CITY OF BLADES – Robert Jackson Bennett

Posted by Daniel on May 7, 2018
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

This, my friends, is how you write an epic, original, engaging fantasy!

Author Robert Jackson Bennett is a wizard, I’m sure of it.  He can take a complex, unusual idea and make it simple and ordinary for the reader and likewise take a simple, seemingly ordinary idea and provide a complex world around it, and he blends it all together for a very engaging, totally believable adventure.

General Turyin Mulaghesh is trying to enjoy retirement on a remote section of an island when a messenger manages to find her.  Due to a technicality, she hasn’t earned her retirement benefits and she’s being pressed into service again for just a few months.  But her official, casual mission of ‘observation’ has a secondary, non-public mission to find out what’s happened to Special Investigator Choudry, who was also sent to this ass-end-of-the-country, unsecured Fort Thinadeshi (“just outside of Voortyashtan proper”) with a secret mission and investigating a rare and unusual mineral called ‘thinadeskite.’

But we wouldn’t be following General Mulagesh’s story if something big wasn’t going to happen.

It is difficult to review this book without giving too much away, and more difficult to synopsize given the intricacies of the relationships of the characters and the history of the world in which this takes place.  Trust Bennett, however, to give the reader everything s/he needs to make sense of this world, but also expect to be surprised just when you think you know where this story is going.

For most of the first half of the book, Bennett sets us up by establishing the characters and giving us a bit of a mystery (what is this thinadeskite and what happened to Choudry) mixed with some deadly action (attacks on the fort and brutal murders of some of the locals) with only small hints of anything supernatural or fantasy about this.  But this is where Bennett the wizard shows his skills, because when the story takes a strong left turn, it feels perfectly natural and you realize later that all the hints where there for you all along.

This is one of those books that becomes a page-turner the deeper you get in to it.  I have a reading routine, but I was constantly breaking my routine in order to read a little more – a little further – in this book each day, and I was exhausted by the time this was done.

This is unquestionably Turyin Mulaghesh’s story, but like the truly great works of fiction, her story impacts the human race and she interacts with mankind and gods alike. And the fact that she is a General, a warrior, has great meaning to everyone around her.

I am immediately jumping in to the next book in the series, but I think that this works fine as a stand-alone novel.  You’ll simply want to read more in this story.

Looking for a good book? The City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett is a powerful, destined-to-be-a-classic epic fantasy that will have you staying up late in order to keep reading.

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

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The City of Blades

author: Robert Jackson Bennett

series: The Divine Cities #2

publisher: Broadway Books

ISBN: 0553419714

paperback, 484 pages

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AVENGERS OF THE MOON – Allen Steele

Posted by Daniel on May 4, 2018
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

More than once I have written that I’m a fan of old-fashioned pulp fiction so I knew this would likely be right up my alley. I was familiar only with the basic premise of Captain Future and that it was generally written by Edmond Hamilton. What author Allen Steele has done is provided the reader with back story – or the origin story, if you will.

Curt Newton’s mother and father were murdered when he was a child.  He has been raised in a hidden bunker on the moon by a robot, an android, and the brain of Professor Simon Wright – a family friend. These three oddities teach and train Curt so that he is the best possible human. He is also raised with a strong moral code to do what is right and protect the innocent.

When Curt learns that his parents’ killer is a corrupt businessman and current Senator, he makes it his mission to get out and avenge his parents and to bring down the politician.  He creates the persona of ‘Captain Future’ and with the help of his three unique friends (the robot, android, and disembodied brain)  begins his adventure.  Along the way, he meets Inspector Joan Randall of the Interplanetary Police Force.  He’s never met another human before this, and the fact that she’s quite beautiful has him feeling awkward and tongue-tied around her, though he tries valiantly to play up his Captain Future do-gooder persona. Joan finds him silly, but charming and attractive with his innocence and as she’s also trying to right wrongs in the galaxy, she teams up with him.  Together they discover that there’s a web of conspiracy that runs deep surrounding the Senator and bringing him down won’t be an easy task.

Author Allen Steele is clearly knowledgeable of the pulp genre and has taken on this story with the skill of a practiced writer and the enthusiasm of a fan..  He has written the ‘origin story’ of Captain Future (which lines up with his origins as described in Wikipedia).

Writing pulp fiction for the modern reader is no easy task, and taking a hero from the 1940’s pulps and making him interesting and relevant to today’s reader is a challenge.  But it’s a challenge that Steele has taken on and done very well.

I’ve only read a small amount of Edmond Hamilton (the author of Captain Future books in the 1940’s) and nothing of this particular hero, so I can’t really compare, but this book has encouraged me to seek out some of the original Captain Future stories and that alone speaks highly of how interesting and exciting this book was. I hope that this will lead to more Captain Future volumes with Steele at the helm.

Looking for a good book? Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele is a modern story of a classic pulp hero and has all the excitement and adventure of the classic pulps but will engage the modern reader well.

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

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Avengers of the Moon

author: Allen Steele

publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 0765382180

hardcover, 304 pages

A CLOCKWORK HEART – Liesel Schwarz

Posted by Daniel on May 2, 2018
Posted in: ROMANCE, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

This is a second book in a series and I have not read the first (or any other) book in this series.  And I’m not likely to do so.

Elle Chance is married to former warlock Hugh Marsh and Elle spends her days completely focused on being the Oracle – who alone manages to keep the Shadow forces from invading. Hugh, on the other hand, is bored now that he doesn’t have his warlock duties to keep him busy, and so when he gets word that the London police could use his help solving a magical crime, he’s eager to jump back into the game.  But something terrible happens to Hugh … his heart is removed and in its place is a clock-like device.  Soon, London is crawling with heartless-running-by-clock people.  Elle knows that the clocks are running down and she desperately needs to find and restore Hugh’s heart before the clock completely runs down.

This book holds a mildly interesting idea and mixes steampunk and urban fantasy and even paranormal romance in a melodramatic YA story. Such cross-genre blending has become rather common, though in 2013 this was likely a bit edgy – to not be pigeonholed in one category.

I recognize that this is YA, and I’ve read some really incredible young adult books, but I really felt that this one is written ‘down’ to the audience.  The dialog is so full of telling and constant info dumps.  Because it’s near the end of the book, this stood out to me, but I suspect I could find many similar examples throughout:

Inside each jar, suspended in the blue glowing liquid, was what appeared to be a pulsating human heart. And they all seemed to be beating in unison.
“There must be thousands of jars,” the professor said.
“There are,” _____ said “But sadly we have not quite managed to be up to full capacity just yet. But we are making progress.”
“Why are you doing all this?” Elle said.
______ laughed. “Oh, don’t be so stupid.”
“I want to hear you say it.” Elle steadily met her gaze, challenging ______ to continue.
“Well, if you must know…

Of course I’m trying not to give anything away here but this “Why…if you must know” type of dialog resonates throughout.  Randomly flipping back through the book I easily spotted:

“Listen to this,” Mrs. Hinges said. “I spoke to… [and she proceeds to tell what she heard, which is more than I need to reprint here]
Elle and Loisa stared at her, uncomprehending.
“Don’t you see?” Mrs. Hinges said.
“Not really,” Loisa shook her head.
[And so she sums up what she just said.]

I had the strongest feeling that this was a self-published novel, based on what I considered such simple telling and dialog, and was surprised to see that this was published by a big name, popular sci-fi publisher. Unfortunately, books that lean toward a YA audience are too often ‘simplified’ which really isn’t necessary.

The premise was interesting.  The execution wasn’t.

Looking for a good book? A Clockwork Heart by Liesel Schwarz is a second book in a series and takes a simple approach to a very interesting concept, which comes off much too easy.

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

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A Clockwork Heart

author: Liesel Schwarz

series: The Chronicles of Light and Shadow #2

publisher: Del Rey

ISBN: 0345545087

hardcover, 304 pages

THE LEAVERS – Lisa Ko

Posted by Daniel on April 30, 2018
Posted in: OTHER, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

I too often find that books that win major literary awards are not worth reading as they tend to focus on form over story.

That is not the case with Lisa Ko’s The Leavers.

Deming Guo, later named Daniel Wilkinson, is searching for his mother. Polly Guo was an undocumented Chinese immigrant who left for work one day at a nail salon and never came back. This book is the story of Deming searching for his birth mother. Despite a good upbringing, he is steadfast in his belief that something must have happened to her – that she wouldn’t have simply walked out on him.  And it is the story of Polly – her own upbringing, pregnancy, and resolve that her son will have the best she can possibly give him and the later lesson to live with her own mistakes.

The book takes place in both China and New York and author Ko manages to make both of these places a familiar home and a strange land at the same time.

What draws us into this book are the characters – specifically Polly – and Ko’s writing.  The story is told so simply and so straight-forward that we believe we truly are listening to Polly telling us of her early life in China, and of Deming’s life as an ‘all-American’. And because we feel a connection to these characters, we sympathize and empathize with them (Polly never asks for sympathy – she’s a strong woman and determined and when things go wrong for her, we [and she] believe that she will turn things around).

This is not a world that I would ever understand – not being a mother, not being an immigrant, not being of Asian descent – and yet Ko pulls me into the story in such a way that I do feel as though I understand it.  And once there, how can I not be moved by what I understand?

This voice of Ko’s reminds me of my early readings of Anne Tyler.  In a very similar way, I entered the books as an outsider but left feeling as though I knew the characters extremely well.

This was an enjoyable and recommended read.

Looking for a good book? The Leavers by Lisa Ko is a story of strength, loss, and family and well worth reading.

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

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The Leavers

author: Lisa Ko

publisher: Algonquin Books

ISBN: 1616206888

hardcover, 352 pages

THE SEX TOURIST – Olivia Wild

Posted by Daniel on April 27, 2018
Posted in: MYSTERY, ROMANCE, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Lilian Biro is an ambitious young Hungarian woman with dreams of a storybook life, and when she meets a kind, handsome British man she hopes she’s on the right path.  Finally.

Lilian meets the man of her dreams when his friends pay for her to perform a lap-dance at the local strip club where she is working.  When she fails to get his name and contact information she moves from stripping to prostitution in order to make money because her mother badly needs an operation.  But the prostitution leads to drugs because she needs to get high in order to do the things she needs to do.  And her boyfriend encourages she keep hooking in order to bring in the money because he needs what she makes to pay for his drug and gambling problem.

Lilian meets an untimely end, and her sister Vivian tries to track down Lilian’s killer, meeting the handsome British man along way.

I … I’m not sure where to begin with this …

Let’s start with the title.  I’ve read the entire book and I must have missed something because I don’t understand where “tourist” comes into play. It was certainly the word that got my attention when I requested this book, but I didn’t see the connection to ‘sex tourist’ in the book.  After reading this, I feel that “The Sex Victim” would have been more appropriate.

Now the cover photo, as pictured above…  Clearly this is meant to capitalize on the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, with a similar style photo which implies a sensual-ness.  But there is nothing sensual inside these covers.  This book is about as un-sexy and un-sensual as a book with lots of sex can be.  The women in the story are prostitutes.  They do not enjoy what they are doing, but do it because it is how they make money. Their ‘johns’ – or ‘punters’ as they are referred to in the book – are typically not attractive or respectable men.

Now the story …  we are tantalized with the idea that this is “based on a shocking true story” and author Olivia Wild tells us in the Foreword that:

This book is in memory of my beloved sororal twin, Lilian. The last time I saw her alive she talked about her ambition to become a writer one day. That way, she would have escaped her death-trap: prostitution. I inherited both her handwritten diary and, on her laptop, her very first book in the making.

Except…!  The Foreword is by “Vivian Biro” – a character in the book. Ah, rascal Olivia Wild – this is just part of the set-up to make us think we’re reading something that the prostitute wrote.

Except… the book is written from three different points of view, and the first 1/3 or so definitely has a different voice to it.  A different rhythm and meter to the language.  So either Wild is very clever and talented and definitely changed her style, or this first part was written by someone else.

This first part really lets the reader see how someone could ‘fall’ into the world of prostitution and drugs, and how difficult it would be to get out, along with what a despicable world it is.

The second part, told through the eyes of “Vivian Biro” changes the nature of the story completely.  What was a narrative about life as a prostitute now becomes a murder mystery, with Biro on the path to solving her sister’s murder.  The police wouldn’t bother because the woman was just a prostitute.

This section was dull. There was no drive or passion.  We understand that the women were sisters, creating Vivian’s drive to solve the crime, but it’s really not enough and for as much as she kept telling her sister to get out of the life, we never buy in to her stepping in to her sister’s shoes (literally and figuratively) in order to track her killer.

I wrote earlier that we had three points of view in this story.  Out of the blue we suddenly get some narrative written in second person.  I’ll be honest … three times I thumbed backward through the book to read up on it again to see where the second person narrative was coming from.  It took me a long time to realize that we were getting a third point of view from another person.  Note that we are more than 3/4 of the way through the book before we get this new POV – without any hints that it’s coming.  This is ‘Paul’ – the perfect English gentleman – the man of Lilian’s dreams – who agrees to help track Lilian’s killer.

So, we have an ‘erotic-thriller’ that is neither, with multiple points of view, in multiple styles.  This is quite a mess.  I give it two stars based on the first section of the book, which, while not erotic in any way for me, was captivating and eye-opening and felt quite honest.

Looking for a good book? The Sex Tourist by Olivia Wild tries to cross-blend genres – erotica and mysteries – but doesn’t do either particularly well.

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

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The Sex Tourist

author: Olivia Wild

publisher: Olivia Wild Publishing

ISBN: 0993533337

paperback, 504 pages

THE ASYLUM OF DR. CALIGARI – James Morrow

Posted by Daniel on April 26, 2018
Posted in: HUMOR, OTHER. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I don’t think there is anyone writing today like James Morrow.  I’ve seen him compared to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and to Harlan Ellison, but Ellison is too pedestrian compared to Morrow, and Vonnegut not quite risky enough.

In The Asylum of Dr. Caligari, Morrow mixes art, war, and madness – which, when you think about it, is a pretty natural combination.

American artist Francis Wyndham, perhaps searching for his own raison d’être, is hired to provide art therapy at an asylum run by the renowned Alessandro Caligari. There, Wyndham meets Ilona – a beautiful inmate at the asylum whose talent with art is rivaled only by her intense sexual drive. She might be the perfect woman if she didn’t also believe she was the Queen of all spiders.

But is Caligari a genius (who belittles Freud and other therapists of the day) or a madman?  Is there a difference?  Caligari has created his own painting, titled “Ecstatic Wisdom”, which he keeps veiled most of the time.  From around Europe regiments of soldiers are marched past the painting and the soldiers are imbued with a strong sense of duty and a renewed vigor to fight. Wyndham finds this despicable and with Ilona and others from the madhouse he schemes to stop the on-coming war with a new painting, rather than encouraging and profiting from it as Caligari does.  But this will be no easy feat as Caligari’s painting possesses a magical property that has it protecting itself from being destroyed.

Morrow provides his unique take on the cult classic horror film from the 1920’s as only Morrow can – with wry humor and a wicked twist. And of course sex.

Morrow’s prose is literate and smooth and it’s like eating a delicious piece of chocolate candy slowly so that you can savor it.  You just want to chew on his language and keep moving forward into each new sentence in order to find the next piece of nougat-y goodness. And as if slick writing weren’t enough, Morrow paints characters that have great appeal.  Even Caligari is someone you want to know more about and like, in his own way.

And of course a heady story with a deep philosophical undertone runs through this Morrow book, just as it does with everything I’ve read of his.  This sort of fiction really appeals to me – something that you can read and enjoy just for the surface story but that has deeper implications if you look for it.

I was just a little disappointed in the very ending – though I couldn’t tell you what I was hoping for – which is why it doesn’t get a full five stars from me.

Looking for a good book? The Asylum of Dr. Caligari is another tour de force from James Morrow and is a delicious read.

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

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The Asylum of Dr. Caligari

author: James Morrow

publisher: Tachyon Publications

ISBN: 1616962658

paperback, 192 pages

CHILDREN OF FIRE – Drew Karpyshyn

Posted by Daniel on April 25, 2018
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

A long time ago, when the gods toyed with mankind as if they were simple chess pieces, one special warrior, Daemron, was selected by those gods to lead the charge against the Chaos spawn. But Daemron turns his power against the gods, which is never a good thing to do, and the gods banish him to a different realm and place a magical shield and protectors to make sure Daemron remains out of their way.  But that was a long time ago, and now that protection is weakening and Daemron is able to cast bits of his essence into the world. where it inhabits four children who will need to come together to either restore Daemron to power, or rebuild the protection against him.

This is pretty classic epic fantasy and there isn’t much here that would inspire a reader to say “Wow, that’s new and different!” In fact I often felt as though I had read this book before (though I haven’t).

The birth and early lives of the children was really interesting and well done. I was definitely caught up in their lives and upbringing (each very different from one another), and I really looked forward to following them as they got older, but the book wasn’t about these people (too bad) but about gods, magic, and destiny.

I would have preferred to stay with the four characters and had this be much more a story about them, but it was almost as if they became secondary to the over-arcing story, which made me enjoy this much less.  And of the four characters, one of them I was never sure was actually one of the inhabitors of Daemron’s magic.

There certainly was some excitement in the action sequences, and author Karpyshyn clearly had a good overview of where the story was going and managed to get there, even if it meant skipping years of the children’s lives. The story-telling held my interest well-enough that I enjoyed this book as a means to pass my time reading.  It did not, however, hold my interest enough that I want to hurry out and catch the next book in the series.  This is a one-and-done-time-to-move-on book.

Looking for a good book? Children of Fire by Drew Karpyshyn is an epic fantasy that satisfies the hunger for an epic fantasy, but it’s not terribly original and won’t have you begging for the next book in the series.

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

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Children of Fire

author: Drew Karpyshyn

series: The Chaos Born #1

publisher: Del Rey

ISBN: 0345542231

hardcover, 488 pages