid, fun and adventurous urban fantasy book, with an expansive and intricate world and a wonderfully wry protagonist who isn’t all-powerful. FATED should be on any reading list that includes the likes of Jim Butcher or Mike Carey, and since he was just signed to a further 2 books in the series (there are 3 out now FATED, CURSED and TAKEN) you can be sure he’s going to be around a while. I’m hoping for an Alex Verus meeting with Harry Dresden down the line, but that may be fanboy wishery.

Either way, give this one a look. It’s a blast to read.

NOTE: The cover image I've used is the UK cover, because I like it way better than the cover we got here in Canada.

Book Review: Prince Of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

When he was nine, he watched his mother and brother killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be king...

It's time for Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath to return to the castle he turned his back on, to take what's rightfully his. Since the day he was hung on the thorns of a briar patch and forced to watch Count Renar's men slaughter his mother and young brother, Jorg has been driven to vent his rage. Life and death are no more than a game to him-and he has nothing left to lose.

But treachery awaits him in his father's castle. Treachery and dark magic. No matter how fierce, can the will of one young man conquer enemies with power beyond his imagining?

There are times that I get so bogged down in my ToRead pile, upon which sit many purchased hardcovers and paperbacks, and a few advance copies, that I neglect books that have been given my fellow bloggers’ seal of approval.

There are also times when the controversy surrounding a book and its subject matter are such that my mind quirks that it may or may not be worthy of such attention.

Mark Lawrence’s novel PRINCE OF THORNS is one such volume. It both slipped through my reader’s cracks, as well as tweaked my interest due to the buzz around how dark it was. So I knew I would get around to reading it, the question was…when?

I’d gotten three quarters of the way through another book, and found it wanting…so I finally decided to pick up PRINCE OF THORNS.

And in a similar vein to folk like Aidan over at A Dribble Of Ink, after about 10-15 pages I wondered what the heck I’d gotten myself into. A protagonist who was leading a gang of criminals who raped, pillaged, thieved and killed at will. How am I meant to get onside with such a protagonist?

But the key lies in trusting Lawrence. Through a series of flashbacks to “Four Years Earlier” amongst other revelations that come as the book wends on, the author establishes that things may not be all that they seem…but furthermore a protagonist who left home at ten and was basically raised amongst the criminal element would see that as how to live ones life. There is a darkness to fourteen-year old Prince Jorge that is a tad unexplainable, but only at first. Through these flashbacks things begin to become clear and your mind is inexorably changed to see things you didn’t see in the first 10-15 pages.

In a nutshell, had I read this book in 2011 when it came out I’d have called it the best book of that year. Easily, hands down winner. It makes me wish I had read it then. It’s phenomenally written with a prose that is clean, and efficient and yet it still manages to be evocative when it needs to be. The characters are vividly painted with members of Jorge’s Brother’s fleshed out well in both the narrative as well as the little chapter preludes, my favourite of which concerns a small bit of dialogue from a future trial of one of the characters. The old Captain of his father’s guard, Makin and a former prisoner from his father’s keep whom Jorge saved named simply Nuban come out on top as memorable…but lesser characters like Jorge’s father King Olidan, a mutated demonlike being called Gorgoth, and even a little irradiated prophetess are well rounded, fleshed out characters.

Jorge’s Broken Empire is just over a thousand years removed from “The Day Of A Thousand Suns” which over time it is made clear this is a future version of our earth and things like classic books, aspects of religion and the like are still remembered, if not perfectly. The nods to the reader about this are subtle at first and you get to enjoy a little moment of "Aha!" which was nice. Split into many factions always vying for power, Jorge’s ultimate goal is to unite the broken pieces and rule over everything.

The action. Oh sweet lord the action! There are action set pieces in PRINCE OF THORNS that are so fluid that I raced through them at top speed, devouring pages at a ridiculous pace. Nothing is tacked on and you feel every crossbow bolt, every knife sliding across a neck, and every sword punching through mail. Though our heroes aren’t really heroes at all, they are at least very good fighters. The villains are utterly evil, and the specific ones that Jorge deals with directly are sometimes just as clever as he is, if not in some cases cleverer…but most of them don’t have his set of cast iron junk and so he has that going for him. It’s really nice to see the back and forth between Jorge and his enemies as it always rings true to a conversation a well-versed teenager (which is what Jorge is) who just doesn’t give a shit would have with an adult who expects him to give a shit. He actually gives less than a shit, and that’s part of what makes him so damned compelling.

I seriously can’t say enough good things about this book. I immediately ran out and bought the hardcover sequel as I can’t wait to dive into the next bit of the tale. I think the best praise I can give it is this: I LOVE Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. Love them. They are like a drug to me when I read them. I am mesmerized and blown away by every page of that urban fantasy series. I salivate for more every time I finish one. Mark Lawrence’s PRINCE OF THORNS is a straight-up-fantasy version of that desire in me. It’s reads like and is as addictive as Butcher’s series, simply in a full on fantasy vein instead of urban fantasy. It is, for lack of a better word, spectacular. An utter triumph of storytelling, and once you get past initial reservations about the darkness of the character you seriously won’t be able to put the bloody thing down. I myself was reading it at nearly 1AM last night (this morning) to finish it as I had to see how it ended.

If you’ve not yet read this book, do yourself a big favour and rush out to grab it (it’s in paperback now, so you have no excuse!). This is how fantasy is done right. How fantasy is done not only right, but with a flair that beggar’s imagination.

Seriously. So Good.

Omni Review the First: THE FALL, BOSSYPANTS, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLD and WILDCATTER

All my writing time lately has been taken up by a new project I’m working on. Fortunately my reading time is still unsullied. So I’ve got all these books that demand reviewing but no time to do it. The solution? An Omni-Review.

THE FALL by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (Book 2 of The Strain Trilogy)

Surprisingly not full of suck.  The first book in the series was bogged down by seemingly endless pages of unnecessary exposition and convoluted setups. Thankfully, the second book tosses all that mind numbing research aside and just concentrates on telling readers a good story. There are a couple genuine WTF moments that I really enjoyed and on the whole this book feels like a beach read hopped up on speed. This series officially stands at 1:1 in the win:loss ratios.

BOSSYPANTS by Tina Fey

After a couple chapters Tina Fey’s dogged determination to turn everything in this book into a knee slapper began to undermine my attraction in the story she was telling. I don’t know if she’s afraid to tell a story straight up or just incapable of it. But after endless nudges in the ribs, bald innuendos and blatant double entendres I just got bored with the whole thing. Which is unfortunate, because underneath the endless layers of jokes I got the sense there was a really interesting story hidden inside. I picked up BOSSYPANTS because I wanted to know more about a comedian and writer who is funny, talented and unlike anyone else working in the biz. In the end I put it down, worn about by her inability to know when it was time to switch gears.

THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE by Stephen King

KEYHOLE is set inside King’s Dark Tower world, which is always a personal favourite of mine. This book is actually a story, within in a story, within a story. It’s almost Shakespearean. Once you take into account that the core story of the book actually deals with one man murdering his friend so he can marry his wife and take over his business the Shakespeare reference starts to seem more and more apt. KEYHOLE doesn’t really add anything new to the Tower mythos, rather it sort of fills in the blanks around some of the series’ smaller mysteries. But it’s still nice to check in Roland, Susannah, Eddie and Jake nonetheless. If you like King, you’ll like this book. If you like the Dark Tower, then you’ll be thrilled to know there’s more story to tell.

WILDCATTER by Dave Duncan

Stop. Go back and reread any review on this site I’ve ever written about Dave Duncan’s work. Then erase the title and replace it with WILDCATTER. Exploring new worlds and new civilizations is probably best left up to the big corporations. After all they’re the ones best set up to do the job. But what happens when the little guy decides to get into deep space exploration? How do they compete against the Goliaths of the game? Duncan does his typical top notch work here, delivering a ripping yarn in his trademark understated manner. It was nice to see him dabbling in sci-fi again.

Book Review: Bloodline - James Rollins

Galilee, 1025. Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth: the Bachal Isu—the staff of Jesus Christ—a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for the covert rescue mission into the African jungle—for the woman is no rich tourist; she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, the daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal, one who has been manipulating events throughout history . . . and now challenges the current presidency.

For this sensitive mission, SIGMA is aided by a pair of special operatives with unique talents: former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane. But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal as Gray and his team discover that the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark repercussions. And the danger is only beginning. . . .

Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a centuries-old conspiracy to manipulate our genetic code. With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby, one who holds the key to a mystery and whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity, asking:

Could you live forever?

Would you live forever?

I read James Rollins books because they are usually Historical mysteries, twined with modern science, and crazy action set pieces. These are his call signs and were seemingly his bread and butter. This is especially true of his Sigma Force series, which I enjoy quite a bit. The core of these volumes is almost ALWAYS the historical mystery, be it Alexander the Great’s tomb, The Nazi experiment called Die Glocke (The Bell), Angkor Wat, Greek Ruins in Northern India or even Celtic tombs in Britain. To me that’s what always makes the adventures of the Sigma Team so fascinating, that above and beyond the modern day science that ties into the past, there is always some nugget of truth to ancient legends or myths and when found and interwoven with the present it made for compelling stories. This is the reason we all like Indiana Jones so much, or guiltily watch ANCIENT ALIENS. As a species we are endlessly entertained by the unexplained in our own history. Link that into a fictional narrative and you will usually have a winner. It’s why fluff like THE DAVINCI CODE did such bananas sales.

Most the Sigma books follow this pattern. And while it is always present, Rollins usually finds a way to change things up to avoid the law of diminishing returns. Be it adding characters, or changing the status quo for returning characters he was quite adept that this. It’s actually a rather fine balance to ride between science and history, and Rollins should be applauded for normally riding it.

Sadly, in his latest Sigma outing BLOODLINE he doesn’t ride it much at all. The book is almost entirely a science / tech / action thriller. The history, when present, is minimal at best. There is mention of the Knights Templar in the prologue, but then nothing for hundreds of pages. There is a relic at play here, but even its screen time is limited and constantly overshadowed by the forward thinking science and tech. It’s as if he decided that the tech and science narrative was more important on its own than couching it within the historical wrapping. Kind of a dismissal of the historical mystery as “besides the point”. At least that’s how it felt to me. Which annoyed me, I’m not going to lie. Seeing as how intricate the previous books have been about tying everything together, BLOODLINE doesn’t even attempt it. So what we are left with is a decidedly well-written, science-tech-action thriller and that’s it.

Add to this the fact that over the last few books the shadowy and evil organization known as the Guild has become more and more of a thorn in Sigma’s side, what we end up with here are a few revelations about the Guild’s beginnings and its current saturation of the higher echelons of human power. While that is interesting, I’m also left kind of wondering if BLOODLINE exists only to be a vehicle for those revelations. Kind of a Guild Mole hunt.

This is not to say that BLOODLINE is a poor book, it’s not by any means. Rollins skill is paramount and he still writes a pace-churning, hour vanishing book that will compel you to finish it. The characters are all here, though some in diminished roles. At points it feels like Too Many Cooks though. There are a lot of characters in this one and sometimes it felt like the need to include them is indulgence at best…but that meant I got to see Monk, and even Jack from the Deep Fathom so I can’t complain. The addition of new cast members Captain Tucker Wayne and his wardog Kane was probably the most shining part of the book for me. They bring more to this book than anyone else and absolutely are the best latest additions to the team. Interesting, and with a depth of character I wasn’t expecting both Tucker and his companion Kane (who actually gets POV sections) snap, crackle and pop off the page. The Gray and Seichan burgeoning love story is getting a bit old now. It’s still good, but we know where it’s headed and it needed to get there a book ago. They will either be totally together, or they will not and she will go the way of Rachel Verona. Either way, let’s just get there. If I have to read one more scene where Gray and Seichan NEARLY…only to have it interrupted by Kowlaski or someone again I’m going to freak out.

Does the historical stuff show up again? Yes. Does it pertain heavily to the story? Nope. In fact the bits about mad science and crazy tech are sort of treated the way that those parts are usually treated. Now, I’m aware that there are only so many old tombs or mysteries that the public knows about…but what about some compelling places and myths that still pepper the planet. Like Mohenjo Daro in India, or how about the mysterious Baalbek in Lebanon itself built upon the ruins of Alexander’s ancient Heliopolis, or how about the underwater pyramids of Yonaguni Jima off the southern coast of Japan, or the Valley of Death in Yakutia, Siberia. There is an absolute plethora of history to plumb in fiction, and to tie into modern day and science the way all his other books have done.

So in conclusion, for one of my favourite author’s to have delivered what can only be construed as a typical science thriller was quite disappointing to me. I was truly expecting something more like the previous Sigma books, but the history was seriously lacking here and that put me right off. Like I said, a very well-written and entertaining book, it’s not like the previous Sigma books much and could actually be a non-sigma thriller starring Sigma operatives.

Two things before I go.

1. For those people who can’t stand silly plot points in books, one in this book that stood straight out at me and said “Howdy, I am implausible” was when a collection of buildings on an island in Dubai was purchased by the bad guys so that if you looked at it on a B&W map (this was illustrated in the book for me) and highlighted the buildings they owned in colour, you’d see a nearly perfect equal armed cross. Wow. Really? So a powerful, evil sect of people (who have stayed hidden for centuries) are going to purchase a bunch of buildings in a row that will form a cross when highlighted together (basically a bright, blinking arrow and sign saying “Bad Guys Here!”)…for what purpose? So their co-conspirators can find the place easier? There is no real purpose for this notion in the book aside from “Look, it forms a cross, how cool!” and it is a HUGE chink in the armor of the narrative as it’s just super silly, and something no smart collective of bad guys would ever do.

2. This is a personal thing that rankled me that other may not have noticed. The back cover synopsis states “Galilee, 1025. Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth…” Being a fan of studying the Crusades and especially the Knights Templar this was so immediately incongruous that I actually had to do a double take and wonder if it was a typographic error. The first Crusade was not begun until 1096, and the Knights Templar would not be formally created by Hughes De Payens and Co. until around 1129-30. There is a notion that perhaps De Payens used a prior existing society that was in France at the time as his basis…but either way no one, French or otherwise would have gone into the Holy Land with or without a force of people and gotten ten feet into any ancient fortress without the existing Islamic peoples finding out and capturing them. Hell, that’s WHY the Crusades were what they were. It took thousands upon thousands of Knights to invade and get anywhere NEAR the relics and ancient ruins they sought. So no, no one went into Galilee in 1025 (which at the time would have been the domain of the Arab Caliphate) and not especially any of the Knights Templar who would not be formed until over a hundred years later. I hope against hope that the 1025 date is a mere typographic error (but a visit to the author’s official site proves that the synopsis exists there as well), but it’s probably not. That makes it kind of a BIG oversight. To posit that the Knights Templar existed a hundred years before they actually did bothered me. Part of the work involved in writing a fiction book that concerns history is to attempt to stay as true (at least to dates) to the reality as possible. I understand that no one knows what the Templar’s had over the Church and what they found in the Holy Land that made them rich and powerful, but the DATES in which they existed are not really meant to be played with if I am to believe the rest of the info presented as “true” or “factual”. Like I said, this might just be me who was bothered by it, but when the facts are so readily available for those events and peoples then I expect more…certainly on the back cover synopsis.

So like I said, a decent thriller, but really low on the totem pole of the Sigma books for me and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really disappointed with it. Will you enjoy it? If you like his books for the thriller, action, science and tech stuff only, then yes you will probably enjoy it immensely. Like I said, it's not a bad book at all, just not the book I expected, and the onus for that result is probably entirely on me. There's lots to love for Rollins' Fans, and personally if I were to give you a reason to read this book, it is the new characters of Tucker Wayne and Kane easily, they are brilliant from their introduction onwards. So, a bit of a middling to negative review here, but please don't let me sway you, give it a go yourself as you might enjoy it a lot (as other reviewers seem to be doing).

Book Review: The Prisoner Of Heaven - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named JuliÁn, and their close friend FermÍn Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city’s dark past. His appearance plunges FermÍn and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco's dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love and ultimately transform their lives.

Even though it’s been a while since I first read THE SHADOW OF THE WIND I still remember the story pretty much as if I’d read it yesterday. THE ANGEL’S GAME, second book in Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s “Cemetery Of Forgotten Books” series, I recall less clearly because it was much darker and only seemed tentatively linked to the first book. What’s most telling, and one of the key spots in which PRISONER succeeds is in the fact that when I first read THE ANGEL’S GAME I thought it was good, if very dark but that it just didn’t quite seem to be up to the standard SHADOW set. PRISONER actually changes that status quo, and it makes me desire a re-read of THE ANGEL’S GAME since this one puts a LOT of the story elements in that strange 2nd book into a whole new light and makes it a MUCH better book if you can believe that. It’s hard to explain without spoiling anything, but THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN made me appreciate THE ANGEL’S GAME much, much more.

Well the 3rd book in the sequence, titled THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN, is like a lost connection between the two books. It’s as if when writing both his first two books he purposely left out small key points and elements that we really didn’t notice when they were passing. Sentences that seemed like random worldbuilding back then, all of the sudden become powerful steel links between both SHADOW and ANGEL’S in THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN. It got to the point that as I was reading the 3rd book and things were slotting into place my jaw kept dropping.

This book, like the two before it, is once again a past and present book. We pick things up not long after the conclusion of SHADOW with Daniel married to Bea and raising their young son Julían in 1957. It’s Christmas and at the Sempere bookshop sales are flagging a bit. Sempere Senior ends up with an idea for a nativity scene in the front window to attract customers in an attempt to make ends meet. The illustrious former vagabond and Daniel’s best friend, Fermín Romero De Torres, is soon to marry his love Bernarda but seems more and more down in the dumps each day closer to the nuptials he gets. Daniel only has a scant amount of time to wonder before a nefarious looking older man comes into the store, purchases the most expensive book in the store (a leather-bound copy of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Dumas) for 1000 Pesetas, writes an inscription in the front cover and leaves it for Fermín with a cryptic message. I won’t get into any further plot here as the very last thing one should do when reviewing a gothic thriller is to give away the plot.

The only thing I’ll say is that this book will open a window onto the previously unknown past of our favourite character Fermín, and every bit of it is as interesting as everything that’s come before in the series.

Something I wasn’t sure was possible is that we actually get to see growth in Daniel here, and while it is not the type of growth I expected to see, it was welcome from a character standpoint. The same is of course true for Fermín, and I think it’s the tale of the youthful vagabond that makes this book totally shine. Are there other mysteries at play? Yes, but Fermín has always been such a phenomenally realized character with so many hidden winks and nudges that you can’t possibly be anything but enthralled by his backstory.

Divided into 5 Parts, the narrative is shorter than the other two books (clocking in at a mere 280 pages or so), and if I had a complaint about the book it would be that I wished there were more to read. But that is from an addictive fan standpoint, as the story told in the pages is perfectly represented and cleanly told. The prose is sweeping and the gothic style Zafon is known for is present and accounted for, which I believe is part of the charm. These books are as much about the prose itself as they are about the tale. Zafon turns a sentence like a pro and you simply cannot help but get lost in the pages. Like the previous installments, he uses Barcelona as a character in its own right, with grand vistas, rambling streets, dark and foreboding mansions and bustling café’s and restaurants. I think if I ever go to Barcelona I’ll probably have at least a decent idea how to get around.

Once again, Zafon has delivered an absolutely riveting gothic mystery that will have you turning the pages like wildfire. Nothing is stilted and the narrative time shifts are always well placed and never jarring. In fact, at one point while one story was being told in the past and a chapter ended I thought to myself “Oh, I’d like to hear the present day reaction to that!” and the very next chapter the time shifted forward to the present to do exactly that. An intuitive and entirely immersive read THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN sits proudly on the shelf next to its brethren. Considering the first book in the series is the one I consider my all time favourite book ever, succeeding it in the series and impressing is a tall order. That said, I really do stand by what I said at the top of the post. This book is the missing links between both the 1st and 2nd books, while tying into the 3rd and it is also a wholly fantastic standalone story in its own right.

Gripping from the outset, if you enjoyed Zafon’s previous two installments then this one will almost be cream on the top of the already delicious desert. Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a master storyteller and now I patiently begin the wait to the next book in the series.

Book Review: TRIGGERS by Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer is a hell of an idea man. Every time he puts a book out, without fail, it quickly makes it way to the top of my ‘to read’ pile. Because, hell, who doesn’t want to read about the Internet gaining sentience, or first contact with an extra-terrestrial civilization or a parallel world where Neanderthal man survived to become the dominant life form? Those are all really interesting premises on which to base a story.

In TRIGGERS the United States is under assault by a terrorist organization that has successfully carried out a number of attacks on American soil. When President Seth Jerrison is shot delivering a speech in front of the Lincoln memorial it seems as if there is nothing that can be done to stem the tide of destruction and misery.

Led by Secret Service agent Sue Dawson, Jerrison is rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. As a team of surgeons struggles to save his life a powerful bomb destroys the White House and releases an EMP which scrabbles the machinery of Dr. Ranjip Singh, who is attempting to provide relief to patients suffering from traumatic memories.

But there is an unexpected side effect. Singh’s equipment has linked 24 minds within the hospital to one another, including Jerrison’s. These 24 people can now read the memories of one other person caught in the blast radius.

Now, with time running out, Dawson must figure who has access to the President’s memories and how she can stop them from revealing American’s deadly planned response to the terrorist threat.

Looking back over his bibliography Sawyer pushes out nearly a book a year. That’s a pretty impressive output when you consider that it takes GRRM the better part of a decade to cough up a single novel. But as we all learnt in primary school quantity doesn’t always add to quality and even the most prodigious idea-generating machine will sometimes trip up on the execution of it.

Unfortunately TRIGGERS is one of those times.

The big problem underlying TRIGGERS is that it doesn’t really know what it’s supposed to be about. The book’s lack of identifiable personality drags it down as it lurches unsteadily between genre. Is it about the sci-fi hook or the political intrigue? Are we supposed to be paying attention to the social commentary or the mystery/whodunnit angle that plays such a visible part in the first half of the book?  It feels like Sawyer took a mixed bag of literary tropes and just threw them up on the page in whatever order he felt was most appropriate. Rather than create a single cohesive storyline that blends and mixes the motifs of the various genre it feels more like a Frankensteinian monster, with the central narrative marred by the strange limbs that have been awkwardly grafted onto its body.  

This genre excess contributes to the feeling that the book could have used a serious rethink on its structure. With so many distinct story hooks bubbling up and demanding the reader’s attention every plot development feels truncated as Sawyer trundles along to the get to the next beat.

I feel that so much of what bothers me about the nature of the story could have been solved if the story had been stretched out for a couple novels. For example the subplot where Dawson has to figure out who’s reading the President’s memories is the dominant story of the first half of the book, more so than any other plot point. When that storyline comes to a screeching halt halfway I had to flail around for a bit until I figured out where Sawyer was going to take the story now.

In fact, at times it feels like even Sawyer isn’t sure where the narrative is going as he seemingly abandons telling a story to just check in on how his characters’ are coping with the memory linkages. The discovery of who is reading the president’s mind feels like it would have been a natural ending point for the book. I think if Sawyer had made the decision to wrap the story there it would have given him the opportunity to flesh out other subplots, like the simmering geo-political tension and possible traitor within the Secret Service, that are currently given short shift.

Another failing of TRIGGERS is that it feels like a very dry, emotionally reserved story. Despite the rich subject matter Sawyer maintains a scientist’s detachment throughout the book, delving into a number of complex and diverse characters but somehow imbuing them all with the same objective authorial voice. I don’t get a sense of distinct characters or personalities, but instead I’m treated to a series of interchangeable ciphers who’s only distinguishing features is the amount of knowledge they have at their fingertips.

A hallmark of Sawyer’s writing is his willingness to editorialize and educate throughout. Like any good scientist he knows the importance of peppering the lecture with a couple interesting facts to keep the audience paying attention. As an author Sawyer has always worked to make sure his subjects are impeccably researched and chronicled as faithfully as possible. But there’s an incongruity within TRIGGERS, a feeling that despite all the historical accuracy he may have stuttered on some of the practical aspects of his story.

I never really feel like Sawyer has a grasp on how the world would react to the possible assassination of an American President and the destruction of the White House. Once Jerrison is taken to the hospital the Secret Service seems awfully laissez-faire about security measures. Despite a series of incidents that, in the real world, would result in a security shit storm that sees Secret Service agents placed around the President a hundred feet deep, people in TRIGGERS seem to come and go as they please. Hell, hospital security guards even get to keep their sidearms, despite the fact that there’s clearly an ongoing conspiracy to destabilize the American government.  The gravity of the situation, the fundamental change of the American status quo is glossed over or completely overshadowed by smaller events. Key characters behave in a manner that is at odds with the events that are taking place around them. Their priorities never match up with their personalities.

I always enjoy reading Robert J. Sawyer. Yes, his books are more intellectual exercise than gripping sci-fi drama, but he has struck a balance that works for him and most times works for me as well. Unfortunately this time around I feel the normally rock steady author has delivered an unfocused and uneven final product. I look forward to his next book and hope that he can recommandeer the style and presence that has served him so well in the past.  

Book Review: THE DEATH OF NNANJI by Dave Duncan

Sometimes you do get to go home again.

Dave Duncan’s Seventh Sword trilogy (SST) is one of those rare fantasy series that actually had a lasting impact on me as a reader. First published nearly a quarter century ago the trilogy was an epic fantasy story, starring a contemporary hero and containing an almost sci-fi underpinning to the whole narrative.

It was like writers had finally gotten the message and started making books just for me.

The SST was about the struggle for the soul of the World between the forces of science and ignorance. The World being an Earth analogue, if you squinted your eyes slightly and the light caught it just right, with technology that was roughly equivalent to that of our own Dark Ages. For centuries the World had been governed by a pre-literate priesthood whose edicts were carried out by increasingly corrupt swordsmen.

Into this moral vacuum a group of ruthless scientists emerged, who used their scientific discoveries to cow and control an ignorant populace into believing they are all-powerful sorcerers. In order to combat this threat and return honour to the profession of swordsmen the Goddess relocates the soul of a dying Earth chemical engineer Wallie Smith into Lord Shonsu, one of the World’s greatest swordsmen, and tasks him with the job of bring the sorcerers to heel.

The original trilogy chronicled Wallie’s successful campaign against the sorcerers and wrapped up with the gods withdrawing from the World in the wake of the first signs of the industrial revolution.

THE DEATH OF NNANJI picks up the story again, roughly 15 years after the SST.

Liege Lord Nnanji, Wallie’s protégé from the original trilogy, is now leader of the swordsmen tryst and has nearly succeeded in his mission to rid the world of the amoral sorcerers. However, a co-ordinated assassination attempt on Wallie and Nnanji reveals that the sorcerers are not as close to defeat as they had hoped.  Now, with Nnanji fatally wounded, Wallie must retake the leadership of the tryst and finish the job he started 15 years ago. With his son Vixini in tow Wallie plans to cross the face of the World and bring down the sorcerers once and for all.    

I was really looking forward to checking in with the world of Wallie and Nnanji again. As I’ve blathered on about in previous posts, I’m a huge Dave Duncan fan and this series was my first exposure to his work. So, Disclosure, I’m carrying a fairly substantial nostalgia torch when it comes to these characters.

Duncan just seems to be one of those writers whose work lends itself to endless speculation about the possibility of new entries. Despite, his clean and direct prose it seems like he can’t help but leave the endings to his books deliberately opened ended. Yes, he’ll wind up the immediate story thread. But there’s also an acknowledgment there on his part that just because this particular tale has wrapped up that doesn’t mean the characters’ lives come screeching to a stop. It feels like he’s handing off the baton to the reader, saying,

“Here you go, I’m done with these guys, why don’t you run with it for a bit and see what happens.”

And with Duncan’s gripping characters and gloriously detailed and open ended worlds in which to adventure in, this kind of endless reader speculation isn’t so much encouraged as it is inevitable.

But while Duncan has shown a willingness to play around for an extended period of time in these worlds its fairly obvious that once he’s closed the chapter on something he’s never really been interested in going back.

Until now.

Spurred on by these messy, unfinished endings, a story like DEATH feels like a natural continuation of what’s gone before rather than a forced entry into a closed system.

In fact its Duncan’s in-depth understanding of the structure and shape of long form writing that makes his work so compelling. Duncan not only knows what ‘rules’ can be broken, but more importantly, he knows when to break them in service of the story. It’s not a silly gimmick, or screwing around for the sake of screwing around, it’s an acknowledgment of the genre’s conventions and motifs and a complete refusal to be unnecessarily bound by them.

Duncan’s treatment of characters is an excellent example of all this. He’s sort of mucking about in the same wheelhouse as GRRM, where the characters worth to the story will have no bearing on how they are treated within it. Very bad things can and will happen to our heros and major characters can and will be treated like red shirts, summarily dispatched with no pomp and circumstance whatsoever.

Take Krandrak, a sorcerer that Duncan builds up throughout the course of the novel as a ruthless and unprincipled master strategist and one of the book’s big bads. Duncan puts a lot of work into positioning the character and managing reader expectations for a climactic battle and then discards him out of hand in less than a paragraph. I had to read and reread a measly half dozen sentences to make sure I was following the action properly and hadn’t glossed over some important aspect that I had apparently missed.

It’s this willingness to mix things up, to inform the reader that there are no sacred cows at play here that keeps Duncan’s work so interesting and enjoyable to me.

THE DEATH OF NNANJI is a rare opportunity for fans to check in with characters and a world whose canonical appearances had seemingly run their course. If you’ve never checked out the Seventh Sword trilogy now is the perfect time to run out and see what the fuss is all about. Duncan has created strong and moving characters whose fate you can’t get help but get caught up in and a world as rich and layered as our own.