Book Reviews

As the number of book reviews build up, major groups get split off. 
Check out the groupings lower left.

Alphabetical list of reviews on this page (By series, ignore 'The').

Books are added with most recent reviews on top.

Stars and Stripes Forever.Stars and Stripes Forever.  Book 1
by Harry Harrison
Pub: 1998, Hodder and Stoughton ISBN 03406 8917X
Genre: SF , 320 pages.
4 Stars 

Harry Harrison makes a living out of taking historical events, and saying, what if? In this series, he has taken an event of the American Civil War where 2 Southern diplomats were illegally removed from a British ship (the Trent) by the USS Jancinto, and imprisoned by the Northern states. At the time, Britain and France were considering recognising the Southern states as a separate country, and there were concerns that they may then assist the South in the war. 

As a result of the perceived insult to the British sovereignty, a strongly worded demand for the immediate release of the 2 prisoners was drafted by the British Foreign Minister. Fortunately Prince Albert rewrote the dispatch, toned the language down, and gave President Lincoln a way to escape the affair with dignity. At least that is the way Harry Harrison describes it. Wikipedia on The Trent Affair has a slightly different bias, but there was a lot of concern in the US that the capture was unlawful.

Harry Harrison says, what if war was not avoided, and war with Britain broke out. He explores what might have happened had common sense not prevailed. This is a typically good read from Harry Harrison, and is most thought provoking, as well as providing an interesting lesson in real history.

[ Top ]   Neville - 2010

Available in both Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt libraries.

Pip & Flinx. TranscendentFlinx Transcendent. Pip and Flinx #14 (Final)
by Alan Dean Foster
Pub: 2006, Del Rey 978 03454 96072
Genre: SF , 416 pages.
5 Stars 

After thirty five years, the final adventure of Pip and Flinx...

I've been following this series for those thirty five years - the author has written a lot of stuff in between - and this final installment didn't disappoint. It ties up a lot of loose ends, and gives Flinx the happy ending he more than deserves, although the action keeps up right to the final chapter.

I'm kind of sad to see the end of their adventures. It's been a great ride and I'm going to miss not having a new story with these characters in to look forward to.

It's definitely one of my favourite long running SF series.

Blurb: (From Amazon.com)

In the conclusion of Foster’s long-running series, Flinx finally gets to unleash his mental powers to save the universe. With Pip faithfully at his side, Flinx has challenged himself to visit the AAnn home world, an endeavor that may be suicidal but certainly will be interesting. Unfortunately, a minor slip-up arouses official suspicion; he has to send Teacher (his ship) away and fend for himself. Hiding on AAnn, he is discovered only by a remarkably open-minded AAnn youth. The subsequent adventures are steeped in the over-the-top danger and triumph that series followers expect. When Flinx finally leaves AAnn, he is reassured that sentient life is worth saving and feels ready to find the relics of long-dead civilizations with which he might neutralize the great evil bent on destroying everything in its path. Before the inevitable showdown, he picks up some old friends and his beloved Charity Held. All loose Flinxian ends are tied up before the end of the entertaining trip Foster has led readers on since 1972 (see The Tar-Aiym Krang to start all over again)

[ Top ]   Anne 2009

Pip & Flinx. PatrimonyPatrimony. Pip and Flinx #13
by Alan Dean Foster
Pub: 2006, Del Rey 978 03454 85083
Genre: SF , 272 pages.
5 Stars 

This is book #13 in the Pip and Flinx series and up to standard. As usual Flinx runs into a lot of trouble, whumps amazingly well and meets interesting people/aliens along the way. This was an easy read, with several cliffhangers and progressed the overall plot of the series as Flinx discovers more about his past - and not exactly the answers he'd thought. But then nothing is ever straightforward with this series which is one thing I like about it.

Definitely a book and a series I'd recommend. The next book is on order at the library, it's been published but they haven’t got it in yet.

Blurb (back cover):
In this new Pip & Flinx thriller, Alan Dean Foster displays the brilliance that has made him one of the brightest lights in science fiction. In Patrimony, fans will learn more about their favorite redhead–with emerald eyes, uncanny powers, and a poisonous minidrag–than they ever dreamed possible.

“I know who your father is . . . Gestalt.” A shocked Flinx hears these dying words from one of the renegade eugenicists whose experiments with humans twenty-odd years ago shocked the galaxy . . . and spawned Flinx. So Flinx and his minidrag, Pip, venture to Gestalt, an out-of-the-way planet perfect for someone who never wants to be found–disregarding the advice of those who think Flinx could make better use of his time locating the ancient, sentient weapons platform that could be the galaxy’s only chance of stopping the exterminating scourge that’s fast approaching. Flinx might agree with them–but the quest for patrimony wins out. (Sorry, galaxy!)

Could Gestalt supply the key to Flinx’s shadowy past and strange powers? An eccentric loner in a remote area could be the father Flinx has never stopped searching for, perhaps the only person who can unravel the mystery of his birth and his amazing, agonizing powers. An eccentric longer in a remote area of the distant planet could be he father Flinx has never stopped searching for, perhaps the only person who can unravel the mystery of Flinx’s birth and his amazing, agonizing powers.

Unfortunately for Flinx, Gestalt also hosts a resident bounty hunter who’s just learned about the stupendous reward offered for a certain dead redhead. Flinx gets a chance to test his adversary’s skills when our hero’s skimmer is blasted out of the sky and into a raging river in the middle of nowhere – a nowhere of impassable terrain and ravenous, carnivorous beasts.

But hey, what’s one more impossible challenge for someone who’s spent his life defying the odds and escaping the inescapable? Flinx has one thing going for him . . . plenty of experience.

[ Top ]   Anne - 2009

Pip & FlinxTrouble magnet. Pip and Flinx #12
by Alan Dean Foster
Pub: 2006, Del Rey 978 03454 85045
Genre: SF , 288 pages.
5 Stars 

This is book #12 in the author's Pip and Flinx series, following the adventures of empathic Flinx and his mini-drag, Pip.

Like the previous books in this series, this doesn't disappoint. It's action and drama right up to the end of the book, with more clues about Flinx's origins. There's also some very tongue in cheek humour about some old Earth artifacts - very valuable, especially the strange cups made of a substance called styrofoam.

I love this series, and have been following it for years. Each book builds on the last, following Flinx as he grows as a person, and gets into heaps of trouble. The title of this one pretty much sums it up.

Blurb:
Wandering out there in some remote region of the galaxy is a gargantuan, sentient Tar-Aiym weapons system. All Flinx has to do - while his pals look after his injured love, Clarity Held - is find the hefty object and persuade it to knock out the monstrous evil that is hurtling through space to lay waste to the entire Commonwealth. A no-brainer really...just as soon as Flinx and his mini-drag, Pip, visit Visaria - a dangerously depraved planet - to make sure that humans are indeed worth saving. But prospects really go south when Flinx runs afoul of a ruthless crime king. What's more, a new mystery is waiting to be uncovered: a shocking clue about Flinx's shadowy past.

[ Top ]   Anne - 2009

Sun of SunsSun of Suns. Virga Series #1
by Karl Schroeder
Pub: 2006, Tom Doherty Associates. ISBN 978 07653 15434
Genre: SF
Also: Queen of Candesce. Virga Series #2
4 Stars 

This is Galactic war writ small - the universe is 3000 kilometres across.
On-line reviews say 5000 miles. That could be because 'kilometres' are so weird to Americans that they multiply by 1.609 instead of dividing. The actual distance doesn't matter, any more than whether our own world is flat or not.

In the 'space' of the Virga series, people drift inside a moon-sized fullerene balloon. The technology is rather similar to a post-catastrophe world. Engineers can make nuclear suns to warm up their nations and clear the fog, but they travel through the air between nations using turbo-fan space bikes and wooden space ships. Implicit then is a shortage of steel, and little really in the way of an industrialised society, more like cookbook frontier stuff. From a reader's perspective, once you swallow the 'big balloon, no designers' idea, the technology gets simple to understand.

You can ignore the technology. It's crap. A fullerene balloon would have massive pressure on each facet. (A small 1 km square part of a facet would have 10 million tonnes outward push on it. With a total of 283 million million tons outward pressure, the surface will be very spherical or it would rip apart.) As for the selective technology... How come nuclear fusion generators are around in cook-books but primitive fibreglass hulls are not. Also the missing ecological horrors. Errk. If that world lasted a long time, you would live in a stagnant swamp. Every dead drifting bird would have a tangle of long drifting vines coming off it. Nope, none of that. This is just a fantasy world with a pretence at detailed technology to keep the kiddy-geeks happy. It is a quite recently created artefact (say within a millennium), made to order for the story.

We're talking nice old spacebuckling opera here. That's like swashbuckling, but the universe is warped a bit. The simple environment would make for an easy to produce movie.

The people
The hero of book one is Hayden Griffin. He's not a complex character - he's a standard TV teenager. Don't expect wet-student existential angst. Think: Dukes of Hazzard. Think: Pirates of the Caribbean. Neighbouring nation stomps on an attempt at independence, snuffing out Hayden's remaining parent. Bummer. Time to get even. That takes a year or so. The main female lead is Venera Fanning. Uber-bitch with a few nice features, as distinct from her husband who is a nice-guy spaceship captain apart from a teensie tendency to destroy competing nations. The nice-girl heroine also has a minor defect - she wants to destroy life  as we know it. It's important in stories not to have black and white characters.

The quest: Get controller for Sun of Suns, and while saving the universe from Artificial Nature, stop the religious bigot invasion. Thankfully the bigots are modelled on Nazis (and therefore Western dreams of conquest) rather than Muslim. Theology is not so much downplayed as ignored, so think 'godless religious bigot'. If that's a problem, it's because you are thinking.

All in all, an enjoyable escapist fantasy.

[ Top ]   Anton - 2009

The second book in the series is: Queen of Candesce (2007)

Subtitle: How Venera Fanning survives re-entry with just tattered clothes and lives to build a revolution. As you do if you are an aristocrat. The book follows on from Book 1, but only marginally. Venera is the only character from the previous book to figure. She plunges through space to arrive on Skye, a large wheel spinning to give it gravity. Skye is divided into small nation states; really small nations, some under a dozen inhabitants. She takes over one that has just a legal fiction as its inhabitant.

Venera doesn't wind up as Queen of anything, more like the fastest anti-gluon in the nuclear pile. If anything, she is a republican with a corporate raider CEO personality. She has two prime motivations (1) get back to husband and get to rule a real nation, and (2) kill the swine who shot a bullet that drifted thru space to collide with her face. She's had a headache since the first paragraph she appeared in (Chapter 2, Book1), and time isn't making her a nicer person. She has some character defects for a strong, egocentric dominatrix - she wants a better world etc. This can be achieved by giving people building blocks made out of the shattered nations she leaves behind.

It's quite a good read too. I'll take fun over turgid good-for-you any day. As before, the technology does not matter. There's a touch more social interaction, but nothing substantive. While I'd like a great story in a well thought out universe, I'll take what I can get.

Other on-line reviewers preferred earlier books, such as Lady of Mazes. That is available from Lower Hutt library, but not Upper Hutt. The third in the Virga series, Pirate Sun, is available locally and I will read it, but not make a special effort to get my hands on it.

Really, it all goes nowhere, but fun to read.

Addendum: July 2009. Yup, I've read 'Pirate Sun'. Time to give up on the series. It's fun, but somewhat juvenile, rather than multilayered so adults find humour or interest in places I'd just have ignored as a teenager. At a guess, the author is targetting a younger, larger audience. The older, lager audience is into beer and ballgames. US adults don't read anymore than NZers do. I read, but then, I'm in my dotage. That's a group born somewhere between the year dot and the beginning of the dot-com boom. 

Book three is simply a series of escape adventures, this time by the third hero, noble-browed Admiral husband thingy. Whoever. Virga now seems to be officially 5000 miles in diameter and a spherical balloon. Someone else must have been a bit sarcastic on the megatons of air pressure, or perhaps it was just a glitch of the inside front cover blurb of book 1.

[ Top ]   Anton - 2009

ReunionReunion. Pip and Flinx #7
by Alan Dean Foster
Pub: 2001, ISBN 978 03454 18685
Genre: SF
5 Stars 

This book is part of the author's Pip and Flinx series, an sf series about an empath Flinx and his mini-drag pet/companion Pip.

I've been reading this series for years, it was one my father put me onto and we've always swapped the books around except now the print is a little small for him to read unfortunately. It's also one of the few series I buy new whenever I see one I don't have - this one was a library copy but I will be investing in my own when I spot it. The library is a little erratic in getting these in - but that's the local library for you.

I love these books. Flinx whumps so damn well, and of course there's the empathy angle - I blame him totally for my fixation on that one. This book can be read alone, but it does help to have the rest of the series behind you as there are several references to previous books and the books do build on each other. I've enjoyed seeing Flinx grow from a kid to a teenager to a young man, all the while looking for his past, trying to find out more about himself and dealing with his erractic power.

Blurb: Using his enhanced empathic abilities, Flinx finesses his way into a top-secret security installation on Earth. Once there, he bamboozles a sophisticated AI program into releasing classified information about the Meliorare Society, the sec of renegade eugenicists whose experiments with human beings had horrified the civilized universe more than twenty years ago. After all, as one of the few Meliorare experiments to survive, Flinx has a right to know about his past. Especially since the telepathic powers seem to be evolving. The question is, evolving into what? The excruciating headaches afflicting Flinx with increasing frequency make him wonder if he will be alive to find out...

[ Top ]   Anne - 2008

Running from the deityRunning From The Deity. Pip and Flinx #11.
by Alan Dean Foster
Pub: 2005, ISBN 0-345-461-59X
Genre: SF
5 Stars 

'Running From The Deity' is the latest in the Pip and Flinx series, though I believe there's another coming out, or maybe already out. These books are hard to get here, and I've been reading this series since it first started. I found this one at Borders, and the one before - which I'm reading out of order obviously and will review when I've read it next - in the local library. Unfortunately, though, the libraries are hit and miss whether they get all the books in a series *grumbles*

The series tells the story of Flinx, who is an empath, and his companion, Pip, who is an Alaspinian mini-drag, and who also acts as a magnifying lens for Flinx's ability. It's a good mix of action/drama, and although each book can be read alone it works better if you read the others as there is a continuing story as well.

In this book, Flinx's ship sets down on a primitive world for repairs. Deciding that the Commonwealth decree of no contact with such species is one which really doesn't need to be adhered to, as he's not doing any harm anyway, Flinx ends up meeting a couple of natives and using his technology to heal a few others. And then the 'fun' starts as word spreads and said natives decide to start worshipping him as a god...

[ Top ]   Anne - 2008

Sliding Scales
by Alan Dean Foster
Pub: 2004, ISBN 0-345-46156X
Genre: SF
5 Stars 

This is Pip and Flinx #10 in the series, and the one that takes place before the last one I reviewed. Nothing like reading a series out of order.

One thing I must admit I love about this series is that Flinx is wonderfully flawed and damn it, he whumps so well. This story is no different, and a suggestion from the AI aboard the Teacher, Flinx's ship, that he needs a vacation, ends up anything but.

One rather nasty AAnon later, and thoroughly whumped Flinx. Add in a native who's not very happy about the AAnon doing their thing on their world, so deciding to take matters into his/her (two sexes in one and they bud to reproduce) hands er tentacles, and the scene is set for a good angsty action adventure.

Apparently there's another forthcoming in the series 'Trouble Magnets' (rather aptly named where Flinx is concerned), so am hanging out for that.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Dr Who - XmasChristmas on a Rational Planet 
(Dr Who, the new Adventures)
by Lawrence Miles
Pub: August 1996, ISBN 0-426-20476-X
Genre: SF
4 Stars 

This is part of the Doctor Who New Adventures series featuring the 7th Doctor, Roz and Chris.

It's...weird. But as the plot is about the destruction of reason it's to be expected. Even so I really enjoyed it. I love this particular TARDIS crew, Chris has always been a favourite of mine - I'm still pissy they gave him a body change in the Benny adventures. And even Wolsey the cat makes an appearance.

There's several bits of continuity lurking, some obvious, others more subtle and comments which makes you think and try to collect dots. Highlights included Roz's comment wondering why the Doctor has companions as they "just get bruised or snuffed out anyway" note this book is 12 years old in context of that btw. And there's the Doctor comparing Cybermen to vampires. Brilliant!

Defintely a book to be recced, though there's a fair amount of reference to the SLEEPY or psi arc a few books earlier. Also there's the little problem that this book is very much out of print and took me about 10 years to get hold of.

Blurb: An end to history. An end to certainty. Is that too much to ask?

December, 1799. Europe is recovering from the Age of Reason, the Vatican is learning to live with Napoleon, and America is celebrating a new era of independence. But in New York State, something is spreading its own brand of madness through the streets. Secret societies are crawling from the woodwork, and there's a Satanic conspiracy around every corner.

Roz Forrester is stranded in a town where festive cheer and random violence go hand-in-hand. Chris Cwej is trapped on board the TARDIS with someone who's been trained to kill him. And when Reason itself breaks down, even the Doctor can't be sure who or what he's fighting for...

Christmas is coming to town, and the end of civilisation is following close behind...

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Bone Dolls TwinThe Bone Doll's Twin (Book 1 of the Tamir trilogy)
by Lynn Flewelling
Pub: 2001, ISBN 0007113072
Genre: Fantasy
5 Stars 

This is the first of the Tamir trilogy, which takes place in the same universe as the 'Nightrunner' series, but set several hundred years earlier. For three centuries prophecy and a line of warrior queens have protected the land of Skala. But Erius has claimed his young half-sister's throne and all females in line to the throne have mysteriously died, either from disease or accidental deaths with the King's son now his heir.

Next is line to the throne is Tobin, the princess's only child. But Tobin is not what he appears to be, and is in fact the princess's daughter, given male form by magic to protect her until she can claim her rightful destiny.

I loved the Nightrunner books, and this series has not disappointed so far either. The characterisation is wonderful, her descriptions and world building make everything so realistic, and leave you wanting more. Lynn Flewelling definitely rates up there on my list of all time favourite authors.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Hidden WarriorHidden Warrior (Book 2 of the Tamir trilogy)
by Lynn Flewelling
Pub: 2003, ISBN 0007113102
Genre: Fantasy
5 Stars 

Two books into the three of the trilogy and I am still loving this. Tobin is now aware of his true face and destiny, and the time is coming close for him to reveal this and lead his people. Unfortunately he must still hide this burden from Ki, his close friend and squire, and with that the knowledge that he will have to turn traitor to the only blood ties he has left to claim the throne.

One of the things I really liked about this book, apart from the characters and their interactions - my favourites would be Ki and Arkoniel - is the way it does not shy away from the realities of war. Several battles are fought, not everyone survives, and the scenes where they find tortured prisoners is just horrific.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Oracles QueenThe Oracle's Queen (Book 3 of the Tamir trilogy)
by Lynn Flewelling

Pub: 2006, ISBN 055358345X
Genre: Fantasy
5 Stars 

This is the third in Lynn Flewelling's Tamir Trilogy.

A mystical fire burns away the male body of Tobin to reveal the true form of Princess Tamir, a queen ready to claim her birthright after a life in disguise under the protection of wizards and witches. But will her people and the friends she was forced to receive, accept her? And will Korin, her cousin and friend, ignite civil war to keep what he perceives as his crown in a rejection of the true heir of Skala?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great conclusion to the trilogy, but not an easy battle for Tamir. It realistically explored her adjustment from years of living in the body of a boy to that of discovering life as a woman, including all the not so fun things that go with that. The actual fight for Skala carries on until the last few chapters so doesn't let up, keeping the pace of the book fairly fast. In particular I liked the relationship between Tamir and Ki (who had been close friends since childhood) and how that changed and shifted with the changes that had taken place in her.

A good read I'd thoroughly recommend.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Shadows Return
by Lynn Flewelling
Pub: 2008, ISBN 0553590081
Genre: Fantasy
5 Stars 

This is the 4th installment of the Nightrunner series, and I've been hanging out for it for months.

My overall reaction to it is wow. It was really really good and I couldn't put it down, hence getting it on Thursday I had it read by last night - Saturday.

Because it's new out going to avoid specifics in the comments.

The book is very dark, both in tone and what happens. Alec and Seregil are both whumped rather nastily *hugs both of them *. The book kept me glued, the action not letting up even on the last page where the last sentence has a revelation that has me impatient for the next book. This doesn't end on a cliffie but the story is far from over and leaves the reader with a lot of questions that need answering.

It was wonderful reading about this world again. Alec and Seregil are so good together - even if they did spend most of this book apart. And we get to see Thero (there's a very interesting revelation there too) and Micum and his family, and a new character connected with the prophecy that Alec will "father a child of no woman".

'The White Road' is due mid 2009

Blurb: With their most treacherous missions yet behind them, heroes Seregil and Alec resume their double life as dissolute nobles and master spies. But in a world of rivals and charmers, fate has a different plan...

After their victory in Aurenen, Alec and Seregil have returned home to Rhiminiee. But with most of their allies dead or exiled, it is difficult to them to settle in. Hoping for diversion, they accept an assignment that will take them back to Seregil's homeland. En route, however, they are ambushed and separated, and both are sold into slavery. Clinging to life, Seregil is sustained only by the hope that Alec is alive.

But it is not Alec's life his strange master wants - it is his blood. For his unique lineage is capable of producing a rare treasure, but only through a harrowing process that will test him body and soul and unwittingly entangle him and Seregil in the realm of alchemists and madmen - and an enigmatic creature that may hold their very destiny in its inhuman hands ....But will it prove to be saviour or monster?

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

TemeraireTemeraire
by Naomi Novik
Pub: 2006, ISBN 0-345-48924-1
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

A friend recced this series to me, of which this book is the first. There are four so far and it's a series in progress. Once I get through the pile of library books, I'm going to have to read the rest.

I loved this and had difficulty putting it down. The characters grew on me very quickly, and the mix of fantasy and history was fascinating.

The setting is the Napoleonic Wars, from the POV of the English, with a difference. In this war there is an air force on both sides, made up by pilots, crew and dragons. The dragons are characters in their own right, with quirks and different abilities.

The main characters are Will Laurence (human) and Temeraire (dragon) and follows their friendship/relationship from before Temaraire hatches from his egg. Instead of being trained for this from a young age, as are most who take it on, Laurence has it happen without much warning and at a later age, and is a sea captain, so the reader gets to learn and explore the Air Corps along with him and Temeraire.

Blurb: As Napoleon's Grand Army tear Europe apart, his vast armada is poised to engage Admiral Nelson's smaller fleet and threaten Britain. But the struggle is over more than land and sea, for both sides have an air force. And the fiery death they rain down upon their enemies has nothing to do with gunpowder - it comes from the very guts of the beasts they are flying: DRAGONS.

Weeks out of port at Madeira, a British vessel - the Reliant, commanded by Captain William Laurence - captures a French frigate. Within its hold lies a greater prize than the ship herself: a dragon egg. And it is close to hatching.

Young dragons must be put to harness immediately or they go feral. The person who harnesses the beat should be an aviator - once a bond is formed the dragon will accept no other. Though the men of the Air Corps are honoured, theirs is not a life appealing to a respectable gentleman. To his shock the newborn ignores his chosen rider and approaches Captain Laurence - changing his life forever.

But even more astonishing than the dragonet - named Temeraire by Laurence - are the documents with him, addressed to the French from the greatest dragon- breeders in the world: the Chinese. For the egg was meant for the Emperor Napoleon himself...

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Another fine mythAnother Fine Myth
by Robert Asprin
Pub: 1978, ISBN 0-7540-4637-0
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

I'm working through an omibus edition of the first five books in this series, so going to review one at a time as I work through them.

This was recced by a friend and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's a good light read, with lots of humour and cultural in jokes. The characters are easy to relate to and very likeable, and the stories are all under 200 pages. I also loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter e.g. "Anyone who uses the phrase 'easy as taking candy from a baby' has never tried taking candy from a baby," - R. Hood.

To quote amazon com for the Blurb: Skeeve was a magician's apprentice--until an assassin struck and his master was killed. Now, with a purple-tongued demon named Aahz as a companion, he's on a quest to get even.

Noting here that demon is short for dimensional traveller and Aahz comes from a dimension called Perv but he's a Pervect, not a Pervert, and not impressed when people make that error.  ;)

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Myth ConceptionsMyth Conceptions
by Robert Asprin
Pub: 1980, ISBN 0-7838-9550-X
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

This is the 2nd story about Skeeve and Aahz, and follows on from 'Another Fine Myth'.

This time our heroes are up against an army, after Skeeve takes on a job which according to Aahz is supposed to be cushy as that's what a court magician's job is. I enjoyed this, it's a fast light read with several in jokes - Aahz's dimension seems to be riddled with our pop culture - and the interaction between characters, now with the addition of those Skeeve winds up 'employing' for a gold piece to help with the battle ahead.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Myth DirectionsMyth Directions
by Robert Asprin
Pub: 1982, ISBN 0-7838-9551-X
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

In this latest installment of the series, Skeeve and Tananda go shopping for Aahz's birthday present. And being them of course this isn't that simple, and neither are the events that happen when things go horribly wrong.

New characters join the team and interesting facts like for one dimension all the males are trolls and the females are trollops. Which makes sense if you think about it. Really.

I enjoyed this story, but am finding at this point the continuous typos, lack of speech marks, not following new character starting on new line so it's confusing who's saying what, is starting to grate a bit. For a professional author etc who I'm presume uses an editor, it's really sloppy.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Smoke thiefThe Smoke Thief
by Shana Abe
Pub: 2005, ISBN 0553804480
Genre: Fantasy Romance
3 Stars 

This was an enjoyable read, not exactly something I couldn't put down though. More of a light read and what I'd term a romance with a fantasy twist. Not usually the type of book I do read, but nice for a change.

The main character was a tad Mary Sue in places I thought, but I must admit I mainly kept reading for the male lead who I found more interesting. However, the author's habit of referring to him alternatively as Christoff and Kit, even though he was known by both got annoying. I felt like telling her to make her mind up after introducing the character and stick to one or the other. Still it is a book I'd rec, and I'd be curious to read the sequel and see what happens next.

I debated cutting the blurb short of what's on the dust cover, but decided to go for the whole thing as it rather shows the tone/style of the book IMO more than my description can.

Blurb: Dubbed the Smoke Thief, a daring jewel thief is confounding the London police. His wealthy victims claim the master burglar can walk through walls and vanish into thin air. But Christoff, the charismatic Marquess of Langford, knows the truth: the thief is no ordinary human but a "runner" who's fled Darkfrith without permission. As Alpha leader fo the drakon", it's Kit's duty to capture the fugitive before the secrets of the tribe are revealed to mortals. But not even Kit suspects that the Smoke Thief could be a woman.

Clarissa Rue Hawthorne knew her dangerous exploits would attract the attention of the drakon. But she didn't expect Christoff himself to come to London, dangling the tribe's most valuable jewel - the Langford Diamond - as bait. For as long as she could remember, Rue had lived the life of a halfling - half drakon, half mortal - and an outcast in both worlds. She'd always loved the handsome and willful Kit from the only place it was safe: from afar. But now she was no longer the shy, timid girl she'd once been. She was the first woman capable of making the Turn in four generations. so why did she still feel the same dizzying sense of vulnerability whenever he was near?

From the moment he saw her, Kit knew that the alluring and powerful beauty was every bit his Alpha equal and destined to be his bride. And by the harsh laws of the drakon, Rue knew that she was the property of the marquess. But they will risk banishment and worse for a chance at something greater. For now Rue is his prisoner, the diamond has disappeared, and she's made the kind of dangerous proposition a man like Kit cannot resist...

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

The Paradise War (Song of Albion 1)
by Stephen Lawhead
Pub: 1991, ISBN 1595542191
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

This book is the first of 'Song of Albion.'I enjoyed this book, the concept while not new is well written and the world in which Lewis finds himself is described well and easy to imagine. I liked him as a character, the first person narration making it easy to get inside his head. I notice the 2nd book is also first person but from a different point of view although Lewis is still an integral part of the story so this should be interesting. All and all a good fast read, lots of action, drama, angst seeped in celtic myth.

Blurb: Wolves prowling the streets of Oxford. A Green Man haunting the Highlands...Lewis Gillies is face to face with an ancient mystery.

Drawn from the ivory towers of Oxford to the misty moors and glens of Scotland, Lewis expects little more than a pleasant weekend away. But the road north leads to a mystical crossroads, and he finds himself in a place where two worlds meet, in the time-between-times.

The ancient Celts admitted no separation between this world and the Otherworld: the two were delicately interwoven, each dependent upon the other. In 'The Paradise War' this balance is disturbed - a breach has opened between the worlds and cosmic catastrophe threatens.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

The Silver Hand (Song of Albion 2)
by Stephen Lawhead
Pub: 1993, ISBN 0745922309
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

This is the second book in the 'Song of Albion' trilogy, leading on directly from book 1 which I reviewed in an earlier post.

This, like the first book, is written from 1st person pov, but from Tegid, the bard. Things go downhill in the battle against the prince, with some gory bits, and the body count mounting in places. Lovely and angsty but realistic with no quick fixes, but a very satisfactory ending.

Blurb: "A king is a king, but a bard is... the heart and soul of the people. He is their life in song, the lamp which guides their steps along the paths of destiny."

So speaks Tegid Tathal, a bard and the son of bards. The great king, Meldryn Mawr, is dead and his kingdom lies in ruins. Treachery and brutality stalk Prydain, Prince Meldron, prompted by the cunning and grasping Siawn Hy, now claims the throne.

But the bard alone holds the kingship - it is his to give where he pleases. His choice falls on another and the Day of Strife begins.

Kingship, sovereignty and the making of a true king lie at the heart of the second book of the Song of Albion triology. Herein lie passion and power, heartbreak and hope - the fate of Albion and the destiny of the long-awaited Champion: Silver Hand

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Endless knotThe Endless Knot (Song of Albion 3)
by Stephen Lawhead
Pub:, ISBN 1595542213
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

This is the third and last book of the 'Song of Albion' and brings Llew's story to a conclusion, well at least his life in Albion.The POV in this last book is still first person, but switches back to Llew, which ended up being a bit weird considering what happens which I can't really go into detail here because of spoilers. The book has a feeling of bringing the series full circle, and I felt sorry for him at the end.

I enjoyed this series, it's a good read with rounded out characters who don't always make the right decisions, but that's the kind of heroes I prefer. Very descriptive and good action/drama. Definitely recommended.

Blurb: Fire rages in Albion: a strange hidden fire, dark-flamed, invisible to the eye. Seething and churning, it burns, gather flames of darkness into its hot black heart. Unseen and unknown, it burns...

Lew Silver Hand is High King of Albion and the Brazen Man has defied his sovereignty. Lew must journey into the Foul Land to redeem his greatest treasure. The last battle begins.

Celtic myth collides with modern life in a timeless story...

[ Top]  Anne - 2008

Beyond the paleBeyond the Pale
by Mark Anthony
Pub: 1998, ISBN 0553379550
Genre: Fantasy
4 Stars 

I got this book out of the library - why doesn't the local branch have the range Central and the others do, it's annoying as hell - after seeing it recced on the Flewelling ML.

It's not a fast read as it's 525 pages, and took me a while to get into it. One of the reasons for this was the library copy was very small print. However, I since found a larger format version in a secondhand bookshop and bought, and the 2nd book in the series as well, which helped immensely – there are 6 books in total.

Once I did get into it, however, I really enjoyed it. The story is told from the point of views of two of the central characters, Travis and Grace, though towards the end, suddenly we get povs of some of the others. Once I got past the first few chapters the plot starts to move, with cliffhangers, dramatic tension and some interesting vibes between the characters who make mistakes and are nicely flawed (I'm watching a couple in particular as I read the end of second book but won't spoil, and yes there's slash in the series apparently, though it's really not in this book, although if you watch for reactions once you know, they're there)

Blurb: One a world called Eldh, an ancient gate of iron weakens. A darkness that has slept for a thousand years - the Pale King - stirs once more.

On a world called Earth, a preacher of the Apocalypse blows into a Colorado mountain town with a message for those who dare to listen: the darkness is coming.

Travis Wilder, bar-owner and drifter, is given a mysterious stone by a friend. Grace Beckett, an ER doctor in Denver, finds a gunshot victim with a heart of iron. Both Travis and Grace must step beyond the pale, beyond the boundaries of the world they have known. As doors are opened for each of them, they enter Eldh, a world where they are caught against their wills in an age-old struggle between good and evil . A world of magic, runes and death...

[ Top]  Anne - 2008

Smoke and ashesSmoke and Ashes
by Tanya Huff
Pub: 2006, ISBN 0756403472
Genre: Fantasy
5 Stars 

This is the third book of the spin-off series to her Blood series, featuring Tony Foster (wizard) and Henry Fitzroy (vampire). Tony and Henry have relocated to Vancouver and Tony works for a syndicated TV series Darkest Night which is about a vampire detective.

I loved this series, but this book would be my favourite. The supporting cast, as well as the leads, shine. It's full of pop culture references, smart arse humour, action, drama, angst, and gay UST (and quite a lot of off camera smut). What's not to love? I found this in the local library amazingly enough and now want my own copy.

The first two books, which I also enjoyed are Smoke and Shadows and Smoke and Mirrors.

Blurb: Tony's been promoted to a Trainee Assistant Director on the show, and he's hoping that the only supernatural events he'll be caught up in are those in the script. But, of course, that just isn't meant to be, for unbeknownst to the young wizard, a Demonic Convergence is about to begin. This will create weak spots around the world through which lesser demons may find a means to enter our world.

To complicate matters, Leah, the incredibly sensual and seductive stuntwoman who freelances for the show, is in reality an immortal Demongate - or, as she puts it "the oldest piece of magic in the world." Around 3,500 years ago, the Demonlord adored by her village went on a killing rampage. Leah is the only survivor, and her Lord has worked a powerful runic spell for which she is the vessel. Should Leah die, the Demongate will open and her master will once again be able to have his way with the unsuspecting human race. In the meantime, since her Lord and Master is a sex demon, Leah's means of communicating with him are pleasurable for all whom she encounters.

Can Tony - with the help of Leah, Henry, a tabloid reporter, a Mountie, and the cast and staff of Darkest Night, - halt a demonic invasion, keep Leah alive, and stave off the end of the world?

[ Top]  Anne - 2008

Witches brewWitches' Brew
by Terry Brooks
Pub: 1995, ISBN 0517175193
Genre: Fantasy
5 Stars 

Witches Brew is the 5th book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, which I blame a friend for getting me hooked on.

I enjoyed this, it's not a heavy read, but there's several threads of plot which come together nicely. I liked the way characters and events from past books in the series worked into this one, and it was a good review of those events, especially as it's been a while since I've read the first four.

Blurb: Former Chicago lawyer Ben Holliday was proud and happy. And why not? The Magic Kingdom of Landover, which he ruled as High Lord, was finally at peace, and he and his wife, the sylph Willow, could watch their daughter Mistaya grow.

And grow she did - shooting through infancy in months, learning to walk and to swim in the same week. Mistaya had been born a seedling, nourished by soils from Landover, Earth, and the fairy mists, come into being in the dank, misty deadness of the Deep Fell. With dazzling green eyes that cut to the soul, she was as lovely as her mother, and Ben wanted nothing more than to enjoy his daughter's childhood and his peaceful kingdom forever. But his idyll was interrupted when Rydall, a king of lands beyond the fairy mist, assembled armies on Landover's border and threatened to invade unless Ben was able to defeat Rydall's seven champions.

Some counseled the High Lord to refuse Rydall's challengs, but Holiday could not, for Mistaya had been snatched from her guardians by foul magic. And Rydall held the key to her fate...

Anne - 2008

Guards, Guards
by Terry Pratchett
Pub: 1989, ISBN 0061020648
Genre: Fantasy/Humour
4 Stars 

I find with Pratchett's books, I either love them or are indifferent about them. This one would be one of my favourites of those I've read to date. It's the intro book for the guys of the City Watch, the other one I've read is set quite a bit later. Nothing like reading an author out of order

I loved the characters from Carrot, who discovers at 6ft odd, he's not really a dwarf as he was brought up to believe but adopted, to Errol the dragon (but not THE dragon). The librarian and the concept of L-space, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it, and 'organised crime' which also is rather practical considering are also very cool. I shall have to hunt down more books of The Watch I think.

Blurb: "Of all the cities in all the world it could have flown into, it flew into mine.."

Some night-time prowler is turning the citizens of Ankh-Morpork, greatest city of the fantasy Discworld, into something resembling small charcoal biscuits.

And that's a real problem for Captain Vimes of the City Watch, who must tramp the mean streets of the naked city searching for a seventy-foot-long-fire-breathing dragon which, he believes, can help him with his enquiries.

In a city thrown in turmoil by magic, charcoal biscuits, secret societies and mad lady dragon breeders ('Just tell him /sit/ if he's bothering you'), he's just looking for the facts.

[ Top]  Anne - 2008

PyramidsPyramids
by Terry Pratchett
Pub: 1989, ISBN 0613572645
Genre: Fantasy/Humour
4 Stars 

This is one of the discworld novels. I find with Pratchett some of this series hooks me right in, others I can take and leave, and this is often depending on my mood and the characters involved.

I'm not sure starting this book and then reading about 10 others in between is a good sign but when I finally settled to finish it, I enjoyed it. I have a feeling that reading on the train when I'm more with it rather than late at night when I'm not makes all the difference.

Anyway...

Blurb: Being trained by the Assassin's Guild in Ankh-Morpork did not fit Teppic for the task assigned to him by fate. He inherited the throne of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi rather earlier then he expected (His father wasn't too happy about it either), but that as only the beginning of his problems....

As the title suggests pyramids feature quite heavily in the plot of this story, to be expected as it's a dig at Ancient Egypt. An interesting take on pyramid power though I felt sorry for the ancestors stuck in their pyramids for years, and I mean /years/. I liked Teppic and the other range of characters from the pyramid archetects, the ancestors, the camel 'You Bastard' who thinks in math, the embalmers, one of who comments that at least when you stuff seats you know they aren't going to get up and wander around, and Ptraci. As in usual Prachett style nothing is safe and he takes digs at everything. It's an amusing light read and one I would reccommend.

[ Top]   Anne - 2008

Saturns children 
Saturn's Children 
by Charles Stross
Orbit 2008, ISBN 9781841495675
Available UH Library, or purchase for about $48.
Genre: SF
4 Stars Readible romp

This is another techno SF from Stross set upwards of a thousand years from now, but some two hundred years after humans died out from something catastrophic but inept. Like, they all forgot to go to the supermarket. A robotic civilisation continues to perpetuate all our vices and violence because they were made in our image. Humans replicated their own brain pattern in transistors to get a reliable servant class. With human patterns come human perversities. Our robo-pro heroine is happy in her calling, but bothered because there is nobody left to call her. Fortunately for her near terminal boredom, she gets embroiled in a conspiracy where really evil robots try to kill her. They employ the usual ways: cliff-top fight, tied to rails while a city rolls over her, brain unplugged, enslaved, traditional bodice ripping stuff.

There is an undercurrent of dark social comment. Machines have no inherent rights, so ownership and control of others is by warped corporate law. The sole function of this nasty robotic society is to perpetuate the functions of humanity whilst banning the reassembly of our degraded DNA. There is a tension in having a society with no purpose without humans, but the prospect of enslavement if they come back.

It is a very readible novel, cheerfully paying homage to 60s SF. Other reviews are mixed. There is a certain amount of tut-tuting about porn and violence, which seem to be publishing houses trying to crank up sales with faux warnings. A better summary is: "Not as seamy as Blade Runner as the author is enjoying himself too much".

[ Top]  Anne - 2008

Links for books

http://www.goodreads.com/

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

[ Top]  Anne - 2008