Thursday, March 28, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata




The Bohr Maker is the first novel in Linda Nagata's "Nanotech Succession" series, which consists of a series of stand-alones dealing with stories involving nanotechnology and related concepts/ideas.  Nagata's upcoming novel "Edges" and its "Inverted Frontier" sub-series is set in the same universe as this series, and I had a chance to read that book early (and reviewed it on the blog here) and really enjoyed it.  Edges was not the typical book I enjoyed, in that it was very concept-focused instead of character focused, and yet I really found myself enjoying it. As such, I was really interested in checking out the other Nanotech Succession novels to see how they measured up.

And the answer is: pretty damn well.  The Bohr Maker actually is a bit more character focused than Edges was, with two rather interesting and enjoyable leads (the third "lead" is not quite as good).  And like Edges it contains some really interesting ideas and concepts which it makes good use of.  The result is a very enjoyable novel that I'd recommend tracking down if you can find it, and I will definitely be trying to get the sequels at some point.


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Wednesday, March 27, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold



The Hallowed Hunt is the last novel (so far) in Lois McMaster Bujold's ongoing "World of the Five Gods" fantasy universe, which began in "The Curse of Chalion" and "Paladin of Souls" and has been continuing in her Penric novella series.  Like its predecessors, it's a stand-alone novel - taking place prior to all the other stories and in a different country - so it would work perfectly fine as an entry point to newcomers in the series.  And as I enjoy the Penric series and really liked the two prior novels, I had high hopes for The Hallowed Hunt.

For those who are new to this world, it features a fantasy counterpart of circa 1200-1500s Europe (though never named as such), and each book involves the interactions of human heroes, guided by a set of five gods who control the spirit world but need help from mortals to affect the "world of matter," as they deal with conflicts caused by curses, demons, and other supernatural phenomena, which affect both the physical world and the afterlives of those caught up in them.

 Anyhow, The Hallowed Hunt is rather enjoyable, even if I think it's the "worst" of the trio of novels Bujold has written in this universe - Bujold always sets a high bar.  Its main characters are solid, but not quite as great as prior heroes Cazaril and Ista (who are fantastic), but the side characters are excellent and Bujold's dialogue remains amazing as usual.  And I greatly enjoyed how the stakes of this novel, while still grand, were of a more personal/theological level than in the prior books, using the particularities of the setting to create a rather different sort of villainous scheme, which kept things fresh.  I'd probably recommend you read the prior books first before this one, but this is still a very solid novel even if you start here.

Note: As with much of Bujold's work, I read this as an audiobook.  The reader is not the same as in the prior W5G works, but she's still very good so it's not a bad choice for that format.  
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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Revolution's Shore by Kate Elliott




Revolution's Shore is the second book in Kate Elliott's* Highroad Trilogy, after "A  Passage of Stars" (Reviewed on this blog here).  I enjoyed that first book in this Space Opera trilogy, which felt very much like a prototype to some extent of later books in Elliott's career, but had enough distinct touches to be its own thing and rather enjoyable.  And since Elliott is one of my favorite writers still writing today (if not ever, honestly), I was certainly excited to see how this trilogy would continue to play out.

*Actually this book was originally published under her real name, but the rerelease I read has the "Kate Elliott" pen name on it, so I'll use that here in this review.  

Revolution's Shore is indeed a step up from A Passage of Stars honestly, with the book still seeming very reminiscent of some later books by Elliott (particularly the Spiritwalker trilogy), but also still having enough unique and different touches to be its own thing.  The story kind of settles its space opera plot down a bit here, with it being more focused on one of the two conflicts set up by the first book, but in doing so it features a cast of characters who tend to be rather interesting and very different - particularly in the heroine Lily and her love interest, Kyosti.  It doesn't quite hit that must-read territory of some of Elliott's other works, but it's been really hard for me not to download the finale to this trilogy immediately (which I really shouldn't due to already outstanding library books).

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Monday, March 25, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons




The Ruin of Kings is the first in a new epic fantasy series (titled A Chorus of Dragons), and I do mean the term "Epic Fantasy" in its most proper terms.  I've debated whether certain books I've read in the past really count as "epic fantasy" (the most modern example one thinks about is Game of Thrones/SoIaF of course), but there's no question here - this book is a tale of politics, magic, prophecy, gods, and destiny all tied together, as is often the case in the genre.  As is also often the case in this genre, the book is rather long - the hardback is roughly 540 pages long, and the text size is small enough that it feels like a significantly longer book than that.

But how much did I enjoy those pages is the real question.  And my answer is a bit mixed - the story is well paced, telling a dual narrative for most of it before a final act set in a single narrative, and the main character is enjoyable enough, and the story leaves some intriguing plot threads for the subsequent books to pick up.  On the other hand, none of the characters truly grabbed me as much as I wanted from an epic fantasy, resulting in me not caring as much as I wanted about what happened to them, and the book is kind of a bit confusing as to its mythology and overarching threat.  I'm intrigued enough to want to try out a second book, but not invested enough to truly want that book to come out soon, if that makes any sense.

Better explanations (I hope) after the jump:

TRIGGER WARNING:  Rape:  A major plot device is that people in this world can be magically enslaved by tearing out a piece of their soul and linking it to a control device.  While it's never shown on-page, needless to say, this does result in non-consensual sexual activity to put it nicely, including between two side characters of particular importance.  Fair Warning. 

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Thursday, March 21, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead




The Intuitionist was the first novel by Colson Whitehead, more famous now for his The Underground Railroad.  In that novel, Whitehead took the very real horrors of American racism, messed with the timeline a bit, and used a fantastical framing device (a literal underground railroad) to tell a really chilling and powerful story of the horrors of racism and oppression.  It was a very surreal way of writing and worked very well, and you can see the surrealistic form of writing as well in The Intuitionist - which is on its very outside surface a noir novel featuring elevator inspectors.

But as with his later work, The Intuitionist is a whole lot more than what it appears to be on the surface - a noir mystery novel featuring an alternate early 20th century NYC in which elevators are considered the marvels of technology and elevator inspectors are people of import and repute.   It's setting, characters, and plot are heavily metaphorical, with the ideas of the story having to do heavily with the struggles of people of color to deal with a world that only looks skin deep, and how they are often forced into reacting while striving for a potentially better tomorrow.   As such, it's a really strong novel, one which begs multiple rereads to really understand all that's going on.

Note: I'm using the word "colored" in this review because that's the word used in the book, not because such a term is proper. 


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Tuesday, March 19, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via winning a sweepstakes presented by the publisher on Tor.com.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way.  

 The Perfect Assassin is the debut novel from author K.A. Doore, and the first in a new fantasy trilogy that continues later this year.  As you can guess from the title, it's another novel in an increasingly popular subgenre, books about assassins (noble or otherwise), featuring issues involved with the ethics of that trade.  In addition, it seems very much to be a novel ostensibly based upon common elements of Arabian* settings.  None of these setting concepts are in any way original, but they do form a pretty solid background for a writer to work in.

*I'm using "Arabian" here instead of "Arabic" because the book felt very much like a Western book playing with Middle-Eastern elements rather than a book truly building upon Arabic/Islamic Mythology.  

 The Perfect Assassin uses these setting elements competently to form a solid book, but never really goes much farther than that.  Our hero is enjoyable but not amazing, the plot is cohesive and works quite well, and the book certainly never drags and moves at a really nice pace.  On the other hand, the plot is somewhat predictable (the main twist you will see coming immediately) and while predictable plots are not always a bad thing, The Perfect Assassin doesn't have the other plot elements or character work to really get past that barrier.  Again, this is a solid book, done incredibly functionally, but it doesn't really go beyond that.

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Monday, March 18, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders




The City in the Middle of the Night has some of the highest expectations to live up to possible for a SF/F book that's not part of a continuing series.  For those who don't know, Charlie Jane Anders (its author) is a pretty big name in the genre - founder of the blog, io9, writer of quite a lot of (and oft award-winning) short fiction - whose last book, All the Birds in the Sky, won the Nebula Award and came in 2nd by a tiny margin for the Hugo in 2017 - and deservedly so.  And with this book being compared by reviewers to Ursula K Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness* - with the book's hardcover including the blurb "This Generation's Le Guin" - the book has a ton to live up to.

*I didn't review it on here at the time, but I only read LHoD last year, and it really wasn't my thing.  So take that for what it's worth.*

Does The City in the Middle of the Night live up to said expectations?  Unsurprisingly the answer is "not, really" although the Le Guin influence is clear (as to me, is another clear influence, Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood).  But even separated away from those expectations, I didn't quite find this book as good as I'd hoped, with the book having a number of interesting ideas but not fully executing on many of them, and having some pacing problems that made it drag especially in the middle.  It's certainly an interesting book, I just don't think it's particularly good at how it explores its ideas - and these ideas are certainly not new, even if this particular combination is more unique.


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Thursday, March 14, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: That Ain't Witchcraft (InCryptid) by Seanan McGuire



That Ain't Witchcraft is the eighth novel in Seanan McGuire's "InCryptid" series, and the conclusion of this third* arc of the novels, the trilogy featuring Antimony Price that began with Magic For Nothing (Review Here) and was followed up by Tricks For Free (Review Here).  I've been a big fan of all of the InCryptid stories - from the short stories following earlier generations available for free on McGuire's blog (recommended), to the earlier books following Verity and Alex Price, but Antimony has been by far my favorite novel character - with Magic for Nothing being my favorite novel so far in the series.  So yeah, the capper on Antimony's first trilogy had a lot to live up to. 

*well, arguably fourth, but I'm counting Chaos Choreography (Book 5) with Books 1-2*

And for the most part, That Ain't Witchcraft lives up to that high standard.  The books before Antimony took over featured heroes who were fully formed characters, knowing for the most part what they want to do with their lives, who their friends were, etc (which is not to say there wasn't plenty of drama or romance in those books!).  But Antimony has been the first heroine this series whose development wasn't complete at its inception, and That Ain't Witchcraft continues and finishes (for now) her growth as her story comes to a conclusion.  And it's a really strong conclusion, so that even though my favorite InCryptid characters are still absent (no Aeslin Mice alas), it's definitely another strong installment and this series remains one of the ones I recommend quite highly.

(Quick Series Summary for those who somehow have missed out: InCryptid tells the story of a world where cryptids - animals/creatures/sentient-beings that can't be explained by science and are often though of as myths, like gorgons, chupacabra, etc. - are real, but have to live in hiding lest humans, such as the murderous Covenant of St. George, become aware of them and try to kill them for existing.  The series follows the Price Family, a family with former ties to the Covenant, as they attempt to help the Cryptid Communities while staying off the radar - and it's a lot of fun)


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Wednesday, March 13, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi



I'm going to start this review a little differently than normal, because it's necessary to explain a bit about what colored my opinions of The Gilded Wolves.  Followers on twitter or of this blog (like the 5 of them) know I read a books at a pretty crazy fast rate these days, averaging over a book every 2 days since the start of last year.  The result of this is that well, it's hard not to compare more recent books I read to older ones I've read, if not in my reviews, than in my head.  This is not really fair - while books may repeat ideas, concepts and tropes, they deserve to be generally reviewed based upon their own merits, as even the same ideas, concepts, tropes, or whatever can be put together in new and interesting ways, resulting in new interesting works that are equally valid forms of expression as the old.

All of this is to say that as I read Roshani Chokshi's "The Gilded Wolves," there were a few books that immediately came to mind as trudging through the same spaces, and I couldn't help comparing the books as I read.  This is unfortunate, because some of the books The Gilded Wolves called to mind are some of my favorite books over the past 2 years, and The Gilded Wolves just couldn't hold up to such lofty competition.  The book is definitely solid and ends on a solid sequel hook, but I was a bit disappointed with how it wound up in the end, and I worry that my review is too negative due to the comparisons, rather than due to the book's own merits.

More specifics after the jump:

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Tuesday, March 12, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo



The Night Tiger is another example of the SF/F genre where it's not quite clear to the reader how much fantastical elements actually are present ("Potentially Fantasy"?).  Unlike some other books of this type (for example, The Invisible Valley by Su Wei), there are clear fantastical elements here, but for the most part this is probably most appropriately termed historical fiction, set in 1930s colonial Malaysia (or British Malaya, as it was known at the time).  Which is certainly a setting that's different from most books I read, which is why it drew my interest.

As for whether I liked it or not....it's kind of hard to say, the Night Tiger is a weird book.  The story has three point of view characters (really, two and a half) and its two main characters have plotlines that intersect and yet...the two storylines never fully tie together really.  And while I found the setting interesting and liked one of those plotlines a bit, the result felt a bit uneven, even if it never actually verged on being bad.  I'll try and explain better after the jump.

Note:  One plotline in this book involves potential romance between two stepsiblings, so if that's an issue for you - I found it a little icky myself - this book may not be for you.
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Friday, March 8, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Implanted by Lauren C Teffeau




Implanted is a Cyberpunk thriller by Lauren C. Teffeau.  I don't read a lot of cyberpunk (although that's changed a little the last month or so), so I would definitely not call myself an expert on this subgenre.  But in general, I've enjoyed what I've read, with its ability to pose interesting ideas through its mechanics while still serving as a solid framework for thrillers and other scifi literature.  So when Implanted popped up on a recommended list somewhere I saw online, I bookmarked it for later purview - and it was available as a Hoopla audiobook, so I snatched it up this past month.

And I enjoyed Implanted quite a bit.  It's definitely a lot of fun, with a bunch of ideas being used to make a really quick paced thriller, a very solid main character and a plot that twists in ways that kept me guessing throughout.  On the other hand, it never really takes the leap from "fun" to truly "great," with the plot having a few issues along the way, and an ending that is just a bit too tidy.  Still, if you want a fun thriller, you could do a lot worse than Implanted. 

Note: I read this as an audiobook, and the audiobook reader is quite good.  So if you're looking for a book in that format, this is definitely a solid choice.  However, as a result, I'm very likely to screw up the spelling of names, so forgive me if you notice me messing up in that area.  
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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson




The Summer Prince is a Young Adult Science Fiction Novel by Alaya Dawn Johnson, featuring a future post-apocalyptic Brazil.  But while Post-Apocalyptic YA Scifi (or Science Fantasy hybrids) are rather common these days, The Summer Prince distinctly refuses to follow the typical conventions of this subgenre in quite a few ways.  And it's a book about love (both sexual and familial), sacrifice, representation, freedom, family, art and oh so much more and is not one for giving particularly easy answers where the questions it poses are concerned, and it's all the better for it as a result.

And oh does Johnson weave these ideas and unconventional take on this subgenre together to form a really fascinating and wonderful book.  The Summer Prince contains of multiple fantastic characters, particularly its three leads, and a setting that is really well done in the future city of Palmares Tres.  It has a three way romance that goes in ways you wouldn't really expect but is anything but antagonistic and while the ending isn't really a happy ending, it is indeed a satisfying one.  This isn't a perfect book, but it's really really well done and highly recommended.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2019

ScifFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Wicked King by Holly Black



The Wicked King is the second book in Holly Black's YA Fae Fantasy trilogy, "The Folks of the Air", following "The Cruel Prince" (which I reviewed here on this blog).  I've come to really enjoy much of the Fae Fantasy genre (i.e. Seanan McGuire's October Daye series, Mishell Baker's the Arcadia Project, etc.) and really did enjoy The Cruel Prince as a dark oft-surprising YA take on the genre.  That book ended with its heroine, a human girl taken into Faerie by her dangerous stepfather, temporarily on top due to her scheming, but with everything very likely to collapse at a moment's notice if she's not careful.  It was a pretty satisfying way to end the book in a way that also made me desperately want the next installment.

The Wicked King IS that next installment, and it does follow up The Cruel Prince well, with its excellent characters continuing through a naturally shifty and surprising plot up till a satisfying yet again tantalizing ending which has me waiting for the conclusion.  At the same time, while the particulars of the story were well done and hardly predictable, the very format of the story in terms of flow was the same as in the first book, and the book doesn't really expand this world at all.  The result is that the book didn't really have much momentum for the first act until it's very end, making this book a slight step down in quality from its predecessor.

BONUS: This review will include a bonus review of Black's side novella/novelette The Lost Sisters, which features events taking place during The Cruel Prince from a different point of view.  It's too short to really merit it's own post, so I'm including the review here.

 More after the Jump - Warning: Spoilers for The Cruel Prince are inevitable:

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Monday, March 4, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer (Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin)




Kalpa Imperial is a type of SF/F that really isn't my usual cup of tea, a more "literary" type of novel than the typical genre work.  Written by a famous Argentinian author and translated by the legendary Ursula K Le Guin, the book certainly has a hell of a pedigree.  The book definitely reminds me of some of Le Guin's work that I've read, in how it focuses entirely upon descriptions of situations and people as it tells repeated stories throughout.

And that's really what Kalpa Imperial is, a series of stories (technically it's 11 stories if you go by the total of chapters, but some of the stories in each chapter have stories within the stories) about the repeated rise and falls of an Empire.  It's a cohesive book in how each of the stories follows the same mode and it's written really well honestly.  But it's just not quite the type of book I love for all that it's written beautifully.


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