The Moat around Murcheson's Eye / Niven, Pournelle

The Moat around Murcheson's Eye
(Moties 2)
by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

science fiction

copyright 1992
read in April 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Fun aliens, fun action, very hard to follow.

First, the aliens are so clever, the humans are so clever at understanding the clever aliens, this average reader is not clever enough to follow the logic.

Towards the end of the book -- when the action has hotted up -- there are several times when the hero says, I don't have time to explain. So I read on, it all happens... Am I then meant to understand what just happened, or why?? I don't.

Does it matter that this is a follow-up book? Would it be clearer if I had read the first book? Well, it seems to me that the explanations of the past are well covered. Enough hints and passing references and occasional anecdotes that I don't *feel* as though I'm in the dark. I *believe* that it's *this* book which is hard to understand. I could be wrong.

The explanation of why things are happening -- and quite often *what* is happening -- is very much, Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, you know what I mean, say no more... It feels like an extended in-joke, and I'm excluded.

There are dozens of characters popping on and off the stage. Is that another result of being book two? Whatever the reason, I give up trying to remember who is who. (Or even whom.) No worries, the main characters stick around long enough to become familiar.

There is a satisfying conclusion. (As far as I understand it.) Unfortunately the journey is like a ghost ride: reasonably enjoyable but largely in the dark.

On another point entirely:

Lots of science fiction (and fantasy) authors use cultural stereotypes in their books. It simplifies our understanding and, often adds to the enjoyment. If the aliens are obviously "French" then you know that they will eat the garden snail-substitutes.

In Moat, this stereotyping is taken to a new level... The humans have expanded into space. Over thousamds of years they have settled innumerable planets. Yet they have still carried their *original* stereotypes with them!

Racial and religious groups have maintained their racial and religious groupings. And hatreds and distrusts. I find this just a bit lazy. And very, very disturbing. Thousands of years of social developmment -- and we will still have the same old prejudices?!

Clever aliens. Lazy writing. Incomprehensible logic. Readable.

====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Agamedes Consulting
====

"A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top."
   

Salvation's Reach / Dan Abnett

Salvation's Reach
(Warhammer 40,000 / Gaunt's Ghosts 13)
by Dan Abnett

military science fiction

copyright 2011
read in April 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

I read a Warhammer 40,000 book last week. Enjoyed it enough to read another. Enjoyed this one, too! In a completely different fashion...

This book is number thirteen of a series. Number 13! I've missed a lot :-) Not to worry.

There are characters by the score, characters whose names I forget, whose roles and motivtions I can't remember. No worries -- there's enough explanation to follow... most of... what's happening.

And there is a lot happening!

Most of the book is taken up by getting to the scene of the main fighting... I almost typed, "main action" but that would be wrong. There is plenty of action, from page one on. It's only the serious slaughter that is delayed till well past half way. The action ranges from tough guys grunting through to family drama. The full range.

I was often confused. I was never bored.

My previous Warhammer book -- I am Slaughter -- was a series of battles tied together by a flimsy but satisfying plot. Salvation is a soap opera leading to a mass battle. Slaughter was a better place to start reading Warhammer books. Having liked the simplicity of Slaughter, I am ready to enjoy Salvation -- despite its complexity.

I can also appreciate the comment on the cover: "Dan Abnett is probably the best writer of dark military SF in the world." Salvation is military, with ranks, discipline, loyalty and -- most importantly -- a well planned military objective.

It is definitely SF. Steam punk SF? Cranks and levers and pulleys and swords and hammers and spears and ... force fields and space ships and warp travel and laser rifles.

And this book is definitely dark.

The people are tough. Dedicated. Loyal. Tough and fit and healthy. Yet the environment is dark. Pollution. Smoke and flame and machines that misfire and kill and maim. Evil enemies. Warp travel is hellishly destructive. A soldier's life will be brutal and short.

It is a very dark universe. Yet that's just the way it is. I would not want to live there. The book accepts the dark universe as a given. I accept the dark universe and enjoy the book.

I think, though, that it's a bit like the Twilight books... I want to read more of them. But I need a break, I need to read other books first.

I enjoyed this book. I need a break before I am ready to enjoy another.

Foxglove Summer / Ben Aaronovitch

Foxglove Summer
(Peter Grant #5)
by Ben Aaronovitch

fantasy

copyright 2014
read in April 2016

rated 9/10: really, really good

So far I have read four of the five Peter Grant books. I have enjoyed them all :-)

Foxglove Summer seems -- to me -- to be particularly good.

====

22mar23: Goodness! it's seven years since I first read this book. No wonder I could not remember what happened.

I read a subsequent book in the series. There's a character called "Foxglove". Was she introduced in this book? I wonder. Apparently not...

This time, I would have rated the book as seven or eight. That's just a gut feel. Perhaps I'm in a different mood now.

This time though, I do feel that the book is a bit... well, I have to say it... a bit airy-fairy. Well plotted but... the key magical characters are somewhat ommmm. By which I mean, they have magic powers, all very mystic, but no explanation. Other than... these people exist, isn't that marvellous... ommmm.

And this time I do miss the last and next in the series. I do wonder, What is Lesley doing and what will she do next?

I do enjoy the book enough to think, I may look for more in the series. To repeat and complete my knowledge of the on-going soap opera. And having now read my original review: I may re-read some of the Harry Dresden series :-)

====

The hero, for a change, leaves London. He's out in the unfamiliar countryside, amongst farmers and commuters and a different police force and -- of course -- mixing it up with countryside magic. There is also a lot of posh, countryside cooking... Fortunately, the city-bred hero is able to find a few greasy-spoon diners.

The book is dedicated to Terry Pratchett. Very nice. There is also -- deliberately? -- a touch of the gentler form of Pratchett social satire.  Plus action, humour, and a desperate search for lost children. Fear and drama but, ultimately, no children are harmed in the making of this book. Well, not destroyed, anyway...

There is a thread of plot continuing from earlier books. This could be confusing for readers who have not read earlier books. Just skim over those bits and enjoy the police procedural approach to fighting magic. Peter Grant is a policeman; he follows police procedures. That doesn't stop him from seeing the silly side of some of what he does!

In its "magic in the everyday world" approach, this series could be compared to the Harry Dresden series. Both are a lot of fun, very enjoyable... but Peter Grant almost avoids one of the problems of a series:

In each Dresden book, Harry fights a new type of baddie. And he gains new skills. Harry is continually getting more... and more... and more powerful. He would be master of the universe by now -- if he had not been killed, a few books back.

So far, Grant has avoided that growth trap. Sure, he is learning. And he is meeting new types of magic users in each book. Yet it is a slow -- a realistic -- growth in his abilities. He is still defeating evil with skilful use of what he knows -- rather than by the use of ever increasing levels of magic power. Peter Grant is a policeman whose beat happens to cover magic realms. And I like that.

This book's visit to the countryside allows Grant to widen his police duties. And allows the author to poke gentle fun at countryside people.

And yet...

Much is made of the all-white heredity of the inhabitants. Grant -- whose mother is from Sierra Leone -- occasionally rolls his eyes at the politically correct -- or incorrect -- reactions of the white skinned locals, to his own, darker skin. And then he meets a local who is (I paraphrase) "slim for a mother of four." Shouldn't someone be rolling their eyes at that blatant stereotyping?!

Don't we all have to be so very, very careful... :-)

But that's a trivial point to make. Fun is poked at prejudice, a preconception is overlooked. Forget it.

I read this book -- and enjoyed it. Immensely!

I've enjoyed the atmosphere of London in the earlier books in the series. And I think that I have enjoyed the atmosphere of the English countryside even more.

Funny, really. I enjoy the atmosphere of a much earlier London, in Sherlock Holmes. And in the last Sherlock Holmes book that I read, Holmes went out into the English countryside. And I enjoyed that, too.

Sherlock Holmes and Peter Grant, solving crimes in London. I enjoy both versions of the evocation of the great city. And, equally, I enjoy -- as much or possibly more -- the evocation of the countryside, by both of those crime fighters.

Of course what I am enjoying is the idealised city and countryside... I don't live there, though I have visited. In my imagination, however, I enjoy them both. And both Aaronovitch and Conan Doyle evoke exactly what it is that I like about the areas...

Not surprising, really. My idealised views of London and of the English countryside have been formed by reading. These books simply reinforce my idealised impressions, formed by earlier reading of these and other books.

Oh, and of course I have grown up with familiarity with the names of many parts of London... From playing on the English board for the game of Monopoly.

I suppose that I should also mention, that some parts of this book seemed to jump a bit. Not so much continuity errors. More as though the author missed an important plot point and needed to jump back to put it in. As though some chapters were written in somewhat of a hurry.

Perhaps that is simply the intended style of writing...?!

No worries.

A very enjoyable book.

Possibly the best Peter Grant book so far.

I hope that there are more on the way.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes / Arthur Conan Doyle

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(Sherlock Holmes #3)
by Arthur Conan Doyle

detective, mystery, short stories

copyright 1891-92
read in April 2016

rated 8/10: really quite good

In the last review that I wrote, I said that I do not like short stories. Okay, that's not strictly true. What I should have said is, I do not like stupid short stories.

Adventures is the third book of Sherlock Holmes. The first two were complete novels. This one is a series of short stories, written for magazines over a couple of years.

This is a book of good short stories.

Each of these stories has a beginning, a middle and an end. In the middle -- something happens. At the end --- it is all wrapped up. Yes, it helps if you already know the two main characters, Holmes and Watson. (Though the beginning usually includes sufficient introduction for the first time reader.) Apart from that, each story stands alone.

A good short story also has a plot, though it may be brief. More importantly, a good short story will have an internal logic which links the beginning, the middle and the end. The shorter the story, the more important it is that the end follows the middle and that both end and middle make sense of the beginning.

To be honest, those are my own ideas. I read -- and review -- for my own enjoyment. I can recognise a "good" book that I do not enjoy. I have enjoyed quite a few "bad" books. I am trying to understand -- and explain -- why I like Sherlock Holmes short stories -- yet I disliked the last (non Sherlock Holmes) book which I read, also short stories.

My previous review was for a book of short stories which was -- comparatively -- rubbish. Most of those stories did have a beginning, a middle and an end. The three sections did link. The link was of the general form: Well, if you believe that rubbish then you will probably accept this implausible explanation...

But let's not spoil a Sherlock Holmes review with comparison to other, lesser books! The Adventures are very enjoyable!

Not every Adventure involves a murder. Thank goodness. To me, a murder is rather nasty. I am quite happy to enjoy the mystery surrounding a theft, an assault, even a pointed insult. Sure, it's an easy writers' trick to declare innocence by the sudden death of a suspect. I prefer that the innocent and the uninvolved end up alive.

Watson (as narrator) makes that point in many of the stories. A spectacular crime need not involve an interesting mystery. The most intriguing mystery may come from situations which are not even criminal. Sherlock Holmes solves mysteries. Not every mystery is a crime.

That said, in some of these stories people do die! The key point is, that death is not essential to creation of a challenging mystery.

And then on a completely different topic: The final story in this book is, The Copper Beeches...

Holmes and Watson travel to Winchester, where they dine at the Black Swan Inn. Within the month, I will be in Winchester. I checked, the Black Swan inn did exist. All that is left now, is a copy of the carved, wooden, black swan which was associated with the inn.

The mystery then continues at a house called the Copper Beeches. I will be staying one night at the Copper Beeches... Unfortunately... my own Copper Beeches house seems to be different to that of the Sherlock Holmes Adventure. Both are outside Winchester -- but in different directions.

Still, I shall check the trees which, I believe give the name to "my" Copper Beeches. And I shall very carefully check the layout of "my" house... Looking for the rather large drawing room and the abandoned wing with the boarded-up window. Carefully avoiding the starving mastiff in the front garden. After all...

You never know your luck!

Strange Itineraries / Tim Powers

Strange Itineraries
by Tim Powers

fantasy, short stories

copyright 1982 to 2004
read in April 2016

rated 5/10: readable, but only if there's nothing else

This is a book of short stories. I don't really enjoy short stories. They need to be very good -- or I wonder, what was the point. My rating may reflect my anti-preference.

This is not really a book of short stories. It's a book of short story. At least, that's the impression I have after the first few: it's the same story, told in a variety of different ways. People meet ghosts, people are ghosts, there's no reason given.

For variety, one story is: people travel in time, people meet time travellers -- who are, of course, themselves, time travel is stopped.

The best of the bunch would be, The Way Down the Hill. Something does happen, something comprehensible. More than the usual drifting and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Could almost be good -- except for the weak as water ending: "That's it, I'm not doing that again, I hope you lot won't do it again." Ho hum. I wish I could remember the novel where the same idea was treated so much better.

Then there's Night Moves. I can see who the mysterious Evelyn is. I just can't see, Why?! Oh well. By that stage -- the last story in the book -- I am skim reading. Perhaps there is logic behind the fantasy.

Or, perhaps not.

I am Slaughter / Dan Abnett

I am Slaughter
(Warhammer 40,000 / The Beast Arises #1)
by Dan Abnett

science fiction

copyright 2015
read in April 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

My first read in the Warhammer universe. Interesting...!

First, the genre. Military science fiction? Military fantasy? Space opera? Or what?! I have my own understandings of the various genres.

The book is about war, and armies, but it's not "military science fiction". There is a series of battles, linked by a thin plot. But there is no overall strategy. No tactics. Other than, one for all and all for one, there is no overall military thinking.

The science is fantastic. The characters are clear versions of the fantasy standards, including elves and men. But they are a scientific version... Sure, they fight with hammers and axes and swords. But these are space hammers and space axes and space swords. They work the same way but are enhanced by undescribed science rather than by ancient spells. The book is not fantasy.

The spaceship controls are straight out of the Lensman series. The action is waaay over the top. But it's not space opera. Because space opera uses rapidly increasing levels of science, major discoveries made just on time to defeat the current wave of baddies. Slaughter uses "existing" technology. The question is, will it be enough?

All that's left, is "science fiction".

There may be a specific, named genre for "science fiction based on a dungeons and dragons gaming universe". I'm not ready for it :-) So, this book is "science fiction".

I did some Wikipedia reading on the Warhammer games. As far as I understand it, this book is a good match for the games.

The book is a series of pitched battles, linked by a thin but consistent plot. The battles are mainly hand to hand. That matches the key protagonists, the Space Marines. (My apologies if they are not really Space Marines. I'm a bit confused by reading one book in an already well-defined universe.)

So that's the background to this book.

I was prepared for a simplistic, blood and thunder trail of heroism and gore.

And at the end -- I was pleasantly surprised!

The plot is thin -- but well structured. The battles are the main feature -- but the story develops. Quite well. With a couple of surprising... surprises...

Who is the "greater foe" which the blurb promises will arise? When this is revealed -- with less excitement for me than for a regular Warhammer fan -- I realised that I had missed a clue. A "good" clue. The sort that is clear, noticed, yet ignored. A kick-self sort of clue. Very good!

Actually, I'm not sure if it's a clue. Or just an accidental spoiler :-)

And then there's the name of the book. I am Slaughter. Which lead me to all sorts of expectations. Which were then... dashed.

Don't get me wrong: this is not a great book! It just has pleasantly unexpected surprises. There is more than just a series of blood and ichor soaked battles... Not much more :-) Just enough to make it enjoyable.

Enjoyable?

If you are a Warhammer fan, this book is probably enjoyable without the surprises. As a non-fan I could take it or leave it. Except that the few small surprises made me glad to take it.

Mostly mindless violence. Linked by a thin plot. With a couple of extras that made me glad that I had read to the end.

I enjoyed this book. I would not go out of my way to read others in the series.

The Temple of Doom / James Kahn

The Temple of Doom
(Indiana Jones #2)
by James Kahn

fantasy, adventure

copyright 1984
read in April 2016

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Just a couple of weeks ago I read the book of the first Indiana Jones movie. It was embarrassing. Oh well, I thought, I guess it's not easy to turn a fun but silly movie into a readable book. I rated it six, partly in memory of an enjoyable movie.

Now I have read the book of the second movie... and down-rated the first. Yes, it is possible to write a reasonable book based on a fun but silly movie!

Okay, this is not a great book. Yet it does manage to capture the fun of the movie -- without being embarrassing. And more than that:

In retrospect, the first author was taking a childish plot and writing down to children. Writing down. Kahn, the second author, has written a childish plot -- with not a trace of condescension. Yes, it's silly. Yes, it's juvenile. No, it is not embarrassing. It is just a fun but silly book...

That's my thought, anyway. In retrospect. Without re-reading to confirm my opinion. Because, really, neither book is worth re-reading! Fun, yes. Classics with depth, no.

Temple of Doom is an enjoyable book. The action is cartoonish. The characters are ridiculous. I laugh with them, not at them. Because the book is... quite... well written.

The book is as good -- in it's own way -- as the movie. Indiana is less likeable. The girl has more depth. Short Round is less obnoxious.

Less obnoxious... But I still can't stand Short Round.

Brain Thief / Alexander Jablokov

Brain Thief
by Alexander Jablokov

science fiction

copyright 2009
read in April 2016

rated 7/10: well worth reading

It's an enjoyable book. With some unique and enjoyable aspects. And it has caused confusion in my reading enjoyment.

The inside cover claims that this is "Cyberpunk with a new twist". Guess I don't know cyberpunk. It seems like near future science fiction to me. No worries. It's just a label.

Some interesting phrasing, some clever comments. "He admired her romantic melancholy, her knees and her use of the gerund." Heh :-)

An unusual approach to the murder mystery plot:

I'm used to the clever detective interviewing suspects and gradually gathering clues, getting closer and closer to the suspect. There's a tendency -- so it seems to me -- for the detective to get all significant clues from one interview.

In Brain Thief, the hero meets people, interacts, gets maybe a clue, maybe not. He may meet them later, with a different style of interaction... Social, or another clue, or -- apparently -- just saying hello while investigating an unrelated other person.

Less organised investigation. More a gradual build-up of ideas, with the need to look again in some already examined areas. A real life approach, perhaps.

By the way: the hero is not a detective. Which may explain the lack of organisation in his approach to solving the mystery!

The solution is... fun :-)

And then...

I read the back cover. And found that this is not Jablokov's first book. So what?!

As I read I thought: Clever! Unique! Interesting approach! A first-time author, not yet weighed down by the requirements of maintaining an existing fan base!

And then I thought: Oh, an established author. Probably repeating what worked first time. The different approach worked before, let's follow the same framework...

Totally baseless shift in my attitude!

At least, my logical mind says that it's baseless. The book was clever, unique, interesting... How can it have suddenly changed, just because it's not the author's first book?!

So now I'm confused.

Confused by the way my own brain works.

The book itself is still, well worth reading.