Saturday, December 28, 2013

The Girl in Blue / P.G. Wodehouse

The Girl in Blue
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour

rated 9 / 10: really, really good

Almost ninety years old and Wodehouse gets even better !

The main characters are still toffs, living in a world of eternal sunshine. There are no real villains, just greedy people, foolish people and gold diggers. Plus a large number of very likeable people.

There are more people of the lower classes playing quite major roles. And they are treated just as nicely as are the toffs.

Mind you, I was almost shocked when the hero spoke directly to the heroine... Without having been formally introduced ! Even in the world of Wodehouse, standards of behaviour have changed.

So if it's all the same, how can I say that Wodehouse gets even better ?

His language -- his obvious enjoyment of the clever use of language -- just gets better and better :-)

The Girl in Blue is one continuous game of playing with words. Beautifully done ! An absolute joy to read... And I absolutely enjoyed reading it :-)

A mix of classical allusions, liberally mixed with then-current literary references. Plus sentences which twist and jump and suddenly end with surprising clarity.

This is a terrific book for lovers of the English language. A book of twists and turns, of delightful people with good intentions and high standards.

With happy endings all round.

I love it !

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Problems ? Solved

The Children of Men / P.D. James

The Children of Men
by P.D. James

science fiction... etc ?!

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

Not a bad book, really. Sort of interesting, as far as I read it. I read to page 80. Then I was tired of waiting for something to happen... Read the Wikipedia entry and decided that that was enough.

Okay, I also read the last few pages of the book, to see if there was anything significant... Wikipedia may have missed the hint of absolute power about to corrupt a new person...

This book is science fiction. It takes a single -- major -- change and explores the possibilities.

It is also a kitchen sink melodrama, examining the personal lives of rather boring people.

The book is, in large part, an examination of society. Society and its reaction to a major change, a major threat to the future of the human race. As such it is... well... worthy. Slow, boring but worthy.

You know what really surprises me ? The book was published in 1992 ! Why does that surprise me ? Because it reads like some ancient novel from the Victorian era.

Old-fashioned.

So. Interesting points. Worthy analysis of possibilities. Slow and boring.

A book for a very long, rainy day... If all libraries and bookshops -- and the internet, and tv -- are unavailable.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Proven Guilty / Jim Butcher

Proven Guilty
by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files (11?)

fantasy

rated 6 / 10: read to pass the time

The future is an unknown country. The past... is not a safe place to visit.

I've read and reviewed ten books from the Dresden Files. Enjoyed every one of them. Rated them highly.

Now I've read Proven Guilty and been... less impressed.

Still enjoyed it -- just less impressed by the writing style. There are strong signs of the series' comic book origins.

Each chapter is comic-book action, wipe out the baddies... With the last page devoted to a quick glimpse of the next wave of baddies... Who are even tougher and meaner.

Oh no! says the hero, It's a fetch... And sure enough, it is a fetch. First problem, a "fetch" copies humans, not cgi movie monsters. Second problem is, what is his source of knowledge ?

Dresden has no books on the supernatural. None that are mentioned. There is no time spent in quiet reflection. Certainly no spare time for reading. Just, off the top of his head, Oh no it's a fetch...

The action is described with an artist in mind. Very visual. No spell will work unless it is accompanied by flashing light and Kaboom!! in bright text across the top of the page. And the characters are dressed to look good in either black and white or full colour.

Why have I -- only now -- noticed all this ?!

I have read a few more books which have grown from "graphic novels". Some good, some bad. Proven Guilty is a good one. But in the grand scheme of books-that-I-have-read, it is let down by its style.

Oh, and the sex is aimed at horny teenage boys. Much like the rest of the book. By "sex" I mean, reference to, missing out on and bravely turning down good offers which would only lead to bad consequences.

So I enjoyed the book. Much as I enjoyed the previous ten. It's just not safe to revisit a series from the past...

I have moved from pure enjoyment to critical analysis. The joy of a new series has been replaced by the cold hard analysis of comparison.

A thoroughly enjoyable book. For the horny teenage boy. For the boy with a strong Walter Mitty complex.

Ah well. I'm still looking forward to reading Ghost Story :-)

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Problems ? Solved

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Dirty Streets of Heaven / Tad Williams

The Dirty Streets of Heaven
by Tad Williams
Bobby Dollar (1)

fantasy

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This explanation of heaven and hell makes absolute sense to me. Sure, it's possible that we face a post-life eternity of either rapture or torture. But why ?

Is it fair, that a short lifetime determines our eternal fate ? Is fairness simply not a part of the equation ? If not, why not ?!

If there is an eternal life -- I rather like Williams' version of the "third way".

Then there are the characters and the general modus operandi of angels and demons on earth. Think of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher... very, very similar.

And I mean that as a compliment.

I have just one criticism of this book: it is part of an undeclared trilogy.

Okay, in very small print on the back cover, it is the first of a set. Inside, two more books are named -- with a year of planned publication.

Is there no fantasy author capable of writing a standalone novel ?!

Dirty Streets does stand by itself. Except for two outstanding plot threads: the central theme, and the love interest.

Oh, fine, these will link the three -- or more -- stories in the series. I look forward to more conspiracy revelations and more will they / won't they between the two lovers.

Just once, I would like to reach the end of a book. And find that it really is, the end of the book.

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Problems ? Solved

The Bloodstained Man / Christopher Rowley

The Bloodstained Man
by Christopher Rowley

Netherworld (2)

science fiction

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

Well, what can you expect, when the front cover says, "heavy metal pulp" ?!

Apparently, it's "a new line of novels combining noir fiction with fantastic art..." That's one view.

Soooo...

No adult -- or wannabe adult -- reads comics. No way. It's all about "graphic novels". Which, like comics, may be good or bad. But what do you do when you are ready to move past graphic novels ? You read some heavy metal pulp...

It's a novel, there are words. With the added comfort of regular pictures. I have no problem with that, pictures can add to the story.

The Bloodstained pictures were drawn by someone who had not bothered to read the book.

There are the evil dudes with metal stuff in their faces... No metal studs in the pictures. There's the evil woman with straight, shoulder-length hair... The artist has cut and curled her hair.

Good grief. Pulp ? Absolutely.

The story is not too bad. Simple, violent, crude, illogical and unbelievable. Nothing wrong with that. I quite enjoyed it.

The beginning flows on from book one. No worries, there's lots of explanation of what went before. Not clear explanation... or perhaps it's just book two (this book) which lacks clarity. Again, no worries.

There's a lot of over the top, comic book action... Not great literature, but fun.

Pity about the ending.

Absolute cliffhanger. With no point. Other than to make us read book three, to see if a main character really was, unexpectedly, killed.

The answer is either yes, bugger. Or no, so what was the point.

Except that I don't care enough about the characters to bother reading book three.

Lightweight, entertaining, violent nonsense.

The story is weak but entertaining enough to be read. The ending may have been dictated by the marketing department. The lack of matching the art to the story -- is absolute rubbish. Pity about that.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Marauder / Gary Gibson

Marauder

category: science fiction, author:

Gary Gibson

book 1 (probably) of ??
original copyright 2013

read in December 2013

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10 (read to pass the time)

There's a lot of, She did this, then he did that, then she did something else... That is: the recitation of a series of actions. With very little (or nothing) in the way of clever writing.

The story is entertaining enough. And straightforward. She escapes, she runs, she runs straight back to the villains and is captured again. Nothing very clever: the plot is not clever, nor are the main characters.

The secret surprise -- is hardly any secret. Though it does make me wonder...

"Marauder... is a standalone work." So it is written, just before the story starts. Yet it seems to me -- having not read any earlier books by Gibson -- that a key character in Marauder is continuing her adventures from three previous books. And the Epilogue in this book is a clear pointer to a series of subsequent stories...

So it's "standalone" in that the story makes sense without having to have read previous books. But it is clearly one of a series... Which is good, really.

The somewhat illogical plot is helped along by a touch of deus ex machina, where previous books are essential to the action in Marauder. The ending -- escape from the various villains -- is pure deus ex machina.

Despite its faults, it's an easy read. Unless you dislike excessive violence. I mean, how many people need to be brutally or incidentally killed simply to clear the decks for action by the main characters ?!

Ah well.

Easy to read. A complex SF universe. No need to closely question the simplistic plot.

Read Marauder to pass the time.
===

18sep18: I reread the book

One good thing -- I couldn't remember any of this book. When I unintentionally reread a book I usually read a few chapters with a growing awareness of familiarity. Or, more correctly, deja vu. This time -- nothing at all. Hmmm... is that a "good thing" ? Or is the book so utterly *un*memorable that none of it sticks in my mind ?!

Not to worry, I still rate this book as six. Read to pass the time. With a few added observations:

This is a nasty book. Excessive violence ? Yes. And -- in my opinion -- often pointless. "You can't make an omelette..." Think of the book as an omelette and every character as an egg. Waiting to be broken. Perhaps I'm being over-sensitive ? I find some chapters to be, nasty.

And another thing... This book is set (I think) more than 500 years in the future. With the medical / mechanical ability to rebuild a human body, to recover a person from death's door -- is there no simple, universal birth control ?! With 500 years' of social advancement -- it is still the responsibility of the woman to manage birth control ?! Well, actually, I'd say that "social advancement" has been somewhat in reverse. Back towards the barbarians.

Why does the heroine believe that *she* is the one person who can save the universe ? It turns out -- plot spoiler -- that she can be rebuilt. With all her memories and abilities, plus more. Why not simply retire, and let a fresh clone -- or several dozen improved models -- sail out to save the universe ?

Apart from all of its weaknesses... this is good, solid, science fiction. Shading towards space opera. High action & adventure. Super science largely unexplained. It's unfortunate that the final chapters just throw logic to the wind in an effort to wrap up the central plot. And to set the scene for yet more books in the series.

The Curve of the Earth / Simon Morden

The Curve of the Earth
by Simon Morden

science fiction

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Tough but caring hero with lots of super-strength mech and mental upgrades. And a best friend who's an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent supercomputer.

It's a whole lot of wish fulfilment, saving civilisation, fantasy. A whole lot of fun. But there's not enough good stuff for me to rate it as 7, well worth reading.

My rating scale is largely based on gut feel as I read the book. Curve is clearly worth 6. It just lacks the hard to define "worth" which would make it a 7. Good to read but no need to go out of your way to read it.

So.

I do like the Newcomen character. Rather, I like the way that Morden deals with him. There's doubt as to whether he will end up as help or hindrance. The final result is believable and satisfactory.

Then there's Michael, the self-aware super-computer. Every boy's favourite imaginary best friend... But wait a minute ! Is that the same Mike the super-computer that gained self-awareness in Heinlein's, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ?!

Perhaps a clever allusion with explanation in an earlier book by Morden ? Our am I mistaken in my memory of names ? No matter... Mike or Michael, still a boy's best bully-bashing super-friend :-)

And finally...

According to the blurb on the back, it's worth mentioning the hero's "plethora of Russian swearwords".

Okay, he's Russian. And he -- presumably -- swears. In Russian. Or is he really saying, "Oh bother, those naughty people have just kicked me in the shins. Let me respond by placing this bazooka up their left sleeves."

So Morden has a dictionary of Russian vulgarity. And I too could learn to be crude in Russian. If I could be bothered reading Curve with a Russian-English dictionary close to hand.

It adds nothing much to the story.

It adds to the character, yes. For a while. Then it very quickly becomes boring. A modern hero who swears like a trooper but with minimal offence to the delicate reader ? Okay, clever. Until it's totally overdone.

Read the book, enjoy the action, move on.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Redshirts / John Scalzi

Redshirts
by John Scalzi

science fiction, humour

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Okay, we all know about the Star Trek ensigns: they land on a planet only to be killed early so that we can see how dangerous it really is. Main characters can -- and will -- survive anything. Ensigns are interchangeable and short-lived.

Scalzi has taken that premise and built on it. Standalone, it's worth a joke or two. Scalzi has added an extra (time) dimension, for extra depth. Quite clever, really !

Beyond the situational humour there are some good gags, some lines which are worth a chuckle. The story is entertaining and the characters are likeable.

The characters are likeable -- but not great. I hoped that they would survive but, for most, did not really care. There is not enough character depth to make me care. Which suits the story because the heroes are, after all, interchangeable and normally short-lived ensigns.

Redshirts is easy to read. But sometimes hard to follow. So many characters ! And the logic of the plot solution requires some effort to (approximately) understand.

Three quarters of the way through the book and I thought, Hang on, the story has ended ! What's in the rest of the book ?!

When I read on, it was quite clever. Or, at least, a valid effort to wrap up loose ends. Though there is one loose end which is deliberately raised and then -- as far as I can understand it -- not explained... ?!

I read to the end of the story then -- as the book failed to finish -- realised that there were, in fact, several loose ends. Threads which I would happily have accepted as being left to the readers imagination.

Good work Scalzi !

This book has a clever idea for the basic plot. Entertainingly written. Plus loose ends wrapped up where a lesser author could have left them hanging.

Not a great book but a good book.

Enjoyable. Well enough written. Easy to read though sometimes hard to follow.

Worth reading.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Bedlam / Christopher Brookmyre

Bedlam
by Christopher Brookmyre

science fiction

rated 7/10: well worth reading

There is one major fault with this book: on the cover it says, "One of the funniest writers in Britain". So I started reading and expected this book to be funny.

This book is not funny.

Perhaps the creepy manager is supposed to be funny ? But I have met -- worked with -- that manager. He is not funny. Perhaps the brain-scanning scientist in his cluttered lab is supposed to be funny ? He is not. He is just an exaggerated character. Perhaps the pathos of the lost accountant is supposed to be funny ? It is not.

The IT Crowd takes a crowded "lab" and makes it funny. Hitchhiker's Guide takes almost believable characters and makes them funny. Brookmyre takes potentially funny characters and situations -- and fails to add the overlay of humour.

There are some good jokes scattered throughout the book. A couple of laugh-out-loud jokes. It is not a funny book. My expectations were unmet and this spoilt my initial enjoyment of Bedlam.

As science fiction this is an enjoyable book.

Better than enjoyable... Bedlam is a good book with a good SF theme. And it did encourage me to read up on Bostrom's simulation argument... Interesting...

The language is... appropriate. In a previous review of a book based around computer games, I wondered if the author had ever played a computer game. Brookmyre makes me wonder, has he diligently researched gamer slang but failed to listen in on actual conversations ? Or -- highly likely -- do he and I play different games.

Finally, a minor incident which places this book well above the potboiler level: Hero-alt-A says, How dare you do this to me! Hero-alt-B says, But you are me and you would have done exactly the same. To which Hero-alt-A can only reply, Oh, bugger off.

An enjoyable book, well worth reading. But it's science fiction with some humour. Not humour.

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Problems ? Solved

Starship Troopers / Robert A. Heinlein

Starship Troopers
by Robert A. Heinlein

science fiction

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

The classic how-to manual on democracy and war. Heinlein corrects the misunderstandings of generations of political and military theorists and practitioners. Wow !

As usual -- with Heinlein -- his characters are happy to stop the action in order to spend several pages explaining how the world should be organised. Despite that, there is enough action to make for an enjoyable book

Unbelievable. But enjoyable.

Remember Haldeman's Forever War ? (I hope that I am remembering the right author ! ) Men and women fight side by side and enjoy the between-battle benefits of shared bunks. Heinlein is not just strictly segregated... His ultra-macho soldiers are inspired to fight in order to defend the delicate flowers of womanhood who are left at home... Presumably in the kitchen.

So it's badly dated. And was probably just as badly dated when it was first published...

Still, it's fun. And there are some interesting ideas.

I would guess that I agree with 20% of Heinlein's political and social ideas. And strongly disagree with (or laugh at) another 20%.

Is there a reader who would agree with all of Heinlein's ideas? Just in case, let me adapt a suggestion from an article that I recently read:

Go off by yourself. Spend an hour or two spanking the monkey. And come back when you have calmed down...

Read it, enjoy it, just don't accept it as the best way to run the world :-)

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Problems ? Solved

Split Infinity / Piers Anthony

Split Infinity
by Piers Anthony

science fiction and fantasy

rated 7 / 10: well worth reading

What's not to like ? A science fiction world where all the important people are beautiful and naked. Where the powerful people have unlimited power -- which they use to create ultimate pleasure palaces. And a fantasy world where the hero appears to have unlimited magical power.

Add in a loyal and attractive support cast. A hero with an ethical standard to match Biggles. Though Stile does have to analyse the options in order to make the right decisions... Biggles simply does the right thing every time, automatically...

Split Infinity is the first of a trilogy and -- if I remember correctly -- the best of the three. It is certainly better than the follow-up trilogy. Still, that's Anthony for you: start with a great idea, work it to death and target younger and younger audiences...

Read and enjoy Split Infinity. Read and enjoy the trilogy. Perhaps find another book before committing time to the second trilogy...

But this book is a lot of fun.

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05nov21: Still a lot of fun :-)

===

Interesting. I have definitely read Blue Adept -- the second of this trilogy. Read it... but not reviewed it... must have forgotten! Anyway...

Blue Adept is about as good as Split Infinity: not great but good fun.

Though... in these more woke times... Anthony's "old-fashioned" attitudes to women begin to be a bit embarrassing.

"Begin"... I suspect that it gets worse in later books.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Day Watch / Sergei Lukyanenko

The Day Watch
by Sergei Lukyanenko
translated by Andrew Bromfield
book 2 of 3

fantasy

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

So there's this attractive and likeable young woman. She has super-powers. One of a crowd, in a police-style job amongst the super-community.

She's injured on the job. Is sent to holiday camp to recuperate. Falls in love. Is killed by her lover.

What ?!

I checked the front of the book. Okay, it's volume two of a trilogy. So this is part of a larger story.

I think... This young woman -- the star of this story -- surely she has not just been killed off ?! I turn the page and find... a new story. I skim ahead... can't find any mention of the young woman.

It seems that she really has been killed off. I get involved in her story -- and she's gone.

Okay, it may make sense within the scope of the trilogy. Too bad. I've lost interest.

Oh, and you can ignore the cover... There is no "JK Rowling" style in this book.

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Problems ? Solved

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Last and First Men / Olaf Stapledon

Last and First Men
by Olaf Stapledon

science fiction... classic

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

By my -- not original -- definition, this book is a true classic: Everyone has heard of it, no one has read it.

In a very limited sense.

I have heard of it, I know that this book is a classic of science fiction. Yet I have never read it.

Finally, I have seen the book. Finally, I have started reading... And it is still a classic: I have still not read it.

Last and First Men is a future history of the human race. (Or, possibly, of the population of Earth.) It starts with the "first" men, from the author's time. A sad mistake for a predictive story.

Eighty years on and the mark had already been sadly missed. Not that that would be a worry on its own...

The book begins by boring me to sleep. There are references to -- I guess -- historical facts and acts and people. Which I don't recognise. Sorry, I'm not a student of European history.

As the book moves closer to my "now", racial stereotypes are maintained. The Germans are Germanic, the English are proper, the Asians are inscrutable. This may be a valid view -- but it would be nice to read some indication that global communication has broadened our thoughts and actions.

Then civilisation is destroyed and I stopped reading. Not because of the end of civilisation as I know it -- that chain of events was quite believable. Just that the book had failed to get me interested.

A science fiction classic. Read it -- if you're studying the classics of science fiction.

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Problems ? Solved

Doctor Who: Shada / Gareth Roberts, Douglas Adams

Doctor Who: Shada
by Gareth Roberts (and Douglas Adams)

science fiction, for fans and others

rated 7/10: well worth reading

In 1979, Douglas Adams wrote a Doctor Who script which never went to air. In 2012, Gareth Roberts published this novel based on that script.

The novel includes some clear traces of Adams humour. Even a few covers of Hitchhiker jokes. I would guess that these were added by Roberts. That's fine... The book appeals as (1) a book starring the Doctor and (2) a book based on work by Adams.

I'm a fan of the old-style Doctor. I dislike the attitude of the new Doctors, the constant stating of the bleeding obvious, "I am the Doctor therefore I will soon solve all of your problems."

And must The Doctor be in love with his companions ?! Come on ! He's 900 years old, and they are just children who will be gone in a blink of his eye...

Well, Shada stars an old-style Doctor. Yet there is a tiny hint of romantic attachment. And more than a hint of the manic, tell the world I'm great, Doctor. With problems solved by mystic hand-waving rather than as a result of a logical plot progression.

Perhaps -- as I think about it -- perhaps the modern Doctors are a situational entertainment rather than plot-driven stories ?

Whatever.

This book is an old Doctor with a touch of what I dislike about the new. Which made sense, when I read the author's afterword.

The author is a fan of the new Doctors. The original script was well short of enough material for a complete novel. Roberts added a lot of new material, while attempting to stay true to his own understanding of the original story...

And the book is published by the BBC -- the owners of the successful, modern, Doctor Who series.

As a fan of the old Doctors -- with a dislike of the new Doctors -- I found some problems with Shada. Perhaps I should say, I have issues with the book... That said...

An enjoyable book. For old fans and for new. And perhaps even for non-fans who simply enjoy a good science fiction romp, through time and space and with solid English eccentricity.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Long Earth / Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

The Long Earth
by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

science fiction

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

My main problem with The Long Earth is that it lacks a point.

Sure, there's a huge Earth-threatening monster to be discovered -- but so what ?! Monster discovered, monster left alone. Threat still exists.

This book is -- as I understand it -- an introduction to a series. So the monster can be dealt with in later books. Which leaves very little point to this first book !

Interesting but not great characters travel across the Long Earth. Going places, meeting people, doing nothing much. The book is very much an exploration of a new world. And the impact of the new world on the old. With all the excitement of a textbook on geography.

Okay, the new world is an interesting idea. But the SF question of "what if" is largely replaced by "so what".

At the end of the book is the unpublished short story which was the germ of the idea. Very much a biff-sockee adventure yarn. Not great science fiction, so much more fun to read !

If The Long Earth grows into a series -- that will be interesting. If subsequent books focus on smaller aspects of the world -- that will be much better. If the scope of this first book had been narrower -- it would be a lot more fun to read.

An odyssey across an entire new world lacks the potential interest of a more detailed dip into just one part. This book offers too much of the general overview.

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Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Moon Maze Game / Larry Niven, Steven Barnes

The Moon Maze Game
by Larry Niven, Steven Barnes

science fiction

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

The core of the story is a virtual reality game. The game theme is Wells' First Men in the Moon. With other book by Wells thrown in to add variation.

What is it with HG Wells rip-offs? Is it the season ? Is it his birthday ? Is it just coincidence that this is the second that I have recently read ? Moon Maze at least adds a more modern story round the rip-off. Not that it really helps.

First, the science sucks. Or does it ? Heinlein, in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, had people leaping through the vacuum of space. On Mars, Schwarzenegger's eyes bulged badly. In Moon Maze, vacuum will lead to instant death by boiling blood. Which is correct ? My money is with Heinlein.

Then, the game sucks. Okay, it's a virtual reality game, not a screen simulation. Still... My impression is that the authors have never ever played a computer game. The book makes me think of non-players trying to impress readers with their own rather weak extensions to something that they have read about but never actually tried. (Sorry about the length of that sentence ! )

Finally (?) the story is weak, the successes are questionable and the explanations are unclear.

Willing suspension of disbelief ? Try, willing suspense of critical faculties... If you can do that, you can read this book.

Sort of fun. Could be better.

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Problems ? Solved

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Fatal Revenant / Stephen Donaldson

Fatal Revenant
by Stephen Donaldson
Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (2)

fantasy

rated 4 / 10: bad but could be read

This is a book which makes Financial Accounting seem interesting.

I'm studying a financial accounting unit online. Less than half way into Revenant and I preferred to do a bit more study. Doesn't say much for the book, does it !

Okay, there's a lot of action. Meet a new character -- there will be a ludicrously over-the-top battle. Visit a new place -- it will be destroyed by the side-effects of the next battle. Stop for a picnic lunch -- and the picnic ants will be gigantic fire-breathing chitinous dragons.

Then there's the pseudo-suspense...

A super-powered being will appear. A member, probably, of a race that no-one has heard of before now. This new character plans to destroy the heroine -- but first, will answer any three questions... So the heroine asks something like, How long do I have to ask the questions ? What time is it now ? Did you say, just three questions ? Then kicks herself for wasting the three questions...

So the POV character, the heroine, does not know what is going on. Everyone else does but they won't tell. The reader is left in the dark. This is not suspense -- it's a cheap trick by the author.

In the second half of the book the heroine decides exactly what she is going to do. It's her POV, so the reader will get some information ? Nope. I know but I'm not telling, she says...

And when she finally acts... Everyone groans... There are cries of, You should not have done that... And the book ends.

This is a book of action-packed adventure with very little purpose. There's a feeling that Donaldson is trying to wrap up loose ends in the millennia-long history of the Land. With a plethora of new super-villains to plug the gaps. Is it worth the effort ?

So far, so tedious. The first book was readable. This second book really dragged. Perhaps... the third one's the charm ?

But...

I can't stop there. I must mention a problem with a key feature of these books, the "Falls".

The Falls are places where every instant of time is present, all at once. Like a food-processor for time... Step inside a Fall and you are hit by whirling bits of the Land, each bit from a different era...

So how can a Fall move ?!

The Fall is here, now. And it's hitting you with stuff from here, ten minutes ago. And with stuff from here, ten minutes in the future. So the Fall was definitely here ten minutes ago. And will definitely be here ten minutes from now... So it *was* exactly here and it *will be* exactly here.

So how can it have moved ?!

And if a Fall exists -- and stretches from the distant past into the far future -- then how can it be banished in the present ?! By definition, it exists in the future. Yet -- when we reach that future -- it is not there.

Too much angst and not enough explanation. I can't claim to have enjoyed this book.

But I will be looking out for the final (?) Thomas Covenant book. If only to see who lives, who dies... and who is brought back to live to provide a possibly happy ending.

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Problems ? Solved

Friday, September 27, 2013

Warrior / Zoe Archer

Warrior
by Zoe Archer
Blades of the Rose (1)

fantasy, chick lit

This is chick lit for the woman who yearns to be swept off her feet.

Yes, the heroine is spunky, independent, tough. But she is clearly second fiddle to the incredibly tough, incredibly talented, natural leader hero. The heroine does her bit but the hero is always there to protect her.

Well fair enough. The book is, after all, called Warrior. And the warrior in question is the -- male -- hero. Still, it would be interesting to read Rebel, a later book in the series. There's a reasonable chance that the woman in question is the rebel. Is she in charge ? Or is she, also, swept off her feet by the strong and mysterious -- male -- stranger...

Warrior is in the same general genre as Close Contact: chick lit / romance, fantasy / science fiction. Warrior is the book that I started to read after Close Contact... and then decided I would rather re-read Close Contact.

Warrior is for the swooning maiden. Simple, fun, romance with explicit sex. Yet the plot seems to be a bit silly.

Okay, Close Contact is also silly ! But Warrior lacks the sense of fun. Warrior seems to take itself too seriously. Oh, and...

"Her thumb and forefinger could not meet as she circled him." Wow ! And this is a woman with, we are told, fingers which are long yet slender... Oooohh, no wonder the virginal heroine's eyes are watering !

It is just a book to read to pass the time... And it suffers, in my rating, by comparison with a far better book aimed at a similar target market.

Warrior is okay. But I have read better...

====
Problems ? Solved

Close Contact / Katherine Allred

Close Contact
by Katherine Allred
Alien Affairs (2)

science fiction, chick lit

rated 9/10: really, really good

Nine out of ten ? Really, really good ? Is this book really that good ?!?

Maybe not. But here's how it goes:

I read Close Contact and thoroughly enjoyed it. Started another book, read a few chapters... And decided that I would rather be re-reading Close Contact. So I re-read Close Contact -- and thoroughly enjoyed it -- again !

That, to me, is worth 9 out of 10 :-)

No, it is not great literature. I doubt that it will be studied by generations of graduate students of the fine arts. Yet it had most of the characteristics of "a good book"...

Great characters... Well, great character, singular :-) With a supporting cast of very capable and generally likeable second-string characters.

The heroine is super strong, super powered, super hot. What's not to like about Echo Adams ?! And she does not take herself too seriously...

Walking into town, she munches on a Space Federation high energy snack bar. No way I could eat this awful stuff, she thinks. Except that it's covered in chocolate...

There's romance... Well, lust... Which quickly proves to be true -- and eternal -- love.

There's an intelligent, annoying but loyal spaceship. A cute pet dragon bird. And a remote planet where fighting is restricted to fist and blade. Swash and buckle in space !

The book is written first person by the heroine. And she is definitely the main -- strongest -- character. The hero is tough, intelligent, heroic -- but no more than an equal partner. Yes, Echo is swept off her feet. But no, this does not make her at all subservient.

A great heroine with a gently self-mocking sense of humor. A fun adventure with danger but no real threat of anything but a happy ending.

What's not to like ?

A really, really good book :-)

====
Problems ? Solved

Saturday, September 14, 2013

The Runes of the Earth / Stephen Donaldson

The Runes of the Earth
by Stephen Donaldson

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1)
fantasy

Absolutely over the top ! Guilt... suffering... heroic sacrifice ! Yes, the seventh major book of Thomas Covenant continues the tried and true formula !

Although -- now I come to think of it -- there is no real misery.

The characters suffer by choice. Bloody and bowed but unbeaten. Because their hearts are true.

Still...

The language is just as over the top. Poetic, almost: there is more meaning in the way in which the words are used than in the words themselves. What, for example, is an "indistinct nose" ? (Sorry, not an actual quote. Rather, a re-imagining of a noteworthy but unnoted phrase.)

And this book must set the record for number of times that an author has used the word "formication"... Donaldson used the word just one in his first book -- without explanation, I had to check a dictionary. This time, the meaning is given and the word is repeated... many, many times.

I have always had the impression that Donaldson writes with both dictionary and thesaurus to hand. He browses the reference books and attempts to use the longest words that he can find...

Anyway...

Runes continues the history of The Land. This time, with a focus on Linden Avery. Since Covenant himself is dead. Apparently. Thanks to a jump of several thousand years, threats to The Land are brand new and even more threatening than earlier threats.

I do have a problem with one threat, the Falls... or time-slips. If they are a turbulent mix of every instant at the place where they occur -- them how do they also allow entry at one point and exit at another ? Surely that means that the Falls must exist at every instant at all of the places between entry and exit ? Yet they don't...

Still, that's just a minor quibble... This is fantasy :-) The Falls increase the threat to Time itself. And that is the central driver throughout the entire Covenant series.

Not a great book but a lot of fun. Well worth reading. Especially if you enjoyed the first six books...

Perhaps the third book of The Last Chronicles will actually end the saga... ?

====
Problems ? Solved

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Children's Hospital / Chris Adrian

The Children's Hospital
by Chris Adrian

Perhaps I was a bit under the weather. Perhaps I really needed some light relief. Perhaps my view of a book is coloured by my mood.

I totally failed to get into this book.

I read the first few pages. There's an angel telling the story... No, I have no idea why.

There's a hospital for the seriously challenged birthing. A separate hospital for the seriously challenged newborn babies. Separate buildings connected only by a pedestrian bridge. Birth and care of the newborn physically separate ? No, I have no idea why.

The main character is a trainee maternity nurse who does not enjoy her work. One birth for the day and she's had enough... She interrupts her boyfriend -- drags him away from helping save a baby -- to have sex in a spare bed.

The story (?) so far... interspersed with reference to blood, vaginas, deformity.

So far, so... What's the word I want ? Oh yes: So far, so bloody awful.

Not helped by the small print and dense, rambling -- jumping all over the place -- prose.

I gave up.

"Playful, very funny, moving", if you believe the cover. Or rather unpleasant rubbish. Take your pick.

====
Problems ? Solved

Monday, September 2, 2013

Altered Carbon / Richard Morgan

Altered Carbon
by Richard Morgan

science fiction

read in August 2013

rated 9 / 10: really, really good

A fast-paced thriller with ultra violence... A detailed view of the future where good guys and bad fight with technology and less subtle weapons. A killer hero with a heart of gold...

Or is there more to this book than well implemented cliches ?

I can't speak for the author's intentions... but I see a possibility...

Science fiction begins with, "what if ?" Take one technological possibility -- or impossibility -- and explore the consequences. Is this what Morgan is doing ?

What if, technology allows us to preserve the mind (or soul, or character, or.. the essence of the person) in digital storage ? Being able to store implies being able to recover, to put the "person" back into a body. Back into the same body -- or into a spare, or a clone, or an artificial body...

Surely this is immortality ?!

Consequence one: Immortality -- for those who can afford it.

Consequence two: Organic damage -- up to and including total destruction of the body -- is no longer murder. As long as the "person" is still intact, in storage.

One what if -- and a host of logical consequences ! Classic science fiction.

Add good characters, complex plot, good versus evil, a satisfactory ending...

An excellent book ! Unless you do not enjoy extreme violence. At a classic cartoon level.

====
Problems ? Solved

===

16mar18:

Read it again. same opinion.

Background: I wanted to watch a bit of tv. Found Altered Carbon, a new tv series. I watched a couple of minutes of titles, almost gave up. Then watched a couple have a shower. Sensuous, I suppose. Boring, really.

At 3 minutes 10 I gave up watching. TV is just so slooooow :-( Unvariable :-( The viewer is stuck at whatever pace is set by the director.

Then I picked up the book. Read it over the next couple of days -- at my own pace. Enjoyed it. Never did find (in the book) a two-person shower scene.

I prefer to read a book.

Heritage of the Xandim / Maggie Furey

Heritage of the Xandim
by Maggie Furey

fantasy
Chronicles of the Xandim (1)
copyright 2009
read in August 2013

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This is book one of a trilogy which is set in the far distant past of what I guess is very many books set in the world of Aurian. A prequel. Which leads to all sorts of problems for the reader who is not familiar with "present day" Aurian...

Furey has done an excellent job of writing for the "new" readers.

Perhaps a fan of Aurian would gain even more enjoyment from this book than I do. I enjoyed it enough to be satisfied ! In fact, it is also a good book as a standalone... Sure, there are plots aplenty waiting to be explored in books two and three. But this book one ends quite satisfactorily.

One character did seem to appear for no real reason... She may have an actual role to play in the rest of this trilogy... Though I have a strong feeling that her key role will be as a mysterious villain in later -- that is, already published Aurian -- stories. My feeling is that fans will be saying, So that's why so-and-so had such a strong dislike of that other so-and-so !

In the world itself, there is an interesting link between the "real" world and the "other" world. Characters can move from one world to the other but with restrictions. Arbitrary restrictions, perhaps ! But it does provide a good explanation for some of the limits on the powers of the strongly magical super beings.

Generally, a good book to be read by itself. Interesting enough to attract me to the rest of the trilogy. And -- probably -- great back story for regular fans of Furey.

====
Problems ? Solved

The Martian War / Gabriel Mesta

The Martian War
by Kevin J. Anderson (as Gabriel Mesta)

science fiction
copyright 2005
read in August 2013

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Assume that every book written by HG Wells was true and that all the adventures included Wells as a key character. Add a feisty, attractive -- modern stereotype -- woman. Is this a "heartfelt tribute", a "terrific homage" or a rather weak ripoff...

The first half of the book is, I guess, for readers who like to understand the author... to understand Wells, that is. The second half is for readers who enjoy Wells' books. I enjoyed the second half. And found the first half to be a bit boring.

Mind you... What's the point of writing a story which is purely a ripoff of a well known book ? Add a few chapters which show that you have also read the original author's biography -- and you avoid charges of plagiarism.

Hard to please everyone.

The big question is: why does the author use a pseudonym -- and announce it on the cover ? Is it the Rowling effect ?

JK Rowling recently published a book under a pseudonym. It was well received by reviewers but failed to sell... Until the true author was revealed. Did Anderson have the same problem ? No sales -- so the publisher decided to market the book under the better-known name...

Speaking of that better known name... According to the back cover, Anderson has "over 16 million books in print". By my understanding of "in print", this means that Anderson has *written* over 16 million books ! Goodness !

And this has been just one of them.

Perhaps the other 15,999,999 books are more original.

====
Problems ? Solved

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Five Hundred Years After / Steven Brust

Five Hundred Years After
by Steven Brust
fantasy

rated 9/10: really, really good

This book continues the adventures of The Phoenix Guards except -- as you may have guessed -- five hundred years after... Just as well these characters live for a thousand years or more !

It's a book -- avoiding to the author -- for those who like to read. Great characters, complex and entertaining plot, set in a believable (?!) fantasy universe.

Mostly, though, the writing has fun with English...

Rolling phraseology. Complex, compound sentences. Sudden shifts in understanding with subtle barbs of social commentary. Almost impossible to read at all -- until you get into the rhythm of it all.

I like to read. I enjoyed this book... again. I love the complex but ultimately clear playing with words. Plus... It's a great story !

Oh... and good background to the Vlad Taltos stories which share some of the characters... and which are set yet another five hundred years after...

july 2023: It took a while to find this book again, so re-reading was delayed...

Yes, read it again, enjoyed it again. And, again, find myself thinking in long, rolling, repetitive sentences. The language is a lot of the fun.

====
Problems ? Solved

Monday, August 12, 2013

The Curse of the Mistwraith / Janny Wurts

The Curse of the Mistwraith
by Janny Wurts
Wars of Light and Shadow (1)

fantasy

rated 6: read to pass the time

Okay, I've only read 120 of the 800-odd pages. I doubt that I will read any more.

Not that it's bad ! In fact, my rating of 6 out of 10 is probably unfair. As the first book of a fantasy epic it is possibly quite good. But for me... 6 out of 10.

So Light is not all good and Shadow is not all bad. I prefer a bit more clarity in my characters... perhaps a villain with a touch of pity or a hero with a shade of doubt. These two -- just bicker and fight and are pretty much unlikeable.

They leave their homeland -- and spend no thought on the trouble that this will be causing at home. One of them at least, was desperate to help the people of his own country... until he was put in personal danger. Upon which -- no more mention of the starving people back home.

Then they meet the super-wizard of the new country. Oh dear, he thinks, this man's entire moral belief is based on separation of wizard power from politics. Well, we can't have that. So super-wizard promptly -- and without asking the hero -- messes with the hero's mind. To make the hero more amenable to ignoring a lifetime's training in moral values.

Does the one come before the many ? Or the many before the one ? I don't know. But I do know this: it should be a matter of choice. The choice of the one. The choice of the one person whose life is about to be sacrificed for the good of the many.

Super-wizard decides to sacrifice -- without consultation -- the happiness and possibly the life of another person. Super-wizard has proven himself to be evil. The dark Lord dressed up as Gandalf.

Which is not a problem in itself. Except that I get the distinct impression that the author supports the actions of this evil person. I do not look forward to finding out what happens next.

So I've stopped reading.

As I said earlier, this may be a good book. Possibly a good series.

Not a book that *I* want to read.

====
Problems ? Solved

The Strain / Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

horror
~~rated 5: readable, but only if there's nothing else~~

re-rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

Is there no modern horror which did not come to light in Nazi Germany ? Is there no evil creature which is understood by anyone other than a mysterious old man with a communication problem ? Is there no cliche left unused by this author ?

Good grief.

I feel the urge to take the hero and shake him, shouting in his face: Listen to the old man you fool ! It's obviously a vampire !

But no. The hero will reject all the obvious clues until his own wife and or son are face to face with the vampire. Cliche after cliche after cliche.

Including the brand name cliche. You know, where the hero does not just get drunk... He gets drunk on Smirnoff plus freshly squeezed Valencia orange with just three drops of eureka lemon, while debating the professionalism of a barman who would stoop to using only two drops of the vital lemon juice... All intended to make us believe that the author knows what he is writing about.

Then a baggage handler casually drives around the airport -- with no reference to Ground Control, who manage and monitor all ground traffic at any airport.

The author's knowledge is as deep as he can be bothered to Google.

Author ? Singular ? The book cover has del Toro in very large font. I'm guessing that del Toro had very little to do with the actual writing of the book.

Still... a vampire made up of red worms... Except for the large tongue which is possibly an after-market add-on. The worms hide inside and control a body. Hmmm... Haven't heard that one since Stephen Donaldson used it. Except that Donaldson used beetles and he didn't try to make his beetles intelligent.

Anyway, half way through the book and a new vampire is threatening to eat his own family. Wife and two cute children. How long can he fight the hunger ? How long can the author drag out the suspense ? Who cares ?!

There are two possible cliches. One, the vampire finally eats the family. Unpleasant. I don't want to read about it. Or two, the cute children survive. And as a cliche -- that's even worse.

Some day I may finish reading this book. Right now, I am not interested.

If you enjoy clichéd horror you may enjoy this book. I don't, and I don't.

===

18mar14: It's six months since I wrote the review. In that six months I have attempted to continue reading The Strain. Attempted -- and failed.

It is just weak cliche piled on bad cliche piled on awful cliche. Perhaps "The Strain" refers to the required efforts of the reader ?!

I'm ready to re-rate this book as four out of ten: bad but could be read. Although I am finding that it is, in fact just too bad to be read... Let's rate it at "three: so bad it's embarrassing".

If ever I manage to finish the book (it was a gift, so I don't like to give up) then I shall post a final comment.

===

June 2020: While I think of it... I never did finish this book. Never will, I threw it out. The book is so bad that I had no interest in in watching the bleeding obvious as it ludicrously ground on.

====
Problems ? Solved

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The City of Silk and Steel / Carey, Carey and Carey

The City of Silk and Steel
by Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey

fantasy

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Clever schemes, likeable characters, exotic location... An enjoyable book but not great.

The schemes are clever -- and unbelievably successful. Still, it's a fantasy :-)

There are good characters -- but far too many of them. Some stick in the mind. Others... I just accept without knowing who they are.

The book is, roughly, in two stages: creation then destruction. At the end of stage one -- I almost lose interest. Which is a pity.

The second half of the book has a clearer structure. It's easier to see the thread of logic which links the various actions. And the finale -- which is clearly signposted -- is more satisfying.

In a story of the rise and fall of a city it seems strange, that the fall is more satisfying than the rise. Yet the rise of this city is unbelievable. So unbelievable that you just know that there will be problems ahead.

Yet the fall of the city is not -- entirely -- a tragedy. There have been years of success. And the lessons from the city will live on through the ages.

Optimistic lessons, which perhaps the world has not really learnt. This book presents the lessons, in a readable and entertaining form.

It's an enjoyable book. And it made me think. Not always agreeing with the authors, perhaps ! But thinking, is enjoyable.

Read, enjoy, and look forward to whatever these authors produce next.

====
Problems ? Solved

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / J.K.Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(Harry Potter 4)
by J.K.Rowling

fantasy

published 2000
read (again) July 2013

rated 8/10: really quite good

By this stage -- of my first reading -- I was hanging out for the next instalment of the wizard saga. There were rumours of a death. And it is a monster of a book.

A monster of a book that lived up to expectations.

There's a broadening of our knowledge of the wizarding world. More depth to the main characters. More characters. More magic.

And not everyone is happy.

Harry, Hermione and Ron are starting to notice the opposite sex... with all the difficulties that that brings to teenagers. The threat from the return of Voldemort becomes more serious... and a character dies.

Worst of all, the wizarding world -- the good wizards -- are divided... Into those who fear the return of Voldemort -- and those who deny it.

Life is difficult for Harry. The adventure is more serious. Loyalties are divided.

The series grows, in both breadth and depth. I was hooked, and desperate for the next book.

I am hooked, and ready to re-read the next book.

====
Problems ? Solved

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Humanoids / Jack Williamson

The Humanoids
by Jack Williamson

science fiction

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

My copy of this book has the first few pages ripped out. I had to search to find a publication date. I try to not see anyone else's view before I review. One thing I could not help but see -- this book is one of a series.

Which could explain why I have read the same story but as a short story.

Well... The same story but stripped down to its essentials.

Omnipotent robots have been programmed to protect and serve humans. In their efforts to protect, the robots smother humanity. All the best things have some risk -- so they are banned. The human animal is forced to become vegetable.

It took a few chapters of apparently irrelevant stuff to get to the point... I was beginning to wonder how the story would relate to its title and to the book's cover. Still, it got there.

It's all about one man's fight to resist the suffocation of the security-minded robots. He fights, he suffers, he loses.

Then there's the insufferably smart and smarmy character. The one who wins, no matter what. Remember... I think it was Gladstone Gander ? Donald Duck would fight and lose. Gladstone would just walk by and pick treasure of the ground...

That's what you have in The Humanoids: fighting and suffering and losing, versus relaxing, enjoying, winning.

Finally, the climax... and the fighter finally wins !

Or does he ?!

The fighter is "cured" by the robots. He joins the rest of the robot supporters: super-powered humans with their tireless robot servants.

Forget the rest of humanity. Those who did not "see the light". Those who are still drugged, controlled, treated as mindless pets. Forget about them.

All that matters is that the desperate fighter had now joined the ranks of the smug.

Humanity has its omnipotent servants. Servants who have been programmed to serve. You want it ? The robots provide it...

Unless you happen to want something different. Unless to want to bring change. Unless you want to be *human*...
Because then the robots will drug you back into their own version of humanity. The version that is ruled by the servants. With no questions allowed, nor answered.

If that is really meant to be a happy ending...

I'm not happy.

But I don't want a robot to say, you are not happy... and to drug me into a drooling yet complaisant state of... not being unhappy.

No. Not a satisfactory ending at all.

Perhaps the other Humanoid books were more forgiving of the strength of the vast range of human fallibility.

Perhaps.

====
Problems ? Solved

Harry Potter (3) / J.K.Rowling

Harry Potter (3)
by J.K.Rowling

fantasy, young adult

Another great Harry Potter book ! This is the third, The Prisoner of Azkaban. I read it -- and enjoyed it -- soon after it was first published. And I enjoyed it just as much on this re-reading...

Perhaps I enjoyed this re-reading even more...

This is the book where Ron and Hermione fight. Where Hermione finds a stronger place within the trio. And where Harry gets small hints that his father may not have been... not quite... the perfect hero that Harry has always imagined.

Much of that has come to me -- on this reading -- because I now know where the series is going. Which is, perhaps, why I enjoyed this reading even more than the first.

Another great book. With just a small introduction to the wider -- and nastier -- wizarding world to come.

====
Problems ? Solved

The Road to Mars / Eric Idle

The Road to Mars
by Eric Idle

science fiction ? humour ?

rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

Eric Idle... Monty Python writer... co-creator of one of the classic TV shows... as he reminds us in this book. Which shows just how desperate he was to keep his readers reading.

"Part biting satire, part loony vaudeville, part comic dissertation..." That's the view of Robin Williams, as quoted on the cover.

Absolute rubbish.

The "comic dissertation" is Idle's attempt to analyse humour. He may make some valid points. Unfortunately his examples are stuck firmly in the late twentieth century -- which is sadly out of place in a "science fiction" novel.

The "dissertation" is done by a key character -- an android -- who has trouble understanding humour. Perhaps this was not such a cliche back in 1999... Irony, in particular, is beyond the grasp of the mechanical intellect.

Ironically, irony is also beyond the grasp of the author. Idle attempts irony. He also attempts satire. What he writes is cruel sarcasm... Made worse by his regular explanation of the point of his attempts.

Had the author ever read any hints as to how to write a novel ? Had he every heard, for example, of "point of view" ? Not only does he switch from one point of view to another -- he does it paragraph by paragraph.. and back again. I gave up trying to work out who was thinking what. It just was not worth the effort.

Then, half way through, as I was getting tired of the analysis and sarcasm and attempted humor -- the book changes.

It becomes a rather boring thriller, starting with a highly telegraphed and brutal death, followed by countless deaths and major destruction.

For a book set in space... in the future... it is also remarkably bad in its science.

An android is stuck out in space. Freezing to absolute zero. (Absolute zero in space ? Really ? ) And then -- the android "oxidises". Okay, oxidise sounds cleverer than "rusts". But in space ?! You know, the *vacuum* of space ?! Didn't the author spot the clue, that "oxidises" comes from the word oxygen -- which is essential for oxidisation...

Then there's the space station which develops a leak. And implodes. Good grief.

Finally, all is revealed. The villains pop out of nowhere. Their links to other characters and plot are barely explained. New ideas are thrown in just to fill some of the more obvious gaps in the story.

The lead villain turns out to be a fool with an unworkable plan which everyone else is too stupid to foil. But the plan accidentally fails and it's only random luck which saves the threatened settlers... What's that ? Never heard of them before ? Correct.

A weak book, badly written.

Don't bother.

====
Problems ? Solved

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living / Carrie Tiffany

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living
by Carrie Tiffany

fiction

rated 7/10: well worth reading

There's a message here: good science is not enough to overcome basic stupidity.

I was worried that the message would be, that science is evil. Really, though, science is simply powerless. Powerless against drought, disease, plague and poor soil.

Why are farmers even on the Mallee country ? Because they are stupid enough to believe that they can force crops to grow from dry sand. And naive enough to believe government promises. And innocent enough to invest their lives with sellers of financial snake oil.

This is a story of people who work hard -- and lose. Yet they do it... not with good grace... but with good will. They offer a weak cup of tea to a neighbour, even as their own lives crash down around them.

There is bitterness but there is understanding. There is hopelessness but there is hope. Hope that the future will be less bleak. Or, at least, acceptance of life as it is.

Perhaps, though, it is simply a case of characters drawn so lightly that we don't really care... We feel for the situation but not so much for the individuals.

Still...

I read the book and thought -- not for the first time -- that we, humans, spend a lot of time destroying the natural environment. And that organised stupidity causes endless individual heartbreak.

Is that the message ? That the rich and powerful -- in their efforts for more riches and more power, or simply by their decisions based on ignorance -- destroy the lives of the weak and poor.

Yet, at the end, the protagonist -- the narrator -- gets on with her life. She plans for the future. A poor future, but one with hope rather than well-earned despair.

Never give up ! That's the message that I choose to take away with me. Never give up. And don't blindly follow either experts or politicians.

And always get a lawyer to read a contract before you sell your future crop to a snake-oil salesman...

A good book with a good message. An easy read but not a comforting read. A sad ending but with hope for the future... for the future of the narrator, at least.

This is not at all my usual sort of book. I'm not sure why I picked it off the shelves. But I am glad that I did.

====
Problems ? Solved

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The Usurper's Crown / Sarah Zettel

The Usurper's Crown
[ Isavalta (2) ]
by Sarah Zettel

rated 8: really quite good

An interesting approach to a trilogy: book two is a flashback from book one... And it works. Very well. Though with some strange side-effects...

First -- and this is, I suspect, just me --there's a constant sense of deja vu.

It's a while since I read book one. I've read several books in between. I keep thinking, But wasn't that in book one ?!

No, in sure that I'm reading a different book ! In this flashback... or extended back-story... Zettel uses repetition. That is, people and places from book one are re-visited in book two. They now show why certain things were happening in book one... Same people, same places, different actions. And from the point of view of a different heroine.

All of this makes me wonder, Which book am I really reading ?! But it's all good: I *know* which book I am reading. And I am enjoying book two... even more than I enjoyed book one.

Which leads to the other side-effect...

I prefer to read books with a happy -- or at least satisfying -- ending. From book one I know that certain people will survive... or possibly not. And this gives me a certain sense of peace.

As I read book two I have the comfort of knowing that... not everything will be destroyed. Okay, it's a very limited comfort :-) But I find it is comfort enough. And it adds to my enjoyment of this book.

On the other hand... I'm going to have to read book one again -- to remind myself what really happened... And to find out why book two really is so very familiar !

====
Problems ? Solved

Harry Potter 1 & 2 / J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter...
(1) ... and the Philosopher's Stone
(2) ... and the Chamber of Secrets

by J.K. Rowling

fantasy, young adult

published in 1997, 1998
read -- not for the first time -- in July 2013

rated 9 / 10: really, really good

We were on holiday. Sure, I had brought books to read. But they were in our hotel room and we were drinking tea in the hotel lounge.

There were magazines. And a few books. Including... the first Harry Potter... May as well start reading it, I thought. Won't matter that I won't finish it before we leave, I know what happens...

Well...

What a great book ! All of a sudden I am caught up -- again ! -- in Harry Potter delight ! As soon as we returned home I found my own copy of The Philosopher's Stone and finished my re-reading. Then found Chamber of Secrets and re-read that one. And I may re-read more...

This is an excellent series. Enjoyable, exciting, entertaining. I read the books -- this time -- with a clearer image of the heroes as young children. It adds just a little bit more to my appreciation of the book. And to my anticipation of the characters developing as they grow older.

If you are one of the very few people who do not know the basic concept of the series -- start reading now ! For the rest of the world... What can I say that has not already been said ?

The movies are, I am sure, fun Hollywood movies. The books -- are terrific.

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Problems ? Solved

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02oct15:

And again !

Yes, I have just re-re-read the first Harry Potter book... and enjoyed it. Yet again.

Even better, it was pleasant break from some really... rubbish... books :-( Which I may fail to finish.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The House without a Key / Earl Derr Biggers

The House without a Key
by Earl Derr Biggers
Charlie Chan (1)

mystery

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Goodness me ! a Charlie Chan omnibus ! I've seen five minutes of a Charlie Chan movie. And enjoyed the Chinese detective who has helped Maxwell Smart. But I have never read nor watched a complete Chan story...

Until now !

Is it just my era, or is Charlie Chan still an iconic figure in film and literature ? No matter.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book :-)

I didn't know what to expect. The introduction almost put me off, so I skipped most of it. The story -- is a lot of fun.

The characters are straight from Wodehouse via Boston. The action is slow, the humor is light and pleasant. Best of all -- the mystery makes sense.

Sometime in the past I must have read a mystery novel. I'm sure that I've watched more than one mystery on TV. The one thing in common is, that the resolution of the mystery is a riddle wrapped in an enigma. As far as I can tell, the final and definitive clue is only provided as the detective states the solution.

"What no-one knew," says the detective, on the last page but one, "Is that Mr X is the victim's second cousin twice removed, that he was in the conservatory just after midnight -- despite all prior evidence to the contrary -- and that the innocuous flower which no-one has, till now, mentioned, is the only known breeding ground for the deadly black-throated spider ! Which leads to... the inevitable conclusion... that the murder was really suicide !" Oh yeah ?!

Charlie Chan puts forward a whole lot of clues. These lead to a string of suspects. Who are eliminated -- as suspects, that is, -- one by one. The final clue is not obvious. But it is presented early enough for the reader to -- with luck ! -- almost beat the hero to the correct conclusion. Or, at least, to keep up as all is revealed.

Oh, and "hero" ? Charlie Chan is not the hero. The hero is one of the Wodehouse characters... Chan solves the case and gathers conclusive evidence. The hero has a leap of strong intuition, just in time to prevent the villain from escaping. And the hero gets the girl.

Chan is essential to the story. Yet not -- yet ? -- the central character.

My book is three novels in an omnibus. I look forward to seeing how Chan develops in the next two stories.

So far... so good.

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Problems ? Solved

Martian Time-Slip / Philip K. Dick

Martian Time-Slip
by Philip K. Dick
science fiction

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This is the second "great novel" in a massive volume of PKD stories. (PKD stories ?! Well, it doesn't sound quite right to say, Dick stories...)

Stigmata was confusing but fun... I think. Time-Slip is not quite as confusing, not quite as much fun.

Life on Mars has, it seems, improved slightly. Stigmata offered a hopeless life of scrabbling to survive, of using drugs to escape the reality of a harsh, dry, dusty environment. Time-Slip offers a harsh world where all the minor evils of Earth have been transferred to the new planet.

Still, the hero gets on with his life.

It's all a bit... everyday. Helicopters rather than cars. Water via canals rather than by pipe. An indigenous population forced to the lowest rung of society as they gradually die out. And mental illness as the norm. Just minor changes from life as we know it.

The science in most SF is "hard" science. In the days when psychiatry was a new but developing science, Dick used it as the central theme for his story. A "soft"science but good science fiction !

And in those days before science pooh-poohed the idea, Dick allows the mind to control reality.

Okay, it takes a while to get there, but I think that's what happened...

After spending most of the book getting there, we finally discover that the autistic boy is able -- through the power of his mind -- to control reality. And to control time. The discovery was a bit abrupt, perhaps I just missed some of the clues along the way.

The bad guy tries to change time and gains nothing. The hero gets a mystic token which he never uses, he learns some valuable personal lessons and survives, otherwise unscathed. The autistic boy pops up inexplicably so that we know that he, at least, has achieved what he wanted from his mental abilities.

A confusing ending, but happy.

A readable book, but not great.

I enjoyed it, but will probably not read the remaining three "great novels" in this PKD omnibus.

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Problems ? Solved

Monday, May 27, 2013

The Gabble / Neal Asher

The Gabble
by Neal Asher

science fiction, short stories

published 2008 (previously published stories)
read in May 2013

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Who could not like the gabbleduck ?!

Asher's universe is really quite amazing. Complex. Coherent (as far as I cared to look). Very, very violent. But positive.

Positive ? I mean, it's mostly the bad guys who suffer the violence. And there's usually a happy -- or at least satisfying -- ending.

It's also nice to have a universe where humanity rules... Well, humanity and AIs... though I have to admit... humanity is no longer constrained by the original model. Made in *whose* image ?!

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Problems ? Solved

The Phoenix Guards / Steven Brust

The Phoenix Guards
by Steven Brust

rated 9/10: really, really good

28mar24: I have finally read The Three Musketeers.

Brust copies, as he says, that style. He also steals characters and plot. Reading Dumas, I could better understand the main characters because I almost knew them -- from Phoenix Guards.

Brust refers to the style of Dickens and Dumas and prefers Dumas. Brust himself... adds fun and humour. And makes his characters far more likeable.

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Brust tells the reader that this book -- and its sequel -- are written as an homage to Dumas' Three Musketeers. With that in mind I rushed off and began to read the musketeers sequel, Twenty Years After.

What a mistake.

Brust has characters who are loyal, intelligent (or, at least, skilled) and very, very likeable. D'Artagnan is a cunning schemer. He uses trickery to get his "friends" to join him. But enough of Dumas !

Phoenix Guards is a lot of fun !

It is also long-winded, rambling, totally over-the-top... Exactly as Brust intended.

So yes, it can be a little difficult to read. Until you get into the flow of the style. Yet the effort is most worthwhile.

There are complex plots and clever plans and deadly duels. Action and adventure, wrongs righted and justice summarily dispensed. This is the world of Vlad Taltos in a less serious era.

Take a deep breath, clear your mind -- and enjoy the read :-)

early 2023: read it again, enjoyed it again, want to re-read the sequel

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Problems ? Solved

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch / Philip K Dick

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
by Philip K Dick

science fiction

rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading

Warning: possible spoiler ahead ! Only a "possible" spoiler ? Yes... I don't know if I really know what happened...

First, I checked my understanding of "stigmata". Check. Then related that to the book. Check. So here is what happens:

The man who has god-like powers in the hallucinatory worlds is not God. He has been taken over -- or possibly replaced by -- the god-like being who lives in deep space, the being that may, in the past, have been mistaken for God. The existence or otherwise of a real God is not a part of this story.

The hallucinatory worlds exist only for the hallucinator. Each person dreams of their own world. Every other person in their world is imaginary. Except for the man who has been taken over by the God-like being from outer space.

Except -- another exception -- when the hallucinator imagines that they have moved into the future. The hallucination of the future is real. (It is a real... possible... future.) The people in the hallucination of the future are real. Although they -- the real people in the imagined futures -- may be taken over by the man who has been taken over by the God-like being from outer space.

Are you with me so far ?!

Enough !

This is an enjoyable book... if a bit challenging to understand ! Easy to read, difficult to follow. Satisfying, though my own satisfaction may be based entirely on misconceptions of what it all means...

Better yet, the style of the book has not dated... The predictions may be way off but that does not affect my reading enjoyment... Which I particularly notice because I have recently read some Heinlein.

Heinlein is horribly dated. His scientific predictions may be better but his characters -- and their attitudes -- are, well, possibly believable and maybe acceptable to narrow-minded readers of fifty years ago.

I find Dick's characters to be much more believable. Okay, not realistic ! But believable. And very hard to dislike...

Sure, the Stigmata characters are self-centered. Some are willing to abandon others to protect themselves. They are open to bribery and corruption. But they are all children, and how could you dislike children !?

No, not really children. They are all child-like in their approach to life. There is no underlying cruelty, no innate evil. They just look after themselves. And are sorry when that causes problems for other people.

The characters mean well. They are just realistic when it comes to matters of self-interest. Realistic and self-centered ! Oh, and very analytical.

When it comes to character motivations, Dick fails the test of show versus tell. The characters are constantly "telling" us their motivations -- through self-analysis -- rather than "showing" through their actions.

Which just goes to show that an author can break the rules and still write a good story.

Stigmata is a good story. Still readable, still enjoyable -- still confusing -- many years after it was written.

I have a book containing four more Dick novels. I hope the rest are just as enjoyable.

I just hope that I am better able to understand what happens... :-)

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Problems ? Solved

Pages

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Marauder

Gary Gibson

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10 (read to pass the time)

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Friday, September 27, 2013

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Monday, September 2, 2013

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Monday, August 12, 2013

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Monday, May 27, 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013