Chris’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2011)

Chris’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

This is the book where both Fitz (and Nighteyes) come of age. Fitz literally dies to his old life, but his impetuous rebellion alienates his friends as he goes off to seek revenge. Even Nighteyes leaves him for a time, running with his own kind.

But Fitz rises above his own desires to respond to Verity, and to his duty. He turns his back on Molly, hoping that by doing so he can keep her safe. Kettrickan is a tragic figure, sacrificing everything to find her husband and rescue the kingdom.
We even gain more understanding of Regal, I think; not an evil mastermind, but only a spoiled boy who covets a crown without any of the responsibilities of a ruler.

Beautiful moments: Nighteyes reflecting that the group of travelers is their pack; Kettle’s redemption; the rise of the dragons. A fitting conclusion to this first trilogy.

For science fiction, I'll nominate The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. For fantasy, Spoonbenders.

I am generally drawn to books that cross multiple genres, so this horror-fantasy/World War II-Cold War spy thriller should have been a winner. I finished it a week ago, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

It's certainly very dense. The agents/double agents/triple agents coupled with the narrative continually switching time periods left me constantly confused about who was allied with whom. Perhaps that was the point? The narrative was stylish, and definitely created a spy-thriller vibe. I found the best part of the book to be the author's note at the end, where Powers goes in to the known facts of Kim Philby's life and describes how he created the story in the empty places left behind.

Unlike some classic sci fi, this 1963 book has aged relatively well. Enoch is a principled man, choosing to withdraw from the world after experiencing the worst of humanity during the Civil War, yet still struggling with loneliness even though it is self-imposed. He strives to continue his education, learning from the aliens that pass through his home en route to final destinations, yet with an eye to using that knowledge to improve humanity. His grace under pressure makes him an admirable protagonist.


Many older sci fi novels either ignore women characters entirely, or treat them superficially. Both Lucy and Mary have a surprising depth, even as supporting characters. A very positive thumbs up from me!

Welcome, Kathi! You've been a wonderful series moderator, so I know you'll be terrific!

Darn! Could have sworn I saw Skyward for sale somewhere! Then I nominate Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge instead.

(Says with warm satisfaction) I really do enjoy these books. Beautifully drawn, complicated characters. I agree with the other comments, the seeds planted in these early novels bear fruit throughout the series.

Of course, this is the middle book of an arc, so its more difficult.

High points: relationships with Nighteyes, Kettrickan and Verity and Molly, Fitz becomes a man, Kettrickans model of a servant leader
Low points: Regal’s general snakiness, Forging and Red Raiders, lack of support for coastal duchies, pillaging Of Buckkeep

I’ll nominate Skyward by Brandon Sanderson for science fiction. He read the prologue today at Worldcon and it grabbed my attention. I think the group would enjoy it.

This book was a lot of work, full of neo-technical terminology that bordered on magic. I thought it was a reasonably good story; I liked the heist aspects. I was impressed by the depth of detail in the author’s vision for the world. Gevulot was memory block chain before block chain was cool. But I didn’t care for or identify with any of the characters, and the whole memory-recovery plot line seemed unnecessarily complicated.

I liked this mob-style Asian thriller. The characters were unique and multilayered. Lan’s admirable mercy towards a young thief showed his magnanimous nature, but his refusal to recognize his own limits made him human. Shae and Wen are strong female characters that are powerful on their own terms while still being feminine. The political and magical systems came together in a believable whole.

I’ll re-nominate a book that almost made it last month. Six Wakes by Murdick’s Lafferty is a great deep space thriller.

I love Murderbot! What a great character.

Like others, I “hear” the character as female, although I can’t quite say why. I’ll call her “she” below.

I think the most interesting aspect is Murderbot’s changing relationship with the crew. Saving the crew member makes her seem more human; her humanity is reinforced when they see her without her armor. Yet she doesn’t seem to want to be more human, as long as she can retain her free will.

I think my favorite character trait is that she likes trashy entertainment.

Like others, I am a bit daunted by the price of the subsequent novellas. For that price, I expect a novel! But I do like Murderbot....

This series is a re-read for me. I welcome the chance to reacquaint myself with the overall story, and particularly with the earlier books.

This is a story of contrasts. The two magical systems, the prized Skill and the despised Wit, make for an interesting magical background. The servant leadership of the mountain people contrast with the self-serving scheming of Regal and his mother. The contrast in the way people treat the bastard Fitz compared to the legitimate but less able heirs.

I love Fitz. My heart breaks for the boy that came to live at the castle without even a name of his own. I learn the tools of the assassin’s trade along with him, and find that an assassin requires not only skill, but loyalty and judgement. And Fitz’s relationship with Molly is both complex and poignant. Very mature writing, Robin Hobb is a master!

I agree, Kathi, it’s hard to evaluate this as a stand-alone.

I thought this book excelled at describing places. Oxford and the Bodleian Library, a castle in Lyons, France, all impressively detailed. The Bishop House in Massachusetts even operated as a character with a mind of its own.

The plot, though, didn’t shine as brightly. Diana seemed to spend most of the book either injured or voraciously hungry, rescued time after time by the vampire love interest. The large cast of characters muddied the story for me. But overall, I enjoyed this Dan-Brown-meets-Witches-and-Vampires paranormal fantasy.

For fantasy, I nominate Nebula award nominee Amberlough.

For science fiction, I nominate Nebula and Hugo nominee Six Wakes. I actually started reading this one this morning, and it hooked me immediately... I think the group would like this deep space thriller.

That's tragic ...

Some of my favorite science fiction books are those that describe an alien as something truly "other", those that push us to ask what it really means to be "civilized". With both Stevland and the glassmakers we have completely believable alien intelligences that choose to form a community with the human colonists, contrasted against equally believable enemies (other plants, the orphan glassmakers, the eagles) that have the rudiments of intelligence but either lack the empathy to collaborate or who choose to rebel as a conscious choice.

The first generation of colonists frustrated me. I could understand choosing to reject the city for themselves, but could not see how they would keep it from their children once the children had grown to adults, even going so far as to kill to keep the secret. Perhaps they were so invested in their own choices that they couldn't bear to consider an alternative.


While the colony was much better off partnering with Stevland, there are still troubling issues. Stevland has quite a bit of hubris, assuming that he along knows the best for everyone, even drugging them (for their own good, of course). I do think he grew (as a character :-) ) by the end of the story, but it's still somewhat troubling.


Best new alien life: fippocats!!!!

I really enjoyed this story. I don't read a lot of vampire books; I often find them a bit repetitive. But Sunshine was unusual and interesting, and I liked her relationship with the vampire here. She wasn't a vampire groupie, didn't go seeking a thrill, but when adventure found her she found the reserves in herself to overcome her situation and (pardon me) come out shining. The tone of the book seemed just right, and I loved that her real passion was baking. Her description of cinnamon rolls left me hungry!

I thought the world building was interesting, too; at first I assumed it was a "normal" world, but quickly learned about the past magical wars and the minor magical abilities that manifested among Sunshine's acquaintances. I wish that my superpower was always being able to pour hot coffee....

Short stories aren’t really my thing, so that was already one strike against the first book. I enjoyed the wordplay (Chun the Unavoidable was indeed memorable). But the characters are unlikable and, as it has been pointed out, inhumane.

Since this is the Dying Earth series, I wondered how the story is affected by the fact that the earth is coming to an end. I think that the inhumanity of the characters toward each other is their reaction to the possibility of imminent death. If the world may end at any moment, perhaps all that matters is living for the moment. It’s not a view I can sympathize with but, then, I’m not a magician.

I did continue on with the other books of the series which I liked quite a bit more. The second and third books are about Cugel the Clever, who I can best describe as an anti-Ged. Through all his adventurous ups and downs he never becomes more self-aware. But he is an enjoyable rascal.

The fourth book is more like two separate novellas with the same wizardly characters. I enjoyed it, but By this point I was tired of only male characters. I imagine that this was groundbreaking material for its time but it didn’t age as well as some other contemporary stories.

I read this many years ago and welcomed the chance to reacquaint myself with this classic. Le Guin sets the bar high for this high fantasy, based on a classic plot of the hero coming to know himself. Ged was hard to like at first, although we can admire his innate wizardly powers. The world is well realized. I particularly liked the part where he learned boat building skills without wizardry.