Tag: fiction

Book Review: Young Miles by Bujold (4 Stars)

Young Miles (omnibus edition) by Lois McMaster Bujold

4 out of 5 stars

Read in August 2009

The Warrior’s Apprentice

3.75 stars

Read as part of the omnibus edition Young Miles

I warped through this novel in record time, finishing almost before I realized it, because it was so much fun to read. I returned to the world of Barrayar and the Vor to pickup Miles at age seventeen. And how much trouble can one 17 year old “cripple” get into in say four months time? An astonishing amount apparently.

I am grateful that I first read Cordelia’s Honor so I had the back stories and histories of some of the supporting characters and I fully understood Miles’ disabilities.

Miles makes up for his physical disabilities with intelligence, logic and grace seemingly far beyond his years. My only small quibble with the story was Miles maturity – he felt more like a 37 year old than a 17 year old.

I will refrain from a synopsis to avoid spoilers. If you love space opera, pirate-like adventure or Robin Hood-esque escapades and secret/alternate lives and identities, then you’ve come to the right novel.

The Mountains of Madness

3.75 stars

This novella was sandwiched between Warrior’s Apprentice and The Vor Game in the omnibus edition entitled Young Miles.

It occurs three years after the end of Warrior’s Apprentice. Miles has graduated from the Imperial Service Academy and is home on leave before receiving his first assignment. A back country woman from the Dendarii mountains has come down to the lowlands demanding justice, as is her right, from her Count in the murder of her “mutant” infant. Miles’ father deputizes him as his Voice to investigate and dispense justice. Miles’ disabilities make him uniquely and ironically qualified to flush out the murderer.

Not much science fiction or space opera in this story, but plenty of mystery and hillbilly conservatism and ignorance. Miles excels at the logic and deduction necessary to uncover the culprit. He also find a justice that speaks to all the generations of the Silvy Vale.

The Vor Game

3.5 stars

I read this as part of the omnibus edition Young Miles.

We return to Miles while he and Ivan are collecting their first duty assignments after graduating from the Imperial Security Academy. Miles yearns for ship duty. Ivan receives his orders stationing him in the capital at ImpSec HQ. Miles orders send him to the farthest reaches of the Barrayar arctic as the weatherman for Kyril Island. Miles questions his assignment, especially since he only took one perfunctory meteorology course his first year of academy. He learns the duty assignment is a test to see if he can work with, lead and be led by common (not Vor) soldiers. If he passes, his carrot is ship duty on the newest ship-of-the-line, the Prince Serg.

Miles’ insubordination plays a major them in this story. He stumbles into the most improbable situations and then believes only he is capable of finding a way out of it, ignoring the advice and orders of his colleagues and superiors. It doesn’t help that he actually does succeed in saving the day.

I enjoyed the action and intrigue, including more space opera elements, especially in the climactic space battles for control of various strategic wormholes. Parts of the story bogged down, though, especially after Miles removal from the arctic and subsequent detention. And I almost stopped reading when I had to suspend belief almost completely regarding the unlikely scenario of Miles finding Gregor off-planet and working as slave labor on a space station.

It was a fun read, but not as fun as Warrior’s Apprentice, yet it won the Hugo in 1991. To date, I’ve read four novels in Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. I recommend this book as well as the series to all loves of space opera.

Book Review: Cordelia’s Honor by Bujold (4 Stars)

Cordelia’s Honor (omnibus edition)by Lois McMaster Bujold

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2009

Warning: Spoilers

Shards of Honor

I read this as part of the omnibus edition entitled Cordelia’s Honor.

Cordelia Naismith is the “Juliet” to Aral Vorkosigan’s “Romeo.” Star-crossed (galactically speaking) lovers separated by time, space and politics but thankfully without the suicidal tragic ending.

Cordelia spends six days as Aral’s prisoner on a planet her team was surveying for her home colony Beta. During that time, the inevitable occurs and they fall in love. Circumstances prevent consummation, so unrequited love prevails as they part the first time.

Her second encounter with Aral results in the more traditional prisoner of war scenario, although he did manage to rescue her from torture and rape by a deranged officer. She spends weeks as a prisoner, ironically back on the planet she was originally surveying, having little or no contact with Aral until the prisoner exchange negotiations complete. A second proposal of marriage, their first kiss, but the stars are just not aligned.

Cordelia returns home, more exhausted from avoiding psychotherapy from her escort, only to be further “tortured” by her own employer, the military. Since she is not a civilian, she can’t refuse treatment. Cordelia’s vision of democratic bliss crashes in on her and she escapes back to Barrayar and the political cesspool of their Empire … and Aral.

Cordelia finds Aral at the Vorkosigan estate, committing slow suicide by alcoholism. She saves his life by accepting his marriage proposal. All is bliss until the Emperor plays his final card on his deathbed, asking (actually commanding) Aral to be the Regent for his heir.

I liked the story of these two characters. The action, adventure, intrigue and romance were all well done, just not always convincing.

The science part of the science fiction was very much in the background – weapons, defense technology, pilot-navigation computer interfaces, etc. – all essentially unexplained but assumed to be plausible.

I’ll be reading the Hugo winning Barrayar, the second half of the omnibus edition Cordelia’s Honor, starting today.

Barrayar

I read this as part of the omnibus edition Cordelia’s Honor. Barrayar is an impressive, richly layered, multifaceted sequel well deserving of the Hugo award it received in 1992.

I warmed to Cordelia as she struggled with the culture shock of her adopted Barrayaran world. Her observations contrasting life on Beta with the sometimes barbaric and backward Barrayar society lent credibility to her actions.

Even though the first book, Shards of Honor, had more traditional science fiction elements, like space ships, wormholes, advanced technology and weaponry, Barrayar felt more convincingly like science fiction. I really connected with Cordelia, the marooned egalitarian Betan in the ocean of Barrayar Imperial political intrigue and corruption.

As the author notes in her Afterword, much of this story is devoted to different variations on motherhood. Perhaps that is what appeals to me the most. So many children at risk, even from their own male family members, and so few women to guard and protect them.

Book Review: The Curse of Chalion by Bujold (4 Stars)

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

4 out of 5 stars

Read in February 2009

Warning: Spoilers

This was my first taste of Lois McMaster Bujold and I will definitely be back for me. While the magic was very understated and there were no fantastic creatures or races to mark this as a fantasy, nonetheless it was a fantastic tale of dynastic misfortunes, political machinations and self-sacrificial secretaries.

Cazaril was the embodiment of a humble intelligent man seeking respite from his wearing and near fatal travels. We meet him on the road, walking back to Valendra, fondly remembered from his days there as a page. His hope is to be hired on as a lowly scullery, but fate or the gods, have much grander plans for Cazaril. The Provincara remembers him and assigns him to her granddaughter’s household, Iselle.

Just as Cazaril is settling into his secretarial and stewardly dutes, the Roya Orico, rules of Chalion, bids Iselle and her brother, Teidez, his Heir, to attend him at his court in Cardegoss. They travel to the fortress Zangre, where they are wined and dined by the corrupt courtiers, especially the Chancellor dy Jiornal’s son, Dondo. Eventually, much to the shock of Iselle, Orico forces a betrothal between Dondo and Iselle with a wedding to follow in just three days. Iselle rails against it, petitions heaven, fasts and determines she would rather die than wed the odious Dondo. Cazaril spends the last day before the wedding attempting to assassinate Dondo, but fails to get close enough. He decides instead to attempt death magic, which if successful, would result in the death of Dondo, but also of himself.

Since Cazaril awakens on the morning of the wedding, he assumes that his death magic has been unsuccessful. He returns to his rooms, where he remains due to an unexplained sickness which weakens him almost to insensibility. He is rudely awakened by the Chancellor, dragging the Roya Orico in his wake, and demanding to see Cazaril, whom he is convinced murdered his son by death magic. Since Cazaril is alive, he obviously couldn’t have been the murdered. From this day forth, Cazaril can see strange auras around various people – a black clinging shadow to Orico, his wife Sara, Teidez and Iselle; a white aura around the menagerie keeper, Umgaut; a green order around a midwife of the Holy Mother’s Order; and the foggy gray remnants of forgotten ghosts in the fortress.

After seeing the white aura around Umgaut, Cazaril discusses his predicament and learns that he has become a “saint” of the gods, specifically the Daughter and the Bastard. His illness is a tumor created by the Daughter, encapsulating the soul of Dondo and the demon the Bastard sent to retrieve Dondo’s soul. It continues to grow, slowing, and every night Cazaril hears the screams of Dondo around the time when the death magic occurred, shortly before midnight.

In order to thwart the next move by the Chancellor to further squander Iselle’s marriage prospects, she orders Cazaril to journey in secret to Ibra to propose a marriage contract with the Fox’s heir, Borgan. She proposes that they be equals in each domain and that their heir shall inherit the empire of Chalion-Ibra. The journey is long and arduous, but Cazaril’s wit, cleverness and intelligence wins him through. He negotiates the treaty and returns, again as secretly as possible, with Borgan to Valendra, hoping to outfox the Chancellor’s spies and army.

Within a day’s ride of Valendra, they encounter the army of the Chancellor, but also receive word that Iselle has escaped to her uncle’s fortress nearby. Cazaril and Bergan arrive safely, and Iselle and Bergan are married a few days before Daughter’s Day. Unfortunately, the curse of Chalion not only remains after the consummation of the marriage but has spread to Bergan. Cazaril is chagrined and distraught.

There is not much time to ponder this predicament before the Chancellor invades the Daughter’s Day ceremonies with the intention of widowing Iselle. He is distracted when he sees Cazaril and proceeds to skewer him in revenge for his son. He succeeds only in piercing the tumor, releasing the demon, which takes not only Dondo’s soul, but the Chancellor’s as well. Cazaril’s soul is also caught up in the vortex.

Just as he did when performing the death magic, Cazaril submits completely to the will of the gods, in this case the Daughter, allowing her to enter the world through his death and remove the curse of Chalion. In return, the Daughter return’s Cazaril’s soul to his body, allowing him to live again, having tied twice in the service of the gods and Chalion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale and felt the morals of self-sacrifice, humility and submission were well thought and told. Cazaril’s very human struggle, his doubts and his ultimate release of will reminded me of the saying “Let go and Let God” which is much harder to do than it sounds.

Book Review: Master and Commander by O’Brian (4 Stars)

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian

4 out of 5 stars

Read in March 2009

Warning: Spoilers

This is the first of twenty novels in the Aubrey/Maturin series where we meet Jack Aubrey, master and commander of the sloop Sophie and Stephen Maturin, ship’s surgeon of the same vessel. Their friendship has a rocky start and seems perplexing to me. Stephen is a scientist and a naturalist, exceedingly curious about avians and reptiles, and agrees to embark as the Sophie’s surgeon with the understanding of furthering his research and studies. Jack Aubrey, on the other hand, has his sights set on attaining a promotion to post captain as quickly as possible. While he is at ease on the deck of his sloop, Jack often stumbles while ashore, committing social gaffes that inhibit his political prospects.

The Sophie is missing several sailors and a key officer when Jack is awarded her. The Admiralty assigns James Dillon as his lieutenant. Surprisingly, Stephen knows James from the United Irishmen, a rebel uprising they were both involved in. This shared background also causes tension and a point of honor issue for Dillon about midway through the tale. Dillon is forced to choose between loyalty to the Irish and loyalty to his captain and it very nearly tears him apart.

The first third or so of the book is devoted to getting the crew, officers and sloop in top running order. At first, the flood of nautical terms was nearly too much for this landlubber, but with the help of Wikipedia, I managed to make sense of them. By the end of the book, I was becoming quite enamored of them.

The Sophie is cruising around the Mediterranean intent on take prizes – other ships that are French or allied with French – and has a great run of luck initially. But Jack falls afoul of an Admiral thwarts Jack’s headlong rush to post captain. As a direct result of the Admiral’s severely limiting orders, Jack finally meets his match against three French ships-of-the-line. After throwing the guns overboard and all the stores in a vain attempt to out run the French ships, the Jack strikes the colors of the Sophie and surrenders her.

It’s almost anticlimactic after this point. Jack and his officers, including Stephen Maturin, are held as prisoners and are eventually sent to Gibralter for a prisoner exchange, after which Jack will face court-martial for losing his ship. The trial and the verdict are the ending of the novel.

The author claims to have taken many of the battles and engagements directly from the naval log entries from the Napoleonic period. Again a case of truth being strange or at least more interesting than fiction.

I enjoyed this nautical adventure. I can’t say that I was drawn to any of the characters – I didn’t feel their pain or anger or despair – but I did enjoy the ride.

Book Review: His Majesty’s Dragon by Novik (4 Stars)

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

4 out of 5 stars

Read in November 2008

Why do I love tales of adventure on the high seas? Is it because I’ve always lived in Kansas, thousands of miles away from the ocean? And the icing on the cake? Dragons!

We meet Captain Laurence as he’s defeated and captured the French ship Amerité. Within its hold is a peculiar and very precious cargo, which Captain Laurence transfers immediately to his ship, the HMS Reliant. The Reliant‘s surgeon confirms the cargo is a dragon egg. Due to the recent stormy weather, which blew the French ship off course, the egg is hardened to the point of imminent hatching. Captain Laurence gathers his officers to discuss their options. The dragon egg is too great a prize for England to let the hatchling turn feral, so Laurence has his officers draw straws to present one of them as a handler for the dragon. However, the dragon, once hatched, has other ideas and refuses everyone … except Laurence. Laurence names the dragon Temeraire and their adventure begins.

Laurence immediately resigns or transfers his commission as Captain to his second lieutenant and spends the time on the return voyage to England in caring for Temeraire. Once they arrive in England, Laurence and Temeraire are transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Corps to being their training immediately. England may dominate the oceans with her Navy, the Napoleon waits across the channel with 100,000 men and his own dragons, waiting for the perfect opportunity to invade.

Naomi Novik does a fantastic job of drawing me into the early 19th century. She weaves the existence of dragons and their military applications into our history flawlessly and believably. I am looking forward to reading more of this series.

Friday (May 3, 2013) Steal:  Ebook edition on sale for 99 cents!

Book Review: Furies of Calderon by Butcher (3.5 Stars)

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in July 2010

The first half and the end (last chapter or two) reminded me strongly of young adult fantasy fiction. Only the core of the book dealt with mature adult choices and consequences. World building sacrificed to action for the most part. No one character grabbed me. Of the cast, Tavi and Isana rose to the top.

The burgeoning romance between Bernard and Amara stretched my belief. Why would a widower, a decade celibate, pine over a young teenager? Otherwise, Bernard proved to be a steady, upstanding, heroic figure for the plot.

I also became annoyed by video game-like healing and non-death. Basically, if you didn’t lose your head (think Highlander), you could survive even the most fatal of wounds, thanks to the water fury crafters. Without a real death threat for any of the main characters, I quickly became jaundiced to their fates.

Tavi, being fury-less, journeyed the farthest as a character, having the most obstacles to overcome by his wits, skills and strengths alone.

With respect to the Aleran Empire, which bears a shocking resemblance to the Roman Empire even down to the use of Latin names and words, I did not feel the political corruption at a visceral level, like I did in Gardens of the Moon or A Game of Thrones. The epic quality for this fantasy series didn’t manifest for me in this first volume of Codex Alera.

The vilest elements involved the backwater steadholder secretly torturing slaves right under the noses of his neighbors. I’m thankful Butcher restrained himself from showing or telling overmuch about Kord’s obsessions, leaving my imagination to fill in the horrifying blanks.

I may read the next volume, or not, depending on if it falls into my hands easily enough (like, say, through a swap or a mooch). I’m not compelled to follow Tavi through school at the Academy (yet another YA aspect I’m not fond of). The fate of another empire hinging on the seemingly untalented (magically speaking) young ‘chosen one’ lost it’s shine a couple of decades ago with Eddings’ Garion.

Book Review: The Diamond Throne by Eddings (5 Stars)

Diamond ThroneThe Diamond Throne by David Eddings

5 out of 5 stars

Originally read in 1990 (but re-read many times since)

Besides Terry Brooks, David Eddings is the only fantasy genre author I can get my husband to read. Who could resist dialogue dripping with sarcasm and wit and satisfying action adventures? I read Eddings when I want a respite from deep-thinking convoluted epic fantasy. Eddings makes me laugh and always provides a rollicking romp through strange lands on a heroic quest to save the world. All very predictable but also very enjoyable.

The Diamond Throne has one of my all-time favorite characters – Sparhawk. He’s a curmudgeon of a knight who should have retired years ago but is too stubborn to stop. And no one else has the heart or gumption to tell him otherwise.

May 1, 2013 Update:  I decided to relocate this review to my blog from GoodReads on this specific day because today, May Day, is my husband and I’s anniversary.  This book was published and I read it at least two times before we celebrated our fifth year together.  Twenty-seven years later, this series is still just about the only fantasy fiction I could get Terry to read.  Sadly neither of us will ever read anything new from David Eddings again, since four years ago this June, he passed away.

Book Review: The Book Thief by Zusak (5 Stars)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

5 out of 5 stars

Read in April 2009

This book is outstanding and well deserving of its many awards. Even better, it is classified as young adult fiction. And I hope one day, soon, The Book Thief is read and taught in classrooms around the world … because everyone should read this book.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up and come of age in Nazi Germany during World War II? Not as a Jew, but as a German citizen – a foster child recently bereft of her younger brother.

Lisa’s coping mechanism is to steal books. In fact, her first theft occurs at her brother’s funeral. One of the cemetery workers drops The Gravediggers Handbook in the snow and Lisa snatches it up. Later, her new “papa” teachers her to read using this stolen book.

Her most daring theft occurred at a Hitler Youth Rally book burning. She rescued The Shoulder Shrug right out of the bonfire!

The story is narrated by Death who is the ultimate book thief. He stole Lisa’s autobiography when he collected her soul many years after the war. He has read her story so many times, the pages are crumbling in his hands. He admits at the end of the story that he no longer needs the pages because he’s memorized it from re-reading it so often.

I hope you will follow in Death’s footsteps and steal this book and remember it always.

Book Review: The Gods Hate Kansas by Millard (4 Stars)

GodsHateKansascoverThe Gods Hate Kansas by Joseph Millard

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2008

Even though this story was at times corny and a bit dated scientifically, it was a fast and enjoyable read. Only took me a couple of hours, but it was time well spent.  In fact it took me much longer to acquire a copy to read, through interlibrary loan.

Originally published in 1941 (and I didn’t read the original version that appeared in a science fiction magazine), this alien body-snatching story had a few new twists to what some may consider old and cliche.

Now I’ll have to add the 1967 move They Came From Beyond Space to my Netflix queue to see how well this novel was adapted.

Besides, I felt compelled to read a book about my home state — Kansas!

Ad astra per aspera!

Latin for “To the stars through difficulty!”