Bone Song / John Meaney

Bone Song

category: fantasy, author:

John Meaney

book 1 of Dark Suspense
original copyright 2008,

read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

This... is a very weird world! Yet -- within its weirdness -- absolutely logical. If corpses did provide a power source... then this could well be the world that they power.

Better yet... not all the world is the same...

The action is centred on Tristopolis. The central power plant is an awful place... which is no surprise... it is haunted by the dead people who are being tormented to provide the city with power. The power station in the country of Illuria is equally awful... yet in a different way. The energy of the dead is extracted in a different way.

One fantasy world with a variety of self-consistent countries. The countries are inspired -- loosely -- by our own. With a passing reference to a fantasy book series where power is extracted from fossil fuels...

A dark world. Gothic. Yet very human... including the non-humans.

There is a touch of humour in Bone Song. Sometimes black humour, often cynical. The occasional quotable chuckle in a dark detective novel.

The cops are tough, determined and dedicated. Okay, they are very tough. They also work closely with each other, support each other, care for each other. It's easy to like them.

I liked the characters enough to be upset by the sudden death near the end of the book.

Still, that's just me: I like all the good-guy characters to survive...

This is a great book. I hope that there are more.

..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.

Opening Atlantis / Harry Turtledove

Opening Atlantis

category: fantasy, author:

Harry Turtledove

book 1 of Atlantis
original copyright 2007,
read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Ho hum. A history book.

Okay, it's called an alternative history book. Still starts out boring.

So here's a new very large island, halfway between Europe and America. It's uninhabited. The settlers decide to call it Atlantis.

So what?!

Sometime in the future -- perhaps in the second or third book of Atlantis -- there may be some impact on the world as we know it. So far, it's just settlers settling. And fighting.

The first section of the book -- initial settlement -- is really, really boring. It's a new land. There are new animals. No-one can explain why they are different to animals everywhere else in the known world. Doesn't stop the settlers killing the animals.

The second section is a battle of pirates versus settlers. A bit more excitement. Trouble is -- despite reading quite a few pages of the book so far -- we don't know the characters... Okay, we quickly learn about them. But anyone that we met earlier -- is dead.

Ditto with the third section: Descendants of original settlers fight it out. Quite exciting. Though the British fleet is so powerful that it can provide deus ex machina as and when required.

Am I supposed to be pleased that the British settlers wiped out the French settlers? Well, I'm not. Not that I have any preference for the French...

But wouldn't it be nice if the two groups could find some other way to settle their differences?

In the first section of the book, one settler uses his influence to prevent inter-settlement wars. That's nice, I thought. Perhaps Atlantis will be different.

But no.

Every native animal is being exterminated. Every native plant is being killed. Feral pests -- introduced from the home countries, deliberately and accidentally -- are taking over. Every accessible area of land is being cleared, populated, over-populated and polluted. Every person who is not "one of us" is hated, feared, conquered or killed.

It's a history of Australia...

It's a history of America...

It's a history of the human destruction of any part of our world...

So what's "alternate" about this history?

What Turtledove is saying is, Give humans any new piece of land and they will treat it like dirt.

Not an alternate history.

Just history as it happens. Everywhere.

Depressing.

Boring.

..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 Ninth Circle / Alex Bell

The Ninth Circle

category: fantasy, author:

Alex Bell

original copyright 2008,
read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

A man wakes up with no memory of who he is nor of how he lost his memory. A very bad start to any novel.

Sometimes it works, to have the reader follow the protagonist as he struggles to remember. Some very few times. For me, the amnesiac start is a turner-offer.

In Circle, the character is not particularly pleasant. He seems to be involved in some battle over the second coming... of Christ or the anti-Christ. Whoop-dee-doo. He may even be an angel, working with -- and against -- other angels. Other angels who still have their own memories. Boring, over-the-top, may work if you're seriously concerned over traditional good versus evil, and the second coming.
After a very slow fifty pages I start to read faster. Doesn't work... the book is still tedious. I jump ahead, almost 200 pages, to the final memory recovery.

Okay, the denouement is worth reading. Not worth reading the entire book to get there, but worth reading. An interesting idea.

Which then degenerates into a pointless battle with an inconclusive ending.

Really, when you are dealing with supernatural forces which can neither be killed nor defeated -- any story is bound to have an inconclusive ending.

There are, however, two aspects of the book that I do appreciate...

There is no such thing as absolute good, nor absolute evil. Though my impression -- from the bits of this book that I read -- is than Bell has taken that one step further: What appears to be "good" may be mostly "evil". And vice versa. Or, perhaps, what we see as "good" and "evil" is simply PR from creatures battling for their own selfish reasons.

And the second positive aspect?

I am left with the urge to visit Budapest, to see the sights and sculptures and magnificent memorials!
Though I may settle for a visit via Google Earth.

21apr18: 

I start reading again. Start... and give up.

Now that I've looked at my original review -- I agree. A main character who is easy to dislike. A lot of pointless worry as he fails to find his memory but manages to worry -- mostly about himself -- in a pointless and negative fashion.

Ho hum. This time I don't even bother to skip ahead; I'm not interested in how it ends. Nor even in how it develops, since I'm well short of a start let alone an ending.

On the bright side: Since the first review I *have* visited Budapest! And it is indeed a fascinating city! Well worth the visit.

Judging by the view out the windows of the main character's apartment -- he and I stayed in much the same part of Budapest.

Don't bother with this book. Do visit Budapest :-)

..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.

Collision Course / William Shatner et al

Collision Course

category: science fiction, author:

William Shatner, with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

book 1 of Star Trek Academy
original copyright 2007,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Okay, this is not great literature. I've said it before and I'll say it again: cliches are not all bad...

I mean...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: 8 out of 10 is my opinion. Based -- mostly -- on how much I enjoyed reading the book. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading Collision Course.

You have to admire William Shatner. He has taken to his role as ex-Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk. He has taken to it... but he has not taken it too seriously.

Better yet, he has written a pre-Star Trek novel which maintains the elements which made the original Star Trek great. Characters with high moral standards. With amazing -- unbelievable! -- skills. A lot of clever and intuitive problem solving by Kirk (and by Spock). Some fisticuffs and the ability to charm the socks off attractive women. (But only the socks...)

William Shatner "has written"...??

There are two co-authors. And a comment that this is "an imaginative work deriving solely from the author's personal vision." Perhaps Shatner simply added comments based on his memories of playing the role... Still. I'd rather he take advantage of his previous and most famous role. Rather than deny it. Or, worse yet, run it down. It's nice to have good memories untainted and unchallenged...

If you love the Start Trek characters -- the original Star Trek characters -- then you can't help but love this book.

On the down side, the "science fiction" aspect of the original series is a bit light on in this book. It's almost Star Wars: an adventure which happens to be set in a future world.

Still, who cares?! This is young Jimmy Kirk teaming with young Mr Spock to solve puzzles and beat the baddies! Sure, there are holes in the plot...

The starship is evacuated... Next minute the supposedly empty ship requests permission to leave dock... Permission granted... But who cares!

Just think, "Captain Kirk rules!" and sit back to enjoy the ride :-)

..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.

Original Sin / Allison Brennan

Original Sin

category: horror, author:

Allison Brennan

book 1 of Seven Deadly Sins
original copyright 2010,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I enjoy a book where the author happily throws out convention and invents their own mythology. After all, a novel is creative writing :-) Brennan has taken the standard "calling demons to Earth" story and built her own rules and methodologies.

aside: Though it does cross my mind that, perhaps, I have not read enough recent horror books to know what is now standard... So what?! This is a personal blog offering my personal opinions... I simply hope that you enjoy reading my posts -- opinions -- as much as I enjoy writing them :-)

Demons, it seems are all around us. Raise one and a host of others will be attracted by the ruckus. Well, why not? Not every demon will be successfully banished after its intended purpose is complete.

To add to the difficulty, magic is evil... The heroine can do magic -- she is a trained witch -- but she has realised the error of her ways. Evil demonic powers are the basis for magic so any use of magic is tainted by evil. Take that! all you Harry Potter fans!

Mind you, the heroes are constantly thwarting evil through the use of holy names, holy water and a quick prayer... So what is that if not magic?

The baddies are free to use evil magic as much as they like. The baddies also have their own people in key positions of power. The heroine spends as much time trying not to be arrested, as fighting straightforward black magic.

I wonder why the good-guy organisation has not also seeded positions of democratic power with its own minions of good? Perhaps the only people who can gain positions of bureaucratic power are those people who are inherently evil...

So it's a tough-yet-lonely -- and incredibly beautiful -- girl, battling the powers of evil and the legislatively-supported powers of the sheriff's office. With a small supporting cast, all fighting witches and demons, as they also battle their own internal demons... Simple fun, as they learn to use their powers for niceness and good.

This is an enjoyable book. With what I am beginning to think is a now-standard approach to backstory...

The backstory is revealed as the book progresses. But is it a backstory reveal? Or are these regular reminders of the previous book?!

There seems to be an entire novel in the backstory. Yet this is "book one" of seven. Have I missed book zero?

Or am I learning the new approach to writing... to provide an enormous history... which will only be presented as snippets in books one to seven.

It's confusing... but, hey, it works.

..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.

Chaos Space / Marianne de Pierres

Chaos Space

category: science fiction, author:

Marianne de Pierres

book 2 of Sentients of Orion
original copyright 2008,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This book was a sad disappointment.

It's entertaining. It's imaginative. There is action and adventure.

So why is it disappointing?!

It is simply one chapter of a continuing saga... There are incidents but no story. The book ends with cliffhangers but no conclusion.

The High Crusade / Poul Anderson

The High Crusade

category: science fiction, author:

Poul Anderson

original copyright 1960,
read in Sep 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

A small group of low level lords, plus all of their vassals and villagers, head off for the Crusades. Instead... they end up in space. Where they promptly begin to "civilise" various planets and peoples.

It's a lot of fun -- and a good book, too.

Is it just a little, well, unrealistic? Or is it possible that space is populated by aliens with not too many street smarts... Is The High Crusade an example of a book based on the natural superiority of the good ol' US of A?

Not to worry: it's a book based on the natural superiority of the British !

There are some interesting aspects to this book...