The Great Hunt

The Great Hunt is the second book in the Wheel of Time series; here we find Rand & company attempting to recapture the Horn of Valere, and in the process traveling from the Borderlands to Toman Head.

 The Seanchan are introduced, a seafaring empire that uses the One Power in battle.  They have occupied Toman Head and stand as adversaries against the peoples of the mainland.

 Egwene and her female twins are featured heavily, although their story here is solid, not drivel as in some of the later books.

 Overall it is about on par with the first one for quality, but has less variety, as it is very focused on the hunt for the horn.



 8.7/9

The Wise Man's Fear

 "The Wise Man's Fear" is the second in what is supposed to be a trilogy(though I'm starting to have doubts as to how he can possibly conclude it with only one book).

 This one is much like his first, "The Name of the Wind".  Except it is really damn long.  1126 pages long.

  First, I did enjoy the book.  Rothfuss is a very solid writer, this ant no hack.  He is great a stringing together a sentence, but I'm starting to wonder if he can actually string a full story together.

 Why?

  Well for one, the first 400 pages are a retreat of the first novel.  More Kvothe at University, nothing really new going on here.

 Finally Kvothe leaves the University, he travels 1000 miles(somehow in only 16 days with a shipwreck, eh?) to a distant city where he enters the service of some high and mighty dude.  Denna shows up yet again.  Kvothe pines after her.  Hey this sounding familiar?

 Finally about half way through the book, Kvothe yells at Denna, and is promptly sent out on a mission to eliminate some bandits.


 I should add, that each time Kvothe travels to a new location, the story becomes interesting.. for a time.  But each time Rothfuss overstays, and the reader becomes deadly bored with the location, hoping each time a new chapter arrives that Kvothe will move on.  Kvothe always manages to stay longer than I care for, making me wish they had cut quite a few chapters.

 There is one horrible part where Kvothe enters the fae realm, I kept assuming it would end.. but chapter after chapter Kvothe somehow remained in this most intolerably dull location.

 It does pick up some at the end, Kvothe learns to fight, saves some girls, stuff actually happens, etc.  Why couldn't more of the book been like that?


8.8/10

A Civil Campaign

 Miles is back on Barrayar, and most of the book deals with Miles courtship, or campaign to marry Ekaterin.  New territory for the series-- obviously.. but it works fairly well.


 8.4/10

Komarr

 The third good Miles book in a row.  Miles is now an auditor, and he is helping to investigate a shuttle crash.

This one introduces Ekaterin, as Miles stays at her and her husbands house during his investigation.


8.6/10

Memory

 Memory is another good one.  Miles deals with loss, as does Illyan.  This is also a big changing point in the series,  as Miles role in the story is never really the same from here on.

This is the only book in the Vorkosigan series not included on the free Cryoburn CD put out by Baen, not positive on why, but it may just be because Memory was never included in an omnibus edition.

8.8/10

Mirror Dance

 The first damn good book in the Vorkasigan Saga.

 Miles clone("Mark") is back, and he has a mission.  Unfortunately things don't turn out so well for poor Miles, and he ends up quite dead.

 This one isn't nearly as fluffy as the books that lead up to it.  It is rather dark, and so much stronger for it.

8.8/10

The Vor Game

 The one somehow got awards thrown at it.  Not sure why.  Its average and fairly forgettable-- actually I've forgotten most of it already.  The good books don't start until Mirror Dance:/


8.0/10

Barrayar

 The 2nd Vorkosigan novel, and unlike the first, it is actually pretty good.

Again this one follows Cordelia, it is the last book to do so.

8.2/10

Night Angel Trilogy

The "Night Angel Trilogy" is the debut series for Brent Weeks, it is a fairly traditional fantasy story bent toward action.

 The central character is Kylar, yet another young street beggar-- scraping by to pay his guild dues.  Kylar encounters Durzo, a famous assassin in his city, and eventually becomes his apprentice.  Soon enough Kylar goes forth to slay countless foes.


+It doesn't hold back, no PG rating here.  Kylar is an assassin and he doesn't magically avoid killing the innocent.
+Action is well done, and plenty of it

-Writing isn't of the highest caliber, if Weeks could improve his prose some he would be one hell of an author.
-The ending for the series didn't work for me, too much voodoo and magical nonsense.
-Some of the secondary characters would go through some pretty dull character arcs(Logan in book 1 and book 3).


8.8/10

Earth Abides

 Earth Abides is an end of the world type novel from the late forties by George R. Stewart.  But even today, it is still in print, which must mean something.

 A deadly disease wipes out humanity, but our protagonist Ish survives by shear luck because he happened to be out in the woods alone for a few days.  He returns to civilization, location near San Francisco, and discovers mankind has ended.

 Oh, there are a few survivors and Ish does go about meeting and joining some of them, but this isn't a happy story.  Stewart must have had a bleak outlook on mankind.

 What follows is the story of the reversal of mankind, from the height of civilization to stone age primitives.  And Ish is often infuriatingly passive about the whole affair, rarely making any effort to prevent this degradation.

 The ending is somewhat poetic, and left a lasting impression on me-- despite my annoyance with Ish this book works, and works well.

8.4/10

Under Heaven

 Finished Under Heaven a few days ago-- this was only my second Kay book, and based on this one I think it's about time I start reading his backlog.

 This is a historical fantasy piece set in the Tang dynasty of China, though it is called Kitan here.  Based on events in the novel it appears to take place around the year 755 CE. Most of narrative focuses on on a man named Shen Tai who has spent two years digging graves for the bodies of long dead soldiers, far away from civilization and his family.  While this is fantasy, there is not actually a great deal of magic going on here.

 Kay vividly shows us 8th century China: the silk road, courtesans, bodyguards, and the Imperial court with clean prose and plenty of detail. The landscape is very beautiful, and the cities and roads that lead between them make this seem a land that would have been wondrous to walk--except the society was so rigid and unbalanced you wouldn't actually want to do so.

  Most of the characters work quite well, although their behavior is often so constrained and rigid, as demanded by their society, that I found myself wondering where all the creative strong willed types were. Does this society just breed them out of existence? Shen Tai is supposed to be one of the more wild individuals, but he mostly just goes along with the flow.

  On the downside there isn't a great deal to the plot, its about 500 pages of build up, although it isn't really clear to what, until near the end-- and then a very rapid conclusion. There are also some sections in the early middle part of the book that drag, introducing new characters with excessive exposition.  

  An enjoyable read that takes you back to the 8th century, the pacing isn't always perfect, but the setting, writing, and characters are all high quality.

 8.9/10

The Ragged Astronauts

 This was my introduction to Bob Shaw, another science fiction writer who doesn't seem to be very well known.

 This is the first in his "Land and Overland" trilogy, and I feel it is the strongest.

 The scene is on "Land" where deadly creatures known as Ptertha are growing in number, they have become so numerous on Land that it seems the human population may soon be whipped out.

 Land has a sister planet, Overland, these these twin planets orbit each other and are so close that they share a common atmosphere.

 In an attempt to escape the destruction of Land at the Ptertha large ballon craft are built, huge numbers of them in order to carry as much of the population as possible to OverLand.

 The plot follows the fight against the Ptertha and the escape toward Overland.

 This is a very entertaining novel, worth reading if you can scour up a copy.

8.8/10

Glasshouse

 Glasshouse is another one from Charles Stross, it is the distant future, and humans can now live forever if they so choose, but for whatever reason many of them grow bored and decide to have their memory wiped clean so as to start over.

We meet a man who has had his memory wiped, seemingly on purpose, he's recuperating, when he is approached by a group that wants to perform a study.  The study involves placing recently wiped individuals into a recreation of mid 20th century life.

 He agrees of course, and from there we follow Stross down a peculiar rabbit hole.

 I liked this book, its a solid little science fiction piece.  Stross is not the strongest(nor the weakest) prose writer so don't expect any extravagant beautiful language, his characters are also what I'd qualify as "action characters"-- existing to perform actions not endure hardship or dwell upon their emotions.

8.1/10

Wild Seed

Wild Seed is a novel by Octavia Butler, it is historical fantasy with an African focus.

 Anyanwu is an immortal woman living in the wilds of Africa, when along comes another immortal Doro, who has roamed the planet for centuries.  He recognizes Anyanwu for what she is, and is fascinated to find another like him.

 It continues from Africa, to the New World(in the age of sailing & slavery), where Doro has cultivated his own villages populated with people of interest.  The story covers a few centuries-- unfortunately it doesn't have much of an ending.

  I enjoyed this novel, but it lacks much in the way of purpose, I was never entirely sure why the story of Anyanwu and Doro was being told as it didn't really seem to lead anywhere.  Still, Butler was a solid writer, so the book is enjoyable enough.


8.4/10

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was the debut novel for Susanna Clark, it is set in an alternative version of 19th century Europe.

 This book was the recipient of a great deal of praise, and awards, such as the Hugo.  It is a rather lengthy book at around 850 pages, and written in a dry British style.

 This book did not work for me, the pace was lethargic, and its characters seemed far to classical and uninteresting.  Somewhat like reading a dull 19th century novel that just happens to be 850 pages long.  It was not so bad that I quit reading it entirely, but I never found myself so captivated that I'd read continuously for hours.

  Clark does succeed in creating a parallel magical word into which the characters sometimes step, but this happens rarely, the vast majority of the time is spent on 19th century trivialities.

  Overall a solid book, but I felt it was a far cry from the legions of praise piled on it.

 8.0/10

Anathem

Anathem is a novel by Neal Stepheson of Snow Crash fame.  Be warned, this novel bears little resemblance to Snow Crash.

 The story takes place on a fictional planet, with resemblances to a future Earth, but where technology has stalled and society is rather stagnant.

 Anathem is narrated by Erasmas a fra(like a junior priest) who lives in a Concent(convent focused on math/science, not religion).  He has lived in the Concent since he was a little boy, and is never allowed out.

 The general plot involves the discovery of an unidentified object in the sky, in the pursuit of this the story goes far beyond the walls of Erasmas Concent, with plenty of adventure and exploration, but I won't spoil any of that.

 One unfortunate aspect of this novel is that it starts very slow, the first few hundred pages drag, and it isn't until Erasmas leaves the Concent the things really start to become interesting.  The last stage of the book bears little resemblance to the first, and is very exciting.

 A damn good novel, only marred by the beginning.  Very long at almost 1000 pages.

8.9/10

Rainbows End

Rainbows End is the most recent work of Vernor Vinge(sadly, his output is rather slow).

This is not a space opera like some of Vinge's other award winning books, instead it takes place in the not too distant future, right here on Earth.

 Vinge constructs a world where technology has progressed, and virtual reality has stepped into the real world.

  People wear lenses which are able to overlay augmented information and mix it in with what is already there.  Add any vista you want outside of your window, decorate your house in any way you wish, and even use it for a form of x-ray vision, seeing what you cannot naturally see.

 The characters and plot are solid, but not really up to the standards I'd come to expect from Vinge. It centers around a man brought back from Alzheimer disease(since a cure is now available), he enters a world quite different from the one he left and must learn to adapt.

 It did win the Hugo award, but I don't consider this one of Vinge's best works, though it does present some very good idea's as is common with Vinge.

8.5/10

Best Served Cold

"Best Served Cold" is the latest novel by Abercrombie, it is set in the same world as his previous series, "The First Law".

 This book largely focuses on new characters, although a few of the minor characters from "The First Law" are featured.
   Returning from the previous series, is Shivers a north man who came south to "become a better man".  His role in the First Law series wasn't terrible large, but here he plays second fiddle only to the main character Monza Murcatto a mercenary out to extract revenge from seven individuals who destroyed her life and her body.

  She goes about her revenge in the bloodiest way possible, forming a team of murder's, and setting about killing her quarry one by one.  The mercenary Glokta befriended in "The First Law" also plays a significant role here.

 A certain red haired woman does make an appearance, along with the King whose identity will be known by readers of "The First Law".

 The plot is solid, though it never really does go much beyond the revenge thriller until near the very end.

 Overall I enjoyed the novel very much, although there were some points in the middle where I found myself meandering.

8.8/10

Dragon Haven

"Dragon Haven" is Hobb's sequel to "Dragon Keeper", this is the second book in her new "Rain wilds Chronicles".

The story continues where it left off, the dragon keepers are navigating up the river attempting to find the mythical city of the dragons.

 Hobb creates some of the best characters, they are far more real and alive than what you typically find in other novels.  While I don't think the characters in this series are comparable to Fitz from Hobb's earlier work, they are still better than most.  I particularly liked Thymara, a young girl scarred with aftereffects of living in the rain wilds.
   There was one character that could grow mildly irritating, Alise Finbok a middle aged woman who isn't terrible interesting, she also wines a-lot.

 The plot is fairly simple, probably the simplest of any of Hobb's series.  It can more or less be summed up with a single sentence; they travel up a river.

The book does end rather abruptly, although it appears that Hobb is working on another Rain Wilds novel, so this isn't likely to be the real ending.

 I'm a huge Hobb fan, and while this may not be her best novel ever, it is still well written and quite enjoyable.

8.7/10