| The Coldest War, by Ian Tregillis |
[15 May 2013|10:00pm] |
An alt-history in which demons and supermen threaten Mutually Assured Destruction.
 Tor, 2012, 352 pages
Someone is killing Britain's warlocks.
Twenty-two years after the Second World War, a precarious balance of power maintains the peace between Great Britain and the USSR. For decades, the warlocks have been all that stand between the British Empire and the Soviet Union-- a vast domain stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the English Channel. But now each death is another blow to Britain's security.
Meanwhile, a brother and sister escape from a top-secret research facility deep behind the Iron Curtain. Once subjects of a twisted Nazi experiment to imbue ordinary humans with extraordinary abilities, then prisoners of war in the vast Soviet effort to reverse engineer the Nazi technology, they head for England.
Because that's where former spy Raybould Marsh lives. And Gretel, the mad seer, has plans for him.
As Marsh is drawn back into the world of Milkweed, he discovers that Britain's darkest acts didn't end with the war. And as he strives to protect Queen and country, he's forced to confront his own willingness to accept victory at any cost.
The sequel to Bitter Seeds fast-forwards from World War II to the Cold War.
Verdict: A great sequel, and a book that makes me eager to finish the trilogy. Mixing superpowers, magic, and alternate history in a very grim world of 1963, The Coldest War is a fast-paced bombshell of an adventure not afraid to threaten to destroy the world.
Also by Ian Tregillis: My review of Bitter Seeds.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| Ship of Fools, by Richard Paul Russo |
[09 May 2013|09:19pm] |
The crew of a generation ship encounters an alien vessel that practically screams "Get out!" so of course they poke around.
 Ace Books, 2001, 370 pages
Home to generations of humans, the starship Argonos has wandered aimlessly throughout the galaxy for hundreds of years, desperately searching for other signs of life. Now a steady, unidentified transmission lures them toward a nearby planet, where the grisly remains of a former colony await the crew. Haunted by what they have seen, the crew has no choice but to follow when another signal beckons the Argonos into deep space — and into the dark heart of an alien mystery.
Scarier than Alien and hella smarter than Prometheus.
Verdict: I sometimes make fun of books that seem to be Hollywood-bait — "Please, please Ridley Scott, option me!" — but dayyum, Ship of Fools would make an awesome, pants-shittingly scary movie. This is the manuscript that Prometheus should have been.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| Deadline, by Mira Grant |
[05 May 2013|11:49pm] |
Book two of the Newsflesh trilogy is a thrill-ride like the first, though the twists and turns had me cocking my eyebrow a bit more.
 Orbit, 2011, 420 pages
Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has.
But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news - he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead.
Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun.
Things can always get worse, even after a zombie apocalypse.
Verdict: The Newsflesh trilogy is a real page-turner. Even if the story sometimes stretches credibility (come on, it's zombies!), there aren't a lot of books I've read lately that make me want to zoom through them so quickly. Deadline has a few weaknesses that make it slightly less convincing than the first book, but I'm still eager to read book three.
Also by Mira Grant: My review of Feed.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan |
[22 Apr 2013|11:17pm] |
Dashiell Hammett + William Gibson in a noir cyberpunk thriller which is better than most.
 Del Rey, 2002, 526 pages
In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched 180 light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats "existence" as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning.
Yes, it's everything Requires Only That You Hate said it was, but it's still pretty entertaining.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| Kris Longknife: Mutineer, by Mike Shepherd |
[14 Apr 2013|10:05pm] |
Privileged brat becomes a space navy ensign in a perfectly mediocre generic space opera.
 Ace Books, 2004, 389 pages
Kris Longknife is a daughter of privilege, born to money and power. Her father is the prime minister of her home planet, her mother the consummate politician's wife. She's been raised only to be beautiful and marry well. But the heritage of the military Longknifes courses through Kris' blood - and, against her parents' objections, she enlists in the Marines.
She has a lot to live up to and a lot to prove in the long-running struggle among her powerful family, a highly defensive - and offensive - Earth, and the hundreds of warring colonies. Then an ill-conceived attack brings the war close to home, putting Kris' life on the line. Now she has only one choice: certain death on the front lines of rim space - or mutiny.
Rah rah courage honor duty loyalty Daddy issues.
Verdict: Passable, average, decently but not thrillingly written, I wanted to be more enthusiastic and there's nothing about Mutineer to make me give it a really negative review, but I just can't muster much enthusiasm about it. It's pure generic space opera with a pretty generic heroine, so the best recommendation I can give it is that it will fit the bill if you are in the mood for that kind of thing.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| Coyote, by Allen Steele |
[09 Apr 2013|09:25pm] |
A novel of interstellar exploration.
 Ace Books, 2002, 400 pages
Coyote marks a dramatic new turn in the career of Allen Steele, Hugo Award-winning author of Chronospace. Epic in scope, passionate in its conviction, and set against a backdrop of plausible events, it tells the brilliant story of Earth's first interstellar colonists - and the mysterious planet that becomes their home...
The crime of the century begins without a hitch. On July 5th, 2070, as it's about to be launched, the starship Alabama is hijacked - by her captain and crew. In defiance of the repressive government of The United Republic of Earth, they replace her handpicked passengers with political dissidents and their families. These become Earth's first pioneers in the exploration of space...
Captain R. E. Lee, their leader. Colonel Gill Reese, the soldier sent to stop Lee. Les Gilles, the senior communications officer, a victim of a mistake that will threaten the entire mission. Crewman Eric Gunther, who has his own agenda for being aboard. His daughter, Wendy, a teenager who will grow up too quickly. Jorge and Rita Montero, ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. And their son Carlos, who will become a hero in spite of himself.
After almost two-and-a-half centuries in cold sleep, they will awaken above their destination: a habitable world named Coyote. A planet that will test their strength, their beliefs, and their very humanity...
In Coyote, Allen Steele delivers a grand novel of galactic adventure - a tale of life on the newest of frontiers.
Not quite a SF classic, but deserves to be well-regarded.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| Mars, by Ben Bova |
[10 Mar 2013|07:29pm] |
Rah, rah, Mars or bust!
 Spectra, 1992, 502 pages
This grand epic adventure from six-time Hugo Award-winning author Ben Bova tells the irresistible story of man's first mission to that great unconquered frontier, Mars. Technically plausible and compellingly human, Bova's story explores the political, scientific, and social repercussions of our greatest quest yet: the search for evidence of life beyond Earth's boundaries.
Half-Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman has been selected for the ground team of the first manned expedition to our mysterious neighbor planet. Joining an international team of astronauts and scientists, he endures the rigors of training, the dangers of traveling an incredible distance in space, the challenges of an alien landscape, and the personal and political conflicts that arise when the team must face the most shocking discovery of all.
Space exploration is pretty much dead, but we can still read about it.
Verdict: Definitely a good book to read for any fans of classic SF and lovers of space travel (or the idea of space travel). There's no fantasy here, nor a lot in the way of glittering prose; Mars is an interesting contrast with Ray Bradbury's more imaginative and evocatively-written but far less believable Martian Chronicles.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury |
[04 Mar 2013|08:52pm] |
Colonialism on another planet: haunting, lyrical, and cranky.
 Bantam/Spectra, 1950, 181 pages
Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike. Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars - and in that instant, Mars conquered him. The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever. Here are the captivating chronicles of man and Mars, the modern classic by the peerless Ray Bradbury.
Earthmen ruin everything.
Verdict: A sci-fi classic every science fiction fan should read at least once. The Martian Chronicles is not an epic or even a series of adventures; it's Ray Bradbury musing about how Earthmen ruin everything, and intentionally or unintentionally saying a lot about cultural imperialism and colonization. Fine prose almost makes up for its flat vision of a future ruled by unimaginative, homogeneous men from Green Bluff.
Also by Ray Bradbury: My review of The Illustrated Man.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson |
[27 Feb 2013|09:15pm] |
A steampunk sequel to the Mistborn trilogy.
 Tor, 2011, 325 pages
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds. Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion.
Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.
After 20 years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.
Brandon Sanderson is the most overrated author I keep reading.
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| The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood |
[26 Feb 2013|09:39pm] |
Once upon a time, a country went wrong.
 McClelland & Stewart, 1985, 324 pages.
After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred, now a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules in hopes of ending this oppression.
Less feminist polemic than an intimate examination of the mechanics of dehumanization and oppression.
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| Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks |
[22 Feb 2013|10:16pm] |
An action-packed galactic space war by a literary author who thinks very highly of his SF.
 Orbit, 1987, 429 pages
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.
Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.
Pretty much what it says on the tin. A well-written space opera is still just a space opera.
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| Book Review: Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn |
[23 Dec 2012|02:12pm] |
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She is in so much trouble.
Kay is free-climbing a mountain, which she is allowed to do – but she is climbing alone, and that’s a no-no. She’s climbing in a remote location, another no-no. If (when) she gets hurt, it will take a long time for help to reach her.
Even worse...
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| Neuromancer, by William Gibson |
[10 Dec 2012|12:08am] |
The book that invented cyberpunk.
 Ace Books, 1984, 271 pages
Here is the novel that started it all, launching the cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. With Neuromancer, William Gibson introduced the world to cyberspace--and science fiction has never been the same.
Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price...
Cyberspace, the Matrix, deckers and street samurai, it all started here.
Verdict: Neuromancer is the original "cyberpunk" novel. It defined cyberpunk. It's got a voice and an edge and you will recognize every single trope in the book because it was the trope definer. I found it entertaining but mostly unremarkable, the characters flat, the plot something that's been imitated into unoriginality. It was worth reading, but I've given Gibson several chances to impress me, and he doesn't that much. Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive can just stay on the shelf. But I will remain thankful to Gibson for Shadowrun and Neal Stephenson.
Also by William Gibson: My review of Pattern Recognition.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| November Review Round-Up |
[02 Dec 2012|11:24am] |
Here are the reviews posted during November. Please note, this is not a comprehensive list of books I read in November, but rather the books I had the time to review before month's end.
1) Philippa Ballantine, Spectyr: It's a Gamble
2) Elizabeth Bear, Range of Ghosts: Good Read
3) M.M. Buckner, The Gravity Pilot: Good Read
4) Jane Rogers, The Testament of Jessie Lamb: Excellent
5) Ilona Andrews, Bayou Moon: It's a Gamble
6) Sharon Lynn Fisher, Ghost Planet: Worth Reading, with Reservations
7) Troy Denning, Star Wars: Dark Nest I: The Joiner King: Worth Reading, with Reservations
8) N.K. Jemisin, The Killing Moon: Good Read
9) J. Michael Straczynski, Superman: Earth One: Volume Two: Good Read
As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
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| I Will Fear No Evil, by Robert Heinlein |
[16 Nov 2012|12:11am] |
What does a girl want? According to Heinlein: spanking, gangbangs, and washing dishes.
 Berkley Medallion, 1970, 512 pages
As startling and provocative as his famous Stranger in a Strange Land, here is Heinlein’s grand masterpiece about a man supremely talented, immensely old, and obscenely wealthy who discovers that money can buy everything.
Johann Sebastian Bach Smith was immensely rich—and very old. Though his mind was still keen, his body was worn out. His solution was to have surgeons transplant his brain into a new body. The operation was a great success—but the patient was no longer Johann Sebastian Bach Smith. He was now fused with the very vocal personality of his gorgeous, recently deceased secretary, Eunice—with mind-blowing results! Together they must learn to share control of her body.
Once again, master storyteller Robert A. Heinlein delivers a wild and intriguing classic of science fiction. Written at the dawn of the 1970s, this novel is the brilliantly shocking story of the ultimate transplant.
A man's brain in a woman's body may have been mind-blowing in the 70s, but Heinlein was sick in more ways than one when he wrote this.
My complete list of book reviews.
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| October Review Round-Up |
[06 Nov 2012|07:16pm] |
Here are the reviews posted during October. Please note, this is not a comprehensive list of books I read in October, but rather the books I had the time to review before month's end.
1) Seanan McGuire, Ashes of Honor: Couldn't Put It Down
2) Jo Walton, Ha'Penny: Good Read
3) Richard Kadrey, Devil Said Bang: Not My Cup of Tea (DNF)
4) Rae Carson, The Crown of Embers: Good Read
5) Ilona Andrews, Gunmetal Magic: Worth Reading, with Reservations
6) Ann Aguirre, Outpost: Worth Reading, with Reservations
7) Laura Bickle, Embers: Worth Reading, with Reservations
8) Sarah Langan, Audrey's Door: Problematic, but Promising
9) Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There: Excellent
As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
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| Losers in Space, by John Barnes |
[26 Oct 2012|10:21pm] |
Nine annoying wannabe-celebrity teens stow away on a trip to Mars. Things go wrong. Most of them rise to the occasion.
 Viking, 2012, 432 pages
It is the year 2129 . . . and fame is all that matters
Susan and her friends are celebutantes. Their lives are powered by media awareness, fed by engineered meals, and underscored by cynicism. Everyone has a rating; the more viewers who ID you, the better. So Susan and her almost-boyfriend Derlock cook up a surefire plan: the nine of them will visit a Mars-bound spaceship and stow away. Their survival will be a media sensation, boosting their ratings across the globe.
There’s only one problem: Derlock is a sociopath.
Breakneck narrative, pointed cultural commentary, warm heart, accurate science, a kickass heroine, and a ticking clock . . . who could ask for more?
YA that does not suck! YA that has teens behaving like realistic teens, including teh sex! YA that is... full of infodumps.
Verdict: This is a fantastic book that would have been more fantastic without the author's only semi-successful attempt to lampshade the infodumps. Full of suspense, clever plot twists, humanity, and heartbreak, it is a great read in the spirit of the best Heinlein juveniles, and an example of YA SF occasionally gotten right.
My complete list of book reviews.
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