The Waking Engine / David Edison

The Waking Engine
by David Edison

fantasy

copyright 2014
"read" in June 2015

rated 4/10: bad but could be read

I rate this book as "bad but could be read" -- even though I couldn't be bothered finishing reading it. It's not unreadable. Just stupid.

I don't like any of the characters. Don't really dislike them, either. They are just creepy people who would be avoided at a cocktail party. And who act weird... though I suspect that it's meant to be mysterious. Or possibly even significant.

It's possible that this whole book is intended to be both significant and meaningful. For as much as I could be bothered reading -- two chapters -- it is pointless and meaningless. And somewhat nasty.

I did skip to the end, read just the last page or two. The main character says, Well, I gained a few skills but I didn't really do anything... So, nothing to look forward to. Confirmed my decision, to stop reading.

You may like to read the entire book, just so that you can tell me how good it was ! Please... don't bother.

Night of Knives / Ian C. Esslemont

Night of Knives
(Malazan Empire #1 ?! )
by Ian C. Esslemont

fantasy

copyright 2005
read in June 2015

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Wham ! Kapow ! Flash ! Bang ! ... and all the rest of the comic book indicators of exciting action !

Yes, this book is fantasy action at its most fantastic and its most active ! Is there a character who is less than a superhero ? Or superheroine ?! Should I stop using so many exclamation marks ?! Oh... Okay.

On the island of Malaz there are a few thousand ordinary people. Their role is to hide in their houses while the super-people -- and superpowers -- fight for power. It's exciting, it's fun, it's totally over the top.

Pure escapist fantasy ? Violent and blood-soaked ? Confusing but satisfying ending ? All of the above.

Confusing ? Very.

This book is "the first instalment" of the Malazan Empire. I take that to mean that, after many Malazan books, this "new" one is the earliest in Empire chronology. So, you may be thinking, this book will explain the back-story...

Wrong.

My impression is, that this "first instalment" uses a number of characters from "later" books. Uses, but does not introduce.

Characters pop up from all sorts of mythical realms. With all sorts of mythical powers. All sorts of mythical aims in "life". Are we supposed to know them ? I hope so... The alternative is, that the author has used a grab-bag of characters whose only role is to add threat or solve problems by deus ex machina.

I prefer to think that many of these characters have continuing roles in other Malazan books. Which makes the " first instalment " claim both misleading and -- to the occasional reader of Malazan -- annoying.

Still, no worries.

This book is a rollicking yarn of gore and magic and heroics. The plot rolls along quite nicely, with logic gaps filled by super-beings who appear, save a hero (for no obvious reason), then go back to their mysterious, very important, unexplained, day jobs.

The bad guys (we didn't really meet them), triumph but not really. The other bad guys (who we did meet) wipe each other out. Yet another bad guy is pushed back into his prison cell. The invasion of the entire race of bad guys is thwarted. Though a pointless epilogue seems to indicate that those bad guys are just misunderstood good guys.

The hero goes back to his boring day job. The heroine gets a job offer.

Are you as confused as I am ?

It's entertaining and incomprehensible. The death toll is extreme yet no innocent bystander is harmed. The ending is quite satisfying but meaningless. Or, possibly, pointless.

The book may be an essential gap-filter for the fans. For the rest of us, it's just read-and-forget fantasy fun.

Touch / Claire North

Touch
by Claire North

science fiction, science thriller

copyright 2015
read in June 2015

rated 9/10: really, really good

Science fiction? Science thriller? This is another book which could be either, or both... But who cares?! It's just a very good book!

In the tradition of SF the author considers a specific ability and says, what if...? What if someone did have this ability? And builds a story round the answers.

First up... If one person has the ability -- why not others? So how do they interact? How do they interact with the rest of the world?

All the answers are built up into a story which is very, very believable. And very, very unexpected.

The hero (or heroine, mostly, I think...) has an ability which gives her effective eternal life. Great! Yet not so great... The side effects are surprising -- yet completely realistic. This book takes an interesting idea and builds it into a very good story.

And yet...

I was a bit disappointed with the ending. Okay, I accept the reasoning. It just seems a bit... Nice. Over sweet? Perhaps I was expecting something more violent?!

I was a bit disappointed by the ending. In hindsight I can accept it. But it was not at all a cop out ending... Somewhat sad, very satisfactory, and another dimension to the what if.

A really, really good book.

Dawnthief / James Barclay

Dawnthief
(The Raven #1)
by James Barclay

fantasy

copyright 1999
read in June 2015

rated 8/10: really quite good

Is this Barclay's first novel ? It's really quite good !

Okay, it does drag a bit. Especially at the start, the first quarter of the book. There seems to be a lot of discussion, a lot of interaction between the characters.

Although... now I come to think about it... there were several fights before the one that I see as the first major action scene. Was I just looking for a quick, mind numbing bit of fantasy action ?

No... I think that the problem is, it's hard to see how the regular discussions tie in to the plot. Character development is good. Irrelevant character development becomes tedious. In that first part of the book I could not see that the discussions -- character development ? -- were advancing the plot.

Especially when characters were suddenly killed !

No worries... This book is still, really quite good...

How do you mix sword and sorcery, without one overwhelming the other ? You have them fighting together... supporting each other... sword and sorcery working together.

Very good !

The magic itself is interesting. Powerful but with limitations. Energy sapping, just like any other exertion. Ranging from simple to ridiculously complex -- but I never thought, this is ridiculous. The underlying methods just make sense.

Generally likeable characters... Despite their bickering, the main characters were all loyal to the group and supportive of their friends. On the other hand, none were likeable enough for me to really, truly, hope that they lived through to the end of the book... Though I may have been influenced by seeing several characters die before I could really get to know them.

There are one or two very clever lines. I particularly like, "Well, I guess we shouldn't hang around here here waiting for the end of the world. Let's go and create it for ourselves." :-)

Overall, it's a good solid book with action, adventure and characters that you can grow to like. Plus a clear plot which makes sense. And there is a clear and satisfying ending -- with lots of room for the next books in the series.

I'm not in a desperate rush to read more Raven books. But I'll be glad if I find some more, in my next search for something to read.

The Gospel of Loki / Joanne M. Harris

The Gospel of Loki
by Joanne M. Harris

fantasy

copyright 2014
read in May 2015

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Myths and legends tend to be a bit disjointed. Especially the ones about one particular character. The stories are told, invented, exaggerated. Over hundreds of years. A story from one culture will be adapted to suit a character from another culture.

The result is a hodge-podge of stories, linked loosely if at all.

The myths and legends around Loki are, no doubt, a typical hodge-podge of stories. Harris has taken a selection of those stories and tried to build a single novel.

It just doesn't work.

It's still a hodge-podge. It's not a novel. It's a series of loosely connected stories.

Loki himself is given a reason for his trick loving nature. He's given a reason for his decision to seek revenge. Ho hum. The reasons are lightweight, throwaway, inconsistent. Like the stories, the character of Loki is disjointed. A different character trait for each story. Not building a complete picture. Just different. Unrelated.

Other characters come and go. Most of them are two dimensional... or less.

This book is a retelling of legends. It needs a lot more depth, better characterisation... and more effort in continuity.

It's easy to read.

But it's still just a series of only loosely related stories.

Mind's Eye / Paul McAuley

Mind's Eye
(follows White Devils)
by Paul McAuley

science thriller / science fiction

copyright 2005
read in May 2015

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Science thriller ? Science fiction ? What's the difference ?!

This book claims to be a thriller. And... yes, it's about an apparently ordinary person -- plus a few friends -- versus a seemingly all-powerful secret organisation. Yet it's all driven by almost believable science. Yet it's set today... And the science is ancient -- a sure sign of a thriller.

Science fiction ? Science thriller ? I suspect that the key difference is the target market. Thriller is in, science fiction books are still niche.

No matter ! It's a good book :-)

But what's all that about, "follows White Devils" ?

As far as I can tell -- without having read Devils -- this book follows the same science. With several common characters.

There are references to the past... but no clear statement. Which is very annoying. Though I'm annoyed at the simplistic deception by the publisher, not the author. Mind's Eye stands alone -- but perhaps it would be even better if I had read the first book ?

All by itself, this book is well worth reading. But I do get annoyed when there is no indication that this story follows another. Mind you, it's worse when a book is in the middle of a series and fails to finish...

Enough of the penny ante griping ! What about the book itself ?!

It's a most enjoyable book !

There are a lot of characters who just come, play a part, then go. Surprising how many talented friends and family there are. Especially since the hero is rather reclusive...

Although... on another tangent... is there really a hero ?

There are two potential heroes. Possibly three. They each drive a part of the story -- deliberately, unavoidably or nervously. They interact well... Both as drivers of the plot and as human beings... And I like that.

The three heroes (or heroes/heroine) like each other and support each other. Not always willingly, not always with good grace but... the main thing is... they would not throw each other to the wolves.

James Bond could be a more effective hero. These characters are more likeable. More human. More believable.

The plot is straightforward, linear. The action is adventurous -- on the edge of unbelievable. The science is... well, I'd believe it more if it came out of a secret mind control lab -- rather than from ancient cave art ! Still, the origin of the science is essential to the plot. And it does make it more science thriller than science fiction.

Oh, and you know the way that a science thriller always destroys the only source of the super prehistoric science ? As a cover story for why we haven't actually heard of it before ? Well...

Mind's Eye has a far better ending.

The final confrontations, then the afterword wrapup -- are excellent.

A good book. With a better class of ending.

Well worth reading.

Quag Keep / Andre Norton

Quag Keep
by Andre Norton

fantasy

copyright 1978
read in May 2015

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

Okay, I don't play Dungeons & Dragons. Perhaps the category for this book should be "fansonly" -- rubbish, though fans may enjoy it. Nooo... It's not rubbish. Just boring.

A quick check of wikipedia: Quag Keep was the first D&D novel. And these novels make money, where the scenario rule books don't. So, okay, it's not easy to know how to start...

Quag starts with some D&D players being whisked off to the land of fantasy. Seven players, according to wikipedia. I was not interested enough to count them.

But so what ?!

There's a bit of reference to their real-world personas... Then they decide that it's better to just live in their new fantasy world... Which makes the real-world reference almost pointless. Well... totally pointless.

As a D&D imitator, there are several set piece battles, linked by incident-free travel. Great fun if you're a player, boring for a reader.

The characters each have their own special powers. The book comments, for example, on the special powers of elves -- with no further explanation. Great for an elf player -- who can choose to use the most applicable power -- but boring for the non-aligned reader.

Perhaps it's worth reading this book as the first of its kind...

There are plenty of D&D books which do it a lot better.