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Looking For the Best Books – the year end review

Posted by Daniel on December 31, 2017
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

We read and reviewed about 250 books this year.  Listed below are those I thought were the best.

In looking through the past year I am surprised to see that I gave fourteen five-star ratings.  My 4.5 and 4.75 star ratings get rounded up in places like Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble when I post the review there, but only 14 actual five star review.  And of those, seven of them are in the non-fiction category.  What does this say?  I suppose it means that when I read non-fiction I am looking to be informed and a respectable amount of  research and the ability to convey that gets my attention.  With fiction, on the other hand, I am looking for so much more.  Characters, story, plot, conflict, rising action, dialog … there’s a lot more that might narrowly miss the mark.

For the sake of my looking for the best book, I’ve only considered those books that received a 4.25 rating or higher.  No book in the romance/erotica category received a rating that high.  Two books that might be considered romance to some degree, The Ferryman Institute and The Strange Disappearance of Atticus Finch did rate better than 4.25.

Not everything was published or released in 2017 – these are the books read and reviewed here in 2017.

SCIENCE FICTION

I was surprised to look back and see that I only gave out one 5 star rating in one of my favorite categories. My selection for the best science fiction? Necrotech by K. C. Alexander.

Runner ups:

1) Winter World by Chuck Dixon
2) Rise of Io by Wesley Chu
3) Dragon Engine by Andy Remic

That’s a powerful line-up and a set of books well worth reading!

FANTASY

The difference between science fiction and fantasy can be pretty tough to determine sometimes.  Andy Remic’s Dragon Engine could easily be considered fantasy, but I’ve selected a few different titles for my fantasy picks.

Again only one book received five stars.  My best book for 2017 in fantasy is an easy pick: Dusk or Dark or Dawn of Day by Seanan McGuire.

Runner ups:

1) The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
2) Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
3) Final Girls by Mira Grant
4) The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman

MYSTERY

The mystery genre is a little bit new to me and here too we might find cross-over with other genres.  In fact, my only five star rating could also be considered a western.  My best mystery for 2017 is one of the Longmire books, The Highwayman by Craig Johnson.

Runners-up:

1) Michaelangelo’s Ghost by Gigi Pandian
2) Striver’s Row Spy by Jason Overstreet
3) Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

ROMANCE/EROTICA

No ‘best’ for the year.

WESTERN

The Highwayman, which was also the best mystery.

Runners-up:

1) Great Short Stories by Contemporary Native American Authors – Bob Blaisdell, editor
2) Gunman Notorious 4.25

YOUNG ADULT

In YOUNG ADULT books there was nothing that received a five star rating but I’ve selected I Am the Weapon by Allen Zadoff as my choice for the best of 2017.

Runners-up:

1) The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
2) Arena by Holly Jennings
3) Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Two GRAPHIC NOVELS garnered five stars and they are pretty even as I think back on them, but I’ve selected Future Quest, Vol. 1 as my favorite with Betty Boop as a close second.

CHILDREN’S

In CHILDREN’S books the selection was easy for me. I’ve selected The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden by Philippa Dowding as the best for 2017.

Runner up:

AstroTwins: Project Rescue  by Scott Kelly

SHORT FICTION

For a SHORT STORY COLLECTION/ANTHOLOGY category, I could look again to the Contemporary Native American Authors but Dead on the Bones by Joe R. Lansdale is my pick.

Runners-up:

1) The Very Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Volume 2
2) Slipping by Lauren Beukes

LITERARY FICTION

LITERARY FICTION is a rather generic category for anything that doesn’t fit well in other genres.  Here I’ve picked Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, the retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, as the best for the year.

Runners-up:

1) Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman by Mamen Sanchez
2) The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl

NON-FICTION

And finally NON-FICTION.  So many good books to pick from but my choice for the best really popped out at me when I looked the list over.  The best non-fiction I read this year was a memoir/autobiography, Infinite Tuesday by Michael Nesmith.

Runner-ups:

1) Four of the Three Musketeers by Robert S. Bader
2) Waldorf Astoria Bar Book by Frank Caiafa
3) Paperbacks From Hell by Grady Hendrix
4) Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs by Lynn Frierson Faust

Nine ‘bests’ and a respectable load of runner-ups.  So what was the best of the best?  What is the overall best book that I found?  It’s not an easy selection as all these ‘bests’ are deserving, but The Best Book Found in 2017…

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden by Philippa Dowding

That’s a lot of great reading.  Congratulations to these authors, editors, and publishers, and thank you.

CHURCH OF SPILLED BLOOD – Jesse Miles

Posted by Daniel on December 29, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Jack Salvo is a part-time philosophy teacher at a community college in Los Angeles and a part-time private investigator.  When he signs up to work as bodyguard for the Russian Ballet who’ve come to Los Angeles, he figures he’s in for some pretty easy work and the bonus is that he’ll get to hang around some beautiful women – and get paid for it. But when one of those women is kidnapped on his watch, he takes it personally. Salvo ducks the FBI and dodges bullets in order to take on the Russian mafia, risking his life repeatedly to return one woman – a woman he happened to have been developing a relationship with.

His search brings him to Russia where he’s arranged for a swap – the woman for a set of valuable diamonds.  The swap is to take place in a town that is most noted for The Church of Our Savior Built on Spilled Blood. And ‘spilled blood’ is precisely what happens when the swap goes wrong.

I really enjoyed author Jesse Miles’ writing style.  The book was smooth and I bought in to the characters right away – which is essential to buying in to the story (which I also did).

The book had a classic PI/Thriller feel about it.  Tough but smart American PI and Russian ballet dancers kidnapped.  This could have come straight from the 1970’s crime fiction section!  In fact the book made me think about Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series – in a very good way.

This is just a good PI Crime Thriller and I really liked the character of Jake Salvo .  I will happily read more of these stories.

Looking for a good book? Church of Spilled Blood by Jesse Miles is a throwback to the classic tough-but-intelligent Private Investigators (like Spenser) and a thrilling read.

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

* * * * * *

Church of Spilled Blood

author: Jesse Miles

ASIN: B01LA5IZ96

Kindle Edition, 218 pages

DAWN IN DAMNATION – Clark Casey

Posted by Daniel on December 28, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, WESTERN. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Well this was just a heck of a lot of fun.

“Damnation,” is a lot like what the Christian church-goers might refer to as “Purgatory” – that place in-between the land of the living and either heaven or hell.  But with a twist.  Those arriving in Damnation have a past that’s checkered with some foul deed or another and it’s pretty well-assumed that those who move on from Damnation will only go in one direction.

But those arriving in Damnation, which resembles an old west cowpoke town, don’t have to leave.  If they can stay ‘alive’ they remain in Damnation.  But get killed a second time and it’s out-of-town for the poor soul.  Our story is told primarily from the point of view of a man whose stayed out of trouble since arriving and even started his own Damn newspaper, keeping the residents apprised of the comings and goings of all the other residents.

Just in case the purgatory of the afterlife isn’t supernatural enough for the reader, Damnation also has its vampire residents and some werewolves who invade the town from time to time.  The vamps and the wolves are just as subjected to being ‘killed’ and moving on to their final destination as the humans.

I was expecting something a little more … cheesy, I think.  Something that was more along the lines of spoof or farce, but instead we actually get a good mash-up of two unlikely genres – the western and the paranormal.

There wasn’t anything here too serious, but the story was strong enough to capture my attention and to hold my interest.  What Damnation is, or was, was nicely, slowly revealed, though there are still some questions about the place and why people arrive or don’t and where they go afterward. I had fun in Damnation and I’m hoping there will be more stories there to take me back.

Looking for a good book? Dawn in Damnation by Clark Casey is an entertaining read and a nice blend of paranormal/fantasy and old-fashioned western.

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

* * * * * *

Dawn in Damnation

author: Clark Casey

publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

ISBN: 1516104986

paperback, 288 pages

DARKCHYLDE: THE ARIEL CHYLDE SAGA – R. Queen

Posted by Daniel on December 27, 2017
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I enjoy a good horror/dark fiction read and I will be honest – I was drawn to this book because of this beautiful cover that promises so much beauty and imagination in darkness.  The book is set in a world first developed by the same author as a comic book series (a ‘hit’ comic book series according to the book cover).

Ariel Chylde is a high school student who suffers from horrible dreams and nightmares.  She has sudden, strange outbursts in school and as a result is treated as an outcast and pariah.  Most of us know how cruel high school students can be (does anyone NOT know the Stephen King book, Carrie?).  Ariel suffers from her peer abuse.

But on her eighteenth birthday, Ariel’s nightmares become a reality.  She sprouts wings and she winds her way into her nightmare world to fend off the monsters for real. Those living in the ‘normal’ world don’t understand what she’s doing and what she’s protecting them from.  Instead, they think that she’s the monster who needs to be stopped.

Ariel is a wonderful character.  Despite the abuse she takes from her peers and the nightmares and her questioning her sanity and everything around her, she remains strong and willful.

Unfortunately, however, the writing was terribly uneven.  We learn at the end that this is R. Queen’s first novel despite a career writing for comics, and I think it shows.  The writing, as many others have indicated, is very lyrical and poetical, but it takes more than poetry to tell a story, and the writing necessary to tell a 32-page comic and/or a multi-comic series, is very different from building a story for a novel.  Most of the book is from Ariel’s point of view but we do get occasional spurts – by way of very short chapters – from someone else’s point of view. This might work easily in a comic when we can see a panel or two, or even a page, but in a novel it tends to slow us down more – unless the alternating points of view are balanced well to tell the story.

And while the writing is poetical and lyrical at times, it sometimes felt like poetry in place of story. We gloss over character development to spend time waxing poetic about dark descriptions and monsters.  The descriptions in the comics come by way of the art, where we can absorb description and action and dialog all at once.  In a novel we can only take it in a word at a time – this is where the seasoned story-teller understands the balance and where R. Queen is very uneven.

I wanted to like this, and hoped that the story would live up to the great cover.  I suspect I would have really liked the comic/graphic novel. But this book, as a work of fiction, doesn’t hold up.

Looking for a good book? Darkchylde: The Ariel Chylde Saga is based on a comic book, both by R. Queen.  The comic is probably a better place to go to get this story as this is extremely uneven and a struggle.

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

* * * * * *

Darkchylde: The Ariel Chylde Saga

author: R. Queen

publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

ISBN: 1620074125

paperback, 228 pages

ALICE AND THE ASSASSIN – R. J. Koreto

Posted by Daniel on December 26, 2017
Posted in: HISTORICAL FICTION, MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

President Theodore Roosevelt reportedly once said, “I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both” in regards to his daughter and history has painted her as a bit rebellious and rambunctious. Author R.J. Koreto also paints her as curious in the mystery, Alice and the Assassin.

It is 1902 and Teddy Roosevelt is President of the United States.  Teddy assigns Joseph St. Clair – a veteran of the Secret Service and former Rough Rider – the task of watching over Alice, the President’s daughter. She smokes cigarettes, bets on horse races, chews bubble gum, and generally challenges her guard at every turn.  She also develops a real school-girl crush on the rough, older St. Clair.

St. Clair doesn’t do much here except that we see Alice through his eyes.  He doesn’t try very hard to stop her from whatever she gets in to, but instead just tries to make sure she is safe – whatever she is doing.  That’s harder than it sounds, however, since Alice gets the idea to investigate the assassination of President William McKinley.  In part, she’s hoping to protect her father whom she believes could meet the same fate if the true culprits aren’t uncovered. In part, it’s something to do. St. Clair helps open a few doors for the young woman and protects her from physical danger.

Koreto has taken an interesting historical figure and written a complicated mystery.  The plot intrigue, complete with foreign powers trying to create some influence in the United States reads an awful lot like some of the political goings-on happening in the U.S. today, which adds to the intrigue.

But despite the historical research and the fascinating characters, the book moves along at a snail’s pace.  We expect that a book in which this young, vibrant woman at the turn of the century who bucks the trend at every turn, would move along quickly – at her pace.  But because the book is told from the point of view of the older, more careful St. Clair, we get it at his pace – careful, watchful. It’s a frustrating way to read … wanting to go faster than the author.

I’ll be interested in the next volume, but if the pace continues slowly and methodically, it will be my last.

Looking for a good book?  Alice and the Assassin by R. J. Koreto is a historical fiction mystery that moves a little too slowly but shows some promise for future books.

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

* * * * * *

Alice and the Assassin

author: R. J. Koreto

series: Alice Roosevelt Mystery #1

publisher: Crooked Lane Books

ISBN: 1683311124

hardcover, 280 pages

MANITOU CANYON – William Kent Krueger

Posted by Daniel on December 22, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Manitou Canyon is the 15th book in the Cork O’Connor mystery series. You don’t get to fifteen books in a series if there isn’t something engaging and powerful about the characters and/or the stories.

I’ve only previously read the first two books in the series – just enough to give me a taste of the central characters.  Certainly much has happened in the twelve books in between, but I never felt that I was so lost that I couldn’t follow this story. My wife, who has read all the Cork O’Connor books, was sure I’d be really confused, but the nice thing about this series is that you really can pick up any book in the series and get a complete story.  The characters may grow during the course of the series, but the central stories are contained in each volume.

In Manitou Canyon, former cop Cork O’Connor, who now lives in Northern Minnesota, has helped the local law enforcement search for a man who went missing in the Boundary Waters.  The man, a wealthy developer was an old friend of Cork’s, and disappeared while spending time in the Boundary Waters with his two grandchildren.  When the search is finally called off, the grandchildren hire Cork to search on his own.  The grand-daughter, an outdoors person herself, accompanies Cork while the grand-son stays in town.  But within a day of the search, the grand-daughter also goes missing, and then Cork is kidnapped and those in town only know that Cork has failed to check in as agreed.

What follows is a story of survival in the wilderness, a stand by a group of people to fight for what’s ‘right,’ and a moral battle – both for individuals and for a group of peoples.  It was an exciting, thrilling ride and a tightly woven, complex mystery.  The fact that the mystery revolves around a few individuals fighting each other and the land around them, but also has broader, national implications makes this a really exciting story.

I will add, though, that it seemed really obvious to me who was involved in the kidnapping, despite Krueger’s attempt to keep the person out of the limelight.  What I didn’t know was ‘why’ until others in the story managed to catch on and investigate.  This is typically my problem with the mystery genre – I tend to know ‘who’ before the characters in the book.

All in all, a really thrilling read set in a beautiful natural environment.

Looking for a good book? Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger is the 15th Cork O’Connor book though it can be read as a stand-alone mystery.  It is full of adventure, mystery, and intrigue in a wonderful, beautiful environment and well worth reading.

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

* * * * * *

Manitou Canyon

author: William Kent Krueger

series: Cork O’Connor #15

publisher: Atria Books

ISBN: 1476749264

hardcover, 328 pages

 

FOUR OF THE THREE MUSKETEERS – Robert S. Bader

Posted by Daniel on December 21, 2017
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Wow.  Just … wow.

Robert S. Bader has done an incredible amount of research into the early days – the vaudeville and live stage performance days – of the Marx Brothers and shares it with the rest of us in the tremendous book, Four of the Three Musketeers.

Bader brings us in to the home of Minnie and Sam Marx, introducing us to the extended family, and we only leave when Minnie and the boys begin their careers in show business.  We get the very definite impression that Minnie was quite the caretaker of these early careers and became an agent for them  and truly looked out for their best interests (even if it back-fired a time or two).

We get a very detailed look at the vaudeville careers of these comedians as well as their more personal lives in the early days (with the vaudeville schedule being what it was, the two [business and personal lives] were intrinsically linked.  That Minnie created a ‘stable’ of young starlets, ready to join the boys in a show at a moments notice – knowing full well that these young ladies did more than simply perform on stage to service the brothers – speaks to Minnie’s manipulation and desire to provide for her sons in every way.

There have been plenty of books on the Marx Brothers, and the brothers themselves have written a few volumes on their early days.  But what Bader does extremely well is point out to the reader the inconsistencies in the stories, the facts Bader has found, based on research, and – when no facts exist – relays the various points of view and expresses thoughtful consideration on what is most likely the ‘truth.’  It all comes down to Bader’s impressive research.

From their early battles with vaudeville circuit owners (and their being blacklisted from the top producer) and Chico’s gambling debts, and young women scorned, to Uncle Sam’s draft and Broadway and eventually film, we following the three … er four … um, sometimes five Marx Brothers through their entire early career.

Bader is extremely easy to read, making these 500+ pages go by quite easily.

And as impressive as the narrative itself is, “The Marx Brothers Stage Chronology, 1905-45” has Bader compiling every live performance theses comic geniuses gave over a forty-year span, listed the theatre, the city, the date, and even the sketch/revue/show name when possible.  I may have enjoyed reading through this nearly as much as the narrative as I followed the path they took, could visualize some of the cities and thought about visiting some of these locations (some near me).

I grew up watching the Marx Brothers films – classics replayed in movie theatres (so long before Netflix or DVDs) – and have read up on them periodically through the years, and this is easily the most comprehensive, readable, and thoroughly-researched book I’ve come across.  It is highly recommended.

Looking for a good book? Four of the Three Musketeers, by Robert S. Bader is a remarkable achievement, detailing the early years of the famous Marx Brothers, separating fact from common fiction (usually invented by a Marx Brother as a joke), and mapping out every theatre and sketch they performed during the early days.  It is highly recommended.

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

* * * * * *

Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage

author: Robert S. Bader

publisher: Northwestern University Press

ISBN: 0810134160

hardcover, 544 pages

 

ZVR: DIPLOMACY – Jeff Conner, editor

Posted by Daniel on December 20, 2017
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, GRAPHIC NOVEL, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

This book, ZVR (which stands for Zombies VS. Robots): Diplomacy is a collection of zombie/robot stories based on a comic book/graphic novel series under the ZVR title.

I’ll be honest … when I requested this, seeing the publisher/distributor of IDW, I thought that this would be a graphic novel rather than a collection of short stories with one art page per story.  The art by Mike Dubisch is quite nice and along with the layout of the book (text pages that have a graduating color to the page) gives the book a graphic novel feel.

I’m not quite sure I understand the title.  “ZVR” is clear enough (Zombies Versus Robots).  But ‘Diplomacy’?  I can conceive of a ‘diplomacy’ with an A/I series of robots, but zombies?  By their very definition they are a mindless horde with only one goal – to feed.  How can there be diplomacy there?  And diplomacy for what?  I’m not sure I get it, and I don’t think most of the authors did either because the stories aren’t about a negotiation/diplomacy/treatise but simply stories in which zombies and/or robots play a role.

The problem inherent with zombie fiction is that it isn’t about zombies as much as it is about non-zombies surviving in a world of zombies.

The stories are set around the world (hence ‘diplomacy’?) but as far as I could tell the location didn’t really make much difference to the stories other than as a different or interesting backdrop.

My favorite story in this collection was easily “Exclusion Zone” by Dale Bailey, in which a father looks to protect his family from the zombie horde and finds the best way to do so is to put human brains inside of robots. It was the best, most creative combination of both zombies and robots in the book.

Most of the rest of the book is pretty average fare.  Nothing else really ‘wow’ed me or kept my attention as thoroughly as “Exclusion Zone” though at the same time, nothing was a complete bomb.  Apparently this is a series (maybe graphic novel as well) but not one in which I am very familiar, so if there’s a connection to a larger world or story, I don’t know it.  For me this was just a means to pass some reading time.  I wouldn’t recommend it, but I wouldn’t steer anyone away from it either.

This book contains the following:

Introduction – Jeff Conner
“The Last Defense of Moscow” – Steve Lockley
“For King and Country” – Rio Youers
“Soul Killer” – Robert Hood
“The Harrowing” – Gary McMahon
“Timka” – Ekaterina Sedia
“Beheaded by Whip-Wielding Nun” – Simon Clark
“Exclusion Zone” – Dale Bailey
“Spinbot” – Simon Kurt Unsworth
Los Autores

Looking for a good book?  ZVR Diplomacy is a collection of Zombie/Robot apocalypse stories around the world, collected and edited by Jeff Conner.  It is very average reading but fans of the milieu will likely enjoy it.

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

* * * * * *

ZVR Diplomacy 

editor: Jeff Conner

publisher: IDW Publishing

ISBN: 1613776462

paperback, 274 pages

FIELDS WHERE THEY LAY – Timothy Hallinan

Posted by Daniel on December 19, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

This is book number six in a “Junior Bender Mystery” series.  I have not read any of the other books in the series and because of that I think I was a bit lost right from the start. Junior Bender is a bit of a detective – but not for the good guys.  He’s a burglar who does a bit of detecting work for the criminal bosses in the area.

At the start of the book, Bender is in the security office for a local mall.  The mall, like so many around the country, isn’t doing too well. Most people tend to shop online.  But this mall is having some significant ups and downs during the holiday season.  Enough ‘ups’ that the mall has hired two Santas – one for either end of the mall.  But on the down side, there appears to have been more petty theft than usual, even for the holiday time of year.

The mall is owned by a Russian gangster, who calls Bender in to investigate.

At the beginning, I didn’t realize that Bender was a criminal.  We’re informed that the mall owner has contacted him to investigate the theft problems.  Without knowing any more, I immediately assumed that Bender was a detective or retired cop.  So when I later read about his burglary tools in the trunk of his car, I’m confused.  More-so when we’re informed that the mall owner is a criminal. So who is Junior Bender?  Of course if I’d read other books in the series I’d already know, but picking up this book new, I was confused.  I only got to know more about him as the book went on.  (Of course, if I’d read the Goodreads reviews before I read the book, I would know, but I prefer to read a book as fresh as possible so that I am not influenced by someone else’s thoughts.

Bender’s dealings with the Jewish Santa, Schlomo, aren’t what one would expect of a criminal (compounding my confusion), but I liked  the gentleness and the holiday message here.  It grounded the characters in a nice and fresh way.

Unfortunately, despite some holiday philosophy, we also have a murder, corruption, and a threat against Bender’s family. So much for the holiday spirit.

What makes the book worth reading are the characters. Bender, Schlomo, and even the ‘heavies’ here are wonderful examples of literary characters that are unique and come across as quite real.

What doesn’t work so well are the multiple stories taking place.  A mystery, with a red-herring or two, would have been fine.  But the thefts, the murder, the history of Schlomo, the … well, you get the idea.  It was more than was necessary for a good mystery.

Looking for a good book? Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan is the sixth book in a series – which is moderately important to know and has some great characters, but tries to tell too many stories.

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

* * * * * *

Fields Where They Lay

author: Timothy Hallinan

series: Junior Bender #6

publisher: Soho Crime

ISBN: 1616957468

hardcover, 384 pages

THE IRON GHOST – Jen Williams

Posted by Daniel on December 18, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Jen Williams’ The Iron Ghost is the much-anticipated (by many) follow-up to The Copper Cat.  It is a sequel only in that it includes most of the same characters, in the same world, though it doesn’t necessarily follow-up on an ‘unfinished’ story.  This is a good thing.  This could be read as a stand-alone novel, though incidents from The Copper Cat are referred to, so it’s nice to have that background.

After their success in the previous book, Frith, Wydrin, and Sebastian are now known as The Blackfeather Three and they hire themselves out – solving a few problems and making a bit of money.  They are on top of the world. But a nasty wizard/mage will challenge their skills.

This book is difficult to read.  The chapters are short in page-length, but heavy, plodding to read.  There’s not a lot of action, but there is a lot of movement and discussion and the short chapters prevent the reader from really getting invested in the story, characters, and action.

The book doesn’t feel like a book as much as it does like four novellas that feel like four novels, they were so dense with description.

By the time I got half way through I just couldn’t wait to get to the end – this band of characters and the adventures they had really didn’t appeal to me.

Looking for a good book? The Iron Ghost is the second book in The Copper Cat series by Jen Williams.  It is a rehash of the first volume with little new or interesting to distinguish itself.

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

* * * * * *

The Iron Ghost

author: Jen Williams

series: The Copper Cat #2

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857665790

paperback, 510 pages

DR POTTER’S MEDICINE SHOW – Eric Scott Fischl

Posted by Daniel on December 15, 2017
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Alchemy seems to be in fashion.  This is the third book in about as many weeks that I have read with alchemy taking a prominent place in the story.

Alexander Potter was a Civil War doctor who has gone above and beyond the normal atrocities that doctors were noted for during the Civil War (that primarily being a great deal of amputations).  Now Potter travels with a freak-show/circus where he hawks his snake-oil cure-all. Most of the tonic is useless but there is a tonic that will bring the strongest men to their knees – or something much worse.

But Potter is not the villain here.  Potter is a pawn to the much more villainous circus manager, who in turn is a pawn to someone further behind the scenes back on the coast.  They travel through backwoods towns relieving rubes of their money and bringing about a little horror.

Early in the book, as the character of Dr Potter was being established, I was really captivated and interested.  I could hardly wait to get in to his story.  Then we got to know a few more characters. And the story?  Well, it was sort of being told to us along the way but we weren’t really being drawn in to experience the story ourselves. But it was close … oh, so close.

My biggest issue with the book was the characters.  Potter is our central character, but no one, including Potter, was particularly likable. If you’re going to have a story with a bunch of despicable, or at least unlikable, characters, then you need a story that is really strong and this one just didn’t have it.

Though I didn’t really expect a horror novel from Angry Robot, that is what we get here and I’ve said it before – it’s really hard to write a horror novel.  Being able to sustain the suspense and keep the reader on edge is something few people can do well (and why those who can do it well manage to stay at the top).

There’s some promise here, but giving us somebody to root for would have helped.

Looking for a good book? Dr. Potter’s Medicine Show by Eric Scott Fischl is a promising Civil War-era horror novel but doesn’t quite rise up to give us engaging characters or a very strong story.

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

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Dr. Potter’s Medicine Show

author: Eric Scott Fischl

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 085766638X

paperback, 352 pages