Though I am familiar with the name of Brian W. Aldiss, I cannot say that I am at all familiar with his work.  About the time that I came to recognize his name, I was no longer reading the science fiction of Clarke and Asimov that might have brought me to Aldiss, but instead I was reading the fantasies of Zelazny and Moorcock. Now, having broadened my reading horizons a bit, and seeing that Aldiss is retiring after this (note that this was first published in 2012), I thought it might be nice to explore a new work by a ‘Grand Master’ of science fiction.

Aldiss takes a pretty common story idea (colonization of Mars) and adds his stamp on it.  I will say that I can’t recall ever reading a science fiction story that addressed the issue of childbirth and the difficulties that may occur due to a variety of differences affecting labor (in this case, no child has survived childbirth on Mars and the colonies (established by universities to rescue mankind) are looking to thrive, but the lack of progeny is demoralizing.  The future of humanity is at risk, but Aldiss tosses in a little deus ex machina at the end to address some questions.

I very much like the ideas that are presented, but the story rambles and jumps around just a little too much to be the tight, cohesive book that it could be.  The ending almost seems like a cop-out, and a new element is introduced into the book almost three-quarters of the way through — something that could easily be novel-worthy in itself, but is barely addressed again after the introduction, which was very disappointing.

I felt that this book needed much stronger editorial over-sight and wonder if sometimes, when an author has had a long, successful career, if editors are afraid to challenge or push the author.  There are flashes of something really powerful here, but it just doesn’t carry through to a completely satisfying read.

Looking for a good book?  Brian W. Aldiss’s latest (from 2012), and last book shows glimpses of the powerhouse he once was in the science fiction genre, but the story rambles and lacks cohesion.

I received a digital copy of the book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Finches of Mars

author: Brian W. Aldiss

publisher: Open Road Integrated Media

ISBN13: 9781504002134

paperback, 202 pages

THROWBACK THURSDAY: REVIEWING A BOOK FROM MY SHELF

I first read this book back in 1977 when an English teacher of mine, knowing that I enjoyed sci-fi, put a copy of this book on my desk and suggested that if I really liked science fiction then I would love this book.  It was an award winner, after all.  A month or two later and I brought the book back and I could see in his face he wanted to know how much I loved it, and I smiled and said it was good, but the truth was, I didn’t understand a single bit of it or why anyone would like it.

But because I liked that teacher, this book has stuck with me, and I decided to give it another try.

I definitely understood the book much, MUCH better than I did when I was sixteen … found humor that I never would have picked up on at the time … but I still found the book to be dull and mostly very uninteresting.

I don’t think I realized, even with this reading, that the book isn’t about any specific character or characters but rather about an idea.  And because it’s about an idea, it traverses the lives of a number of people.  As I would gain an interest and be curious about specifics or characters and their actions, it would move on to another story.

In classic 1960’s tradition, this book is about ideology.  It is a commentary on the role and tradition of religion in society and it capitalizes on the fears (of the times, mostly) of nuclear holocaust.

The role of religion seems to be to give people something to cling to, something to hold on to, especially when everything seems bleakest.  Yet somehow, in this book, religion is the keeper of science and technology in a perverted sense that they don’t quite understand what it is they are holding dear.  This doesn’t make sense to me.

I’ve given this book two chances … more than most books will get, and it still fails to interest or enlighten or entertain.

Looking for a good book?  Not everything that’s a ‘classic’ or an award winner is worth reading.

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A Canticle for Leibowitz

author: Walter M. Miller, Jr.

series: St. Leibowitz #1

publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks

ISBN: 1455120227

audio CD, 9 discs

With gatherings such as ComicCon in San Diego getting the national press attention that it does, it surprises me that there aren’t more books that feature pop culture or geek life styles as part of the story (maybe there are and I’m just way out of the loop?).  I think it was Robert Coulson and Gene DeWeese’s Now You See It, Him, Them back in 1976 that I last felt such a geek rush come from the pages of a book.

Imagine that you are a geek (as defined in modern syntax: “a person who is socially awkward and unpopular : a usually intelligent person who does not fit in with other people :a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity” and typically applies to those who are also participates in a fandom, such as science fiction, board-gaming, comics, popular adventure television, etc), and if you have picked up this book, then you probably don’t have to imagine it too hard.  Now, imagine that you can acquire the talents and/or powers from the books/tv/movies/comics that you enjoy.  Pretty awesome idea?  You bet it is.  Watch a clip from Star Wars and you suddenly have the power to wield a light saber as an expert.  But if you’ve only watched a clip, that power doesn’t last long.

Ree Reyes is a wanna-be screenwriter working as a barista and in a comic shop when a stranger (whom she’ll come to know as “Eastwood” enters her life by way of the comics shop and is followed by a cataclysmic “BOOM” moments later.  Ree follows Eastwood into the magical side of life, trying to stop a strange rash of teen suicides, and discovers she is a Geekomancer …someone with the power to harness geeky attributes.  But is Eastwood  a friend of a foe?

This book is packed with geek fun around a simple, but effective, story.  The characters are not fully realized and yet not completely flat either.  What the book offers is fun, and potential.  It happens that I did previously read a novella in the Geekomancy series (Attack the Geek) which I enjoyed tremendously and decided I had better read the whole series.  This first novel is a bit rough, but fortunately, I know where it’s headed, and I think it’s worth the ride, and worth starting with this book.

I should note that I first started this novel by listening to it on Audible, which can be picked up for a fairly cheap price.  But there’s a reason for that… the narrator for the Audible version is dreadfully dry and brings down the enjoyment of the story.  I returned my Audible copy and went back to actually reading, which was much better.

Looking for a good book?  If you consider yourself a geek or enjoy geeky pop culture, you are bound to enjoy Geekomancy.

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Geekomancy

author: Michael R. Underwood

series: Ree Reyes #1

publisher: Pocket Star

ISBN: 1451698135

ebook, 255 pages

I have to admit that I couldn’t wait to dig in to this book, enjoying the first and the second in the series as much as I did.

Dawnbreaker wraps up the Legends of the Duskwalker trilogy nicely.  Picking up where the last book left off, Wren and his mother Cass are separated after a massive battle at Morningside — a city taken over by Cass’s other son, Asher, and the electrified zombies known as Weir that Asher seems to be able to control.  Wren is about to give up, assuming all is lost, when he meets a stranger named Haiku who seems vaguely familiar.

Wren goes in to training to learn to control and command his gifts, while Cass rallies a rag-tag band of people who are willing to take the fight to Asher and the Weir and this book leads to the final battle that we’ve been anticipating since the beginning of book two.

Author Jay Posey gives a world that is at once unfamiliar and yet all-too-possibly familiar as our own future.  He peoples the world with characters that ring true and are so real and human that we can not help but be drawn in to them, hoping for the best.

In book one we were introduced to Cass and Wren. Though Three was the dominant figure through the book, it was clear that Cass and her son Wren were to play a part in a larger story.  In book two, it is Wren who shines and is the dominant figure, though we are introduced to a new character who also captures a great deal of attention, Asher.  And now in book three, the glue that has held the three books together rises above all the other great characters that Posey has introduced.  This is Cass’s book.

Although the big face off will have to come between the brothers – the good Wren against the evil Asher – Wren spends much of the book either wandering or training, while Cass is actively seeking a way to defeat Asher and the Weir.  Given the tremendous amount of action that Posey gave us in the first book and followed up in the second book, this one is a slight let-down.  Even the final battle just doesn’t have the kick to it that we’ve come to expect, though we do get some unexpectedly human moments that have us cheering.

The three books in the series each have a different focal character and the books themselves have a tone to them that reflect that main character.  In Three, we were extremely active and secretive.  The reader was constantly learning new things and working to keep up, while often being caught off-guard by Three’s actions.  In Morningside Fall, the tone of the book captured the youthful innocence of Wren, maintained his energy and the eagerness to learn new things.  Now in Dawnbreaker, we have the maternal sense of care and planning, while also being slightly on edge as we watch a mother looking to protect a cub, ready to spring in to action when necessary.

It is difficult to say how this book would read if you haven’t read the previous two books.  I’m fairly well versed in the series and it’s hard for me not to picture the events from the previous books while reading this one.  If you haven’t read the previous two books, you really should go and read them … NOW … because they are remarkable.  One of the best sci-fi series’ I’ve read in a long time.

This book doesn’t offer up the pizzazz that I was hoping for, given the big battles we’ve already seen through the series.  There is a battle to end the book (and the trilogy), but it wraps up rather neatly and, frankly, easily.  I haven’t fully decided how I feel about this.  Just because it didn’t end how I wanted it to end doesn’t make this ‘bad.’  Endings can come about in a myriad of ways.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to read the entire trilogy again and then we’ll see how I feel about the culmination of events.

Looking for a good book?  Dawnbreaker is the third book in the Legends of the Duskwalker trilogy, which may be one of the best sci-fi trilogies published in the last decade.  Start at the beginning, with Three, and don’t stop until you get to the end.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgally, in exchange for an honest review.

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Dawnbreaker

author: Jay Posey

series: Legends of the Duskwalker #3

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857664484

paperback, 512 pages