Beth Tabler's Blog, page 184
May 27, 2022
Bjørn Again Presents: Quenby Olson
Quenby Olson is the author of universally acclaimed and beloved humorous fantasy Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons). This March, the follow-up to Miss Percy was published – The Scandal of the Vicar’s Wife. (Note I did not say “the sequel.”) Miss Percy is a dragon-owning spinster, who sometimes finds herself in the proximity of a humble vicar. So… I guess the vicar married Mildred Percy… and then… and then I decided to ask.
Miss Percy conquered the world, and now The Vicar’s Wife is following in her footsteps. As a fan of Ms Mildred Percy, how will I feel about Mrs Julia Benton? Or Dorothea from The Half Killed?This is honestly the most difficult thing about the way I write (and why I suspect traditional publishing would never work for me). Oh, boy. Um, Miss Percy is a book someone could read to their children, I think, without there being any issues. The Vicar’s Wife has so much more… mature content. Not just with the sex scenes, but dealing with infertility and miscarriage and adultery. I would say if you’re a fan of historical romances that can become steamy and tackle serious topics, then you can leap right over. But definitely check the blurb and the reviews first, and don’t auto-buy thinking it’s going to be another fluffy romp. That’s what I would have to say.
I flip back and forth so much, from genre to genre to subgenre, writing according to my moods. And it does make it difficult when someone loves a book I wrote, and then I might not have another book like that on the shelf to offer. I wish I had a better plan or some kind of Venn diagram I could use to market all of the various styles I’ve tackled, but so far it’s just me throwing out my creative brain vomit at random and seeing what sticks.
My visual imagination would like to thank you for that last sentence. Have you ever considered pen names? If yes (or if no) how many do you think you would need?I did consider pen names at one point, like an Iain Banks/Iain M. Banks situation. I’ve seen other authors do it, with separate social media accounts and everything, but I feel like I can barely manage one author name, and juggling more would be impossible. But if I HAD to separate them, I would have the fantasy name, the historical romance name, and… possibly contemporary? That is if I had continued in the style of my first book.
Have you ever had readers complaining in the reviews “I wanted more of X and got Y instead”?Strangely, not between the fantasy and the romance. And I anticipated that. I have had some between the historical romance novels, where some didn’t like the stories I wrote that had sex scenes in them and wanted them to stay more mild (like The Firstborn, etc.) and complained about that. So even within a subgenre, there are still dividing lines. Which is another reason why I just didn’t bother with taking on multiple pen names.
What was your initial vision of yourself as an author?I didn’t start seriously writing until my 20s, and more towards my mid-to-later 20s. I thought I’d be more of a slice-of-life contemporary author at first. Then I started drifting toward romance. Then fantasy came in and it just became a lot of trying to figure out which direction to go in. It took a while to realize I could mix them up and go in any direction I wanted. Now I write about dragons and cake.
It’s hard to believe that Miss Percy and Julia Benton are related, but they both have you as a mother. Who came first?It is odd because I wrote them both in the same year. Miss Percy was born from pure anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic. I was at home with my kids, we had no idea what was happening, really, or how things would go (like now!) and so I started writing this light little book that calmed me down. And that was added onto having always wanted to write a fantasy story about someone who was middle-aged going off on their first adventure, rather than it being about a young kid, destiny, etc. and so forth.
Julia then was another side of that coin. Also middle-aged, also someone who until that point had never really lived. She married because it was expected of her, she tried to have children because it was expected of her, and she always felt utterly invisible. And me, being in my 40s and with chronic health issues completely understood that feeling, of not being seen by doctors and society. I wasn’t young anymore, couldn’t have kids anymore, so what worth was I? And that story became more of a lancing the wound kind of thing, venting onto the page.
I was going to ask – since Miss Percy 2 (in Wales!) and 3 (I don’t know where!) are coming, as I happen to know, do you see yourself sticking to one genre, but I am pretty sure the answer is no – so… do you see yourself sticking to two genres? Or will it always be “this is what I came up with and you might love it or not”?Definitely at least two genres, for now. I’m in the middle of writing Miss Percy 3, am also working on another historical romance (but this one much lighter and… jauntier in tone?) and then the next fantasy is going to be another historical but with best friends who become amateur vampire hunters and also lovers and it’s a kind of a cozy black comedy mystery?
Oh no.
Read Quenby Olson’s Books
About Author, Quenby OlsonQuenby Olson lives in Central Pennsylvania where she writes, homeschools, and glares at baskets of unfolded laundry. After training to be a ballet dancer, she turned towards her love of fiction, penning everything from romance to fantasy, historical to mystery. She spends her days with her husband and five children, who do nothing to dampen her love of the outdoors, immersing herself in historical minutiae, and staying up late to watch old episodes of Doctor Who.
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Review – Picard Season 2
STAR TREK: PICARD Season Two is something that I was deeply looking forward to from the moment it was announced as I was a huge fan of Season One. My impression of that season was that it had an extremely strong start but stumbled due to episode length. We didn’t get enough follow-up on events and were left with more mysteries than answers. Basically, I wished they had done THE LAST BEST HOPE by Una McCormick as a two-parter to open it and added an epilogue to follow up on what happened after the events of the tenth episode.
Still, I was very excited for the return of the cast and seeing how they would deal with the consequences of the first season. Unfortunately, the answer to that is generally: not at all. I think Doctor Jurati being cleared of murder charges due to mind-control was the only subject matter that got addressed. What about the Zhat Vash? What happened to them? What about Admiral Oh? Narek? Is the Federation going to work with the Romulans tracking down the terrorists who burned both? How about the ex-Borg?
Instead, the series focuses much more on an entirely new storyline. After rejecting his employee, Laris (Orla Bradly) when she attempts to start a romantic relationship, Admiral Picard (Patrick Stewart, duh) is requested by the Federation to help with a First Contact scenario: a new race wants to join the Federation. Except, it’s not a First Contact scenario, it’s the Borg and things end disastrously with Picard blowing himself along with the rest of the heroes up.
Like a script editor, this will not do for Q (John De Lancie) and he restores Picard as well as his merry band of miscreants to life. He proceeds to put them in what appears to be a dystopian version of the Federation and from there, Picard must take Seven (Jeri Ryan), Raffi (Michelle Hurd), Rios (Osvaldo Ríos Alonso), and Doctor Jurati (Alison Pill) to the 21st century in order to somehow prevent things. Due to contrived but entertaining circumstances, they also bring the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching). Characters Sonji (Isa Briones) and Elnor (Evan Evagora) have vastly reduced roles.
Generally, the show swerves between zany comedy reminiscent of Star Trek IV (with several homages) to that story and deep traumatic introspection, which is not always consistent. Captain Picard remembers his father as an abusive monster to his mother and her as a saint but there’s a trick his memory is playing on him. I feel like the episodes might have benefited from picking a lane as it sometimes feels like they undermine each other’s tone. There are also some areas where the actions on screen contradict what we’re later told. For example, Q seems to be trying to achieve one thing in one episode before revealing that he was doing the exact opposite later (which is, admittedly, not out of character for Q).
On the positive side of things, I think John De Lancie has lost absolutely none of his touch and preserves all the things we love about Q. He’s Loki, Satan, and God all in one with a wide-eyed grin as he destroys everything for the greater good or saves everyone for his own twisted amusement. The few scenes he and Patrick Stewart have are fantastic and he’s also a bright spot in episodes where he deals with Adam Soong (Brent Spinner) or Kore (Isla Brione). Speaking of Soong, he is a bright spot in the show once they cast aside any moral ambiguity and just make him a straight-up Bond villain. Not every Star Trek antagonist can be misunderstood, and this transformation gives some higher stakes when the story has perhaps too many moving parts.
Indeed, the storyline is a labyrinthine web akin to one of Fox Mulder’s conspiracy boards and we even get an homage to said character in one episode. “We have to go back in time with the Borg Queen’s help to find the astronaut who needs to be on the mission that will create the Federation, but Q is causing her to doubt herself. If she doubts herself, this will create the Confederacy in which Adam Soong will be their spiritual leader. Oh and the Borg Queen is playing both sides. All of this is related to Picard’s traumatic childhood. Somehow. That’s not getting into every individual character’s subplots.” It is 99% explained by the final episode but weirdly reads like a George R.R. Martin plot despite being written for television not a book.
Thematically, the story is all about trauma and how we can’t lose hope that things will get better. That the current troubles we face in 2022 will be things that we eventually overcome and make a better world from as long as we’re understanding and willing to forgive. Except Silicon Valley tech billionaires. Don’t forgive or try to understand them because they’re completely awful. Borg Queens can be persuaded and negotiated with but not those guys. It’s an argument that I’m okay with.
Negatively, is just about anything to do with time travel. This is a mess even by the standards of Star Trek and I can’t help the season would have benefited from stripping out a lot of the extraneous fluff. “Picard goes to bed one day with his crew and they wake up in Evil Federation. Q then meets with them and says he’s let them keep his memories because it amuses him to see them try to fix things Days of Futures Past style. Someone how has gone back in time to muck with the past. Maybe another Soong creation or Borg victim. Stop him. *snaps fingers*). Ito Aghayere does a good job as young Guinan but it’s confusing to explain away Whoopi Goldberg’s aging but not hers. Also, the change from “Time’s Arrow.” I mean, it’s an easy fix. “My people go through periods of aging and de-aging due to our life cycle.”
Overall, I liked Picard season 2 a bit less than season 1 but still significantly more than a lot of Star Trek. The overcomplexity of the plot and “prestige television” format is something that I feel is hurting the shows, though, because they don’t have enough episodes to resolve all the plots. I also was disappointed with the ending for some of the characters. While I didn’t always like what they did, I say that the crew of the La Sirena is the one I like the most since Firefly‘s. I wanted a spin-off show with Rios or Seven as captain. Instead, most of them are very likely no longer going to be doing Star Trek by the end and that’s a shame.
7.5/10
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Review – A Star Named Vega by Benjamin J. Roberts
I’m going to get straight to the point: A Star Named Vega is a vibrant, colorful Space Opera with sumptuous and beautiful world-building that is a joy to read. You really shouldn’t waste time with the rest of my dry, flavorless review and just grab a copy and read that instead.
If you’re still here, fine:
Vega follows Aster Vale – graffiti artist and the daughter of a prominent scientist – as she makes the journey from Mars to the Vega system along with goofy genius wunderkind Isaac Branstromm. Her father and Isaac have been tapped for a secret project involving the most war-like inhabitants of the 12 systems: the Skarids. Meanwhile, Rel Akepri, a Skarid himself, receives orders to intercept the starship that Aster is on, for the good of his species. The two cross paths in a story that artfully explores the dark, beautiful past of the galaxy.
While you could be forgiven for thinking Vega is a YA due to the ages of the protagonists – Aster and Issac are about 13-15, and I believe Rel is around the same age (age is arbitrary in galactic standards anyway) – it really is more of a classic space opera, with a few more complex wrinkles. The protagonists aren’t all-powerful chosen ones, but feel like real people with interesting and fun personalities. Simultaneously, the antagonists aren’t moustache twirling evil despots, and have a great level of development and thoughtful introspection both as a species, and as people. And the world-building has a few great twists and turns – and every infodump about the galaxy doesn’t feel like an infodump about the galaxy, and actually made me want to learn more, which is a hard feat to accomplish anywhere.
The other thing is, Roberts writes Vega with such flair and style that its sometimes easy to forget it’s a space opera, especially when it zooms in and focuses on future subcultures. We’re given a look into a galactic order that teems with personality and color – often quite literally due to the incredible concept of Vocks: an app that encourages artistic displays of civil disobedience. What results is a fleshed out world that seems like an engrossing mélange of Battlestar Galactica, Arthur C. Clarke, and Jet Grind Radio, which is something I’d never thought I’d say, let alone read. It’s sparkling, vibrant storytelling in a genre I haven’t engaged with in a while. As a newly crowned SPSFC finalist, you should expect nothing less.
A Star Named Vega gets a lot of things right, but the best thing it does is give the Space Opera a fresh new coat of paint.
Read Star of Vega
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May 26, 2022
Review – PULSE by B.A. Bellec
But Pulse is about so much more than mere carnage and fright because of the prospect of scary monsters ripping the characters apart. It is some of the humans who are the real monsters of the book. This is a novel about unchecked corporate greed, rampant, unrestrained capitalism, dirty politics, mayhem, and murder.
Pulse (Book One in the ‘Pulse‘ series), by B.A. Bellec, was a book I wanted to read so badly that I squeezed it into my month (April 2022) dedicated to reading Indie grimdark fantasy “masters”.
No, this book is not grimdark fantasy – instead it is a dystopian sci-fi horror thriller. The reason I wanted to read this book so badly is that, as I seem to be becoming more and more of a mood reader, a lot of current world events had me craving to read something that – based on the blurb – would encapsulate a lot of the issues in the world we are grappling with, in the digestible, non-real format of engaging fiction. Plus, I am beginning to be able to appreciate horror books again, so Pulse seemed the ideal read.
The book comes with a TON of accolades, among them: B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree, Wishing Shelf Adult Fiction Finalist, Literary Titan Seal, Reader Views Seal, Readers’ Favorite Seal. So, with all these awards, I was expecting, at a minimum, a well-written book.
What I WAS NOT expecting, and what I was not prepared for, was the screenplay-like writing format. At first, to be honest, it took a bit of getting used to. But soon, I was so engrossed in the story, the way it was formatted no longer mattered.
But I put this fact about the writing style out there first for those who would not enjoy that sort of arrangement. If you can’t mesh with that, this book may not be for you. But I would encourage you to give it a try, because the book itself I found to be exceptional.
What is Pulse about? At its foundation, Pulse is a horror book, and a downright scary one. It has the five key elements that mark every great horror book that I have ever read: 1)characters who could die any moment, regardless of their seeming importance to the plot or how beloved they are (so no one is safe, thus increasing the tension and suspense) 2)the element of utter and complete surprise when something horrible happens 3)Immensely terrifying monsters or menaces.
But Pulse is about so much more than mere carnage and fright because of the prospect of scary monsters ripping the characters apart. It is some of the humans who are the real monsters of the book. This is a novel about unchecked corporate greed, rampant, unrestrained capitalism, dirty politics, mayhem, and murder.
The titular Pulse company essentially has a monopoly on EVERYTHING in the year 2040, and is run by completely amoral executives, with a despotic father and slimy, selfish son at its head. Moreover, the company is tied to the highest levels of political influence, and essentially is the puppet master behind the most powerful of world governments.
Woe for humanity, for Pulse owners and execs cares naught for the utter destruction of the environment, human health, or morality, as long as it increases its global dominance, profit margins, and ascendancy. Additionally, Pulse eliminates competition in utterly ruthless fashion, where killing off competitors is just the floor for how far they are willing to go.
In this backdrop, Pulse plans an iconic music festival, as large in scale and scope as has ever been seen, reminiscent of the famous Woodstock. Yet unbeknownst to the Pulse planners, the festival appears doomed. First, an anti-corporation revolutionary group is planning to disrupt the festival, in an attempt to destabilize it, and rid the world of Pulse’s insidious control of society. Second, other anti-Pulse forces are working behind the scenes, for their own purposes.
And most importantly, third, seemingly born of the ecological havoc that Pulse has wreaked, a hideous creature is hunting humankind, and it’s hungry.
The sci-fi elements are extremely well-done in Pulse. The tech element I especially found fascinating was the drone robot, the P-7500, which had become for the average human an indispensable personal assistant. On the other hand, this robot is also used for protection and aggression in the wrong hands.
In terms of the dystopian aspect, the effect of climate change, pandemics, and corporate monopolies exerting undue sway over our lives, was depicted in chillingly prescient fashion.
For me, my only wish was for more exploration of the immense cast of characters that fill the pages of Pulse, because as those who read my reviews know I’m all about the characters. To the positive, there are some marvellous characters in Pulse – I just wanted to know a lot more about them.
But Bellec’s incredibly fast-paced plot does not leave as much room for additional exposition and backstory exploration. It’s also part of, I believe, the author’s plan, to reveal a lot more about some key characters (the few who end up surviving the first installment) in future books. There is a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding two characters in particular: who and what they really are, and what the limits of their capabilities are. I can’t wait to find out more about them in future books.
To be clear, we have a large set of villains, heroes, and those whose motivations we are completely unsure of. There are multiple POVs, and at first, it’s a lot to keep pace with, but as the story unfolds, it all becomes easier to follow.
The completely gruesome and appealing monsters will send chills down your spine, the plight of those facing them will make you terrified for them, and rest assured there will be gore splattering the pages. The shadowy figures, corporate assassins, those possessed of unique and undecipherable abilities, brave whistle-blowers and activists, law enforcement officials, completely unethical businessmen, make for a diversified and intriguing group of perspectives.
The pace is breakneck, and heart-pounding. Your skin will crawl at some of the imagery regarding the creatures, you will sweat with the built-up tension, and you will be completely unable to extricate yourself from the compulsive narrative. If you want a plot-focused book that will keep you up at night, not only because it’s so good, but because it will creep you out, this is your book.
Bellec is a freakishly talented writer, who fans of horror, sci-fi, and thrillers should definitely put on their radar, and Pulse was a great read! 4.75 stars!
Purchase PULSE by B.A. BellecReview of Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang
REVIEW – A TIME OF COURAGE – JOHN GWYNNE
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Review – Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton was a novel that was not too dense but explored future ideas with enough gravitas to get me thinking, but not enough to bog me down. Mickey7 wasn’t full of Earth and perspective-shattering ideas, but damn, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon or two.
The premise starts with Mickey Barnes, the titular Mickey7. He is the seventh iteration of himself—a clone of a clone, and so on. “Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.” Do you need someone to take a fatal dose of radiation, try out an experimental vaccine, or introduce themselves to a non-friendly planet entity? Mickey is your guy. That is why he gets paid the big bucks… errm. That is why he gets all the food! Wait, that isn’t it either…Moving on.
Mickey7, having dealt with six violent or gruesome deaths, has a better idea of what death is than anyone else in his colony. Furthermore, because humans have different views of death, many in his colony shun him or want to sleep with him. It makes for odd working conditions for him. He is either reviled or secretly worshipped, and not a whole lot in between.
While out on a scouting mission with his best friend, Mickey takes a tumble into a ravine through pure bad luck. It would be difficult to get him out, his friend tells him to open a vein and he would see him soon. Mickey is truly touched by the care that his friend is showing him in what could be his final moments. But Mickey stumbles along, for once refusing to die, and makes it back to the base colony. However, Mickey8 had already been created and had all his memories downloaded into his skull.
The colony and society have rules regarding the number of clones in existence, 1. It is also very biologically expensive to create new humans. It takes a lot of potential calories to create muscles and bones. On the colony calories equal currency. When Mickey7 meets Mickey8, they decide that neither would like to die, and they will work together. But this leads to a mountain of philosophical and practical problems. The story repeatedly asks, if we are not our bodies, are we still us? It is not new territory, any clone story has to eventually ask this question. But I like that in Mickey7, it is asked subtly. Mickey7 does not ponder life’s meaning while staring into the yonder, he is too busy working and trying to stay alive another day. But the undercurrent of that idea is there.
The Mickeys work to keep themselves out of the recycler. The recycler is where anything biological is thrown to melt down and recycle to be used again in some capacity. A threat that is hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles. But, staying out of the recycler is the least of Mickey’s issues. They are not the only creatures on this planet, and things are about to get way more interesting for this couple of clones.
Mickey7 is a super fun book to read; there isn’t a lot of development. The period it takes for the story to take place is relatively short and thus doesn’t allow for any solid growth for Mickey. The story is more of the Mickey’s escaping one problem to throw themselves into another, very much like a kamikaze pigeon bouncing against cars on the freeway. But the way that Mickey is written is rather charming. He is a rather affable fellow who loves history, his girlfriend is written as someone who loves him despite his neurosis and his best friend is a chump. But not enough of a chump to be the antagonist of the story. Mickey is just a normal dude, thrust into unique circumstances time and time again.
I would certainly recommend this to those looking for some light science fiction. The idea of an expendable was enough to cinch it for me. Check it out.
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Review – Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
About
‘water buffaloes are like that; they hate talking.’
From the publisher, “Breathtakingly illustrated and hauntingly written, Tales from Outer Suburbia is by turns hilarious and poignant, perceptive and goofy. Through a series of captivating and sophisticated illustrated stories, Tan explores the precious strangeness of our existence. He gives us a portrait of modern suburban existence filtered through a wickedly Monty Pythonesque lens. Whether it’s discovering that the world really does stop at the end of the city’s map book, or a family’s lesson in tolerance through an alien cultural exchange student, Tan’s deft, sweet social satire brings us face-to-face with the humor and absurdity of modern life.”
My Thoughts
‘He was saying the same sentence over and over, ending with “tasoo-ke-te, tasoo ke-te.”‘
This review may come off as a bit biased because I love “The Arrival.” Honestly, it isn’t so much as an “apple to oranges” kind of comparison between the two books, but maybe a comparison of two of the most glorious pieces of fruit one can eat. Each is wonderful in its own way.
Both of these novels are excellent, but they are different in a slight, albeit essential way. There are words in “Tales From Outer Suburbia”… The experience of Shaun Tan’s illustrations is a bit more on the nose.
‘It opened into another room altogether… an impossible room somewhere between the others.’
“Tales From Outer Suburbia” is a collection of fifteen nuanced short stories. All are threaded together with an exploration of the vapidness, bewilderment, joy, sorrow, and enlightenment of living in the suburbs; specifically the suburbs of eastern Australia. Each of the stories is captivating and a hell of a lot deeper than the two or three pages devoted to each. For example “Stick Figures,” is a story about wooden stick figures that are part of a suburban landscape. They move unimaginably slowly, and their purpose is not precisely known. However, if you think about suburbia and the little bits of nature that come through the manicured lawns and the shopping malls, nature could very much seem like an unknowable creature that exists, but we have no idea the purpose. As someone who has spent much of their life living in the suburbs and had to travel to visit nature, I get what he is trying to say. Nature can become unknowable.
‘How great it must have been long ago, when the world was still unknown.’
Another glorious story was “No Other Country.” This story explores what it means to be a person of two ideals. The unexplored model of what a place should be as one ideal and the current situation you live in as the other.
‘The fire burned with astonishing intensity.’
What if you could escape to the ideal place at your leisure? Would that change how you felt about your current living situation? Again this taps into a lot of what Shaun Tan writes about in “The Arrival.” The idealized world and the reality. Would you appreciate your reality if you could escape it once in a while? It is a powerful short story, and absolutely worth the read.
I feel like reading a Shaun Tan book is meditative. They are never boring, beautifully written, and gorgeously illustrated. However, his work is saturated with calmness and purposefulness. His words and images are impactful without being jarring. You don’t see that often in any type of literary work. It speaks to mastery of craft that I feel privileged to partake in as a reader. As you can probably tell, I am a fan and recommend his work. However, it isn’t for everyone. It is fanciful and calm and deep. Sometimes, that is not what one needs in their books. So my suggestion is that if you are feeling self-reflective or full of ennui, give one of his novels a try. I doubt that you would regret the experience.
Buy Tales From Outer SuburbiaGraphic Novel Review of – The Arrival – by Shaun Tan
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May 25, 2022
Review – PICARD: ROGUE ELEMENTS by John Jackson Miller
PICARD: ROGUE ELEMENTS is just plain fun. I am a huge John Jackson Miller fan from the days when he was writing the KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC comic book. He is a writer that manages to carefully walk the balance beam between high comedy and aggressively serious depressing moments. I have yet to read something by him I didn’t like and was compelled to pick up this book to read what he was doing with the Picard timeline.
I’m a huge Picard fan but I can’t say that Cristobal Rios was my favorite character of the series. I felt he was just too similar to so many other tramp freighter captains I’ve seen over the course of my decades of science fiction fandom. JJM smartly plays into this with the fact that the story has Raffi Musiker arrange for him to become one while ignoring the fact that Rios doesn’t want to be. He doesn’t find it to be a romantic, exciting, or entertaining pulpy adventure as seemingly everyone else does. It makes a nice difference from Han Solo and Malcolm Reynolds even as the story does become a romantic exciting entertaining adventure.
The premise is that Rios has just been kicked out of Starfleet for the crimes of his supervisor and he’s lost all of his friends but one. Raffi decides to set him up with a tramp freighter and the life of a Han Solo-esque rogue but this proves to be significantly less glamorous than the movies show. I also got a huge kick out of finding out that JJM was going to make extensive use of the Iotians from “A Piece of the Action” with them being Rios’ version of Jabba the Hutt. Still gangsters after a century of contact with the Federation, they are both ridiculous as well as very good at thriving in a galaxy that has largely forgotten how to deal with criminals.
Part of the book’s fun is how miserable Rios is dealing with the loss of his Starfleet career, how disordered life is on a tramp freighter, and how angry he is about Starfleet’s betrayal vs. the fact that he is going on a series of increasingly wild treasure hunts. Rios is a terrible businessman, fitting from an Earth Hu-Mon (to quote the Ferengi) and probably would have just given away his ship in a weak if not for new character, Ledger, forcing him to pay a debt that is obviously meant to never be repaid.
JJM’s experience in Star Wars clearly shows as he makes the transition a bit better than other writers might. It reminds me of the old Brian Daley Han Solo novels that I felt were the best of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. JJM envisions a seedy underbelly for the galaxy that has always been there (Harry Mudd anyone?) but has never been given particularly much attention. I also appreciated the return of a TNG villain that was underused too and won’t spoil the surprise of. I will say it was kind of amusing to note that this book brought them back just as they used as an inspiration for Lower Decks too.
While I rarely comment on this element, I also give the book’s handling of romance props. Rios is a very dashing protagonist who manages to handle relationships with no less than three women in the book but somehow doesn’t come off as skeezy over it. I also appreciated that one of them is with a significantly older woman and it’s not treated as the least bit weird. I actually regretted that at least one couldn’t continue because, of course, he’s alone at the start of Star Trek: Picard. I also regret we’ll likely never see any more of the Klingon merchant lord Verengar–unless we get a sequel series to this!
So, top marks and people should really buy this! Some of the funniest most entertaining Star Trek fiction I’ve read in years and I’ve read over a hundred Star Trek novels. Hell, probably closer to two hundred. I have maybe a few minor complaints that are almost insignificant to mention like some of the goons getting away with their crimes when I felt a more final fate would have been better but forget it, Rios, it’s Iotia. It’s still a very solid and fun book that makes me like the Rios character a lot more.
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Review – PICARD: THE DARK VEIL by James Swallow
PICARD: THE DARK VEIL is a great Riker and Troi story. I am a big defender of the STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, PICARD, and LOWER DECKS series. However, if I had to choose between them then I’d probably say that Picard is my favorite of the three. It has the most interesting premise and ideas to develop. Indeed, my biggest issue is that I felt the first season was far too compact and that it needed another few episodes to detail all the various concepts it was dealing with.
I was a big fan of THE LAST BEST HOPE and felt it really could have been the basis for those extra episodes. Una McCormack took the time to expand and explain the political situation and build-up in a way that helped the story breathe. I was wondering if something similar could be done with THE DARK VEIL as James Swallow (who I mostly know from his Star Trek: Titan novels) follows the U.S.S Titan into the events of Picard.
The premise of this book is that the U.S.S Titan with Captain Riker and Counselor Troi are dealing with the fact a Federation ally, the Jazari, are suddenly leaving the Alpha Quadrant in a generation ship. Something has horribly spooked them and the Federation is left clueless. This is also just a year after the horrific Mars attacks, Synth Ban, and failure to evacuate the Romulan homeworld. After a space disaster leads to the Titan rescuing the Jazari ship, an unexpected alliance occurs between them and a Romulan warbird. Everything promptly goes to hell afterward.
The Dark Veil feels like a combination of the Titan novels and the Picard era, which is an interesting fusion that I would be interested in seeing more of. Certainly, novel character Christine Vale shows up and I’ve always supported her in more properties. I’m still hoping she’ll be canonized by Lower Decks. Really, it feels like a mixture in ways both subtle as well as overt. The Jazari are the kind of species that feel very much like a Titan creation. They are alien and “big” in a way that novels can do in ways that television can’t (or is very hard pressed to) as well as alluding to past history that the shows rarely do these days. I figured out their secret fairly early and it’s a bit on the nose but Star Trek has rarely needed to be subtle about it’s themes. Arguably, Picard could have done more with its themes like this.
I also appreciate the use of the Romulans in this book as we get a nice mixture of “honorable soldier”, “sneaky KGB Loyalty officer”, and “insane death cultist.” Some people had issues with the Zhat Vash when it was introduced in Picard but seeing how the Admonition utterly breaks someone’s mind like a Lovecraftian Cthulhu cultist actually helps underscore what the show only hinted at. The Romulans are a race that lost a lot of menace with their transition to The Next Generation, being supplanted by the Cardassians, and I feel this book does a good job of restoring how terrifying they were supposed to be.
The book also effectively uses foreshadowing and canon to hang an ominous cloud over all of its events. Thaddeus Riker is an adorable child that we know for a fact is not going to reach adulthood. The fact the Romulan system has about a year left before 900 million residents die is also something that hangs over the heads of each of its residents. Using that helps elevate the material as we know there’s no good ending to all this. The fact the Jazari choose to make the decision they do also underscores just how badly the Federation has screwed up. Even if banning synth research is something you’re doing because you’re afraid of making slaves, some races are going to take it personal.
In conclusion, this is a good Star Trek novel and would be appreciated by both U.S.S. Titan as well as Picard fans. I preferred The Last Best Hope but that was more due to the fact that it got heavier into the politics of the event. This is a more pulpy space opera adventure that I also like but not quite as much.
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Graphic Novel Review – Criminal Vol. 1 (Coward) by Ed Brubaker
Just empty regret and bitter heartbreak, wandering the streets.
The city around him, white and grey and cold, felt suddenly so small.
Hyde had been right about family, there was no escaping it…
Even when there was no one left to run from.”
― Ed Brubaker, Criminal, Vol. 2: Lawless
AboutMy ThoughtsFrom Harvey Award-Winning Best Writer Ed Brubaker, and Scream Award-Winning Best Artist Sean Phillips comes the first collection of Criminal, one of the best reviewed comics of 2006. Coward is the story of Leo, a professional pickpocket who is also a legendary heist-planner and thief. But there’s a catch with Leo, he won’t work any job that he doesn’t call all the shots on, he won’t allow guns, and the minute things turn south, he’s looking for any exit that won’t land him in prison. But when he’s lured into a risky heist, all his rules go out the window, and he ends up on the run from the cops and the bad men who double-crossed him. Now Leo must come face-to-face with the violence he’s kept bottled up inside for 20 years, and nothing will ever be the same for him again. Collects Criminal #1-5.
There are some things you need to know before starting this series:
Knowing all this if you want to continue into this world, it is quite a ride. The premise revolves around the protagonist, Leo Patterson. A former heist strategist who has left the life of crime to take care of Ivan, an old family friend. Ivan is addicted to heroin and has Alzheimer’s. At Ivan’s age, breaking heroin addiction becomes untenable so Leo provides palliative care to Ivan. Leo agrees to the heist against his better Judgement, swayed by an attraction to recovering heroin addict Greta. From there, the story progresses through a series of backstabbing and double-crossing that leave various people dead.
The title of the book is coward. This is ironic because Leo is anything but. His cautiousness and reservedness at the beginning of the story lead other criminals into thinking that he is weak, “he doesn’t just walk away from trouble, he runs.” What people don’t understand, and the reader soon finds out is that caution does not necessarily mean forceless. It could mean that you are thoughtful and very, very smart. Like in the case of Leo. He is pushed to the breaking point and becomes a force of nature abandoning all pretense of cowardness and serving up a side of badass on his betrayers. The bold and brazen end up dead or in jail while the cautious and calculating walk away with the money.
Brubaker is the king of crime noir in graphic novels. A genre much changed since the 1950s. In Criminal Vol. 1, Brubaker sticks to familiar themes, but he serves them up bruised, foreboding, and dark. Although “Coward” could be a standalone series, minor characters in this arc play much larger roles in other character arcs. It is really fun to dissect the minor details of the story when you go back and flip through. Pay attention because there are many offhanded comments in this story that play a larger part in others. This is just good storytelling plain and simple. The dialog, story, and graphics are top notch and it is absolutely worth the journey of discovery. I look forward to checking out the next story arc in “Lawless.”
Read Criminal Vol. 1 (Coward) by Ed Brubaker
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May 24, 2022
Review – The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
About The Ballad of Black Tom
From the publisher, “People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn’t there.
Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father’s head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.
A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?”
My Thoughts
The Ballad of Black Tom is the reimagining of the Lovecraftian tale, “The Horror at Red Hook” and is one of those rare books that can straddle the dividing line of fiction and urban fantasy. It is a book of many hats.
The story is one of a street hustler named Charles Thomas Tester of Harlem in the 1920s. Charles, who goes by Tommy, makes his way as best as he can by a variety of hustling gigs. Whether it’s as a Delivery man or guitarist, Tommy does pretty much anything to make some money. Along with the hustles are the obvious and not-so-apparent undercurrents of racism present in 1920s Harlem. Tommy is an African-American man and deals with Racism and prejudice on all sides. The writing about the racism of that era is poignant and well done. Tommy gets involved with some occult figures throughout the story, and different types of tragedy ensue. He begins to take matters into his own hands, and the story ends on a cliffhanger.
From what I understand, the original story “The Horror at Red Hook” was stunningly racist as was Lovecraft as a person. It makes sense why LaValle would respond to that story from the angle of an African-American Protagonist. I think it is fitting and I love seeing the story turned on its head this way. That being said, as I have not read “The Horror of Red Hook,” this was a blind read. I was familiar with the writer and the story’s status as a Hugo award nominee which guided me in selecting it to read, but that’s it.
I have got to tell you overall I was not impressed. I found LaValle’s writing to be excellent. He has a way with his sentences’ structure and the imagery that evokes strong mental pictures. Plus, the plot as an idea is enjoyable. However, the pacing of the story was slow. This was at direct odds with the imagery, and cool plot. That might be because I am unfamiliar with the original Lovecraft story and style, or I just was not in the right mind frame to read it. Either way, I am not the right reader for this story.
Read The Ballad of Black Tim
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