A Song of Ice and Fire, George R R Martin

Technically this is a reread, but an interesting one given the HBO series which I have been watching.  I already rate Mr Martin highly, but I had a perspective on the series that I wanted to communicate.

There might be some element of a spoiler here so if you are not a fan, or have already read these damned entertaining reads stop now.OK, as follows.....

Rereading I noticed that the story really begins when all of the following conditions are true: Westeros is thrown into political turmoil after Robert gets done in, murdered by a pig; There is in addition a vague ill defined threat from the North;  On the warmer continent the heir of the previous king to Robert gathers in strength and influence; and of course Winter is Coming particularly poignant to a Canadian.

I then read the next four books in the series and lo and behold, these conditions do not change.  At the end of a dance with Dragons we have political turmoil in Westeros; an ill defined threat from the North; A Targaryean gathering influence and strength where it is a lot warmer; and Winter, well it's coming.  People have died.  Plot lines have been started, followed, resolved (normally by decapitation) and new ones started.  There has been an enormous amount of action.  Great and important events have unfolded and the reality is that nothing has changed.  Nothing.

I actually think this is brilliant though, because at the same time as reading them, and thinking along these lines I noticed that unlike most fantasy literature, in which things tend to get resolved, tied up, answered, this work is more like the world in which we live.  In our world we have earth shattering events, we have people dying, we have disease, war, death and love and often, when you look at the world now it does not look so different to the world of last century.  We have most of the same problems, and oh yes, Climate Change is Coming.

Among Others, Jo Walton

Most books written as a diary leave me cold.  This diary is engaging, enchanting and pretty much enthralling.  There is in fact a distinct, and purposeful lack of action in the prose that makes you engage slowly with the main character, Morwenna, who has lost a twin, been moved away from her childhood home and is just trying to connect as she figures herself and others out.  The action that comes later, while still almost diffuse is more powerful for the build up.

Now this is a fantasy, and it has magic in it.  Unlike pretty much every book that has magic in a modern setting (almost modern setting, late seventies in the UK) the magic is believable.  So believable that you start wondering if there might not be something to the idea of it.  I personally would love it if magic were real, if I could connect to the universe that way it would be mind blowing and I have always wanted it to be real, so much so that the lack of magic, real magic, is a crushing disappointment to me on a daily basis.

If you haven't guessed yet I loved this book.  Loved it.  Another thing she did that just made it for me was have the main character, Mor, be totally into SF and fantasy, reading constantly, which is what I would do it I did not have to work for a living and look after a family.  The book is in essence filled with book reviews and recommendations I aim to follow up on. Thank you Jo Walton. This book is beautiful.

Michael Cobley "Seeds of Earth"

One of the interesting things about reading a new writer is where the recommendation comes from.  In this case, saddened by thinking of the passing of Iain M Banks (also known as Iain Banks for non sci fi works) I followed his praise of Michael Cobley, and the Seeds of Earth that you can see on the front cover.  I am sorry to say I did not finish it.  I managed about three quarters and cannot be bothered to g o the rest of the way.  The basic premise of the book is OK, mankind spread to the stars and struggling to survive, but it is on the details that this book dies.  Galaxy spanning ideas of technology, human progress, alien politics etc etc need to hang together, and Cobley sadly veers from the banal to the nonsensical.  Ideas about massively advanced technologies tat are subsequently lost  as someone fires a rifle to perform an assassination in a culture and future wher such things should not be possible with a rifle, they just shouldn't.

If you do not want it to be a serious thesis, then you need to dress it as a comedy, or a space opera.  If you dress it in the serious clothes that hard sf fans like to see an author wearing, you better not forget the pants.  This is sadly one to avoid.

China Mieville "The City and the City"

What just happened.  That was what I thought after reading the first chapter.  That was what I was thinking when I finished the book.  I finished it a few days ago and still do not know the answer, which might be the point, or it might not, if you see what I mean.

It is essentially a detective story.  No.  It is essentially a science fiction story about parallel co-existing universes that overlap. No. It is a social commentary that uses a story telling tool like a bludgeon. No.  Obviously I do not really know what it is.  It does however, follow the path of a police officer, Borlu,  investigating a murder that took place in his city, or  the other city?  His city overlaps and mingles with another city, though you have to try hard not to look, or at least look like you are looking, because that is a really serious crime, even when compared to Murder.  The police officer, Borlu,  investigates and you almost learn about the city he lives in, and the city he does not live in but sees and ignores the whole time.

This book is completely mad.  I am still not sure if the author wants us to think that the two coexisting cities are  the result of people simply behaving as if they do, behavior after all on some things can define reality.  Or is there a cosmic event shaped twisted reality warp that makes it possible.  You never know and he probably has no intention to let you know. There was a funny moment when there was a reference to Harry Potter that threw me for a loop.  The book could easily up to that point have been written in the sixties/seventies by a Kafka obsessed hippy with too ready access to mind altering chemicals, but no, it was written in the age of ipads, mp3 players and other technokookery.

Here is the deal.  This is a book that many people would hate.  It is vastly confusing and murky.  It lacks that clear tone of story telling so common to science fiction.  It did draw me in though.  I quite enjoyed it.  It was a ride.  A friend told me though that this might be one of the sanest and most straightforward of the books written by the man, so here goes for the next one which involves I believe dream bugs that are dead, but still actually alive and infesting a parallel dimension.

"Oryx and Crake", Margaret Atwood

I read this after a recommendation from a friend. I have read Margaret Atwood before, The Handmaids Tale to be exact, but it was many years ago and much water has flowed under the bridge.

Lets start off with a controversial claim.  I think that Margaret Atwood has an awful lot in common with Ayn Rand.  Yes, Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged. If you believed in the political spectrum, you would likely position Rand to the right and Atwood to the left.  Lets be hones,t they would both be so far off the edges of the spectrum you would need special glasses with UV filters to see Ayn Rand, and Margaret Atwood would resemble the emissions of a red giant star.  What I mean is, you might focus on the differences between them and dismiss my claim outright, but they both have a very important feature in common when it comes to speculative fiction.  They are extremely negative.  To Ayn Rand the vast majority of the human race is capable of naught and are mere leechs that suck the blood of the talented. In the world of Oryx and Crake the world has been completely screwed up by man and the picture painted of mans final days is one filled with horrific images of society, it is in fact a society or place that bears very little resemblance to our own. There is no happiness for man in this book.  There is no understanding.  There is just a wanton destruction and callous disregard for the world that is not believable.

Now, there is a  place for negativity in fiction, especially science fiction, what better vehicle to explore the negative outcomes of things we are indeed doing.  But the fact is that given all the terrible things that do happen there are good things too.  Even with all the terrible people out there, there are more good caring people.

I am going to throw out another comparison.  There is a movie called Sideways, a comedy about two men on a wine holiday who get up to high jinks in the Napa  valley.  I hated that film for one important reason, there was not one single character in it who I liked, so I didn't connect, and hated the movie which won many awards.

I am the same here with this book.  The writing is often excellent, especially in the second half when the naval gazing finishes and it begins to move forward at a fair clip.  Some of the ideas are important and needed to be explored.  But like the movie mentioned there was nobody in it to like, nothing to conect to, it was negative and I hated it.

I can see that this author is beloved, if not revered, but all I could think was what a fabulous job a writer like Heinlein could have done with the theme, without painting the whole human race with the same brush.  Do not take my opinion on this author with anything beyond a pinch of salt, she is much loved.  But she does not get my vote.

Alastair Reynolds -'Revelation Space'

Alastair Reynolds was recommended by a new friend at work, based upon my liking for history, archaeology and hard science fiction.  It definitely delivers on all three of these fronts.  For those of you familiar with your film history this book is a bit of a Sergio Leone.  It is a good read, but it is has elements of the good, the bad and the ugly.  Like the movie of that name, it was worth my time though.

The ugly part could have been fixed by a decent editor or publisher.  The book changes the perspective the action occurs from in a clumsy and crude manner.  You have jumps in perspective and time that are not separated cleanly to give you a chance to mop your forehead and wipe off the sweat.  A new line can be a switch that throws you for six.  This is a visual editing thing and has nothing to do with the writing, but when you do write about something complicated in its temporal and geographical structure you really want it to work.

The bad part is something I would lay at the writers feet.  The characters are a bit flat.  They do not drag you into the their view, you do not feel their pain, you do not wince when their hands are separated from their bodies (sorry, giving some of the action away).  Character development is lacking as well, even though the events cover a considerable time.

But the good.  This book has some brilliant ideas in it.  I am not saying they are all the authors, but he has blended together some great sci-fi concepts that really are on a galaxy shaping level in a believable and smart way.  There is what is essentially high end nano technology, explorations of consciousness and identity,  interstellar space craft limited to light speed with the crew held in suspended animation, aliens and space based archaeology abound.  There is a computer like no computer like I have seen before.

Now, if this writer could create characters like the one portrayed by Mr Eastwood, he would be the hottest thing since a gamma ray burst,  as it is he is more in planetary nebula territory.  Sorry about the horrible metaphor if you are not an astronomer, if you are, suffer.  Read this if you like weird new ideas on a vast scope that explore the limits what we might be able to know or do.  If your reading needs people you can identify with, give it a miss. As a reference the David Brin Uplift trilogy did the same kind of thing, but he did a superb job with his cast.  I loved that trilogy.

The Darkness That Comes Before

R Scott Bakker is a local boy.  London, Ontario that is.  I picked up this book, the first in a trilogy an age ago and became one of those books that languishes on the to read shelf for far too long.  I am glad I picked it up and read it, it is a good book, but it leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth.

In short the book is heroic fantasy, world creation, an evil force threatens creation which means you need the forces of good right?  To step in and save it all.  But that is where I think the strength, and in a personal way, the weakness of this book lies. The cast of good has very leaden feet, so mush so that by the end of this first book you are left scratching your head as to who the villains are and who the hero's are.  That is the books strength, it keeps you wondering and the characters, strengths flaws and virtues draw you in.  Some aspects of the evil side of things are were it is too much for me.  He has truly horrendous horribly horrifying demons.  The stuff they do, the thoughts they think are just so evil and nasty that it made me feel like I needed a bath.

That part though is just me.  There are many things in life I do not need to have described, or to see on a news clip, to know they are there, and to understand their gravity.  I personally do not like to see it directly because my imagination is a powerful thing.  So maybe with this book it is my fault?  Who knows.

I can say though that the book is well written, it comes alive and some of the scenes described are fantastic. The characters are complex and fill out nicely though might be lacking in sympathy.

I am not sure about him yet.  I will read a few more and decide if the author is depraved or not.  If  I bump into him at the local convenience store I will hope he takes this criticism with a light heart.