Eoghann Irving's Blog, page 17
April 2, 2015
Book Review: The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod
This review was originally written in September 2000. I am reposting it here as part of a project to republish all of my old reviews in one place.
This is the second Ken MacLeod book I’ve read. Its part of a sequence of books, all of which share the same universe and explore certain political ideas. The Stone Canal also has particularly close links with the follow up book The Cassini Division (which I read first just to be difficult) in that the events in this book are referred to in The Cassini Division.
The central characters in this book are Jon Wilde (yes the plural was deliberate). The story jumps back and forward from the 20th century where he was a political agitator and “anarchist with nuclear capability” to the far future where he is brought back to life.
His return to the living is the responsibility of the construction robot Jay-Dub who wants him to take Dave Reid (an old associate of Wilde’s and now the most important man in Ship City) to court. Add to this the fact that Dave Reid’s robot concubine Dee Model is attempting to assert her own freedom and that she just happens to have the body of Wilde’s now deceased wife…
As you can no doubt tell there is a lot going on in this book. Its packed with interesting ideas. MacLeod does a stunning job of world building throughout this book, taking is from 1975 through into the 21st century via wars and revolutions and then on to the far future in New Mars.
Be warned that political ideas are central to this book. In particular there is a sort of battle between libertarian ideals and socialist ideals. The two might seem light years apart but MacLeod makes a strong case for them actually being intertwined.
On several occasions I found myself exclaiming “but thats just not RIGHT” as I read what a character had to say about something. I see this as a tribute to the realism of MacLeod’s characters that I actually wanted to argue politics with them.
The book is imaginative and well written. MacLeod plays with the narrative form a little but not in such a way as to distract you from the story itself. His main characters have real personality to them. They aren’t simply mouthpieces for their politics.
I do wonder how easy it would be for people outside of the UK to read this book though. There are several references which would probably slip past them. Certain dates or unusual ways of referring to things. Since I live in Scotland it was rather an unusual feeling for me to read descriptions of places that I regularly pass.
by Ken MacLeod [Tor Books]
Price:
$4.22
£1.71
CDN$ 33.72
EUR 29,31
EUR 27,41
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April 1, 2015
Book Review: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
This book defies genre conventions in a number of ways. It does feature a young man who turns out to be critically important to the future of a fantasy land. But the thing is that Maia, the eponymous Goblin Emperor is not special. In fact he is exceptional in his ordinariness.
The story is also strangely lacking in the usual fantasy elements. There are no epic battles, there’s no clear villain for most of the book and events just sort of unfold at a sedate pace. It’s really more of an exploration of character and setting than it is a story.
And yet it does what it does with such skill that anything it lacks is easily swept aside.
What’s It All About?
Maia is the fourth son of the Emperor of the Elflands. He has lived most of his life in exile at a country estate, hidden away due to the embarrassment of his half elf, half goblin heritage. However the sudden death of the Emperor and his other sons thrusts a young, unprepared Maia into the role of Emperor.
Maia has to deal with court intrigues, his ignorant of court ways and come to grips with his miserable childhood, all while ruling the Elflands.
He’s Just Like Me!
As I mentioned earlier Maia is a very ordinary person and that makes him and his behavior easy to understand. His mild personality and determination to do the right thing make him an underdog you cheer for even though he’s technically the most powerful person in the book.
What Katherine Addison has done here is take the turmoil and doubt that most people go through in their teenage years and create an external counterpoint for it that adults can relate to.
Maia spends a lot of time berating himself for his inadequacies and if he was just a regular teenager, this would probably come across as self-indulgent and whiny (as teenagers do) but as someone shouldering an unasked for burden without proper training his doubts and missteps are much more appealing.
From beginning to end this book is a thorough and believable portrait of this honest young man. Other characters do not get nearly the same sort of depth in their treatment. Because the POV sticks firmly to Maia and because, as the book emphasises, his position as Emperor isolates him from other people we only get to see the other characters as they interact with him.
What’s The Plot?
Well, there really isn’t much of one beyond what I already told you. Things happen but there’s no urgency to the events and Maia does not drive them . He’s not completely passive but he primarily reacts to the things that happen around him.
Did You Like It?
Very much so. Maia is just an instantly likable and relatable character. Inhabiting his viewpoint draws you in and on through the book. You want him to succeed and be happy.
There is a mystery over his father’s death but it is downplayed for most of the book, as are the attempted coups and similar moments which would be the dramatic center of other fantasy books.
Addison is more interested in how things affect Maia and how his sudden ascension will change the Elflands
Social Change
. Maia is, by the nature of his arrival on the throne and his upbringing, an agent of social change. It’s not that he sets out to make great changes and throughout most of the book we are shown how limited he is despite being the ruler of the Elflands.
But Maia’s worldview is very modern and inevitably his approach impacts the ruling bodies around him as they either resist or eagerly take advantage of the new opportunities that present themselves.
Which leads me on to one of my criticisms of the book. Addison has used world history to construct a very credible post-medieval society. What she doesn’t really do is provide a good explanation in story for Maia’s progressive attitudes. I can’t see it as something he would have learned during his upbringing and his access to other points of view would have been extremely limited.
Stubbornly Noble
If Maia’s progressive attitudes feel like a stretch, his naive attitude seems much more natural as does his drive to do the right thing. But he is noble to an almost superhuman level.
While he frequently berates himself for his failures, he never really seems to be tempted to do the wrong thing. He’s nice to a fault. Combine that with the fact that the opposition to him is not given a strong presence in the book and you do come away with the feeling that everything goes his way.
And yet I’m going to give the novel a pass on that because the story really isn’t about conflict, or at least not that sort of conflict. Instead it has the unfashionable and perhaps naively romantic message that if you do the right thing and treat people well, it will all work out.
Buy, Borrow or Skip
If you have any interest in fantasy at all then this one is a buy.
by Katherine Addison [Tor Fantasy]
Price:
$8.99
£6.04
CDN$ 9.50
EUR 8,81
EUR 7,99
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March 29, 2015
Book Review: Red by J.B. Wise
My latest #GreatIndieReviewProject book is Red by J.B. Wise. Taking characters from classic fairy tales (in this case Red Riding Hood), bringing them to the present day and giving them a paranormal spin is a concept that is rife with potential. I see glimmers of that potential in Red but sometimes the execution gets in the way.
It’s worth noting that there is a novelette that precedes this story and that reading that first might better set the stage for what happens in the novel. Some of the events are referenced here but don’t receive explanation which can lead to confusion for the reader. It’s easy as the author to forget that the reader doesn’t have the same knowledge you do, and there’s no guarantee that they will start with the first story.
So What’s It All About?
Well you have three primary actors in the story, Red who has been stuck in her Vila state for hundreds of years, but resists her abilities because she hates the curse associated with them. Then there’s Felan, second in command of the Guard. He finds himself drawn to Red despite the potential problems that creates for him. And finally there’s Jac, he wants Red.
These three each represent one of Red Riding Hood, the Wolf and the Hunter, though their personalities and actions may not be quite what you expect from the fairytale (again reading the novelette first may help a lot)
The story follows many of the tropes for paranormal romance in that Red and Felan start off disliking each other, but irresistibly attracted at the same time. It’s not an original concept, but the audience for these books likes that trope so fair enough.
Confusion
Reading what I wrote above, you may be asking yourself. What’s a Vila? Who are the Guard? And there lies one of the biggest problems with the book as it stands. J. B. Wise clearly has a complex world structure figured out with different powers all locked in a sort of eternal balance. This matters, because things are happening that could upset that balance, and the consequences will likely be bad.
The problem is, I can’t really tell you exactly who all these groups are, what they can do and why they might be doing what they are doing. I also can’t tell you, in terms of powers, what makes the Guard different from Vila or Trackers.
That confusion is one of the things that stopped me from fully immersing myself in the book. I was always trying to put things together and figure out how they related.
Setting and Description
In the book description, the author says the story is set in the woods of Washington. Now I have never been to Washington so I really can’t critique the accuracy of the depiction but with the exception of the one house where Alistair and Felan live (which I can picture) the other locations are a little generic.
This was even more noticeable to me in the flashback scene which was set in Scotland. As someone who spent the first 28 years of his life in Scotland, those scenes felt like “generic historical setting” not Scotland.
I feel that a little more time spent on the settings and getting across what makes those places unique would pay dividends. A missed opportunity here was to utilize scent more when the characters were in wolf form. Their behavior as wolves is carefully described and we get some references to smells, but scent is of particular importance to wolves and using that more would be a great way to emphasise the different form.
Characters
There are quite a few characters introduced in the book and some, naturally, don’t get a lot of time. The major characters are fairly well fleshed out however and to act in a way that is distinct to each other.
The relationship between Red and Felan is of course at the core of the story so that gets the most time. As I mentioned earlier it does follow a familiar pattern, but the change in attitude is slow enough to be believable.
There’s nothing wildly inconsistent here. Even the withholding of information that various characters do can be argued to be in character for them. There are, however, characters whose motivation could do with a little further explanation
In the end though how much you like this book probably hangs on how much you like Red and Felan. If you connect with their relationship the rest falls into place or gets swept aside.
Did You Like It?
I’m sort of lukewarm on this one. I didn’t get caught up in the story the way I would like to have and the cliffhanger at the end of the book didn’t hook me for the next one. The threats to both character and setting didn’t really connect with me. In the end I feel that there’s a better book inside this one waiting to get out. It’s possible that potential will be realized in the sequel.
Buy, Sample or Skip?
I’d say grab the sample from Amazon and try it out if the subject sounds interesting. People who are more into the paranormal romance genre will likely be more forgiving of what I perceived as flaws in the story. You’ll certainly get a good feel for the pacing and style of the book from that sample.
Red: Guarding the Vila Book One
by J.B. Wise [-]
Price:
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March 28, 2015
Weekly Free Fiction Roundup — March 28th 2015
There’s a lot of high quality fiction available on the internet these days. So much that it’s hard to keep up with it, never mind read it all. Each week I publish a roundup of science fiction, fantasy or horror stories that I’ve read and think are worth a few minutes of your time.
B
elow and in no particular order are the stories I enjoyed this week:
StarBreaker by Matthew Graybosch
Genre: Science Fantasy Novel Excerpt
Abram Mellech made no gesture, and gave no sign, but a force Morgan could not identify lifted him from his feet and slammed him into the wall. He struggled against the unseen bonds holding him. Naomi drew her sword, and it slipped from her grasp as she fell to her knees; her lip bled as she bit it to keep from screaming from whatever sudden pain had made a flash flood of her tears. Eddie was in no better condition. Even Sid for all his strength and stoicism had fallen, and lay whimpering on the floor.
Only Claire remained standing. Reaching into her purse she drew the monster revolver Morgan had given her as a Winter Solstice gift. Its blued steel barrel flashed beneath the luminescent lights, its engraving a warning to all: Ultima Ratio Regina — the Queen gets the last word. “Is that the best you can do, Reverend?”
Investments by Simon Kewin
Genre: Science Fiction
Evangelina Carter, CEO of Blue Planet Holdings, stared at her visitor down from Head Office. She must have misheard his words. “I’m sorry,” she said. “For a moment I thought you said you wanted to wipe out civilization.”
Mr. Allen peered at her over his half-moon glasses. You had to give it to them. They had their human mannerisms down to a T. “No of course not. Not wipe out. We merely wish to … subdue humanity. Knock it back to a less technological era. Our projections suggest five centuries should do the trick.”
Trolldom by Joyce Holt
Genre: Fantasy
The bitter air made her eyes stream. She wasn’t crying. Watering from the cold, that was all.
Weeping would come later, after dark, all alone, in silence. She had learned long ago never to let him hear so much as a whimper, never to show tears.
She trudged onward, her snowshoes making whisking sounds on the crust underfoot. Up the flanks of the dale, the spruces sighed, “Roo, roo, yo-roo,” as they danced to the wind, shaking off the newest dusting of snow.
Ithaka Rising by Lisa Cohen
Genre: Science Fiction
A half-remembered melody drifted through Jem’s mind. It was something Barre had written years ago. Years before the drugs and the arguments with their parents that had spilled over and poisoned the brothers’ relationship. It was a song Barre had written just for him — a lullabye that had filled the emptiness and chased away the fear Jem had felt strapped in the small jump chamber on their parents’ ship.
The sound faded as Jem woke to darkness.
“Barre?” His own voice sounded small and thin. He took a deep breath and the stale smell of the jump chamber brought him back to the present. This was Charon’s ship. Jem tugged on the restraints, but they didn’t retract. “Hey! Get me out of here!”
Twilight on Olympus by Eric Leif Davin
Genre: Science Fiction
Ares fell in flames across the Martian sky. The spacecraft’s braking aeroshell heated to a glowing white hot from atmospheric friction and began to melt like an ice cube left too long in the summer sun. Molten globs splattered and streaked the sides of the landing module as the vehicle plunged steeply into the thin air of Mars. Phoenix Castillo fired the braking jets, trying desperately to bring the craft up into a more horizontal descent. It wasn’t working. They knew insertion into elliptical orbit would be a dicey maneuver. Come in too high and the Ares would have ricocheted off the Martian atmosphere into deep space like a stone skipped across a pond; too low and gravity’s unforgiving embrace would bring the craft down too fast, ending Ares’ six month journey from Earth in fiery death. They came in too low.
Beyond the flaming port Phoenix could see the red Tharsis uplands mushrooming across the horizon, closer all the time. She burned the last of the craft’s precious fuel, hoping to at least hit the surface like she’d tried to hit the atmosphere, a glancing blow at an oblique angle. She heard her second in command yell in her helmet radio. She glanced left to where he was strapped in next to her. Frightened eyes behind his faceplate was the last thing she saw as the Ares slammed into the Martian surface and oblivion engulfed her.
Dragon Hoard Part 7: Gluttony
This is post #7 of 7 in the series “Dragon Hoard”
I watched in growing horror as Lee Anne crammed more and more food into her mouth. Grease dribbled down her face and some of the food fell to the floor but she was pushing an impossible amount into her mouth and she swallowed it without chewing.
I shuddered as a large mass of food made her throat bulge. Her whole body seemed to be swollen and bloated I realized, growing at an impossible rate as she consumed her food.
I reached out to stop her from taking another bite, but she pushed me away and bared her teeth at me, the smell of burgers, fries and fat strong on her breath. My step backward was involuntary, for a moment she seemed almost feral in her protection of her food.
Something had to be done quickly though. Whatever the source of the magic it was harming Lee Anne and if things went much further they might be irreversible. I didn’t have time to unravel the spell affecting her so my easiest option was to render her harmless to herself.
Fortunately, that is one charm I now carry everywhere. My hand fumbled in my pocket as I pulled out a small zip-lock bag, opened it, got a pinch of the fine dark powder in my hands and flicked it into Lee Anne’s eyes. She blinked, dropping the food long enough to wipe the powder from her stinging eyes, which was all the distraction I needed to initiate the spell and she slumped over against the slot machine.
The powder in question, just pepper. The spell requires a susceptible mind and people who are distracted are much more open to suggestion. The fact she was already under some sort of spell no doubt helped too, I’d been able to get her into the trance even quicker than I had hoped.
I checked her pulse and then, taking care to be as gentle as I could, lowered her to the floor, lying her on her side. Her breathing was gentle but her body was still under malign influence and it remained bloated and distorted. Underneath the stench of the fast food I thought I smelt a hint of something else, but I wasn’t able to place it. My spell would stop her feeding the magic affecting her, but her body might reject the food she had crammed into it, and I didn’t want her vomiting and choking.
"Interesting things keep happening round you don't they Mr. Brodie." An unfamiliar voice broke into my concentration.
I fought to control my impulse to spin round and finished checking Lee Anne and then rose to my feet and turned to face the woman who had addressed me.
I’m not good at guessing ages, but I’d guess at late thirties and from the gray pants suit she wore I knew she had a connection with Sante Drago. Which wasn’t a good thing.
“I’m a little busy right now.” I said in response to her opening salvo. Lee Anne might not have been a close friend, but she was a friend and I didn’t like being distracted from her problem. The woman glanced down at Lee Anne, the expression on her face seemed more curious than revolted. An odd reaction I thought.
“You seem to have averted the immediate crisis.” She said after a moment. “Mr. Drago would like a word with you.”
My stomach churned at those words. Nothing good would come of a face to face meeting with a dragon. So I did what I’m best at, I stalled.
“And you are?” I asked.
“Cassandra, Mr. Brodie, shall we be going?”
“Pleased to meet you.” I smiled and offered my hand to her. “And you are?” That one got the slightest twitch of her lip. Amusement or contempt, I couldn’t tell.
“I am Mr. Drago’s assistant and he would like to speak to you as a matter of urgency.” To me, notice, not with me.
“One of his assistants.” I noted. She gave me a look. “I saw him earlier. He has several assistants.”
“Indeed. Might I suggest, as one of his assistants, that Mr. Drago does not take very kindly to being kept waiting.”
“And why would that be exactly Cassandra? Why would the Silver Dragon want to talk to a minimum wage employee like me?”
“Must we play this game.” Cassandra tapped her foot, her patience finally succumbing to my charm and being replaced by annoyance. ” I know who you are Mr. Brodie and what you are. So does Mr. Drago, and he wishes to speak with you… now.”
I went from worried to scared in an instant. Just how much did they know about me? And who was Cassandra? Not your average assistant obviously. Not a dragon, I would have sensed that, but something else perhaps? She seemed unconcerned by the magic happening all around her. I couldn’t see anyway out of it though, I had to beard the dragon in his den. Apart from anything else, he was my employer.
I nodded my assent and gestured for Cassandra to lead the way. We hadn’t taken three steps though when a familiar noise echoed through the casino and set the hairs on my neck on end. It shouldn’t have been that loud, not with all the other sounds and not in such a big area. But then again, it wasn’t natural.
I hadn’t heard a wolf’s howl since the night they chased me across the countryside, but I wasn’t likely to forget it ever again. On the plus side, I guess I had located Rick. The bad news, a werewolf was loose inside the casino!
Next: Part 8 - The Dragon’s Lair
Dragon Hoard is a weekly serial sequel to The Wolves of West Virginia, which is available on Kindle.
The Wolves of West Virginia: An Urban Fantasy Novella (The Case Files of Douglas Brodie Book 1)
by Eoghann Irving [-]
Price:
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March 27, 2015
Book Review: Hawkwood’s Voyage by Paul Kearney
This is part one of “The Monarchies of God”. Presumably the traditional fantasy trilogy. Which is appropriate because this is a fairly traditional fantasy story. No elves and dwarves though. Instead the author has plumped for something closer to Europe in the middle-ages. The so called “Monarchies of God” (a group of countries) are being invaded by the heathen Murduks. And they’re losing. Their most holy city has been sacked yet they wrangle amongst themselves.
The church is equally.divided with men scheming to become the next High Pontif. Captain Richard Hawkwood is commissioned by the the King of Hebrion’s cousin to sail across the western ocean to a recently discovered and uncharted land.
The back cover compares this book to Guy Gavriel Kay and Robert Jordan. Well it doesn’t have the finesse that Kay’s books posses and its far more compact a tale than Jordan could ever write. A better comparison would be with David Gemmell I think.
Like Gemmell, Kearney is strong on the unpleasantness of war. There are also hugely defensible fortresses and attacked “savages”. This is very Gemmell. But Kearney throws some other elements into the mix too. His use of the church is very good. Several different groupings of churchman are introduced and the churches meddling in politics is nicely observed.
Kearney has obviously done his research too. His descriptions of life at sea are convincing and his terminology is good.
On the down side this book does read like book one of a series. As late as half way through this book (and its only 382 pages long) new characters were being introduced. Little if anything was resolved at the end leaving you slightly frustrated.
The story of Hawkwood’s actually voyage is only a small part of the tale told in this book and its not clear what significance it has to the rest of the story at all. No doubt things will become clearer in part 2.
Another point which is both positive and negative is the nature of the characters in the book. Very few of them are entirely sympathetic. This shows a certain depth which is nice but does tend to cause the reader to cheer on some minor characters rather than the supposed central characters.
All in all I enjoyed this, but it was unexceptional. Its well written, it moves along nicely. I’m certainly intrigued enough by the plot to want to read the rest of the series. But I can’t get that excited about it. This could be put down to the fact that I read it straight after finished a truly excellent book though.
Hawkwood's Voyage (Monarchies of God)
by Paul Kearney [Ace]
Price:
$6.99
£23.16
CDN$ 32.32
EUR 37,90
EUR 31,93
Fiction: Douglas Brodie — Meeting the PMSA
The following scene was written exclusively for members of my mailing list (see the form at the bottom of the page). It introduces the Paranormal, Mystical and Spiritual Association, an organization that will play a role in future stories. The first couple of paragraphs are visible but reading the rest of the scene requires a password which mailing list members receive.
Meeting the PMSA
“Perhaps the new members of our little group would like to take this opportunity to introduce themselves.” The speaker, a man so tanned I thought I could see the skin cancer forming, shot me a tv smile. Everyone else stared too.
It’s awkward when you meet people for the first time. Even more so if your introduction to them is to correct a mistake they have made. In telling the bearded and bespectacled man, whose name now escapes me, that he shouldn’t continue his experiments with pentagonal summoning matrixes my aim was to keep him alive. I also hoped to avoid unleashing the hoards of a demon plane on our world, but that was more of a secondary goal.
The following content is protected. Please enter the password provided to you via the mailing list to access it.
March 25, 2015
Book Review: The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton
This is a very BIG story. I don’t just mean this (1225 page) book either since its part one of The Night’s Dawn Trilogy. I don’t just mean the trilogy is big either. The scope of the story is huge. The number of characters involved is large and the ideas aren’t exactly small either.
Its hard to summarise a book of this size and nature. There are a number of plot threads running throughout the book. Only one of them could really be described as resolved by the time you read the last page. The closest thing to a main character is Joshua Carver, an exceptionally clever, lucky and good looking individual (don’t you hate him already?) who’s primary aims are first to earn enough money to refit his father’s ship and secondly to get into bed with every half decent woman he can find.
However, to concentrate on any individual character would be to miss a central point about this book. Its not about an individual or even a group of individuals. Its about the human race and how it deals with the crisis that developes over the course of this book.
In order to do this Hamilton flits about from character to character and planet to planet. We see situations from many different viewpoints and sometimes characters disappear for hundreds of pages before reappearing. This could be a real mess. But its not. And its a testament to Peter F. Hamilton’s writing skill that the pages fly by and I remained thoroughly engrossed throughout.
All of the primary characters are drawn in interesting detail as are many many secondary characters. In fact given the size of the story its not always clear which are primary and secondary. People are selfish, arrogant, opinionated, and frequently wrong. They are also occasionally heroic despite themselves and generally human.
The universe that Hamilton constructs for these characters is equally fascinating. Its packed to the brim with intriguing concepts and technologies from the Edenist’s bitek habitats and “affinity gene” to the superweapon the Alchemist and on to the Reality Dysfunction itself. This is an internally consistent and convincing world which is suddenly plunged into chaos.
So what is the “Reality Dysfunction”? Well by the end of the book you still won’t be entirely sure. Its initial manifestations are a strange pink cloud and the ability for the dead to possess living people. This book really just sets up the puzzle to be answered in the next two volumes, but I guarantee that by the time you’ve read it you’ll be more than happy to read two more books of this quality.
The Reality Dysfunction (The Night's Dawn)
by Peter F. Hamilton [Orbit]
Price:
$14.64
£4.57
CDN$ 14.44
EUR 11,66
EUR 17,58
March 24, 2015
Book Review: Fated by Benedict Jacka
It’s fair to say that Fated, the first book in Benedict Jacka’s Alex Verus series had a lot in common with a certain Chicago based mage. It’s a similarity that Jacka even acknowledges with an in story reference. I’m sure there are people who will dismiss the series as a cheap copy based just on a handful of familiar elements.
And that would be a shame because while it is hard not to make comparisons early on (raised by a dark mage… check!) Alex Verus is not Harry Dresden. Both his powers and his character are different. This is something that becomes increasingly obvious as the book progresses.
Those Similarities…
Okay the elephant in the book. Alex was apprenticed to a dark mage. There was an event during those years that resulted in people being killed or at least he thinks they were. Verus is very unpopular with the wizard’s council. Oh and there’s a troubled young female apprentice.
If you look at those elements in isolation and stripped of story specifics they do seem rather familiar. But that’s the thing about stories, when you summarize generically enough they all start to seem a bit familiar. The details matter, the execution of the plot, the nature of the characters.
With this being the first book, it takes a while for those elements to build up and play out, but give it that time and you find yourself in a rather different world.
Powerful But No Action Hero
So one of the interesting things about Alex Verus is that while his skill as a diviner makes him very powerful, it doesn’t equip him well for battle. As a result he favors running, hiding and above all planning.
Benedict Jacka has a lot of fun exploring the nature of Verus’ powers and what they can enable him to do. In many ways Alex is extremely powerful and very dangerous. But, at the same time, when faced with a Battle Mage he is vulnerable.
This emphasis on thinking and planning over bulling your way through is quite refreshing. Alex’ diviner powers make him challenging to write for too. His ability to see futures and thus anticipate what’s happening has to be carefully limited to stop him becoming untouchable.
Not Good, But Not Evil
The black mages in Alex Verus’ world aren’t moustache twirling villains. In fact they don’t consider themselves evil at all and a more accurate to say they subscribe to a form of social darwinism where power is what matters and might makes right.
There are several instances in this book where deals are struck with a black mage and the deal is honored. On the other side of things the so called white mages seem just as likely to lie, cheat or have people killed as the black mages. They just won’t admit it publicly.
In this grey and muddied world, Alex Verus with his clear cut principles and reluctance to let anyone, even an enemy, die, stands out.
No Padding
This is a short book and it moves at a lightning pace. It won’t take you long at all to read it. That’s not a criticism, too many books these days are bloated beyond the length they need. Fated tells its story and it doesn’t waste time doing it.
There’s nothing missing from the story. Characters are introduced and explored; the plot moves efficiently from one set piece to the next. There’s even enough time to throw in a few elements for future stories.
Who Is It For?
Do you like Urban Fantasy
Do you like the Dresden Files?
Did you prefer it when Harry wasn’t uber powerful?
Check it out.
Did You Like It?
Yes I really enjoyed the book. While the early similarities to Dresden were a little distracting in the first chapter, but I enjoy this type of story and the fact that Verus can’t just blast his way out of situations is appealing to me.
Buy, Borrow or Skip
This one’s a buy. In fact I expect to pick up the other books in the series in the near future too.
by Benedict Jacka [Ace]
Price:
$6.19
£2.88
CDN$ 9.49
EUR 7,61
EUR 7,82
March 21, 2015
Weekly Free Fiction Roundup — March 21st 2015
There’s a lot of high quality fiction available on the internet these days. So much that it’s hard to keep up with it, never mind read it all. Each week I publish a roundup of science fiction, fantasy or horror stories that I’ve read and think are worth a few minutes of your time.
Below and in no particular order are the stories I enjoyed this week:
Tech Wizard Part 3 by Rita de Heer
Genre: Science Fantasy Serial
A scattering of pastel granules splattered across the top of the dome. Its glass was a combination of perspex and glass that was formed into the desired shape by self-generated heat as it was being installed. It hardened during the course of its weathering.
“Where did your people get the dome?” I said, trying to be the good spy. Digital archives at Tech-School showed that only a few of these domes had been deployed on Earth. Most of the various recipient-peoples had kept them for use on their eventual new home-planets.
The Clear Blue Seas of Luna by Gregory Benford
Genre: Science Fiction
You know many things, but what he knows is both less and more than what I tell to us.
Or especially, what we all tell to all those others—those simple humans, who are like him in their limits.
I cannot be what you are, you the larger.
Mermaid’s Curse by Crissy Moss
Genre: Fiction excerpt
“Magic is energy, and energy is magic,” Salvia’s soft voice whispered just beyond her senses. “It is a cycle that flows back and forth across time and space. It knows no beginning. No end.”
The magic swayed around them, alive in the motion of the trees, and the waves on the shore. It slipped into her soul, wrapping around like a thread on a bobbin.
Marizza tried clearing out all distractions, concentrating on the ebb and flow of magic that she’d drawn in, and directing it down toward the candle in her hand.
The Three Brother Cities by Deborah Walker
Genre: Science Fiction
The creators, when they finally arrived, proved to be a disappointment.
“I’m not sure that I understand,” said Kernish, the eldest of the three brother cities. “Have you evolved beyond the need of habitation?”
Seven creators had decanted from the ship. They stood in Kernish’s reception hall; Kernish anthems swirled around them.
My Super Midlife Crisis by Steeven R. Orr
Genre: Superhero
GARRISON CITY — 1991
THE OLD MAN CLUNG precariously to the side of the Kent Building. His fingers ached and had begun to go numb. Sharp bursts of pain stabbed at each knuckle as he struggled to find purchase among the brick and mortar. He looked down through the night to the street below and gazed solemnly at the traffic that passed beneath him. He sighed. He’d only made it five floors and had two more to go to get to the roof. He’d been at this for fifteen minutes, that’s three minutes per floor. It just wasn’t good enough.
Twenty years ago he could have climbed all seven stories in less than five minutes with nary an effort.
But now? Well, now his body didn’t quite work the way it used to.
The Fox Bride by Mari Ness
Genre: Fairytale
He carried the squirming animal to his--no, their, he had to remember that now, their--bedroom, struggling to avoid her sharp teeth. The oversized ring he had given her glimmered on her left front leg; she had spent most of the evening biting and licking at it, when she had not been growling. He had ordered the musicians to play louder, to cover up the noise, but the growls still lingered in his ears.
When he reached the room, he secured her chain to one end of the bed, and sat gingerly at the other end. The waxing moonlight flooded the bed, giving a silver sheen to her red and snowy fur.
"When you are a woman, I can remove the chain," he told the fox.
