Doug Lewars's Blog, page 37

Rise of the Mages

Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

If you enjoy complex character arcs and deep psychological analysis forget this one. This is the closest I have read to good old-fashioned sword and sorcery in a long time. It isn't quite Conon but it's not far off. There are evil priests, a dark god newly risen, monsters, magic, plenty of betrayals, flashing swords and blood, blood, blood. Emrael, the protagonist, has studied combat since he was a child. True, he winds up with all sorts of magical power but he uses it mostly to chop, hack and slash his way through heaps of bad guys. Now and then he stops to feel sorry for himself but such moments are few and he quickly gets back to the important work of hewing through the enemy. The ending is a little soft because the author wants to keep his best villains alive for further books in the series but he at least sacrifices one of them. I think I'll likely keep reading this series. This book is plot driven. If you want a character driven novel which I realize is the current fashion, I think you should look elsewhere.



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How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This is one of the best books I've read in some time and I particularly recommend it to authors or would-be authors. Ms. Eason is a university lecturer in writing and I believe it is probably creative writing. Therefore it makes sense for her to have a pretty good idea of what is commonly believed sacrosanct in literature - namely, showing not telling. Nevertheless, she tells a great deal and even presents the reader with a number of information dumps. While one might think this would destroy the pacing she makes the content so interesting one just has to read on. On occasion I felt as if I were in a lecture hall listening to her explain some topic regarding the world she created. It was fascinating. The plot was fairly simple and the characters well developed. Once again she didn't attempt to psychoanalyze them but presented them in clean coherent thoughts and actions. Her protagonist is only 16 years old and was a little annoying but still consistent with what one might expect from someone of that age. There was plenty of action, intrigue and a satisfying ending although some loose ends remained thereby providing the author with something to start with in her next book. I definitely will keep reading the series although to the best of my knowledge 'the series' consists of only two books at this time.



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Eye of The Sh*t Storm

Eye of the Sh*t Storm by Jackson Ford




*** Possible Spoilers ***

I think I'll leave this one unrated. It's impossible to assign both a one and a five and to average them into a three doesn't make sense.

The action is great. The pacing is incredible. There's a nice twist to the ending. All that warrants a five.

Now for the things I didn't like.

This book is a variation on Marvel X-men. You have a group of mutants all with superpowers battling one another. Add to that a crime-fighting team with one of the super-powered individuals on its roster.

I'm pretty sure the author is hoping for a movie contract. Everything about the book is designed for the screen, and, as a result, it's pretty formulaic. I don't think the author actually used AI to write the book but he could have. If you've read so much a one Marvel comic book you've got a pretty good idea what this book is like.

Teagan is the protagonist and at least three-quarters of the story is told from her point of view. Her superpower is telekinesis. She is also the least interesting character in the book, whiny and constantly either second guessing herself or acting irrationally. Yeah I know, the common wisdom is to throw everything including the kitchen sink at your main character and watch how they grow. Teagan seems to grow increasingly more irrational. Finally she becomes a drug addict. I have to wonder if it's even possible to become addicted to meth after only two hits but our heroine is, or thinks she is, well on the way.

The remaining one quarter is told by Reggie. She's the team leader, a quadriplegic and a superb hacker. She doesn't actually have a super power but her hacking ability is such she can get into ANY system. Uh huh.

This is one author who refuses to kill off characters. Most of the characters should have died at one point or another but they didn't. He's even willing to bring back a couple he apparently killed off in an earlier work. I found that probably the most annoying aspect of the book.

Another annoying aspect was the feeling of being manipulated by the author. It's almost as if he performed a market survey of superhero material to find out what aspects people liked and then carefully crafted the book accordingly. It feels contrived. One has the feeling of needing a hot bath after reading it.

I can't recommend this one for most readers. I think those who love Marvel Superhero movies would enjoy it. Beyond that, I have doubts.



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Gallows Humor

Gallows Humor by Carolyn Elizabeth

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


*** Possible spoilers ***

I disliked this book not because it was poorly written - it was actually quite well written - but because it was not classified correctly. I got it from the mystery section of the library. The blurb suggests an autopsy reveals certain anomalies which poses a mystery regarding an apparent accident. The woman who performed the autopsy eventually gets involved. Having an outsider dragged into a case is a pretty common ploy in mystery novels so I thought it would be an enjoyable read. In addition, the title 'Gallows Humour' suggested the possibility of a dark, dark comedy tucked inside the mystery genre. That is the sort of thing I love.

This is not a mystery novel nor is it funny. It's a romance novel - a lesbian romance perhaps but a romance novel nonetheless. For those who enjoy that genre and don't mind the lesbian aspect I think you might enjoy this one but for those who want a mystery novel forget it. The mystery plays only a tiny role in the novel and is over and done with just around the half way mark.

For those who are authors, pay attention to your classification keywords and your blurb. It will keep you and your readers from being disappointed.



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Jam

Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I enjoyed the book but it wasn't as good as Mogworld. Still, it's amusing and keeps moving right along. If you enjoy deep novels exploring the human condition with complex character arcs then forget this one. There is a tiny bit of character development on the last couple of pages but if you blink you'll miss it. This book focuses on plot and little else.

All of the characters are portrayed as incompetent idiots and I found it wore a little thin by the the end of the story but I liked it anyway. The author seems to take particular delight in skewering young people. It's true he took shots at corporate workers but mostly his darts were aimed at young individuals.

I've discovered I'm a sucker for product placement in novels ... at least if the product is food. After a couple of pages I was thinking I might like to go to the kitchen for bread and jam and by chapter three I was on my way. The author Janet Evanovich has this same effect on me although in her case it's donuts and fried chicken although I can generally resist them.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good book. The idea is unique. The pacing was excellent. The plot was interesting and the satire biting.



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Jingo

Jingo by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was amusing with a nice amount of satire. I've never met a Terry Pratchett book I didn't like and this one was no exception. One thing I found interesting was his ability to take an old, well-known joke, change it only slightly, and make it hilarious. I also enjoyed that cute Dickens quote near the end. Overall, if you like Discworld books, I think you'll like this one.



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Mogworld

Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

If you're sufficiently politically correct to dislike any snarky reference to fat people you probably want to take a pass on this one. Likewise, if you want to read serious works by diverse authors striving to understand the complexities of the human condition, you'd best move on. I found this book hilarious and enjoyed it thoroughly but it's certainly not for everyone. It's satire of multi-user online role-playing games but it also satirizes plenty of other things. Of importance to me is the frivolous nature of the comedy. If you don't like Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett or Tom Sharpe I think it's pretty safe to say you won't like this either.

The protagonist isn't particularly likeable and simply wants to go his own way free of all the annoying demands placed on him by others. The story starts out with him being killed, going to heaven, and then being called back to life by a necromancer who raises him and others as part of a zombie army. The remainder of the book involves him trying to get back to being dead, when, as a zombie, he's undead.

The author revels in taking various literary tropes and giving them a twist. For example, Meryl, another undead companion, idealistically wants to save the world. At one point they come to where a decision must be made. She wants to start a revolution among some individuals she perceives as downtrodden and he want to continue trying to find a way of returning to death, so she leaves him. In a proper trope, he would be expected to reflect on his selfishness, see the importance of securing social justice and go after her to protect and help. Instead he happily heads off on his own quite glad to be rid of her and her cause.

If you're an author who likes writing frivolous humor, this book is a master class in how to do so. I recommend reading it twice, once for the story and once to see how the author takes common things and ideas and gives them a twist.

In general, if you like humor, don't take literature, yourself and much else too seriously, I think you'll enjoy this.



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Crime and Punctuation

Crime & Punctuation by Kaitlyn Dunnett

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


*** Possible spoilers ***

This isn't a terrible book but if I knew when I picked it up what it was like I would have moved on to something else. It's a basic whodunit There is one victim and a whole bunch of suspects. Generally I'm not good at sussing out the murderer but this time I had him pegged before the half-way point so perhaps the author is a little too obvious. In places the pacing is a bit slow but not terrible. What bothered me were the inconsistencies. A woman takes up work as an editor. A prospective novelist comes with a manuscript and hires her to edit it. Then the novelist dies a couple of days later under what the police first think are suspicious circumstances and then decide is suicide. The editor is a little disappointed she won't get paid her full price but she does have 50% for doing no work so things could be worse. She rationalizes the whole thing in none of her business. All this takes place in approximately four pages of the book. Fine, it's not her business. Case closed. The end. Yet one small detail doesn't make sense so she keeps going over and over it. The the police question her, she tells them of the one small detail and they take it under advisement. Fair enough. Case closed. The end. But no, she keeps going and going. Time after time she tells herself it's none of her business and she'd one-hundred percent correct. it isn't. She knows it. The author knows it. The reader knows it, but somehow she keeps digging into the case - ineffectually for the most part. Of course she had to keep going or there wouldn't be a book but in my opinion the author needed to work on her motivation big time.

Even the climax didn't make sense. She talks to the murderer without realizing he's the one she's looking for but she gives no indication she's on the right track. Yet he decides she needs to be silenced and comes after her. Say what? There are these little inconsistencies scattered throughout the story and about the only positive thing I can say is I got plenty of exercise from eye rolling. Anyway i do not recommend it. I'll concede the wordsmithing is quite good but the logic is pretty bad.



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Monsignor Quixote

Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I quite enjoyed this book even though the pace is slow and not a lot happens. It consists mostly of a philosophical debate between a priest and a politician regarding Catholicism vs. Communism. Loosely following the book by Cervantes, the two ramble about Spain following the Franco regime and eventually get themselves into trouble. The debate is ongoing pausing briefly for a bit of plot to slip in and then moving on. I can't say I was impressed by arguments from either side since I don't care for either of them but the book itself was a nice, slow, rambling sort of piece I found quite relaxing. I do not recommend this for those who like fast, action-paced, suspense-filled thrillers. It's more of a read-a-bit, think-a-bit book. It's also nice to read a debate which could never appear on Twitter without vitriol and insults.



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Three to Get Deadly

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I think I've read all or most of the Stephanie Plum series but I missed this one because it was never in the library when I was looking for it. It's interesting because this was quite early in the series and things have evolved slightly over time. In most of the books Stephanie is a ditz but in the later ones she's become more competent. Her character has also been softened a bit over time. In this one she frequently carries a loaded .38 although she doesn't shoot anyone.

These books are comedies within the detective genre and if you don't like formulaic writing, don't read them. Such character development as exists happens over dozens of books, not within the covers of one and its probably her editor and publisher making suggestions based on market research. Over time the sex increases while the violence decreases; nevertheless, there is always a climactic scene in which Stephanie's life is on the line. Mostly she's rescued but in a couple of the later novels she rescues herself.

These books work because of the quirkiness of the characters and the whimsical situations the protagonist finds herself in. In addition, most people can relate to her occasional craving for donuts or fried food.

This series is not for serious readers. Those who like whimsy will love the books.



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