The Genesis Code / John Case

The Genesis Code

(category: thriller)
by

John Case

published by Arrow Books in 1997
Nick read a library book, in February 2010

Nick's rating: 8 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

A good, solid thriller... An artificial insemination expert upsets the Catholic church. While church leaders discuss how upset they are, a splinter group takes action. When that action involves murder of the sister and nephew of the founding owner-manager of a private investigation agency -- things start to heat up. Actually, the heating is very slow... It's a bit James Bond-ish, with the hero eating seven course meals at fancy restaurants, staying in luxury hotels and visiting scenic and historic sites across Europe. Easy enough reading but it failed to add to the plot. No time wasted on the romantic subplot, though: it only appeared in the last quarter of the book. Over-the-top characters but many of them were very likable... with an unfortunate tendency to die suddenly. Also, most of the deaths were "off screen" -- I don't like graphic violence! Sure, I can see some negatives. But it was more plausible and exciting than The Lost Symbol (which was similar, sort of) and the ending was -- okay, predictable -- but satisfying. And the last words of the epilogue were horribly cliched but absolutely fitting. I liked it.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

The Immortals / Tracy Hickman

The Immortals

(category: science fiction)
by

Tracy Hickman

published by Penguin Group in 1996
Nick read a library book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 7 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

I don't like near-future science fiction. For one thing, it's too easy for me to disagree with the short-term directions assumed by the author. For another -- like 1984 -- the date comes... and goes. The Immortals is set around 2010, which makes it hard to accept the predictions -- since they have clearly not come to pass. All that said, I enjoyed this book. Perhaps "enjoyed" is not quite right -- it was uncomfortable, it made me think, I don't believe (or don't want to believe) that people could be so nasty... All that said, the warning was clear and strong, the overall message was positive and the ending was positive yet unhappy, and undeniably real -- given the story's premise. The final message is also -- to use a cliche -- thought provoking: Death may be inevitable but it is important to be remembered. A well-written book, examining one aspect of... well... man's inhumanity to man.

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These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

Blood / Tony Shillitoe

Blood

(category: fantasy)
book 1 of Ashuak Chronicles by

Tony Shillitoe

published by HarperCollins in 2002
Nick read a library book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 7 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

An enjoyable book though a little violent. Well, quite a lot, violent. Sword and sorcery with the emphasis on sword. Still... the overall theme is, that niceness and non-violence is better and -- possibly by the end of book 3 -- niceness and non-violence will have won. The hero is staunch, skilled and lucky. As he demonstrates his essential niceness, potential enemies become his friends. Good, cliched fun. One very good point: the chapter introductions -- the few words, not part of the story, at the start of each chapter -- are actually relevant! Another good point: yet another Australian fantasy author.

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These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies / Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

(category: horror)
by

Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith

published by Quirk Books in 2009
Nick read a new book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 7 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

What a ripper! Pride & Prejudice with -- you guessed it! -- added zombies! I love P&P and have read it several times. This "extended" version is almost as good. It claims to be P&P word for word, with zombies added and just enough changes to make sense. The plot certainly matches my own memory of the original. Though that is also a weakness in the new book... The zombies do not at all add to the plot. For a short while I hoped that there would be a "zombie solution" but no. This is simply P&P with added zombies. The P&P plot is as enjoyable as ever. The zombie environment is written well, humorously tongue in cheek, a "realistic" background to the main story. But that's it: the zombies are just background -- or decorative -- material. I would really have liked to see some zombie story-line. Still, I guess that that's as pointless as wondering how the war went (what war was it?!) for the soldiers in the original P&P. Ah well. Zombies added, to encourage modern readers to read a classic novel. As good as the original, with more. Afterthoughts: Was P&P&Z easier to follow than P&P? Has there been some updating of ideas that are no longer common knowledge? If so... if it had been done without zombies... I would have complained. If there have been changes for a modern audience then -- strangely enough -- I am glad, because it gives extra life to P&P. But only because the zombies make it, in effect, a totally different book... What a strange reason to accept the modernisation of a classic!

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

On / Adam Roberts

On

(category: science fiction)
by

Adam Roberts

published by Gollancz in 2001
Nick read a library book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 3 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

This book reinforced my understanding of "hero" vs "protagonist"... The main character is definitely a protagonist. He grows up in a small village, where he is regularly beaten by his mother. He leaves the village by accident, then life just gets worse and worse.The book demonstrates a series of "civilisations" -- each worse than the other. Things just happen to the protagonist: mostly bad things. Friends and acquaintances all get killed, in increasingly bizarre ways. The physics of the world is finally revealed -- hastily, near the end. The boy finally decides to do something -- pointless and futile. Then he falls back into his preordained fate -- which is never really explained. One reviewer writes, "leaves a taste in your mouth." Sure... a taste like vomit. The author claims it is a story of "precariousness". More like "pointless misery". Written after a difficult period of his life, says the author. An exercise set by his psychiatric therapist, perhaps. Depressing. Pointless.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

The Truthsayer's Apprentice / Deborah Christian

The Truthsayer's Apprentice

(category: fantasy)
book 1(*) of Loregiver by

Deborah Christian

published by Tor / Tom Doherty, New York in 1999
Nick read a library book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 6 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

Play Dungeons & Dragons and be inspired to write a book... That's what the author writes in the introduction. Well, I guess, why not? It's a competent book with interesting variations on the standard characters (priest, thief, warrior, paladin, etc) and standard races (elf, dwarf, man, etc). There is confusion, though, with the regular references to past adventures. So there are plenty of characters who just appear, as though we should already know them... The character introductions are brief but okay -- but there are so many of them, so suddenly introduced. Ah well... a good adventure with pleasant characters. Good magic, definite deus ex machina!, and not too much physical violence.

(*) Everything indicates that this is "book one" -- except for the regular references to previous adventures of several main characters! Perhaps The Apprentice follows on from an earlier work... except that none of Christian's books could be a possible prequel. Ah well.

As for books two & three... not yet published. I get the impression (from the author's website) that she is very busy with a lot of interests other than writing...

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

All the Windwracked Stars / Elizabeth Bear

All the Windwracked Stars

(category: fantasy)
could be a standard Viking myth-world? by

Elizabeth Bear

published by Tor / Tom Doherty, New York in 2008
Nick read a new book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 5 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

Hmm... Not sure what to say about this book... It was a Christmas present, so I don't like to be too harsh -- but I think the author should write for readers rather than for herself. I guess that the book is a spin-off from the old Norse myths. A sort of post-Nordic-apocalypse story of survivor guilt. But really -- who wants to read about people with super-human powers as they struggle with guilt and inability?! At the end -- as far as I can tell -- the heroine saved the world. Possibly. By accepting the role of suffering for the world's sins, of being injured, damaged, destroyed as a reflection of the world's state. But if that's what happened -- why does she glow with good health as the world hits rock bottom?! Ah well. Perhaps it would make more sense if I had the author's deep knowledge of Norse mythology. But that should not be necessary -- in a "good" book.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.