Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 61

The Devil’s Only Friend – Dan Wells

About the Book

John Wayne Cleaver hunts demons: they’ve killed his neighbors, his family, and the girl he loves, but in the end he’s always won. Now he works for a secret government kill team, using his gift to hunt and kill as many monsters as he can…

…but the monsters have noticed, and the quiet game of cat and mouse is about to erupt into a full scale supernatural war.

John doesn’t want the life he’s stuck with. He doesn’t want the FBI bossing him around, he doesn’t want his only friend imprisoned in a mental ward, and he doesn’t want to face the terrifying cannibal who calls himself The Hunter. John doesn’t want to kill people. But as the song says, you can’t always get what you want. John has learned that the hard way; his clothes have the stains to prove it.

When John again faces evil, he’ll know what he has to do.

The Devil’s Only Friend is the first book in a brand-new John Wayne Cleaver trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells.

272 pages (paperback)

Published on June 16, 2015

Published by Tor

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This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

—

I thought, for some reason that the John Cleaver story was over after I Don’t Want to Kill You. I’m really, really glad I was wrong. The Devil’s Only Friend is the fourth book in what I (wrongly) assumed was a trilogy.

Let me be clear, you don’t have to read the previous books in the series to appreciate this one. It is very, very easy to pick this one up and take off from there. While previous books might give readers a greater nuanced view of John Cleaver, Wells does a great job at catching readers up without really holding them down with infodumps.

John Cleaver is now working with the FBI, and his previous history with the withered is a boon to what he is doing with them. Seeing how John works with a team is quite humorous, but it also gives readers a good insight into what exactly makes him tick. He has his rules, and he has his code. No one really understands him, and he is pretty apathetic toward everyone else. Wells really nailed John Cleaver, and in his own way, he brings readers into the head of a character who can be hard to relate to and he manages to make him shockingly relatable.

John is older now, and he’s a bit more jaded and tested by life than he was before. His rules are evolving, and his ability to handle the randomness of life often throws a cog in his wheel and challenges him in ways that many of us wouldn’t be challenged. His personal struggle to cope with life is often just as interesting and dynamic as the external things effecting him and the situations he finds himself in. Not only that, but early on in the novel John meets with a secondary character from previous novels who ends up being a sort of secret weapon of sorts throughout the book. This character is a welcome addition, but his interaction with said character is pretty revealing, and intimate in ways I didn’t expect it to be. Both of their developments were superbly done, and nothing short of captivating.

The secondary characters come and go, and Wells is quite brutal with how he treats his cast and crew. They don’t get as much fleshing out or limelight as John, but that’s okay because John really is where the interest is. However, he’s uncomfortably honest with all of his characters, not only John but also the secondary characters and the withered. No one is really “good” or “evil.” Even the withered, the demon-like creatures that John hunts down are driven by what they lack, and seek out that thing that can (sort of) make them whole. The treatment of these (sort of) antagonists really humanizes them and makes them more interesting. They aren’t just big baddies, but when they are boiled down, at times they can be pretty pathetic in their own ways.

The plot moves very quickly (though the ending felt a tad bit rushed). Wells moves things along quite relentlessly and treats his characters just as relentlessly as he treats the plot. There is a lot of action and a lot of blood. There are quite a few uncomfortable moments, but I tend to like that sort of thing as it keeps me on my toes and thinking. This isn’t really horror (though there are some horrific moments). It’s not really urban fantasy (or is it?) and it’s not really magic realism (I think…). I don’t know what it is. I always have a hard time pinning down Dan Wells novels, and that’s part of what makes them so damn incredible. The writing is stunning, and the story is absolutely addicting, and I can’t ever figure out what box to stuff it in. It’s never one thing and it’s never another. It’s purely its own. We need more books like that in the genre.

The Devil’s Only Friend blew me away. This is a stunning installment to a series that made its mark on me early on. Part psychological thriller, part horror, part… whatever. This really is its own animal, and Wells improves by leaps and bounds in every book I read. He’s honed his craft. This is John Cleaver, and Dan Wells, at their best.

5/5 stars

The Violent Century – Lavie Tidhar

About the Book

They’d never meant to be heroes.

For seventy years they’d guarded the British Empire. Oblivion and Fogg, inseparable at first, bound together by a shared fate. Until a night in Berlin, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a secret that tore them apart.

But there must always be an account… and the past has a habit of catching up to the present.

Recalled to the Retirement Bureau from which no one can retire, Fogg and Oblivion must face up to a past of terrible war and unacknowledged heroism, a life of dusty corridors and secret rooms; of furtive meetings and blood-stained fields, to answer one last, impossible question:

What makes a hero?

352 pages (paperback)

Published on October 24, 2013

Published by Hodder & Stoughton

Author’s webpage

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—

The Violent Century is a book that I’ve been eyeing for quite a while. However, it took the library an insane amount of time to actually get it, which was amazingly frustrating for me. The other day I noticed the library’s Overdrive (online) system had the audiobook, so I downloaded it. I got through about four hours of it at work before the copy I had downloaded started skipping, and oh, that was the most frustrating thing ever. I was SO INTO this book, and all the sudden the copy I had just STOPPED. What a crime!

So I did what any proper bookworm does, and I complained to the gods at Overdrive that their audiobook copy sucked. After about two days they fixed it, and I picked up where I left off. I devoured this book and didn’t stop until it was over.

The Violent Century really isn’t a book that I’d typically want to read. Superheroes really don’t do it for me. However, I’ve never read a book by Lavie Tidhar before, and once I started I was so sucked in by the high quality of the prose and the story being told, I realized that I’d never be able to stop.

The Violent Century takes some time to get used to, as the timeline switches between now and various points of history. Once you get used to that, it’s pretty easy to see how all the pieces fall together, and the story is even more compelling for the timeline jumps. This book feels like a puzzle, and the way Tidhar tells it just underscores that fact. Readers are putting together pieces of the past to paint a vivid picture of the present, and it’s absolutely illuminating. It’s interesting to see how some seemingly small (and large) events years gone by directly impact who and how a person is in their modern age.

This is a superhero tale, the becoming of a superhero, and what makes a hero a hero. This important question is asked over and over again against a backdrop of moral ambiguity, set in the brutality of World War II (and a few other conflicts), Tidhar doesn’t shy away from making his readers uncomfortable, or showing them the darkness of that time period and how it personally impacts many of those who were involved in it.

More than that, Tidhar’s characters, though they might be superheroes, are achingly human. They are flawed, full of drives and desires, powerful and absolutely human emotions. This makes the impact of the moral ambiguity that much more powerful. What makes a superhero, when said superhero obviously lacks an important emotion like mercy? Can superheroes lack mercy? And this question is even more clouded by the World War II, and all of the darkness and discomfort involved in it.

The Violent Century is full of action and adventure, and edge-of-your-seat tension. Things slowly unfold, and the questions that Tidhar asks his readers become more and more powerful as they go. Various locations throughout Europe are explored, and more than just our two superheroes of Fogg and Oblivion are addressed. Each are just as compelling as the others, and tend to broaden the landscape as much as our protagonists various travels broadens the landscape.

The Violent Century is rather unreal, but unreal in the best possible sense. This is one of those books that is both entertaining, and enlightening at the same time. It takes a bit of time to get used to how Tidhar tells the story, but once you’re used to that, the power of the narrative will gut punch you. The characters are flawed, and the alternative history is captivating. In fact, I can’t really think of any ways that this book didn’t work.

This was my first book written by Lavie Tidhar. It managed to just make me hungry for more. If all of his books are written this well, and ask such important questions, then I think this is an author I need to read more of right away.

5/5 stars

P.S. Also, just to inform you, the audiobook was amazing. Narrated by Jonathan Keeble, this is probably one of the most entertaining, high quality audiobook productions I’ve listened to yet. Keeble nails it.

Seveneves – Neal Stephenson

About the Book

An exciting and thought-provoking science fiction epic—a grand story of annihilation and survival spanning five thousand years.

What would happen if the world were ending?

A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain . . .

Five thousand years later, their progeny—seven distinct races now three billion strong—embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown . . . to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth.

880 pages

Published on may 19, 2015

Author’s webpage

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—

I’m a Neal Stephenson fan, and Seveneves is the sort of book that is right up my alley. I preordered the audiobook on Audible, and devoured all 30+ hours of it in the space of about a week.

There is a lot here that is absolute candy for me, despite how plausible or implausible some of the ideas are. Most of the book is dedicated to examining how humanity in its current incarnation would address an issue such as the one presented at the beginning of the book, and what exactly we would do if we were facing an mass extinction and had a timeline for said event.

It’s full of tension, and completely thought provoking. Periods of it are very uncomfortable, and full of intense emotion, and parts of it are full of technical details that honestly went so far over my head I kind of tuned out for a few minutes. Yes, I struggle with that sort of thing, but it’s obvious that Stephenson doesn’t. In fact, his love of details and explanations really brings the book to life.

In fact, it’s those details that made the book so interesting. There are a lot of aspects of life in space that Stephenson explores that I never thought about before, from the fact that most people who end up in space quickly cut their hair, to radiation, and how that impacts quality of life – including cancer, and so much more. In essence, this book can be just as much of a thought experiment and education as it is an interesting plot based on a fascinating premise.

As I mentioned above, this is one hell of a tense book, and the sheer scope of the saga being told, and the emotions involved in it absolutely floored me. That, and the attention to detail, is probably really where this book excels. The main characters involved, the ones who started on the space station are the ones that really compelled me. Eventually others are added, and some of those felt a little predictable and cookie-cutter, which is easily overlooked but should be noted.

I’m not exactly what a person would consider a math or science wiz, and I understand about as much about space as I understand about the dynamics of the social structure of hissing cockroaches, but that doesn’t stop me from really enjoying scifi and techno thrillers. However, that does mean that I’m really not completely sure how plausible many of the ideas and events that take place in this novel are. There were plenty of times when I thought, “yeah right…” but that was nicely balanced with, “Man, that doesn’t seem real at all but wow, it works well in the context of this book.”

The plot is pretty quick moving. Most of it focuses on high-ranking individuals involved in the Cloud Ark program. It would have been kind of interesting to see more action of the people on the ground while these preparations are taking place. I often thought that while the story in space is interesting, it might have been even more emotionally compelling if stories of the regular populous were spliced in on occasion. Then again, this is already a long book, and Stephenson obviously knew what he was doing.

Most of the book is following the Cloud Ark, and the various struggles and tough realities that they face while they try to preserve themselves and what remains of the human race. It is grim and dirty, and while I do feel that some events could have been drawn out a bit more and others could have been shortened a bit, this portion of the saga is really the part of the book that made the biggest impact on me.

The last section of the book, much shorter than the first, takes place 5,000 years in the future when the different races are finally trying to terraform earth and settle there again. It’s largely a first contact story with a lot of infodumping to bring readers up to speed regarding what happened in the previous 5,000 years to that point. It’s compelling, but it felt largely like a summary of important facts with characters that I never really connected with.

And then it ends.

Seveneves was an absolutely captivating book, but I feel like it missed some points that could have made it astounding. It was a highlight of my recent reading, but the focus on some points, and the glossing over of others, as well as the last chunk of the book left me a little underwhelmed. That being said, despite my quibbles, this was one incredibly strong novel that is an absolute must for sci-fi readers, fans of technology, and anyone looking for some serious brain food.

 

4/5 stars

Clash of Iron – Angus Watson

About the Book

The second book in Angus Watson’s epic Iron Age fantasy trilogy. 

LEADERS ARE FORGED IN THE FIRES OF WAR

Iron Age warriors Dug and Lowa captured Maidun castle and freed its slaves. But now they must defend it.

A Roman invasion is coming from Gaul, but rather than uniting to defend their home, the British tribes go to battle with each other — and see Maidun as an easy target.

Meanwhile, Lowa’s spies infiltrate Gaul, discovering the Romans have recruited British druids. And Maidunite Ragnall finds his loyalties torn when he meets Rome’s charismatic general, Julius Caesar.

War is coming. Who will pay its price?

560 paperback

Published on April 14, 2015

Published by Orbit

Author’s webpage

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Buy Age of Iron

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

—

Age of Iron was a fantastic book, and I was really, really looking forward to reading Clash of Iron. Orbit was kind enough to send me a copy. However, we’ve been rearranging our house to make room for the impending baby, and somehow my various book piles have been moved/shifted/altered and I completely lost track of it. I found the book a few days ago, and dug in. I devoured it in record time.

It is absolutely essential that you read Age of Iron before you dig into Clash of Iron as the plot of the second book builds off the first.

This is a historical fantasy, and a very bloody one at that. Clash of Iron ends up being an interesting spin off of tribal Brittan and Caesar’s invasion of Gaul. All of our main characters from the previous novel are back. Lowa is now a queen, Dug more or less just wants to be left alone, and Spring is hard to pin down, but probably the most interesting character in the book due to that.

The characters are incredibly enjoyable, and very, very well crafted. They gain some depth and scope in Clash of Iron, and each character seems to have their light to balance the darkness. Dug is absolutely wonderful at killing people in battle, but he’s also incredibly loveable, and yearns for a quiet life. Lowa is a fantastic archer, and has a ruthless ability to put duty before herself, but at her heart, she just wants to be normal, and have normal relationships without the complexities. Spring is fascinating, and while she is her own brand of ruthless, she always seems a bit innocent despite that.

And really the entire book is like that. Light balanced by dark, and while the dark is easier to focus on, the humor, the balance of the characters, the passion and ruthlessness all seem to evenly measure. That makes Clash of Iron, which could be oppressively dark, into something a bit different and a lot more balanced.

I should note that one of my favorite parts of the novel is the fact that the women are just as strong, formidable, and intimidating as the men. Lowa and Spring are both fascinating women in their own rights, and they are both completely powerful. The women aren’t supporting staff, they stand on their own and play huge roles in the plot that unfolds. It’s absolutely fantastic, and refreshing to read a historical fantasy novel with characters such as these.

Watson doesn’t hide the gritty truth of war from his readers. He didn’t in the first book of this series and he certainly doesn’t in the second. The grit and gore starts almost from page one, but it never feels gratuitous. He puts it in context. The world is dirty, and the world is gritty and raw, so all of that fits in the book perfectly. In fact, if it wasn’t gritty and full of gore, then I’d probably feel like something wasn’t quite right.

The world is a bit larger here, as early on a viewpoint character is sent to Rome, and Watson is just as realistic and gritty with Roman culture as he is with anything else. The plot develops pretty quickly from that point on, and the two separate narrative threads eventually weave together in the end.

The ending is quite surprising, and I’ll really refrain from saying anything else about it. It came out of left field and left me reeling after. The powerhouse ending makes up for a beginning that, at times, felt like it slowed to a crawl. However, once things get going, they really get going. This is helped along by the dark, wry humor that made Age of Iron so enjoyable. This would be an easy series for the author to make almost unbearably dark, but the humor edged throughout it balance out the dark, and makes it bearable.

Clash of Iron was a delight to read, and a worthy follow up of Age of Iron. Watson is a gifted author who seems to know how to effortlessly check off all of the boxes I need to have checked for historical fantasy. Gritty, real, raw, and absolutely unfiltered, Clash of Iron is a book that left me reeling, gasping, and yearning for more.

 

4/5 stars

 

Trial of Intentions – Peter Orullian

About the Book

The gods who created this world have abandoned it. In their mercy, however, they chained the rogue god—and the monstrous creatures he created to plague mortalkind—in the vast and inhospitable wasteland of the Bourne. The magical Veil that contains them has protected humankind for millennia and the monsters are little more than tales told to frighten children. But the Veil has become weak and creatures of Nightmare have come through. To fight them, the races of men must form a great alliance to try and stop the creatures.

But there is dissent. One king won’t answer the call, his pride blinding him even to the poison in his own court. Another would see Convocation fail for his own political advantage. And still others believe Convocation is not enough. Some turn to the talents of the Sheason, who can shape the very essence of the world to their will. But their order is divided, on the brink of collapse.

Tahn Junell remembers friends who despaired in a place left barren by war. One of the few who have actually faced the unspeakable horde in battle, Tahn sees something else at work and wonders about the nature of the creatures on the other side of the Veil. He chooses to go to a place of his youth, a place of science, daring to think he can find a way to prevent slaughter, prevent war.

And his choices may reshape a world . . . .

720 pages (hardcover)

Published on May 26, 2015

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

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This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

—

I had a conversation with Peter Orullian a while ago where I told him that I tend to enjoy epic fantasy series that start out reminiscent of something I’ve already read, but then take a left turn into the unexpected. There’s something really fun about reading a series that reminds me of all the reasons I fell in love with epic fantasy, and then boldly takes me into brand new, unexpected territory.

Trial of Intentions is that left turn that I look for in my epic fantasy.

Trial of Intentions is quite large and it will take you time to read. While, in some ways, The Unremembered might have seemed kind of stereotypical to the genre, Trial of Intentions is something else. All of the main characters from The Unremembered are doing their own things, and they all have their own motivations for the various things that they are doing. Orullian does a fantastic job at highlighting those motivations, and just how past actions and events mentally impact the characters in their current form.

If anything, the character voices are better, far more unique and memorable in Trial of Intentions, and a lot of that I attribute to those personal motivations that I mentioned above. The drive for each character to better themselves, and the world around them, in some way is quite strong, and incredibly poignant and it fills the book with powerful intention.

In truth, that’s the backbone of the entire novel – the intention, and it’s marvelous that Orullian managed to create characters so full of drive, vim and vigor that they made the title of the novel absolutely understandable (I tend to wonder about book titles more often than I like to admit). The ‘trial’ part is also obvious. People change, sometimes in surprising ways, and that tends to shape the flow of events that take place. The entire book is a trial, one hell of an emotional, personal, and interpersonal trial.

People change throughout the course of the novel sometimes becoming lighter, sometimes becoming darker, sometimes becoming something completely indefinable. In the course of this, they gain a lot of depth and layers that I truly enjoyed, and felt that many of them lacked in some form in the first novel. Many of the characters were broken somehow in the first book, and it’s interesting to see how Orullian lets all the pieces fall, and how the characters try to put themselves together after such memorable events from the previous book.

Many of the actions that characters undertake are rather unexpected and out of line with what you’ll find in most epic fantasy. For example, one character spends much of the novel trying to avoid war rather than fight it, and he does copious amounts of research, discussion, and discourse to help prevent said war. There is plenty of action and plenty of blood, but the fact that a protagonist tries so hard to avoid bloodshed is quite remarkable in a genre where blood, gore, and war are often celebrated in novels rather than discouraged.

Trial of Intentions, in many ways, plays an amazing sleight of hand game for readers, and it takes almost no time for Orullian to show that he’s not writing your cookie-cutter epic fantasy. The great evil exists, but it’s not where you expect it to be. Character motivations seem obvious on the surface, but as the book progresses things gain more depth and motivations change. The learning and education that characters go through changes just about everything. Nothing is what it seems to be, and the thing you’re looking for isn’t where you expect it to be. The “good” is veiled and the “evil” is… different. Orullian does a wonderful job at packing this book full of emotional surprises that will hook readers.

The world and the magic system expands in leaps and bounds, and rather than filling the book full of infodumps, Orullian packs a ton of information in dialogue, and plot movement so its easy to absorb, and fairly easy to understand. It should be noted that some of the musical concepts might go over some readers heads if they don’t have any experience with music – like half tones. I struggle with math and engineering, so some of those details flew over my head (though, honestly, I’m completely used to that). This isn’t a magic system you can understand easily, and that’s part of the beauty of it. It’s a constantly evolving thing and readers can learn about it, and understand it, along with the protagonists. I should also note that I truly enjoyed the fact that magic was just as important, and just as highlighted, as science, math, music and philosophy.

Trial of Intentions is a book of choices, and an interesting exploration of just where those choices take people. Nothing is what it seems to be, and no one ends up being who you expect they are. Choices are hard, and emotional, and the trial is explored throughout the novel. This book shows a true evolution of plot, and character, and Orullian does it masterfully. The tone is a bit darker, the struggle is raw and real, and the emotions are absolutely memorable. Orullian really shows his strength as a writer with Trial of Intentions. He took an epic tale, and turned it on its head in one of the most raw, real, and fantastic reading experiences I’ve recently had.

I cannot wait to see what happens next.

 

4/5 stars

Long Black Curl – Alex Bledsoe

About the Book

Long Black Curl: a brand-new tale in Alex Bledsoe’s acclaimed urban fantasy series, where magic is hidden in plain sight and age-old rivalries simmer just beneath the surface



In all the time the Tufa have existed, only two have ever been exiled: Bo-Kate Wisby and her lover, Jefferson Powell. They were cast out, stripped of their ability to make music, and cursed to never be able to find their way back to Needsville. Their crime? A love that crossed the boundary of the two Tufa tribes, resulting in the death of several people.

Somehow, Bo-Kate has found her way back. She intends to take over both tribes, which means eliminating both Rockhouse Hicks and Mandalay Harris. Bo-Kate has a secret weapon: Byron Harley, a rockabilly singer known as the “Hillbilly Hercules” for his immense size and strength, and who has passed the last sixty years trapped in a bubble of faery time. He’s ready to take revenge on any Tufa he finds.

The only one who can stop Bo-Kate is Jefferson Powell. Released from the curse and summoned back to Cloud County, even he isn’t sure what will happen when they finally meet. Will he fall in love with her again? Will he join her in her quest to unite the Tufa under her rule? Or will he have to sacrifice himself to save the people who once banished him?

384 pages (hardcover)

Published on May 26, 2015

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

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This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

—

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa books. While you can really start the series anywhere, I recommend reading it from book one and working your way through. You’ll appreciate the impressive details and characterization more that way, and some of the plot points hinge on things that happened in previous books – though not overtly so.

Long Black Curl is a book I’ve been looking forward to for a while. The third installment in the Tufa series, this one looked to be a bit darker than the previous ones, but so far each book in this series has gone a way I haven’t expected it to go, and this really is no exception.

The characters are a bit different in this one. Bo-Kate is the perfect character to fill her role. Everything she does is a reflection of something that happened to her in her past that she can’t let go of. Bledsoe perfectly crafted her, she’s easy to sympathize with her, but it’s also easy to hate her. That’s the kind of complex characters that I love in my books. Bo-Kate is one of those people you love to hate.

Perhaps the biggest shock was what happened to Rockhouse Hicks, and that is also one of the characters that shows the Bledsoe’s incredible skills the strongest. Rockhouse is a character that is hard to feel anything but complete loathing for, but somehow in this book, Bledsoe managed to make him somewhat sympathetic. I actually managed to catch myself feeling bad for this horrible man and the hand fate has dealt him. It really takes an incredible author to be able to make a reader feel bad for someone who is absolutely appalling.

Long Black Curl is full of history, and a lot of it hinges on the emotional impact of events that transpired in that history. The Tufa aren’t a race that is prone to forget, and those long lasting ripples are what the entire plot of the book hinges on. While history and lore has featured in previous Tufa books, but I don’t think it’s been such a strong plot point in the novels until now, and it was very artistically done, but also thought provoking. It’s interesting to see how the past can impact the present, and Bo-Kate is a grim reminder to these people with long memories of just how history can directly impact the present.

There are a lot of twists and turns, and the ending really surprised me, and was quite powerful. The writing is lyrical, and as always, the musical aspect of the novel was one of my favorites. The world building is delightful. Bledsoe manages to add more to his world in each book. In fact, at this point the world of the Tufa, at times, feels more real than the world I live in.

Previous characters show up in Long Black Curl, as you’d expect because the community is small and tight knit, but they don’t take over the novel. There are more new characters than old, and while the old characters give readers a sense of foundation and serve to remind of what’s happened before (it’s also fun to see what’s going on with them now), they generally come, do their thing, and then leave. The community, as the world, gets larger and larger, and gains more color and detail as they go.

This was probably my favorite Tufa book so far. It’s intricately plotted with plenty of twists and turns. The world gets larger and larger, despite the fact that it never really leaves the area that readers are already familiar with. There’s music, love, hope, and plenty of pain. The emotions are real and raw, and the ending will leave you gasping. This series is always one that I look forward to reading. Bledsoe is an incredible author, and his skills are really showcased in Long Black Curl.

I never know if I should call this series urban fantasy, or magical realism. Whatever it is, it’s done absolutely right.

 

5/5 stars

The Fold – Peter Clines

About the Book

STEP INTO THE FOLD.

IT’S PERFECTLY SAFE.



The folks in Mike Erikson’s small New England town would say he’s just your average, everyday guy. And that’s exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he’s chosen isn’t much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and peaceful existence.

That is, until an old friend presents him with an irresistible mystery, one that Mike is uniquely qualified to solve: far out in the California desert, a team of DARPA scientists has invented a device they affectionately call the Albuquerque Door. Using a cryptic computer equation and magnetic fields to “fold” dimensions, it shrinks distances so that a traveler can travel hundreds of feet with a single step.

The invention promises to make mankind’s dreams of teleportation a reality. And, the scientists insist, traveling through the Door is completely safe.

Yet evidence is mounting that this miraculous machine isn’t quite what it seems—and that its creators are harboring a dangerous secret.

As his investigations draw him deeper into the puzzle, Mike begins to fear there’s only one answer that makes sense. And if he’s right, it may only be a matter of time before the project destroys…everything.

A cunningly inventive mystery featuring a hero worthy of Sherlock Holmes and a terrifying final twist you’ll never see coming, The Fold is that rarest of things: a genuinely page-turning science-fiction thriller. Step inside its pages and learn why author Peter Clines has already won legions of loyal fans.

384 pages (hardcover)

Published on June 2, 2015

Published by Crown

Author’s webpage

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This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

— 

The Fold is the type of book that I absolutely love. It’s part technothriller, part science fiction, and a whole lot of mystery. Set in our time, with plenty of pop culture references to ground it a bit, The Fold is incredibly readable, and very hard to put down.

Teleportation really isn’t a new idea. I’ve seen it used a bunch on television, in movies, or in the books I read. That’s part of what makes this book so accessible. The concepts are used enough in popular culture for Clines to not really have to throw around incredibly weighty topics, or dumb things down for readers like me. It’s just there, laid out, easy to understand, and therefore, the book is easy to absorb.

However, as with any idea that has been used before, there can be a struggle to make it feel unique for readers. Part of the thrill of this book is that readers don’t really know what is wrong until it’s absolutely obvious. That’s the mystery of it. Instead, we follow along with Mike, our protagonist, as he immerses himself in this science project/experiment and figures out what is wrong and what is right about it all.

It’s well done, and Clines knows exactly how to lead his readers down the rabbit hole. The science concepts aren’t hard to grasp, and the immensely readable nature of the book makes it quite easy to sit back and just enjoy the tempo and the tone of the work as a whole. Clines slowly mounts the tension and drops in clues as to what is really going on effortlessly.

Perhaps if there is one quibble I had, it was with characterization. While this book is more about the science project going on and less about the characters involved in it, I could have used a bit more. Mark is interesting, and his flawless memory puts a really unique spin on the plot, allowing him to see and remember things that no one else really would. He’s a large part of why things unravel and unfold for readers. It’s an incredibly well done plot tool, but Mark never really evolves beyond a very smart observer. Occasionally we get windows into how his memory has impacted his life – an uncomfortable childhood, nicknames, etc, but really, Mark is less of a person and more of a window into what is going on.

The secondary characters were pretty one note, which is unfortunate. Arthur and Olaf never really move beyond their overlord and (incredibly) grumpy exteriors. There really isn’t anything to them. Sasha has a bit more color. The love interest that happens toward the end of the book is pretty watered down and predictable, and I don’t think the book would have suffered without it (much, as it is used as a plot device at one point, but I’m pretty sure that could have happened another way without there being romance involved). Ben was my favorite secondary character, but…. (well, I can’t really continue without spoilers).

The Fold is an interesting book, and as I mentioned above, the strength of it is how incredibly readable it is. It’s hard to put down, hard not to devour. Yes, there are flaws, like the characterization lacked, and the ending left me wanting a bit, eventually the mystery became a little transparent. There were some leaps of logic, and some obviously bad decisions, but really that didn’t bother me too much. Some books are an absolute delight to read despite their imperfections, and this is one of them. The Fold hit all the right notes, despite missing a few that could have really rocketed this book somewhere amazing.

 

4/5 stars

Guest Post | Peter Orullian on When Characters Rebel, or It’s All by Design

About the Author

If you’re unfamiliar with Peter, you’ll find his creative endeavors come in two main thrusts: Writing and Music. Depending on the day, he’ll tell you one or the other is his favorite. Early on, a close third was athletics, baseball in particular. But somewhere along the line he became more a spectator than participant; that was about the time he began to write and make music in earnest.

As a writer, Peter tends to write the stories that occur to him and prove compelling, which means he writes in any number of genres. His published fiction is mostly fantasy and science fiction at this point, but he’s written a couple of thrillers he hopes to find homes for soon. At least one bestselling fiction writer has seen the outline of one of Peter’s unpublished novels—a more mainstream story—and thinks it’s bound to be his bestselling work. That book is on hold for now, though, as Peter ramps up a new fantasy series, THE VAULT OF HEAVEN.

Then as a musician, Peter’s tastes likewise run the gamut. There are few musical genres he doesn’t enjoy. So, while many might find easy stereotypes when they see Peter, those stereotypes are too narrow to accommodate the variety of his musical tastes. Which isn’t to say he doesn’t love rock music—he absolutely does!

Beyond these consuming interests, he currently works at Microsoft in the Interactive Entertainment Business (Xbox), loves the outdoors (with a fondness for the Rocky Mountains that he’ll never lose) and taking his Jeep deep into the back-country, but more than anything enjoys spending time with his family.

The Author’s Special Edition of The Unremembered was released on April 7, 2015

The second book in The Vault of Heaven series, Trial of Intentions, will be released on May 26, 2015

Both books are published by Tor.

Visit Peter’s website for more information.

—

When Characters Rebel, or It’s All by Design

By Peter Orullian

Once in while you’ll hear writers say that the characters they’re writing about won’t do what they want them to. Instead, the characters are making all these decisions contrary to what the writers intend.

It’s a romantic notion.

And I’m not sure I buy it.

I heard George R.R. Martin say on a panel I was lucky enough to sit on with him that: “Characters do what I tell them to.”

I tend to agree with George. But what is true is that characters will often surprise the reader. Writers will set reader expectations—sometimes, anyway—in order to violate them. In order to set up those twists and turns. Those delightfully unexpected surprises.

Sometimes what this means is that the character doesn’t do what the reader expects them to. Or maybe even what the reader wants them to. I, personally, love this tension, both as a reader and writer.

Let me ‘splain.

In my first book, The Unremembered, I use some of the conventions of the fantasy genre to set some reader expectations about who Tahn—one of my main characters—is and what he’ll do. As that book nears its end, the reader experiences a couple revelations about him that contradict those conventions (or tropes).

The wary reader will . . . well, they’ll be wary. As in, “What’s Orullian going to do next?”

That’s a deserving question, since in book two, Trial of Intentions, much of the rest of the trope is blown up. Though, to be fair, I do drop clues. For example, in the first chapter of The Unremembered, I have a “bad guy” say to one of Tahn’s guides, “You’ve tried this before.” In other words, Tahn isn’t the “chosen one,” he’s just the “next one.” And apparently, those who try this thing (I won’t give spoilers), mostly fail. Or die. Or both.

As to what I’m doing next? What exactly is getting blow up? Again, I hate to do spoilers. But if a reader is set up initially to believe a character is an orphan farm boy, start imagining scenarios where that’s pretty damn far from the truth.

Here are some leading questions to get you started:

What if instead of leading the world in an apocalyptic battle in an epic fantasy, a main character decided to try and avert war? Maybe using science?
What if instead of a farm boy and his affinity for stargazing, there’s something more scientific buried there? Something about real astronomy? And maybe a whole society of scientists?

And so I return to my first point about writers talking about characters not doing what they’re told. On the one hand, Tahn isn’t behaving as others (readers and in-world characters alike) think he should. In fact, the choices he makes might seem to put others in jeopardy. But as you get to know who he really is, those choices begin to make sense.

And it’s all by design.

One more example to illustrate my point.

In my series, I have a music magic system. It’s touched on in The Unremembered, but it goes on steroids in Trial of Intentions. By that, I mean that I go deep on how it works, and it moves into the spotlight. In particular, the character who possesses this ability . . . well, hers is a critical plot thread in the book.

What’s more is that the power of her song is not about sweet lullabies or clean, clear soprano tones. This a woman with what I call a dysphonic vocal technique. She can scream. If you want a sense of it, listen to Morgan Rose’s backing vocals for Sevendust. Then, imagine them sung with even more range.

The point is, most of the time, there’s something combative and aggressive about her song. And that’s a damn good thing—something you’ll understand if you read the books.

So then, returning again to my first point, Wendra (that’s the character’s name) is suffering through quite a lot of her own pain—loss of a child, nearly sold into human trafficking, and other nefarious things—while trying to control this song ability she possesses. And I’ll tell you this much, she doesn’t always succeed at controlling it. And there are dire consequences.

So she goes to train her voice. To try and learn control. And along this path the expectation grows that she’ll use her ability to do a good thing. A very good thing. A necessary thing. She’ll have to weigh that against another good thing. Another very good and necessary thing. And one of these two paths falls more in line with what the reader has learned about who she is.

The last paragraph of her story in Trial of Intentions delivers on this choice (her choice) and it has surprised many of my readers. I believe these readers were surprised because they expected (or wanted) Wendra to choose differently. But her choice is consistent with her character.

The good news is that all this sets the stage for what my advance readers are calling the best scenes in the series so far—in book three, wouldn’t you know. One hint: The path she chooses . . . Wendra kicks ass!

These delightful surprises, then? For my money, they’re not a result of the writer just willy-nilly having a character act contrary to her nature. Often, they’re a result of tension in the book that suggests a character should do one thing, when who she is suggests she do another. They’re a result of creative use of reader expectations.

 

And it’s all by design.

The Gospel of Loki – Joanne M. Harris

About the Book

The first adult epic fantasy novel from multi-million copy bestselling author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris.

The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods – retold from the point of view of the world’s ultimate trickster, Loki. It tells the story of Loki’s recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself. Using her life-long passion for the Norse myths, Joanne Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel.

Loki, that’s me.

Loki, the Light-Bringer, the misunderstood, the elusive, the handsome and modest hero of this particular tissue of lies. Take it with a pinch of salt, but it’s at least as true as the official version, and, dare I say it, more entertaining.

So far, history, such as it is, has cast me in a rather unflattering role.

Now it’s my turn to take the stage.

With his notorious reputation for trickery and deception, and an ability to cause as many problems as he solves, Loki is a Norse god like no other. Demon-born, he is viewed with deepest suspicion by his fellow gods who will never accept him as one of their own and for this he vows to take his revenge.

From his recruitment by Odin from the realm of Chaos, through his years as the go-to man of Asgard, to his fall from grace in the build-up to Ragnarok, this is the unofficial history of the world’s ultimate trickster.

288 pages (hardcover)

Published on May 5, 2015

Published by Saga Press

Author’s website

Buy the book

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

—

I’m a big fan of the antihero, therefore Loki really caught my interest. This book was published a while ago in the UK, and it’s just hitting the US now. When the publisher asked if I’d be interested in reading it, I got all sorts of excited. I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. I enjoy fables and myths, and their various retellings, and as I stated above, I really enjoy the antihero.

I’m not that big on Norse mythology. I know a few of the basics, but really I never delved too much into it. The first thing to be aware of, with the resurgence of Loki due to various popular movies, you should know that this is not a modernization and this is not Tom Hiddleston’s character. I’m a big fan of the popular culture Loki, but I ended up enjoying the voice of the Loki in this book a bit more than the Loki in the movies.

In a lot of ways this book doesn’t deviate much from the tales many people familiar with Norse mythology will recognize. What is different is the fact that Loki, the trickster, is telling the stories. That simple switch of a viewpoint makes a huge difference. Loki is full of mirth and suppressed humor. He keeps a stiff story, and a stiff culture, quite interesting, and it is surprisingly easy to sympathize with him and see those “good guys” in a completely different light.

The Gospel of Loki moves at a quick pace. There really is never a dull moment, and while the book tells one overarching tale, each chapter feels more like a story that is related to its neighboring stories. It works really well, making each chapter end culmination rather than a cliffhanger that keeps you going and going and going. However, while it might have good stopping points throughout the novel, you probably won’t want to stop reading it. It’s really hard to put this one down, and it’s not very long so you’ll finish it faster than you expect.

Harris did a lot of research before writing this novel, and it really pays off. The world, mythologies, the unique perspectives, and mostly the language are tight and add a lot of layer and texture to old tales we might have all heard before. Harris’s tight research and her fantastic use of language laced with Loki’s humor keeps the book interesting and the world fresh and real for her readers.

Loki really is a fantastic character. The book starts with a bit of mythology for background, how the world was created, how the gods came to be gods. Yes, it’s a bit of a backstory, but Harris has a way with keeping things interesting. I found myself reading passages to my husband as I went, which is something that I rarely ever do. Soon after that, we get to the story of Loki, how he was born and how he met Odin and ended up working with him. It’s a great way to start the book. It gave readers like me enough information to both educate and refresh me, while the unique way of telling the tale will keep readers who know a bit more than I do interested.

As a negative, I could easily see how some readers who are really familiar with Norse mythology might find themselves kind of bored by re-reading a bunch of stories that they probably already know really well. They might also be a bit dismayed by the modern language that Harris used to tell her tale. However, I really don’t think that’s going to be a big issue for many readers.

Loki is a hilarious character. The Gospel of Loki is both intense, and hilarious. Loki makes it a point to prove that he’s really no better than exactly who and what he is. He revels in his flaws and enjoys the aspects of himself that makes him different than what’s around him, and that’s what makes him so damn interesting. He’s shockingly human, which is a glaring juxtaposition to everything that is around him.

The Gospel of Loki thrilled me. Harris really hit the ball out of the park with this one. I picked it up, and was absolutely unable to put it down until I finished it. If you’re one of those people who enjoys mythology and retellings, then you really need to do yourself a favor and read this book.

 

5/5 stars

Invisible 2

Today is the release day for Invisible 2, an ebook anthology edited by Jim C. Hines. The book costs $2.99 and all proceeds go to the charity Con or Bust. And, if anyone cares, you’ll find my name among the list of contributors to the anthology. You can read more about it here.

In other news, this week has been pretty hard, so I’ve been quiet. I appreciate everyone’s patience while I deal with the health issues that have been heaped upon me these past few days. Baby is growing fine despite it all, so that’s good.

I’m taking the weekend off, and I’m sincerely hoping that some time away from everything for a few days helps me reach my inner zen again so I’ll be able to think about books rather than cancer, joint issues, etc etc etc etc.

Anyway, check out the anthology!