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Burgoo rated a book 2 of 5 stars

The Lives of Tao
by Wesley Chu (Goodreads Author)

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Once again I seem to be outside the hivemind. Look around the internet, & you’ll see glowing gushing reviews for Wesley Chu’s debut. Funny, action packed, with a protagonist that people identify with. That hasn’t been my experience at all.

Here’s...more Once again I seem to be outside the hivemind. Look around the internet, & you’ll see glowing gushing reviews for Wesley Chu’s debut. Funny, action packed, with a protagonist that people identify with. That hasn’t been my experience at all.

Here’s the setup: When a spy mission goes cockeyed, an alien named Tao is forced to look for a new host. He grabs Roen Tan & enlists him in a war between alien species that goes back millions of years. Hijinks ensue.

The tone is light & breezy; the type that you would normally associate with an Urban Fantasy novel. Despite the hilarity that so many others experienced, I didn’t find the book to be particularly funny. Of course humor is incredibly subjective, so YMMV.

My biggest gripe is squarely at the center of the book: Roen Tan himself. When we first meet Roen, he’s an underemployed fat slob with a post-collegiate drinking problem. While out on a drunken night on the town, he ends up playing the unwilling host to Tao. Other than as a collection of negative characteristics, Roen as a character doesn’t really seem to exist. He has no interests or hobbies. He doesn’t actually have any friends. (His roommate is the closest to a friend that we meet, yet their relationship seems to be more of a caricature of young male friendships rather than an actual representation of such.) He exists more as a placeholder for audience identification than as an actual character.

Assuming that Roen is indeed intended as an audience identifier, then his characterization is insulting. (And I would argue that he does in fact exist solely for the reader to identify with. The narrative is crafted in such a way that the reader is forced into this position. And if there’s any doubt about this, simply read some of the many reviews on the book. It’s clear that readers are seeing themselves in Roen.) Roen is continually referred to as being incompetent and of less worth than other characters. Chu doesn’t try to subvert this image, but instead plays it up; perhaps to greater dramatize Roen’s training. If the author creates a character that is intended as a reader substitute, and that character is continually belittled by other characters as well as the author, then what does the author think of the reader?

Of course we do have another option in characters, that being the titular alien, Tao. Tao is presented as one of the good guys, but think for a moment about what actually happens here. Tao forces himself upon an unwilling host (We don’t know if Roen would have given permission, but he was never asked for his consent.). Tao can only leave Roen with Roen’s death. So Roen has zero choice in the matter. At this point Roen is thrust into a war that has lasted for thousands of years. And what exactly is the difference between the good guys and the bad guys? Both sides want to run the world and treat humans as little more than pets. The “good” guys might create less military destruction, but we really don’t know that.

With such a problematic core, I didn’t find The Lives of Tao to be enjoyable. Admittedly, I’m on the outside of what seems to be the consensus opinion.(less)

Burgoo rated a book 5 of 5 stars

London Falling
by Paul Cornell (Goodreads Author)

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The most common failing of any mashup is that the parts aren’t true to their origin, & the result is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Paul Cornell’s London Falling combines a police procedural with dark urban fantasy, and retains both the...more The most common failing of any mashup is that the parts aren’t true to their origin, & the result is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Paul Cornell’s London Falling combines a police procedural with dark urban fantasy, and retains both the grittiness of the former with the wonder and awe of the latter.

The book opens as a straight police procedural. We see the culmination of a long undercover operation to arrest the leader of a large portion of the organized crime in London. When the suspect dies a shocking and strange death while in custody, a small group of police officers are tasked with cleaning up the mess that the investigation has become. They follow a lead into an abandoned house, where a strange encounter leaves the police officers with the Sight. That is, the ability to see the hidden supernatural nature of the city. It turns out that their prey is a centuries old witch who has been abducting and killing children, among other victims.

Unlike most urban fantasy, Cornell’s magical London is a horrible place. There is blood sacrifice, murdered children, horrible things in the shadows, and other dangers. The detectives are stumbling around trying to find the rules of this place, and the reader along with them. They struggle to achieve the few answers that they can find, and we are left with as much mystery as the characters themselves.

Rather than having his characters respond with a gleeful acceptance of this other state of reality, Cornell has the characters respond the way that people actually do after a trauma. There is denial, followed by a certain amount of acceptance, and ultimately a reliance on routine. There’s a sense that the familiar procedure of police work is all that is keeping them sane. And their procedure is what they count on to resolve the situation. The difference being that this time it’s (literally) a wicked witch, and not a drug lord or other criminal. Just as this reliance on procedure grounds the characters, it also grounds the story for the reader. The mental reactions of all the police officers are thus relatable.

London Falling is a fast paced gritty dark fantasy that should appeal to fans of both police procedurals and urban fantasy. Despite the dark subject matter, it was a very entertaining read. While the story is complete in his volume, there does seem to be a setup for future stories in this world. Hopefully they’ll be just as compelling.(less)

Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Journey Into Mystery: Fear Itself
by Kieron Gillen

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Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Grim Company
by Luke Scull (Goodreads Author)

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At first glance, The Grim Company appears to be a bog standard fantasy novel. In a city state ruled by an ancient despotic mage, a disparate group of adventurers struggle to end his rule. There’s a young man destined to be a great hero, a couple of g...more

Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars

14
by Peter Clines (Goodreads Author)

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One of my favorite horror tropes is when the familiar becomes sinister. Creepy dolls, municipal buildings like schools or hospitals; I’m sure that you’re familiar with the technique. In 14, it’s an apartment building. There are a lot of them out ther...more One of my favorite horror tropes is when the familiar becomes sinister. Creepy dolls, municipal buildings like schools or hospitals; I’m sure that you’re familiar with the technique. In 14, it’s an apartment building. There are a lot of them out there like this. At first glance they appear to be normal, but when you look more closely, things get strange. The architecture doesn’t quite make sense. Rooms don’t align; door or stairways don’t actually go anywhere. Changes and additions seem to have been made on an ad hoc basis.

The story opens with Nate, our protagonist, moving into an old apartment building. As he gets settled in he begins to notice strange things, like the light in his kitchen that only works as a black light. Or the strange florescent roaches with an extra leg. The more he looks into things, the stranger it becomes. Eventually he assembles his own Scooby Gang with his neighbors. They pool their knowledge and resources and eventually get to the bottom of the mystery of the Kavach building.

There are a couple of reasons why 14 is so effective. First is Clines’ skillful character development of various members of the ad hoc Scooby gang. They all have their own personalities, backstories and motivations. There are some mysterious elements as well to some of the characters, providing additional suspense and questions. The interactions of the building residents are a joy to read.

Most important is the skillful way that Clines’ handles the mystery at the heart of 14. The reader is only privy to the same information that Nate has at any given time. As events unfold and more and more strange facts emerge, there is a growing sense of dread. What is going on with this building? While the eventual solution does explain the strange things we’ve seen, the various pieces that are uncovered are sufficiently bizarre that it’s not easy to predict the secret of the Kavach building.

14 is a horror mystery rich in mythology, with vibrant characters and a strong emotional core. I’d highly recommend it to fans of the weird.(less)

Burgoo rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Mind Mgmt Volume One: The Manager
by Matt Kindt (Goodreads Author)

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In another medium, Mind MGMT would be referred to as a High Concept story. What if the US government had a secret program with weaponized mind control specialists?

In its particulars, Mind MGMT is the story of Meru, a true crime writer who investigat...more

Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire

Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #2)
by Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author)

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In case you haven’t been reading McGuire’s InCryptid series, here’s what you need to know so far: A cryptid is a creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven. This would include mythological stories about dragons and gorgons as well as...more In case you haven’t been reading McGuire’s InCryptid series, here’s what you need to know so far: A cryptid is a creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven. This would include mythological stories about dragons and gorgons as well as more modern stories about Bigfoot or chupacabras. The Covenant of St George is an ancient society dedicated to the extermination of all cryptids. A few generations ago the Price family came to America and left the Covenant. The Prices think that humans and cryptids can live together peacefully. And the Covenant thinks they’re all dead.

Midnight Blue-Light Special focuses on Verity Price, the young Price daughter living in NYC in order to follow her dreams of being a ballroom dancer. She learns that the Covenant is sending a team to New York. Their report could lead to the Covenant exterminating all the cryptids in the city. And things will just get worse if they learn that the Prices are still alive.

On a surface level, the InCryptid series is like most urban fantasy series. There’s a young female protagonist, who is beautiful and a badass. The story is told in first person, with a quippy narrative voice. The heroine has friends and allies who are members of exotic nonhuman species. The reading experience is fairly light and breezy.

That being said, McGuire has a secret weapon that separates the InCryptid books from the plethora of urban fantasies lining the shelves everywhere these days. That weapon is her world building. First, she ignores the popular nonhumans. There are no vampires or werewolves to be found in these books. Instead, Verity Price’s New York is populated with dragons, gorgons, boogeymen, and a wide variety of idiosyncratic species from all over the world. Second, each of these species seems to have their own elaborate social and biological histories, and best yet – we get to see how these histories influence the behaviors of the characters. So members of predatory species act like predators. Those who would be prey act more like creatures who have a history of being hunted. This sort of world building gives an underlying structure to the series, and makes it stronger than some simple sort of wish fulfillment.

That being said, I did have a couple of problems with the book. First, at times McGuire is a bit too prone to infodumps. You get the feeling that she’s created all this cool backstory, and at times just can’t resist telling the reader about it. Now I really appreciate the work and world building involved, but it’s better to let that come out in characterization and action, not in characters directly telling each other these things.

Second, the agents from the Covenant were a bit too inept. After more than a book of building up the Covenant as an incredibly powerful antagonist, these agents really didn’t cause too much of a problem for Verity or the cryptids of New York. If the members of the Covenant had caused a bit more havoc in New York then it would have increased the tension substantially.

Midnight Blue-Light Special is a thoroughly entertaining read. Its detailed world building creates a fantasy world that it rich in depth and detail. The InCryptid series is one of the best in modern urban fantasy.(less)

Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Earth Below, Sky Above (The Human Division, #13)
by John Scalzi (Goodreads Author)

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Burgoo rated a book 2 of 5 stars The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Once again I seem to be outside the hivemind. Look around the internet, & you’ll see glowing gushing reviews for Wesley Chu’s debut. Funny, action packed, with a protagonist that people identify with. That hasn’t been my experience at all. Here’s...more
May 14, 2013 07:19am · see review
Burgoo rated a book 5 of 5 stars London Falling by Paul Cornell (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The most common failing of any mashup is that the parts aren’t true to their origin, & the result is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Paul Cornell’s London Falling combines a police procedural with dark urban fantasy, and retains both the...more
May 07, 2013 08:59am · see review
Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars Journey Into Mystery: Fear Itself by Kieron Gillen	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 03, 2013 10:19am
Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Grim Company by Luke Scull (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
At first glance, The Grim Company appears to be a bog standard fantasy novel. In a city state ruled by an ancient despotic mage, a disparate group of adventurers struggle to end his rule. There’s a young man destined to be a great hero, a couple of g...more
May 03, 2013 07:20am · see review
Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars 14 by Peter Clines (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite horror tropes is when the familiar becomes sinister. Creepy dolls, municipal buildings like schools or hospitals; I’m sure that you’re familiar with the technique. In 14, it’s an apartment building. There are a lot of them out ther...more
May 03, 2013 06:47am · see review
Burgoo rated a book 3 of 5 stars Mind Mgmt Volume One: The Manager by Matt Kindt (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In another medium, Mind MGMT would be referred to as a High Concept story. What if the US government had a secret program with weaponized mind control specialists? In its particulars, Mind MGMT is the story of Meru, a true crime writer who investigat...more
Apr 16, 2013 06:37am · see review
Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #2) by Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In case you haven’t been reading McGuire’s InCryptid series, here’s what you need to know so far: A cryptid is a creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven. This would include mythological stories about dragons and gorgons as well as...more
Apr 13, 2013 06:37am · see review
Burgoo rated a book 4 of 5 stars Earth Below, Sky Above (The Human Division, #13) by John Scalzi (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 09, 2013 08:11am

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