ixoy's reading log

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "Manhattan in Reverse" by Peter F. Hamilton. It's a collection of "short" stories - some of these short stories being 80 pages long...
What's there is generally pretty good and fans of his Commonwealth book will enjoy that half of the stories are set there (including two with Paula Myo).

"Blessed by an Angel" is the weakest probably and "The Demon Trap" perhaps the strongest (it also, I think for the first time, directly ties "Misspent Youth" into the Commonwealth Saga universe). "Footvote" is unusually political and "If at First..." is the one that most suits the short story format (coming in at a reasonable length).

Recommended for fans of his work. I can't recall how it measures up to "A Second Chance at Eden".

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "The Emperor's Kinfe" by Mazarkis Williams, the first book in the "Tower & Knife" trilogy.

Bit of a strange one this - there's a curse, as such, manifesting itself in the land. It marks its victims with a Pattern, symbols spreading across their body that eventually leaves the person under the control of someone called the Pattern Master. The emperor is beginning to show these signs and various factions, represented by the characters in the novel, make their moves.

On the plus side in the novel is that the Pattern is an interesting concept. The novel also moves away from the European influence to the Asian.
On the negative side I found that the explanations for events were never particularly concrete - it reminded me a little of Esslemont's Malazan novels. Perhaps as a product of William's writing style but I found it hard to picture the world - it seemed empty, not populated by much beyond the main characters. Hard to quite put my finger on.

The novel is something a bit different and I'll most likely pick up the sequel as there's interesting ideas here. I just feel the execution could have been a bit better.

ixoy

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".

ixoy

Finished "Blood of the Mantis" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the third book in his Shadows of the Apt series. It's a middle book, so it's much more about plot progression than resolution but it's enjoyable all the same. There's different emphasis on the characters here (less on Totho and Salme for example) in favour of looking at some of the characters whose stories got less attention in previous books.

Again, still really like the setting and concepts of people with insect traits in them and the mixture of magic and technology. It works, gives it a refreshing feel and backed up by a good mix of pace and action.

Will definitely be continuing to read this series.

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Also just finished "Trade of Queens" the sixth and final book in Charles Stross's Merchant Princes series.

Hmm.. This wasn't a very satisfying conclusion. It seemed to end rather abruptly and was focused too much on Stross making a point about US retaliation. Indeed his political views on US foreign policy were too evident here and detracted from the story.
The series originally started as an interesting concept in parallel-world hopping drug smugglers and expanded in an interesting direction with the idea of introducing technologies across timelines. Then it got diverted into this terrorist angle and much of the other plots got dropped. By the end many story lines are left dangling and there's no good feeling of closure.

A series with a lot of promise that, in the end, only partially delivered. A bit of a disappointment when I know Stross can deliver so highly.

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "A Princess of Landover" by Terry Brooks.

It's a fairly light entry in his Landover series which he takes some time to dip in now and then when not working on his Shannara mega-verse series. I actually prefer these ones because Shannara is a little staid in my mind - this one has a certain lightness and energy that's a good counterpoint to the darker turn fantasy has taken.
The main protagonist is a teenage girl who, rebelling against her parents (Ben Holiday from the previous books) runs away and gets into trouble. Yes, it's done in a manner that would be accessible to younger audiences than say "A Song of Ice and Fire" but it's diverting if fairly unmemorable. Fine if cheaply available.

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "Leviathan Wake" by James S.A. Corey, the first book in the Expanse series. Corey is a pseudynom for two writers, one of whom - Daniel Abraham - wrote the fantasy series the Long Price Quartet, which I really enjoyed.

This is a space opera piece, concerning a copy - Miller - investigating the disappearance of a girl and an idealistic captain - Holden - of an ice hauler who gets tangled up in events when he discovers an abandoned ship that triggers off a chain of events.

The novel has a good pace, jumping between the two characters of Holden and Miller. They're not particularly original and, at times, a bit clichéd but they work well enough with the somewhat pulpish space opera here. The novel isn't as "hard" as other space opera there (it's lighter even than Peter F. Hamilton) and it can be a little cheesy but it is a very easy read. Lacking the depth of the Long Price quartet and its characterisation, I'll still read the sequel because this novel was enjoyable although not spectacular.

ixoy

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.

Queen-Mise

I am so confused with the Feist books - the last one I read was the really military world that Pug & the little magician were on & Kelewan was invaded.


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.

And the website is so damn cryptic - one plot could be a book ten years earlier... The new ones are talking about Kesh & I know have I read it or getting mixed up with ones read already

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "Great North Road" by Peter F. Hamilton. It was another door-stop but not a heart stopper this time. It was a mixture of police procedural and science fiction and, for me, I don't think it fully worked. The police elements were a little dull for my tastes, including the characters. Far more intriguing were the off-world elements, particularly the character of Angela whose mysterious past unfolds over the course of the novel.

Perhaps it's the shift in town from the grand space opera of the Commonwealth novels, but in the end I just never got into this in the same way. It's not as weak as "Misspent Youth" but it's not for me one of his stronger efforts.

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "Zendegi" by Greg Egan. This book was given away free as part of a promotion, which suited me just fine as I'm a fan of Egan.

Unusually this book is set in Iran (Egan visited there and liked it so much that he used it as the setting for a novel). The first half is set this year (written in 2010) with two plots. The larger part is dealing with political changes in Iran. Now that's all well and good but it's not what I expect from an Egan novel and I felt he was just trying to get across his passion rather than what his readers would want.
The other sub-plot was far more interesting, dealing with how to map the brain and simulate its workings.

The novel expands more in the second half, converging these plot lines. It's obviously a more personal novel for Egan but I wanted more of the grand, mind bending themes he can cover so well. The VR element in this was covered better in "Permutation City". It's not a boring novel, but I felt it could have pushed the boundaries more - which he is very capable of doing. A little disappointing.

ixoy

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.

ixoy

Finished "Forge of Darkness" by Steven Erikson, the first book in his Kharkanas trilogy.

This book was a little tougher than some of his other instalments. Set over 200,000 years(!) before his Malazan series, it details the early days of some of the civilizations we see including the origins of the Tiste Andii/Lioson/Edur. It also gives some further detail into earlier characters like Anomander, Draconus, etc.
It being Erikson of course, it's not an easy ride. Some of these characters already have detailed histories and once more it's up to the reader to infer and work out some of the connections. So there is satisfaction in seeing how certain events came about but that can lead to the usual frustration of reconciling it with other events and of course the many new characters he introduces.

One of my bigger criticisms of this book would be that it lacks humour. I'm not expecting Tehol/Bugg but the Tiste characters are nearly unrelenting humourless. There's also a lot of philosophising and introspection - now I expect as much based on the Malazan series but it seems even heavier here.

Pacing wise the book seems a little better structured than other works and it does build up momentum (after hitting a bit of a slow patch around the 40% mark). There's too much tantalizing history for me to ever dislike this series but this one wasn't always enjoyable even if it is interesting. Challenging as usual but, if you do like the Malazan series, it's another must. Azathani are the 77et!

ixoy

Rounding off 2012 with Hannu Rajaniemi's "The Fractal Prince", the sequel to "The Quantum Thief".

I really liked this despite the fact that I barely knew what was going on at times. It's a post-Singularity universe with a brilliant thief (sort of) who is masterminding a heist. It's hard science fiction and features many terms unique to the world - zuko, sobornost, jinn etc. Rajaneimi is like Steven Erikson in that he rarely explains these and leaves it up to the reader to infer and derive meaning for the most part. It's challenging.

Despite the difficulty nature of the world and indeed the convolutions of the plot (people can body swap, nest within minds, disguise themselves in avatars, etc) he still manages to twist in an Arabian Nights feel. Characters relate stories to one another and the author skilfully manages to use these not just as metaphors but also vectors for driving the actual story. It's a strong accomplishment, especially when he manages to infuse characterisation - all condensed into a 350-page odd novel.

Very challenging, confusing, but also rewarding and highly unique. I reckon the trilogy, once complete, has the chance to become a classic of the genre.

ixoy

Finished "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin, the second book in his Passage trilogy.

This one was a bit difficult for me. On one hand, I really like when he goes into the logistics of how the world (no wait "America" - but that's apparently the entire world) copes with the event of a vampire apocalypse. Those scenes were good as were most of the action.
Struggling against that was the spiritual angle which, personally, I found very distracting and removed me from the novel. Too many nods to there being "an unseen hand" or a bigger plan. It's not too far it seems at time from "wizard did it" with some of the events. It was present in "The Passage" but seemed to take a bigger role here and I found it highly off putting with all the Christian allegory. The other allegory to Nazism was very heavy handed as well.

It's not a bad novel but I'm concerned as to the direction it's taking. Hopefully Book 3 will focus on the more pragmatic aspects and leave out the spiritual elements. Have characters hope, yearn, etc but to have them all keep focusing on some mystical plan and overseer doesn't work for me.

ixoy

Also recently finished "The Atrocity Archives" by Charles Stross, the first book in his laundry series. It's actually two stories, taking in the shorter "Concrete Jungle" too.
It imagines a world where a sort of spy agency helps battle against Lovecraftian supernatural nightmares with modern day tech and Stross's particular brand of humour.
I really liked this. Humour was spot on - lots of digs at civil service bureaucracy plus a lead who, being an IT specialist, takes a few leafs out of the BOFH handbook. The premise worked spot on. The plots in the two stories were far fetched but treated with a strong practicality - Stross makes a good case for how we might actually have a world with a spy agency facing down supernatural elements. Nice touch of tech in there too as he still finds time to throw in a few touches of science fiction.
Which is all fortune for me as there's three more currently available in the series with more possibly in the way.

ixoy

Blood and ashes: It's done! Finally! Twenty years later and it's good bye to the Wheel of Time as I finished "A Memory of Light" penned by Brandon Sanderson working in Robert Jordan's world.

Can say little without spoilers except that the book feels suitably epic and that the Final Battle is done well. Sanderson is very capable with his pacing and racking up the tension. Ending felt a little rushed though given how many thousands of pages preceded it.

I've mixed feelings about its ending. It's far from perfect but that's as much Jordan's fault as Sanderson's. Nobody was going to be completely happy. Overall as a series it was memorable but flawed - it could really have been compressed into ten books, maybe less. Still I won't forget this, even if it's merely as an insane investment of time. The Wheel of Time turns and hopefully the passing Age is in no rush to come again in the near future...

ixoy

Finished the short "Wool 3: Casting Off" by Hugh Howey. Not quite as strong as the previous two instalments, it picks the story right up and seems more designed to bridge to the fourth which I'll read in the near future.
Howey is a pretty accomplished writer and the setting - a underground silo - still seems fresh. No big surprise then he's one of the authors to leap from the e-book world to the printed one.

ixoy

Finished the even shorter "Legion" by Brandon Sanderson. It's not much more than a short story but it's got a fun premise (an investigator who hallucinates other people who have different skills he requires) and probably has room for further stories.

ixoy

Finished "The Cold Commands" by Richard Morgan, the second book in his "A Land Fit for Heroes" trilogy.

Big problem is I couldn't remember much of the first one so I spent a lot of time
trying (and failing) to recall the plot elements. It didn't help then that the novel goes in some quite weird directions. Reading up on it afterwards there's a number of things I didn't pick up on.

Pacing is a bit slow - not all that much happens (a problem with many middle books in series) but the characters are interesting, albeit quite nasty people. It's very brutal and, unlike with Abercrombie, there's no black humour or self effacement to leaven it.

It's good but I could never really get into it as I do with other series. I'll read the final book and all but I just felt there was something missing for me.

ixoy

Finished "The Technician" by Neal Asher. It's a Polity novel - a sequel to both his Agent Cormac series and, in particular, "The Line of Polity".

If you've read Asher before, you know what to expect and you get it: nasty monsters, sarky AIs and lots of action. This one also has one of the smarter plots in his series with multiple interesting revelations, all handled well - bordering on the convoluted at time but never crossing the line. Outside of the AIs the standout character is Jem, a former Proctor from "The Line of Polity" and his journey of self discovery makes him one of Asher's stronger characters.

If you're a fan of Asher, this novel is a must. If you're not then read the books mentioned above first and then this one. More of this please (well once he gets the Penny Royal series out, I will have this wish).

ixoy

Finished "Dragon Haven" by Robin Hobb, the second in her Rain Wild quartet. Not a huge amount happened in this book (you could summarise the plot in a paragraph) but that's because, much like with her other work, Hobb is focused on her characters and how the events of the plot affect them. Once again she has some very well rounded characters, people you could believe actually exist with warts and all. At times frustrating, others so likeable, she is one of the most pre-eminent character-driven fantasy authors and this book is no exception. Just don't expect much in the way of action.

ixoy

Finished "Salute the Dark", the fourth book in Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Shadows of the Apt" series and the final book in the first arc.

This one brought a satisfying conclusion to the events of the first three books, including character arcs. There's a great sense of sacrifice here and it works on a suitably big scale despite clocking in at a relatively small page count. Action is kept well paced.

Off to buy the fifth book (starting up, I imagine, the expected arc kicked off somewhat in the background of the last two books).