Looking For a Good Book

Three novellas in one title, as seems to be the pattern with the Elric books. “Concerning the Fate of Empires,” “Esbern Snare; The Northern Werewolf,” and “A Rose Redeemed; A Rose Revived.”

Elric, the albino prince of the doomed city of Melniboné still cavorts with his friend Moonglum when Elric is visited by a dragon who brings the prince to the ghost of Sadric his father. Sadric needs Elric to find his soul which is currently being kept in a wooden box in a land far away, and reunite spirit and soul. If Elric fails, he will be paired with Sadric’s ghost, at which time bad things will happen.

On his journey to find the lost soul, Elric will gain an ally – the warrior princess Rose. Elric and Rose have a mutual enemy, Charion, a high valued, undead agent of Chaos. They need to deal with Charion or Chaos will rule without check. But a couple of demons make it more challenging.

Just before completing his mission to restore Sadric with his soul, Elric learns that Rose’s involvement in the fight against Charion was all about revenge for what Charion had done, destroying her people.

I bought this book when it first came out but I’d not read it because I had fallen behind in reading the series at the time.  It was, I believe, the 8th book in the series then.  Now in this new definitive (?) collection, this becomes the 6th book in the Elric saga.

Elric has always been philosophical but I think there’s more talk and waxing philosophic in this volume than there is swordplay – and that’s not why we read these kinds of books. There is a little bit of high stakes conflict with Charion, but that almost feels secondary to Elric being able to reflect and get morose about the world.

This is not a strong addition to the series and I’m curious why it’s being moved up in the order of the books.

Looking for a good book? The Revenge of the Rose by Michael Moorcock is a late addition to the Elric saga, low on action but high on existential philosophy.

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

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The Revenge of the Rose

author: Michael Moorcock

series: The Elric Saga #9, The Elric Saga #6

publisher: Saga Press (2022 collection); Ace (1991 edition)

ISBN: 9781534445710 (2022 edition);  9780441718443 (1991 edition)

hardcover, 851 pages (2022); 244 pages (1991)

It’s Elric time again, as I am working my way through the entire series.

As with the four previous Elric books, there are three ‘books’ between the covers – likely novellas or novelettes.

In the first, “The Torment of the Last Lord,” Elric and his faithful servant Sancho Moonglum head off to confront the evil wizard Theleb K’aarna but they are beset upon by strange and terrible monsters. They are ill prepared for this battle and Elric calls upon an ancient god to help them, but the god refuses and they are captured and his sword, Stormbringer, lost.  When they are taken away Elric finds a woman in coma who speaks to him (this is Moorcock, remember) and tells him many things, including where to find an item that will help him defeat the wizard’s army.  But that item is on the other side of the world, so Elric has to take a magical bird that she somehow supplies, after some effort finds the jewel that will help him defeat Theleb K’aarna, but also finds a jewel that should awaken the woman.

Battle ensues, Stormbringer returns, Theleb K’aarna flees, woman awakes, love is made.

The second ‘book’ in this volume is “To Snare the Pale Prince.” Elric and Moonglum are off in a quiet village recuperating from their recent adventure. They are nearly undefeatable when facing armies and evil wizards and maniacal kings, but the pair of them get hoodwinked by a couple of young ladies who steal the Ring of Actorios – the ring that Elric must use to summon supernatural assistance.

It is, of course, a ploy on the part of Theleb K’aarna and Elric and Moonglum will fight more monsters.

The final piece is “Three Heroes with a Single Aim.” Elric connects once again with other incarnations of the Eternal Champion to visit Tanelorn – the refuge for tormented souls. The three-in-one eternal champion must enter the Vanishing Tower together to defeat an evil wizard (but this time it’s not Theleb K’aarna).

While the 1977 edition of this book still sits on my shelf, I don’t remember if I read it or not.  There were times when the story seemed familiar, but I recognize that all three of these stories seem similar to stories in the previous volumes as well.

While I like the Eternal Champion theme, I recognize that it isn’t explained particularly well in the Elric books. In a nutshell – all the heroes (at least all of Moorcock’s heroes) are incarnations of the same person but in different realities and from time to time, they meet to fight together.  And as time runs differently in different realities they sometimes know each other and sometimes don’t.  Sometimes they remember shared battles that haven’t happened yet.  Yes, it’s all a bit metaphysical and the Elric books are often quite philosophical and existential.

This particular volume didn’t excite me too tremendously. There was either a lot of senseless fighting or a lot of brooding.  Sometimes at the same time.

For a short time I enjoyed the middle story, which, although a little ridiculous to have Elric and Moonglum taken in by your average prostitutes, was a little more on the relaxing side after all the heavy battling and brooding from the previous story, but then it, too, turned darker.

This is part of the Elric saga so I’m glad to have read it, but if I wasn’t a little OCD about book series, I’d probably have skipped it.

Looking for a good book? The Vanishing Tower is part of the Elric series by Michael Moorcock, and in that regard it is worth reading, but it’s not a particularly strong addition to the series.

I received a digital copy, as Volume 2 in The Elric Saga, from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Vanishing Tower

author: Michael Moorcock

series: The Elric Saga #4, Elric Chronological Order #6

publisher: Daw (1977); Saga Press (2022)

ISBN: 0879976934 (1977) 1534445714 (2022)

paperback, 175 pages (1977)

Book sixteen in the October Daye series – a solid urban fantasy series by one of the top writers in the genre!

October Daye is now married (to the King of Cats!) and life is supposed to become much more domestic – which might terrify October somewhat since she’s never been prepared for this kind of life. After all, what need is there for domesticity when you are a Hero among the Fae? But trouble can come from family and friends. If your Toby Daye … especially from family and friends!

While some of Toby’s family have certainly been a thorn in her side, she has, at least, known where they stand and how much she can or cannot rely on them. But deception from long-time friends might blindside October.

In the opening pages of the book, author Seanan McGuire notes that the events that unfold here in book 16 are something that she’s planned from the very beginning of the series. This just adds to my already high esteem for McGuire. I mean, sixteen books?  That’s a long game plan.

The book has most of the usual players, though not all of them have leading roles in this one (Tybalt, surprisingly, has very little to do other than be Toby’s focus of relaxed attention), and we have the typical running commentary from Toby about all of those around her. There are the usual threats and Toby’s cautious reflections on what’s happening about her.

What is new with this book, is the lack of ending.

That’s right … although this has been an on-going series, the books I’ve read have still managed to be complete stories. But this book has what others generously refer to as a ‘cliffhanger’ – meaning, there’s no real ending here, you’ll have to wait for the next book to finish this story.

I like McGuire and I really like the October Daye series, and I can’t imagine not reading these books, but I always take away at least one star for giving me a book to read that doesn’t have an ending.

Also as usual, there is a novella at the end of the book.  This one, “Such Dangerous Seas,” gives us some insight on one of the characters who’s always played crafty to me.

Looking for a good book? If you haven’t read any of the October Daye series and you claim to like Urban Fantasy, you’re missing one of the best. Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire is the 16th book in the series, and continues the well-established tradition of fantasy storytelling. But be warned, while you should read the whole series, you can’t read this book and expect a conclusion.

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

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Be the Serpent

author: Seanan McGuire

series: October Daye #16

publisher: DAW

ISBN: 9780756416867

hardcover, 384 pages

If you were to combine a sci-fi read like Logan’s Run with a concept like Russian nesting dolls, and you might get a book like Justin Cronin’s The Ferryman.

Prospera is a remote paradise, created by a mystery person known only as The Designer. In Prospera, citizens live long, fulfilling lives, away from the horrors of a crumbling world. Citizens have an embedded chip that measures the quality of their lives – physical and mental – and when that chip registers that the quality of life falls below 10%, it is time for that person to ‘retire’ – meaning to take the  ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are prepared to start all over.

Proctor Bennett has had a good career as a Ferryman – someone who helps guide a retiring citizen through the retiring process (occasionally enforcing it) – until the day he has to shepherd his own father, who does not go quietly and who leaves Proctor with a cryptic message. At this same time, Proctor is noting that he’s having strange dreams and, more alarming, his own life monitoring percentage is dropping fast. Much too quickly, Proctor is forced into retirement and the ferry ride to the Nursery. But there he encounters rumors of a resistance group known as “Arrivalists” who are stirring up a revolution … one in which Proctor Bennett is key, even though he doesn’t know it.

I’m not sure I would have been drawn to this book if it weren’t for the success of Cronin’s popular The Passage series. I am glad that I did read this, however, because this sort of intricate plotting and revealing of story is right up my alley.

Earlier I reckoned this with Russian nesting dolls, but I might also compare it to, as Shrek might say, an onion, with layer upon layer upon layer of story which Cronin deftly peels away to reveal the story underneath the story.

This story went to places that I did not anticipate (note that I do not read generally synopses before reading a book – or if I do, a significant enough time has passed that I forget why I was drawn to a particular book) but looking back on it, I think there were sufficient clues so that the reader savvier than I might not be quite as surprised. However, the sometimes disorienting experience while reading this is a large part of the appeal.

And of course, there’s character.  I do love character-driven stories and I think this is very much a character-driven novel. Proctor Bennett is every bit as confused as the reader through the twists and turns and we really do get inside his head through this.

If there is a downside, which prevents me from giving this a full five stars, it’s that all the other characters are less well defined. I recognize that some of this has to do with the unknown realities of the world(s) Proctor goes through, but in at least one case, there’s a character who seemingly becomes vital to the story revelations, and I don’t think that even here, that character ever really comes into sharp focus.

It is October when I write this, but the review won’t appear online until December.  Even so, the book isn’t released until May.  I suspect there will be a good media blitz but don’t take that chance … mark your calendars right now so that you don’t miss this book.

Looking for a good book? The Ferryman is the newest book by Justin Cronin and it will engage and deceive you in all the right ways.  Go read it.

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

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The Ferryman

author: Justin Cronin

publisher: Ballantine Books

ISBN: 9780525619475

hardcover, 560 pages

Zaxony (Zax) Delatree lives an unusual life.  Every time he falls asleep he wakes up in a new world. Every waking day a new adventure – sometimes pleasant, sometimes life-threatening. It had been a lonely existence until he had met Ana – a companion who was one of The Sleepers – a group of travelers also existing between the worlds. But Ana had gotten irretrievably left behind on a world long ago and Zax now has Minna, a new companion who has found a way to travel the worlds with Zax.

The good news for the duo is that they are no longer being pursued through the worlds by Lector, a psychotic man who wanted full control of the ability to world hop. The bad news is that there is a cult of travelers who know the method of world-hopping (a parasite in the bloodstream that lives between dimensions and releases a toxin that provides the strange travelling). The cult are servants to The Prisoner – a being trapped between dimensions – and they believe that they only way to free their leader is to collapse all the different worlds – meaning the complete destruction of thousands of worlds and trillions and trillions of lives.

Ana has found a way to catch up to Zax and now Zax, Ana, and Minna are on a new journey to save all the worlds.

I really love the concept of the series (duology?).  As I believe I mentioned in my review of the first book, I think this is one of the most creative concepts I’ve come across in a long time. And of course there’s a tremendous challenge for Pratt – not only is he creating a world in which Zax and friends travel by way of sleeping, he’s creating multiple worlds inside this world.  How fun is that?!

This book didn’t have quite the excitement level as the previous book.  In part, because it wasn’t so new to us anymore (not much you can do about that), but rather than being chased, Zax becomes the chaser. Sort of.  (Yeah, I know, it’s a little confusing to try and sum up something rather complicated.)

There’s a large focus on Ana and her story – what happened to her and how she works to reconnect with Zax (every other chapter is hers). This seems really important (and it is), but when they do finally reconnect, what feels like it should be pretty momentous, kind of fizzles for me. Although I respect that this re-encounter also feels pretty authentic.

For me, Tim Pratt is a name that I will continue to read and there aren’t a lot of authors whose books I will be guaranteed to read.

Looking for a good book? Prison of Sleep by Tim Pratt is the second book in the Journals of Zaxony Delatree series and is an incredibly original scifi concept, 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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Prison of Sleep

author: Tim Pratt

series: Journals of Zaxony Delatree #2

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 9780857669421

paperback, 288 pages