Living Vicariously

Its happened. I have become my kids. Let me explain....

My stepson needed a Spanish dictionary for school, so off I trot to Barnes and Nobles to procure one (this, of course was after the stop at Best Buy to upgrade his computer's memory and get a wireless card). My stepdaughter has ridden along and we have no more than stepped in the door than the laws of physics shift. Gravity is now emanating from the Stephenie Meyer Twighlight series and they, being smaller (NOT!) and weaker (definitely NOT!) than me, are sucked into the black hole produced exclusively by these novels of all the novels in the store.

I, on the other hand, have been living in la-la land, because, while I had heard of them I had no idea what they were about other than they contained vampire stories. I was also stupid enough to say so in front of these gravity-riddled masters of Facebook. I was quickly and efficiently imbued with all the information my synapses could handle - and in stereo no less. Then came the "no's". "No. I am not buying four novels at Barnes and Nobles at $23 a pop." "No. I will not advance your allowance." "No. You can't ask your mom and if you do, she will say no, too (I hope)."

So, of course, I run straight home, find them on E-bay, put in a bid on a set ending in two hours, win the bid and in 2-9 days, I will be the proud owner of four Stephenie Meyer novels, which I have staked out to read first. I may rent them to the step children to re-coup the expense, but I'd just have to give it back as allowance.

Sigh!

And I'll probably love them and just have to have the 5th book (which has been delayed because a draft was leaked - where else? - on Facebook). Senility has set in. I regress to 19 years old. Think my hair will grow back?

Tune in again soon for reviews....

Wholly Good Book -Unholy Domain by Dan Ronco

For the action adventure fan out there, this one's for you. Religious terrorists, power hungry and ruthless technocrats, post-apocolyptic culture and society - its all in there. This is Silence of the Lambs versus Jim Jones and everybody stands to lose if our mild-mannered hero doesn't save the day.
SPOILER!SPOILER!SPOILER!SPOILER!SPOILER!
DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


My only problem with this book that at the height of the clash, it ended. No resolution, no idea of the fate of the characters, no justice meted out. Can you say "Sequel"? I have stated before that I generally loathe series work, and this is a classic example of why. This isn't a series of building climaxes and accompanying denouments, its one long story broken up into seperate books. Its a dad-gummed soap opera. I HATE that. Why would you do that to your readers? Its like selling somebody junk bonds and skipping out when the market goes bad. I shall have to write to the author and ask him when to expect the rest of the story.

Otherwise, it is a well-written, captivating story with shoot 'em ups, showdowns, intrigue, full-out combat, and a little romance thrown in to spice things up. The bad guys (and there's a bunch of 'em) hate each other more than they want to rule the world (rather one is in the way of the other) and the interplay there is fascinating. It reads almost like a Robert Ludlum novel, accept the hero is a true innocent but fully cognizant of his past and the players affecting his future. Its good reading - not great - but darned good.

I probably would have given this 4 stars, but that ending just ruined the 4 stars for me. Its still worth reading just for the authors take on future technology, but if you want the whole story, you're probably going to have to buy (borrow, steal) another book.

Gone Away World Isn't Gone - Its Soon To Be On Your Shelves!

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book at the author's behest. I warned him that I had a list of titles I was valiantly trying to read through and that it might be awhile before I got to it. He assured me that he was personally familiar with that phenomenon and that he was untroubled by my slow approach to his writings, he just would like for me to read it. That's it, just read it. No opinions, no posts, no obligation whatsoever were necessary. So, of course, I read it immediately.

Every once in a while, one reads a book that encompasses a vast emotional palette in the reader. It elicits stark laughter, desperate sadness, pathos you could spread like peanut butter, satisfaction and triumph that absolutely require that one pump one's fist repeated from the shoulder height in a rapidly downward motion while mouthing an incomprehensible "YES!". This book is one of those. It is a treatise on humanity from the weird ( not "weird " as in geas or testament, just "weird" as in strange, offbeat).

It is a tale as only the British author can tell it, since they alone of the authors in the world seem to have the ability to say upfront to the reader, "OK, so it rubbish and completely unbelievable. Its still right good!". And just to provoke discussion, they write a damn good story. The Lord of the Rings is the most improbable collection of creatures ever assembled, yet its story is enduring and, ultimately, uplifting. The Hitchhikers Guide was asinine, yet enduring and funny and read and enjoyed by millions. Gone Away World is not anything remotely like these, but its still a tale of perilous decisions made by ineffective people, resulting in the small and disparate powers for "good" facing the organized, overwhelming, and clear-sighted powers of "evil". In other words, its "Mom & Pop vs. Erich Von Walmart to determine the fate of the world". (And no, there is no mention of Walmart in the book).

There is no point at which one can take this book for granted. The surprises are boundless and wonderful. The last line at the end of the climatic battle scene will soon be sported on T-shirts. It is perfect and just off-beat enough that one must be "on the inside" to truly appreciate it. It is the next "grok". And getting to the point where the line is uttered by our hero is what makes the line so satisfying to the reader. The build up is as long as the whole book, its delivery brief, it effect - perfect. It is both simple in its scope, and so encompassing of the whole story that it simply feels good to read the words.

I guess I should point out that I loved this book. Its not quite out in America yet, but it will be soon. Don't wait. Pre-order yours now and get all the goodies that come with that pre-order, because you are going to be hearing about this book and it will end up on your shelves one way or another. It is a classic, or at least, it will be. I am dusting off my 5-star rating for this one. Get this book! Read it! Or else remain ever ignorant. Ignorance, in this instance, isn't bliss. It is a loss. Read it, read it, read it, then pass it on so that the Voiceless Dragon lives! (Cryptic enough for ya?)

From The Minds of the Masters

I found this at another bloggers site and loved it. The great writers of the 50's and 60's that literally laid the foundations for today's modern speculative fiction tell us candidly their opinion of their own creations. Its very dry but informative.

Making it to The Bigs!

Mr. David Anthony Durham dropped me a note about his new book, Acacia. It seems that relatively soon it might be possible for audiences to enjoy his work without having to read a word. Relativity Media has bought the production rights and hired a screenwriter to adapt his book to the big screen.

You can check it out here.

Congrats!

Deep Inside?

Ok, maybe this one is just a little out of my league.

Ms. Frost very graciously asked me if I would read her book of erotica, supernatural erotica. She sent me a copy and I dutifully read it. It is a collection of short fiction meant to be highly erotic, she told me.

This is where it leaves my usual bailiwick. I HATE to pan books, really HATE it. But this one was not very erotic, and to my way of thinking, not even very good. While some of the stories were very romantic (not in the classic sense, more like some very twisted individuals highly romaticized), they weren't at all entertaining, nor erotic, nor even titillating. Erotica is NOT my thing, per ce, but I loved Poppy Z. Brite's Love In Vein. That one would raise the Titanic. It was incredibly hot.

Deep Inside made it much easire to read my next books. They are engaging, I identify with the characters, I can suspend disbelief and enjoy them, None of which happened while reading Deep Inside. My recommendation? Give it a bye.

Just a note

I have done what every blogger does eventually. I have started a new blog that has absolutely nothing to do with specualtive fiction. Its mostly rants, but feel free to visit and rant at me. Its at htpp://thoughtspinning.blogspot.com and it is my sincere hope that what I say there makes you angry, sad, or satisfied. I just hope that it give you sufficient cause to think. Rant over. At least here....

A Bright Spot

Kay Kenyon's Bright of The Sky is the first book in her new (and first) series, The Entire and The Rose. I've read and discussed Mrs. Kenyon's books before amd have been quite impressed. Its very hard to describe, so it might be easier to describe what it is not; it is not hard science fiction, it is not fantasy, and it is not a classical romantic adventure novel. Yet is has elements of all of these and much more. She is a exceptional character writer, which lends much needed help to the reader in the suspension of disbelief. Her premises are absolutely fantastic and fantastical. But her characters seem to see them as such and react to them in very believable and sometimes very profound ways.

In Bright of the Sky, Earth is ruled by corporate entities that scour the populous for intelligent, productive people and pay the rest to stay out of the way. One of the super intelligent elite spurns the status quo to be a pilot, navigating through the FTL tunnels that are corporately created and maintained. During one of his flights, the tunnel collapses supposedly killing him, his crew, his wife and his very young daughter. Weeks later, he turns up on a planet, delirious, spouting nonsense about an alternate universe where his family is stranded. He refuses to recant and is corporately ostracized. He is given retirement and paid to stay out of the limelight.

Then, an AI in charge of maintaining one of the tunnels, is fed a problem in quantum physics by a student. It goes bonkers, shutting down the tunnel and killing several people in the collapse. But the data that is retrieved shows that particles exist and are shooting through the tunnels. Particles that can only come from a quantifiable and therefore existing universe that is different from our own. It exists across a thin quantum barrier that FTL technology inadvertently penetrates. And it turns out that one human being has been there and come back to tell the tale.

Oh! The profit potential of taking shortcuts through our universe by going through another! Can it be done? Will the denizens of the alternate reality be friend or foe? Is it even possible? Or will there be conflict? (The answer to that last one? This IS a series...).

Mrs. Kenyon has again painted broad scenes of fantastic proportions and developed characters that are multi-dimensional (no pun intended). This was a great read. The only problem I have is that after reading the book, the story is just starting. I have the second book and will read it forthwith because, dammit, its a good story!

Finally! A Book Review!

I had to wait to talk about this one until my step-daughter finished reading it. Ms. Harrison made a visit to my little piece of the world, so we visited her and had her personalize a copy to the step-daughter. While we were there, Ms. Harrison dropped a hint or two about Rachel's future: We will definitely find out who killed Kisten, and there are 4 more books in this series. But this step in the journey concerns The Outlaw Demon Wails....

If you've read my reviews, you realize that I pretty much detest series work, unless the are exemplararily written and that basically they are a single story told in several volumes. An incredibly good writer can write complete books that stand alone in and of themselves, and are integral parts of a much longer story. Lois McMaster Bujold is the past master of this as evidenced by the Miles Vorkosidan series. Watch out, Mrs. Bujold, here comes Kim Harrison.

In this installment, the tension between Rachel and Ivy is settled (pretty much), we find out much more about Trent, and the world of demons comes into a clearer focus. Are there still mysteries? You betcha, but the reader leaves satisfied that the characters have grown, that the present challenges have been well and truly met. There are the inevitable loose strings, but the strings are vague, and like the characters, the reader is completely happy to leave them for another day.

In possibly the best book of the series thus far, Ms. Harrison further develops her core characters, introducing only one new somewhat minor character (doubtless to be developed later). She does vastly develop characters that were minor in previous installments, but the reader is already familiar with them and has already formed attitudes about what to expect from these characters....most times even correctly.

Our: Story:

Rachel is heartbroken about Kisten and depressed. Ivy is still trying to find a bllod balance with her. A new man is introduced (more than one, actually, but see the last paragraph about correctness of readers' assumptions) for Rachel's love interest, but that's undeveloped in this story. Ceri, the elfin princess that was Al's familiar, is, as one would expect, the savior of the elfin race. But her partner is surprising in both his identity and his character developments in this tale. Jenks is Jenks. All in all, its damned hard to write this review without spoilers. The Hallows have become such a comfortable place to visit that one just wants to talk about their adventures there and show off the pictures taken while on sojourn there. Rachel must save the day, defeat the nefarious bastards that are trying to kill her, and keep her soul and personality intact at the same time....again. Its a familair plot line, but the characters make this a more personal story than just the kick butt, shoot 'em up that it looks to be on the surface. Each character has their vunerabilities and weaknesses, even Al.

If you want to learn more, you'll just have to read this one. When you do, let me know what you think.

Geez! I thought I had a pretty good vocabulary...

Goodness gracious! I have been deperately trying to get through Fatal Revenant for over a month. Its not that its a bad book, it isn't. Its just very heavy reading. I have to stop about every 5 pages, grab a dictionary, and look up what Mr. Donaldson is trying to tell me. His words, once the definitions are clear, are spot on and very descriptive. But Dang! I'm only about 1/3 of the way through and I'm just now getting into the action.

I'm going to set it aside again and read some Kaye Kenyon, Kim Harrison's new book from her Rachel Morgan series, and then maybe I'll come back to this. Its just taking forever for me to read this, and I consider myself a pretty fast reader.

Of course, maybe my vocabulary isn't what I thought it was. Its truncated rather than expansive. My comprehension is less than proliferate, maybe even circumscribed. *Sigh*
Ain't that a downer! I was a-thinking my teachers had done learned me real good.