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 Farseer Trilogy

Robbin Hobbs first novels(at least under that name--she also published under the name "Megan Lindholm" though the storytelling is quite dissimilar ), and still some of her best.

 This trilogy consists of "Assassin's Apprentice", "Royal Assassin", and "Assassin's Quest", and is narrated by Fitz, a bastard son of the dead Prince Chivalry brought up in the stables of the King Shrewd.  Hobb is a master of characterization and she brings Fitz to life like few others could manage.

  Hobb gives those of royal lineage a name that indicates something of the characters nature hence the somewhat peculiar names.

 Fitz eventually enters training as an assassin for the King, and as his father was royal he inherits 'the Skill', one of the two magical systems Hobb employs, and so is also trained in its usage.

 Fitz also has something known as 'the Wit', an ability to bond with  animals.  The Wit is widely loathed, those possessing it are often persecuted.

 Fitz doesn't have many friends--a shop girl in the nearby town,  a wolf he bonds with, and the King's Fool who is strangely fascinated with him.

 Hobb is not afraid to do terrible things to her characters, and Fitz suffers deeply in her hands.  This is why the series works so well. A great example of a character driven story.

9.3/10

Gateway

 Pohl wrote lots of books(and still is actually), but if you are only going to read one, this is it.

 Gateway is a great little book about a man named Broadhead who wins the lottery, that is the lottery that sends you off to Gateway, a space station built to house and maintain the small alien space craft that were discovered here in our own solar system.
    Each alien craft can only fit a few people, lottery winners can volunteer for missions, launching into the unknown in a craft they don't fully understand, and hoping it isn't a one way ticket to nowhere.

 There are also segments where an older Broadhead  recounts his story to a robotic shrink named Sigfrid.

 A deft SF read, not the strongest on characterization, but doesn't weight you down with exposition so it works something akin Arthur C. Clark.

 Pohl's Blog: click

9.0/10

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

The Forest of Peldain

  I randomly picked this on up in a used book store years ago, had no idea who Barrington J. Bayley was, and it seems I wasn't alone as I've never seen anyone mention this book or much about this author.

 It is a short but enveloping book.  A man wanders out of the forest of Peldain, a forest long avoided for its denseness and danger, claiming that a secret kingdom lies in the center of the forest.

 As expedition is organized to enter the forest, and what follows is a terrific if short science fiction piece.

 The cover indicates that this is crap fantasy, but it isn't, more science fiction in nature.

 Must read if you can actually find a copy.

9.0/10

1984

Everyone seems to know of 1984 by George Orwell, considered a class of science fiction by people who don't actually read science fiction.

 It may well have been influential, but I don't believe a book should be rated by how influential it was, but by how it holds up for the purpose of-- you know.. reading.  And this one just doesn't hold up that well.

 We find ourself in a dystopia future with 'Big Brother' watching, and where everyone is frightened little mouse.  These ideas may have been what cemented its fame, but they've been reused by so many other since(and better), that they don't have much impact anymore.

It doesn't have much of a plot, a man and women get together, get in trouble, and get disappeared.

 The characters are rubbish, Orwell makes almost no attempt to make you give a shit if they live or die.

  One of those books people read so they can say they read it, but nobody really considers it their favorite book(unless they just don't read much).

 7.0/10