C.S. Daley's Blog, page 3

Star Wars: Honor Among Thieves by James S.A. Corey

Every year I try to read something set in the Star Wars Universe around May 4th. The last few years have been exclusively comics. This year I decided to give a book a chance. I was a little nervous about this because the Star Wars books have been very hit and miss for me. Mostly miss over the last 5 years. I had all but given up on them. This always made me a little sad because the early books were so fantastic, especially the Timothy Zahn books. I was also hesitant to read any books once I heard that they were essentially relaunching the novel line and saying the old books would no longer be part of the Star Wars Universe.

Luckily, there were a couple of books I really have been itching to read because they were authors I respect and love so much. Since I had just read and reviewed a Tim Lebbon book I decided to go with Honor Among Thieves by James S.A. Corey (Corey is the pen name for writing partners Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). Anyone who has been reading my reviews for any length of time knows that Corey’s Expanse series is my absolute favorite science fiction being written right now.

The book is essentially a Han and Chewbacca adventure. When the Empire sets out to control an ancient technology that could change the whole outcome of the war with the rebellion Princess Leia decides that there is only one man to send in to rescue the spy who may be able to thwart the Empire’s plan. Unfortunately, that man is not around so she sends Han.

What follows is a fast paced ride through one close call after another. Han Solo’s best plan is always the one he makes up at the last minute (much to the annoyance of Chewbacca). Han finds the spy Scarlet Hark and together they go planet hopping in a dangerous game of who can find the weapon first. I loved the character of Scarlet Hark. She was more than a match for Han Solo’s ego and the book left me wanting to see her again.

Han Solo is not an easy character to write. He is a sarcastic, self aware ego maniac and yet we need to love him. Corey pulls it off magnificently. I loved this book. It was my favorite Star Wars book in years and years. It was laugh out loud funny and an incredible story. It gave me everything I love about the Star Wars Universe and more. I hope somewhere down the line Corey gets another shot at a Star Wars book because I would be all in.

The Silence by Tim Lebbon

I love a good end of the world novel. I love a good horror novel. I really love monsters. Throw them all together in a blender. Hit the high octane button and you have The Silence. Right now I would read anything Tim Lebbon writes. He has been on a roll for me. I don’t think anyone is pushing the creepy meter quite as effectively as he is.

Coming off of writing one of my favorite zombie novels with Coldbrook, Lebbon turns in one of my favorite apocalypse stories. When the discovery of a cave system releases some nasty monsters into our ecosystem they sweep across Europe and Asia killing everything in their path.

The story follows Ally and her family as they flee across the U.K. seeking a safe place from the flying bundles of death. Early on the world realizes sound is deadly. Any noise attracts the vesps (the flying carnivorous death machines). For Ally who has lost her hearing years earlier in a deadly car crash the world of silence is nothing new but she must help her family adjust before they become a meal for the flying plague.

The story moves at a brisk pace and is full of horror and creepiness. In the end what makes the story a winner for me is Ally. I love her and her family. Their love for each other and their desire to make sure they survive this new quiet world keeps me invested in the story all the way through. Lebbon doesn’t waste a word. He weaves them together beautifully. It has been a long time since a book both creeped me out and made me tear up (The tears came in one of the most horrifying and human moments of the book. It happened in the car. That’s all I am giving you. I don’t want to ruin the moment).

If you like your horror mixed with a large dose of love and humanity than this book is for you. If you have never read Tim Lebbon before, this is a good place to start. After you love this book go out and buy Coldbrook, you won’t regret it.

Emergence: Dave vs. the Monsters by John Birmingham

Dave Hooper is having a very bad day. Mind you, not as bad as his fellow co-workers who are just going about their business of drilling oil out of the Gulf of Mexico when some nasty creatures crawled through a portal and ate them for lunch. Not just ate them but gorged on them. Ripping them apart in some sort of zombies would run in horror buffet. Dave wanders into the horror show and suddenly fines himself the unwanted hero cleaving beasties in half and generally making himself a giant pain in the ass.

This is the type of book I should have loved. Eaten up like popcorn and gone back begging for refills. The monsters were nasty and horrific. Dave is a smart ass and it is quite possible that I might have a few things in common with smart asses. He uses a splitting maul as his main form of dismembering the monsters from below. He names it Lucille (that is full of win). There are nasty ninja like creatures called Sliveen trying to end Dave. I loved the Sliveen. They were my single favorite creature in the book. Lots of action. Tons of horror. Boatloads of gore.

Despite all this, I didn’t love the book. I liked it. I finished it. I wasn’t tempted to put it aside. I just didn’t love it. I had two main problems. I really didn’t like Dave that much. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have to like main characters to enjoy a book, but for some reason Dave really annoyed me. I feel like Birmingham was going for a slightly unlikable hero who would morph into something more. It just didn’t really click for me. The second problem I had was I was not a giant fan of Birmingham’s writing style. It didn’t flow real smoothly in parts. The books pacing felt off. The first half of the book dragged in places but would then be punctuated by some great action scenes. It didn’t stop me from reading but I didn’t fly through it like I do with a book that completely captures me.

Now, the things Birmingham did that I liked. He can flat out write action and the last 25% of the book is a giant roller coaster ride of action. The monsters were great and I even liked the sections written from their point of view. I loved a lot of the supporting characters and I thought the plot was a fun one.

If you are already a fan of Birmingham this book is going to be a treat for you. If you like action packed monster movies (which was especially true of the 2nd half of this book) than enjoy the brain candy.

I am fairly certain this book will not be for everyone. The language can get crude and it reads like a summer blockbuster in some place (in particular it hammered some of the normal cliches you get in those blockbusters). However, if a quick read summer blockbuster is what you are looking for than buckle up it’s going to be an explosive ride.

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Review copy provided by Random House Publishing Group – Del Rey Spectra

London Falling by Paul Cornell

One of the things I have most loved in recent years is the absolute explosion of books getting published that experiment with mixing genre. London Falling at its heart is a police procedural. A good old fashion cop story where our heroes painstakingly work through the clues left behind to catch a serial killer. It is a giant part of the story. It’s just that the serial killer may or may not be a supernatural being sacrificing children to fuel her hatred for the London leaders who wronged her.

The book is full of everything I love in a paranormal, urban fantasy, police procedural. We have ghosts, talking severed heads, and one fairly useless cat. It was like reading a John Constantine Hellblazer comic in novel form. The book was full of creepy. It was also full of flawed police officers doing their best to understand a world that has suddenly gone wrong. Throwing out what they know and trusting in their instincts to get them through the horror of what they don’t know. I absolutely loved them and when the book ended I knew I would be back for more.

Cornell takes his time in this story and it works very well. The mystery unfolds a little at a time. We get to experience the weirdness right along with the heroes. Take our best guesses and watch where Cornell decides to lead us. The tension builds all the way through the story with the pace gradually increasing until the break neck and explosive finish. The world building was top notch. Giving us a London we both knew and didn’t all in one go. If you’re a fan of urban fantasy and police procedural than don’t miss this one. I mean you can’t go wrong with talking severed heads.

Star Wars and Me

I was a young boy when the first Star Wars movie came out. I actually experienced it for the first time in comic book form. I bought number one off a spinner rack because the cover looked interesting. At that time none of my friends had seen the movie. It had just come out and we had heard about it but it had just started to pick up momentum. Star Wars opened small. The movies were different then. Movies were expected to stay in a theater for a long stretch if they were successful.

I don’t remember exactly when I saw the movie but I know it was in the summer of 1977 and the comic book definitely influenced my decision to go. I remember the feeling of wonder I had seeing that movie for the first time, second time,third time. I saw that movie as many times as I could that summer. I lost count how many. My next door neighbors had more spending money than I would ever have. They were older than me but they liked me. They would take me every time they went.

Then we would come home and act out all our favorite parts. That is until the action figures came out. Then my neighbors bought everything they could get their hands on (in all honestly I think they stole more than they ever bought but this was never discussed in length. Those two young ladies were my introduction into my life of crime).

Star Wars was an obsession. I bought all the trading cards. I read Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. I talked my mom into letting me skip school to see The Empire Strikes Back. I cut school to see Return of the Jedi. I read every comic. Eventually, this would turn into every book until I hit a couple stinkers and became more selective. I played all the video games. I would eventually marry someone who loved it as much as I did. As a consumer I have made them a lot of money. As a fan I have spread the gospel to anyone who would listen.

This is a good time for Star Wars fans right now. The Clone Wars cartoon and now Rebel have both been excellent. The comics are still going strong and it looks like the book line has hit it’s stride again (I can’t wait to read Chuck Wendig’s new book). Of course, the new movie is coming out in December. I won’t lie. The second trilogy left me dismayed. I have great hopes for the new movies. Honestly, though, as long as they are entertaining I am all in.

There is no doubt in my mind that Star Wars made me a science fiction fan (books and movies). It was my gateway drug into so many wonderful experiences. It has had more of an impact on what I like, watch, and read than any other piece of entertainment ever.

More importantly, as a young boy it gave me a tribe. A group of fellow Star Wars geeks that I could hang with. I have always leaned towards isolation. Star Wars pulled me into a world of friends. It continues to do that to this day. Star Wars Celebration is a convention I have always wanted to go to but just seemed to miss the chance every year. In 2016 it will be in London during the summer. We are so going. I have new Star Wars friends I need to meet and geek out with.

I Deal Imagination

Looking back on my life I am a little amused that the first teacher who really tried to get me to read was my third grade teacher Mrs. Llamas. Mrs. Llamas for all outward appearances hated me. She yelled at me frequently. She used to tip my desk over in front of the class because it was too messy. For all intents and purposes we were mortal enemies. Except…except she would buy me books. Every month when the book order form came out I would stare wistfully at it. Plotting out the books I couldn’t have and every month she would buy me an issue of Dynamite magazine and a book. That one day a month we were best friends.

I couldn’t read very well in third grade. I was pulled out for extra reading help. I had been getting pulled out since first grade. I couldn’t read but I loved the concept of reading. I loved holding the books, especially new books. This changed dramatically in fourth grade. That was when Mr. Nycum introduced me to comic books; Spider-Man, The Avengers, Iron Man, Fantastic Four. Mr. Nycum was a Marvel man. I ate comic books up like ice cream. Something about the combination of pictures and words sparked an interest that nothing else had sparked before. I began reading everything I could get my hands on. Mr. Nycum provided them often. Mr. Nycum was a sneaky man. It didn’t take him long to slowly move me into books. Providing me short histories of the mountain men of the old west. Short mystery stories (suddenly The Hardy Boys were all that). Mr. Nycum smothered me in stories. Encouraging me to skip books I had no interest in and always ready with the next suggestion.

By 5th grade I was no longer getting extra help for reading. By 6th grade the library was my second home. I gobbled up The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark is Rising Sequence, The Indian in the Cupboard, and many more. Than I started reading Doc Savage and John Carter and my imagination exploded. I became a life long reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy right there. I moved on to Sword of Shannara, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Foundation, Dune, anything I could get my hands on.

I know now that Mrs. Llamas and Mr. Nycum still have their fingers all over the teacher I am today. While I always thought of Mrs. Llamas as my adversary. I know now that was just the world she was from. She wielded the carrot and the stick with equal dexterity. She bought me books. She fostered a love that was incomplete but trying to burst out. Mr. Nycum on the other hand. I am Mr. Nycum. I interact with my students the way he did. I care about my students the way he did. I peddle books on my students the way he did.

I am a dealer of imagination and my drug of choice is books. I am good at getting kids in books. I pride myself on my ability to find the hook which will get even the most reluctant reader reading. Last year I taught 56 kids language arts and they read over 100 million words. It was one of the high points of my career. The Mr. Nycum in me was running wild but you know what? So was the Mrs. Llama. My students have figured out very early on that if they smile and ask nicely I will buy whatever book they want. The amount of money I have spent on my classroom library and Kindles is large (like Death Star large). I don’t mind. I do it because those who came before me reached out and saved my life. Providing me with worlds and wonders to get me through all the hard times. I walk in their footsteps and it has been an honor.

My Favorite Books of 2014

I relaunched my blog after the new year had come and gone. So I missed the whole best of season. I was planning on skipping it entirely since we are in April now, but the whole Hugo blowup got me thinking about books and why I love them so much. Then I started thinking about what I read last year and decided what the hell I will do a list. If for no other reason than I wanted to celebrate books and the last week has felt like anything but a celebration.

The list is heavily science fiction and fantasy this year. That isn’t always the case with me. I thought about leaving off the “anything that wasn’t part of those two genres” but that isn’t how I have done lists in the past so I decided against it. The books on this list didn’t all come out last year. This is my best of list so many of the books are older and I just got around to reading them last year.

There are 22 books on the list. Several of them are from the same series so I listed them together. I pulled the list straight from my Goodread’s list. I read 114 books last year. This gave me a fairly large selection to choose from. Also, I think it is important to know that I am not a book finisher. If I don’t like the book I don’t finish it. Which means my Goodread’s list is just made up of books I actually liked (most of the time). I did rank the books in the order I liked them but honestly that isn’t as important. Except for the first three which were really easily my favorite books I read last year. I am still thinking and talking about them all the time. I hope that you can find a few you would like to sample (click on the images to get whisked away to Amazon for a better book description).

1) The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

Quite possibly the best zombie novel I have ever read.

2) Abaddon’s Gate/Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey

The expanse universe is my favorite thing in science fiction right now.



3) Red Country/Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

I know George R.R. Martin is all the rage. For my money no one is writing better fantasy than Abercrombie.

4) The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis

An incredible mash-up of Lovecraftian Horror, Science Fiction, and alternate history.

5) Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Steampunk at its finest. Set in a girls’ boarding school that trains young ladies in the deadly art of spy craft.

6) The Martian by Andy Weir

One man must survive the deadly environment on Mars after a failed exploration mission.

7) Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Probably one of the books that caused the Hugo blow-up this year. Apparently it’s not enjoyable. I loved it.

8) Annihilation/Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

The first 2 books of the Southern Reach Trilogy. I believe they would’ve received a Hugo nomination any other year.

9) Maplecroft by Cherie Priest

What if Lizzie Borden had been a monster hunter? If that sentence doesn’t intrigue you this story is not for you.

10) Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking) by Christian Rudder

An interesting book that uses internet usage statistics to look at peoples’ beliefs.

11) Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon

Hey look, we have opened a gateway to an alternate earth. Oh SHIT, zombies!

12) Lock In by John Scalzi

A horrible disease spreads across the world locking people into their body.

13) Half A King by Joe Abercrombie

His first young adult novel. Not quite as violent as his adult ones but just as good.

14) NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

A very bad man and his very bad car are doing all sorts of evil.

15) Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins

My favorite collection of poems that I have read in the last ten years.

16) Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig is back to solve the Ankh-Morpork banking crisis.

17) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

A beautiful love story about two teens fighting cancer.

18) The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch returns to investigate a murder that strikes a little too close to home.

19) Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin is my favorite mystery writer on the planet. This one has Inspector Rebus and Malcom Fox. Full of win.

20) The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais

On the morning of his parole Max Holman finds out his police officer son has been gunned down. Someone has to pay.

Science Fiction Fandom: The Pond Is Big Enough For All Of Us

I have been thinking about science fiction a lot this last week. The Hugos going boom started it (my earlier blog post goes into that ball of fun). After the Hugos went all Big Bang. Its fandom started chasing each other around with pitchforks and torches. I have been reading it all. Posting on many people’s blogs and Facebook pages. Having long conversations with people I respect and people I barely know. It has left me very sad for the field I love so much.

What I found interesting was people’s inability to stop letting the trolls dictate the conversation. There are people running around spraying gas on fires everywhere. Cackling as they scream, “burn, baby, burn.” Often they are ignored but rarely are they told to cut that shit out. We are trying to have conversation here. People’s feelings are hurt. This is important.

Our community needs to get past this and I think we will. We just have to take a step back. Take a breath and start talking to each other about why we love science fiction so damn much. I could give up a lot of things in life but I could never give up reading science fiction. It is that important to me.

I started reading it at an early age and I have been reading it ever since, well over 35 years. I read everything. I know I have certain types of books I like more. I also know that is likely to change from year to year. As a kid I liked John Carter of Mars. I recently tried to read them again. It did not end well. Then there is a book like Dune which I have lost track of how many times I have read.

I do not feel that my taste in books is superior to anyone. I like what I like. I thought Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie was fantastic. The Buntline Special by Mike Resnick was great. The Girl With All The Gifts by Mike Carey was maybe the best zombie story I have ever read. These books had nothing in common with each other. If you look over my Goodreads list you will see nothing in common is my theme.

My first adult job was at a bookstore. I would eventually become the manager of that store as I worked my way through college. They were great years. My favorite part of that job was selling books. All kinds of different books. It forced me out of my comfort zone to be able to be a great bookseller. I had one customer who loved Conan. I can honestly say Robert Howard was not my thing. I had tried. So instead I read Robert Jordan’s Conan. I liked it more than the Howard books and it gave me a jumping off point. It then became a game for me and this customer to get him to spend all of the money he brought with him to the store. I fought dirty and enlisted any customer who was in the science fiction/fantasy section to help me take every last penny. It led to some great debates and fantastic conversations. I found myself reading books I never would have imagined reading before I took the job. I truly believe my ability to put students in books they like is directly related to those early bookstore days.

It was during that job I started going to conventions and finding a room full of people who loved what I loved. People who read books. People who were passionate and would literally stop eating to tell me about what they were reading. We were fans. This was our community. This is our community. The Hugo blow up hurts all of us but I know we are better than this. Our community will survive and I can only hope get stronger.

I will vote for the Hugos this year. I will pick the choices I think are best in their categories. I will not take the nuclear option and vote no award, unless I think there is absolutely nothing I can vote for. I encourage everyone to do the same. I encourage you to get involved. To communicate. To remember what it is we love about science fiction. To share our passion. Shout down the trolls and do what we do best. Love reading.

Why I Love Conventions

Growing up was a mixed bag for me and the things I was passionate about. On one hand, I loved sports. I loved playing them. I loved watching them. On the other hand, I was a complete and total nerd. Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and comics ruled my world. I never found any shortage of people who would engage with me when it came to sports. I was a walking encyclopedia of sports stats. I would rattle them off like a preacher reading scripture. I wasn’t any different with my nerdly pursuits but except for my two close friends, no one cared.

I was teased and bullied growing up. It wasn’t always about my nerd pursuits. Sometimes it was because I simply could not shut up (I know this is shocking). I wouldn’t allow people to say things to me that were hurtful without responding. You couldn’t tease me about comics and not get an earful. You couldn’t be a bully around me without me getting in your face. It led to more conflicts than my psyche was truly comfortable handling. I was often quite stressed.

The interesting thing is I got to a point where I truly didn’t care what people thought about me or the things I liked. My geeking out spread to computers, history, old TV shows, and a whole host of other things. I became comfortable in my skin. I loved talking to people. Sharing with them my passion. It didn’t matter if it was about the San Francisco Giants or the X-Files. It was the community and the friendships.

This is why I love going to conventions. It has little to do with the actual convention theme and everything to do with hanging out with friends. People who share the passion for the world I live in. People who want to share new finds or what they are geeking out on. People who see how excited I am about buyiny a Funko Pop Rocketeer and Roger Rabbit and totally get why. WonderCon was another rousing success. Thanks to all my friends who made it so.

The Hugo Awards: The Sheep Go Baa

I have been reading science fiction for over three decades. I will read just about anything inside the genre if it comes with a recommendation from someone and sounds like I might enjoy the book. As a child science fiction was one of my main paths of escape. In a lot of ways who I turned out to be as a man was directly influenced by the writings of Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, Bradbury, (and for the twisted part of me) Ellison. I absorbed stories. I mulled them over. I smiled. I laughed. I cried. “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison is burned into the very fiber of my being. One of many stories I read that changed my thinking about the world around me.

I am a fan. Science Fiction is extremely important to me. It is why I am saddened by the huge blow-up over this year’s Hugo nominations. If you don’t know what I am talking about just do a Google search. It’s all there. The issue is that a group of people put together a slate and asked their readers and fans to vote for that slate to get them a Hugo nomination. It worked.

I want to be clear right off the bat that many of the writers that were put forward are fine writers. Writers I have actively read for years. I am not knocking them or even saying that they don’t deserve the nomination. What I am knocking is the gaming of the system. I don’t believe that slate voting is in anyway the right thing to do. I have no problem with people putting out recommended reading lists. Hell, I do it all the time. I have no problems with fans passionate about an author going out and registering to vote for that author because their new book was incredible.

The problem I have is the active encouragement to not participate in the process of being a fan. Of being a reader. If you haven’t read the stories you voted for you are not a participant. You are a sheep blindly going wherever the shepherd pointed you. It’s a book. A piece of art. Letters jumbled into thoughts. It is meant to be read. The Hugo’s are a popularity contest. I am okay with that but this wasn’t about popularity. This was about putting names on a ballot without concern for what you, the voter, truly thought about the story. It’s wrong and I believe it is unethical. Science Fiction will survive this. Great books will continue to come out. Many of them will be by the authors on this year’s Sad Puppy slate. I will read them. I might even vote for a few of them for a Hugo. It will be because I think they are awesome. For the record, I think Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey was the best book I read last year.