The Dying Light / Sean Williams & Shane Dix

The Dying Light

category: science fiction, author:

Sean Williams & Shane Dix

book 2 of Evergence
original copyright 2000,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

For the first page or three I was very confused... I'd read two Williams & Dix books a few months back. Both of those were book one of three. For some reason... I expected The Dying Light to be a continuation of Echoes of Earth. Where really, The Dying Light continues the story after The Prodigal Sun... Who are all these people? I wondered.

Once I sorted out my memories, the book made a lot more sense :-) And was a lot more enjoyable...

The Evergence series is also more enjoyable than Orphans of Earth. Orphans is just too big; the characters have no time to gain our sympathy. Evergence has an equally large scope of impact -- but the story is held down to just a handful of, in general, sympathetic characters.

I read The Dying Light as an adventure, with a handful of heroes battling incredible odds and (incredibly!) winning. The big picture is there, but the adventure is constrained. The story is tight enough -- and human enough -- to be appreciated and enjoyed.

It's probably not essential to have read The Prodigal Sun in order to enjoy The Dying Light. The adventure is exciting enough to enjoy, even if the characters are unknown. Still, it would help to have read Sun.

On the other hand, these first two books of a trilogy are set in totally different environments... The characters get to know each other on a single planet, then battle baddies in spaceships and space-stations in a different part of the galaxy. Will the third book be set in yet another different environment?

I hope to read the final book of this trilogy, to find the explanation to the plague of killer superhumans...

Yet I do not have to read the third book. And I see that as a strength of this series. It would be nice to read all three books. But each book is an enjoyable story on its own.

A trilogy is fine. But not if it is really one book published in three volumes: that's just lazy writing and sneaky marketing.

Evergence is an ideal trilogy: three good books, three good stories, one consolidated epic.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The War of the Flowers / Tad Williams

The War of the Flowers

category: fantasy, author:

Tad Williams

published by Orbit,
original copyright 2003, read in August 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Lost of pages -- but good enough to keep on reading.

Although I did find it a bit of a slow start. That's because I don't go in for the personal angst introduction to a story... Not unless personal angst is the central theme of the story, anyway. And if it is -- I will probably not want to read the book at all.

This book is good fantasy. Once the good fantasy began -- the book improves.

The Faerie of The War of the Flowers is a good variation... with we-are-ruining-the-world overtones. Faerie has followed the mortal world into an industrial revolution, using magic rather than electricity as the industrial fuel. The care-for-the-environment message is there -- but it does not detract from the story.

The all-human-like-creatures-should-have-equal-rights message is also there, even more strongly. This is a standard theme of fantasy (and science fiction). The variety of magical creatures (or aliens) makes equality of thinking creatures a natural. Again, however, the theme does not overpower a good story.

Good characters, good character development, a good mix of action and wonder (that is, the new-to-the-reader world of Faerie), all adds up to a good book.

Overall, the best part of this book is the "modernisation" of the traditional Faerie. It is essential to the plot, there are some clever ideas and the power of magic is not overdone. I would have liked -- and I expected to see -- the hero's musical ability linked more closely and more often to the plot. The music was underplayed to the extent that its final power had a touch of deus ex machina.

Still... there is plenty of time for that. I guess... [pause] Well, that does surprise me! A quick Google and I find that there is, in fact, no sequel to The War of the Flowers!

The last few chapters of the book are clearly setting the scene for more adventures in "post-modern" Faerie... Don't worry, the last few chapters also nicely wrap up the plot and provide closure for key characters. Still... the potential for a sequel is clearly there.

Maybe it's still being written. Or planned. War is a big book, it could take a while to write another.

Meanwhile: read this book. Nothing fancy, but it's a book which provides a very enjoyable and quite long read.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Nine Layers of Sky / Liz Williams

Nine Layers of Sky

category: fantasy, author:

Liz Williams

Published by Tor,
original copyright 2003, read in July 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I enjoyed this book. Nothing wrong with it... Just not great.

I do worry about people who discover a new idea, a new culture, a new whatever, and write a book with that new thing as a driving force in the book. In this case, Williams has -- apparently -- spent time in eastern ex-USSR, in the various -stan countries. Her experiences form the basis of this book. So what?

So, how true is the author's perception of the culture? And how relevant is the culture to the plot?

First, I have no idea of the truth or otherwise of Williams' view of the people and myths and culture. Nor do I have problems with it: it is interesting and different, for me. This is no fairytale of a culture that is so much better than our own... Nine Layers gives a good and bad picture of a different culture. So that's all good.

How relevant is this culture? Very relevant! The culture -- current situations, peoples, old myths -- are central to the plot. Could the plot fit into, say, an Australian situation? Possibly... but only by an enormous stretch of adaptation.

Which leads to a conclusion: Williams has taken her experience in a "foreign" culture and used it as a valid basis for an interesting story.

On the other hand the interesting story is not great. An enjoyable book. Read it. Don't expect it to be anything extraordinary.

Of course, you could read Nine Layers as an insight into the myths and culture of the part of the world where the story is set. From that point of view -- if that's what you want -- read and enjoy!

Which leads me to one point which struck me: a lesson, or insight, into life in the -stan countries.

It's just a casual part of the background to the story: Russians hate name-your-stan, -stan people hate Russians. Russians are the invaders, the invaders are now in their third generation but are still treated as invaders. Moslems distrust Christians and vice versa. Some of the distrust is pure religious difference, some is based on historical persecution going both ways.

Cross a border and tolerance gives way to distrust or hatred...

It's really an insight, for an Australian to read about these casual and eternal hatreds. We may think that our neighbour is a bit of an idiot. That's nothing, compared to the ingrained views which are casually demonstrated in this book.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Prodigal Sun / Sean Williams & Shane Dix

The Prodigal Sun

category: science fiction, author:

Sean Williams & Shane Dix

book 1 of Evergence
published by Voyager,
original copyright 1999, read in July 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

I think that I am beginning to see a pattern in the Williams & Dix books... Okay, I've only read two (that I remember). Still: galactic in scope, science to the max, characters who snipe. In Echoes of Earth the sniping was a bit too much. In The Prodigal Sun the balance is much better.

In Sun, the characters do snipe. But, as the book progresses, they do the expected: see past surface differences to the nice person beneath. Sure, it's expected -- perhaps cliched -- but it does make for a more enjoyable book. The Sun characters also take more independent action... No bureaucratic stalling, just reasonable discussion followed by relevant action.

The Galaxy is a big place and humankind has filled it. All the alien-type creatures are really just evolved, devolved or changed humans. The many millennia of human expansion have also resulted in scientific advancement but with several gaps yet to be explored. This all adds up to a setting with scope, science, interest and variety... and plenty of humanity.

Many of the main characters are "pristine" humans, based on the original human genetic stock. These characters give us relatively simple associations, people with whom we can associate. For the more extreme amongst us -- we can associate with the "aliens", the modified humans.

In reality, the modified humans are stereotypes given vastly altered shapes. The ESPers are small, cute and hairy. The traders are lean, bald, almost rubbing their hands together as they do a deal. The brown and bear-like Mbata are peaceful lovers of their land who speak Bantu. Stereotypes and, mostly, two dimensional.

Still, this is science fiction: no room here for three-dimensional characters!

There's action a-plenty, great (or do I mean greatly exaggerated) science and good ideas. Here, for example, is a vat-bred super-soldier from a long-extinct culture: why does he help the heroes? There is the super-computer in a box: is it really "just" a computer? And -- as with plenty of good science fiction -- there are big ideas which are fully grounded in today.

What happens when one nation invades another? Do the original citizens -- now second-class citizens on their own world -- have any rights? In a democratic Commonwealth but with limited travel rights, how can they get a fair hearing?

Plus, largely in an appendix, there is an overview of the Commonwealth. Is this just background reading? Or is it the authors' extra emphasis on the way in which they believe that a democracy could be organised... At the very least, it can make the reader think.. and that is the sign of good science fiction.

Science fiction. Human scale. Planetary action. Galactic scope and current relevance. All good.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Poison Master / Liz Williams

The Poison Master

category: gothic, fantastic, science fiction!?, author:

Liz Williams

published by Bantam Press,
original copyright 2003, read in July 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Quite an... unusual book. In a good way!

It's science fiction. No question. Yet the science is, well, mystical! Presented as science -- from the era of mysticism, astrology, philosopher's stone for transmutation... and counting angels on a pinhead. Very strict scientific from the very early days of scientific discovery. The author is "the daughter of a Gothic novelist" -- so, I decided, The Poison Master may itself be "Gothic"... whatever that means :-)

The heroine is an apothecary. As she breathes in the fumes (or otherwise ingests) the various potions of her trade, she communicates with the spirit of the potion. Clever idea! She is able to follow, influence, ignore, listen to and occasionally direct, the spirit. The apothecary's art includes the ability to interact with these spirits.

The various planets are influenced by the basic elements: a hot planet of "fire", a swampy planet of "water" and so on. Aliens from another dimension are the Lords who rule planets. They appear to the more religious humans as angels. This is science fiction as it could be written by an alchemist.

The action is, perhaps, a little weaker than the science. On the other hand, it is a book of the human spirit overcoming obstacles, rather than bashing over obstacles. Good guys and bad are not always as they seem, baddies are defeated rather than exterminated, the heroine wants to save her world but that does not stop her from saving her friends.

When the bad guys are defeated it is revealed that they were glad to be sent back to their own dimension. The heroine has dreamt of the happy life ahead once she has rescued her family. Then the family demonstrate that they are uncrushed by past suffering, by setting off on their own visions for a happy future. A happy ending with no predetermined dream ending!

I enjoyed this book. Reading required some concentration at first -- the unique science needed to be followed. Then I slipped into the world and read happily to the end.

Strange, distinctive, enjoyable, good.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Echoes of Earth / Sean Williams & Shane Dix

Echoes of Earth

category: science fiction, authors:

Sean Williams & Shane Dix

book 1 of The Orphans Trilogy
published by Voyager, original copyright 2002, read in June 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Okay, here's the idea: Human minds are copied into a computer then spend a century flying to another star system. There, they are given alien artifacts including an FTL spaceship; they could fly home in two days. So what do they do? (btw: FTL = Faster Than Light.)

Well, John Carter of Mars would have leaped into the spaceship and rescued a beautiful, scantily-clad princess by lunchtime. Richard Ballinger Seaton would have analysed the FTL drive, upgraded to Skylark FTL and rescued an entire civilisation (whose people are all beautiful and/or handsome and can see no point in wearing clothes), all within a couple of days. Even Bilbo Baggins would have used the spaceship, possibly to escape from the Sackville Bagginses...

The characters in Echoes of Earth... call a management meeting to discuss the question. The meeting can barely agree to put a flight plan proposal to the rest of the crew, with a vote on future use of FTL spaceship to be put to a general but non-binding vote, perhaps in a week or two, for further consideration by management.

What a load of time-wasting rubbish!

The whole book is like that: slow.

Worse yet... After endless debate on whether or not they should use the free FTL spaceship, they leap with almost no discussion into use of the alien FTL communicator. And -- here's a plot spoiler -- use of the FTL communicator is the one thing that they should not have done!

Several years ago I picked up the second book of this trilogy. I read the brief "what came before", the summary of book 1, Echoes. I read the summary of book 1 and thought, Good grief! that's ridiculous! ... and decided to not read book 2.

I've now read book 1. The plot is actually not as bad as the summary indicated. It is just... soooo... sloooooowwwww.

It's not really a bad book. Just slow. Doc Smith could have crowded the entire trilogy into a far more exciting, single volume. And still had enough great storylines for two more volumes.

Read Echoes to pass the time. Its ideas may make you think. But it may just put you to sleep. And the characters will make you want to kick them into doing something -- anything -- rather than just sit around in endless, tedious, wondering-what-will-happen-next discussions.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.