SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The True Queen by Zen Cho

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The True Queen by Zen Cho: https://t.co/dsKiM79q6w Short Review: 6 out of 10 (1/3)

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 30, 2019

Short Review (cont): The stand-alone sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown features some interesting and solid characters, but a plot that is all too predictable and doesn't tread the interesting grounds of its predecessor. (2/3)

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 30, 2019

The True Queen is the latest novel from author Zen Cho, and the sequel to her 2015 novel "Sorcerer to the Crown."  It's been a long time since I read SotC, and I wasn't as much of a fan of the book as most people (it was highly acclaimed), but it was definitely a solid book in terms of being a fantasy story in which racism and sexism are as much the antagonists to the heroes as any actual characters.  So I was very curious about how the follow-up would read....although again, it's been so long since I read the original book that I was a bit worried that I'd be a bit behind in trying out the sequel.

The good news is that despite my lack of memory of SotC, I had very little trouble following "The True Queen" - and I suspect new readers will be able to start the story here if they want.  The bad news is that The True Queen is honestly a less interesting novel, with some solid characters to be sure, but none that truly stood out and a plot that is so predictable it kind of hurts.  It's pulled off well, mind you, but the lack of any surprise is a bummer, and the book doesn't really play with the issues of race and sexism as much in interesting ways - the two issues are still present, but more as a side part of the setting than something to be dealt with.  There's still clearly interesting battles over those forces to be had in this setting, but it's not found in this book.

Thoughts on Game of Thrones S8E3: The Long Night

So I wasn't going to comment on this, but my twitter thoughts on last night's Game of Thrones, "The Long Night" were running a bit long, so I figured I'd do a short blog post on the episode.  Obviously, spoilers abound, so if you haven't watched the episode go no farther.  I'm also a book reader, although I haven't touched the books in a while, so spoilers there too I guess. 

In general, without spoiling, my thoughts on The Long Night is that it's an impressive way to fail at storytelling, a massive anticlimax without proper setup, with none of the character beats we're used to from this show/book.  For more details, see me after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee: https://t.co/f25GRllboQ Short Review: 7 out of 10 (1/3)

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 29, 2019

Short Review (cont): A Middle-Grade Space Opera based upon Korean mythology (featuring a young girl fox running away into space to try and find and absolve her missing brother) is solid fun for younger audiences, but doesn't have too much for adults. Enjoyable tho. (2/3)

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 29, 2019

Dragon Pearl is the latest space opera novel by Yoon Ha Lee, better known for his "Machineries of Empire" (Ninefox Gambit/Raven Stratagem/Revenant Gun) trilogy.  Unlike that trilogy though, Dragon Pearl is purely a Middle-Grade novel and part of Rick Riordan's new line of novels featuring fantasy/sci-fi stories based upon various non-European mythologies.  In Dragon Pearl's case, the story is a sci-fi (space opera) tale based upon Korean Mythology, with foxes, dragons, goblins, and more.

The result is a fun tale, albeit one that is very very much middle-grade in tone and content.  That's not really a negative - the book knows what it is and does very well within the limitations of the genre - but unlike some middle-grade books which are written in ways to appeal to older readers, Dragon Pearl isn't.  But for what it is, it's a good deal of fun, with some very solid characters (especially its lead) and a story that rapidly - perhaps too rapidly - moves from point to point and promises more adventure yet to come.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ruse by Cindy Pon

SciFI/Fantasy Book Review: Ruse by Cindy Pon: https://t.co/om5H23ThXq Short Review: 8.5 out of 10 (1/3)

— (4-0) (4-3) Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 25, 2019

Short Review (cont): The sequel to "Want" follows Zhou & his friends from a pollution-ridden future Taiwan to Shanghai, as they attempt to take down the evil rich businessman taking advantage of the poor air for his own greed. Really good follow up that broadens the scope (2/3)

— (4-0) (4-3) Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 25, 2019

Ruse is the sequel to Cindy Pon's "Want," her YA dystopian novel from 2017.  I enjoyed Want quite a bit (see my review here), which featured a heist-like structure as its hero and his friends attempted to take down an evil businessman in a future Taiwan so overrun by pollution that the rich have started to wear special suits so they won't have to breathe the actual air.  It was not a very ambitious book in terms of plot - a generally straightforward battle between good guys and bad guys, with a love interest of uncertain loyalty in the middle - but the characters were excellently done and I definitely was interested in seeing them again.

Ruse moves the action to a similarly dystopian (covered in horrible air pollution that means without filtration technology, people could die) Shanghai, but again features hero Jason Zhou and his crew against the evil businessman Jin, with Jin's daughter Daiyu again as the love interest.  But the book differentiates itself from its predecessor by showing us other characters' points of view and showing the characters changing as a result of the events of Want. The result is a very successful follow-up that should appeal to anyone who enjoyed Want.

Note: Ruse is a clear sequel and cannot be read stand-alone.  Start with "Want" if you're interested in this series, and don't read further since there will be spoilers. 

Note2:  Again, I read this book as an audiobook, so if I misspell some of the names I apologize.  The book keeps the same audiobook reader as its predecessor for the segments narrated by Zhou, but adds a woman as an additional reader for segments narrated by several other characters.  Both readers are excellent.

SciFi/Fantasy Novella Review: On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard

On a Red Station, Drifting is a Nebula Award Nominated novella by Aliette de Bodard, one of quite a few works in her Xuya Universe (the whole series actually got nominated for the Best Series Hugo Award this year).  I'm a pretty solid fan of de Bodard - I've read both of her Dominion of the Fallen novels (the 2nd of which I really liked) and several of her shorter works, two of which from this past year I really enjoyed.  One of those two works was another Xuya novel - The Tea Master and the Detective - so I've been meaning to get into more from this universe for some time, and finally bit the bullet with this novella.

Part of why I enjoy de Bodard is that what she writes is so very very different than the typical SF/F author - owing from her French-Vietnamese background.  Her Xuya universe, and this novella in particular, is no different.  This is a universe - filled with Mindships, AIs based upon ancestors, and Space Stations -  where the common culture is that of Vietnamese (and Chinese to a lesser extent) origin.  And so the relationships, actions, and things/people of importance are very different from what many may be used to in western literature, and On a Red Station, Drifting does a great job using these differences to form a very different story of two women as they face tremendous problems that threaten their control...and their pride.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley: https://t.co/RhVcqeTfQH Short Review: 9 out of 10 (1/3)

— (4-0) (3-3) Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 23, 2019

Short Review (cont): Grimdark author Kameron Hurley's first try at MilSci is an often mindblowing tale in a world ruled by corps of a soldier who in the process of being transmitted via light to battlefields experiences the war out of order. REALLY strong ideas here (2/3)

— (4-0) (3-3) Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 23, 2019

The Light Brigade is the latest book from SF/F author Kameron Hurley, and is her first foray into the MilSci (Military Science Fiction) genre.  Hurley's works are generally in the grimdark spectrum of the SF/F genre, with her worldbreaker saga trilogy having lost me 2/3 of the way through for being just too dark, though I enjoyed her last book, The Stars Are Legion from 2017 (which was still dark, but worked a lot more for me).  They're also books that are never afraid to make interesting choices and to get more than a little weird - Hurley's characters are rarely boring and her ideas are always at least interesting in concept, so I was very interested to see what she'd do with the MilSci genre.

Note:  I've seen other reviews and blurbs compare this book to Heinlein's Starship Troopers, which this book is arguably a response to, but I haven't read Starship Troopers or even seen the movie, so I have no perspective to speak about that.

What she does with the genre - and make no mistake this is a grim dystopian version of MilSci, as you should expect from Hurley - in The Light Brigade is use the novel to tell a really strong story with some serious ideas about beliefs, ideals, propaganda, fear, hopes, and to a lesser extent governance.  Hurley is not subtle about her theses about these ideas - they are spelled out quite clearly in the text, but the story around these expositions is strong at showing off those concepts in action, with a really strong lead character to carry the story, which is disorienting (deliberately!) in a way that truly works.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Heavens by Sandra Newman

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Heavens by Sandra Newman: https://t.co/zODWqGNx2e Short Review: 8 out of 10 (1/3)

— (4-0) (2-3) Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 22, 2019

Short Review (cont): When Ben meets Kate, he's instantly head over heels for her. But Kate is weird - as every night she dreams of being a person in the 1500s and claims that when she wakes up the world has changed....for the worse. Interesting Cynical book. (2/3)

— (4-0) (2-3) Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 22, 2019

The Heavens is an.....interesting book.  It's one of those books where explaining the sub-genre of SF/F (technically it's a time travel story) kind of misleads as to what the story is about or how it works.  It's also one of those where the ideas take center stage, although it's not a book lacking in at least one interesting character.

Is it a good book though?  That's a harder question to ask.  The book centers around a concept - a man and a woman meet each other, and the story alternates chapters between the woman's dreams of another life in the 1500s, and the man's life in a relationship with her as the world seems to change around them due to her actions in the past - except no one notices the changes except the woman.  And the result is fascinating to behold, with it making it hard for me not to want to see what would happen next....but is the finale particularly satisfying? I'm still grappling with that answer - but the ending is certainly damn cynical.