Magic of Blood and Sea / Cassandra Rose Clarke

Magic of Blood and Sea

by Cassandra Rose Clarke

young adult, fantasy

copyright 2012/13

read in March 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This is young adult, for women. I'm currently reading a young adult fantasy for men. The differences are interesting...

Men, apparently, like their heroes to be large and muscular, their heroines to be busty and beautiful. Women, apparently, like their heroes to be older, athletic, strong yet slender. And their heroines to be slender, athletic and feisty. With at least one friend who is a super capable fighter and, preferably, soft and cuddly.

Both men and women like -- if these books are an accurate reflection -- like their young heroes and heroines to be somewhat flawed. Not in the in crowd. Less than perfect -- in their own eyes.

The heroine of Magic is slender, athletic and feisty. She considers herself to be less than attractive. (And she never takes off her glasses to be suddenly and unexpectedly beautiful.) The hero is physically scarred and embarrassed by the most visible scar. Yet the two fall in love (no spoiler there!) and each considers the other to be beautiful.

There is no Cinderealla transformation. The man is handsome but scarred, the woman is more average than beautiful. They fall in love with the person behind the scar, the person who is more than on-the-surface beautiful.

I like it.

And the word that sums up the entire book is, Delightful.

Okay, the first major task is obvious in its solution. The third major task is solved via deus ex machina. Still delightful, though. The story jumps from lucky coincidence to lucky coincidence. So what ?! I enjoyed it all :-)

I also enjoyed the world, its characters and its magic. A wild mix of magical styles. Including the "metallurgy" magic which appears to make war machines. The author plays fast and loose with magical tropes. This is not "hard" fantasy, this is fun.

On the downside, however: This book "contains" two stories. They are really one novel. The first story ends satisfactorily -- but only because the second story is immediately available. Three tasks and the first story completes only one. I would be annoyed if I only had the first story.

But I read both stories in the one book. Enjoyed the entire novel.

It is delightful :-)

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Come on… a little hard work must have killed someone!" … per Ginger Meggs
   

The Blinding Knife / Brent Weeks

The Blinding Knife

(Lightbringer 2)

by Brent Weeks

fantasy

copyright 2013

read in March 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Lightbringer 1 was a teenage boy's escapist fantasy. Book 2 has similar elements but is for older readers... in my opinion. Partly becase the violence is more... violent. Also, the treenage hero has less time in the limelight; other characters -- male, female, old, young -- are equally prominent. (Though the teenage hero is still annoyingly down on himself.)

On the other hand... it's still aimed at young(?) men. Men who see physical power as the ultimate sign of superiority. Sure, the best fighters use magic. But their magic, as often as not, is used to create a bigger and better sword. Or cudgel.

Still, it's a lot of fun. Violent fun. Action-packed adventurous fun.

Spoilt, somewhat, by the enforced moral turpitude of many of the characters. (Just double-checked that. Yes, turpitude: depraved or wicked behaviour. Lovely word :-)

If there's a character who wants to do good -- they will be blackmailed into doing bad. Okay, not every good character. Just so very, very many of them. And they never seem to confess to a friend, to get help. They just suffer alone.

It's one of those things on the checklist for writing a blockbuster novel: make the characters suffer. I know that it works. I just don't enjoy it. I like a happy medium, where the characters seem to have some chance to succeed. Without being scarred for life.

Not that these characters will be scarred for life... It seems to be a book where the good guys will win, eventually. Though some may die, heroically.

On the other hand, in *this* book, the good guys do not win. Yes, there are victories on the way. But at the end of the book -- half the characters seem to be hanging by their fingernails off the edge of a cliff.

By this stage, though -- book two of three -- that's not a great worry. Particularly since I have book three lined up, ready to be read. The multi-cliff-hanger ending is a bit annoying but not unexpected. And I can read straight past the cliff-hangers. ("With a mighty leap..."?)

It's complex, it's fun, it's exciting, it's violent. If I'd started with this book I may never have bothered with books one and three. As it is -- reading in the correct order -- I'm enjoying the series. I'm happy to read to the end.

It's entertaining. The older hero seems to have the best of intentions. The world -- and its magic -- are interesting and completely over the top. Some of its corruption may be removed, by the end of book three. (I hope.)

Read to pass the time. But read book one first.

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23oct20: It took me a chapter or two to remember that I have read this book before. Not to worry, I thought, it's probably good fun.

I was wrong.

As an aside: the magic is continually growing. Put a character into an impossible situation and suddenly, the magic expands, a new feature is found.

There's a lot of violence. A lot of betrayal. A lot of really nasty people, a lot of really nasty situations. The world itself is nasty. The only measure of success is power. Let's just look at one aspect of the current "civilisation": slavery.

The major city-state group uses slavery. Any minor misdemeanour and you could become a slave -- with absolutely no rights. Fighting against the city-state is a proto-empire which rejects slavery -- to be replaced with a pure version of "might is right". The more powerful have the absolute right to do whatever they like to those with less power. Two opposing views. Two versions of evil.

There is a small handful of people who  are "nice". At the end of the book, they are prisoners, slaves, or in servitude to people who would kill them without a second thought.

First time I read this book I was able to continue reading the next book in the series. So the prisoners could quickly be freed, to continue their adventures. (Apart from that, the next book was very disappointing.) This time... it is just a miserable and inconclusive ending.

In the author's Acknowledgements, "where things look really bad, and you suggested something to make it utterly horrible? Yeah, I'm totally stealing that." If you enjoy books with "utterly horrible" situations, this series is for you. For me, no, thanks, I can do without "utterly horrible".

Rating this book now -- reading it alone, with neither book one nor three -- it is worth a bare five: readable but only if there is nothing else.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"Something unknown is doing we don't know what." … Arthur Eddington
   

The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon

The Word Exchange

by Alena Graedon

science fiction ?

copyright 2014

partly read in March 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I read to page 90, of 370. Put the book down for a couple of days. Restarted. Reached page 92 and read, "Yesterday they interviewed Ana, Rodney and me..." And wondered, Who's this Rodney?!

There are only half a dozen named characters and I have already forgotten one of them. I start skimming backwards, looking for the person that I thought it could be... and realise, I don't really care.

This is a wordy book. Often, cleverly wordy. With philosophical references. Hegel ! I've only just heard of him, like what he said, love to read a book which references Hegel :-) All this is not enough to make me want to read the entire book.

So far, not much has happened. There have, however, been plenty of flashbacks... The bulk of the story is in flashbacks. Stream of consciousness flashbacks. Here's a thing... oh, wait... I need to give you some background on this thing... flash... back.

From what I've read so far, the theme appears to be that our use of communication technology will destroy our ability to communicate. Fair enough. I'll take the point -- and half agree -- but I'll leave the book.

It struck me that the author is not a science fiction writer using clever literary styles and philosophical references. This is a student of literature and philosophy who has decided to write some science fiction. It may be a good literary style. As science fiction, it drags.

It's readable. Reasonably enjoyable. Just not enough happening -- really happening -- to keep my interest.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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​"What if the hokey cokey really is what it's all about?!" … poster at a B&B

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet / Becky Chambers

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

science fiction

copyright 2014

read in March 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

As I was reading this book there was one word that seemed appropriate. "Sweet." It's a nice book. Easy to read. Very enjoyable. Very sweet.

I like the science. There seems to be instant communication across space, and a postal drone for deliveries. Nobody really understands hyperspace travel, they just use it. The technology is whizz-bang and can be fixed with sweat and a screwdriver.

I like the characters. The good guys are not super, they are quite good -- and they try hard. And care. The ratbags have their reasons. And deep down they really care.

I like the plot -- but it is a very simple plot. Most of the action is side trips -- loosely tied into the main plot -- side trips where we meet more characters. Characters who are nice. And who give us another insight into different lifestyles which are really quite ... nice.

By the end, most of the apparently unrelated side trips have fitted in to the central plot. Though some were not essential to the plot. More, here's a loosely related lesson on the importance of being nice :-)

It's all very sweet, But not overly, saccharine, sweet. Pleasant, good humoured, enjoyable.

All so pleasant that I was expecting that the angry aliens fighting over the small angry planet would be sorted out with a group hug... Not to worry ! The ending made a lot more sense than that.

It's an enjoyable book which will make you think. You won't think, Yuk, that was nasty, how can we prevent such things. You will think, Aaahh, how sweet, I hope that I can be as nice as that...

It's enjoyable science fiction. With a bonus, a strong dose of feel-good.

Read it and smile :-)

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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​"What if the hokey cokey really is what it's all about?!" … poster at a B&B

The Black Prism / Brent Weeks

The Black Prism

(Lightbringer 1)

by Brent Weeks

fantasy, young adult

copyright 2010
read in March 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Hmm. Just checked my categories. In the list I have "subadult" but not "young adult". Prism is aimed at teenage boys... but not any younger. Too much violence. Too many references to staring at young women's... bodies. All a lot of fun but for "young adult" rather than "subadult".

It's a lot of fun. The plot is either complex or confusing, depending on the reader's opinion. In my opinion: confusing but eventually there is enough explanation.

I would have liked to see a better *conclusion* to this book. It ends with most characters in relatively safe positions, yet the overall situation is highly inconclusive. No to worry, the cover clearly says, "Lightbringer 1". Clearly on the spine, anyway.

The hero -- the teenage boy -- does too much of the annoying, Oh my I am such a fool. Usually just before he does something amazing. Most other characters are over the top amazing. Still, can't complain, it's better than having boring characters.

None of the characters are boring! They may not have much depth but the surfaces are drawn in bold.

It's not great literature. The adventures are (mostly) simplistic and unbelievable. Yes, I know that it's fantasy... I mean, unbelievable in terms of, How did they get away with that?!

It's just a lot of fun. Violent fun. I just switched off my critical faculties. And enjoyed.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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​"What if the hokey cokey really is what it's all about?!" … poster at a B&B

Dark Orbit / Carolyn Ives Gilman

Dark Orbit

by Carolyn Ives Gilman

​s

cience fiction

​copyright 2015

read in March 2017

rated 8/10: really quite good

As I finished reading this book I thought, That was a very strange book...

I can't claim to know the set standards for science fiction books but this book seems to avoid a lot of them. I can't claim to know the various standards for a "good" novel but this book seems to avoid them.

And it is good science fiction. And a good book.

The central idea is treading on the edges of mysticism. On the edge but clearly on the side of science. Science that cannot be explained (yet?), that cannot be observed nor measured. Yet is is solid science. Cutting edge science, if I understand it correctly.

There are all sorts of side issues in the book. Barely explained, lightly explored. All interesting. I do wish that some had been explored further, there could be a good book -- or several -- in just the side issues. Then the end is conclusive yet wide open.​ It just does't seem to meet the criteria of "a good novel". Yet it is.

Perhaps there could have been a bit more exploration of the side issues. A clearer finish to some of the remaining issues. Perhaps more explanation in the backstory...

Yet this is a very enjoyable book. I want more but am well satisfied with what I have read. The unexplored side issues are just that -- side issues. The central idea, works.

Forget predefined standards. (Whether I understand them or not.) I enjoyed this book.

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24sep18: Started to re-read. It quickly seemed familiar. But:

On this reading the book simply did not appeal. Okay, I was distracted, put it down, read a bit more over several days... and never managed to get involved. In fact -- when I checked my earlier review (above) I was surprised to see a score of eight.

It must be better than my current opinion -- based on just the first couple of chapters. But today, I'm not interested in reading any further.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
====

"Something unknown is doing we don't know what." … Arthur Eddington