ixoy's reading log

Finished Steph Swainston's "The Modern World", the final book in her Castle trilogy.

This book is part of the small "new weird" genre in that it's .. well just a bit odd. In this case it continues the tale of Comet, a winged-human who occupies the role of Messenger in the Circle. The Circle is a group of people gifted with immortality who are the best in their field in different areas (Artillery, Archery, Swordsman), and whose eternal life is granted by the Emperor in return for their assistance in fighting the threat of the Insects who control the north.
The premise itself is still intriguing - it's rare to find fantasy with such a meritocratic society (members of the Circle can be Challenged for their place). Additionally it sets itself a few centuries on, hovering around the 18th century in the fields of medicine, etc.

All the settings would be pointless if it weren't for good characters, which we have. This book, in particular, focuses more on the immortality angle - what it means to outlive everyone and live through ages. It's done well and I particularly enjoyed delving into the back stories of some of the main characters. There's plenty of room for more here too.

The main plot arc - an attack by the Insects - is handled well and suitably epic for a finale.

There's some elements that I would have liked more of - the Shift (a series of parallel worlds), the Emperor, etc. That may have been planned for future books but there's only one more since Swainston has, unfortunately, quit from professional writing. Based on the talent evidenced in the Castle trilogy it's a shame because it was refreshing to see something that was refreshingly different in the genre.

Finished "Surface Detail", another Culture novel by Iain M. Banks.

This is his best Culture-novel of the last few years. There's a good blend of characters and their associated plot lines which all, after a time, mix quite well together (even though a couple remain primarily apart).
Banks also has one of his best Ship minds from his series in "Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints". A genuinely amusing character, he's a great example of the wit that can feature in Banks' novel.

In addition, there's a nice bit of philosophy in here as the book - set around the idea of Hell (in a VR form) as a concept - explores the moral reasoning for a Hell in an advanced culture (and the Culture).

It builds up to a satisfying end although I do feel some plot lines were left dangling a bit, to be wrapped up rather too quickly in a Dramatis Personae. Recommended for anyone who has enjoyed Bank's Culture novels and a pretty good entry point for those who have yet to read them.

Finished "The Third God", the final book in Ricardo Pinto's "Stone Dance of the Chameleon" trilogy.

This is a pretty mammoth volume (900 pages) that brings the story full circle as the lead, Carnelian, returns to the world of his birth right alongside its deposed God Emperor.
The series does well in creating a memorable, original fantasy world. There's no real glimpse of the usual European medieval tropes. There's not even horses. The opulence of the Masters is matched only by their sheer cruelty of which beggars belief and here is more evident than ever. The scale of slaughter, of cruelty, that we witness is horrific - some of the most disturbing that I've ever seen in a fantasy series. Joe Abercrombie, for all his visceral detail, never stands on the sheer scale of violence here.
It's not all about the violence though - it's about the events that precipitate this and how the individuals shape the world around them. There's some nice revelations in this too that make clearer events from the previous books.

It's not a perfect book. It's somewhat too long, the details too excessive. Carenlian, the lead, whilst a sympathetic character is almost too helpless at times - trapped by events but rarely able to shape them. It is though memorable. There's imagery here, originality, that you don't find often these days. A challenging, but worthy series.

Finished "Empire in Black and Gold" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the first book in his Shadows of the Apt series.

The premise sounds pretty weak - a land with different races of men, each with certain characteristics of insects. There's Beetle-kinden who are good engineers, Fly-kinden whose speed makes them perfect messengers, Spider-kinden who deal in seduction, etc. The main focus is on some Beetles who reside in a land that's flush with the success of their engineering prowess. It's a world whose level of technology would roughly be the 18th/19th century with steam powered machines including early planes and helicopters. The people themselves though have their head buried in the figurative sand because they refuse to acknowledge the growing threat of the Wasp empire to the east which one man, and his band of students (the stories leads) try to bring to the land's attention.

As cheesy as the premise might sound, the insect-aspected elements actually work. It defines characteristics for different races and explains the state of play of their place in the various empires. The addition of some almost magical aspects to these (Dragonfly-kinden can fly, Wasps have a sting, etc) makes for some interesting battles and scenarios.

The characters are quite enjoyable, reminding me a little of Brandon Sanderson in that they're easy to like. The only thing that irked me was that sometimes the author jumped between characters viewpoints from one paragraph to the next, not always making it clear whose head you were in.

The novel had a brisk pace, never letting there be time for boredom and set up enough pieces for a sequel (well 9 sequels as it turns out) so I'll definitely be checking out the sequel.

As a bonus, the Kindle-edition contains 4 short stories and pieces of art work that don't appear to be present in the paperback version, bulking it up by another satisfying 16%. Enjoyable little pieces although a bit flimsy next to the main material. Nice to see such stuff thrown into the e-book versions.

Finished "Orb Sceptre Throne" by Ian C. Esslemont, one of a series of novels set in the Malazan world that Steven Erickson brought to fame.

This is a bit of a "for fans only" book. One of the big reasons for this, and one of the bigger flaws, is that the book is very vague - too much needs to be inferred. Anyone who reads the Malazan sequence knows how nothing is ever clearly stated. In this book though it's almost too obscure, one too many unclear references. For a non-fan it'd be incredibly frustrating but even for me, whose read all the books, it pushes the limits. What exactly happened in a number of sequences, why it did, is still a bit of an unknown.

Now there's good stuff in here too - background information on cultures like the Seguleh and Moranth which fans will enjoy. Others are a bit of a wasted opportunity (and too much of a spoiler to mention here).

I think "Stoneweilder" was a better Esslemont novel because he was working with more of his own creations. In this book he's a bit more tied down to Erickson's works and it's a bit of a mess in places.

I enjoyed this book as I always do the Malazan series but it is among the weakest of them. Fans only but the fans will get something worthwhile out of it.

Finished "The Merchants' War", the fourth book in Charles Stross's Merchant Princes series.
The series builds further upon the previous books (it's essentially a serial). There's a bit more expansion of the parallel universe hopping element now, pushing the envelope of it a little further.
Our own world's investigation into the world of the parallel world-hopping narco-terrorists is developed a fair bit, as the potential threats emerge (imagine if a terrorist could jump into the White House from the co-location in their own world).

More importantly Miriam, who was the main character, is made freer - an issue I had with the 3rd book was that she spent most of the time immobile. She's still though not as strong as she was in the first two books and takes up less time, which is a shame. I'd prefer her not as sidelined as she was. The characters that do sideline her have interesting story lines but aren't that interesting themselves - the Clan and the earth agents are too informed of their situations and aren't really exploring along with the reader.

The stakes have been raised and I'm looking forward to how it progresses. It's one of the most interesting takes on parallel worlds that I've found.

Finished "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", the fifth and final collection of Philip K. Dick's short stories.
Interestingly, PKD admits in a re-printed afterword, that he's an ideas man. It shows in many ways here - characterization is not his strong point for one thing. Women are given short thrift - partially a product of the time it was written in but also somewhat from PKD himself. The writing is generally functional although there are some exceptions. It's why he found it easier to write short stories rather than a novel.

So are the ideas any good? As ever, it's a mixed bag. The titular "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (adapted as "Total Recall") is very good. There's a few other gems in there: "Faith Of Our Fathers" is excellent, a sort of Cthulu-like alien consciousness in a world where the Soviets won the Cold War. "Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday" is a clever story about time flowing in opposite directions.

There's also some clunkers: "Cadbury, The Beaver Who Lacked" is utter rubbish and quite possibly fueled by PKD's experiments with drugs (there's a reason this is the first time that it was published). Oddly it came just after "The Electric Ant" - a mind bending story about altering the programming around you to re-create reality. Indeed the later half of the book, which is towards the end of his career, shows a drop in quality in the stories.

Overall it's another worthy volume and an insight into a man's mind who really saw outside the normal boundaries. There's great material here for Hollywood to no doubt further plunder. It's a shame a man with such a fecund imagination never really got the chance to see his worlds realized.

Finished Janny Wurt's "Initiate's Trial", the first book in the Sword of the Canon arc which is itself the fourth arc in the Wars of Light of Shadow series making this, overall, the ninth volume. I've been reading this series for almost as long as the Wheel of Time.

Anyway, is it any good? Not really, unfortunately. It's set 250 years after the previous book and to me - quite unforgivably - a number of key events happen off screen. Characters are put into a situation that we had no knowledge of and, throughout the novel, only ever get brief glimpses. It's frustrating but not ultimately rewarding.
Now if there was more meat here then it could be forgiven. The novel's prose though stilts the action and plot. Wurts can, and does, turn in some beautiful words but it's so very heavy. I felt I had to wade through it rather than the crisp flow I recently enjoyed with Daniel Abraham. My eyes would be forced to skim over sentences to avoid being mired in them.

Amidst the prose, and aside from the narrative jump, there are some interesting things happening but it all seems a little too familiar - events we've seen before. Characters spend too much time though anguishing on the past events and go a bit over-the-top on their emotions. How refreshing at times it would have been to have clear thoughts and better pacing: the novel would have been much more enjoyable to read.

There's only two volumes left now to be published and I'll absolutely read them. However, based on this, I won't be all that enthused. It's a series that started well but now appears to be over staying its welcome, much like another gargantuan series I can think of. This one though does not have any needed fresh blood to re-invigorate it.

Finished (a few days ago), "A Stark and Wormy Knight" by Tad Williams. It's a collection of short stories that is currently only available on Kindle.

First up: There's a screenplay in this and it takes up about a quarter of the book. It's difficult to read and it just doesn't work. "Black Sun" might mean something for people who grew up in the '70s (which it's focused around) but it bored me and seemed clichéd. The movie never got made.
There's also a "screenplay" for a proposed comic. It's described in a "panel" form. Again not interesting to read although if we were presented with the actual comic it might have worked.

The short stories themselves are generally decent to good, with only a few weak ones. Stand out for me was the neat "The Lamentable Comic Tragedy (or the Laughably Tragic Comedy) of Luxal Laqavee" which did the key thing in a short story: a neat concept alongside some nice dark humour.
Other good tales include "And Ministers of Grace" (a sci-fi war of faith tale with promise), the titular "A Stark and Wormy Knight" (fun if slight), "Ants" (Stephen King-like horror) and "The Tenth Muse" (old school concept sci-fi).
The rest are grand, if nothing special.

I only paid an introductory price of under $6 for this, which is well worth it. At the current price - $12 - I'd hesitate. There's plenty of good short story collections by other sci-fi/fantasy authors out there for such a price and they don't bulk it out with screenplays. Good but needs more substance.

Finished "The Passage" by Justin Cronin, the first book in a trilogy (called tentatively "The Passage" trilogy).

It's a pretty-damn-big tome [900+ pages in paperback] that deals with the effects on the world when a biological experiment goes wrong, unleashing a virus bearing some properties of vampire lore. Like many others, it's reminiscent of Stephen King's "The Stand" with its apocalyptic background and struggles of people to bring about a better world.

I enjoyed it, although it's not perfect. There's quite a shift a third of the way in and it affects the pacing, somewhat to the detriment (I didn't find the middle boring the way others did but it wasn't riveting either). The characters are good - believable and they do develop nicely as they go along.
It's a little-bit American focused but that's to be expected and it's less so than other authors (including the aforementioned King).

If I had to improve it, I'd have made it leaner. I'd have toned down some of the spiritual elements (a personal preference) and removed some story telling devices that give an indicator of the ultimate resolution of events. Nonetheless, I'll read "The Twelve" at some point so ultimately it was worth my time.

Finished "Dragonfly Flying" by Adrian Tchaikofsky, the second book of his Shadow of the Apt series. It picks up from "Empire of Black and Gold" and the imminent threat of war becomes a reality.

I very much enjoyed this book - the character arcs are well progressed, particularly Totho's. Everyone has a part to play and it all ties in quite nicely.

The plot moves speedily along without feeling rushed and once again there's a fresh air to the world he's created. There's a nice mix of science (helicopters, armored tanks in a sort of steam-punk style) and ancient magies. The various races, with their insect-like talents, all work well again. It helps the world feel fresher, marking it as more original than many out there.

Putting it more plainly: I'm about to buy Book 3. Enough of a recommendation!

Recently finished "Wool" and "Wool 2 - Proper Guage" by Hugh Howey. Both are stories set in an underground silo in a post-apocalyptic future earth. They're novellas in size and each takes a simple story about people in the silo.

The first one - "Wool" - is a great novella with a neat ending.

"Wool 2" picks up shortly afterwards with different characters. It's stronger on characterisation with quite a touching romance plot line between an ageing mayor and deputy sheriff.

Howey's is a good writer. The Kindle platform is a great way for people like him to be discovered and make successes of themselves. The omnibus of volumes 1-5 was cheap and I'm keen to see what occurs next in the series.

Finished "Vivisepulture", a short story collection that I bought cheaply on the Kindle. It's mostly a horror-based anthology which isn't quite what I'd thought it'd be.

Like any anthology, they're a mixed bag. Many are average, one is awful ("Snot" - and yes, it's exactly what you think) and some are clever and touching. I'm familiar with only two of the authors featured here (Neal Asher and Adrian Tchaikovsky) but others at least raised an interest in what they might produce. Nothing outstanding here or memorable but worth a perusal for some of the titles.

Finished "Blindsight" by Peter Watts. It's a "First Contact" story that's a little different from others - the main character, Siri, who narrates the story is an observer in the true sense of the word: Half his brain cut out as a child, he coldly calculates outcomes from situations but lacks empathy - a sociopath. His fellow crew members are all odd balls to an extent, none more so than a genetically-resurrected vampire.

If it sounds a bit ridiculous, it's countered by the fact that this novel is seriously hard sci-fi. Watts bases all his concepts - including the vampire angle - on sound scientific theories and extrapolations. So much so that he has an appendix discussing them and links to 144 (!) papers that he used when researching the novel.
I haven't read a sci-fi novel so replete with scientific terms outside of Greg Egan. I'll admit that some of it went over my head, but the core ideas here about consciousness and identity are interesting and well handled. He also does the difficult task of making truly alien entities.

It's not a flawless novel - the scientific jargon is thick and there's a lot of theorising (which makes absolute sense given it's a scientific investigation). The pace is a bit slow although he does an admirable job of creating the sense of alien. It's worth checking out if you're prepared to do some work reading it - it's also free under a creative common licence. Now for something a bit lighter.

Yesterday I finished "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson. It was his début work and, while I enjoyed it, it shows. In many ways it's like a first run at the Mistborn series - a rougher version. There's a fight against a corrupt nobility. There's a plucky young girl. There's an inspirational leader. And of course there's a detailed magic system.

Pacing is a little off here - the last 15% have a lot of revelations that could have been better spaced out. There's too much happening after a relatively sedate pace beforehand. It also ends with a lot hanging, clearly waiting for a sequel (I know there's the intention of one). Mistborn fixed this by spreading them over the series.

The characters don't stray too much from the archetypes - perfectly good and maybe a little too much so. It's something that again he fixed in his Mistborn series by making them a lot more fallible.

It's hard to separate this from Mistborn series - a lot of what was here was re-visited, refined, and made into an excellent series. "Elantris" is good but flawed, showing the promise that would later bear fruition. Good for more Sanderson, not so much as an example of his talent.

Finished "Technicolour Ultra Mall" by Ryan Oakley. I got it for free (it was on offer one day) and so I didn't expect much... which is probably just as well. It's set in the future where everyone lives inside a mall divided into three levels - the lowest being red, where our protagonist lives as part of a gang. The story is focused around him, trying to make himself into something better. It's broken up by faked ads for products as well as interludes into TV shows.

My principal problem with it is the portrayal of a world drowning in sex-and-violence. Obviously Oakley is making a comment on consumerism but it's too OTT. It can be very graphic - that's not an issue in itself as Joe Abercrombie can paint some nasty pictures. What's different with him is that that's only a small part whereas here it's a large piece of the book. The characterisation is okay but I wanted more about the plot, the world itself. It's a little too hard to believe that a word like this would ever happen.

There's some good ideas here but it'd be better as a short story, more effective that way. For a better story about being trapped in a confined world, at a similar price, pick up "Wool".

Finished "The Inheritance" by Megan Lindholm / Robin Hobb (same person, different psuedonyms). It was interesting to see the different writing styles she chose under the two names with Hobb's (who I've read a lot of) being the more impressive and personal for me.

The Lindholm stories were a mixture of urban fantasy and urban sci-fi. They were pretty good but the characterisation wasn't as strong as her works penned under Hobb.

The Hobb stories: One I had read before (in "The Legends II" collection), "The Inheritance" (titular story) was a little bit disappointing but I did enjoy the final piece. All of them are set in the Six Duchies / Bingtown world of her main books.

They're not as strong as her Six Duchies novels but they're a good diversion and worth the time of anyone who's enjoyed her books.

Finished "Shadowrise" by Tad Williams, the third book in his Shadowmarch series. It had been quite a while since I had read the 2nd book but thankfully he provided some recaps that helped settle me in.

It's a pretty good world he has here - there's a nice balance in the fairy legend mix and traditional fantasy set up. It's something that he first had in "War of the Flowers" but has greatly expanded on in this series.
The characters are, for the most, likeable and Williams does a reasonable good job of balancing them.
As for the pacing - it did feel a little incomplete (no real surprise as this is the first half of what was originally one book) but I do hope that I don't wait as long before reading the final instalment.

Finished "Transitions" by Iain M. Banks.

It's the closest to a hybrid of his Banks / M. Banks personas as it's not a far-future / Culture novel but set in the present day. Or present days really because it deals with the Concern, who jump between parallel dimensions altering destinies. The story is spread over a number of individuals, all linked to the overall arc but not so tightly to each other.
It's a bit of an odd novel - some elements of me really wanted the background info for example which wasn't hugely present. Banks does tie in the character arcs quite well and the ending is satisfying but there was something a little bit missing. It didn't satisfy me as much as say the recent "Surface Detail". I'd be happy to see more set in this world but perhaps with a stronger plot next time.

Finished "A Crown Imperilled" by Raymond E. Feist, the second in his Chaos War saga and the penultimate Midkemia book.

Generally a decent instalment but I wasn't too convinced in how he wrapped up plots from the previous book. What he did do well though was set up for the grand finale which seems like it will be on a suitably large scale.

Characterisation the same as ever - likeable characters who are never heavily drawn.

On the negative side, there's the same sloppy editing I've seen in most of the previous works with basic grammar mistakes that you'd really only expect from a self published work. Come on Harper Collins!

First time in ages that I'm fully up-to-date on his works so I look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

Finished "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. First half of this was very slow - a lot of sitting around, self pitying and not much happening. A bit disappointing there.
It picked up a lot in the second half (and I imagine 70% of the next movie will be placed here) and ended on a decent set up for the final book. Not as good as the first, it did suffer overall from middle-book syndrome.

Queen-Mise wrote: »

They have gone into a blur of characters & plots etc. Although I do enjoy them. I am trying to work out which one I have read last on his website, not having much luck.

Definitely read them in order - just use the Wikipedia page to sort out the chronology. I do sometimes forget who certain players are but he's good enough at recapping events in his books.

Finished Joe Abercrombie's "Red Country". It's a standalone novel set in the world of the First Law, with a decidedly Western feel.

Much like his other works, this novel is laced with black humour and characters who have self-loathing streaks. It features some familiar faces for those who have read his others books although it wouldn't stop you enjoying this in isolation.
The plot concerns the sister of two children who were abducted and their step-father who go in pursuit. They catch up with a train of prospectors heading out West as part of a gold rush, each with their own past. It goes on from there.

Abercrombie's works are always a very enjoyable read, never boring because he knows how to spin a tale. The characters on this occasion are perhaps slightly nicer than previous ones (well some of them anyway). Ended well enough and pushed the First Law universe forward a little. It's not as strong as "Best Served Cold" but still another fine piece of work.

Finished "The Winds of Khalakovo" by Bradley P. Beaulieu, the first in a trilogy. This book takes Russia for its inspiration which I don't recall seeing before and a refreshing change from the usual Western European settings. The Russian side comes from a group known as "the Landed" who control an archipelago of islands.
There are also "the Landless" who wander between them and have the means to communicate with elemental spirits. These have a distinctive Arabian feel to them and it's a nice mix, especially introducing a splinter group who, for want of a better phrase, are terrorists trying to topple the Landed.

What worked in this novel was the use of the magic, which was quite refreshing. It reminded me a touch of "The Emperor's Knife" but I preferred this book.

Characterisation is perhaps a little weak for some of the cast but it didn't detract too much and there was a decent plot to it at a good pace.

Well worth the asking $6 price tag and I've already bought the sequel.