Jim's Reading List for 2015

Welcome to 2015! I am currently reading 2 books I started in 2014 that were Christmas gifts.

The World of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin
Sleeping Late on Judgement Day by TAD Williams
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Kill Chain: Drones and the Rise of High-Tech Assassins by Andrew Cockburn (ER book)
In Fury Born by David Weber
Legend by David Gemmell (re-read)
The Shadows of God by Gregory Keyes
A Sword from Red Ice by J. V. Jones
Legacy by Greg Bear
Flag in Exile by David Weber
Hawk by Steven Brust
Existence by David Brin
Lock-In by John Scalzi
The Gods of Bal-Sagoth (anthology)
The Star Beast by Robert Heinlein
To Sail a Darkling Sea by John Ringo
The Demon Princes by Jack Vance
The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks (re-read)
Legend by Eric Blehm
The Martian by Andrew Weir
Prophet by Mike Resnick
Night Arrant by Gary Gygax (re-read)
Daylight War by Peter V. Brett
The Dancer From Atlantis by Poul Anderson
The Ghost from the Grand Banks and The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Star Trek NG Reunion by Michael Jan Friedman
Star Trek Shadows on the Sun by Michael Jan Friedman
Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove
MacArthur's Victory by Harry A. Gailey
The Heroes by Joe Ambercrombie
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony (re-read)
The Fellowship of the Talisman by Clifford Simak
The Hammer and the Horn by Michael Jan Friedman
The Bomb by Stephen M. Younger
Life Free or Die by John Ringo
Destiny's Shield by Eric Flint and David Drake
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
The Golden Torc by Julian May
The Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton
Hedge Knight II - Sworn Sword by George R. R. Martin (graphic novel)
The Kingdom of Darkness by Andy McDermott
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The Death of a Legend by Robert Adams
Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War that Won It by John Ferling
The End of All Things by John Scalzi
Hell Above Earth by Stephen Frater
Islands of Rage and Hope by John Ringo
The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara
Fortune's Stroke by Eric Flint and David Drake
The Death of a Legend by Robert Adams
The Lost Fleet: Steadfast by Jack Campbell
For Us, The Living by Robert A. Heinlein
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
The High Druid's Blade by Terry Brooks
The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton
The Dark Griffin by K. J. Taylor
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones by R. A. Salvatore
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Magi'i of Cyador by L. E. Modesitt
The Dark Griffin by K. J. Taylor
The Tide of Victory by Eric Flint and David Drake
The Wizard's Mask by Ed Greenwood (Pathfinder Tales)
Bloodbound by F. Wesley Schneider (Pathfinder Tales)
The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century by Sarah Leonard (ER)
Beyond the Pool of Stars by Howard Andrew Jones (Pathfinder Tales)
Childhoods End by Arthur C. Clarke (re-read)

The STTM (Slogging Through The Mud) index is a 1 to 10 scale of how much time in the book is spent on travel. 1 is none, 10 means way too much. It appears in my full length reviews.

I read Sleeping late on judgement day at the end of last year, and will be very interested to see what you think of it. I found it better than Happy hour in Hell, but didn't enjoy it as much as the first book in the series.

I hope this year brings you many good books!

I have very mixed feelings about Sleeping Late on Judgement Day. I definitely enjoyed it more than HHiH, but that's not saying much. I thought this book was unfocused and for Tad, strangely passive and lacking in his usual insights. We didn't learn anything new about Bobby or Caz or anyone involved, really. I thought Bobby staggered from crisis to crisis without a plan and the addition of the Black Sun was unnecessary, it just felt like filler. I enjoyed the new characters and I enjoy Tad's writing, but I was disappointed. It also struck me that as much as Bobby is a huge car nut, there was nothing in the story about cars at all.

I just completed Kill Chain: Drones and the Rise of the High-Tech Assassins.

STTM Index: 0 (no slogging through the mud for drones!)
Rating: 6 out of 10

This is a very thorough examination of military strategy, politics and technology going back to World War 2 as regards to the automation, detection and long range strike capability and tactics of the military. If you want to know how and why we have drones capable of killing people while being 'flown' from 1000's of miles away, this book will explain. It will also reveal some of the less publicized side of the drone strikes. Take from it what you will, this book does explain the history and issues.

>3 Karlstar: I agree about Bobby's rather random responses to events in the book and lack of planning. I also just didn't like him as a person in this one - his humour turned toward the cruel in places and his attitude of "I'd let a thousand child burn in Hell rather than lose Kaz" didn't sit right with me either. In fact, his relationship with her felt more like possessiveness than love all the way through. But the side characters were as good as ever, especially Clarence and his partner, George the man-pig and the Ukrainian amazons. I'd read more about any of them!

>5 Sakerfalcon: Sakerfalcon. That's a very good point, he wasn't the same Bobby at all. He was under duress, sure, but his basic nature had almost turned anti-angelic. There were a few other anti-angelic moments in general, it almost felt like Tad regretted the very nature of what he started out to write and turned away from what he began in book 1. Almost like he would have preferred Bobby to be a demon.

I skipped one book on the list, The World of Ice and Fire. This is a 'coffee table book', with a brief overview of the lands, Houses and some of the history of Westeros and the rest of the world. Its good background if you like the series, though you could pick up much of it by reading the books carefully. It did fill in a lot of Targaryen history. I really was hoping for something with better maps (I love maps) and a bit more story. I haven't actually finished it, I got tired of reading about Andals vs. First Men in the Vale.

Turns out I skipped two! The Slow Regard of Silent Things has been reviewed many times, a shocking number for a book that just came out recently. It is set in Rothfuss' world of the Kvothe series. That's about all of the similarity to his books from that series. Its short, listed at 176 pages but that includes a foreword and epilogue. Really, that's the length of a short novel from back in the 70's and 80's, so there shouldn't be a lot of complaints (but there are!). Just for comparison, the famous Animal Farm is 124 pages, depending on your edition. Its also not a Kvothe book, he is referred to but never appears. This is a story of a few days in the life of Auri, one of the side characters in the books. Also, not a lot happens. I enjoyed it, but I can't say its a great book. If you are expecting an action packed Kvothe story, skip it.

>8 Karlstar: "Also, not a lot happens."

So, he's consistent then. ;) It's been some time since I read his other two books, but in my memory, everything happened at the beginning and the end of them.

>6 Karlstar: That's an interesting point; I think you've got something there. There really wasn't anything angelic about Bobby in that book.

>8 Karlstar: The slow regard of silent things is on my tbr pile. I've had enough warnings that it is a slow, meditative book without any action, so hopefully I'll be prepared and won't find it a let-down when I do read it.

#10 by @Sakerfalcon> Not a Rothfuss fan for exactly that reason.

Hello Mrs. Lee and majkia, glad to hear from you.

I really enjoy the first 2 books in the Kingkiller series by Rothfuss. They are big, lengthy, but well written. Its hard to say that 'nothing happens' in the middle. If you consider his day to day struggles which often include some lower level conflicts less worthy than the major plotline, you could make a case for it, but I think there's quite a bit of significant action. At the moment I think Rothfuss is near the top of the list of fantasy writers, just below G. R. R. Martin. The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a short quirky character portrait story, that's all. Tad Williams could go back up to the top of the list with his upcoming return to Osten Ard, but we'll see when it arrives.

Anyone else have a vote for top fantasy writer 'right now'?

I do enjoy the Kingkiller series, but that whole sex in fairyland adventure in the second book has made me wary. It was tedious, unnecessary and painful to read. Not so much that I won't continue to read him, but his next book had better stay to the point, or at least avoid pages and pages of boring and awkward sex, or that will be it for me. :) I love Kvoth and am dying to know his whole story. Rothfuss is a fine writer, it's just that particular tangent which annoys me.

I would consider Brandon Sanderson above both of the authors you mentioned in post 12, but then I haven't read the Game of Thrones series. It isn't my type. I love Sanderson's worlds and his magic and his characters.

A caveat, I am not really a fantasy genre fan. There are just a few writers in it which I really love and read.

>13 MrsLee: Mrs. Lee. I had blocked that section of the 2nd book out of my mind. It was unnecessary and it dragged on way too long. I get the point, he's a very headstrong individual, not sure that it was necessary to go on so long to prove the point.

I like Sanderson except for one thing, his tendency to decide that a new magic system is the plot for a book, or books in the case of the Stormlight Archive. He also dragged the 2nd book on way too long. While I like it, I'd put the Otherland series far above it, as far as my personal preference.

I think I enjoy Sanderson's shorter novels more, but that may be my preference for shorter novels. :) I LOVED The Emperor's Soul, also loved Mistborn, but the second and third not so much, well, the second I liked more than the third. I haven't read the second one in the Stormlight series because my life is more than half over for all practical purposes, and a three inch thick book is not appealing to me.

I'm with MrsLee on the choice of fantasy authors (and I do read a lot of it). I haven't read GRRM, but I prefer Brandon Sanderson over Patrick Rothfuss. Can't think of anyone else one could call the fantasy author of the moment. There are other books I've enjoyed, but I think they all have a much smaller audience.

MrsLee, I read the 2nd Stormlight book, but it was a bit of a slog. Its huge, detailed and slow! Not bad, it just reminded me of some of the later Wheel of Time novels, which felt like big giant books because they had to be big giant books.

zjakkelien, GRRM is worth reading (esp. the first 3 books) because of the wonderful world he's created. It may be bloody and brutal at times, but there's a reason for the popularity, the characters and families really stick in your mind. I just wish he'd get around to writing book 6.

Unfortunately, some of my favorite fantasy writers are deceased. I used to be a big Terry Brooks fan, but his recent books are just the same old plots and characters.

>17 Karlstar: I have every intention of giving him a try at some point, but not before he has finished off the series. I hear too many people moping because they have finished the last book and now have to wait for the next one...

Sorry folks, its been a while between reviews, time to catch up.

One definition: The STTM (Slogging Through The Mud) index is a 1 to 10 scale of how much time in the book is spent on travel. 1 is none, 10 means way too much.

In Fury Born by David Weber
STTM: 3 - not much time is spent in space traveling
Rating: 3.5

It appears I enjoyed this book more than some dedicated David Weber fans. It is an expanded version of a much shorter novel and some readers did not like the expansion. It is basically the story of one very exceptional young woman who becomes part of the Emperor's elite commando force, the cream of the cream of the crop of soldiers. Without giving too much away, after a very difficult and distinguished career she joins her family in semi-retirement on a pioneer world. Things get strange at that point as she becomes something a bit more than human and is forced to go back to active duty. There is a ton of action, a lot of political intrigue and Weber's expertise, combat. I enjoyed it, though it did seem a little long in places.

I'd put Janny over those mentioned above, whom are both enjoyable, but don't quite have the attention to detail/worldbuilding/character/plot balance that I best enjoy. Scott Lynch probably comes higher than them too.

>19 Karlstar: Ouch! I got hit... I don't think I would ever have picked that up, but you made it sound good and on closer inspection I think I might like it. In fury born goes on the wishlist...

>20 reading_fox: reading_fox. I'll have to give Scott Lynch a try. I do enjoy Janny W.'s books too, she hadn't come to mind as its been a couple of years since I read any of hers.

Catching up again, this time a re-read Legend. This is an old favorite. If you enjoy Alamo type last stands complete with larger than life heroes, you'll enjoy this one. I think I've read it 3 times now and it was worth it every time.

The Shadows of God by Gregory Keyes

STTM Index: 2 - some travel, not much time spent on it
Rating: 3.5

This is the final book in Keyes' 4 volume 'Age of Unreason' series. This is alternate history, where science and what we would call magic have produced a very different mid-1700's. Ben Franklin and other scientists of his day are struggling against the malakim - angels and demons who either want mankind destroyed or want it to lose all technology and revert back to savagery - or worse. English, Russian, French, colonists and native Americans struggle in a complicated setting of politics, technology and sorcery. Great stuff, I really enjoyed all 4 of these books. It took me a few years to get to book 4, but I picked the story right back up again. I strongly suggest you read all 4.

I'm going to skip a bit and skip right to Hawk by Steven Brust. I've been a Brust fan for many years and a big fan of the Vlad Taltos books. Hawk is one of the best of the recent books in the series. Like the rest, this is a short, light novel. No great world building, casts of thousands or 8 different plotlines. Just Vlad trying to stay alive and finally secure his future, at least for now. For those not familiar with the setting, Vlad Taltos is a human trying to get by in an elf dominated (they are called Dragaerans in this book) world. He's also a former member of a criminal organization that's been trying to kill him for many years. This book featured several laugh out loud moments and Brust's usual enjoyable writing. Sometimes the 21st century way he addresses the reader jars with the setting, but that's a minor quibble. My wife hasn't read any of these and she still found some of the writing amusing.

>25 Karlstar: I've read the first three Vlad Taltos books and loved them. I gather the middle few books aren't quite as good, but I do want to continue with the series. It's encouraging that the most recent books are back up to the early standard.

>23 Karlstar: I've always enjoyed Legend. At some stage I'll have to try the rest of the series. But I'm not sure if they can ever hold the tension that makes Legend so good.

reading_fox, I've always enjoyed the other Drenai novels and the Druss prequel, but I agree, Legend is the best.

>26 Sakerfalcon: Sakerfalcon - I wouldn't say the middle books aren't quite as good, but there's some focus on world-wide events and not so much on Vlad's problems - though Vlad was right in the middle of those world-wide events. There's also one or two where Vlad is just not himself in some ways, so the tone is quite different. I've enjoyed them all but some of them left me wishing for 'the good old Vlad'. The last two books have returned to 'good old Vlad'.

Time to catch up on reviews again.

Existence by David Brin
STTM Index: 2 - very little time spent traveling
Rating: 3 (out of 5)

I am normally a fan of David Brin's work and in whole this book was good. However, there are a couple of problems that cause me to have reservations about it. First of all, I don't know how to categorize this book. In the beginning, this felt like near-future SF, with a tremendous emphasis on VR/internet personal technology, artificial intelligence and some spaceflight. By the middle, it felt like a prequel to his Uplift series. Then it morphed into a first contact novel. By the end, I wasn't sure which it was. Its certainly near-future, but was all the time spent on it in the beginning just to set the stage for a first contact book? The second problem was that it is tremendously difficult to get into. The first 300 pages are spent introducing 4 main characters - 2 of which turn out to not be main characters at all by the end, while one new character almost takes over. There's just so much in that first 300 pages that was hard to read. After that, the pace picked up, but I'm still not sure this book came to a satisfying conclusion, by then it felt like there was another book coming. It never did quite match up with Sundiver or the other Uplift books, almost as if Brin decided he needed to revise some of his technology in those books and this is how he decided to start on it.

Lock-in by John Scalzi
STTM Index: 1 travel only as part of daily life
Rating: 6 out of 10

Another near-future SF/fiction book! Only by accident did I end up reading two in a row. This one is much shorter than Existence and much easier to get into. In the near-future USA, a significant portion of the population (10% or so) have contracted a virus and are now permanently paralyzed. After an expensive crash program, new technology is developed that allows those paralyzed to basically shift their consciousness into a mechanical body called a 'threep' - or to a very specialized area of the internet. This is all background, but it is important, though I found the introduction that reviews the illness and its effects a bit confusing. The story starts when one of the affected persons joins the FBI. From that moment on, the book is a short TV show style FBI story which gets resolved in less than a week. Mystery killings, a domestic terrorist bombing, politics, etc, its all in there. I really enjoyed it, though due to its 'TV show' nature things move at an unrealistic pace - since when do FBI agents NEVER consult with superiors (they aren't even mentioned) and there's far too few of them on the case. Its classic Scalzi style and was fun to read. I can't put this on my top 100 books of all time list but I liked it.

>29 Karlstar: I just reread Jhereg and forgot how much I'd enjoyed it. Jhegaala and Dzur felt like they had very little in the way of forward motion for the overall plot (eg Lady Teldra), character interaction between Vlad and his friends, or revelations about the world they live in.

I'd like to catch up, but I'm debating whether to jump back in at Iorich (because it's the next I haven't read), Tiassa (because Khaavren), or Hawk (because it seems to get more favorable reviews then either of the other two, and my local library actually has it). Which would you recommend, if I may ask?

How long is Existence? If the first 300 pages were introductory, there must have been a whole lot more after that.

Did you read the online novella, Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome? It provides more background to Lock In, about the disease, and political and ethical issues arising from it.

29> Sandstone I would recommend Tiassa. It advance the plot, was more focused but still complex and was more similar in tone and scope to the early books.

>33 SylviaC: SylviaC Existence is 884 very dense pages! I put it down a couple of times while trying to get through the first 300 pages, then it felt like an entirely different book after that.

I didn't even know such a thing existed as the novella, that would have helped with my initial confusion. I'm curious about the political and ethical side, I'll check it out.

You can find it here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/05/unlocked-an-oral-history-of-hadens-syndrome-j...

Thanks very much!

A couple of quick reviews.

The Gods of Bal-Sagoth was a disappointment. I picked the book up at a library sale and was happy to find an old, excellent condition 70's paperback. Unfortunately, this was an anthology who's theme seemed to be 'Conan vs. the Demon' - but with no Conan. Each story featured some heroic type battling some demon or other occult-ish monster, usually with women as either captives to be rescued or prizes to be won or both. Most of the stories were just poor.

The Star Beast is a 50's Heinlein story, complete with exactly what you'd expect from 50's Heinlein. FTL and personal helicopters but no personal computers, cell phones or internet and a civilization that is stuck in 1950's America in mannerisms and feel. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I got out of it as much as the reviewers did. Be kind to strange aliens, they may turn out to be more than you expect?

To Sail a Darkling Sea by John Ringo
STTM: 2 (can you slog through the mud on the ocean?)
Rating: 6 out of 10

If you have to read just ONE zombie apocalypse series, Ringo's Black Tide Rising series is it! This is the 2nd book in the series and is just as good as the first. 98% of humanity is either dead or has been turned into 'zombies'; insane, flesh eating and mindless people. Technically not zombies, they aren't undead; ghouls would be a better description anyway, but that's a minor technicality. At this point in the series, the emphasis is no longer on survival. Steve 'Wolf' Smith and his family have rescued 100's of people from the Atlantic and are rescuing more as fast as they can. Now the emphasis turns toward rebuilding and maintaining a civilization and finding somewhere to make vaccine. This is fast paced military fiction. Its a little unrealistic, Steve and his family are all super-human, but this really isn't serious fiction. If you like this sort of book, its very well done. Better than 'I am Legend' and 'World War Z', by far. There are a few moments of 'are we doing the right thing?' but they are few. I'm interested to see where this goes, rebuilding civilization with so few people would be very difficult.

The Demon Princes by Jack Vance
STTM: 0 - almost no time is spent during travel
Rating: 4 out of 10

I am not a big fan of this book. Based on some things I'd read recently about Vance, I expected this book to be better. Its really 5 books combined into one long novel, though the gaps between books are almost negligible, which is actually one of its problems.
When he was young, Kirth Gerson and his grandfather survived the 'Mount Pleasant' raid, which was lead by 5 pirate leaders who are now the 5 Demon Princes. Each novel in turn follows Kirth, now adult, as he tracks down and kills the pirate leaders.
For me, there are numerous problems with this book. This was written in the 60's, so the technology gap isn't too ridiculous, though he does assume the use of near instantaneous FTL (the intersplit) with absolutely no explanation of how it works and no consequences or side effects. This is minor compared to the other problems.
Why, many years in the future, is civilization seemingly stuck at a level of the 1800's, with the exception of space travel? Why do slave labor, menial labor, inept or non-existent police and strange anachronistic habits proliferate everywhere? There's a vague reference to something called 'The Institute' that keeps retarding progress, but its just a small reference. Why is there a whole planet of poisoners?
Why do these 'princes' of crime apparently have roughly 10 stooges each? This feels like an Austin Powers movie with 5 versions of Dr. Evil, except they aren't nearly as funny, just stupidly evil. If they are so determined to stay hidden, why is Kirth the only one that can find them? If they are such big crime bosses, why hide at all?
Vance certainly devotes a lot of pages to 'atmosphere', mostly in the form of quotations from articles about civilization at the time or philosophical discussions. He doesn't spend enough time on his characters or the setting and there are no memorable secondary characters. The ending is also terrible.

Maybe some of you folks can explain why Vance is considered a master. I just don't see it.

A brief note on a re-read, Elfstones of Shannara. This is my favorite Shannara book and one of my all time favorite fantasy novels. I'm very happy to see that it may/should be coming to TV soon! I hope they do it justice and we see a few more of Brook's books turned into TV series or movies.

Legend by Eric Blehm
STTM: 0 - almost no time is spent during travel
Rating: 7 out of 10

I thought this was an excellent book about a hero of the Vietnam War. The author does not make any value statements about the validity of the war or our actions during it, but focuses on the actions of one man. This is the story of the life of Roy Benavidez from his early life as a child and including his life after the war. Most of the book is spent on his military career and the action that earned him his awards. There is some historical background on the war and military background of what lead up to Roy's battle. I really enjoyed this and thought it was a fitting tribute to Mr. Benavidez' life.

The Martian by Andy Weir
STTM: 8 - lots of travel on Mars
Rating: 8 out of 10

I was skeptical when I first picked up this book. I've seen a lot of reviews raving about how great it was and I didn't think it could live up to the hype. I was wrong, this book is really good! Quite simply, its the story of how in the not too distant future, a NASA astronaut is left behind on Mars when the rest of his crew leaves. The good news, he has the supplies intended for 6 people for a 30 day mission. The bad news, it will take over 10 times that for him to be rescued. The technology used in this book is all technology we have right now. Multiple unmanned supply missions are sent to provide everything for the 30 day mission, while a single vehicle makes round trips from Earth to Mars. An ascent vehicle (think Lunar ascent stage) is one of the supply missions and it generates fuel for the ascent while it sits on Mars. He even has 2 rovers to use. The story itself is about his struggle to survive and NASA's attempts to rescue him. I really enjoyed it. One warning, he does use the F word a lot.

The Martian was one of my favourite books that I read last year. Both my kids liked it, too. I'm afraid we'll have to wait until the movie comes out before my husband will appreciate it, though.

>SylviaC. I'd love the movie, but do you think they'll do it? Not a lot happens most of the time. Its sort of MacGyver on Mars with no conflict.

The movie is due out in November, so it must be pretty well done by now. I don't usually go to movies, but I'm interested to see what they they do with it.

That's awesome, I'll have to go when it comes out! Thanks for the heads up.

The Dancer from Atlantis by Poul Anderson
STTM Index: 4 some travel, both in time and on Earth
Rating: 5 out of 10

Another library sale purchase from the Fall 2014 sale that I'm just getting to read. Unfortunately, this isn't Anderson's best. It contains some very confusing time paradoxes, including 1 person that meets their younger self. It was an interesting alternate history/time travel sort of book, but not great.

The Ghost from the Grand Banks/The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke
STTM Index: 1
Rating: 7 out of 10

This is a collection of 2 novels about the sea, a bit of a departure from Clarke's usual sci-fi. In this case, both books are predicting near future events. Unlike Clarke's many successes at predicting the course of technology, his predictions in these books are both failures.

In The Ghost from the Grand Banks, written in 1990, Clarke is predicting that the Titanic would be raised from the sea floor for the centennial in 2012. Of course, at this point we know that didn't happen and isn't likely to happen. Two different technologies from 2 different teams are used to raise the 2 parts of the ship. There are also a couple of sub-plots with some of the major characters. Well written and very enjoyable to read.

In The Deep Range (1957) Clarke theorizes that at some point in the not too distant future (he doesn't say when) we will have both the need and technology to 'farm' whales for food! How far we have come! Apparently this was his idea of the looming population boom/food crisis that was being predicted in the 1950's. The story was good, mostly for the background of the deep oceans and the characters. He does anticipate well our ability to explore the ocean deeps.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
STTM: 5 some mud slogging
Rating: 4 out of 10

I had heard all the hype about this book and thought it was going to be better. Unfortunately, just a few pages in to the book, I realized that this book is essentially Hunger Games on Mars. Instead of Districts and the Capital, we have a society divided into colors - the low colors like Reds are basically slave laborers and the Golds and their direct servants are the lords of society. There's even a near replica of the Hunger Games, though in this case it takes months and is even more savage. I really wasn't impressed by this book. The author seemed undecided if this is a YA book or not (it isn't) and if it was scifi or not. I can't really recommend it unless you have time to spare and want to read something written recently.

The Daylight War by Peter Brett
STTM: 2 not much traveling in this one
Rating: 5

This is the 3rd book in the Demon Cycle. Like the 2nd book, a considerable amount of time is spent on the past of one character, Inevera. Unfortunately all this time spent doesn't add much to our understanding of the world or the people involved. Its interesting reading, but it doesn't advance the story much. Only at the end of the book (as usual) does the plot pick up again in the present and not enough time is left for this part of the story. The ending is also a horrible cliffhanger.

Star Trek: Shadows on the Sun
Star Trek NG: Reunion
both by Michael Jan Friedman

More library sale books! I was familiar with Mr. Friedman from his 80's fantasy novels and from an author chat here on LT. I picked these up mostly because I was familiar with the author, I don't read many ST books. I see now my Friedman was proud of his Star Trek writing, whoever controls the story arc gave him some important stories to tell.

Star Trek: Shadows on the Sun takes place after the last of the original cast movies. Just before they all retire, the Enterprise is sent on one last mission, back to a planet that Bones was assigned to early in his career. To make life more complicated, Bones' ex-wife is aboard with her husband. This book is all about Dr. McCoy's history. It was fun to read.

Star Trek Next Generation: Reunion was another opportunity for Friedman to fill in some history. The key crew members from Capt. Picard's first command, the Stargazer, are gathered on the Enterprise to deliver one of them to his coronation ceremony. Unfortunately, someone aboard is a murderer. Another opportunity to fill in old history of the Stargazer and Jack Crusher's death.

>50 Karlstar: ah, that's disappointing. I had heard good things about it and picked it up (thankfully on a deal) a while back. I might keep pushing it down Mount TBR ;)

>53 imyril: imyril If anyone has counter arguments to make, I'd like to hear them. Maybe it was well written enough to overcome the derivative plot, but I couldn't tell.

Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
STTM: 5 some time spent in space travel
Rating: 5

I've enjoyed everything else I've ready by Jack McDevitt more than this book. It may not have helped that this isn't the first book in a series, but I'm not sure it mattered. I thought this book was a little slow paced and lacked in drama.
In the not too distant future, humans have developed a not quite perfect FTL drive. Accidents happen, sometimes ships are lost completely. The media starts to blame the mysterious black riders, ships that come and go and seem to observe human ships. At the same time, the aging human space fleet is under budget threat, as governments start to question whether exploring space is worth the cost (sound familiar?). A mission is put together to put sensor satellites to detect the alien ships. Exciting things start to happen once the mission gets underway.
In general I thought this book was interesting, but not as good as McDevitt's usual. I also found it strange that with FTL developed, cost would still be an issue. Many authors have tried to tackle future economic issues, but I didn't think this one did it well.

Has anyone else seen the trailer for the Shannara tv show?? It looks awesome!

Had to give up on Quicksilver and do a re-read on the first 2 books of the Pliocene Exile. Still great stuff! On to Great North Road

>57 Karlstar: Great North Road is the only one of Hamilton's books that I've read, but I really enjoyed it. The blend of SF and detective novel was well done, and although it was long I found it moved fast. I look forward to your comments on it when you finish.

>56 Karlstar: Wow, I read the first 3 Shannara books AGES ago, and can't remember a thing about them, but remember enjoying them!
This sounds like good enough reason to put them on my TBR list!

59 At least re-read Elfstones to get ready for the TV show!

Great North Road
STTM index: 4 (some slogging through the snow)
Rating: 7

I really enjoyed this sci-fi murder mystery. The theme of 'North' turns up over and over again in this book - its the name of an all-important family, the name of a modern road, the name of an old Roman road and other references to North come up. The North family is possibly the most important family in the galaxy - a huge family of identical individuals who started from 3 clones. For some reason, those 3 clones can only produce identical copies of themselves, though each succeeding generation is less viable.
On a routine winter night in the not too distant future in Newcastle a dead body turns up - an unidentified North family member. Unfortunately, the Norths claim that all of their family members are accounted for, including the Norths on the police force. To make the mystery worse, the killing method was a 5 bladed hand/knife - the same weapon that killed Norths and guests 20 years ago on the planet of St. Libra. Humans have reached the stars via a technology that allows us to open wormhole type gates. This has allowed us to colonize other planets, including St. Libra, where some of the native plant life has been replaced by huge fields producing bio-oil. The Norths have gotten rich off bio-oil (bioil in the book) and rule St. Libra as benevolent tyrants via the gate that opens in Newcastle.
Much of the action in the book is from the point of view of a Newcastle detective who tries to solve the mystery of the unknown dead North. This is where Hamilton's speculation on technology is the most fascinating. The other major plot line occurs on St. Libra itself, as a military expedition is launched to prove or disprove that there is an alien on the planet that specialize in killing North family members. There are North family members everywhere in this book - in Newcastle, in the police force, on St. Libra, in the military, in their own colony on Jupiter. The other major point of view is that of Angela Tramelo, the woman originally accused of the North murders, who steadfastly claims that the murders were done by a mysterious alien no one else has ever seen.
A good mystery, good sci-fi, good action and suspense, not much else you could ask for. I don't think the mystery itself was all that hard to figure out, but it was interesting all the way.

>61 Karlstar: I have to admit that before I read your review my instant reaction involved the road from Cape Town to Cairo. But that would have had an STTM index approaching infinity.

I thought it was amusing how many ways he worked the title into the book, in many ways everything is North in this book.

Kingdom of Darkness
STTM: 2 a little international travel, this doesn't count the car and train chase scenes
Rating: 4 (out of 10)

To me this felt like something straight out of Indiana Jones. It features Nina Wilde, a world famous archaeologist. This time, she stumbles on the plans for the Tomb of Alexander when a young man throws them at her - just before he's killed by a Nazi. Yes, Nazi's in 2012, because they've found the secret to extended life and Nina and her husband have to prevent them from getting more of it from the Spring of Immortality, hidden in the Kingdom of Darkness. The action starts in Egypt (surprise!) and features a several car chases, a train chase and the brutality you'd expect from Nazi's who've been alive since 1945. I wasn't really impressed. I think this is meant to be a YA book, but there is quite a bit of brutality and a LOT of swearing.

The Lies of Locke Lamora was good, but... Diamond Age was good, but.... reviews upcoming.

>65 Karlstar: I'm looking forward to your reviews, as that was my reaction to both books. I wonder if we have the same reservations?

>64 Karlstar: that sounds hilariously bad. Thank you for reading it so I can enjoy it through your review (rather than getting annoyed reading it myself ;)

Thanks for the encouragement folks! Sakerfalcon, I suspect our reasons are different, but here goes. :)

The Lies of Locke Lamora
STTM: 0, the whole story takes place in one city
Rating: 4 out of 10

Let me say first that this is not a bad book or bad fantasy, just perhaps with too many common themes. Locke Lamora is an orphan in Camorr, a very Venice-like city. The story begins when Locke is purchased (yes, purchased) by a thief trainer, who then sells him again to a phony cleric after Locke turns out to be dangerously reckless (at roughly age 10). The cleric is actually a trainer of thieves and con artists. Fast forward a few years and a few cons, and Locke is running his biggest con yet with his accomplices and friends. This new con gets him tangled with The Spider, head of the city's secret police and The Grey King who is out to destroy the organization of Capa Barsavi, crime boss of Camorr and Locke's boss. There are some side plots mainly centered around the big con and Locke's relationship with Capa Barsavi. Its well written, long and colorful. Unfortunately, I'm really tired of the con man as hero trope, as well as being tired of the 'fantasy without fantasy elements' trend lately. No elves, no monsters and the only magic is a monopolistic organization of foreign wizards, though at one point Locke is judged to have 'something' that since it doesn't turn out to be magic talent must just be plain luck. This just felt like Oceans 11 meets The Sopranos in Venice, with all the violence of The Sopranos. People actually end up swimming with the fishes.
Could this have been better? I'm not sure, I think its just the theme and style that prevents me from enjoying this one as much as others. There's also an obvious flaw as all of Locke's marks are ridiculously trusting, so he gets away with cons because they don't even take the most basic precautions or do any investigation.

>68 Karlstar: Yes, low-magic (or just "low") fantasy is a trend or even a major subgenre, most works labelled "dark fantasy" tend to be low-magic as well if that helps you avoid them, or at least know when to enquire further before selecting them.

I'm not sure I've seen an explicit reasoning for that, and there are probably counter-examples, but I suspect that's because magic usually functions as a substitute for advanced tech and medicine rolled into one, so an environment with widespread magic, where a large number of people from all walks of life could develop the talent without an excess of hurdles, would logically not be as grim as one where it is rare. Or if it was grim, it would need to be for reasons different from those commonly depicted.

Though to be honest many mainstream fantasy works only feel magically abundant because the hero is an anomaly, or the cast of protagonists concentrates what would otherwise be perishingly rare talents, and those they get to meet are also largely atypical. The world they happen in often has a lot less exposure to the stuff than the hero(es) and villain(s). See LOTR where the only mages seem to be the Maiars, Tom Bombadil the authorial insert, and maybe a few very old elves in their places of power.

What's puzzling to me is that The Lies of Locke Lamora isn't truly low-magic, one of the protagonists gets a whole lot done with powerful magic and the entire city of Camorr is built on foundation that appears to have been magically created (or created by tech so good its indistinguishable from magic). Everyone wants to be G. R. R. Martin these days or Robert Jordan in their human-centric fantasy. You'd think more people would take after China Mieville and mix things up a bit.

Diamond Age or a Young Ladies Illustrated Primer
STTM: 1 a very little bit of travel
Rating: 7 out of ten (4 if you hate the ending as much as I did)

This book is now 20 years old! Despite that, its still fairly far out as far out as technology goes, in some ways, and not so much in others. This is clearly meant to be a not-so-far future cyberpunk story as far as its basic theme and the story of a few young ladies in plot. He pretty accurately predicted 3d printing, but I think he missed out on mobile communications. I enjoyed the characters and general plot quite a bit. What bothered me somewhat is what felt like the abandonment of some characters along the way. Some characters are carefully created, then just left to wander away. Also, the author goes to the trouble of creating quite a few distinct 'phyles', then abandons those too. In Stephenson's not so far future, the Earth isn't so much controlled by countries as it is by groups of individuals with similar lifestyles, led by the Neo-Victorians, these groups are called phyles. Somehow these phyles control territory far away from what we'd think of as their home. The other thing I struggled with was setting. The book is set in the area around Shanghai, in his future China has splintered a bit - sort of. There's nothing wrong with that setting, though how the Neo-Victorians got there I can't explain and the lack of familiarity for me just made this a little harder to like. However, despite the splintered China and the domination of the phyles, somehow there's a 2nd Chinese 'communist' revolution in the background of most of the book. Why?
However, for me the big problem is the ending. The ending was horrible. I can see on one level why it was a satisfactory ending, but it just didn't work for me. I can't remember the last time I disliked an ending so much.
Good tech, good writing, good characters (those that don't just vanish), terrible ending.

Your comments on The diamond age very much agree with my own reaction to the book. There was so much good stuff in it that I'll probably reread it at some point in the future, but the bad stuff really is horrible.

And I think I had some of the same issues with Locke Lamora - not really liking the con man as hero; finding that his victims were a bit TSTL to be believable; and the constant cursing which made the book feel more modern than mediaeval. I know people swore in the "old days" too but for some reason it just didn't quite work for me in this book.

I forgot about the cursing, I don't care for that either. It doesn't add 'color' or authenticity at all for me.

A lot of reading lately but not much reviewing, so here's some brief reviews.

The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Steadfast Classic space opera - aliens! space battles! Shifty politicians! Even some computer hacking. These books are fun if you like space opera mind candy. STTM: 9 - way too much space travel. Rating: 4 out of 10.

Hell Above Earth A brief history of the 8th Air Force in WW2, as told from a very unique, personal perspective. Werner Goering was thought to be the nephew of Hermann Goring, his family being recent immigrants to the USA. Werner became a B-17 pilot but his co-pilot was told to kill him if he might fall into German hands. The book is about 8th Air Force bomber crews in general, with Werner being the backbone of the story. Good personal history but a little choppy and inconsistent. Rating: 6 out of 10.

Fortune's Stroke An 'alternate history' series about Belisarius, the famous Byzantine general and what might happen if he had to go to war against the Persians and Hindu armies. Good military fiction, it made me go out and get an ebook about Belisarius.

For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
STTM: 0 movement through time, not space
Rating: 3 out of ten

This is supposedly a very early Heinlein work, not really a novel, that was found recently and published. Its basically Heinlein's early thoughts on society, marriage, economics and politics. If you're not familiar with Heinlein, don't read this!! Read Starship Troopers, Tunnel in the Sky, Glory Road, Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for Love. There's minimal plot and minimal character building, just Heinlein saying how things should be in the future from his perspective in 1938. Luckily for us, his extreme isolationist views didn't prevail and we entered WW2. His economic views are way off too, though in some ways we've implemented some of them.

The Final Storm
STTM: 0 no travel at all
Rating: 7 out of 10

I may be a little critical on this one, this is my 8th Shaara book and while I didn't like it quite as much as the others, it is still a great history of WW2. This one in particular deals with the invasion of Okinawa and the dropping of the atomic bomb and the very end of the war. I usually judge a history book by what I learned, in this one I didn't really learn any new facts, but I did learn in depth about the horrible suffering of the invasion of Okinawa. Telling the story from a personal point of view is enlightening and terrible at the same time. I just wish he'd not chosen to ignore most of the war in the Pacific and that this book had a little more tactical and strategic angle, rather than just the personal. Even so, a very good personal history and as with all of his books, he tells the story from both sides. While grim, I'd say it was better than Hell Above Earth

The End of All Things
STTM: not much travel at all
Rating: 7 out of 10

I am a big fan of John Scalzi and particularly the Old Man's War series, this is the latest installment. By now he's moved on quite a bit from the original characters and plots and into new territory as he moves the timeline forward. I guess that's one thing I like about these books, he's not afraid to leave behind his characters. This one features a new character but it pretty much picks up where the last book left off, with the 3 way political and military standoff between Earth, the human Colonial Union and the Enclave, but now there's a new player. Good stuff!

Islands of Rage and Hope
STTM: 4, a bit of sailing about
Rating: 5 out of 10

I still say that if you have to read just one zombie apocalypse novel, this series by John Ringo should be it! However, this one bogs down a bit as he revealed most of the plot in the last book. The Wolf Squadron proceeds to clear Guantanamo Bay to use it as a land base for restoration and creating vaccine, but there's a stumbling block. Unfortunately this leads them to clear some Caribbean islands, which leads to some terrible campiness on Ringo's part. By now the antics of his daughters are familiar and the clearing process is too, so there's not much new going on in this book, until nearly the end. Woo! Still, its a fun read.