Weirdmage's Reviews

REVIEW: BONESHAKER

2012-02-03T19:32:00.000+01:00

Cover art: Jon Foster

Cover design: Jamie Stafford-Hill

BONESHAKER

CLOCKWORK CENTURY BOOK 1

CHERIE PRIEST

ISBN: 978-0-7653-1841-1

Pages: 414

Publisher: Tor

Published: September 2009

On the cover:

   In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
    But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
    Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenage boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
    His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

   Wow! Are you actually allowed to write Steampunk that isn't set in Victorian London? Kidding aside, it is actually refreshing to see some Steampunk that isn't set in London for a change. The location here is Seattle, Washington (State), USA. A city that Priest manages to make come alive very well in her novel.

   I really like the way the book opens with an "excerpt from a history book" prologue. It means there isn't the need for so much infodumping at the beginning of the book, and it also helps place the story in its historical context.
   The story itself opens relatively slow, but gives us a great introduction to Briar Wilkes and her son Zeke. Both of them are interesting characters in their own right, and Priest early on makes it clear what kind of relationship they have, something that serves to make both of them both more sympathetic and relatable.

   Priest is good at building up to the action with a look at the world in which the story is set. When things "really" start to happen, you are already well aware of the local environment. And there is enough information to get a good idea of what the status is within the larger world of this Alternate History world.

   There's quite a bit of action in this book. Priest writes very good action scenes, and she doesn't let the action overpower the storyline. They come more as an added bonus to what is already a suspenseful story.
   Much of the suspense in the novel comes from the setting and the atmosphere it provides. There is a constant sense of the characters being isolated, moth literally and figuratively. And this works very well, you understand the sense of dread that the characters feel and Priest's prose draws you into it.

   Along with writing a suspense-, and action-filled novel, Priest has also managed to find room for a couple of rather big mysteries. And she manages to delay the revelations of them for a long time without it becoming annoying , and when she eventually gives us the answers they are worth the wait.

   What made me most happy about finishing this book is knowing that there are more novels in this series that I can move on to, and I really look forward to doing that.
   This is a very good novel, it works great both for Steampunk and Alternate History fans, and I don't think Survival Horror fans will go away disappointed if they try it out either.
   A book I don't hesitate to recommend to anyone that likes a good adventure set in a vivid and realistic world. And a great introduction to Steampunk for those that haven't tried that out yet.

Links: Cherie Priest Tor/Forge Tor/Forge Blog

REVIEW: JUST AFTER SUNSET

2012-01-31T20:43:00.002+01:00

Cover photograph: Getty Images

Cover design: Keenan

JUST AFTER SUNSET

STEPHEN KING

ISBN: 978-0-340-97716-3

Pages: 353

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: 12 November 2008

On the cover:

"Did you maybe leave the oven on? or forget to turn off the gas under your patio barbecue? What about the lock on your back door? Did you remember to give it a twist? Things like that are so easy to forget, and someone could be slipping in right now..."*

   A blind girl visits a dying man and saves his life...with a kiss. A crime writer is faced with a real crime - and has to draw upon his alter-ego for courage. And a young couple seek the bright lights of a nearby town - and end up playing the jukebox for eternity.

   What would you do if your everyday world were turned upside down?

   *From the author's afterword.

As usual I'll give a short review of each story in this anthology before I conclude with my overall impression.

WILLA

It's not east to see what this story is really about in the beginning, and when you do realise it doesn't come as a huge surprise considering who the author is. I found it a very thoughtful story about perceptions and expectations, and it is in my opinion a very good story that has some moments of melancholy beauty. It's a great start to the collection that gets you excited to read on.

THE GINGERBREAD GIRL

This story about a woman who runs away from her husband suddenly takes a sharp turn. What we then get is a tense suspense-filled tale that is full of action. It's the longest story in the collection, but King really draws the reader in and it is a fast read that may have you cringing at times.

HARVEY'S DREAM

A chilling story about a man telling his wife of a dream he has had during the night. This may not seem like much to base a horror story on, but in this case it is a good basis. King really manages to accomplish much with few words here, proving that he is as much a master of short stories as he is of masonry-sized novels. -And I just loved the ending.

REST STOP

An author on his way home hears a man beating his girlfriend/wife at an otherwise empty rest stop. This is a pretty conventional story but it has got the Stephen King twist added to it, there's another layer to it that makes it better than it otherwise could have been. A story that shows King can be good without adding any supernatural elements.

STATIONARY BIKE

A check-up at the doctor leads an artist to take up training, and sends him down a road that may lead to insanity. While I really enjoyed this story, I I felt it was too short, and I would have liked King to have explored it in a longer format. As it stands it is a very good story that leaves you craving for more to be really satisfied.

THE THINGS THEY LEFT BEHIND

This is a story about memories and what makes you remember. King himself says it is an idea that came to him soon after 9/11. It's a very good story, respectful without being preachy.

GRADUATION AFTERNOON

The shortest story in this collection is a pretty strange one by King-standards. There's plenty of information given for such a short story, and we actually get a well developed background for the main character. A very good story that proves you can tell a lot with a few words.

Can you say "Lovecraftian Horror"? King has managed to create a very good modern version of some of H.P. Lovecraft's tales. If you have read Lovecraft you may not find very original, but king does it very well. And this is one story worth getting hold of for everyone who is into Lovecraft.

Note: King mentions inspiration from an earlier writer than Lovecraft in the notes. While that may be correct, I wouldn't hesitate to call this a Lovecraftian-style tale.

THE CAT FROM HELL

A story about a hit man and a cat. It's a really good story with a slightly creepy ending. One for those who love cats, but also great for those who find cats to be somewhat creepy. Personally I love cats and thoroughly enjoyed this story.

THE NEW YORK TIMES AT SPECIAL BARGAIN RATES

This story is about a phone call. It's a pretty standard paranormal story but King does it very well. There is also some interesting ideas in it that elevates it above other stories with similar themes. A good quick read.

MUTE

It isn't often you get a story about a confessional in church that is this interesting. It is not really horror, in fact it is barely thriller, but as most of King's stories it still has that feel to it. I really liked this one, it's an Tales of the Unexpected-type story, and a good one at that.

AYANA

This is a man's story about miracles. Not really my kind of story, and I didn't really feel it had much to say either. This is the weakest story in the collection. The craftsmanship is as good as the other stories but this was just not my cup of tea.

A VERY TIGHT PLACE

The last story in this collection is the tale of a neighbour feud taken to the extreme. King is on great form here, and the story turns suitably disgusting. One of the best stories in this collection.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

This is a great collection of short stories. For me there was only one real miss here, and if you have read a few short story collections and anthologies you'll know that it is rare that the rate of good stories is so high.

This is of course essential for anyone who likes King. But it is also a good collection for anyone who enjoys short stories and/or horror in general. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone, and I think it is a good tarting point for anyone who has read little or no short stories too.

I should also add that King gives us notes about each of the stories at the back. I find that interesting to read, and think that would be an extra value to both readers and anyone who writes themselves.

Reviews: The Shining, Bag of Bones, 11.22.63, Four Past Midnight

Links: Stephen King Hodder & Stoughton

REVIEW: DEADHOUSE GATES

2012-01-24T17:26:00.000+01:00

Cover illustration: Steve Stone

DEADHOUSE GATES

THE SECOND TALE OF THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN

STEVEN ERIKSON

ISBN: 978-0-553-81311-1

Pages: 934

Publisher: Bantam Books

First published: 1 September 2000

This edition published: 1 October 2001

On the cover:

In the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha'ik and her followers prepare for the long-prophesied uprising named the Whirlwind. Enslaved in the Otataral mines, Felisin, youngest scion of the disgraced House of Paran, dreams of freedom and vows revenge, while the outlawed Bridgeburners Fiddler and Kalam conspire to rid the world of Empress Laseen (although it seems the gods would, as always, have it otherwise). And as two ancient worriors - bearers of a devastating secret - enter this blighted land, so an untried commander of the Malaz 7th Army leads his war-weary troops in a last, valiant running battle to save the lives of thisrty thousand refugees.

   As in Gardens of the Moon this is a complex story. Erikson again presents us with several story threads and a large cast of characters, some of which will be familiar from the first book, but many which are new.
   The different storylines are all part of the whole, and sometimes they weave together - often in unexpected ways. It can be hard at times to follow everything that is going on. There is just so much happening to keep track of. But Erikson is good at rewarding the reader, as the story progresses more and more of the overall events are revealed.
   There's is also a strength in the way it is difficult to get a good idea of what is going to happen, and in some cases it is even hard to get a good grip on what is happening at that moment. I for one was several times surprised by events both large and small, and there are some twists that really will take you by surprise.

   Arguably the main storyline in this novel is the one with the 7th Malaz Army and the refugees it leads. This storyline is a gruelling march through a land that is often unforgiving, not only for the characters but also for the reader.
   Erikson has written some of the best battle-scenes ever put on paper. He really shows he has a knack for pulling you into the action, and you shouldn't be surprised if you find yourself with your heart in your throat as the battle rages on the page.
   This storyline is also a draining one, I found myself emotionally exhausted by the time it reaches its conclusion. In many ways the end is as brutal for the reader as it is for the warriors. If you are at all capable of feeling empathy for fictional characters this is a story that will stick with you.

   The world we are presented here is very real, it doesn't feel as much worldbuilding as it feels like history. The reader will learn a lot more about the setting as the story progresses. And, to me at least, it didn't really feel like it is a made-up world. Erikson has managed to make the Malazan world come to life very vividly, and even with a weaker story it would be a compelling place to visit.
   We also learn more about the magic of the world, and about the ever-present gods. And I liked that Erikson manages to give the reader a lot of information without it ever feeling like he is resorting to infodumping.

   I can't deny that I loved this book. And I see it as a very good example of how Epic Fantasy can be done very well. There's characters and a story here that will drag you in, and complexity and realism that will keep you going.
   But I have to say that this book takes commitment. I had a few days break about 200 pages into, and it took a while to get back into it. So I suggest that you give this book everything you got as a reader, if you do it will reward you and take you on one hell of a journey.

Review: Gardens of the Moon

Links: Steven Erikson Bantam Books/Transworld Books

REVIEW: USE OF WEAPONS

2012-01-23T11:43:00.000+01:00

Cover design: Blacksheep

USE OF WEAPONS

A CULTURE NOVEL/

CULTURE BOOK THREE

IAIN M. BANKS

ISBN: 978-1-85723-135-9

Pages: 411

Publisher: Orbit

First published: 13 September 1990

This edition published: 26 March 1992

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks or military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman’s life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine intelligence could see the horrors in his past.

   This is the third in the series of Culture novels. And as the others this is technically a stand alone novel. Even though I came late to Banks' Culture and am reading them in publication order, I find it refreshing that he has chosen to not make an endless series, but instead tells different stories set in the same universe.
   There is a steady trickle of information about the Culture here, and reading them in order will give you a feeling that the world(/universe) is growing, much like you would get in a Fantasy novel when the characters travel to different areas of the map.

   This time we get the story of "super-spy" Cheradenine Zakalwe, a character it is very easy to write off a "outer space James Bond". Comparisons to Bond are almost inevitable, and I noted it myself, but I felt that this was a much more realistic portrayal of such an agent. And there certainly is much more to Zakalwe than just being a Bond clone.

   Banks actually give us two stories in this novel, the main linear plot and a side-plot consisting of the story of Zakalwe. These two narratives work very well together, instead of taking attention away from each other they serve to give more depth, and the "B-story" doesn't feel like it is thrown in to increase the page-count, as is sometime the case.
   Both plots keep building up suspense as they progress, and this keeps up the level of suspense as you are reading. And you are rewarded with a reveal that, to me at least, was pretty mind-blowing.

   All in all this is a great book. Both the characters and the story is very interesting and the Culture setting just gets better the more you read about it. I can see the reason that Banks is hailed by many as the master of Space Opera.
   This is a great book for fans of Science Fiction, and the Culture series makes a good start to written SF for those who like SF movies but have never gotten around to reading Science Fiction.

Reviews: Consider Phlebas Use of Weapons

Links: Iain M. Banks Orbit

READING HIGHLIGHTS OF 2011 AND PLANS FOR 2012

2012-01-04T23:58:00.003+01:00

This is a bit late. I was planning to post this on New Years Eve, but my internet has not been cooperating (again).
The list below is not a list of "best books published in 2011", it's a list of what I feel are the highlights of what I have been reading in 2011, so some of the books were published some years back. Anyway, here we go:

READING HIGHLIGHTS OF 2011

GJENFERD by Jo Nesbø

This is the latest of Nesbø's Harry Hole books, it was published in Norwegian on 9 June 2011. The English (UK) edition is out 15 March 2012 and is called Phantom (, see here for more info on UK edition).

I love Nesbø's books and this was no exception. If you're reading his books in English you have a treat coming.

GARDENS OF THE MOON and DEADHOUSE GATES by Steven Erikson

After reading these two books, I can't help but wonder why it took me so long to get started on this series. I plan to read the rest of the books this year.

Review

VEGAS KNIGHTS by Matt Forbeck

This was fun and action filled, and I found it to be great entertainment.

Forbeck was a new author for me, and I look forward to reading more of his books.

Review

EMBEDDED by Dan Abnett

This is actually the first Military Science Fiction novel I have read, and if this is representative for that genre I'll certainly read more of it.

Abnett was also a new author for me, and I'm eying several of his books for later reading.

Review

DISSOLUTION by C. J. Sansom

Historical (Medieval) Crime. I love history, and especially the Medieval period, so this book was perfect for me. I'm going to read more of Sansom's books in the future.
I would never have known this book existed if Amanda Rutter hadn't sent it to me as part of her World Book Night sharing. And I owe her a big thank you for that.

Thank you very much, Amanda!

THE ADAMANTINE PALACE, THE KING OF THE CRAGS AND
THE ORDER OF THE SCALES by Stephen Deas

These books are great Fantasy books. Anyone who doesn't hate dragons should read them. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.
Deas is another new author for me, and I will definitely seek out his other books.

BONESHAKER by Cherie Priest

This book falls into the Steampunk category. Unlike most Steampunk, it is set in the US or to be more specific, Seattle.
I thought this was great and look forward to reading the follow-up books.
This is becoming quite the trend in this post, but this is a new author to me, one I will be following.

HARBOR by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Swedish set psychological horror. A great book.
Blah, blah, new author etc...

Review

Other authors who might as well be on this list (, but didn't make it because I felt it was long enough already); Sam Sykes, Mark Charan Newton, Gail Carriger, M. D. Lachlan, Blake Charlton, Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm, K. W. Jeter, Stephen King and K. J. Parker.

You may notice that I haven't reviewed all of these books. The reason is my internet has been really crappy in 2011, but most of the books mentioned will get reviewed as soon as I can get to it.

PLANS FOR 2012

I plan on getting an internet connection that works when I want to use it and not when it feels like it, so I can get back to blogging more regularly.

As for reading, my goal is to read at least 100 books this year, and I plan to review all of them

I hope 2012 turns out to be a great year for all of you :-)

THE HOBBIT TRAILER

2011-12-21T04:35:00.000+01:00

Nice to finally see a trailer. It doesn't really show much, but what it does show looks really good. Really looking forward to the movie now!

REVIEW: FENRIR

2011-12-19T11:28:00.000+01:00

Cover art: Paul Young

Cover design: Patrick Knowles

FENRIR

M.D. LACHLAN

ISBN: 978-0-575-08964-8

Pages: 532

Publisher: Gollancz

Published: 21 July 2011

On the cover:

The Vikings are laying siege to Paris. As the houses on the banks of the Seine burn a debate rages in the Cathedral on the walled island of the city proper. The situation is hopeless. The Vikings want the Count's sister. In return they will spare the rest of the city. Can the Count really have ambitions to be Emperor of the Franks if he doesn't do everything he can to save his people? Can he call himself a man if he doesn't do everything he can to save his sister?

His conscience demands one thing, the demands of state another. The Count and the church are relying on the living saint, the blind and crippled Jehan of St Germain, to enlist the aid of God and resolve the situation for them.

But the Vikings have their own gods. And outside their camp a terrifying brother and sister, priests of Odin, have their own agenda. An agenda of darkness and madness. And in the shadows a wolfman lurks.

This is a continuation of the story in Wolfsangel, but it is not the usual direct sequel we are so used to from fantasy. Instead it is the next installment in the cycle of the story. And the cycle is also the central theme of Lachlan's fantasy series. The protagonists here are not the same as in Wolfsangel, but they are aspects of them. The story is moving on with different players, and I found this worked well.

Lachlan maintains the saga-like quality of his prose, which is a good thing. It worked very well in Wolfsangel, and if anything it works even better here.

The story is really fast-paced. There's quite a lot of action, and even in quieter parts of the novel the story is moving along steadily. I can't think of any part of the book that was really a "rest-period", and this makes it a book that can be difficult to put down.

There's a lot of magic in this book. But Lachlan doesn't use this as a prop, it is integral to the story he is telling, and it never feels like it is out of place. As with Wolfsangel there is also a presence of gods here, the dark and fallible Viking variety that will be familiar to students of Norse mythology.

The characters we encounter in the book have their separate tales to tell, and all of them are interesting. There are several main characters here that could easily have carried a novel by themselves, and they are propped up with supporting characters that are interesting in their own right.

Lachlan makes use of several points of view. This can be annoying in some stories, but here they add up to giving a much greater whole than the sum of the individual viewpoints. The different protagonists are used to great effect to draw the story together and form a single narrative.

This time the location is outside the Scandinavian homeland of the Vikings, mostly in modern day France, but we also get to go to Russia. As someone who is Norwegian and interested in history I think it was really refreshing to see these lesser known locations for Viking activity used to great effect here. And it also makes me excited to find out where we are heading next in Lachlan's saga.

I can't think of anything I disliked in this book, it is very close to a perfect novel. For anyone who feels that modern fantasy is getting a bit stale this will be the perfect antidote. And if you have any interest in Vikings or Norse mythology Lachlan has created an excellent fantasy for you. This is a perfect read for dark winter evenings.

Review: Wolfsangel

Links: M.D. Lachlan Gollancz Gollancz Blog

REVIEW: 11.22.63

2011-12-16T13:00:00.000+01:00

Cover photo: Press Association Images

11.22.63

STEPHEN KING

ISBN: 978-1-444-72729-6

Pages: 740

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: 8 November 2011

On the cover:

Jake Epping is an English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching in an adult education programme. One day, he receives an essay from one of his students - a harrowing first person story about the night, fifty years earlier, when Harry Dunning's father came home and killed Harry's mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer.

Later, Jake's friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges an extraordinary secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane - and insanely possible - mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Inspired by his desire to put things right for Harry Dunning, Jake leaves a world if iPods and mobile phones for a new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars, root beers and Lindy Hopping. It is a haunting world of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life - a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

   A new Stephen King novel is always a treat for me, and I had been looking forward to this one since I first heard about it. King tackling time-travel sounded especially interesting.
   King manages to tackle the time travel very well, he's not exactly doing it in a Hard SF way and this may disappoint science fiction fans. But I thought the idea of how the world was affected by it in the small scale was very well done. I also liked what happened when a subsequent travel takes place. (Sorry for being vague, but I feel it is too much a spoiler to be more specific.)

   The book starts out as a pretty traditional style time travel novel. And it continues in that way for a while, but then King changes tracks. Jake Epping is staying for a long time in the past, and the book becomes much more about how America was in the late fifties and early sixties. Something King has written about before, and something he is very good at. There's even room for an excursion to post-IT, something I, and I'm sure any other fan of IT will enjoy. From there the novel moves from King's "comfort zone" in New England and into the south, and it is here that the main part of the story takes place.

   The historical part of this novel centres around Lee Harvey Oswald, and we really learn a lot about the man. I found this part of the novel fascinating, although at times it seems that King is using a lot of space to paint Oswald as a villain. The events he describes may be historically correct, but I didn't really feel they added enough to the story that so much of it had to be included.
   The most interesting part to me, is the part of the story were we see Jake Epping settling into his new life in the past. King handles this expertly, even the romance he has found place for is very well done and feels realistic.

   This is by no means King's best novel, and I doubt it will make it into many peoples top five King novels, but that doesn't mean it is a weak novel. I thoroughly enjoyed following Jake Epping on his journey in the past, and there is enough action and suspense here to make it a book that seems a quicker read than its page count suggests it is.
   You don't have to be a King completist to enjoy this, it is a great novel for anyone who likes King. And for anyone with an interest in the JFK assassination and Lee Harvey Oswald this is a must. It's not a bad starting point for anyone who hasn't read King either, there's not any SFF here except for the time travel, so anyone not familiar with SFF should be able to get into it easily.
   With the holidays coming up, this is a great book to put on your wish list and read while you wait for the New Year to come around.

Reviews: The Shining, Bag of Bones, Four Past Midnight

Links: Stephen King, Hodder & Stoughton

REVIEW: HEARTLESS

2011-12-08T17:56:00.000+01:00

Cover design: Lauren Panepinto

Cover photograph: Pixie Vision Productions

Cover model: Donna Ricci

HEARTLESS

THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE:

BOOK THE FOURTH

GAIL CARRIGER

ISBN: 978-0-315-12719-6

Pages: 374

Publisher: Orbit

Publishing date: June 28 2011

SPOILER WARNING! If you haven't read the

three previous books, this will contain spoilers.

On the cover:

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it's too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what exactly has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

   In this forth installment of The Parasol Protectorate series we get a slightly different story than in the previous books. Nothing radically different, but there is a bit more sleuthing on Alexia's part than in the other books. Which is only natural when you consider her condition. But of course we are talking about Alexia Tarabotti here, so she doesn't exactly sit still knitting while she waits for the baby to come.

   The novel opens with a nice set-up and a good refresher of previous events and it isn't long before we get introduced to the central mystery of the book. I won't say to much about the mystery, but it is an interesting one. And Miss Carriger uses it to give us information of events happening in the past.
   This is one of the great strengths of the novel., there is an almost constant trickle of backstory here. It really helps flesh out the world Alexia inhabits, and gives it a history that makes it feel more real than it could otherwise have been. A credit to Miss Carriger's writing is that some of the revelations from the past took me completely by surprise.

   There is a certain domesticity to parts of this story. This is because of Alexia's pregnancy, but it also brings the series firmly back to the London setting it started with in book one. Alexia and Connall's new living quarters certainly add to the story, this could easily have become boring but Miss Carriger manages to make it both fun and interesting.

   As with the history of the world of Alexia I mentioned above, there is also quite a bit of lore being revealed in this book. We learn more about all three supernatural classes, vampires, werewolves and ghosts. Again this strengthened the story for me, I like it that what is in essence a fantasy world has a history that makes it come alive.
   I must add that Miss Carriger manages to give us all the backstory and lore without it feeling infodumpy [If that wasn't a word before, it is now.] , it all flows naturally in the narrative and I don't think anyone will feel it is distracting or takes you out of the story.

   The story is fast paced throughout, even when there is not really any physical action Miss Carriger manages to makes the pages fly by with her excellent writing style. I have already mentioned the central mystery, it has some surprising revelations for the reader, at least it caught me off guard several times.
   There are also some action scenes in this book that would probably make Michael Bay wet his pants if he got hold of them. The action is by no means over the top, but it is really nice to see Miss Carriger take it to the level it is on here.

   As with the previous books in the series, I really enjoyed this one. Miss Carriger writes very good action-adventure, and her lighter style of storytelling is a nice break from all the "gloom and doom" we find in fantasy these days.
   If you like steampunk or urban fantasy, The Parasol Protectorate series is really a must-read; it is also a good starting point if you are curious as to what these genres is about. And if you have followed the series so far, this installment will certainly not be a disappointment. Miss Carriger has added another great installment in the saga of Alexia Tarabotti.

Reviews: Soulless Changeless Blameless

Links: Gail Carriger Orbit

REVIEW: HARBOR

2011-11-24T18:28:00.001+01:00

Cover design: Rob Grom and Faceout Studios

Cover photo: Paul Vozdic/Getty Images (Girl)

and Roger Bamber/Alamy (Lighthouse)

HARBOR

JOHN AJVIDE LINDQVIST

Translated from Swedish by

MARLAINE DELARGY
Original title: Människohamn

ISBN: 978-0-312-68027-5

Pages: 500

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

First published: June 2008

This edition published: 11 October 2011

On the cover:

One ordinary winter afternoon on a snowy island, Anders and Cecilia take their six-year-old daughter Maja across the ice to visit the lighthouse in the middle of the frozen channel. While they are exploring the lighthouse, Maja disappears – either into thin air or under thin ice – leaving not even a footprint in the snow.
Two years later, Anders, a broken man, moves back to his family’s abandoned home on the island. He soon realizes that Maja's disappearance is only one of many strange occurrences, and that his fellow islanders, including his own grandmother, know a lot more than they’re telling. As he digs deeper, Anders begins to unearth a dark and deadly secret at the heart of this small, seemingly placid town.

   This novel is almost entirely set on an island in Sweden. Outwardly it is an idyllic place, but under the surface there is a sinister secret.

   Having grown up with Swedish TV, I am quite familiar with Swedish pop-culture. There are quite a few references to it in the book, but they are never intrusive and they function as Easter eggs that gives you a nostalgic smile if you are familiar with them. That being said, this is very much a Swedish book, the setting is 100% typical of Sweden, and although I have never been to a location such as is the setting of the book I am familiar with it through cultural osmosis.
   If you are familiar with Scandinavian crime, you will recognise to some extent the type of setting this is. But you don't have to know anything about Sweden to get into this, Lindqvists setting is accessible to everyone. And it is a great setting for this story.

   Lindqvist writes instantly compelling characters, and before you know it you are drawn into their lives. The main character, Anders, is complex and realistic. And around him is a set of very interesting supporting characters, some of which have stories that could fill a novel by themselves.
   The story is a gripping one. What really stands out is the sense of an eerie creepiness that pervades the novel. Lindqvist's prose is perfect for conveying this type of psychological horror. And he manages to keep the reader in suspense for a very long time.

   The opening mystery, interesting in itself, is soon shown to be a part of something much greater. But it takes time before what is really going on is revealed. Much of this is done through flasbacks that gradually feeds you with clues to what is going on. As the story progresses these revelations manages to raise the level of psychological horror.
   The events just get creepier and creepier as the novel progresses. And the mystery gets more and more complex the more you find out about it. This makes it a book that is hard to put down, you get so dragged into the story that you just want to keep reading. But if you scare easily you may want to have the lights on when you go to sleep.

   This is psychological horror at its best, if you like that this book is a must. And I would also recommend it to everyone that is a fan of Scandinavian crime and likes the setting and characters from that genre.
   This is the first book by John Ajvide Lindqvist I have read, but I will be looking out for his books from now on. He's definitively an author every horror fan should read.

NOTE: A copy of the book was supplied to me by the publisher.

Links: John Ajvide Lindqvist St. Martins Press

REVIEW: THE INHERITANCE

2011-11-22T09:04:00.000+01:00

Cover Art: Jackie Morris

THE INHERITANCE

ROBIN HOBB

AND

MEGAN LINDHOLM

ISBN: 978-0-00-727377-5

Pages: 400

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Published: 31 March 2011

On the cover:

In The Homecoming, Lady Carillion Carrock and a number of other Jamaillian nobles are sailing to the Cursed Shores. Their journey is not by choice: for plotting against the Satrap, their wealth has been confiscated and they have been exiled. Until now, Carillion has done nothing but lead a life of privilege. She believes they are bound for wondrous cities, cities where ancient kings and queens dusted their skin with gold and wore jewels above their eyes. But when she is marooned by the ship’s unscrupulous captain, she will soon discover the grim reality of what survival in the Rain Wilds entails.

The Silver Lady is a would-be writer, ekeing out a dull existence by working in a Sears store. The one day a man comes in: fortyish, pleasant-looking. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except he says his name is Merlin, and he’s about to change her life.

Rosemary got involved with the wrong man. Pell is lazy, good for nothing, a bully. Her best friend Hilia knew it and so did her tom cat, Marmalade. But love is blind: Rosemary had Pell’s baby, renovated the cottage his grandfather left in his will, turned its land to good use; and then he left her for another woman. Now he’s back, and something must be done…

This book is split into two parts, at least in the table of contents, one for each author. And as the author(s) herself writes in the preface (, and after reading the book I agree with,) they are two distinctly different authors even though they are only one person. But it is kind of an interesting question if this is an anthology, because it has stories by two different authors, or a collection, since it is written by one person.
As usual I will review each story by itself with a short summary at the end.

LINDHOLM

A TOUCH OF LAVENDER

   It's very hard to say anything about this story without spoiling it, and I want any other reader to come to it fresh, like I did. So this will be rather short on details.
   The setting is our planet, but with the difference that humans co-exist with alien exiles, this is also a large part of the premise of the story. Lindholm has really nailed the setting, it feels very believable, and also original.
   As for the story, I'm not exactly revealing anything when I say that I really liked it. It is well worth reading, even if you don't consider yourself a Science Fiction fan.

   This is actually the first story I have ever read by Lindholm, (I write these reviews after each story, so I have only read this one from the book as I write this,) and I find myself wondering what took me so long. It's a great way to start a collection, and has me excited for the rest of the book.

SILVER LADY AND THE FORTYISH MAN

A love story that (may) have some magic thrown into the mix. For me this story didn't really stand out in any way. It is by no means bad, in fact it does what it does very well, but it was just not for me. But although I didn't connect with it, I am sure there are many others who will like it a lot.

CUT

Set in the future, this story is about the alterations we do to our bodies and the bodies of our children. It walks a very fine line between being preachy or not, and Lindholm resists the temptation to make anything too black and white.
I think this would have worked better for me as a longer story. The central idea is good, and the society in which it is set deserves a closer(/longer) look in my opinion.

THE FIFTH SQUASHED CAT

This is one of those stories that I can't really decide if I like or not. It has a central theme that is about magic, and it is well written. But yet I always come out of reading this type of story a bit unfulfilled and wondering if there is really any point to it at all. It is not something I connected with. I am sure others will feel satisfied by the theme and the philosophy, and connect with it more than I did. But I come away with feeling that I want there to be more story in a story.
That being said, the theme here is not dissimilar to Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man, and I would probably have liked it better if I had read this on its own and not so close after that story.

STRAYS

A story of social realism with a magical twist, and cats as a central part of it.

I found this a very thoughtful story. Some of its themes are very important ones, and Lindholm handles them with the respect they deserve. It is a very good story. And if you love cats it is a must.

FINIS

This is a vampire story. But it is not the type of story that you would normally associate with vampires. The originality of it makes it stand out from the pack (,or is that swarm or maybe brood?) That being said, the ending is not really surprising, you can see it coming very early in the story. But that does not really matter in this case. The journey to the ending is both enjoying and very interesting, and a well written one.

DRUM MACHINE

The last story from Lindholm is a Science Fiction story that is set in a society that have some differences to the one we live in that makes for an unpleasantly possible future scenario.

I liked this story a lot. Both the characters and the story are engaging, and Lindholm manages to tell a lot about its setting in a few pages.

HOBB

HOMECOMING

This story was first published in the anthology Legends II, edited by Robert Silverberg, in 2004. In order of publication it follows The Liveship Traders trilogy, and although in the internal chronology of Hobb's world it tells of the beginning of the Rain Wilds settlement, I'd urge any reader to first read The Liveship Traders trilogy before this story. If you start with this, some of the events in that trilogy will be spoiled for you.

Since I love The Liveship Traders trilogy I found this tale absolutely wonderful, and I think this could very well be Hobb's best work. The narrative is framed as a diary, and this works very well. The woman writing it comes of as a sympatetic and well rounded character, and her voice is very well suited to the story.

Despite knowing, or at least strongly suspecting, where the story is going to end up, Hobb manages to make it suspenseful. There is a doubt throughout as to the faith of the expedition this story tells of that makes it a real page-turner.

This is a story every fan of Hobb should read, and especially thosethat enjoyed The Liveship Traders trilogy. And I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who likes Fantasy, it is a great Novella.

THE INHERITANCE

Set in the world of The Liveship Traders trilogy, this is an excellent little story of a woman coming into her Bingtown inheritance. As with Homecoming it is best read after The Liveship Traders trilogy. But it will also serve as a great introduction to Hobb for those who are funfamiliar with her work, as it stands on its own as a story.

CAT'S MEAT

This story is set in Buck in the Six Duchies. And those who have read Hobb's two trilogies about FitzChivalry will recognise both names and elements from those. But this is set on the opposite ened of the social scale from the royalty of those two trilogies.

The story is a very powerful one, and Hobb really manages to make the reader feel for the characters in this story. If you don't feel sympathy for the characters here you must have a heart of stone. It really is a story that deserves to be wider read than the obvious appeal it will have to the fans of Hobb's Six Duchies stories.

SUMMARY

This is a great introduction to the two authors. I'm sure many, like me, who are fans of Hobb have not read Lindholm, and this is a good place to start. I may not have connected with all the stories, and especially the Lindholm part took some being used to after reading a lot of Hobb's work previously. But I really enjoyed Lindholm's style too, and have already purchased a couple of her books on the strength of this collection/anthology.

For Hobb fans it is an essential purchase. The novella Homecoming in itself justified the purchase to me, and there is a lot of other great stories here.

REVIEWS: Dragon Keeper Dragon Haven

LINKS: Robin Hobb Harper Voyager Voyager Blog

REVIEW: MORLOCK NIGHT

2011-08-23T13:18:00.000+02:00

Cover Artist: John Coulthart

MORLOCK NIGHT

K. W. JETER

ISBN: 978-0-85766-099-2

Pages: 314

Publisher: Angry Robot Books

Originally published: 1979

This edition published: 7 April 2011

On the cover:

JUST WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE TIME MACHINE RETURNED?

Having acquired a device for themselves, the brutish Morlocks return from the desolate far future to Victorian England to cause mayhem and disruption. But the mythical heroes of Old England have also returned, in the hour of the country’s greatest need, to stand between England and her total destruction.

This book starts out right after events in H.G.Well's The Time Machine. And it does

seem from the first chapter that this will be a direct sequel. But it soon turns out this is not the case.

Jeter manages to bring in elements of post-apocalyptic science fiction, Arthurian legend and a lost underworld reminiscent of Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and mix them together to make a thrilling story. Jeter's writing drives the story along all the time, and the choice of first person narrative works perfectly.

There are several places in the book that the story takes an unexpected turn, and that is one of its strengths. Another is Jeter's take on the Arthurian legend, something I really fell for. I'd go so far as to say that this is an essential book for anyone with more than a passing interests in Arthurian legend.

Steampunk fans will also be glad to know that there are quite a few steampuk elements along the way too.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great read. Both as a (sort of) sequel to The Time Machine, and as an original story in itself. I felt that the connection to The Time Machine is almost incidental. It does not suffer if you know nothing of H.G. Wells' novel when you read it.

I don't hesitate to recommend this book, and will leave you with the final of my review notes on the book: Did absolutely not see that end coming!

NOTE: An ARC of this book was supplied to me by the publisher.

Links: K. W. Jeter Angry Robot Books

A NEW BEGINNING

2011-08-23T09:35:00.000+02:00

   You may have noticed that this blog has been in stasis for the last four months. This has mostly been due to my internet being horrible in that period. I tried blogging several times before giving up and waiting for my internet to stabilize. Hopefully it is back to the way it should be now.

   I was planning this to be my first post, followed by a review later today. But as you may already have seen, I felt I just had to write this post as soon as my curiosity led me to find out about something strange with one of this years Hugo winners. I also planned on this post going up yesterday, but lousy internet and the need for sleep delayed it until now.

   Back to what is happening with the blog. I plan to do at least three post a week, at least two of those will be reviews. And it is highly likely that I will do some articles and opinion pieces fairly regularly.
   I don't think you'll notice any huge differences if you used to read the blog before my hiatus. But I will do some reviews outside the SFF genre in the future, and I have already plans for an English language review of a Norwegian book that has not been translated into English yet. And I might do more of those if it's a book that I feel is interesting to people elsewhere in the world.

   Later today will see my first review in a long while posted. (Unless my internet decides to not work again.) I hope you will follow my blog in the future. Any comments and suggestions are welcome by the way :-)

-Ole aka Weirdmage

HUGO SCANDAL: INELIGIBLE DOCTOR WHO EPISODE GETS A HUGO.

2011-08-22T04:27:00.003+02:00

HUGO SCANDAL:

INELIGIBLE DOCTOR WHO EPISODE GETS A HUGO.

So, on Saturday August 20 2011 the Hugo Awards were handed out at the 2011 Worldcon, Renovation, in Reno, Nevada.
Including those honoured was the Doctor Who season 5 finale "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang". There is however a rather big problem with this award, namely the rules of the Hugo awards. I quote Article 3, Section 3, Paragraph 8 (3.3.8):

3.3.8: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Any television program or other production, with a complete running time of 90 minutes or less, in any medium of dramatized science fiction, fantasy or related subjects that has been publicly presented for the first time in its present dramatic form during the previous calendar year.

(This is from 2009, but I assume that if the rules were changed last year they would have had time to get them online. EDIT: I found the 2010 rules, they are linked to further down in the article, they still say the same.)

The important part of 3.3.8 is of course "with a complete running time of 90 minutes or less". According to Doctor Who - The Complete Guide the episodes are 50+55 minutes. It was hard to find something online, but I managed to find out these actual running times: The Pandorica Opens at 48:43 and The Big Bang at 53:14. Making for a total of 101:57, or almost 12 minutes more than the Hugo Award rules allow for. (The running times I quote supposedly includes credits, and a few seconds before and after each episode according to my source. But that does not even come close to 12 minutes.)

So why was I even checking this? I was thinking that a double episode of Doctor Who was longer than an animated movie. And it did not make sense to me that Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon were considered long form when a double episode of Doctor Who was considered short form. I also know that animated movies are frequently as short as 75-80 minutes, so I wanted to see where the Hugo Award rules drew the line. And that line is 90 minutes, as you can see from the excerpt from the rules above.

(For clarification, Toy Story 3 is 103 minutes, and How to Train Your Dragon 98 minutes according to IMDb.)

I find it absolutely incredible if this has passed through the verification test for Hugo Award ineligibility. I thought maybe the rules were changed last year, but there's no rule change according to this. (The link will take you to the 2010 WSFS Constitution, that for some eason is not up on the WSFS website.)

That this has slipped through unnoticed, it is a scandal. And for the Hugos to retain any credibility at all, they should immediately ban the person responsible, at least from serving in any sort of official capacity for the Hugos/Worldcon, preferably from attending for a few years. The same if multiple persons are responsible. This is not something that should happen in even the most amateur organisation, and certainly not to a prestigious Award.

I'm waiting to see what happens now. And I would love to get a comment from anyone associated with the Hugos.

From what I can see the Hugo Award for "Dramatic Presentation, Short Form" has to be changed. And I have no idea how they plan to do that.

Lastly, it seems the real winner in this category is: Doctor Who, season 5, episode 10: Vincent and the Doctor. Unfortunately for the Hugo Awards, this episode has a different director and scriptwriter.

UPDATE: After trying to find out if an exception has been made I found out that there is a rule that would allow this double episode in the short form category:

"3.2.10: The Worldcon Committee may relocate a dramatic presentation work into a more appropriate category if it feels that it is necessary, provided that the length of the work is within twenty percent (20%) of the new category boundary."

I have tried to find evidence online that this rule was used. So far as I was able to ascertain no move from long form to short form was made, and if it was there is no record of it online. (This includes any note on the voting form about it.) And I must assume that my initial findings that the winner is ineligible stands.

REVIEW: DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE GUIDE

2011-04-23T16:41:00.000+02:00

Cover Art and Design: Joe Roberts

DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE GUIDE

MARK CAMPBELL

ISBN: 978-1-84901-587-5

Pages: 252

Publisher: Robinson

Publishing Date: 24 March 2011

On the cover:

From humble beginnings in November 1963, Doctor Who has become a quintessential element of British popular culture. Exploring the adventures of all eleven Doctors; their faithful companions, both living and robotic; a universe of monsters and villains from Helen A to Prisoner Zero, including Daleks and Weeping Angels. With a comprehensive guide to every episode, Mark Campbell puts the show under the microscope with facts, figures and opinions that will entertain long term fans as well as Time Lord fanatics.

This is a brilliant little guide to Doctor Who. I say little, but it does cover every television appearance up to the end of season five. And it also has a list of every CD and book appearance up to 2009. Add to that the list of missing episodes and a reference list that includes both books and the Internet, and you get a pretty comprehensive guide to most things about Doctor Who.

For every TV episode Campbell gives a list of the cast and crew, a(very) brief description of the episode, some observations and finally his own verdict on the episode in question.

I found this to be a great format for this kind of guide. Although every episode gets only a brief mention, it is more than enough for quick reference. And the observations are almost always fascinating, and includes such information as where it was filmed and often information on cut scenes etc.

Campbell includes his own verdict on each of the episodes and adds a score of 1-10. This part is not really necessary, but it works well. But I must say I did not always agree with Campbell, but that is to be expected -it is after all his personal opinion.

As a quick reference guide this works wonderfully. I had already checked out several episodes I saw mentioned when I started reading the whole thing for this review. There is lots of information here, and I'm sure almost anyone will learn something new by reading it.

I also found that if you want a quick overview of what an episode is about this book beats the Internet for speed. -Yes, I tried it.

The lack of any pictures may be a turn off for some, but I don't think it should be. The small format (B-format paperback) makes it very handy to have near by, and the information is excellent.

This book should be present in every Doctor Who fan's library. Whether you have come to the series after the turn of the millennium or you have followed it since the beginning.

NOTE: A copy of this book was supplied to me by the publisher.

Links: Constable & Robinson

COVER DESIGN: HEARTLESS

2011-04-05T22:45:00.000+02:00

COVER DESIGN:

HEARTLESS BY GAIL CARRIGER

I don't usually post about covers on the blog. But I found this one very interesting. And to be fair, I am a fan of Gail Carriger's books too. So here are some thoughts on the cover for Heartless.

This is the cover that was originally revealed:

A good cover, nothing wrong with it. And it fits perfectly with the covers for the other books in the series, Soulless, Changeless and Blameless.

But there were some differences in the final cover, that Gail Carriger revealed on her blog:

Can you spot the differences?

The cover has gotten a bit steampunked with the adding of an antenna and two other devices to the left of the model's head. These replace the two chimneys from the earlier version. And we also have two wolves added at the top of the stairs.

I think the final cover is an improvement. It shows that the book is steampunk, the first cover could be any Victorian novel really - not that it was bad. And the two wolves have significance to Alexia's world.

What do you think of the changes?

For both covers: Model: Donna Ricci, Design: Lauren Panepinto, Photo: Pixie Vixen Productions.

The book will be out July 2011 from Orbit.

REVIEW: INFERNAL DEVICES

2011-04-04T08:01:00.001+02:00

Cover Art: John Coulthart

INFERNAL DEVICES

K. W. JETER

ISBN: 978-0-85766-099-2

Pages: 384

Publisher: Angry Robot Books

Original Publishing Date: 1987

Re-issue Publishing Date: 7 April 2011*

On the cover:

WHEN GEORGE’S FATHER DIED, HE LEFT GEORGE HIS WATCHMAKER SHOP – AND MORE.

But George has little talent for watches and other infernal devices. When someone tries to steal an old device from the premises, George finds himself embroiled in a mystery of time travel, music and sexual intrigue.

   This book is a bit of a peculiar acquaintance. It is written in a style that is distinctly Victorian, and I would not have been surprised if it was originally published in 1897 based only on how it is written.
   It is written in a style that is reminiscent of both Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and to some extent H.P. Lovecraft's tales. We get a protagonist that tells the story himself after everything is over. Not as a diary, but as if he himself was writing this story of what happened.
   And I found this helped a great deal to set the mood, and transport me to the time when the story is set.

   There is absolutely no doubt that this is a steampunk story, the whole story revolves around clockwork creations. But Jeter has not limited himself to just this aspect, there is also a distinctly Lovecraftian(-ish) element here. Both elements are handled very well, and they compliment each other rather than taking attention away from each other.

   Jeter is great at getting the reader going. The narrator's hints at things that for him has happened, but is still to come for the reader, makes you want to read on to find out what has happened. And there are several mysteries introduced early on, and there are more to come.
   The story takes several twists and turns I did not see coming, and you will never quite know which characters will turn out to be friend or foe.
   When there is action, and there is quite a bit of it, it is handled very well. The first person narration puts you in the middle of what is happening and at times this takes you on quite a ride.

   The only problem I had with the book was the ending. It felt a bit rushed, and although it was pretty fulfilling, I felt it lacked a bit compared to the rest of the novel. But that being said, it is by no means so weak as to make the novel anything less than highly enjoyable.
   If you are the least bit interested in steampunk this is certainly a must-read novel. And it is Victorian enough that it should be in the collection of everyone who likes science fiction from that period.

NOTE: An ARC of this book was supplied to me by the publisher.

* 7 April 2011 is the UK and e-book release date. USA and Canada release date is 26 April 2011.

LINKS: K. W. Jeter Angry Robot Books

REVIEW: THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA

2011-03-31T02:03:00.000+02:00

Cover Art: Steve Stone

Cover Design: Jamie S. Warren Youll

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA

BOOK I OF THE GENTLEMEN BASTARD SEQUENCE

SCOTT LYNCH

ISBN: 978-0-553-58894-1

Pages: 719

Publisher: Bantam Spectra

Publishing Date: 1 June 2006

On the cover:

An orphan's life is harsh - and often short - in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentlemen Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld's most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly.

Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game - or die trying...

   I don't know if this is the slowest fantasy book ever written, but it is definitely the slowest one I have ever read.
   The prologue is a great introduction to the the story, but it takes about 300 pages before it gets going. Not only is the main story slow, but Lynch has put interludes between each chapter, and this slows down the pace even further. It doesn't help that these interludes have next to nothing to do with the main story, and seldom add any new information.
   When the main story picks up pace, the interludes continue to interrupt and slow down the flow. The interludes with back story should, in my opinion, have been condensed into a part 1. And the rest of the interludes contain things that are better left for an appendix.

   I've already mentioned the slow pace of the first half of the book. Normally I don't have a problem with an author using time to establish settings and characters, but that is not really what is going on here. We do get a good idea of how the city is by the end of the book, but we never get close to the main character. Locke Lamora is an enigma at the start of the book, and although we get a good insight into how he ticks as the book progresses we never see what makes him tick. This made it pretty hard for me to have any sympathy for him, or even care much about him.

   However, if you manage to get through the first 300-400 pages of the book the action kicks in. And when it does it never really lets up - with the exception of the interludes I mentioned. There is a wonderfully executed build up to the climax of this novel, and it comes to a very satisfying conclusion.
   Lynch's writing is also very good, and is what kept me reading through the novels first half. There is absolutely no doubt that he is a very good writer who has tons of potential. And although the beginning is slow, the latter part of this book made me excited to read more of the story of Lamora. I just hope we get to know him better in the next installment Red Seas Under Red Skies.

   This was a hard review to write, not least because I still have trouble coming to a conclusion that unifies the two halves of this book. The first part is pretty boring, and very slow. The second part is pretty fast paced and interesting. All in all it is a good book, but it is severely let down by its monstrously slow beginning, and that is what keeps it from being a great novel.
   If you can handle the slow beginning, I would however advise you to get the book. There is much to love here. I know I will re-read it when the last book comes, but I think I will read the interludes with back story after the prologue as a part one and save the rest of the interludes until I have finished the main story and see if that helps with the pacing issues.

LINKS: Scott Lynch   Bantam Spectra

REVIEW: EMBEDDED

2011-03-24T13:21:00.001+01:00

Cover Art: Larry Rostant

EMBEDDED

DAN ABNETT

ISBN: 978-0-85766-090-9

Pages: 352

Publisher: Angry Robot Books

Publishing Date: 26 March 2011*

On the cover:

The colony planet of Eighty-Six looks as dull as all its fellow new worlds to veteran journalist Lex Falk, but when a local squabble starts to turn violent, and the media start getting the runaround from the military high command, his interest is seriously piqued.
Forbidden from approaching the battle zone, he gets himself chipped inside the head of a combat veteran – and uncovers the story of a lifetime. When the soldier is killed, however, Falk must use all his resourcefulness to get back home again… and blow the lid off the whole damn thing.

The title of this book tells us much about it, embedded was a phrase I'm sure all of us heard several times during the US led invasion of Iraq. And it is, at a start at least, what this story is about. What happens in the beginning of the book, when journalist Falk comes to planet Eighty-Seven, is a very realistic portrayal of how journalists work. And for me that immediately set a tone of realism for the whole novel. And I wasn't disappointed.

It doesn't take long for the story of war journalism to turn into a more traditional tale of military science fiction, and once it does the action starts. There is plenty of action throughout the story, and Abnett doesn't pull any punches. He describes a bloody and dirty conflict, that owes more to Joe Haldeman's The Forever War than to Star Wars. This is of course a good thing, in my opinion.

I've already mentioned the journalistic angle, and the action, but there is much more to this novel. There is a layer of suspense that runs through it, and it is hard to know where the story will take you. This is a great strength, and something that made it hard for me to put down.

There is also a very serious element in the book that I was afraid would feel preachy. Fortunately Abnett handles this very well, and it adds to the story without feeling intrusive.

Whether your interest lies in planet bound military science fiction, a good war story, or a different twist on war journalism this is a book you should pick up. It's fast, relentless, and has an ending that I at least did not see coming.

NOTE: An ARC of this book was supplied to me by the publisher

* 26 March 2011 is the release of the Forbidden Planet only Hardcover edition. The electronic release is 29 March 2011. UK release 27 April 2011 and USA/Canada release 29 March 2011.

LINKS: Dan Abnett Angry Robot Books

REVIEW: SPELLWRIGHT

2011-03-23T20:52:00.000+01:00

Cover Illustration: Keevil Design

Cover Design: HarperCollinsPublishers

SPELLWRIGHT

BLAKE CHARLTON

ISBN: 978-0-00-733276-2

Pages: 350

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publishing Date: 27 May 2010

On the cover:

Nicodemus Weal has trained at the stronghold of Starhaven since he was a boy. His mentor, the famous wizard Magister Shannon, taught him how to cast spells made from luminescent magical runes, how to peel written words off a page and make them physically real. Initially, Nicodemus showed great promise. Able to forge runes with great speed, he was once thought to be the Halcyon - a powerful spellwright prophesied to prevent the apocalypse known as the disjunction.

There was only one problem: Nicodemus couldn't spell. Every time he touched a magical text, he unintentionally corrupted it, creating a dangerous, potentially deadly misspell. Now aged twenty-five, while his peers advance as wizards, he is still an apprentice, dealing with the devastating knowledge that he has failed to live up to prophecy.

But not everyone interprets prophecy in the same way. There are factions who believe someone like Nicodemus could hold great power - power that might be used as easily for evil as for good. And when two of the wizards closest to Nicodemus are found dead, it becomes clear that some of those factions will stop at nothing to find the apprentice and bend him to their will...

Charlton is quick to get the reader into the story. And he is also quick to introduce a central mystery that is

both interesting and intriguing. The mystery part of the story is presented to us in the first couple of chapters, and while this seems pretty ordinary at first the setting makes it something else entirely.

While the story at times can seem predictable, there are several layers of complexity added as it progresses, and it takes several turns that I didn't expect. It is not an especially long novel, for fantasy, but it contains a lot of action and suspense. One of Charlton's strengths is that he does not overwrite, but lets the story flow without unnecessarily slowing it down.

I love fantasy that has history, a world that has seemingly organically grown, and Charlton presents us with that. It is not done in info dumps, but is trickled out at natural points as the story progresses. By the end of the novel you'll have an idea of the world Nicodemus inhabits that makes it interesting to see what comes next.

Even in the somewhat constricted world of Starhaven we get glimpses into the politics and conflicts of the wider world. Something Charlton does very well. The rivalries between different groups is handled with skill, and adds a lot to the story.

What separates this most from other works of fantasy is the magic system. Charlton has created a language based magic system that at first seems pretty straight forward and simple, but as we learn more it comes apparent that it is very complex.

The magic is also in many ways integrated seamlessly into the story. And not used as a way of getting the characters out of impossible situations as we often see in fantasy. It is great to see magic in fantasy presented in a way that feels fresh and original.

In conclusion, I can say that this is a thoroughly enjoyable and suspense-filled debut from Charlton. It is not a book that is overly taxing to read, and it has a legacy rooted more in the traditional epic fantasy than the "gritty" or "new weird" that seem to be the vogue these days.

I'd recommend this to any fan of fantasy, but especially to those that enjoy a good and complex magic system.

LINKS: Blake Charlton Voyager (UK)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: GENRE FOR JAPAN

2011-03-21T22:15:00.001+01:00

Genre For Japan is an initiative that I wholly support. And I urge everyone else to do the same. Here is the press release with the info you need. Read it, and go take a look at the site:

Press Release: Time to Donate Prizes!

We’ve all heard the news and seen the horrific pictures coming from Japan in the aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami – and no doubt we’ve all wondered how to help.

Following the example of Authors for Japan, where bids are now closed, we’d like to introduce Genre for Japan, a chance for the comics, science fiction, fantasy and horror communities to unite and show our generosity to those who need it right now.

We are planning to run auctions for genre-themed prizes and we need YOU to donate. We are looking for really fantastic prizes: examples might include signed first editions, coaching sessions with agents for that perfect submission letter or original artwork!

Some of the prizes already donated include a year's supply of books from Tor, signed artwork from Solaris Books and editing/critiques from professional authors and editors.
The prizes will be auctioned on our website, through JustGiving, in aid of the British Red Cross Tsunami Appeal.

If you have something really special to donate, please drop us a line at genreforjapan@gmail.com including information such as a starting bid amount, a sentence or two about the item, and whether you wish to send the prize to a central collecting point or would be willing to post it to the winning bidder. Photos would also help us to list the item, if relevant.

The deadline to receive offers of prizes is 25th March, with the auction set to begin on 28th March.

Find out more information on our website: http://genreforjapan.wordpress.com/
Follow us on twitter: @genreforjapan
E-mail us: genreforjapan@gmail.com

Genre for Japan is organised by:
Amanda Rutter: reviewer and webmistress at Floor to Ceiling Books
Jenni Hill: editor for science fiction, fantasy and horror publishers Solaris Books
Louise Morgan: author and interviewer for the British Fantasy Society
Ro Smith: writer and reviewer; blogger at In Search of the Happiness Max
Alasdair Stuart is the editor of Hub magazine.

REVIEW: THE PLAYER OF GAMES

2011-03-18T15:59:00.000+01:00

Cover Image: Getty Images

Cover Design: Blacksheep

THE PLAYER OF GAMES

A CULTURE NOVEL/

CULTURE BOOK TWO

IAIN M. BANKS

ISBN: 978-1-85723-146-5

Pages: 309

Publisher: Orbit

Publishing Date: 1988

On the cover:

The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.

Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

   The central premise of this novel is games, or to be more specific, a game that is complex enough to run an empire. Not the most common of science fiction principles, but a very interesting one.
    Banks is very adept at getting his concept across to the reader. First by introducing us to the game-player Gurgeh and his life. Through Gurgeh we get a very good idea of how the Culture treats games, and what position they have in society. The introduction of a world run by a game is done in such a way that you never get the feeling that Banks is talking about something hypothetical, but instead it feels both plausible and real.

   The story itself is great, it has the plausibility that in my opinion is needed to get immersed in SFF, and it doesn't lack in suspense. Banks manages to keep the info dumping integrated to the story, and it doesn't slow down the narrative.
   It is a rather short book, and is a quick read. That doesn't mean that it lacks complexity. There are many parallels to our world here, and if you feel like it this is a novel that is a great springboard for analysis. Even the descriptions of the Culture's differences to the Empire of Azad serves to highlight that we are in a wholly different world from what we know. But at the same time it is not lacking in references to real-world society.

   There is much to learn about the Culture here. And as this is the second novel Banks has written about the Culture, that is a good thing. He is expanding on his creation too great effect. And the shadow of the much larger world that exists outside the novel is very much present.

   This book is not an action-filled space adventure, but an immersion into a different culture in a future setting. It is a type of social science fiction I thoroughly enjoyed. If you are at all interested in science fiction for more than big guns and spaceships I advise you to read this book, it is one I know I will re-read sometime in the future.

Note: This novel is marked correctly by the publisher as "A Culture Novel". It is not a direct continuation of the events in Consider Phlebas, the novel that preceded it. But it is set in the same universe, and although the two novels are very different, they are part of a series.

Review: Consider Phlebas

Links: Iain M. Banks Orbit

REVIEW: BAG OF BONES

2011-03-16T14:44:00.000+01:00

Cover Illustration: Tom Hallman

Cover Concept: Lisa Litwack

BAG OF BONES

STEPHEN KING

ISBN: 978-0-671-02423-9

Pages: 732

Publisher: Pocket Books

Publishing Date: 22 September 1998

On the cover:

Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here - and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

   This is one of those Stephen King books that you usually won't hear about. And let's face it, most people, even those who like the horror genre, seem to have trouble coming up with titles for King's books that hasn't been filmed.
   I almost never seek out reviews of books by authors I like before buying them. And with this book I started reading it without knowing anything about it. In fact I didn't even read the flap copy (,the "On the cover:" above,) before starting it.

   King doesn't waste time pulling you into this story. By the end of page one, we know that the wife of main character Mike Noonan has died, and by the end of page two we have been told there is something mysterious connected to her death. By this time I was hooked.

   This is one of King's novels where a writer tells us his story, and this time it is done in first person. The choice of first person works very well, King uses it to really get us to know Noonan, and it certainly adds to the suspense that we get inside his head.
   King uses the first seventy or so pages to get us to know Noonan before ratchetting up the tension. For me this worked excellently, when things started to happen I was already invested in Noonan's story. And the set-up part doesn't feel boring or unnecessary.

   The central theme here is a ghost story, and it is this that gives the novel its horror aspects. But there is also much more than that. There is human drama in abundance, all excellently done by King. We get the almost obligatory small-town setting that King is the master of, and a cast of very interesting characters.
   I have trouble thinking of anything that weakens this story, and it is in my opinion worthy of a high placing on the list of good King novels. Whether you like Stephen King, ghost stories or suspenseful human drama this is a book I can heartily recommend.
   If you are a King fan, and have yet to read this, you really should make it a priority in my opinion.

I'll leave you with a great quote from the book (, found on page 102 in the edition I have read for this review):

I like people who read actual books, and not just because I once wrote them myself. Bookreaders are just as willing as anyone else to start out with the weather, but as a general rule they can actually go on from there.

Reviews: The Shining
Four Past Midnight

Links: Stephen King Simon & Schuster (Pocket Books)

REVIEW: VEGAS KNIGHTS

2011-02-28T17:51:00.000+01:00

Cover: Spring London

VEGAS KNIGHTS

MATT FORBECK

ISBN: 978-0-85776-086-2

Pages: 368

Publisher: Angry Robot Books

Publishing date: 3 March 2011*

On the cover:

It’s a kind of magic...

When two college students decide to spend Spring Break using their magic to fleece the casinos of Las Vegas, little do they imagine that the city harbours some magical secrets of its own... And of course what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas – alive or dead.

   As you perhaps can see from the cover image, this book has been called "Ocean's Eleven meets Harry Potter". I don't disagree much with that assessment, and it is certainly a good description of the basics of the story for anyone not well versed in the genre.
   But I would rather describe it as Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic meets Las Vegas meets [good] Hollywood Action-Thriller.

At first this seems to be a pretty standard story of two friends going to break the bank in Vegas, with the only added ingredient being the use of real magic. But it doesn't take long before you realize this novel is much more than that.

    Forbeck quickly pulls you into the story, I was hooked by the end of the first chapter. It doesn't take long before you realize there is quite a complex back story here, and it is one that is revealed over the course of the novel. Something that works very well. You always feel that there is more to be revealed, and that makes this a book that is hard to put down once you have started it.
It is a fast-paced story, there is lots of action and that is why I used Hollywood action-thriller as a description at the beginning of this review. But it doesn't feel like the action is placed there just to "up the ante", it is an integral part of the whole.

   Another strength of this novel is that Forbeck is very good at adding that little magical twist to our world that signifies good Urban Fantasy. Everything is slightly different from the reality we know, but never so much that it becomes too implausible. A couple of the revelations were of the kind that made perfect sense, and I actually wouldn't be too surprised if it really was the way Forbeck tells it in this book.

   The characters in this book are interesting, especially the main character. And even those that same pretty typical have something fresh about them. I enjoyed following Jackson and Bill's journey through this version of Vegas, and I wouldn't mind following them to other places in the future.

   Overall this is a fresh and suspenseful Urban Fantasy novel. It is great entertainment, and if you have a taste for fantasy in a contemporary setting this is definitely worth checking out.
   This will also make a great read for anyone interested in stage-magic, Las Vegas, and casino card games.

NOTE: An ARC of this book was supplied to me by the publisher.

*Release date 3 March 2011 is for UK and electronic editions. (Although it should be up on the UK Kindle store now.) Release in USA and Canada is 29 March 2011.

LINKS: Matt Forbeck Angry Robot Books

REVIEW: GARDENS OF THE MOON

2011-02-27T23:41:00.001+01:00

Cover Illustration: Steve Stone

GARDENS OF THE MOON

THE FIRST TALE OF THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN

STEVEN ERIKSON

ISBN: 978-0-593-06506-8

Pages: 516

Publisher: Bantam Press

Publishing date: 1 April 1999

On the cover:

Bled dry by decades of warfare, infighting and bloody clashes with Anomader Rake, Lord of Moon's Spawn, and the mysterious Tiste Andii, the Malazan Empire simmers with discontent. Even the Imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearns for some respite. Yet the Empress Laseen's rule - enforced by her feared assassins, the Claw - remains absolute.

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the Siege of Pale should have been a time to help the still-living to mourn the many dead. but the Empress has other ideas. Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out against her and it is towards this ancient and noble bastion of independence that she turns her predatory gaze.

However the Empire is not alone in this great game. Other sinister, shadow-bound players are poised to make their first moves - as Captain Ganoes Paran, aide to the Empress' Adjunct, is about to discover. For he has been chosen for an altogether higher purpose - as a harbinger of the gods themselves...

The first thing that I really noticed about this novel, was how much is going on. There are multiple locations, a huge cast of characters, and several points of view. I didn't have a problem with all the characters or the many point of views, I've read quite a bit of Harry Turtledove and is used to that from there.

But I have to say I was very glad that I have a habit of taking notes when I read books for review. It really came in handy here, and I would actually advise anyone who is going to read it for the first time to write down a sentence or two from time to time to keep track of everything.

This is fantasy on a truly epic scale. I had been warned about this, and Erikson mentions it in his foreword, but at 516 pages it didn't look daunting at all. That is purely an illusion.

Erikson doesn't really waste anytime at all. By the end of chapter two (page 69) it is clear that there is a vast amount going on. There is plenty of action throughout, but Erikson also finds room for massive amounts of information about the world.

The worldbuilding here is very well done. You get a constant trickle of information about both the present day, and the history of the world. There is so much information that you feel that this is a world that has grown over thousands of years, something I really appreciated as I'm a bit of a history geek.

Fortunately there aren't really any info-dumps as such here. I never felt that what was told of the background to what is happening was forced into the story. It has the feel of being given naturally by the characters when they tell it. And I found that to be a great strength in this book.

As for the story, I really enjoyed it. It is rather complex, there is just so much happening that it is easy to loose track if you don't give it your full attention. I like books that are like that, so I enjoyed immersing myself in Erikson's world.

It is a very rich story, with characters that you feel you get close too. And the fact that the characters themselves have to discover what is going on, makes it feel like you are taking the journey with them instead of just following them.

There are very few times in this story when there is not something happening somewhere. And in these few quiet periods Erikson gives out bits of information that drives the story along. It never feels like there are any times where you are reading padding material.

The suspense level is kept pretty high at all times, and it can actually feel a bit daunting at times that every answer gives you at least one new question. But it really pays off.

What more can I say? I really loved this book. And as I write this I'm about 100 pages into Deadhouse Gates even though I had planned to write this review before starting to read it; I just couldn't wait.

This is excellent epic fantasy, and I don't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who likes secondary world fantasy. Be advised though; this is not a light read. It demands you invest in it, but it gives so much back in return that it is very much worth it.

Review: Solaris Book of New Fantasy -Contains a non-Malazan short story by Erikson.

LINKS: Steven Erikson Bantam Press/Transworld Books

REVIEW: THE EYE OF THE WORLD

2011-02-26T18:49:00.000+01:00

Cover Art: Darrell K. Sweet

THE EYE OF THE WORLD

THE WHEEL OF TIME BOOK 1

ROBERT JORDAN

ISBN: 978-0-8125-1181-9

Pages: 782

Publisher: Tor

Publishing date: 15 January 1990

On the cover:

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go. What was, what will be, what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

NOTE: As you can read here this is the first time I've read this book. And I have not been following the series at all, so I basically know nothing about what comes later. So this review is written in the same way it would be if it was the only Wheel of Time book in existence.

   Let's begin with the obvious, Jordan steals/borrows heavily from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Not just the formula, but characters, locations, monsters and events are more or less carbon-copies from TLoTR.
   I don't mind the occasional nod to other works, but here it is not so much nods as a barrage of headbutts. It was in fact so much of it, that I found it really annoying. Especially since this has been done before by Terry Brooks in The Sword of Shannara (1977) and Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman in The Dragonlance Chronicles (1984/1985). There's also one character that has some striking similarities to a character from Stephen Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (First and Second Chronicles 1977-1983, sorry I don't remember which book).
   So the level of originality in this book is pretty low. So if you expect that, this is certainly not the book for you. -But let's move on.

   The worldbuilding seems a bit lacking. There's several things that just don't seem to add up in the kingdom that most of Eye of the World is set in. What I reacted to most, was the political side of things.
   There's a sect that opposes the queen. Yet they have much more power in the capital, where there are plenty of "Queen's guards", and next to no power in the outlaying districts of the kingdom where the queen has no presence that we hear about. Add to that the fact that these outlaying districts is far closer to the power-base of the sect, it made little sense to me. And it totally lacks any explanation in the story.
   It seems that there is not much real worldbuilding at all, and that the world is just thrown together to fit with what is needed for the plot. Making it inconsistent, and neither believable nor logical to me.

   There's nothing wrong with the story itself, although it is a "light" fantasy done after a formula. Jordan has embraced the tendency of epic fantasy to go into descriptive mode. Unfortunately he does this way too much, and inconsistently. There were lots of detailed descriptions of what I found to be uninteresting things. But when it came to some of the cities, where a description could have added to the understanding of culture and thereby the worldbuilding, he chooses to give only a fleeting description. Something that was disappointing to me.

   The pacing of the book was rather slow. The endless description dragged it down, and there is really not a lot happening. There were several times when the book picked up the pace, but these ended quickly, and it was back to the plodding along.
   Overall the book gave you the feeling of being stuck in traffic. Every time it started moving forward a bit, and I got hopeful that things were going forward, it clogged up again and ground to a halt.

   There are several other things that I think is wrong with this book that I could mention, but there is no real reason for me to go on.
   I wouldn't really recommend this book if you want to read epic fantasy, there are lots of books out there that are much better. But if you loved The Lord of the Rings, and miss fantasy that evokes memories of it, this would be a perfect book for you.

See also Malazan Book of the Fallen vs The Wheel of Time

LINKS: Dragonmount (Wheel of Time community) Tor Books

AMAZON'S HIDDEN EXTRA CHARGES: DOES AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS GET A CUT?

2011-02-08T07:18:00.000+01:00

INTRODUCTION

On January 28th this year I got a newsletter e-mail from HarperCollins Book Blast, informing me that a free Septimus Heap book was available, in formats including Kindle.

I'm not a huge fan of e-books, but this is a book I've seen in Norwegian translation in the bookstores here. So I wanted to take a look. I downloaded Kindle for PC, and clicked on the e-mail link. What happened next surprised me:

Amazon.com wanted to charge me $2 for the book whose buy page listed the book's title as "Septimus Heap, book one: Magyk Free With Bonus Material".

This got me curious, so I started to investigate.

AMAZON.COM'S HIDDEN INTERNATIONAL CHARGES

After encountering what I related above, I started checking out Amazon.com. (NOTE: In Norway you get directed to Amazon.com for Kindle purchases.) It turns out that Amazon charges an extra $2 for many of its Kindle books, but not all. However searching for Kindle books, with lowest price first, shows up no books under $2. But I have found other books as low as $0.99, this could be a glitch based on other findings I have made.

When I first looked at this on January 28th, most books on Amazon's official list changed price. This has been rectified, and they now show up with a $2 higher price. A reason I stated above that the books who doesn't get the $2 price raise could be a glitch.

I asked a US blogger I know to check the price of A Game of Thrones on the Kindle some hours ago, the answer was $5.00. Here's the image I got on my buy page here in Norway:

And it even says that it "includes free international delivery". (Amazon Whispernet looks to be another name for the internet as far as looking at Amazon tells me.)

I tried to get an answer to this on Amazon's forums. I could find no answer to it from anyone officially affiliated with Amazon. Several international Kindle users reported price hikes in the $0.99-$3.20 range, even on free Kindle books. And the same users had bought the Kindle with free delivery stated. Someone even on the day before their forum post.

American forum users blamed this on European governments. Answering this, several posts from Europeans stated that VAT was a percentage, not a flat fee, and that however many percent of 0 = 0. (Some of the posts pointing out it could not be VAT were flagged as "Does not add to the discussion"...)

I checked Norwegian VAT laws. They were a bit difficult to sort through as I don't speak legalese, but there is no VAT for imports under 200 NOK (Norwegian Kroner) to Norway. (At 06.10 February 8, this is $34.65.)

And I would think that Amazon would tell me if I was paying any charges they have no control over.

PRICING EXAMPLES

I wanted some concrete examples from today, so I found a user list on Amazon that had different prices than the buy page. Prices on the list have been updated, I assume automatically, since it was written. Many books are priced above the "Free to $2.99" the list is said to cover. However, as opposed to the above example with A Game of Thrones, this list has not been updated with the automatic $2 hidden charge.

I asked author John Locke, on twitter, if I could use his books as a pricing example. He said yes, and here is what the list above shows:

This is what the buy page shows:

This is the $2 hidden price raise for buying in Norway I have been talking about.

DOES AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS GET A CUT?

So to the question in this blog post's headline: Does authors and publishers get a cut?

This to me is the interesting question. Where do the extra $2 go? It doesn't actually matter to me personally. I'm only going to download free e-books to my Kindle for PC. But since there is absolutely no mention of it on Amazon, that I managed to find, I started to wonder. I could have asked John Locke, but I wanted to write this blog post based on what an average customer could be expected to find out.

It is very interesting if Amazon alone pockets the extra $2. For John Locke it means that international Kindle sales, of at least some of his books, should have given him three times as much money.

For a publisher we could potentially be talking huge sums if they are not aware of this. And if they are not, Amazon could be in some trouble.

There is of course a chance that both authors and publishers are aware of this, and get their cut of the extra money. Something I don't have a big issue with. But it means that free books for Kindle is not something an international customer can see as an argument for buying the Kindle. (NOTE: Gutenberg.org does have Kindle editions of their free books. But most of these are out of copyright books.)

It seems at best very immoral to me that international customers have to pay an extra charge that is, judging from Amazon's own forums, not defined. And not in any way made public knowledge.

I would love for authors and publishers to comment on whether they were aware of the hidden $2 charge. And also to give their reactions to it.

I would of course also welcome comments from international Kindle customers about their experience with this, and what they think of it. And I would like to hear from American, and other Kindle customers with regional Amazon shops too.

NOTE: I have other examples. But felt it was enough with those I have used.

REVIEW: KRAKEN

2011-02-02T11:23:00.000+01:00

Cover Photo: Elisa Lazo Valdez/Arcangel Images

KRAKEN

CHINA MIÉVILLE

ISBN: 978-0-333-98951-7

Pages: 481

Publisher: Macmillan

Publishing Date: 7 May 2010

On the cover:

Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears?

For curator Billy Harrow it's the start of a headlong pitch into a London of warring cults, surreal magic, apostates and assassins. It might just be that the creature he's been preserving is more than a biological rarity: there are those who are sure it's a god.

A god that someone is hoping will end the world.

   This is urban fantasy. Or to be specific, what urban fantasy was during the nineties, before it somehow got usurped to define something that even its fans have problems differentiating from paranormal romance.

   Miéville does cities very well, and he does the London of this story excellently. The world building is great, this London seems alive and breathing, and it is well realized enough that it doesn't take much suspension of disbelief to see that it could be this way.
   There are a lot of religious cults in this book, and some readers may find that these are a bit of a stretch. But you don't actually have to plow too deep into the myriad of religions that exist today to find out that they are entirely plausible. Some of them are even pretty close to what is out there in our world.
   The organizations that Miéville populates his London with are also well within the reasonable. I especially liked the FSRC, and have no problem seeing that such a unit could exist even in our world.

   The book begins with events that seem normal enough, but the strangeness start before the first chapter is finished. And from there on its a journey into a weird and slightly askew London that is well worth a visit.

   We also quickly get to know most of the principal characters, and they are for the most part excellent company throughout the story.
   There was one exception from this for me , Marge. She seems to be far to normal to take things in her stride the way she does. And this grated on me for parts of the book.
   I also found Billy Harrow a bit to diffuse at times, he seems to both deny what is happening, and be fine with everything at different parts of the story. And I felt the switch in his character to more active towards the end of the story was more of a plot necessity than natural progression of him as a character.
   These are however minor points, the setting and characters serve the story well. And Miéville does both of these parts of the novel expertly.

   So to what I found as a strength in The City & The City (review here), the prose, and Miéville's use of it.
   It just does not work here. Technically it is excellent, as always with Miéville, but it does not serve the story, rather it detracts from it. At times it seems as the author uses his grasp of the English language to confuse the reader, and make it harder for him/her to understand what is going on.
   Several times there are long and unnecessary complicated passages that slows down the action. And this got on my nerve several times, and it really made it hard for me to keep reading at times. That these long passages are largely absent when there is more happening, and never really adds anything to the story, also made them feel a bit like padding.

   Miéville's tendency to write literary fiction prose just doesn't fit with keeping a reader present in a fantasy setting, in my opinion. His obfuscating prose style really did this story a disservice. And I found myself wishing, at several points, that he had written this in the same style as Un Lun Dun, and saved his obvious literary fiction aspirations to when he is actually writing a literary fiction novel.

    I have to say that I was actually pleasantly surprised with how good this story was after my experience with The City & the City, but at the same time I felt that Miéville has come full circle, and is now back where he was in Perdido Street Station. I am hoping that his next book will be as good as The Scar, my favourite book of his so far.

   If you are a fan of the urban fantasy that is represented by books like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, you should find this an excellent read.
   And if you happen to be a fan of the UF wing of urban fantasy, I urge you to read this, and see what we who read urban fantasy in the 1990s think about when we hear the name.

Reviews: The City & the City

LINKS: China Miéville Macmillan

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN FEBRUARY

2011-02-01T09:55:00.000+01:00

My birthday is on the 20th of February.

REVIEW: BRASYL

2011-01-31T16:05:00.003+01:00

Cover Illustration: Dominic Harman/Arena

Cover Design: Sue Michniewicz

BRASYL

IAN McDONALD

ISBN: 978-0-575-08288-5

Pages: 411

Publisher: Gollancz

Publishing Date: 28 August 2008

On the cover:

Sao Paulo, 2032

A city with a neon heart. A city of countless millions. A city of breathtaking wealth and life-stealing poverty. A city watched over by angels. Constant surveillance, the tracking of your every move, the ebb and flow of your money, of your life. A city where a thief could step out of the favelas and find himself trapped in the bewildering, lethal world of illegal quantum computing.

Rio de Janeiro, 2006

A city that lives on reality TV. A city of watchers and watched. A city where an ambitious TV produces could find her next big hit and lose her life. And her soul.

Brazil, 1732

A country of Eden-like beauty. A country of gold and death. A country of madness and religion. A country where a Jesuit Father sent to find a rogue priest will find faith and reality taken to breaking point.

This is a novel that contains three seemingly unconnected storylines. That however is not in any way a disadvantage here. We get three great stories, all showcasing the exotic country of Brazil.

Setting the stories in different timelines may seem strange, and it does seem that the 1732 storyline can have nothing to do with the two others. This is not something that bothered me.

   McDonald quickly introduces us to the settings his characters live in, and who they are. It doesn't take many pages before you get a good insight into what makes the main characters tick.
   That both the settings and the characters are so different, works as a strength. It does to a certain degree interrupt the flow of the story, it never becomes irritating or off-putting. Actually I felt that it made the book feel fresh and interesting throughout.

   The central theme here is quantum, or more specifically quantum computers. Fortunately McDonald doesn't go into so much detail about quantum that it gets confusing. He rather uses it to back up a very interesting arc-plot.
    When the three storylines finally merges, it is both a revelation, and very satisfying. And it is done in a way that feels seamless, without being too obvious before it happens.

    I really enjoyed both the philosophical and science fiction elements of this novel. McDonald handles all three time-periods with equal deftness. And nothing is neglected in favour of the others.
   This is near-future science fiction at its best, and I would urge any science fiction fan to search out this book. And it is highly recommended for those with an interest in non-Western cultures too.
   Ian McDonald has rapidly become my favourite author for earth bound science fiction.

Ian McDonald's previous book River of Gods is reviewed here.

LINKS: Ian McDonald Gollancz

SUNDAY RANT: AMAZON PROPAGANDA AND BAD JOURNALISM

2011-01-30T14:09:00.001+01:00

SUNDAY RANT

Sunday Rant will be a new semi-regular feature on the blog. Where I give my opinions on some of the things that has either happened in the week that passed, or just generally is something I want to talk about.

AMAZON PROPAGANDA AND BAD JOURNALISM

I'm going to start with a little bit about myself, that will give you some background for why I feel passionately about this subject. My father has been a journalist since before I was born, and he still is one. All my life I have been around journalists, and I have several journalist friends.

This means that I have some insight into how journalists work, both for good and bad. It's always more fascinating for me to look behind the headlines to see what they don't write.

I will elaborate in the comments if anyone wishes me to, but now on with this article.

This week have seen a press release from Amazon that has gotten quite a lot of attention. The main focus has of course been on the claim that Amazon now sells more Kindle books than paper books. I quote:

Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. Since the beginning of the year, for every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the Company has sold 115 Kindle books. Additionally, during this same time period the Company has sold three times as many Kindle books as hardcover books. This is across Amazon.com's entire U.S. book business and includes sales of books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the numbers even higher.

   Looks rather good doesn't it? But let's take a closer look at this statement:

   Firstly Amazon does not in any way back up its claim. They show absolutely no sales figures, and without any way of independently verify what they say, this is just a PR statement. The figures may very well be accurate, but I'm not just going to take a commercial business' word for it.

   Did you also notice the emphasis on some facts, while some where left out entirely?
   Amazon goes out of its way to tell us that this;
"[...]includes sales of books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the numbers even higher"
   What they, of course, make no mention of is that these figures certainly include books that are only available on Kindle. Which if you ask me is a pretty significant point, and one I think any good journalist writing about this should have brought up.
   This leaves me with the question why Amazon don't publish a comparison of sales between books that are available both as paper books from a (non self-publishing) publisher and on the Kindle.
   I don't think I'm stretching it when I say they would have IF those books sold better on Kindle than in paper. Let's face it, why would they hide something like that?

NOTE: A quick check of the Science Fiction and Fantasy bestseller list on amazon.com shows that 13 of the top 20 books (at 12.55 CET.) are Kindle editions costing $5.00 and under. Of these five are kindle only, and four are available in print only as self-published books costing $11.16 to $19.99 in paperback. (Interestingly, Amazon charges $2 extra on Kindle books under $5 if I want them here in Norway.)

   I think all of the points I've made above are valid questions, and it pisses me off that the media has not made them, but instead just repeated Amazon's PR-statement/propaganda.
   Fortunately there are some media reports of Amazon that are a bit more critical:

   This article from the NYTimes reports that Amazon's profit margin fell from 5% in the fourth quarter of 2009, to 3.7% in the forth quarter of 2010. And that this has made their stock fall 9.2%.
   Something I was not able to see easily (, in fact at all,) in Amazon's statement. This has as far as I know not been widely reported, and certainly not by the Kindle fans. Some of whom I saw calling Wall Street insane, or words to that effect, because the stock fell when Amazon published such good news.
   I'm no financial expert, but a 26% drop (,if I understand this correctly,) in the profit margin, sounds bad to me. And a 3.7% profit margin seems slim, even when we are talking about huge sums of money.

   A good example of bad journalism when it comes to Amazon, and Kindle in particular, is the headline to this article from The Bookseller.com, published the day before Amazon's statement.
   The headline says: "Kindle sales reaching 80% of physical sales, DBW told". However if you actually take time to read the article, this is the original statement: "Grandinetti said it was “not uncommon” for Kindle sales “to be 20-30-40-50-80% of a BookScan number” in 2010."
   Not exactly the same, but I bet it is the headline that people remember.

   The same article also mentions a interesting fact, that in my opinion would make a better headline: "[...]James Patterson's Jack and Jill pre-and-post agency pricing. He said: "There was a 48% drop in units with the $2 increase in price."
   This was interesting to me. Is this a sign that e-books can not sustain sales levels if they have to be priced in a way that includes pre-"printing" production costs? As it is now, e-books are a bi-product of paper books, and are getting a piggyback ride on the editorial costs of the hardcover release, as I see it. Mind you, this is something I believe, not something I know. I would very much like to see a working journalist take up this point, research it, and publish an article about it.

   I have seen several cases over the past year where journalists seemingly print Amazon's press statements and unverified numbers as fact. That is not journalism, that is PR, and usually you have to pay someone to do it for you. I'd like to see much more critical journalism when it comes to Amazon specifically , and e-books in general. I will certainly keep trying to look behind every headline I see on the subject until journalists start doing journalism.

   So what do you think about what I've said? The comments are open.

REVIEW: THE SOLARIS BOOK OF NEW FANTASY

2011-01-29T11:59:00.026+01:00

Cover Art: Jon Sullivan

THE SOLARIS BOOK OF NEW FANTASY
EDITED BY
GEORGE MANN

ISBN: 978-1-84416-523-0
Published by: Solaris
Publishing date: 3 December 2007

This is the first time I have reviewed a short story anthology, and I have decided to write a little bit about each story, and finish off with my overall impression. I would very much like your opinion on reviewing it this way. Should I continue doing it this way in the future? Or should I do it as it is usually done, with a review of the book as a whole and only mentioning the weakest and strongest stories?

I would appreciate you giving your opinion in the comments.

WHO SLAYS THE GIANT, WOUNDS THE BEAST by Mark Chadbourn

A story of Christmas eve in an England at war with the Faerie.

Chadbourn manages to convey quite a lot about the larger world in this short story. You get a feel that there is much more that could be told here, without that distracting or detracting from what is being told. The story itself is a well executed tale of suspense, and love.

REINS OF DESTINY - A WARS OF LIGHT & SHADOWS STORY by Janny Wurts

Wurts' story doesn't stand to well alone. I've never read anything of hers before, and I felt this was more of an excerpt than a stand alone. But as an excerpt it functions well. It gives a glimpse into a much larger story that seems interesting. There's a real possibility that I will pick up Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow books in the future after reading this short story.

TORNADO OF SPARKS by James Maxey

A very nice little story of dragons. At first glance it may seem like many other fantasy stories, and the themes of it are not new, but Maxey manages to give it some good twists that sets it above its common Fantasy tropes. Well worth a read.

GRANDER THAN THE SEA by T. A. Pratt

A good little contemporary fantasy about a town. Pratt manages to give us a good deal of information in a limited space, and the setting seems fully realized. The story in itself is also a fun take on the stories about weird religious groups and their gods. Pratt also manages to put in a sweet little love story.

THE PRINCE OF END TIMES by Hal Duncan

A very complex story, at least when it comes to language and structure. Duncan does it very well, but having only read it once, I feel a bit too distanced from the story by the complex prose. This definitely needs a re-read to really get a grip on it.

KING TALES by Jeff VanderMeer

The title is certainly accurate. VanderMeer has managed to tell three complete tales in a few pages. All of them are in the traditional fairy tale style, and they are all very good. These absolutely needs to be read.

IN BETWEEN DREAMS by Christopher Barzac

An interesting story about a woman in Tokyo. It's done well, and I didn't see where it was going before it had taken me there. That being said, it is barely fantasy. And what little there is of fantasy elements here is in my opinion not really necessary for the story to work. But I still really enjoyed it, and it is well worth the read.

AND SUCH SMALL DEER by Chris Roberson

This is a strange story. Not so much for what it is about, but it is a prequel story to two well known characters in fantastic literature. I found this to be a very interesting tale, and Roberson has presented it in a way that suits the story and the literary legacy of the characters perfectly.

THE WIZARD'S COMING by Juliet E. McKenna

I thought a story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It's debatable if this is a beginning or a middle, it certainly does not have an end. To me this felt like either a prologue or the first chapter of book two of a trilogy/series. This is a shame since McKenna's writing is very good, and despite its shortcomings this made me want to read more of her work. I just did not get why this was chosen to represent her in a short story anthology.

SHELL GAME - A JOHN JUSTIN MALLORY STORY by Mike Resnick

This is a pretty standard detective story, except for a few minor details. It's humorous and it's Urban Fantasy. Resnick has written a funny little story, and I liked it very much. I'll also be on the lookout for stories with the same main character, because this is a sort of story I would like to read more of.

THE SONG HER HEART SANG - A STORY OF THERA by Steven Savile

A combination of romance and quest fantasy. Maybe not the most original combination in the world, but Savile has managed to draw in some very thoughtful observations on the fact that you should be careful what you wish for, into the mix. A very nice story, with just enough sugary sweetness.

A MAN FALLS by Jay Lake

A story with a very good, and interesting, central concept. There is much to love here, in fact too much. This deserves much more than the short story it is crammed into. It doesn't help that the ending is both a bit weak, and very unfulfilling.

O CARITAS by Conrad Williams

Set in a post-apocalyptic London devastated by an earthquake. This is a strange story, that seemingly shifts focus at one point. Williams pulls together an ending that is both chilling and surprising.

LT. PRIVET'S LOVE SONG by Scott Thomas

Thomas has written what at first seems like a traditional love story. But it has a twist that turns it in another direction, and makes it much more than that. A very satisfying tale that manages to encompass both personal events and some greater events.

SHINANDAGA by Lucius Shepard

This story is very much of the lit fic type. And the fantastical elements, that make it fit into this anthology, are more ones of surrealism than fantasy in my opinion. But that does not mean I didn't like it. Shepard has written a great weird story.

QUASHIE TRAP BLACKLIGHT by Steven Erikson

A humorous story that is a bit hard to follow. Not only because there are multiple points of view, but because it is decidedly insane. It is a bit difficult to know if this tale should be credited to a great imagination or a good "medicine cabinet".

SUMMARY

Usually with anthologies like this I find about half the stories to be good, a quarter very good/great, and the final quarter meh/bad. This is not the case here. I've read quite a few anthologies over the years, and I would say that this is without a doubt one of the top fantasy ones, maybe even the best. I think every fan of fantasy should have this book in their collection. And it can also serve as a great introduction to anyone who has not read fantasy before. Get one for yourself, and one for a friend who doesn't "get" fantasy.

LINK: George Mann Solaris

Note: I was going to label all the authors, but Blogger only allows 200 characters in the labels. So for the sake of fairness I chose to label none of them.

REVIEW: 2001: A SPACE ODDYSEY

2011-01-27T22:27:00.000+01:00

[No cover information available.]

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

ARTHUR C. CLARKE

ISBN: 978-0-451-45799-4

Pages: 296

Publisher: Roc

Publishing date: 1 July 1968

On the cover:

[No flap copy on this edition.]

Many would argue that this is a tie-in novel for the film by Stanley Kubrick. And you could be excused for classifying it as that, but it is not that easy. According to Clarke's foreword, it is more of a parallel work, that mostly was the basis for the script to the movie. But he also admits that there was some inspiration flowing from the script to the book.

It is also said that the movie, and that would mean this novel to, is based on Clarke's short story The Sentinel, Clarke explains in the foreword that this is not true. This novel is in fact an expansion of that story, that also includes material from another of Clarke's short stories, but is mostly made up of original material.

   As you can see from the above, if you have seen the movie this won't be a new story. But there are several subtle differences between Kubrick's movie and Clarke's book. In fact part of the plot are planets apart.

   Clarke reveals much that is not in the movie too. He uses the medium of the novel to give us thoughts and ideas that would not have worked on the screen. And the book is much better for doing that, instead of being a rehashing of the movie.
   This is a much more metaphysical tale than the hippy-trip that the movie is. And that is a part of the novel where Clarke excels in my opinion.

   Clarke has been credited with inventing the idea of satellites, but his predictive powers are much greater here. At one point a main character is reading papers on a "newspad", pretty stunning for something written in the sixties.
   It must be said that some of the astronomy of the book has dated rather badly. Modern probes has given us much that Clarke could not predict, but I didn't feel as if this was a problem, but rather an interesting insight into astronomy over 40 years ago. It was also very interesting to see Clarke's thoughts on future space exploration.

    I think reading this book is a must if you liked the movie. And if you are not familiar with the movie, this is still a very good near future Science Fiction novel that I don't hesitate to recommend.

    I will leave you with a quote from page 64 of the book:

   "There was another thought which a scanning of those electronic headlines often invoked. The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be."

LINKS: Ace/Roc (Penguin)

MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN VS THE WHEEL OF TIME

2011-01-25T09:35:00.000+01:00

MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN VERSUS THE WHEEL OF TIME

I'll start by confessing I've not read either of these books before. I've read the New Spring novella in Legends (Edited by Robert Silverberg) but that is it as far as these two series go.

I now plan to do something about that. The two books whose covers you see above are now next to me, and in the next two weeks (I'm giving myself plenty of time to read a book or two in between them.) I will read them both.

I usually prefer to read series, or trilogies, when they are finished. And since both of these will be finished this year, it's time for me to start on them.

The problem I have is that for budgetary reasons, I will not be able to buy both these series at once. And I don't want to commit to reading two such long series in one year, even though I am aware of that there is plenty of time to read the Malazan Book of the Fallen series before the final volume in The Wheel of Time is out. I also have plenty of other books I want to buy, so for this year I'll buy and read one series. And that is where you as a reader of this blog comes in:

Both of these series has a huge number of fans, and I want you to share your opinions on the two series with me. I especially want to know if the first book is representative for the series as a whole, or if there are things happening later in the series that makes it better.

I am after what you think is positive about these series, not why you think one is "crap" compared to the other. Please be civil if you choose to comment. I'll leave the comments unmoderated for now, but I may change that later.

Two weeks from now, Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th of February, I will review these books, and on Wednesday the 9th of February I will do a follow up post on what series I have decided to purchase first. Based on what I think of the two books and your comments.

So please leave a comment on which series you think is the best, and what makes it so. I will appreciate your input.

REVIEW: WOLFSANGEL

2011-01-21T10:35:00.000+01:00

Cover Illustration: Paul Young

Cover Design: Patrick Knowles

WOLFSANGEL

BY
M. D. LACHLAN

ISBN: 978-0-575-08957-0
Pages: 438
Publisher: Gollancz
Publishing Date: 20 May 2010

On the cover:

The creature looked at his body and it seemed to him a very fine thing. His hands were strong and large and his muscles were wound to his bones like tree roots around rock. His teeth felt like shining knives in his head.

A story of Vikings and mad gods, a story about hunger - for love, for life and for death.

The Viking King Authun leads his men on a raid against an Anglo-Saxon village. A prophecy has told him that the Saxons have stolen a child from the Gods. If Authun, in turn, takes the child and raises him as an heir, the child will lead his people to glory.
But Authun discovers not one child, but twin baby boys.

Authun takes the children and their mother home, back to the witches who live on the troll wall. And seals all their fates.

One child will hunt a wolf, the other will become a wolf.

Both will become rivals in love. And both are tied into the schemes of a witch queen and a dead god; Odin, lord of the hanged.

Let us start with getting one thing out of the way, I am Norwegian. And you get kind of wary of people stepping in and using your cultural heritage when you come from a small region like the Nordic, or Norse, one. To give you an example, there was some jealousy in Norway when the Disney film Hercules was announced, we have just as rich a pantheon of gods. But once the film was released, and the Greeks started complaining, people sighed in relief that we hadn't been Disneyfied. -This is what a foreigner who wants to use Norse legends and sagas as inspiration has to tackle. (To be fair, there is still lots of Viking blood in the British Isles.)

There's no slow start to this book. Chapter one has plenty of action, and throws you straight into the story. But although this book has plenty of action, that is not what is its real strength. What Lachlan does best is take you under the skin of the characters.
   With few central characters he has time to let us really get to know them, and as the story progresses you get pretty intimate with the lead players. There were times where I really empathized with the characters in a way that few books make me do.

    There's quite a bit of magic in the book. Thankfully Lachlan has stayed close to the shamanistic nature of Norse magic instead of using a AD&D based system. The magic here is very much a part of the story, and it is well integrated, and a Viking of the period would have no problem recognizing it.
    Lachlan also integrates the other paranormal elements seamlessly into his story. And when gods are involved you get a bit of the paranormal.

    The lack of the huge overt treat, that is the mainstay of much fantasy, does make the pace seem deceptively slow. But there is a lot going on, and there is no down-time to get you bored. The story has an inner drive that captures you, and keeps you reading.
    While Lachlan gives us much information in the first sixty or so pages, he holds back a lot for the reader to discover later. The story has many twists and turns, and at times it will have you fooled as to what is going on. It draws to a satisfying conclusion, but promises there is more to come. And if you are like me, you will want to read more of this saga

   Lets go back a bit, to where I started this review. Did Lachlan manage to stay true to the original Norse Sagas? -I think he did, in more ways than one. Not only has he gotten the feel of the sagas almost perfect, but he has stayed true to the Norse myths.
    There is no doubt that Lachlan has done his research for this novel. -To be honest, I got to say that I know he's been to Norway before writing it. He has also obviously done extensive research on the historical period, what is known as the Viking Age [Vikingtiden] here in Norway.
Lachlan has managed to combine the sagas with fantasy and horror, and pulled off a magnificent novel. I am eagerly awaiting the follow up Fenrir, that is released later this year.

A COUPLE OF NOTES:
-If a publisher from Norway, or any of the other Nordic countries reads this: Check out the book, I think it is well worth translating and publishing.
-M.D. Lachlan is the not so secret pseudonym of journalist and author Mark Barrowcliffe.

-This book was sent to me by the author.

LINKS: M.D. Lachlan Gollancz

REVIEW: BLAMELESS

2011-01-19T04:19:00.001+01:00

Cover design: Lauren Panepinto

Cover photograph: Tiny Dragon Productions

Cover model: Donna Ricci

BLAMELESS

THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE:

BOOK THE THIRD

GAIL CARRIGER

ISBN: 978-0-316-07415-5
Pages: 355
Publisher: Orbit
Publishing Date: 1 September 2010

On the cover:

The publisher's blurb/flap copy on this book is a bit like Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan exiting a car, it reveals more than you need to see. So I'll just quote from Gail Carriger's blog :

"Even bigger SPOILER ALERT! Really, DON'T READ THE BLURB ON AMAZON if you haven't read the other books first."

There was some major events at the end of the second book in this series, Changeless, so this was an eagerly awaited book for me. And I was not disappointed.

The opening chapter gives us a quick reminder of past events, and also gets us up to date with the story of Alexia.

This is a action-filled book, and Miss Carriger doesn't waste anytime in throwing us right into the middle of it. An early mystery is thrown into the mix, and we are off on a fun journey into Alexia Tarabotti's Europe.

   It is the traveling that helps make this book so good. By having Alexia travel out of the United Kingdom, in this case to France and Italy, Miss Carriger gets the opportunity to show off more of the world we are in. And she does this magnificently. There is a sense here that this is a fully fleshed out alternate history Europe. Among other things, we get to know much more about the paranormal's special place in UK society, and how some of the other countries in Europe sees them.
   This adds another layer to the background, or should I say Worldbuilding?, that Miss Carriger has put into the world of the Parasol Protectorate. As a fan of history, both real and alternate, I really appreciate that.

   Right from the start of the book we have events that helps us understand better who Alexia is, and how she has become that way. We get to see even more of how her family is, and this especially feels true to having formed the personality Alexia has become. We also get some surprising and intriguing information about Alexia's family background.

   There is a parallel plot going on here, that I will not call a B-plot as it is just as fascinating as the story of what happens on Alexia's travels. And it also adds a lot to both characters and the world the story is set in.
   There's also quite a bit of historical fact, to this alternate world, sprinkled about in the book, something I found very rewarding. (Also keep an eye open for the hilarious names of some of the incidental characters.)

   Miss Carriger has continued the story of Alexia Taraotti in excellent fashion. This book gripped me from the first page to the last, and I am already looking forward to the next installment, Heartless, that is coming in June this year.
   Whether your interest lies in Victoriana, alternate history, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, or just an action-packed adventure, you almost certainly will find something to love in this book.

My earlier reviews for: Soulless and Changeless

LINKS: Gail Carriger Orbit

I'M BACK! / READING HIGHLIGHTS OF 2010

2011-01-18T03:20:00.000+01:00

I'M BACK!

After over a month with a computer that seizes up after 5-15 minutes, I have finally gotten a computer that works as it should again. This is quite a relief, it's been a pain being cut off from interacting with all the nice people I've gotten to know in the last year. Most of these I've met through Twitter. I could mention names, but I'll go with the Norwegian saying: No-one mentioned, no-one forgotten.

I also missed being able to blog a lot. I have of course been reading quite a bit, and have some reviews lined up for the blog. 2010 has been a sort of test year for me when it comes to blogging, and it is something I want to continue doing. I'm planing to post 2-3 reviews a week on the blog from now on. The first one will be up later today (European time).

I hope you will follow the blog in the future, whether you're here for the first time, or if you are a regular visitor.

READING HIGHLIGHTS OF 2010

These are some of the books that I have appreciated reading the most in 2010. Not all of them were published in 2010, and I have not reviewed all of them. Some of them I read before I started reviewing, and some of them will be reviewed on the blog later.

-I'll start at the beginning, with the first book I read last year, one I got for Christmas in 2009:

PANSERHJERTE by Jo Nesbø

This is of course the original Norwegian edition, published by Aschehoug in 2009. It's a great book, Nesbø just keeps getting better.

The English edition is called The Leopard, and is published by Random House this Thursday (20 January).

Note: The Norwegian title translates as Iron Heart/ Heart of Iron. Or more directly Armor Heart/Heart of Armor. (Panser=armor, hjerte=heart.)

THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE BOOKS by Gail Carriger

Soulless (review) came out in 2009, and has since been followed by Changeless

(review) and Blameless in 2010.

The humor and action in these books have made them favorites of mine. They are not

the type of books I would typically look for, so I am grateful that I discovered these

through Twitter.

Note: I have already read Blameless, and will review it soon.

LEGENDS OF THE RED SUN by Mark Charan Newton

Nights of Villjamur (review) was published in 2009 and was followed in 2010 by

City of Ruin (review).

A more or less city-bound fantasy series. Interesting and different from the myriad Tolkienesque fantasy books out there. Book three is on the way, and Mark said on Twitter that he is already 10.000 words into book four. (Hope that wasn't supposed to be a secret, Mark.)

TOME OF THE UNDERGATES by Sam Sykes

Tome of the Undergates (review) is a 2010 debut novel.

This is action-packed Sword and Sorcery that manages to both be classic in style, and a fresh breath in today's fantasy landscape.
Book two, Black Halo, is coming later this year. And I'm eagerly awaiting it.

THE WAY OF KINGS by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings (review), published in 2010, this is the first of what is said to be ten books in The Stormlight Archive.

I really liked this book, and although I look forward to reading the rest of the series, I don't particularly look forward to the long wait until the last book is published.
If I remember correctly six years was mentioned.

INVISIBLE FIENDS: MR MUMBLES by Barry Hutchison

Invisible Fiends: Mr Mumbles (review) is another 2010 debut.

This is marketed as a children's book (9+), but I found it worked as a Horror novel for all ages.
It is another book/author I've discovered through Twitter.
Book two, Invisible Fiends: Raggy Maggie, is already out.

WOLFSANGEL by M.D. Lachlan

Wolfsangel is a 2010 debut for M.D.Lachlan, but the author behind the pseudonym has published several books before.

Fantasy set in the lands of the old Norse Sagas.
I'll review this later in the week.

THE SOLARIS BOOK OF NEW FANTASY edited by George Mann

This collection of short stories was published in 2007.

I won't say much about it here. But I have included it in my highlights of 2010 for a reason. A review will be coming shortly.

This post is starting to approach the point where it's getting very long, so I'll round off with mentioning a couple of authors that I've read for the first time in 2010.

-IAIN M. BANKS: I've heard of him for years, and started on his Culture novels in 2010. I read Consider Phlebas (review) and The Player of Games -review coming up soon.

-IAN McDONALD: Also an author I've heard lots about, but never gotten around too before 2010. River of Gods (review) and Brasyl (review coming up), are the two I've gotten through.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

2010-12-09T00:53:00.001+01:00

Sorry for not posting any reviews lately
I have problems with my computer, and before I get that fixed I'll probably not be able to post anything.
I do however read, and write reviews (,by hand on paper,) so as soon as I am able to I will start posting again.

Hope everyone is doing fine.

-Ole

NEWS: IT MOVES!!! - UN:BOUND VIDEO EDITIONS

2010-11-28T12:39:00.001+01:00

You may be familiar with the review blog Un:Bound. Now the ~~crazy~~ nice people over there, led by ~~megalomaniac empress of evil~~ my good friend Adele have decided to start a SFF genre Vidcast.

I've already looked at what's up on the site. And you should too It's worth a look. I especially love what ~~slave indentured worker~~ video editor Vincent Holland-Keen has done with the cover for Mark Charan Newton's Book of Transformations. That alone is worth a visit to Un:Bound Video Editions.

Oh, and I got some press releases from Adele with ~~explicit orders threaths~~ a nice request for help in spreading the word, so here they are:

This winter, internet TV will finally be Un:Bound

Un:Bound Video Editions began with a question 'Why has no one ever done a vidcast about genre fiction?'. It's a simple question and the answer to it proved to be as simple for Un:Bound editor Adele Wearing; because she hadn't put together the team to produce one yet.

That's now changed. Like George Clooney in one of the good Ocean's movies, Adele has assembled a team of specialists to bring the best in genre fiction news and reviews to the internet. They include film maker and technical genius Vincent Holland-Keen, two-fisted editor and Angry Robot wrangler Lee Harris, sleepless genre podcaster Alasdair Stuart and, on his insistence, the dread lord of Ry'leh himself, Cthulhu. With a team like this, the casinos of Las Vegas are quaking in their cuban-heeled boots. Or would be if the plan was to rob Andy Garcia and not to produce the best, most comprehensive, fun genre fiction TV show on the net.

A fast moving glimpse into the world of genre fiction, Episode 1 features coverage of the Other Worlds Event hosted by Writing East Midlands, Alt. Fiction and Tor, a tour of Tor Towers, Publishing Tips with Lee, news with Alasdair and a message from Cthulhu.

Whether you're a life long, experienced con goer, newcomer or want to find out more, the Unbound Video Edition (UBVE to its friends) is for you. And, in fact your friends, so check out the teaser trailers at the Un:Bound Video Editions site and join our mailing list to make sure you don't miss upcoming episodes, specials and exclusive mailing list contests.

Because if you do, Cthulhu will know.

Un:Bound Video Editions – http://unboundve.com
Mailing list – email unbound@unboundblogzine.com and title your mail UBVE mailing list.

And:

They told me I was crazy and i'd need a team as crazy as me to pull it off. Fortunately I knew exactly where to get them. Admittedly my crack team of presenter Kat Heubeck, director and video editor Vincent Holland-Keen, news anchor Alasdair Stuart and grizzled editor Lee Harris are not the team I would put together for a lucrative casino hit. Pulling together a show like Un:Bound VE though? I couldn't ask for a better squad of genre fiction grifters.

Don't believe me? I talked to Catherine Rogers of Writing East Midlands about the heist, I mean the show, and here's what she said:

“This, it seems to me, is a natural move for George, sorry Adele as he, sorry, she has been taking over the genre world with her extraordinary team.

Sorry Adele as what , George Clooney, Oceans whatever c'mon? Un:Bound being compared to Oceans numbers - no way. I'm thinking more along the lines of Neo, red pills, Morpheus etc.

So red pills aside / taken etc ... Writing East Midlands' mission statement says something about nurturing new writers in the region ... yes so that includes new writing talent and this by all accounts is just that .... on vidcast. Yay! Check it out.

That was 'red' right?”

Yes, Catherine, yes. No chunky knit wear or unnecessary dance routines here, just a cool, suave look at the latest in genre fiction. And Cthulhu. He was very insistent I mention him.

Fellow Evil Genius ™ Alex Davis had a slightly different take on things, which also makes a worrying amount of sense:

'It sounds more like the A-Team to me than Ocean's Eleven... This truly is the crack commando unit of the genre - in fact the recording equipment was constructed from four elastic bands, three toilet roll tubes and a broken down ZX Spectrum. So if you have a problem, and you need help, and you can find them, maybe you can hire... the Unbound Video Editions team.'

Danny Ocean's team of elegant con men and the world's least violent lethal commando unit. That's heady company to be keeping. So when does the con begin? I mean the show air? And where? Simple it's going to go live on 6^th December 2011 at 8:00pm (GMT) at the site http://www.unboundve.com . Except, much like that bit with Brad Pitt walking through the casino talking on the phone? We're not quite done. The following weeks will see additional footage of the interviews go live as we continue to plunder the vaults of genre fiction for all things bright, shiny and awesome.

So why not join us? Just remember, don't take the blue pill, don't take your eyes off the vault door and always, always, bet on Unbound.

UBVE will be running a giveaway as part of the launch week so please look out for further details and prizes.

REVIEW: CONSIDER PHLEBAS

2010-11-26T19:49:00.001+01:00

Cover design and photo: Blacksheep

CONSIDER PHLEBAS

A CULTURE NOVEL/

CULTURE BOOK ONE

IAIN M. BANKS

ISBN: 978-1-85723-138-0

Pages: 467

Publisher: Orbit

Publishing date: 23 April 1987

On the cover:

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

   This is Banks' first Culture novel, but it is by no means set in an unfinished world, or more correctly; universe. There is plenty of references to other events and history here. And one of the strengths of the book is Banks' universe-building. Some of the places we see here are absolutely stunning, and adds a lot to the story.

   The story has all the ingredients of a space opera. There's a huge war going on in the background, our hero is a rogue type character who is being hunted, and we have a quest that takes us to different locations. But this story is by no means hampered by Banks' use of the familiar. He writes a story that really stands out from the crowd. The characters are also interesting, and we get to know them pretty well as the story unfolds.

    Consider Phlebas is pretty fast-paced. There is something happening all the time, but it is not stressful to follow what is going on. Some of the action sequences here are just mind blowing, and I have to say that I wouldn't mind seeing them up on the big screen.
   Banks is very good at keeping the suspense up, and especially the ending keeps the reader guessing. There is not much of the techno babble that scare away newcomers and slows the pace down here.

   This is the first of the Culture novels, but I would like to point out that it is a self contained story. There is no cliffhanger ending, and you should be no means be scared away from reading it just because there is a whole series of novels that follow it.
   There is much to love here for fans of science fiction. And if you are a newcomer to the genre this, in my opinion, would be a good place to start. For myself, I've already bought the next Culture novel, and plan to purchase the rest.

Links: Iain M. Banks Orbit

THE FOURTH SFF GENRE.

2010-11-24T16:29:00.000+01:00

Everyone knows there are three main genres of SFF, or Speculative Fiction. That is of course Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. These three genres have plenty of sub-genres, and you would think that nothing is lacking. I disagree, there is a certain type of story that I feel belong under the SFF banner, but is currently not receiving the recognition it deserves.
So I am going to present to you the fourth SFF genre:

ADVENTURE

The name is by no means a new one, in fact it has been used for years to describe exactly the type of story I think deserves it's own SFF-genre. Granted it is used mostly about films and games. And it was used much more widely ten to twenty years ago. At least here in Norway where it is called "eventyr" (, also meaning fairy tale in case you come across it in that meaning).

Usually action is tacked on at the front, and I think everyone will recognize the term action-adventure. But by going to my DVD collection, I notice most of the films who would be classified as action-adventure during the 90s are now only described as action. (Bizarrely this includes my Norwegian DVD of Underworld.) So I guess now would be a good time to take the adventure term back to SFF where it belongs.

Maybe it's time I gave a description of what I think about when I use the term Adventure:

Action-oriented story. Usually with a quest. Can sometime border the mystery/thriller genre, but it has a supernatural, paranormal or mythical element. Often the element is an artifact the the main character is looking for, or it could be some sort of ancient cult/conspiracy/guardians of wisdom that is involved. Anything that involves what can be called alternative, or fringe, archaeology falls into this category.

From my description of Adventure, it is easy to use the most widely known example to clarify further; Indiana Jones. For some reason the Indiana Jones movies are considered SFF by fans of the genre, while most people outside the genre consider them action movies.

Indiana Jones looks for mythical artifacts, something that as far as we know are legends and do not exist, like the holy grail. This is what makes people see it as SFF(, I think most people use Fantasy to describe the movies).

But I see a huge problem with Indiana Jones belonging to SFF without the genre Adventure being utilised.

And that problem can be traced back to the holy grail, and also literature. Indiana Jones isn't the only one to hunt for, and find the holy grail, Robert Langdon did the exact same thing in The Da Vinci Code. The difference being the "san greal/sang real" interpretation.

Take away the setting, and you have what amounts to basically the same story. But despite this Dan Brown is considered mainstream by SFF fans, while Indiana Jones is being embraced as SFF. I see this as the kind of value judgement that I hate as a SFF fan.

We SFF fans are tired of SFF being classified as Lit.Fic. if the literary crowd thinks it is good. But we do the same with Brown. Brown may not be a great writer, but his stories, at least The Da Vinci Code, are as much SFF as Indiana Jones' adventures.

And to remove, as much as possible, the value judgement, I think we need the Adventure genre under the SFF umbrella.

(If you wonder why I use Brown as an example, I considered using Clive Cussler, but settled on Brown because he's more familiar to most people. And I have to say that Cussler's books more or less embodies the Adventure genre.)

What do you think? Am I wrong, am I right? Do you disagree that my definition of Adventure falls under the SFF umbrella? (Am I even making any sense?)

-Please comment.

REVIEW: CITY OF RUIN

2010-11-23T15:55:00.002+01:00

Cover illustration: Benjamin Carré

CITY OF RUIN

LEGENDS OF THE RED SUN BOOK TWO

MARK CHARAN NEWTON

ISBN: 978-0-230-71259-1

Pages: 466

Publisher: Tor UK

Publishing date: 4 June 2010

On the cover:

Villiren: a city of sin that is being torn apart from the inside. Hybrid creatures shamble through shadows and barely human gangs fight turf wars for control of the streets.

Amidst this chaos, Commander Brynd Lathraea, commander of the Night Guard, must plan the defence of Viliren against a race that has broken through from some other realm and already slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the Empire’s people.

When a Night Guard soldier goes missing, Brynd requests help from the recently arrived Investigator Jeryd. He discovers this is not the only disappearance the streets of Villiren. It seems that a serial killer of the most horrific kind is on the loose, taking hundreds of people from their own homes. A killer that cannot possibly be human.

The entire population of Villiren must unite to face an impossible surge of violent and unnatural enemies or the city will fall.

But how can anyone save a city that is already a ruin?

The second book in a series can be a tricky one, but Newton pulls it of with his effort. We pick up the story a short while after the events of Nights of Villjamur. All the main characters have relocated, and most of them is now to be found in the city of Villiren.

Newton doesn't waste any time here. By the end of the first chapter we are already re-introduced to some of the main characters from book one, and have gotten our first glimpse of their new situation.

Again most of the story is bound to a city, with only the occasional foray to other locations. But although the overall structure of City of Ruin is similar to Nights of Villjamur, this is not in any way a retelling of the story of book one. In fact the differences between the two cities serve to flesh out the world Newton has created, and also gives the reader an appetite for more.

The action is on a much grander scale than in the last book, we get a battle that in some ways reminded me of the real world battle of Stalingrad. Newton handles the battle action very well., and as in real life, you are never quite certain who is going to survive in the end.

There's a second story-thread following other characters from the first book, this is in many ways different from what I expected. This part of the story is pretty weird compared to the other. And I had a bit of trouble getting them to fit together in my mind at first. But as the story progresses Newton manages to make it not only understandable, but important to the overall story.

I had one problem with this book, and that was connected to a death. Newton brings one character I was interested to know more about back from book one only to kill him almost instantly. This felt unnecessary to me, and it annoyed me for quite a while.

In fact it seems like Newton has a predisposition to kill off characters that he has finished with instead of letting them fade away from the story.

This is not a major issue, but just a small annoyance for me personally, that I think not everyone will notice or be affected by.

I'll end this review by saying that I find Newton's ideas and writing engaging and intriguing. City of Ruin got me even more hooked on this world than I was after Nights of Villjamur, and I am certainly looking forward to the next installment: The Book of Transformations.

My review of Nights of Villjamur can be found here.

Links: Mark Charan Newton Tor UK

REVIEW: FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT

2010-11-21T15:17:00.001+01:00

FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT

STEPHEN KING

ISBN: 978-0-451-17038-5

Pages: 732

Publisher: Signet/Penguin USA

Publishing date: 4 October 1990

This is a collection of four novellas. So first I'm going to give you my review of the individual novellas, and then at the end I'm going to give you my thoughts on the collection/book as a whole.

The Langoliers

As a lot of King's horror, this story has a lot of science fiction elements. Here one element straight out of science fiction is central to the plot.

The Langoliers is not a slow starter, it doesn't take many pages before you are drawn into the story. The shorter length, at 234 pages it is short for King, works to the stories advantage, King introduces the characters pretty fast, and they come fully formed, and never feels two-dimensional.

This is a great story, the tension builds nicely throughout, and it does not loosen its grip on you before it is finished. The atmosphere of the whole story is also very good.

I would recommend this story to any fan of sci-fi-horror, and if you like King it is a must. -As an added bonus, there is a scene that is very reminiscent of LOST in it.

SECRET WINDOW, SECRET GARDEN

This story is pure psychological horror. It is also one of Kings stories about a writer, and it has in fact some elements to it that are also found in The Shining, but I must hasten to add that it is in no way a re-write.

From page one, and all the way to the epilogue, I found myself guessing as to what was actually happening. And it got under my skin at several points. Both the main character, and the others you meet are well done, and they seem real. It is a story that will keep you wanting to read to the end.

THE LIBRARY POLICEMAN

Making libraries a scary place for someone who loves books is difficult, but King manages to do so in this story. The build-up at the beginning is very well done, and as the story progresses it transcends the fairly standard ghost story it initially looks like it is.

King pulls off one of the best retrospectives I've ever read here. There are in fact a couple of stories within stories, and one of them is so shocking that I think some people could be put off by it. That being said, it is essential to the overall story, and not just put there for its shock-value.

The only problem I had with The Library Policeman, was that it was let down a bit by one of King's rather week endings.

THE SUN DOG

This story belongs in King's "Castle Rock-cycle". It is basically a sort of ghost story. Starting innocently enough, it soon builds up to quite a eerie tale.

The characters have back stories that adds much to their realization, and one of the characters is delightfully mysterious at first.

King manages to build on the eeriness factor right to the end. And the ending here is ,in my opinion, one of the best he has ever written.

CONCLUSION

These four stories really serves well to showcase King's writing. They give a taste of how most of his novels are, at the same time they are different enough to work very well together as a collection. I enjoyed the book a lot, even though I usually prefer King's stories to be as long as possible. If you are a fan of King's work, but have yet to read Four Past Midnight, I suggest you do so as soon as possible.

If you have never read anything of Stephen King's work, I would suggest this as a good place to start. Both because they are not as long as some of King's other work, and because these four stories are a nice taster of what you can expect from him should you wish to read more of his work.

Links: Stephen King Penguin (USA)

REVIEW: RIVER OF GODS

2010-11-10T12:40:00.001+01:00

Cover illustration: Stephan Martiniere

Cover design: Jacqueline Cooke

RIVER OF GODS

IAN McDONALD

ISBN: 978-1-59102-595-5

Pages: 599

Publisher: Pyr

Publishing date: 7 June 2004

On the cover:

August 15, 2047 - Happy Hundredth Birthday, India

As Mother India approaches her centenary, nine people are going about their business — a gangster, a cop, his wife, a politician, a stand-up comic, a set designer, a journalist, a scientist, and a dropout. And so is Aj — the waif, the mind-reader, the prophet — when she one day finds a man who wants to stay hidden.

In the next few weeks, they will all be swept together to decide the fate of the nation.

   What I always look for in science fiction is a believable future. And the one McDonald presents here is certainly that. The India he shows in this book is all to plausible, and I would not be very surprised if the India of 2047 looks a lot like the one in this book.
   Not only is the setting near perfect, but McDonald has also managed to creative a technology level that could very well be the one we end up with in 37 years.

   The story is very intriguing. From the very start the reader is drawn in to the lives of the main characters. There is a lot of mystery to begin with as to how the different characters are connected, but as the book progresses the revelations come.

    We get lots of conflict that drives the story forward, there is little that slows down the pace. McDonald manages to keep the "techno babble" well integrated in the story. And what tech there is adds to the plot instead of distracting from it. The integration of society, technology and individual characters you care about is perhaps McDonald's greatest strength.

   There are a couple of mysteries that are central to the story, these are intriguing and will keep the reader guessing. It had me confused at a level where I just had to keep reading several times. The revelations of what is really going on is handled beautifully by McDonald.

    This book should be great for any fan of science fiction. It caters to those whose interest lies in technology, as well as those who are more interested in characters and society.

Links: Ian McDonald Pyr

REVIEW: I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT

2010-11-09T00:20:00.001+01:00

Cover illustration: Paul Kidby

I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT

TIFFANY ACHING BOOK 4

DISCWORLD 38/

YOUNG DISCWORLD 5

TERRY PRATCHETT

ISBN: 978-0-385-61107-7

Pages: 348

Publisher: Doubleday/Random House Children's Books

Publishing date: 2 September 2010

On the cover:

Tiffany Aching is a witch. And she thinks she's doing a good job for the people of the Chalk. Even if the job does seem to involve a lot of bandaging legs and cutting old ladies' toenails and not much, well, magic.

Or sleep.

But somewhere - some time - there's a tangled ball of evil and spite, of hatred and malice, that has woken up. And it's waking up all the old stories too - stories about evil old witches.

Suddenly Tiffany isn't sure she's doing the right thing. And her tiny allies - the fightin' Nac Mac Feegles - are only making things more difficult.

Things are supposed to look better after a good night's sleep.

But they won't.

They are about to get a lot, lot worse.

And a witch has to deal with what is in front of her...

   This, being a "Young Discworld" novel, features a teenage main character, Tiffany is 16 in this book. Other than that there is not much that is different from the other Discworld books. Pratchett writes in the same style as he has always done. And anyone who avoids this book because it is labeled as Young Adult (,the publisher's website says 12+,) does themselves a huge disservice.

    In my opinion this is perhaps the most serious Discworld book in recent years. It still has the trademark Pratchett humor, but the themes are very serious. Then again it would be difficult to make fun of growing up, responsibility,and bullying. And these are some of the main themes in this book.
    All is told through the eyes of Tiffany Aching, who is a witch, and this gives Pratchett plenty to play with. We get the some important lessons about the misconceptions about witches from fairytailes, and we also learn a lot about what a Discworld witch's real responsibilities are.

    It's easiest to see that this is a Young Adult novel by the many life-lessons that Pratchett manages to weave into the tale. There really is a lot here that an intelligent teenager can take away. And of course any teenager reading Pratchett will be intelligent. But I didn't feel that Pratchett ever got preachy, he presents things and lets the reader decide for themselves.

    The story also has room for an overarching plot that is quite sinister. In fact it is part horror story. This is very well handled, and does not feel forced upon all the other things that happen in the book.

    In my opinion this book shows that Pratchett is still going strong. Any Discworld fan who doesn't already own this should go buy it at once. -But I must say it helps if you have read the "Witches"-books and the previous three books about Tiffany Aching. At the least you should read "Equal Rites" before embarking upon this book.

Links: Terry Pratchett Random House Children's Books

REVIEW: THE SHINING

2010-11-03T19:16:00.000+01:00

Cover art: Lisa Litwack

Cover photo: Gavin R. Wilson / Photonica

THE SHINING

STEPHEN KING

ISBN: 978-0-7434-2442-4

Pages: 683

Publisher: Pocket Books

Publishing date: January 1977

On the cover:

The Overlook Hotel is more than just a home-away-from-home for the Torrance family. For Jack, Wendy, and their young son, Danny, it is a place where past horrors come to life. And where those gifted with the shining do battle with the darkest evils.

   This is the first time I've read a book where I've seen the movie it is based on several times. And since several people not only think it's a good adaption, but some even say the movie is better than the book, I was curious as to how this would affect my reading of it.
   I guess most people interested in Horror would have seen Kubrick's movie adaption of it, and is therefore familiar with the story. However if you have not seen the movie, be warned that the introduction in the book contains spoilers and if you're new to the story should be skipped. This spoiler-filled introduction annoyed me, I saw no reason for it to be at the start of the book. I think they should move it to the end of the book and call it "Author's note".

   Right from the start King takes us inside the mind of his main character, Jack Torrance, and by doing so he sets the atmosphere for the book. King also handles the back story of the characters in a way that adds a great deal to the later tension of the book.
   Everything that is added of history, back story, and what we get to know about the characters serve the story. Although the book is rather long, it didn't feel like it to me. The story moves along nicely, and there is not much that slows it down.

   King is very good at keeping the reader guessing at what is actually going on. And he keeps throwing in elements that points in different directions. This only adds to the creepy atmosphere and I think it adds a lot to the book. The level of suspense also builds as the story progresses, drawing the reader in and making the book hard to put down.
   The paranormal elements in this book are very well handled by King. They seem realistic and believable. Nothing seems to be added without it having a place in the story. The whole concept works very well and this is in my opinion one of Kings best books.

   Back to where I started this review, with the book vs the movie. I didn't feel that being familiar with the movie took much away from the book, they are too different for that. many elements are of course the same, but the book is a wholly different experience on many levels. I would suggest that anyone who has seen the movie to pick up the book. I don't think you'll be sorry you did.
   As for the movie being better than the book; not in my opinion.

Links: Stephen king  Simon & Schuster (Pocket Books)

REVIEW: THE WAY OF KINGS

2010-11-01T13:53:00.000+01:00

Cover illustration: Michael Whelan

THE WAY OF KINGS

THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE BOOK 1

BRANDON SANDERSON

ISBN: 978-0-7653-2635-3

Pages: 1008

Publisher: Tor Books

Publishing date: 31 August 2010

On the cover:

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

    This is true Epic Fantasy, this being the first of an announced ten books. I'm a fan of long series when it comes to both Fantasy and Science Fiction, I like to get to really know the characters and follow them over a longer period of time. (There's one exception, but I will not use the G-word in my blog.)
    Of course first impressions are important when starting a long series of books, especially when they are the size of The Way of Kings. And Sanderson gets it right, there is much to love here.

    After reading the prelude and the prologue, I was already drawn in to this world and wanted to know more. And as the book progresses the world opens up, and it is an intriguing world.
    We follow three main characters on their different journeys, this is done in such a way that the changes of viewpoint keeps you reading without being annoyed with waiting for a individual story-thread to continue.

    The individual characters are different enough to add a lot to the reader's understanding of the world, and each gives a glimpse into different aspects of it. The world building is great, there are lots of little details that really fleshes out the setting. And we are given some tantalizing glimpses of how wast this world really is. It looks like this could be one of the largest Fantasy worlds ever. And I hope it will be as interesting as this first book makes it out to be.

    We get stories set into the war-torn wasteland, and in one of the larger cities. There is not much of a quest aspect to the story, but that is a strength here. The choice Sanderson has made in setting the story mostly in fixed locations means that the reader does not have to struggle with too large amounts of information.
    There is enough action here to satisfy most people. And at the same time we get a lot of back story that is very interesting without making the pace drag. Almost everyone should be satisfied with the complexity of the story, and also it's ease of access.

    This is the first book I have read by Sanderson, and I really liked his writing. I found it fit the type of story very well. It is still early days for The Stormlight Archives, but this could very well turn out to be one of the best Fantasy series ever.

NOTE: This review is based on an ARC of the book that I won from Tor Books.

LINKS: Brandon Sanderson Tor Books

REVIEW: THE CITY & THE CITY BY CHINA MIÉVILLE

2010-09-29T15:12:00.001+02:00

Cover Image: Anne Laure Jacquart/ Arcangel Images

THE CITY & THE CITY

CHINA MIÉVILLE

ISBN: 978-0-330-513517

Pages: 372

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Publishing date: 15 May 2009

On the cover:

When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Besźel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger. Borlú must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other.

   This book is in a way rather schizophrenic, or at least it wants to be. At its heart is a Crime story, and it is seemingly set in a fantastical landscape of parallel worlds.

   The crime part of the story is unfortunately mediocre and unoriginal. I've read a lot of crime and I've read this crime-story several times before. The tired crime-cliches of the police detective who goes his own ways, the female assistant who will go to any length for him, and several others are here. The crime itself, and the solution to it is pretty standard for a crime novel too. So in isolation the crime aspect of the story is nothing more than your average crime novel.

   The Fantasy or Science-Fiction elements are what should set this book out from other crime novels. It is however debatable whether there are any SFF elements in the book at all, apart from that it is set in a fictional city in a fictional land, something that usually is not enough to make something SFF.

   I really liked the idea of the "unseeing" that Miéville introduces in the book. Unfortunately it never gets past the idea-stage. Several times in the book we are told that "unseeing" has to be learned, and that the "two" cities exist not in one place, but are divided by some unexplained lines. We even get told that while "unseeing" you may step over the people you "unsee", so it's basically just ignoring things.
   And this is where it all falls apart for me. The idea is great, but without further exploration of how it came about and why, it's just a lazy macguffin. A bit like saying the sun turns Clark Kent into Superman without any further explanation as to how and why.

   It does not help either that when it is needed to put a twist on the plot, in Part 3 of the book, we get an explanation of the "borders" between the "two" cities that is at odds with the earlier one. The introduction of "Breach" just adds to the poor execution of the good idea that is in this book. More so when we never get an explanation for how they know someone is "crossing borders", something that is the only thing keeping those "borders" up.

    The only thing that saves this book from being total crap is a interesting concept, and Miéville's excellent technical writing skills.
   But I would not recommend you read this book if you don't want to read it as an example of how a great idea and excellent technical skills are useless when the story is flat and badly realized.
   This reads as a mediocre crime-story with an idea for the first two thirds of a urban fantasy novel plastered in to discuise the lack of originality.

   Although this book didn't work for me, I will give China Miéville another chance at showing me he isn't a has-been by reading "Kraken" soon.

LINKS: China Miéville Pan Macmillan

REVIEW: TOME OF THE UNDERGATES BY SAM SYKES

2010-07-28T20:27:00.000+02:00

Cover illustration: Paul Young

TOME OF THE UNDERGATES

THE AEON'S GATE BOOK ONE

SAM SYKES

ISBN: 978-0-575-09029-3

Pages: 692

Publisher: Gollancz

Publishing Date: 15 April 2010

On the Cover:

Adventurers. long loathed for their knowledge of nothing beyond murder and thievery, they are the savages, zealots, heathens, monsters; the thugs of society. And Lenk, a young man with a sword in his hand and a voice in his head, counts them all as his sole and most hated companions.

His otherwise trivial employment under an esteemed clergyman is interrupted when bloodthirsty and eloquent pirates, led by an ageless demon risen from the depths of the ocean, pilfer the object of their protection: The Tome of the Undergates, the key to opening a door that guards the mouths of hell. A hell the demons want out of.

Against titanic horrors from the deep, psychotic warrior women, and creatures forgotten by mankind, Lenk has only two weapons: a piece of steel and five companions who are as eager to kill each other as they are to retrieve the book.

   There is a lot of Fantasy out there with focus on worldbuilding and near perfect heroes going on noble quests, so to read action-filled Sword and Sorcery feels like a breath of fresh air. And that is what Tome of the Undergates is, a good honest Sword and Sorcery adventure. Sure there is elements of Quest Fantasy here but it doesn't take over and the book stays Sword and Sorcery for me throughout.

    There's been a lot of talk of the "200 page fight scene" that opens this book. I found this quite exaggerated, there is a lot of fighting in the first part of the book but there is also much more. Sykes is good at delivering information to the reader through the thoughts of the heroes as they are fighting. And there are several passages in between the fight scenes where you get more information about what is going on. I also felt that Sykes managed to get the personality of the adventurers across nicely.

    The action is handled very well by Sykes, and so is the interplay between the characters. What can be both a bit confusing and annoying is the fact that Sykes does not reveal much background to the reader. It takes quite a bit of time before you find out what is going on, and even then much is hidden. But as you progress in the story it becomes clear that this is done deliberately, and I felt that Sykes revelations towards the end of the book pays off the patience of waiting for answers. And I also felt that there is a lot here that is being saved for future installments, and I look forward to finding out more about these characters.

    As I stated at the beginning of this review Tome of the Undergates is Sword and Sorcery, although I must say there is a lot more Sword than Sorcery. The book reminded me a bit of Michael Moorcock's Elric, but first and foremost I was reminded of Robert E. Howard's Conan.
    So when the name Venarium pops up about halfway through the book, I immediately thought "Aha, Conan!". (Note: Venarium is the Aquilonian fort inside Cimmeria where Conan participates in his first mayor battle at the age of fifteen.) But not taking anything for granted, I used the wonder of modern social media to ask Sam Sykes if this was the case. This was his answer:

   "Hah, not really, no. I had no idea there even was a Venarium until Tome was finished. It's just based off Venarie, the magical source."

   And that got me thinking about a quote from Robert E. Howard of how he felt that he was relating events that had happened, and how when he couldn't write Conan later felt that the man had stopped standing at his shoulder and moved on. (The whole quote is found here, beginning at the sixth paragraph from the bottom.) -And who knows, maybe the spirit that dictated Howard in Texas has moved on to Arizona...

   Tome of the Undergates is a book for people who like the action and adventure of Sword and Sorcery. If you're a fan of Robert E. Howard's Conan, as I am, you really should get Sam Sykes' debut. And after you read it, I'm quite sure that you will join me in eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series.

LINKS: Sam Sykes Gollancz

REVIEW: CHANGELESS BY GAIL CARRIGER

2010-07-26T23:35:00.000+02:00

Cover design: Lauren Panepinto

Cover photograph: Derek Caballero

Cover model: Donna Ricci

CHANGELESS

THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE: BOOK THE SECOND

GAIL CARRIGER

ISBN: 978-0-316-07414-8

Pages: 374

Publisher: Orbit

Publishing Date: 1 April 2010

Usually I start these reviews with the Flap Copy (what many people call the publisher's blurb), but as Gail Carriger says on her website this gives away the ending to Soulless, the first book in the series. So I'll just have to write my own very brief flap copy:

Strange happenings in London makes Alexia travel to Scotland.

There she has to investigate while dealing with the intricacies of werewolf pack-dynamics.

Changeless picks up almost directly from the ending of Soulless (my review of Soulless here). The first chapter will bring you up to date on what has happened since the ending of the first book. To be fair, the story does not continue on from Soulless, but not only does Changeless contain spoilers for Soulless, but you will of course have a deeper understanding of what is going on if you have read the first book. I for one would not recommend you start here.

Miss Carriger continues on in the great style she did in Soulless here. There's still plenty of action and suspense, and she has actually managed to ramp up the humour a notch. Not bad when I found Soulless hilarious.

The world of Alexia Tarabotti is expanded upon, we get lots of new information that fleshes it out and makes it seem even more real. Among the added elements we get a look into are the British Army, dirigible flight, and we get a really good insight into how werewolves function in miss Carriger's universe. All of these elements function perfectly and only added to my enjoyment of the story.

There are a couple of new supporting character's introduced here. Among them a werewolf and a mysterious French woman. There is also one Scottish character that is integral to the story, but saying anything more would be to risk spoiling, so I'll leave it for you to discover for yourself.

All the new characters add to the story, and none of them seems thrown in just for the sake of adding to the cast from the first book. Miss Carriger instead uses them to make her story come alive even better for the reader. This is also the case with two characters from Soulless who take on a larger role in this book.

To wrap up I will just say that this book have made mean even stronger fan of Miss Carriger than I was after Soulless, and for me she has now become a must-read author in the Humorous Fantasy/Alternate Reality(Steampunk) genre.

I encourage everyone who likes this type of book to pick up Changeless, after first reading Soulless of course.

My review of Soulless -Parasol Protectorate: Book the First is here.

LINKS: Gail Carriger Orbit

REVIEW: INVISIBLE FIENDS: MR MUMBLES BY BARRY HUTCHISON

2010-07-21T19:20:00.000+02:00

Cover Illustration: Jonny Duddle

INVISIBLE FIENDS: MR MUMBLES

BARRY HUTCHISON

ISBN: 978-0-00-731515-4

Pages: 255

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Publishing Date: 4 February 2010

On the Cover:

Kyle hasn't seen Mr Mumbles in years. And there's a good reason for that: Mr Mumbles doesn't exist.

But now Kyle's imaginary friend is back, and Kyle doesn't have time to worry about why. Only one thing matters from now on: staying alive...

   This book starts out with a very intriguing prologue, and after reading that I was really looking forward to finding out what happens.
   In the first few chapters of the book you find out everything you need to now about Kyle and his situation. This is done in a natural way, and does not feel forced on the reader.
   Hutchison also sets the tone for the book nicely, it doesn't take long for the first scary thing to happen. And there's plenty of scares to come later in the book, after all this is Horror.

   The first person narrative works very well here. You get an instant feel for Kyle, and how the situation he's thrown into plays with his mind. And Hutchison is also very good at playing with the mind of the reader. It's difficult to get a grip on what is really happening, what is illusion and what is reality, and this helps keep an eerie atmosphere throughout the book.

   The story unfolds at a quite rapid pace, there really is not much of a rest between the action sequences. And there is plenty of action in the book. Hutchison is also very good at keeping you mystified, things that seem ordinary can come back as haunting riddles later.

   This is a very good debut by Hutchison. The story managed to grip me, and I will certainly get hold of the rest of the books in this series. And if you like a good horror story with a few twists and plenty of action along the way, I suggest you pick it up too.

   I have to end this with a little note. As you may have noticed this book was published by HarperCollins Children's Books, and on the back cover there is a label that says 9+. This should in my opinion be treated like video-game labels, not fit for children under nine, but with no upper limit of how old you should be to enjoy it. My + is 27, and I see no problem in recommending this to anyone who likes a good scare regardless of age.

   The next book in the series, Invisible Fiends: Raggy Maggie is out 5 August 2010.

LINKS: Barry Hutchison HarperCollins Children's Books

REVIEW: SOULLESS BY GAIL CARRIGER

2010-06-26T01:43:00.001+02:00

Cover design: Lauren Panepinto

Cover photograph: Derek Caballero

Cover model: Donna Ricci

SOULLESS

THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE: BOOK THE FIRST

GAIL CARRIGER

ISBN: 978-0-316-05663-2

Pages: 357

Publisher: Orbit

Publishing Date: 1 October 2009

On the cover:

ALEXIA TARABOTTI IS LABORING UNDER A GREAT MANY SOCIAL TRIBULATIONS.
First, she has no soul. Second. she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, braking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire-and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf ) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia is responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

    Before you start reading this book you might want to make sure you have adequate supplies of tea in the house. And maybe something to snack on, cucumber sandwiches will be fine, in case you start feeling a bit peckish.

Soulless is set in an alternate Victorian England, or London to be more precise, where vampires and werewolves are real. And miss Carriger manages to make the supernatural element come to life in a way that makes her world as believable as any other alternate history I have read. There's nothing that seems out of place here, the world is fully realised and certainly feels like historical fiction in a world where the supernatural is real.

    Alexia Tarabotti is a very well realised heroine, she's smart, independent and also believable. It's good to see a female character that can be both a lady and a action heroine. I think most women can identify with her to some degree, and she is certainly a good role-model for girls. Even when Alexia gets involved in romance it happens in a way that seems natural, and is not at all overly romantic or soppy.

    The werewolves and vampires in this book are a natural part of the Victorian world. They are not put there just to put a paranormal spin on the story, but are an integral part of the whole. And I must say I liked how miss Carriger handles them. There's a really interesting spin on some of the vampires in Soulless, but I'll leave you to discover what that is for yourselves.

   The action and suspense in this book is expertly handled by miss Carriger, both work excellent and keep the pages turning. But what stands out most about the book is how much fun it is. Reading Soulless is the most fun I've had reading a book in a long time. I smiled through most of the book and laughed out loud several times, something I rarely do.

    I would recommend this book to anyone. It has good suspense and action, and is hilarious. There's vampires and werewolves, romance and Victoriana. So if any of these elements interest you, or you just have a sense of humour, this is one book I advise you to pick up. I also really enjoyed miss Carriger's writing, it suited the story perfectly. This is my most enjoyable read so far this year, so there's no reason not to go out and buy it.

   I have already read Changeless -The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Second, and will review it here soon.

LINKS: Gail Carriger Orbit

REVIEW UPDATE - JUNE 2010

2010-06-01T18:23:00.000+02:00

About "Review Update".

At the beginning of every month I'm going to do one of these update posts where I tell you what is happening with the books I have reviewed previously. News about new editions, be it paperback releases or release in another territory, and new volumes in a series that is released. Since I am Norwegian myself, I will also try to do updates on releases in other languages, but will not hunt for those all over the internet.

But if you are an author, publicist, publisher or agent who has had a book reviewed here and know of an upcoming event, please contact me by e-mail: weirdmage[at]yahoo[dot]com , and I will post about it.

May has been a "test month" for me on the blog, so I've only done three reviews, but there is still some updates.

MARK CHARAN NEWTON

June is a busy month for Mark Charan Newton. First is the UK Paperback release of Nights of Villjamur from Tor UK on the 4th of June.

ISBN: 978-0-330-46166-5

My review is found here .

Also out on the 4th of June, and also from Tor UK, is Book Two of Legends of the Red Sun - City of Ruin.

ISBN: 978-0-239-71269-1

I will read and review this later.

And finally, on the 29th of June the US edition of Nights of Villjamur will be published by Bantam Spectra (Random House).

ISBN: 978-0-345-52084-5

My review is (still) here .

REVIEW: NIGHTS OF VILLJAMUR BY MARK CHARAN NEWTON

2010-05-27T14:08:00.001+02:00

Cover illustration: Benjamin Carré

NIGHTS OF VILLJAMUR

BOOK ONE OF LEGENDS OF THE RED SUN

MARK CHARAN NEWTON

ISBN: 978-0-230-71258-4

Pages: 451

Publisher: Tor UK

Publishing date: 5 June 2009

Paperback out: 4 June 2010

On the cover:

An ice age strikes a chain of islands, and thousands come to seek sanctuary at the gates of Villjamur: a city of ancient spires and bridges, a place where cultists use forgotten technology for their own gain and where, further out, the dead have been seen walking across the tundra.

When the Emperor commits suicide, his elder daughter, Rika, is brought home to lead the Jamur Empire, but the sinister Chancellor plans to get rid of her and claim the throne for himself.

Meanwhile, a senior investigator in the city inquisition must solve the high-profile and savage murder of a city politician, whilst battling evils within his own life, and a handsome and serial womanizer manipulates his way into the imperial residence with a hidden agenda.

When reports are received that tens of thousands of citizens are dying in a bizarre genocide on the northern islands of the Empire, members of the elite Night Guard are sent to investigate. It seems that, in this land under a red sun, the long winter is bringing more than just snow...

   There is one thing that can annoy me to the point that it seriously hampers my enjoyment of a book: How a word is pronounced. This may have something to do with me being Norwegian, sometimes my Norwegian and English pronunciations will battle for superiority. It happened with the name Lathraea in this book. In Norwegian it would be Lath-ra-eh-ah. Fortunately Twitter exists so I could ask the author and get told that it is actually pronounced La-threy-a. -The wonders of modern technology put to good use.

   Nights of Villjamur is medieval fantasy of the type they used to make back when vampires didn't sparkle. It can seem pretty standard if you list the elements present: Princess, rogue, warrior, and conspiracy. But if you also list zombies, detective, and environmental disaster, it becomes clear that this is something that is fresh and exciting.

   One of the central storylines is that of a murder investigation. Newton uses this to show us much of the workings of the city of Villjamur. The investigation is also used to uncover several other strands of the story, and this is done in a way that feels natural and not forced. It is also done in a way that always leaves you wanting more. I found that as I progressed in the book my breaks became fewer and further apart. The pace of the story really drives you along, and the pages fly.

    Most of the story happens in the city of Villjamur, and we get glimpses of most parts of the city throughout the story. And I for one really got a good feeling of how the city functions. Both the architecture and the people of the city are well realized. I never felt that there was something left out that needed to be known about this location. That being said, there are only tantalizing glimpses of the world outside of the city. You get told there is a larger world out there, but you only gets to see parts of it. There is nothing wrong with this, in fact I think it helps the book that Newton has concentrated on showing us the city. And of course there will be sequels to the book that more than likely will show us much more.

    One thing that I really liked in this book was the way Newton handled the winter. Most people probably don't think much about that, but when you grow up in Norway with four months of snow a year you notice if it's done badly, and Newton has definitely pulled it off. The scenes with snowball-throwing made me both nostalgic and guilty about my own childhood.

   This book is definitely going onto my list of favourites. I would like to recommend it to anyone who likes a good story. It's brilliantly written, and sucks you in in the way all great books should.
   Mark Charan Newton is certainly an author to keep an eye on for the future.

Note: The sequel City of Ruin will be published in the UK 4 June 2010.

LINKS: Mark Charan Newton Tor UK

REVIEW: DRAGON HAVEN BY ROBIN HOBB

2010-05-07T06:02:00.000+02:00

Cover illustration: Jackie Morris

DRAGON HAVEN

BOOK TWO OF THE RAIN WILD CHRONICLES

ROBIN HOBB

ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 733581 - 7

Pages: 570

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publishing Date: 4 March 2010

On the cover:

Return to the Rain wilds.

The dragon keepers and the fledgling dragons are forging a passage up the treacherous Rain Wild River. They are in search of the mythical Elderling city of Kelsingra, and are accompanied by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and a group of hunters who must search the forests for game with which to keep the ragons fed. With them are Alise, who has escaped her cold marriage to the cruel libertine Hest Finbok in order to continue her study of dragons, and Hest's amanuensis, Bingtown dandy, Sedric.

Rivalries and romances are already threatening to disrupt the band of explorers: but external forces may prove to be even more dangerous. Chalcedean merchants are keen to lay their hands on dragon blood and organs to turn them to medicine and profit. Their traitor has infiltrated the expedition and will stop at nothing to obtain the coveted body parts. And then there are the Rain Wilds themselves: mysterious, unstable and ever perilous, its mighty river running with acid, its jungle impenetrable and its waterways uncharted.

Will the expedition reach their destination unscathed? Does the city of Kelsingra even exist? Only one thing is certain: the journey will leave none of the dragons nor their human companions unchanged by the experience.

   Unsurprisingly this book follows directly on from the events of "The Dragon Keeper". It does start off with a info-dump prologue that at first glance looks like a unnecessary read if you come directly from the previous book. But the prologue not only recaps the events of book one, Hobb has hidden some interesting new info in it, so it is an essential read.

   This book takes place wholly away from the civilization of the Rain Wilds, and follows the journey of the dragons and their keepers further into the wilds. Not only the physical wilds of the Rain Wild River, but also the wild landscape of the human psyche.
   Parts of the book looks at the dynamics of a group of individuals who are cut off from civilization. Some of what happens reminded me of "Lord of the Flies", and i would not be surprised if Hobb has drawn some of her inspiration from William Golding's novel.

   There is a bit more action here than in "The Dragon Keeper", and the overall pace of events is stepped up a bit. There are still passages that are largely devoted to character building, and that is certainly still a large part of the story, but there is quite a few events happening in the physical world too.
   It quickly becomes clear that there actually was a bit more happening in book one than was told to the reader. This was mostly very natural, as it was hidden from the point of view characters at the time. One development did make me feel a bit cheated as I felt the character should have noticed earlier, or at the very least had a feeling of something going on.

    One thing that there is certainly more of here than in book one is romance. Not that it is in any way turned into a "Romantic Fantasy", but there is a bit of "action" in the book. This comes naturally with the story, and at least one of the developing relationships has been telegraphed since early in the previous book.
   Robin Hobb also manages to sneak in some surprises on the romance front, and one of them comes as such a surprise that I doubt anyone will catch on before the reveal.

    What was the most interesting part of the book for me was finding out about the relationship between humans, dragons and elderlings. This is revealed in more detail here than in any of Hobbs previous works. This relationship between three races is something that has been part of Robin Hobb's fantasy world since "The Farseer Trilogy" and to see what looks like most of the mysteries revealed is very satisfying.

    Having mentioned earlier in this review that there is more action here than in "The Dragon Keeper", I feel the need to say that it is by no means an action oriented adventure. But as with the previous volume in "The Rain Wild Chronicles" I felt that the slow pace fitted the story.
    I've read several reports that these two books were first intended as one, and I have no trouble believing that. It might be possible to read this book as a standalone, but I would definitely recommend you read these to books as a split volume and begin with the first one.

    The ending of this book, and as far as I know "The Rain Wild Chronicles", was a bit of a letdown. Not because it was a badly written ending, or that it didn't finish the story. It did however leave me with a lack of closure that almost screams for a follow up. I hope it comes in the form of another trilogy from Robin Hobb, and that she's working on it now, because I want to read it as soon as possible.

LINKS: My review of "The Dragon Keeper"   Robin Hobb   Harper Voyager

REVIEW: THE DRAGON KEEPER BY ROBIN HOBB

2010-05-04T04:07:00.001+02:00

Cover Illustration: Jackie Morris

THE DRAGON KEEPER

BOOK ONE OF THE RAIN WILD CHRONICLES

ROBIN HOBB

ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 727374 - 4

Pages: 553

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publishing date: 25 June 2009

On the cover:

17 Damaged Dragons, 13 Misfits, 1 Impossible Quest.

Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wild River: the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in generations. Many have died along the way. With its acid waters and noxious airs, it is a hard place for anyone to survive.

People are changed by the Rain Wilds, subtly or otherwise. One such is Thymara. Born with black claws and other abhorrences, she should have been exposed at birth. But her father saved her and her mother has never forgiven him. Like everyone else, Thymara is fascinated by the return of the dragons: it is as if they symbolise the return of hope to their war-torn world. Leftrin, captain of the liveship Tarman, also has an interest in the hatching; as does Bingtown newlywed, Alise Finbok, who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know about dragons.

But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old. Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly. Some do not even have wings; others seem witless and bestial. Soon they are seen as a danger and a burden: something must be done. Far upriver, so far it is shown on no map, lies the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra - or so it is believed. Perhaps there the dragons will find their true home. But they cannot get there on their own: a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them.

To be a dragon keeper is a dangerous job: their charges are vicious and unpredictable. and there are many unknown perils: none are expected to return, or even survive...

Robin Hobb is one of my favourite fantasy authors, and in my opinion her trilogy "The Liveship Traders" is one of the best Fantasy series ever written. So obviously I was excited to hear about this book, and could not wait to get my hands on it and read it, something I did when it came out. I actually re-read it for this review.

The Dragon Keeper's starts out with a retelling of some of the events of Hobb's "The Liveship Traders" from a different perspective. And it continues with events happening at the same time as "The Tawny Man" trilogy, and an event in that trilogy is mentioned.

Despite all that, this book is not a direct follow-up to any of these two trilogies, it is however a continuation of events from "The Liveship Traders". I feel it is more a independent companion volume to that trilogy, and you do not have to read the 2500 pages of "The Liveship Traders" to read this book. In fact if you're unfamiliar with Robin Hobb's work, you can safely start here.

If you have read and like me enjoyed "The Liveship Traders" however this book is essential reading.

The story of The Dragon Keeper is about two thing, both of which are helpfully mentioned in the full title, Dragons and the Rain Wilds.

The Rain Wilds of Robin Hobb's world remains a rather mysterious place despite appearing in "The Liveship Traders", but here most of that veil of mystery is lifted. Many of the things that have previously only been hinted at are talked about openly here. This demystification does not make the Rain Wilds a less interesting place. To me it lends depth, character and believability to the place.

The story of the Rain Wilds society is mostly told through the eyes of the teenager Thymara. Her deformities make her an outcast, and through her we see the darker side of the harsh life along the Rain Wild River.

The dragons in this book in many ways mirror the inhabitants of the Rain Wilders. They are flawed creatures, and do not resemble the god-like noble beasts that dragons usually are portrayed as in fantasy. This is both refreshing and necessary to give credence to the relationship between the dragon sand their keepers. It is through this relationship that the reader, at the same time as the keepers discovers the nature of Hobb's dragons.

Not only do the dragons of this book differ from the kind you usually find in Epic/Medieval fantasy, so does the story. You will not find any dark lord that has to be defeated, no orphaned boy has to rise to save the world and there's a distinct lack of wizards lurking in the background.

There is a quest, but it takes backstage to the development of the characters and it only starts towards the end of the book.

Robin Hobb's writing has never been the most action-filled fantasy. "The Farseer Trilogy", her fastest paced so far, is slow compared to most other fantasy in a secondary world setting. And this is unquestionably the slowest paced Hobb has ever been. Not to say nothing happens, it does.

When I had finished this book I felt satisfied with the journey Hobb had taken me on. The detailed character development was both refreshing and relaxing. It was good reading fantasy that allowed me to really get to know the characters, and if that sounds interesting you should try this out..

I would also recommend this to anyone interested in dragons and their interactions with humans. And finally, this is definitely an essential read for anyone who wants to gain more insight into the world of the Farseers and the Cursed Shores.

That said the ending of the book is rather sudden, there is no great cliffhanger, and it doesn't feel like a natural ending. This should be no problem for anyone reading it now, the follow-up "Dragon Haven" is out now. And I review it here.

LINKS: Robin Hobb Harper Voyager

WELCOME.

2010-05-04T01:19:00.000+02:00

Welcome to my blog.

Some of you may know me from Twitter, but for those of you who don't here's a short bio:

My name is Ole A. Imsen. I'm 36 years old. I live in Kongsvinger, Norway.

What's this blog about?

This is a book-blog, or more precisely my book-blog.
I mostly read Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. And that will be the focus of this blog.
As stated above the blog will be mostly reviews, with some other content.

Why have I started this blog?

I've been reading a lot for the last thirty years. And I've loved books for as long as I can remember.
One of the things I love most is getting other people into reading what I like, and a blog is the place to that in our day and age.

This have not been a spur of the moment decision for me. I first started thinking about my own blog last autumn. It's taken me that long to be sure I wanted to do this, and be sure I wanted to put in the commitment to make a blog I could be proud of.

"Mission statement."

This is my blog, containing my opinions (unless it is clearly stated otherwise). I promise you all that I will be honest when giving my opinion, and that no person , corporation or organization will influence it.
My father has worked as a journalist since before I was born, and I will strive to follow the ideals that he has worked to all these years. -With the obvious exception that a review is one persons subjective verdict and not objective fact.

Join my journey.

I'm completely new to blogging, and it's pretty obvious from the design of this blog that I don't know anything about programming.
So while I'll do my best, I do not doubt that I'll make errors, and occasionally do stupid things.
Please call me out on this. Comment on the blog, contact me on Twitter or drop me an e-mail.

Hopefully I'll get better at this as I get more experience at it. I know I'll try to.

Hope you will return later, and that I will be allowed to entertain, inform and intrigue you in the furure.
Ole A.