Owlcat Mountain

New review for December 20

2011-12-20T09:50:00.001-08:00

Today's new review is Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood.

New review for December 15

2011-12-15T21:42:00.001-08:00

Tonight's new review is Kelly Meding's Another Kind of Dead.

New review for December 15

2011-12-15T09:40:00.001-08:00

Today's new review is Harry Turtledove's Supervolcano: Eruption.

New review for December 13

2011-12-13T13:38:00.001-08:00

Today's new review is N. K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms.

New review for December 7

2011-12-07T19:03:00.001-08:00

Tonight's new review is Tanya Huff's The Wild Ways.

New review for December 6

2011-12-06T19:45:00.001-08:00

Tonight's new review is Paula Brandon's The Traitor's Daughter.

New review for November 30

2011-11-30T18:38:00.001-08:00

Tonight's new review is Mercedes Lackey's Beauty and the Werewolf.

New review for November 29

2011-11-30T09:36:00.001-08:00

Last night's new review is Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye's Myth-Fortunes.

New review for November 17

2011-11-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Tonight's new review is Lev AC Rosen's All Men of Genius.

New review for November 12

2011-11-12T16:57:00.001-08:00

Tonight's new review is Terry Pratchett's Snuff.

New review for November 4

2011-11-04T14:24:00.001-07:00

Today's new review is Ally Condie's Matched.

New review for November 3

2011-11-03T14:42:00.001-07:00

Today's new review is Mercedes Lackey's Changes. And this, ladies and gentlemen, marks the 100th review to appear on the site this year! Stay tuned for more!

New reviews for November 2

2011-11-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today you get two new reviews from Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series: Magic on the Hunt and Magic on the Line.

New review for November 1

2011-11-01T14:01:00.001-07:00

Today's new review is Lia Habel's Dearly, Departed.

New reviews for October 26

2011-10-26T22:38:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new reviews are Cherie Priest's Dreadnought and Ganymede.

New review for October 20

2011-10-20T22:16:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Rachel Caine's Working Stiff.

New review for October 18

2011-10-18T19:06:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Richelle Mead's Succubus Revealed.

New review for October 16

2011-10-16T20:59:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is M. J. Scott's Shadow Kin.

New review for October 12

2011-10-12T20:32:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Alex Bledsoe's The Hum and the Shiver.

New review for October 11

2011-10-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

Today's new review is Lilith Saintcrow's Angel Town. This book comes out on October 25.

New review for October 10

2011-10-10T09:51:00.001-07:00

Today's new review is Seanan McGuire's One Salt Sea.

New review for September 28

2011-09-28T20:41:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Michael Thomas Ford's Jane Bites Back.

New review for September 27

2011-09-27T22:07:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Barb Hendee's In Memories We Fear. Please note that this book does not come out until Tuesday, October 4.

New review for September 26

2011-09-26T20:53:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Kelly Meding's As Lie the Dead.

New review for September 20

2011-09-20T22:08:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Kristen Painter's Blood Rights.

New reviews posted

2011-09-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week, and I haven't had time to post links to the reviews that I've written. So, here they are, spanning from 9/10 to 9/15.

Mercy Burns by Keri Arthur

Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Downpour by Kat Richardson

Awakenings by Edward Lazellari

Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

New review for September 7

2011-09-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is Barb Hendee's Memories of Envy. If you haven't already checked out the Vampire Memories series, you should... it's good.

New review for September 1

2011-09-01T21:52:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Cherie Priest's Hellbent.

New review for August 31

2011-08-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is Carrie Vaughn's Kitty's Greatest Hits.

Minor correction

2011-08-30T08:25:00.001-07:00

Last night, the link to Diana Rowland's book was borked for some reason. It's fixed now.

New review for August 29

2011-08-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is David Bridger's Quarter Square. Please note that this title is currently only available as an e-book.

And you get a bonus review! Diana Rowland's My Life as a White Trash Zombie.

New review for August 27

2011-08-27T14:06:00.001-07:00

Today's new review is Guy Adams's Restoration.

New review for August 20

2011-08-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is Veronica Roth's Divergent.

New review for August 18

2011-08-18T21:26:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Nicole Peeler's Eye of the Tempest.

New review for August 15

2011-08-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is Jim Butcher's Ghost Story.

Also, the Owlcat Mountain Facebook page has hit a milestone--50 likes!

New review for August 11

2011-08-11T20:43:00.001-07:00

Tonight's review is Ernest Cline's debut novel, Ready Player One. Pick this one up, folks, it rocks!

New review for August 10

2011-08-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is Harry Connolly's Circle of Enemies.

August 8 review

2011-08-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Doing a bit of catch-up... the new review for August 8 is Conspiracies by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill.

New review for August 2

2011-08-02T18:42:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Ann Aguirre's Enclave.

New review for July 30

2011-07-30T15:01:00.001-07:00

Today's new review is Merrie Destefano's Feast: Harvest of Dreams.

New review for July 28

2011-07-28T20:58:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Charles Stross's Rule 34.

New review for July 26

2011-07-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is J. A. Pitts' Honeyed Words.

New review for July 25

2011-07-25T20:18:00.001-07:00

Tonight's new review is Harry Connolly's Game of Cages.

New review for July 20

2011-07-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

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Another new review for you fine folks! This time it's M. K. Hobson's The Hidden Goddess.

Shady Lady by Ann Aguirre

2011-07-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

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Today's new review is the third book in the Corine Solomon series, Shady Lady.

I've been working on getting some more archival reviews up as well, so watch this space to find out when they go up and what they are.

Thistle Down by Irene Radford

2011-06-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight's new review is Irene Radford's Thistle Down.

New website and blog

2011-05-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have finished creating my new website, as well as the associated blog. I encourage you to RSS my new site for all of the content that I'll be adding. You can access the RSS feed here.

[Book review] Hounded by Kevin Hearne

2011-05-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

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It’s not often that I read a book that makes me not only enjoy the story, but also makes me wish to meet the author. When an author truly enjoys the process of taking readers through his or her story, it shows. Hounded is just such a book, and Kevin Hearne is one of the most exciting new authors to come along.

The last of the Druids, Atticus O’Sullivan, has carved out a life for himself and his wolfhound Oberon in the Arizona desert. He runs an occult bookshop and keeps a low profile—the Celtic god Aenghus Og wants the magical sword that Atticus possesses. And a warning from the Morrigan indicates that Aenghus is coming with murder on his mind.

Atticus can’t defeat a god by himself, even with an enchanted weapon. On his side are a vampire, a werewolf, and a woman possessed by a Hindu witch. But there are wild cards in the mix as well. The local coven of witches might not be trustworthy, faeries stalk him on Aenghus’s behalf, and the greater faeries—the Tuatha—could help or hinder as the whim takes them. It’s a battle to the death with gods, monsters, and one very determined Druid.

My first introduction to this series was via Del Rey/Spectra’s “50 Page Friday” feature on their website, Suvudu. I quickly became impressed with Hearne’s ability to create memorable characters. I especially liked the Tuatha De Danann, which include the death goddess Morrigan and Flidais, goddess of the hunt. The author portrays them with the truly unsettling mindset of “anything to get what I want”, and he makes it completely logical within the confines of the story.

The character that I enjoyed the most is also non-human: Oberon, Atticus’s Irish wolfhound. His attachment to Atticus is well-written, and his personality is absolutely charming. Hearne humanizes him without taking away from his very obvious canine nature.

Hounded is a thorough introduction to this new series. It has a lot of ground to cover, as Hearne establishes that many supernatural beings live in Arizona for various reasons. Not only does it go into the major characters and affiliations, it sets up some future conflicts for Atticus. It’s obvious that the author knows where he wants to take both the main character and the story.

Hearne’s humor got several giggles from me. The characters, having lived a long time and seen quite a few things, often have a fatalistic attitude about the weird stuff that crops up. It’s not really gallows humor, but seems to be the wry appreciation of all that life throws at them. And since these characters are not human, their experiences can be pretty unique from a human perspective.

The novel’s action is well paced, allowing for characters other than Atticus to shoulder some of the weight of getting things done. The best example of this is Atticus’s lawyer and friend, Hal the werewolf. With Aenghus going so far as to manipulate local law enforcement to get to Atticus, Hal has more than one opportunity to throw his legal weight around. With this strong cast of supporting characters, the author is able to avoid the trap of having Atticus become the all-knowing, all-powerful main character that isn’t believeable. It also allows for some extra plots twists and turns as other characters and their personalities come into play.

I went through this novel in the course of about a day, and I can’t wait to pick up the next one when it comes out in June. Hounded is a lively and entertaining introduction to what I hope will be a long running series. And judging by what I can see of the author’s personality (especially his dedication), he seems like a genuinely fun guy that I hope to one day meet.

This book was provided by the publisher.

[Book review] Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

2011-05-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

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Zombies are one of fiction’s hottest commodities lately, but the genre is changing to encompass more than just horror. A few novels have cropped up that feature sympathetic zombies, or at least a story from a zombie’s point of view. And now, the inevitable has happened: a zombie love story. Warm Bodies follows a zombie as he struggles with his feelings for a young living woman.

The zombie known as “R” has only vague memories of his previous life. Most major details—his profession, his interests, even his own name—are lost to him. When he consumes a living brain, however, he gets flashes of that person’s life and imbibes their life force. Even so, R is more aware than many zombies in his enclave.

One day, he and his hunting party attack a group of human scavengers, and as R eats the brain of a young man, he gets stronger memories than he’s ever experienced. On top of that, he gains some of his affection for his girlfriend Julie… who is also in the group.

R saves Julie from the pack, takes her back to his home, and hides her from the others. But as he interacts with her, R begins to change even more. His thoughts and speech become clearer, and he begins to feel things that he thought were long gone. As for Julie, she’s realizing that the monster that she’s feared for so long may be more human than many of the living survivors she now lives with.

This is one of the more interesting zombie tales that I’ve read. For one thing, some of the zombies still possess a degree of intelligence and consciousness. All zombies have vestigial memories of their time as living people, and they will try to recreate aspects of that lost existence. Before too long, you can see that a lot of the behavior Marion portrays is meant as an allegory for our modern existence and its more mind-numbing properties. It’s a metaphor for the “daily grind” that we all hate so much, and as such, it’s a subtle call to break away from that lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the author tips his hand on the allegory about halfway through the novel, when R and Julie arrive at the concrete stadium that serves as the local human stronghold. When R first gets there, he appears to hear the voices of the living people that came before and that tried in bewilderment to rebuild the world. But this concept gets drawn out long past its usefulness, and soon it crosses the line into violating the “show, don’t tell” rule. I bought into it when R first arrives, and the “voices” are a counterpoint to what he witnesses of human civilization. But when the author uses it again, and uses it as commentary, I started to feel a little like I was being beaten over the head with it.

Marion has much more luck with the sections from the point of view of Perry, the boy whose brain R eats early in the novel. The memory flashes that R gets from Perry are intense and immersive, and given R’s impaired mental capacity, it makes sense that he could fall deeply into the borrowed visions. Since Perry lived through the rise of the zombies and the subsequent collapse of civilization, so viewing his life allows the author to slip in many details about the world and what happened to it.

As this is a love story, it’s not surprising that the author references the greatest love story of all: Romeo and Juliet. If you look at the names, you’ll quickly deduce that R is Romeo, Julie is Juliet, and R’s friend M is likely a stand-in for Mercutio. But the hand of romance sits lightly on this tale and doesn’t overpower the story with maudlin sentiments. But there is a balcony scene.

One of the things that I found intriguing about this book was the zombies known as the Boneys, creatures that have degenerated to mere skeletons. They not only represent the oldest of the zombies (and therefore the horror that was created), but they also represent stagnation and lack of adaptability. Their mantra is that the way things have always been is the way that things should be, and they act from this idea at all times. Their reaction to R’s changes and what they do to the rest of the group provides an interesting counterpoint to the younger zombies and their growing sentience.

I’m not sure how I feel about the way the novel ends. On the one hand, if we think of the zombies’ condition as a metaphor for all that’s wrong with our society today, it’s right that he should change and become something different. On the other hand, I’m not sure that he became different in a way that really accentuates that metaphor. It will be up to the individual reader to decide how they feel about the tale’s conclusion. For me, the jury is still out.

In the end, I found much to praise in this book and only a few things to quibble about. The author’s clever use of metaphor turns Warm Bodies into a parable about everything that’s wrong with our society today and, just possibly, a cautionary tale about what it might take to turn things around.

This book was borrowed from the Yolo County Public Library, Davis Branch.

[Book review] Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi

2011-05-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

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I remember when I first picked up H. Beam Piper’s novel Little Fuzzy, back when I was a teenager. It’s not a long book, and it’s not a complicated book, but it’s a memorable tale of first contact and its repercussions. I read all the other Fuzzy books that were written and always wished that there had been more. Now, my wish is granted. John Scalzi enters the world of the Fuzzies with his respectful –and amazing—reboot of the series, Fuzzy Nation.

Jack Holloway is an independent contractor mining sunstones on Zara XXIII, content to live alone with just his dog. The discovery of a huge sunstone vein seems on the verge of cementing his fortunes, but fate intervenes in the form of an adorable little invader in his home: a catlike biped with golden fur and a startling intelligence. Jack thinks that this “fuzzy”, as he calls it, might be sentient. But if they are, the company that holds the contract to exploit the planet will have to vacate and give up all their claims.

With the discovery of the fuzzies, Jack’s life is turned upside down. Threatened by ZaraCorp’s lawyers, menaced by their hired thugs, Jack will have to fall back on his former training as a lawyer to outwit the company. If ZaraCorp has its way, the fuzzies will be declared to be animals and their planet will be stripped to the bones. Jack is determined to help his new little friend, no matter the cost.

Being a fan of the original novels, I approached this retelling with a little trepidation. I know that Scalzi is an excellent writer, but would his vision of the fuzzies and their world work for me, either by itself or as compared to the original? I’m happy to say that it does both, and wonderfully.

While the bones of the original novel remain in this new novel, there are some significant changes. Jack Holloway was conceived by Piper as an older man, well past his prime. Scalzi paints Jack as a man in his mid-thirties, and he gives him the background to allow him to actively participate in the fight to prove the fuzzies’s sentience. This brings a lot more tension to the final scenes in the courtroom, as it allows the main character to be right in the middle of the action. I enjoyed watching him whip out legal arguments and wield them like weapons.

There’s also a change in the history of the fuzzies themselves. Without giving anything away, Piper’s novels glossed over something that could be seen as a plot loophole invalidating much of what happens in the first book. Later authors picked up on this and ran with it. Scalzi’s change neatly deals with that little problem. I will admit, however, that after decades of having one story in the back of my head, the change was jarring upon first encountering it. I soon accepted it, though, and as most readers won’t have read the original novels, I doubt it will be an issue to the majority of readers.

The author weaves in a lot of worldbuilding and little significant details, and he does so with such care that you probably won’t notice what he’s doing. Several things that seem like “throwaway” details become quite important later on, and it’s a testament to the author’s writing skill that readers likely won’t see what’s coming until it happens. There’s not an ounce of fat on this story—everything is relevant, and you’ll be amazed at how well it all comes together.

I particularly liked the courtroom scenes where the fuzzies’s sentience is being decided. This isn’t a dry procedure with hours of bland bits of evidence being presented. Events in this novel happen quickly, and thus the trial involves bombshell after bombshell without feeling like it’s forced. This is just damn good plotting at work, and I devoured this sequence with the kind of glee that you get when seeing someone getting a just comeuppance.

I can’t say enough good things about Fuzzy Nation. Not just a wonderful reboot of a classic series, it stands on its own as a tightly-plotted and deeply engrossing first contact novel. I recommend picking this one up in hardback, because it’s one you’re going to want to keep in your collection. I hope that Mr. Scalzi intends to continue with this series, and if he does, I’ll be first in line to buy a copy.

This book was provided by the publisher.

[Book review] Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire

2011-05-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

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I’ve been following Seanan McGuire since her first October Daye novel came out a few years back. The series offers a comprehensive world of Faerie and a flawed but likeable heroine, so I always look forward to new stories. Late Eclipses is a strong addition to the overarching plot and makes some major changes to the main character as well.

Toby is still recovering from her confrontation with Blind Michael and getting used to having a roommate—May, her Fetch, the one who’s supposed to signal Toby’s demise. But before long, events take a turn for the worse again, when Toby learns that Lily, the Lady of the Tea Gardens, is extremely ill. Since Undines don’t get sick, this is cause for great concern.

All evidence points to the involvement of Toby’s enemy, Oleander de Merelands, the woman who cursed her to her fourteen year exile in the form of a fish. But there are other forces moving against Toby as well. A summons from the Queen of the Mists complicates the situation, and not everybody believes that Oleander has returned. On the contrary, some are looking at Toby as the cause of all that’s going on.

This book would not have been possible without the events of An Artificial Night, the previous novel, and the confrontation with the Firstborn, Blind Michael. His defeat sets in motion much of what transpires between Toby and the Queen of the Mists in this story. It also brings Toby to the realization of how much her friends mean to her, and how much she means to them. It’s a subtle change, but one that carries over into the current book and informs many of Toby’s choices.

It’s that same growing emphasis on friends as family that makes the events in Late Eclipses take on such a haunting quality. Oleander’s actions put a huge strain on those relationships, and it’s almost a sub-plot of its own to watch the repercussions of all that conflict. By the end of the novel, things are mostly back to normal, but it will be interesting to see how things play out in future novels.

One thing in particular that concerns me is the hints that there might be a love triangle in the works for Toby. Her former lover Connor remains in the picture, although mostly on the sidelines until the latter parts of the story. The author has dropped hints throughout the novels that the two still have feelings for each other. However, the other man is a character who has been present much more—and consequently is better developed—and that is Tybalt, the king of the Cait Sidhe. In my opinion, Connor is just not as interesting, nor would it be in the best interests of Toby’s character growth to return her to someone so firmly tied to her former life. I can only hope that McGuire doesn’t take the novel in that direction.

The mystery of Lily’s illness is well handled, and as the plot thickens, it becomes increasingly hard to figure out what’s real and what’s not. There are some extenuating circumstances that make Toby’s point of view suspect for a while, so readers should take that into consideration. An attentive reader will likely figure out what’s going on before the explanation, but it doesn’t detract much from the story if you do.

Lastly, I have to express my appreciation for the fact that the novel is set in Northern California. Not many novels use this area as a backdrop, and I personally find it exciting to read a story that happens in places so familiar to me.

Late Eclipses is the strongest October Daye book to date. Combining character growth, an engrossing mystery, and engaging storytelling, it will have you eagerly turning pages to find out what happens next. McGuire is one of the best writers in the urban fantasy genre and her novels are not to be missed.

[Book review] The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

2011-05-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

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Greek mythology provides a wealth of story material that can be readily adapted to a modern setting. And while I do appreciate when authors draw from mythic traditions other than the Greeks, I can’t deny the appeal of a retelling of one of the classics. (I still own a very ragged and well-loved copy of D’Aulaire’s Greek Myths.) It’s a pretty good bet that I’ll like most any retelling, but The Goddess Test is one of those rare novels that I couldn’t put down.

Kate’s mother is dying of cancer, and at her request, she and Kate move to Eden, where her mother grew up. Although Kate would rather spend as much time as possible with her mother, she re-enters high school. There she meets the loner James, and the dating couple Dylan and Ava. Ava’s jealousy of Dylan’s attention to Kate leads her to play a cruel prank on Kate—but when it backfires and Ava is fatally injured, an enigmatic stranger named Henry arrives and literally brings Ava back from the dead.

In return, he exacts a promise from Kate: to live with him during the autumn and winter, and in return, Kate’s mother will live long enough for the two to say goodbye. Henry is Hades, the lord of the underworld, and with the loss of his wife Persephone, he needs a new partner. Kate must pass a series of tests to prove that she can fill the role, but many other girls have tried and been murdered. Now Kate must not only face these mysterious tests, but avoid an assassin who may be anybody in Henry’s house.

From the very first page, The Goddess Test engages the reader and invests them in the story. Kate is a likeable and realistic heroine—she voluntarily gives up her life to care for her mother, but she doesn’t try to deny the cost that it levies on her. Her desperation at her mother’s condition, the creeping realization that her mother doesn’t have long to live, and the burden of having lived day to day for over four years, all combine to produce a main character that you immediately feel for.

As a romantic lead, Henry plays his part well. There are more than a few overtones of Beauty and the Beast in this tale, with Henry visiting her every night and getting to know her over the course of a few months. While Henry isn’t physically (or emotionally) ugly, he does represent one of the ugliest things in the world—death. And his deal with Kate, like the Beast’s agreement with Beauty, traps her in the mansion. Henry is often aloof throughout this novel, but it works, given the context.

The supporting cast is no less interesting, and each emerges as a fairly well-rounded individual: Ava, who is brought back by Henry to be Kate’s confidant and friend; Calliope and Ella, Kate’s maids; James, one of Kate’s few real friends and someone with a strange connection to the house; and of course, Kate’s mother, ever present in Kate’s thoughts and dreams.

The plot satisfies, with several surprise events and some interesting twists. Readers shouldn’t expect the story to keep strictly to the Greek mythology, or even to the framework of Beauty and the Beast. The Goddess Test is very much its own novel, and it covers quite a bit of ground that the original myths never dreamed of. This is a classic tale rewoven to a modern drama, and it measures up quite well to its creative ancestry.

I have no qualms about recommending this book to anyone. It has romance, action and mystery. It hearkens back to ancient and enduring myths and fairy tales. And it paints a heartrending picture of a young woman forced to let go of everything that she’s always held dear. The Goddess Test is one of the best books that I’ve read so far this year, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

This book was provided by the publisher as an e-ARC through NetGalley.

[Book review] The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett

2011-04-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

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Washington state is the new “in place” in fantasy fiction. From Cherie Priest to Kat Richardson, many more novels are being set in the Pacific Northwest. The Company Man is no exception, creating a fictional city near the ocean in Washington and populating it with both machines and machinations.

Cyril Hayes occupies an odd position in McNaughton corporation—part of it, but operating in its more shadowy corners. With a war brewing between company men and union workers, a horrible crime occurs. A trolley arrives at its station with eleven dead bodies in it, and all of them are union men.

Now Hayes must solve the murders and put an end to the growing unrest in the city. Tensions rise, and it’s almost impossible to know who to trust. But the problems run deeper than anybody suspects. Something is stirring within the great city—something that is heard in whispers and seen in dark corners. And whether it bodes good or ill remains to be seen.

The Company Man is a complex—and convoluted—mystery. There’s the question of the eleven dead bodies, the question of the union boss’s identity, the question of a terrifying being that appears and deafens people, and the question of what’s really beneath the city. It all ties together in the end, but it’s a lot to keep track of. With so many plot threads, a couple have to fade into the background every now and then, and it can be a little odd to be reading along and suddenly realize that the story has shifted back to something that hasn’t been touched on in a few chapters.

I would have liked to have seen a little more balance in juggling all of these things, especially as it concerns the “what’s under the city” issue. There are a few hints dropped early on that are important, and then just a few passing mentions throughout the novel until nearly the end. It felt a little lopsided, but not so much that I would call it a flaw. I still enjoyed getting the bottom of all the mysteries.

Initially, I had a little trouble getting into this book. The main mystery—the dead men on the trolley—doesn’t happen until around a hundred pages into the book, and what comes before is, in large part, set-up and worldbuilding. It comes in handy later on, and it definitely reinforces a lot of the events that happen later, so readers should stick it out even if the novel seems to be moving slowly at first.

Bennett takes a risk in creating a main character that is rather unlikeable, but it does pay off in the end. He’s painted originally as a drunk and a drug addict, as well as having an abrasive personality, but eventually readers get a good explanation for why he’s like that. Not only that, but this initial portrayal allows Hayes to really grow and change believably over the course of the novel. By the end of the story, he’s undergone some dramatic changes, and drastic though they may be, they work.

The other main character, Samantha Fairbanks, is a good foil for Hayes, being organized and methodical to his slapdash and haphazard ways. The author manages to portray her as someone who’s in over her head in a strange town without resorting to the typical “helpless female” stereotype. In fact, she’s pretty bold when push comes to shove, but she’s also smart enough to realize when she needs to step back.

I think that my favorite character was Garvey, Hayes’s policeman friend. In a corrupt city, he’s a man trying to uphold the law and do the right thing. Bennett writes him with a world-weary exhaustion, counting the number of murders in a year and hoping to solve (or “file”) the cases for the closure it gives. His struggles throughout the story are painful to watch, and yet you’re always rooting for him.

This book was nothing like what I thought it would be. There’s fantasy, mystery, a touch of steampunk, and hardboiled detective work. As odd as that mix sounds, it works, and works very well. The Company Man is one of those unique books where you read it and really have no idea what to expect from one page to the next, and it’s that freshness that makes this novel succeed.

This book was provided by the publisher as an e-ARC through NetGalley.

[Book review] Brooklyn Knight by C. J. Henderson

2011-04-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

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One of the hottest properties in urban fantasy these days is Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. It’s inevitable that imitators will crop up, and indeed I’m pretty sure that Butcher’s influence has been a huge help in the flowering of the genre. But that doesn’t mean that every novel measures up to the high standards that a lot of readers have come to expect. Brooklyn Knight makes a valiant effort, but ultimately falls flat.

Professor Piers Knight of the Brooklyn Museum is pleased to hear from an old friend on an archaeological dig in Syria, and especially pleased to hear of the great discovery coming to light. Only one thing is needed to help with the work: the Dream Stone, long thought nothing more than a curiosity and relegated to museum storage. Knight readily grants permission for his friend to view the stone.

But Knight and his new assistant, the lovely Bridget Elkins, are quickly plunged into a nightmare nobody could have foretold. From an attempt to steal the artifact from the museum to attacks by demons and wraiths, events make it clear that the Dream Stone is far more important than anybody realized. And someone will stop at nothing to get it.

I had high hopes for this book. I like the urban fantasy that runs along the same lines as the Dresden books. But I was exceedingly disappointed in this novel. It didn’t live up to its promise. In fact, I can think of one word to perfectly describe this book: clunky.

Let’s start with the dialogue. Both Knight and Bridget speak in a constant barrage of quips, one-liners and bon mots. There’s almost nothing natural about their verbal interactions with each other, or with anyone else. Knight himself is the worst offender, with his dialogue being florid and overbearing as well. One of his opening sentences serves as a good example: “Now, of course, understand that all that you can see before you, every building and warehouse, every street and lane and alley, indeed, every inch from here to the water’s edge, all of that is New York City, or as we here humbly, but correctly, like to call it, the greatest city in the world.” One of Knight’s pet phrases, meant to indicate surprise, is “Bless all the tiny monkeys”, which makes no sense and would get annoying if it was more used often than it is.

You can likely tell from the above quote that the author is fond of commas. Sentences such as that one are not at all uncommon. There were quite a few times that I had to stop and re-read a sentence because by the time I’d gotten to the end of it, I’d lost the sense of where it had started.

The issue with commas leads into the other major technical issue with the writing—the sheer clunkiness of the sentence construction. Oftentimes it’s not that the sentences are technically incorrect, but they seem to have been written in the most convoluted manner possible. There are extra details that don’t need to be there, and they clutter up the writing even further. A sentence that jumped out at me (and, upon cruising the internet, jumped out to a lot of others as well) is the following:

“I take your meaning,” answered Knight, his tone meant to imply he might actually be considering their offer, the accent he suddenly began using letting them know he was not, “but, this being Brooklyn, what can I say, but, well, you know, youze gotta do what’chu gotta do; I gotta do what I gotta do—youze know what I’m sayin’?”

Eventually, I found myself skimming much of the novel out of sheer self defense. And you should see the conniptions my word processing program is having as I type out these excerpts.

I was somewhat interested in the plot, which involved a lost city and an artifact that was supposedly key in understanding what ancient disaster had overtaken it. But in the end, I felt that the Dream Stone was nothing more than a Maltese Falcon of a sort—something for the characters to chase after, but something that ultimately has very little meaning in and of itself.

I could go into more details about this novel’s flaws—how Bridget is little more than a screaming, tremulous redhead apart from a few conveniently timed moments, the fact that every character repeatedly “chuckles”, conveniently appearing magical items—but I think I’ve said enough.

As much as I truly hate giving a review as negative as this one, I just don’t feel like I can recommend this title. I have to wonder if the author was trying to mimic an older style, possibly one that’s more noir or fanciful, but it didn’t work. It makes me sad to see an interesting premise so thrown away in a morass of bad writing.

This book was provided by the publisher.

[Book review] Ascension by Sable Grace

2011-04-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

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One of the cornerstones of a good supernatural fantasy is a convincing mythology. Since most of them include such creatures as vampires, werewolves and witches, it behooves the author to make sure that these critters have their backstories straight. An overly complicated mythos can burden a tale. Such is the case with Ascension, a rather muddled story that nonetheless contains a lot of potential.

Kyana is half Vampyre and half Lychen (werewolf), and she’s the only one left of her kind. She works for the Order of Ancients, hunting the Dark Breed who have escaped from Tartarus and are now terrorizing humanity. Apparently, the pit was opened with a long-lost key, and only this key will shut the gates again. Kyana is tasked with finding the key and returning it to the gods.

Her partner on this mission is Ryker, a demigod descended from Ares, the Greek god of war. Although there is no love lost between them, they must cooperate for their mission to succeed. And the mission is deadly indeed. A powerful being older than the gods may be behind the opening of Tartarus, and its followers will stop at nothing to keep Kyana and Ryker from completing their task.

As with quite a few books recently, I have mixed feelings about Ascension. For one thing, the mythology aspect that I mentioned at this review’s outset is fairly muddled. There are Greek gods, Vampyres, werewolves (here called Lychen), demons, monsters, and witches. Vampires and werewolves play no part in Greek mythology, and the denizens are Tartarus are classically not demonic creatures, but the Titans (parents to the Greek gods) and a small amount of monsters. Personally, I think there are too many mythologies running around this plotline.

The other major problem that I had was that the novel starts so firmly in media res that I went looking on Amazon to see if this series had more books to it than I was aware of. Judging by the opening chapters, I would have pegged Ascension as the second, or possibly even third, book in a series. But it is indeed the first. I feel that by jumping into the story after Tartarus has opened deprives readers of the chance to see the world as it was before the disaster. Kyana has supposedly been around for a few hundred years, and seeing her in the “normal” world before everything blows up would have given the plot some framework to work with.

However, once I got past those issues and got further into the book, I found it very enjoyable. The secondary characters especially strengthen the tale. My favorite was Haven, Kyana’s roommate and a powerful Witch. She has a significant plot arc of her own to go through, one that will carry over into the next novel. It’s a series of events that I found surprising in a first novel, but I have to admire the authors’ moxie in dumping a secondary character so far into the deep end right off the bat.

The plot certainly doesn’t lag, with Kyana getting thrown into situation after situation with very little downtime. Woven through the action is a lot about Kyana’s past, and about her past with Ryker. Her backstory comes out in a well-paced fashion and offers some insights into why the character acts the way she does. My wish for her and Ryker was the same as it was for the setting—I wish that I’d seen how things were before everything went to Hell, but as it stands, their relationship remains filled with enough tension to cover that lack.

Sable Grace is actually a pen name for Heather Waters and Laura Barone, and their writing styles mesh pretty well. I couldn’t tell where one author left off and the other one picked up, or if one did the plot and the other most of the writing, or how it was done. And that’s good—I shouldn’t be able to tell. Although admittedly, I do have to wonder if the dual authorship is responsible for the mix of Greek myths and vampire/werewolf myth. Still, judging purely by writing style, the two are a good match, and I have no complaints in that department.

By the end of the novel, I was invested in the story and wanting to see how events played out. The book ends with something of a cliffhanger, and readers will be impatient for the next novel to see what happens next. I’ll be picking up the sequel (tentatively titled Salvation) when it comes out as well. Despite what I see as a few shaky points, Ascension ultimately delivers an interesting and action-packed supernatural fantasy spiced with romance. If you like Christine Warren or Lilith Saintcrow, give this one a try.

This book was provided by the publisher as an e-ARC through NetGalley.

[Book review] WWW: Wonder by Robert J. Sawyer

2011-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

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Robert J. Sawyer’s books are always fast reads for me. I’ve been a fan of his work ever since I was a teenager and had the good fortune to pick up The Quintaglio Ascension. His science fiction carries a lot of the human element that I think resonates so well with sci-fi that touches on societal concerns. This is especially true in WWW: Wonder, the final novel in the Webmind trilogy.

The entity known as Webmind has survived one dedicated attempt to shut him down, but the incident teaches him a lot about how humanity might try to wipe him from existence. It also shows him how people will react to his presence, as his existence is no longer a secret. His human friend, Caitlin, is enduring the life a reluctant celebrity because of her association with the enigmatic Webmind.

Although all the Webmind wants is peace and harmony (for both altruistic and self-serving reasons), there are those who simply cannot believe that he means no harm. One of these is Colonel Peyton Hume, an A.I. expert with the American government. His Pandora protocol calls for any emergent A.I. to be destroyed before it can become too powerful, and he’s bending all his efforts to ending Webmind’s existence.

And Webmind himself is learning more and more about his own functioning and consciousness. Could he be capable of evil, as so many think he will? What are his morals, his values, and his limitations? Only time will tell, and time is rapidly running out before Webmind might be shut down forever.

As I mentioned above, I appreciate when science fiction writers take the time to really dig into the societal implications of technology. I think that we’re past the point in time where writers can explore technology in isolation—nowadays we’re so married to our cell phones and iPads and MP3 players that imagining an existence without technology is almost impossible. Today, technology is as much about how it interacts with our daily lives as it is about its capacity or power. And I think we’ve been moving this direction for a good little while.

It’s this idea that mutes the “Big Brother” implications of an omnipresent web-based A.I. such as Webmind. In our daily lives, we rarely think about how the technology we use can be turned against us. Google supposedly logs every search you’ve ever done, companies can log the keystrokes on your computer, your identity can be stolen at any of a dozen or more points in the course of a normal day. In a sense, we do live in something of a Big Brother society. But at the same time, technology seems to be driving us apart: people text constantly, they chat over the internet, they form online friendships that can eclipse their real-life ones. For being so connected, we’re an awfully lonely bunch of people.

But this novel flips that around, and plays off of the very natural human desire to know that somebody’s listening to us, that somebody is taking us seriously. Webmind will chat with anyone on his website, and since he commands the computing power of the entire internet, there’s no limit to how many can talk to him at a time. The idea of a benevolent entity that will always be there at any time is alluring. And it’s this concept that softens the “Big Brother” aspect that might otherwise mar this story.

Of course, the author can (and does) turn this around to show the horror of such interconnectedness. In the previous novel, Webmind watches a bunch of random people goad a girl into suicide without trying to intervene; in this novel, part of Webmind is detached from the main entity and, bereft of morals and emotions, goads someone to suicide out of what seems to be detached curiosity. Unfortunately, this type of behavior is all too common in the real world.

However, I feel compelled to point out that I think Sawyer gets caught in his own slippery slope argument in the novel’s climax. Other characters throughout the story note that it’s reasonable to fear that Webmind will become the only authority on what’s “for the best” and what isn’t. For example, if Webmind can eliminate spam e-mail (which he does), what’s to stop him from deciding that other things—like those viral videos of cute animals—are also something that needs to be eliminated? In other words, there’s nothing to stop Webmind from imposing his own arbitrary morality on humanity.

And that’s pretty much what he does. Webmind literally takes over China (with the help of a bunch of hackers) and deposes its entire government, so that the Chinese people can be free of the Communist regime. The Chinese government simply rolls over and accepts it, with one character even saying that since Communism was likely doomed anyway, there’s no sense in fighting it. It doesn’t seem to matter that there’s no infrastructure in place to support a suddenly democratic government, nor does it seem to matter that the upheaval caused by a sudden transition will be hard for the Chinese people as a whole to deal with (even though it’s something that they would supposedly want). Webmind decides that democracy is the way to go, and thus it is so. To me, it just seemed to pat, too easily accomplished, too much of the tidy ending to what would likely be a horribly complicated scenario. While I can certainly get on board with Sawyer’s wish for a peaceful world, I think realism got left behind just a bit.

But aside from a climactic sequence that feels too neatly wrapped up, I found this novel to be immensely enjoyable. Sawyer finds a balance between “too much extraneous info” and “just enough info to whet readers’ appetites”. There are several tangential plotlines that are also wrapped up, and the author is skilled enough to bring them all together without it feeling forced.

WWW: Wonder completes a trilogy that may contain moments that incite fear, but it predominantly paints a picture of a future that is much brighter than where we are now. It paints humanity at its most tolerant and compassionate, and the fruit of our labor (Webmind) as the inheritor of that compassion and tolerance. In the end, as Webmind’s last words flash to humanity’s descendants, readers will feel deeply satisfied with Sawyer’s creation.

This book was provided by the publisher.

[Book review] The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

2011-04-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

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When I first saw the Angry Robot imprint of Random House start showing up in bookstores, I didn’t think much of it. But once I started reading their titles, I found that they were a veritable treasure trove of the unusual and intriguing. On the whole, their novels seem to be striking out into new territory and telling some unique stories. One of those is Lavie Tidhar’s The Bookman, a story set in an alternate Victorian era that must be read to be believed.

Orphan spends his days working in a bookshop and his nights with his girlfriend Lucy. The kingdom, ruled by a family of giant sentient lizards, is seething with unrest and rumors that the Bookman has returned. When Orphan and Lucy unintentionally get caught up in dire events, Orphan must go on a quest for the Bookman.

The journey will take him across the ocean and into the depths of London itself. Well-known figures such as Captain Nemo and Jules Verne will play a part in Orphan’s fate. And always in the background are the Bookman and his nemesis, the Binder, moving humanity around like chess pieces. But towards what end?

I initially picked up this novel after reading an excerpt that impressed me with the author’s worldbuilding skills. And for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. Tidhar has created a spastically unique universe, with sentient lizards, robots wishing for emancipation, widespread literature, and enough revolutionary spirit to fuel an army.

The backstory of the lizard kings and queens is told in the form of a play, which Orphan and Lucy watch at the novel’s beginning. This sets the tone for the rest of the book and introduces readers to the type of world that they’re entering. There are some parallels to our own world, but in many ways, it’s very different from what we know. I found the differences to be fascinating, though, and I went through the novel eagerly wondering what would be around the next corner. I do think that it lagged on occasion, but Orphan’s journey takes him to so many places that it’s hard to keep the action flowing constantly. It never lagged enough to frustrate me, though.

With the inclusion of such characters as Captain Nemo and others, I would describe this world as a dark reflection of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next novels. The Bookman has less of the sly humor of Fforde’s stories and more of a dark and twisted sensibility. However, it’s by no means brooding or depressing—merely skewed away from what you might expect.

This is not a novel that’s easy to explain or critique. There’s so much crammed between its pages—characters out of novels, robots, giant lizards, plot twists, revelations—that any review runs the risk of either spoiling something for readers or being too vague.One thing I can say is that I sincerely recommend that you pick up this novel and give it a chance. It may not be to your taste, but it’s something that any fan of literature should experience.

Overall, I was satisfied with The Bookman. It contains strong worldbuilding, some interesting characters, and a story with enough twists and turns to keep readers turning pages. I thoroughly enjoyed Tidhar’s weird and wonderful fantasy vision of our world.

[Book review] The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

2011-04-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

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One of the pressing issues in epic fantasy is that of how much scope should the novel cover. Should far-off events be hinted at, or explored in detail? Should every character’s decisions and actions be chronicled, or can some be glossed over? It’s a delicate balance to strike, and as can be seen in the case of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, it’s easy to go overboard in the wrong direction. I’m on the fence as to how well The Dragon’s Path did in this regard, as there’s a good case to be made for either side.

In a world where long-dead dragons created the thirteen races of humanity, war is brewing. Marcus Wester, former military man, is now reduced to guarding caravans. When his men get arrested, he has to hire some unlikely helpers to get a caravan to its destination. One of the wagons contains, not merchant goods, but the aggregate wealth of an entire bank. Its driver, a young girl fostered to the institution, must protect this wealth no matter what.

Far away from these events, an army is marching on a pivotal city. Political events back home leave Geder Palliako, a meek and scholarly man, as the governor of the conquered city. His obsession with a mythical object that may be the greatest weapon in the world leads him to shocking actions that will set him on a path that may compromise his morals and conscience.

And back in the ruling city, the king dithers on where to foster his son, the prince, not wanting to show favoritism to any one family. But those who seek power are not content to wait on the decision, and unrest begins to brew. What happens next may cause the downfall of many a great man, just when all need to stand united.

One of this novel’s strongest points is its characters. While not every single one stands out, a few have character arcs that are very interesting. My favorite was Geder, the reluctant soldier and governor. Put into the untenable position of being a political gamepiece, he makes moves that are increasingly bold in order to outwit those who would use him. It leads him to become a major player by the end of the book, and his actions will likely have major repercussions in future novels. I also enjoyed Marcus Wester and his second in command—their banter is amusing to watch, and has overtones of a true and honest friendship.

The action is a bit slow to begin in this story. This is partially because the novel has a wide scope and there’s much that needs to be established before the real movement can begin. But this slower action takes up a good third or more of the book before anything really interesting begins to happen. Once things are set in motion, the novel picks up pace significantly: there are battles and political maneuvering aplenty. It just takes a while to get there.

Essentially, I can tell that this series is going to be epic in scope, simply because of how long it takes to set up all the various people and factions and plotlines. I have to wonder if structuring some of the sections a little differently would have made it flow a bit better, but that’s a matter of conjecture and not a criticism on my part.

The one criticism that I do have concerns the thirteen races. There is no guide to them, no explanation that breaks down the differences between the thirteen different kinds of humans. Throughout the book there are some bits of description, and a few races that never enter the picture but are only hinted at. From what I can gather, each race not only looks different, but they have different personality traits and different functions in society as a whole. Unfortunately, the lack of a clear and straightforward description hampers readers when it comes to figuring out who’s what. For instance, a character might encounter a “Tralgu merchant”. It’s obvious that it should mean something that the merchant is of the Tralgu race, simply because the author takes the time to specify it, but it’s not always clear what that “something” might be. I eventually found some description of the races on the author’s website, but it really belongs in the book.

On the whole, I found this novel enjoyable, once it found its pace and events began to move a bit more briskly. Packed with politics, action and suspense, The Dragon’s Path should appeal to readers of Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin. If you like your fantasy thick and beefy, this is the novel for you.

This book was provided by the publisher as an e-ARC via NetGalley.

[Book review] Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn

2011-04-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

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I’ve been reading Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville novels since they first debuted, and I find her writing very enjoyable. Now that she’s doing stand-alone stories, I wanted to pick those up as well. The first one of hers that I’ve read, Discord’s Apple, contains many plot elements that I love—myth, magic, action—but it’s debatable whether the story forms a cohesive whole.

The world of this novel is a much scarier place than we know. Martial law is in effect and everyone is afraid of unrest. Evie Walker hurries home to Hope’s Fort, Colorado to care for her dying father, leaving behind her work on a popular comic book. But when she arrives there, she finds that her family holds secrets that she never could have expected. Specifically, her father’s basement is a storeroom filled with magical artifacts. And Evie is expected to become its next guardian.

Occasionally, someone will come and request an item, and Evie can tell if they should have it or not. But when an ancient queen arrives demanding one of the most dangerous and disruptive artifacts in the storeroom, Evie must find a way to keep it out of her hands. The item is the apple of Discord, the very apple that precipitated the war in Troy, and its power could sunder the world.

One the one hand, I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. I’m a sucker for anything to do with classical mythology, and this one has plenty of myth to go around. Most of the tales center, obviously, on the fall of Troy, but there are other bits and pieces that creep in as well. Also, the concept of a magical storeroom full of things like Discord’s apple and Excalibur is appealing. It’s nice to think that those objects are still in existence and being cared for (or in some cases, guarded).

The plot carries a lot of tension, especially if you’re familiar with Greek mythology. Setting the story in a world already on the brink of chaos makes it horrifying to think of Discord’s apple loose in the world once again. And it’s not the only artifact that potentially comes into play: there are more items that are hinted at or seen outright, and it adds to the tension to think about what these things might do when brought out into the world after being hidden for so long.

On the other hand, this novel had a few rocky points. For one, I found the backstory of Sinon, known by another name in other parts of the novel, to be more interesting than Evie’s story. This may be because Evie spend much of the novel being confused as to her role in the tale’s events and therefore doesn’t do much. But Sinon is involved with battles and gods and other interesting things. His story can’t help but be more interesting.

For another, this novel has a lot going on throughout its pages. There are four different stories woven together, and that appears to be too many for the novel to support. The weakest is the interjection of the plot of Evie’s comic, which follows a character named Tracker. I think that Vaughn may have intended Tracker to be an outlet for Evie in a world where she feels more helpless, but it just didn’t fit in as well with the other plotlines.

Finally, I personally found the novel’s ending to be unsatisfying. It’s not quite the “Everybody dies—the end!” kind of thing, but it’s similarly frustrating. While the plotline is technically resolved, the way it’s resolved just didn’t sit well with me. It almost reads as though the author wrote herself into a corner and had to do something drastic to break through the problem.

Overall, there’s much about this novel that’s enjoyable. The concept is interesting, there’s a neat character or two, and the various plots move along briskly. I just wish that the story had been tightened up a little more, as it doesn’t quite live up to the promise that I could see gleaming just beyond reach. Fans of Carrie Vaughn will likely enjoy this, but new readers should start with her Kitty Norville stories to get a better idea of what makes her so popular.

[Book review] Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

2011-04-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

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This review contains minor spoilers.

I have a love/hate relationship with steampunk. I never fell head-over-heels in love with the genre the way some people have. At best, I’ve tolerated its presence on the shelves. Recently, I’ve read some steampunk that I thought was good, but I still don’t consider myself to be an aficionado. Therefore, I tend to approach any novel with steampunk elements with a bit of trepidation. Phoenix Rising does indeed fit the bill of steampunk, but contains many other story elements as well.

Wellington Books, Archivist for England’s Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, finds himself in a most uncomfortable position: captive by the House of Usher. But his salvation comes in the peculiar form of Eliza Braun, field agent for the Ministry and someone overly fond of explosives.

As a result of the dramatic rescue, Braun is reassigned to the Archives with Books. Although initially not to her taste, the apparently boring job gains intensity when the two begin investigating a dead case—the one that landed Braun’s previous partner in Bedlam. What they find is a conspiracy that threatens the very foundations of the monarchy.

I have the same mixed feelings about this novel that I have about the steampunk genre in general. With steampunk, I often feel that some of the setting elements have been thrown in simply to pad the idea that it is, in fact, steampunk. With this novel, I felt that something similar was happening. The Archives have machinery in them that definitely fits in a steampunk universe, but it’s mostly background set dressing. There’s also mention of dirigibles (another classic steampunk item), clockwork automatons, and steam boilers. I think this tale could have worked just as well without those trappings—minus the automatons, which do play a significant part later in the book, but those don’t necessarily have to be steampunk elements.

In the same vein, there are several throwaway references to people and things from classic eighteenth century science fiction: the House of Usher (Edgar Allan Poe) is one of the main antagonists; Braun apparently at one point destroyed the plans for the Nautilus (Jules Verne); and some items in the Archives briefly allude to other stories as well. I didn’t see a compelling reason for this version of England to include fictional characters as “real” to them, but perhaps that’s something that will be clarified in later books.

The overall sense that I get from the first half of the book is that of a universe cobbled together from other sources. The Syfy cable television series “Warehouse 13” comes to mind, as does the series of Librarian movies and the recent Parasol Protectorate novels by Gail Carriger. But about halfway through the book, the authors seem to stop trying to make this book into something that it’s not and start making it into its own unique tale. And that’s when it gets interesting.

Up to that point, the characters were established with fairly broad strokes—Books pontificates a lot about the function of the Archives and the Ministry and is painfully proper, while Braun tosses off little verbal zingers and acts as irresponsibly as she can. But an undercover situation puts each in the position of having to act contrary to their natures, and that’s when the novel really takes on a life of its own.

From a shaky beginning, the story becomes something unexpected and interesting. And yes, it includes automatons. But in this scenario, the mechanized beings fit the setting, rather than feeling like they were thrown in as a method of making the novel as steampunk-ish as possible. Readers should stick with the novel and get through the first several chapters, because I was pleasantly surprised at how the authors turned around what could have been a fairly run-of-the-mill tale.

In the end, I was pleased with Phoenix Rising. Once it finds its own footing, it takes off and creates a fast-paced tale of mystery and mayhem. Fans of Carriger’s novels will enjoy this one.

This book was provided by the publisher as an e-ARC.

[Book review] A Hundred Words for Hate by Thomas E. Sniegoski

2011-04-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

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I’m not normally one for novels with a heavy religious baseline, but something about the Remy Chandler novels intrigued me. The series first came to my attention when I read a novella in the anthology Mean Streets, and I ended up hunting down the first novel soon after. A Hundred Words for Hate is the fourth novel in the series, and unfortunately, it just doesn’t live up to the previous stories.

After losing his wife Madeline to disease and age, Remy never thought to love again, but he finds himself in a budding relationship with Linda, whom he met recently. But they barely have time to explore what they feel for each other when Remy is once again caught up in the events of Heaven and Hell.

The Sons of Adam, protectors of the original man, seek out Remy to enlist his help. The Garden of Eden is returning to the world, and a dying Adam wants nothing more than to be buried there. The Sons of Adam need Remy to help them find the key that will open the gates of Eden—gates that, coincidentally, Remy shut all those eons ago.

And deep within the bowels of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar is rising, threatening Heaven and Earth once again.

I usually look forward to a Remy Chandler novel. The previous novels have done a good job of meshing detective storytelling with the mythology of Heaven, angels and the divine. I haven’t had trouble suspending disbelief until this most recent novel. But there’s just too much here that doesn’t make sense to me.

The biggest problem I had was with the existence of the Sons of Adam and the mirror organization of the Daughters of Eve. Each organization is said to be directly descended from the original man or woman, and each member is granted an extended lifespan. However, if readers are to believe in the existence of Adam and Eve, then they must also believe that they are the progenitors of the entire human race; as a result, we are all descended from both of them. There is no explanation of how one particular group can be descended directly from one of the original humans and not the other, nor why these people are special when we are all supposedly descended from the first man and woman. If Sniegoski had given me a single line of explanation, I might have been more forgiving, but this is merely handwaved away.

Another thing I found odd was the storyline about the Garden itself. Supposedly, when Remy closed the gates, Eden was “unmoored” from the earth and began to wander through the universe. Later in the novel, the author states that Eden has been moving from “world to world” and has “traversed a multitude of realities”. If there are other worlds and realities, why is Heaven and Hell solely tied to our world? On the same page as the previous quotes, Sniegoski says of earth and the Garden “kindred spirits, they were, for both had been shaped by the Almighty.” If Eden has been wandering unfulfilled among many worlds, then we can infer from this statement that none of the other worlds were made by God; and yet, we are to believe that God created everything in the universe. It’s incredibly contradictory.

The other storyline happening concurrent to the Eden plot is Lucifer rising from Hell. The author has us witness this through the eyes of Francis, a fallen angel who’s been working as an assassin for the Thrones, powerful angels serving the will of God. Through much of the novel he remains gravely injured and unable to act. In fact, much of his contribution to the novel is through his flashbacks to the early twentieth century. It splits the Hell storyline in two, jumping back and forth from “then” to “now”, sometimes with no warning.

Neither plotline really goes anywhere solid or contributes much to the overarching plot of the series. At the novel’s end, Eden is gone again, Lucifer has risen, and Remy goes back to a normal life. The only eral loose end that may cause events in future novels to play out differently is Francis. His choices near the story’s end will likely have long-lasting consequences, but what those are will remain to be seen.

My favorite character continues to be Marlowe, Remy’s faithful dog. Since Remy is an angel, he can understand Marlowe, and his interactions with the big black mutt are among the best in the book. I just wish there had been more of them.

I suppose that every author must have a book which just doesn’t work as well as the rest, and this is Sniegoski’s. I do hope that the next novel returns to the standard that I’ve come to know. I shouldn’t be reading a story simply because it contains a charming dog.

[Book review] Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

2011-04-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

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I’ve really come to like the recent upsurge in urban fantasy novels that blend the supernatural with police procedural. The two elements mix well and often create a tense and gripping story. Ben Aaronovitch has tapped into this with wonderful results. His second novel, Moon Over Soho, continues the adventures of PI Peter Grant in the streets of a London far different than what you may have seen.

Peter Grant may still be recovering emotionally from the events of a couple of months back, but his partner Leslie is still physically healing from her horrible facial wounds. While she recovers, Grant works with his mentor Nightingale to improve his ability to control magic. But the respite isn’t long, and soon there’s another body to deal with—this one emitting the faint strains of a jazz tune.

Now Grant and Nightingale are caught up in a mystery that may have begun during World War II, a mystery that leaves jazz musicians dead for apparently no reason. And to solve this case, Grant is going to have to turn to someone very close to home: his own dad.

While I mentioned earlier that I like the new breed of urban fantasy/police procedural, this series offers something that isn’t often seen. Grant comes to believe that magic exists and is something that can’t be explained, but he refuses to believe that it can’t be quantified. Therefore, readers are treated to some amusing scenes in which Grant tries to empirically study the spells and effects that he’s learning. As they don’t always go as planned, it adds some humor to the tale.

I was pleased to see the character of Leslie return. Given her fate at the end of the first novel, I wasn’t sure she’d be back. But the author does indeed include her, and he does so in such a way that readers can sympathize with her struggles without starting to pity her. She may not be in this novel as much, but she remains one of my favorite characters.

As for the other major players, Grant and Nightingale, readers get a little more of their backstory revealed through the course of the book. While it isn’t much, it’s enough to whet the appetite and look forward to more in future books.

The plot was more complex than can be conveyed in a brief teaser summary. There are actually two major plotlines running concurrently: the murder of the jazz musicians, and a series of attacks on men that target their genitalia for mutilation. Both are fully rounded plotlines and neither overwhelms the other, although the jazz murders do take center stage for more of the novel. Aaronovitch handles each storyline with tact, never descending into the gruesome simply for the sake of a cheap thrill.

Just as in Midnight Riot, London is brought to vivid life. Without resorting to too much description, the author paints a picture of London that even those who have never been there can visualize. The city itself and its history tend to inform this series’ plots, and it adds a dimension to the stories.

I found myself enjoying this novel just as much as its predecessor, and I look forward to more. Aaronovitch has written a tale full of magic, mystery and humor, set in a city that lives and breathes with its own living history. Peter Grant is a likeable and believable hero who fits perfectly into this setting, and together they produce a novel that can’t fail to entertain.

[Nature] Keep Them Wild!

2011-04-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Keep Me Wild!

This is a website set up by the California Department of Fish and Game explaining the need to not feed wild animals and demonstrating how to be safe around such animals. Read it and know how to treat our precious wildlife!

[Book review] The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron

2011-03-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

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I’m a huge fan of good, meaty character development. I do enjoy books where the characters are pretty set and their reactions to situations are what drive the story, but sometimes the evolution of a great character trumps just about everything. With the second Eli Monpress book, The Spirit Rebellion, Rachel Aaron demonstrates her skill at advancing her characters in a realistic and exciting manner.

Miranda Lyonette failed to catch Eli Monpress, but she did save an entire kingdom by offering her own body as the vessel for an ocean spirit. However, she returns to a Spirit Court rife with politics. A trumped up charge brands Miranda an outcast, and she runs, hoping to somehow clear her name… and maybe catch that pesky thief Eli in the process.

Meanwhile, Eli and his friends Josef and Nico have arrived in Gaol, following the rumors of an impregnable fortress and a fabulous treasure. Unfortunately, the country’s spirits will not talk to Eli at all. And even worse, the Duke of Gaol has made it his hobby to track Eli and try to run him to the ground. Has Eli walked into a trap?

Aaron has done a great job with character development in this novel. In the first novel, Eli is painted as a thief who can talk to the spirits around him with incredible effect. By depriving him of that ability, the author forces Eli to explore other options of action and to rely on other people for help.

In fact, most of this story’s character development can be described in terms of what the characters have taken away from them. Josef, swordsman and guard, often deliberately deprives himself of the powers of the great sword The Heart of War. Nico must turn her back on her humanity to a degree. Miranda no longer has the backing of the Spirit Court to lend clout to her presence. Each must overcome their losses and figure out how to move on.

Creating a world where literally everything has a spirit might seem like an odd choice, but Aaron limited this by establishing that most things aren’t “awakened”; that is, they act no different than ordinary objects. Where previously only certain things interacted with the characters, usually after Eli speaks with them, in this novel an entire duchy is awake and aware. It’s not something that would work on a long-term basis, but for a single novel, taking the concept to the extreme works well.

Readers also get to see more of the enigmatic beings that populate this world, such as Eli’s patron the White Lady and the newly introduced League of Storms. Miranda’s ghosthound Gin plays a prominent part in the story, and there’s an extended sequence with a reclusive Shaper wizard, the bear-headed Slorn. It all adds to the mystery of this land and what forces might be at work within it.

By the end of the tale, quite a bit has changed for the main characters, and readers will eagerly look for the next novel to answer their questions. The Spirit Rebellion is a rollicking story of thievery, adventure and sheer moxie. Join in with the adventures of Eli Monpress and prepare to be entertained.

Reviews archived

2011-03-28T21:07:00.001-07:00

Six reviews archived to the website tonight. Check the main books page to see them.

[Book review] Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

2011-03-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

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One of fantasy’s most prevalent stories is, of course, the King Arthur myth. Any story that survives hundreds of years and thousands of retellings obviously has some staying power. You might think that the Arthur tale has been done to death, but that’s not true. Rather than growing stale, the myth lends itself to some very creative re-imaginings. Among them is Alex Bledsoe’s Dark Jenny, a whodunit set in the last days of an alternate King Arthur’s reign.

Sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse is having a peaceful drink in a bar when he gets a very unusual delivery: a coffin, accompanied by a note, which came from the island nation of Grand Bruan. Eddie’s friends know the tales of King Drake and his downfall and death at the hands of his bastard son Medraft, but now Eddie lets on that he was there during those final days. And he’s willing to tell the tale.

Years ago, a simple spying job lands Eddie in the middle of Grand Bruan’s politics in a major way. While Eddie’s at court, a Knight of the Double Tarn is killed with poison. Worse, the poison seems to have been meant for the great knight Thomas Gilliam—and although it’s unthinkable, Queen Jennifer is implicated in the crime.

Now Eddie is forced to take part in the investigation surrounding the knight’s death and Jennifer’s involvement. But the more he digs, the more he finds a court stuffed full of secrets. And when the truth behind all the lies finally comes to light, it threatens to destroy the country that Marcus Drake built—the country that he intended would last forever.

One of the things that any brand of King Arthur tale must do is get past the fact that the outcome is well known. Everybody knows that Arthur and Mordred die and England is plunged into chaos. What makes the story fun is the variations on the details along the way. Here, Bledsoe interjects a murder during the last days of Drake’s reign, and it allows Eddie to ferret out many of the court’s secrets during his investigation.

The author also uses this opportunity to put in details that turn many of the traditional story elements completely upside down. The backstories of Drake and Elliot Spears (the Lancelot figure) have some key differences that change how readers view their characters. The greatest change is bestowed upon Queen Jennifer (Guenevere). There’s not much I can say that won’t spoil the tale, but I will say this: Bledsoe has managed to incorporate both the strong version of Guenevere and the weak version into his novel, and he does so with an unexpected but satisfying plot twist.

I also enjoyed the framing device of Eddie telling the story to an audience many years after the fact. It allows Eddie to talk about how events related to each other as well as pointing out places that he slipped up or should have noticed clues. It also adds the secondary mystery of who is in the coffin sitting outside of the tavern during the storytelling.

The only minor hiccup in this novel, for me, was the occasional slip into anachronistic language. I wasn’t expecting a lot of “thee” and “thou” from this novel—and indeed, I expected the language to be pretty down to earth with a mercenary main character—but every now and then the language sounded a shade too modern. It didn’t detract from the story, but it did catch my attention a few times.

Overall, I found Dark Jenny to be an entertaining and highly readable novel. A straightforward main character, a healthy dose of action, and some clever plot twists will satisfy any fan of Arthurian mythology. This is Bledsoe’s third novel about Eddie LaCrosse, and I plan on picking up the first two books as soon as I can.

This book was provided by the publisher.

[Nature] Backyard birds

2011-03-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

I've seen a couple of unusual birds in our backyard in the past week. Last weekend, I saw a hummingbird that was red like a fox--kind of a russet red. I was able to identify it as a male Rufus Hummingbird. Today, I saw a bird that had a brown body and a zebra-striped head, stripes running front to back. I just identified it as a white-striped sparrow.

I've also noticed kestrels in the area a bit more often. They usually stay out in the more rural areas, but we've seen them in our neighborhood lately.

[Book review] Dead on Delivery by Eileen Rendahl

2011-03-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

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Anybody who reads urban fantasy can tell you that there are certain cities that are the popular settings. Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York—these are the “happening” places to have a story take place. So it’s such a refreshing change to see a novel set in my home area, the Sacramento valley. Eileen Rendahl’s Dead on Delivery continues the tale of Melina Markowitz, a Messenger working in a location rich in diversity and danger.

When two people to whom Melina made deliveries turn up dead, apparently by suicide, she doesn’t think that it’s a coincidence. But what could have been in the packages that would drive someone to end their own life? Melina probes into the lives of the two dead men, and she finds that they share a past—one that includes a horrible crime.

Now, in a community split by unspoken racial tensions, Melina searches for the person who handed off those fatal packages for delivery. Her investigation will lead her to experience a kind of magic that she’s never seen before, and it will force her to rely on her friends as never before.

What I find so compelling about Rendahl’s Messenger series is her use of mythology and folklore that isn’t commonly seen. In her first book, she included the Chinese “hopping vampires”, and in this novel she tackles the mostly-unknown practice of brujeria. She rightly points out that Northern California is a melting pot of cultures and beliefs, and that there is so much that most of us simply have never experienced. It’s a wealth of material for an enterprising author willing to do some research.

I admire the author for tackling the kind of prejudice that, I’m sad to say, exists in many Northern California communities. The prevalence of dislike for the Latino population in this area isn’t something that most people acknowledge, much less talk about. Rendahl handles this delicate topic with tact and honesty, letting the horror of racially motivated violence speak for itself without getting preachy.

For me, it’s such a thrill to see novels that take place on my home turf. Sacramento isn’t used very often in fiction, and especially not in fantasy fiction. Rendahl makes great use of what the area has to offer to accentuate her story. And she doesn’t overdo that location information. Street names are used sparingly and to good effect, as are landmark descriptions. It kept me interested but didn’t overwhelm me with detail.

In addition to the main storyline, there’s a secondary storyline going on that involves two minor characters. Both storylines are well-rounded and given the right amounts of page time. I found myself equally invested in both plots, and the neat thing is that they complement each other. While either could exist independent of the other, taken together they create a much stronger story.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the next novel in this highly entertaining series. And if you live in the Sacramento area, it’s worth your time to explore our area through this author’s fiction. Dead on Delivery is an exciting addition to what I hope will be a long-running series.

Book signing

2011-03-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a book signing by Eileen Rendahl, local fantasy author. I enjoy her novels, and it was a pleasure to meet her. I always feel a little shy around authors, though! Anyway, she's a nice lady and I got to chat with her a little bit. I hope to have the review of her latest novel, Dead on Delivery, up no later than tomorrow afternoon. It's been a busy week and I haven't had time to write much. I've been catching up on things that I let slide while working my way through Rothfuss's tome of massiveness.