Tag: fiction

Book Review: Day of War by Graham

Day of WarDay of War by Cliff Graham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I snagged this novel from one of the Barnes & Nobel free Friday offerings for Nook owners. A Christian fiction, with heavy emphasis on Bronze Age/Early Iron age military tactics, retelling or ‘filling in the blanks’ of David and his warriors (and Jonathan and his army).

In his Note to the Reader, Cliff Graham references 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11 as inspiration for his retelling of David and his ‘Dirty Dozen.’ He warns the reader about the battle violence and after-battle pillaging and plundering, although compared to some of the dark fantasy I’ve read, Graham did an admirable job restraining himself from too much gratuitous violence or sex.

He modernized the language (both internal and external) to such a degree that I found it distracting. And he repeatedly lapsed back into passive voice, despite his riveting active voice fight scenes. A compelling read, but I’m not the intended audience (which probably requires a lot more testosterone than I have flowing through my estrogenized veins).

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Book Review: Leviathan by Westerfeld

Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this in mid June 2011 as a member of the Fantasy Book Club group read. A quick, easy read, as I expected from a young adult novel, and one of my first (if not the first) steampunk stories. I learned quite a bit about pre-World War I Europe through my tangential research to better understand the alternate view of those events presented by the author. I definitely related to the Clankers, one of the political powers of this world represented by the familiar Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The Darwinists, on the other hand, fascinated but left me queasy (similar to how I feel now about genetically modified flora and fauna). The inevitable intertwining of the two worlds from our two protagonists provided good action and drama, and some character development, but the ending just frustrated me. If you don’t like very abrupt cliffhangers, you might want to have the sequels, Behemoth and Goliath, on hand when you finish Leviathan.

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Watching the Hugos … Live and in Color … on My Nook

I have been so busy with home remodeling projects I completely forgot about the Hugo Awards ceremony Saturday night.  Not that I could have attended in person, since I was safely in Kansas and not attending WorldCon in Reno, Nevada.  After a long day of window and swatch shopping and incremental steps forward on a couple of renovation projects, I stumbled into bed.  Before nodding off, my nightly routine includes a quick check of four mobile sites via my Nook Color – my e-mail, RSS news feed reader, Facebook and finally Twitter (and sometimes the weather if it’s thunderstorm season).   Several people I follow (authors mostly) were simultaneously posting about the Hugo Award ceremony, occurring at that exact moment and some of my bookworm Twitter friends posted they were watching the ceremony live via the WorldCom Ustream video feed.  I clicked on the link in one of the Tweets and connected to the live video stream.

And for the next ninety minutes (and into Sunday morning), I watched somewhat choppy video (probably my fault since my master bedroom is as far away as I can get from my wireless access point without leaving the house) and listened to the presenters (Robert Silverberg was hilarious!) and acceptance speeches (some of these folks need professional help or less partying and more sleep) from my Nook Color.  If you’d asked me twenty years ago when I embarked on a career in Information Technology if I’d be watching something like the Hugos (or any live event) on a small color touchscreen tablet, I would have probably snorted in disbelief.  Such technological wonders came from the minds of Star Trek writers.  Oh me of little faith.

Below are the results from my four favorite categories:

Best Novel (Presented by TimPowers)

I read 3/5 of the Best Novel nominees (click on the title links to peruse my reviews).  I’m glad Connie won (again … this is her eleventh Hugo) for her massive and excellent novel.

Winner: Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

Best Short Story (Presented by David D. Levine)

Each of the title links below take you to a discussion thread at the Beyond Reality GoodReads group that also includes a link to the story.

Winner: “For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
“Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
“The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (Presented by Bill Willingham)

The only film I did not watch this past year was “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” which I’d never heard of until I saw the trailer via the awards ceremony stream.  I’m satisfied with the winner, as Inception definitely made me think and wonder for days after watching it.

Winner: Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner)
How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (DreamWorks)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright (Universal)
Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (Presented by George R. R. Martin)

I watched all the Doctor Who episodes listed, and would have had a devilsh time deciding which was the best.  I’m partial to the ‘A Christmas Carol’ episode from last December,  but the other two were equally well done.  I apologize for the crude language below, it’s the actual title of the work.

Winner: Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor,” written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales)
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury, written by Rachel Bloom; directed by Paul Briganti
The Lost Thing, written by Shaun Tan; directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures)

 

And for the true math geeks (myself include) who want the nitty-gritty number-crunchiness stats, here’s a link to the Hugo voting overview.

Book Review: Consider Phlebas by Banks

Consider PhlebasConsider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

My first attempt to read Consider Phlebas began a couple of years ago. I made it to the fifth chapter and abandoned the book. This past June, the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club selected Consider Phlebas as the science fiction group read. The discussion leader provided two avenues for discourse: by topic or by chapter. I opted for the chapter course, hoping that by only absorbing one chapter per day I might actually finish the novel. Some chapters made better lunch reading than others (for example, if you’re squeamish, you might avoid the sixth chapter, or at least avoid masticating and digesting dinner while reading it).

With my support and therapy groups ready and willing to urge me on, I reluctantly consumed a chapter a day and finished my first (and perhaps last) Culture novel. Many of my thoughts and comments can be found in the discussion threads here.

Banks’ writing style lent itself to rich cinematic visualizations, especially of some of the action sequences (escaping from space ships, orbital rings, runaway trains). Those images, created by Banks’ prose and my own imagination, are forever seared into my memories, some of them as vivid and visceral as a strobe light flash in a Halloween haunted horror house.

My most intriguing find resulted from the epigraph which quoted two lines from T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and directly relate to the title and the tone of the novel. My research lead me to further contextual reading in The Waste Land to include the entire section surrounding the epigraph quote:

IV. DEATH BY WATER

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

I found few likable or relateable characters, with the exception of the robots and Minds (Banks’ AI permutation). Knowing nothing of the Culture prior to reading Consider Phlebas, and in light of the quote above, I can understand and appreciate the author’s endeavor. Just not my cup of tea.

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Space Opera Showdown without the Corral

September is Space Opera month at the five thousand strong (and growing) SciFi and Fantasy Book Club on GoodReads.  Wikipedia offers this definition of Space Opera:

Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to “soap opera” (see below). Perhaps the most significant trait of space opera is that settings, characters, battles, powers, and themes tend to be very large-scale.

Sometimes the term space opera is used pejoratively to denote bad quality science fiction, but its meaning can differ, often describing a particular science fiction genre without any value judgement.

So help us choose from among these excellent contenders and make our September space opera adventure glorious!

Pandora's Star by Hamilton
Pandora's Star by Hamilton
The Tar-Aiym Krang by Foster
The Tar-Aiym Krang by Foster
Heir of Empire by Zahn
Heir of Empire by Zahn

A Deepness in the Sky by Vinge
A Deepness in the Sky by Vinge
Downbelow Station by Cherryh
Downbelow Station by Cherryh
Leviathan Wakes by Corey
Leviathan Wakes by Corey

NPR’s Fun Summer Popularity Contest for Science Fiction/Fantasy Fans

NPR Books: Top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Books
NPR Books: Top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Books

Sixty thousand of us (and by us I mean fans of science fiction and fantasy novels) helped NPR in a completely unscientific endeavor this summer.  We nominated our favorite science fiction and fantasy novels, then we voted, and now the results are in.

Follow this link for a printable version of NPR’s Top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Books and this link for the less printable, but more eye friendly list, including book covers.

I also enjoyed reading an article at NPR written by Glen Weldon about parsing the results.  The most gratifying tidbit reinforced my belief in all things Tolkien.

Who among us can read a list like this one and not, on some level, chafe against it? But that’s okay. Lists like this one are not meant to be definitive, but to spark discussion and debate.

— Glen Weldon

As if I needed an excuse to add more books to my already toppling to-read pile!  Still, I encourage everyone to review this list and read one, some or all of them.

Ad astra per aspera!

Searing Summer Reads: The Third Third

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows Sirius A, the brightest star in our nighttime sky, along with its faint, tiny stellar companion, Sirius B.

Sirius rising before or with the sun, so the ancients believed, caused the ‘dog days’ of summer.  The term ‘dog days’ only obliquely refers to our four-legged furry friends; and more directly points to the Dog Star (aka Sirius), the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major.  I cannot confirm or deny Sirius’ proximity to our sun, thanks to the record-breaking heat and humidity scorching the Heart of America and hazing the eastern horizon in the pre-dawn night.

Appropriately, Monday, the 1st of August, 2011, marks another Ozone Red Alert Day in the Kansas City metro area.  My new central air conditioning system barely cycles while the sun shines.

I received word from my hubby that the leather chaise lounger we purchased a week ago at Nebraska Furniture Mart arrived undamaged.  The delivery guys wrangled it upstairs to my new library, where I hope to spend many cool evenings reading the final third of my hot summer reads.  Almost immediately upon the heels of the phone call about the furniture delivery, my husband sent me a text message to let me know the roofers had finally arrive (again on the hottest day of the month so far) and stripped the old shingles off in less than an hour.  By the time I return home, I may have a new roof.  Ironically, a representative from our insurance company stopped by (before the roofers but after the furniture delivery guys had left) to take photos of the property.  Terry tried to explain to him that the roof was about to be redone (how prophetic his words became), followed immediately by the driveway (complete rip out and re-do on it as well).  I just hope the interior designer we scheduled an appointment with for this evening can envision and inspire our remodel despite the normal chaos.  And it will be after the sun sets tonight before I can relax and enjoy my new lounger in my new library with one of the following sizzling summer reads:

The SciFi and Fantasy Book Club at GoodReads started Red Mars for the August science fiction selection.   From the book blurb:  “Brilliantly imagined, breathtaking in scope and ingenuity, Red Mars is an epic scientific saga, chronicling the next step in human evolution and creating a world in its entirety. Red Mars shows us a future, with both glory and tarnish, that awes with complexity and inspires with vision.”

My most anticipated reads beckon from my favorite book club, the Beyond Reality group (also at GoodReads).   Our illustrious leader, Stefan, noted in his Welcome to August 2011 post our serendipitous C.J. Cherryh group reads for both science fiction and fantasy.  I started Foreigner this morning and plan to read The Fortress in the Eye of Time soon after.   I am most excited about reading all of the Honor Harrington novels (see my previous posts campaigning for David Weber’s series to overcome Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files).

My other two book clubs, Fantasy Book Club and FBC Series, continue to serve up excellent reads and discussions.  I jumped the gun on the August read for FBCS by finishing Mistress of the Empire on Saturday.  But I renewed the Black Prism, checked out earlier in July from the KC Public Library.  As soon as I finish The Snow Queen, I’ll start reading the latest from Brent Weeks.

Most of these books sport astounding cover art by two of my favorite cover artists:  Don Maitz and Michael Whelan.  My permanent collection of the Empire Trilogy and Magician (Apprentice and Master) includes the editions with cover art painted by Don.  Of those five covers, my favorite is probably this one:

My hardcover of The Snow Queen does not have a dust jacket with the famous Michael Whelan cover art, but I needed some MW eye candy:

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention cover artist David Mattingly, painter extradonaire of both the Honorverse and Darwath.   Of all the Honor covers, this is probably my favorite:

Of necessity, I kept my August summer reading to a bare minimum.  I will sacrifice about a week of reading time at the end of the month to drive to Atlanta and attend the 25th iteration of Dragon*Con.  And if I though it was hot in Kansas, I can’t wait to melt away in Hotlanta with fans and friends of fantasy.

Get Your Hot Summer Book Swaps Here

Due to the Ozone Red Alert Warning for today, I’m staying inside and at home today.  This leaves me no excuse but to tackle projects I’ve neglected for weeks if not months.  Overnight I received a BookMooch request to send a book to a Californian, so it got me thinking about my physical book inventory.   Once I found the book requested for BookMooch, I packaged it and addressed it sitting in my new library.  I grabbed a stack of books I’d set aside as abandoned and started adding them to my GoodReads swap site.  And now that I own a Nook Color, I want to see less physical books on my physical book shelves to make room for the more ephemeral ebooks on my virtual shelves.

Book Review: The Summer Tree by Kay (4 Stars)

The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2011

I took quite some time to warm-up to this earliest novel of Guy Gavriel Kay. I just couldn’t get excited about five Canadian college students agreeing (with the exception of one malcontent … but there’s always got to be one rebel) to be whisked or warped or rifted or transported (take your pick) to the world of Fionavar just to attend the king’s jubilee. Thrust into a seemingly medieval setting, complete with court politics, royal succession quandaries, manipulative magicians, kingdom-wide drought and blight and an approaching storm of vengeful evil, these young men and women adapt readily and a bit unbelievably. Even the initial loss of one in the crossing barely causes a blip of concern once the remaining four become embroiled in the avalanche of events bearing down on the kingdom.

Of all the characters, both from our world and Finovar, I respected Dave the most as well as Sharra (and I hope to learn more about her in the rest of the series). Paul seemed to excel at doing the right things for all the wrong reasons. Kimberly went native almost before leaving Earth, but Kevin remains an enigma to me. I barely glimpsed Jennifer’s tribulations and fear for her fate.

I saw the influence of Celtic mythology throughout Kay’s worldbuilding and drew parallels with other epic fantasies prevalent and popular in the late 70s and early 80s (Tolkien, Lewis and to a lesser extent Brooks).

I suspect I missed reading the Fionavar Tapestry in high school and early college because I had to rely on what I saw at the grocery store book/magazine aisle, since I didn’t have access to a library or a book store and GoodReads wasn’t even a gleam on the Internet’s nascent horizon. Had I read this series then, I am confident I would have added it to my permanent re-read collection. While The Summer Tree and the rest of the Fionavar Tapestry will remain on my shelves besides Kay’s other later great novels, I doubt I’ll be tempted to re-read it. Not with Tigana or the Lions of Al-Rassan enticing me to return and relive the wonder and the glory.

For further insights, please visit the discussion threads at the GoodReads Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club held in June 2011.

The Beyond Reality group at GoodReads started reading the entire series, The Fionavar Tapestry in mid-January 2014.

Book Review: A Shot in the Dark by Stewart

A Shot in the Dark (Jesse James Dawson, #2)A Shot in the Dark by K.A. Stewart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

A Shot in the Dark continues a few months after A Devil in the Details, with Jesse James Dawson mostly recovered from his last demon death-dance and tornado tango, but still suffering from nightmares of an earlier near-fatal demon fight. His annual Colorado camping trip with his buddies should provide ample opportunity for rejuvenation and recreation… What should have been a relaxing retreat quickly turns into a siege reminiscent of the Alamo . . .

A Shot in the Dark provides a good mystery, a few thrills, a new take on zombies, MacGyver-esque innovations in demon fighting and a peek into the true identity of Jesse’s favorite demon sidekick, Axel (hint: read To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust or Milton’s Paradise Lost). This is a strong sequel to last year’s A Devil in the Details and a great summer vacation read. Just don’t forget the holy water, mirrors and swords.

Read more at FantasyLiterature.com

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