Kristen Britain "Green Rider"

This was an interesting novel to review, as there were elements I liked and disliked about the story.  In many ways it is a good book to think about if you were thinking of getting a career going as a fantasy novelist because while it is in many ways good, it has a few flaws that would act as sign posts for things to avoid in a book.

The novel concerns itself with the adventures a young lady, who when expelled from school, attempts to make her own way home.  Or at least she starts out for home.  On the way she comes upon a dieing messenger of the King and agrees to carry his message for him. And by doing so becomes a green rider, an elite servant of the King invested with magic by a brooch talisman. The first act of the book then follows her upon her journey to the capitol, during which she suffers several indignities and has many adventures before ultimately delivering the message.  What follows after is an attempted magical coup by the kings embittered brother that she ultimately foils through the use of more magic, this is the second act.

The problem is that the story, while often well written and filled with some genuine gems, is not fleshed out.  I think the whole journey to the capitol, just the first act, would probably have made a better opening novel into a series, finishing with questions left unanswered and situations unresolved, and starting with more background as an introduction.  Instead Britain has tried to do too much.  She tries to resolve and explain everything.  Some things should have been left more mysterious and questions should linger in the readers mind when the novel is about intrigue and treason.

For example, at the beginning the "Grey Man" forces a break in a magical wall that protects the kingdom.  Too much information is given, too many facts.  We are given pretty much all the information about the wall and its makers in a short narrative.  There is no mystery.  It would have been infinitely more satisfying if we were introduced to the grey man as he caused a crack to appear in the wall using his ghost magic, then as the tale unfolded we would find out more about what the wall meant, as the wall and its protections are a central thread in the story.

 It is entirely possible she listened to the publisher too much, as the approach she took lent her novel more of a fantasy pulp aspect, when if handled differently I think it could have been a rare work, and ultimately been more successful with the reader.

Ultimately I was disappointed with this novel because I liked it enough to wish it had done a better job and moved in a better direction.  This was a first novel by Kristen Britain, and so I will give read other books by her and see if she manages to convince me as to the truth of her creations.

Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold

I recently review Lois McMaster Bujold as a writer of fantasy, and have thoroughly enjoyed many of her fantasy works in the last few weeks, in particular "Paladin of Souls" which is a beautiful book. She actually made her name with a series called the Vorkosigan saga, and this is the first book in the series. I thought I would review it from the sci fi perspective. With this series Lois has won almost as many literary prizes as Heinlein, which is no small accomplishment.

The Vorkosigan saga is mainly the story of Miles Vorkosigan, but this book is the story of how his parents met, and the sequel Barrayer is the story of his birth. I think in many ways this saga is a good example of how a space opera should be written. What I mean is that the technology takes a background position relative to the importance of the characters and their actions. The plot is action driven and fast paced. It avoids going into too much detail, which actually helps in the suspension of disbelief. This works in the same way that the technology in Star Wars worked, what was interesting in Star Wars was not the laser blasters and massive ships, it was the interaction between Solo, Luke and Leia, with a bit of comic relief from the metallic sidekicks.

The lead character, Cordelia Naismith, is bright, capable and willing to act decisively, and does so throughout the story and it is the personal level of the readers interaction with her that works so well. When faced with a complex situation she acts, simplifies it, is direct and effective. As a heroine she is interesting and engaging and is shown to her best advantage by the effect she has upon the actions of the other major character, Aral Vorkosigan, who though jaded by the politics is able to find a path to honor of a kind.

Yet again, without giving away spoilers I would say that the series is well worth a read if you like a fun story, with serious overtones, that is a page turner. I will be reading the full series now I have started and have a largish space on the shelf in my library for the works of Bujold in both Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Hunters Run", George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois & Daniel Abraham

I actually read this book a while ago, but never reviewed it. I think I was intimidated by the fact that it has three authors, making a recommendation far more difficult to make. However, it is thoroughly deserving of comment so I just have to bite the bullet and go ahead.

This book took decades to write and passed through three pairs of hands who all apparently left their stamp on it, though it is hard to spot the individual styles as the story is perfectly seamless and very well crafted. Of the three writers I was only familiar with George R. R. Martin, who is the author of the excellent series "Song of Fire and Ice" which starts with "Clash of Thrones". His only fault as a writer could lie in making a story too big, too many characters and too many threads, but only time will tell as his main series is only half finished.

Hunters Run starts with violence, a man called Ramon kills another man in a bar fight and is forced to flee into the wilderness of a recently occupied planet. The story keeps with the single voice and follows it tightly and you start a journey with a man that you probably will not like too much. The plot develops and opens beautifully as layers of Ramon and the world are revealed to the reader. The scale of the novel opens up even while managing to stay focused on one man, and his struggle to survive. Almost anything else I could say about this excellent novel could ruin it.

The artistry of this work is what makes it a superior piece of craftsmanship. The novel is not long, but rich in detail and emotion. Ramon's journey is very fully realized and captures the minds eye completely.

I will definitely read anything by any of the three based upon this novel, and eagerly anticipate getting my hands on any of their other works.

Lois McMaster Bujold "The Spirit Ring"

My friend Kenny O'Leary recommended this writer, though a different book. I managed to get a copy of this novel first. Lois has been writing sci fi and fantasy for years and has a slew of awards, but for some reason I had never read anything by her before, so thanks for the tip Kenny.

The spirit ring is a fun and easy read. I did not want to put it down too much as I really enjoyed it from start to finish. Its a classic approach to a fantasy novel, as she did not create a new world or anything, basically she went back to early renaissance Italy and added a little bit of magic, by Priests and Wizards to the mix. The characters that are introduced and developed are quite likable and you get to know them during the course of the book. The plot is straightforward and keeps it s momentum well and has a particularly fine ending.

I was however left with the feeling that she could have done more. Her prose is good and deceptively light. There are gems of philosophy and morality hidden away in odd locations that are valid outside of a magical schema, the kind of thing that makes fantasy matter. I think there could have been more of this and a little more weight put on the decisions made by the characters.

Regardless, it was a fine read, and I will add her to my list, while avidly seeking other books penned by her hand.

John Ringo, "The Last Centurion"

I have been on something of an apocalyptic kick, to the point were I have been worried about the amount of dried goods and water I have on hand in the house, so this book by John Ringo will hopefully be the last of them for a while, as I do not want to lose it, at least not completely. This book is a complicated one to talk about, or should I say uncomfortable. Not because of strong language or violence etc, which I can take in spades, but rather because it moves away from the standard sci fi writers territory.

It is set in the very near future, 2019 to be exact, and is strongly based on current events pre Obama, This means that it does not have that essence of separation that science fiction lends the exploration of ideas. Instead it has all the context of your Sunday newspaper.

That distance that most SF gets from an alien setting, or alternate reality etc gives the writer the freedom to explore ideas without being strongly colored by current opinion. John Ringo dropped all that and the narrator, telling his own story, is the Republicans Republican. He posits the confounding events of a plague of H5N1 that wipes out half the worlds population, the onset of global cooling due to the sun entering a calm phase of no sunspots and famine world wide due to the breakdown of most societies, including the US.

Now the lead character has the first half of the book as a rant on these issues, it then turns into the story of a military conflict in the Middle East, comes back to a diatribe on farming and finishes with civil war in the USA. He is not afraid to write without political correctness, and for all that Bandit Six uses strong and colorful language, he is willing to give people a shot before writing them off, regardless of color or whatever. It is powerful. The character is an interesting one for all his strong opinions, and the book admittedly drew me in.

However, I am not sure I could recommend him yet because I want to know if all his books are similarly colored first. If one book has a character with strong (and often justifiable views) that's one thing, but if he cannot get off his hobby horse and just write then he does not make it to my list of recommendations. So, John Ringo is in Limbo for me as of the moment.

(I will leave it to those of you who know me to come to an opinion on which issues I might hold common ground with the protoganist)

S M Stirling, "Dies the Fire"

It's been a while since I had a chance to review a book, and the important thing about "Dies the fire" is that I have since read two more novels by the same author, so you can tell I liked it. This book is the first in a series that follows various groups of people on the west coast when electronics and explosives inexplicably stop working and stay like that. Planes crash to the ground mid flight, refrigerators stop working and the internet disappears. There is a mass die off of people and the whole world population is essentially thrust into a new mediaeval age.

Many other writers have done an apocalyptic novel, and movies that follow the theme abound, both good and bad. Stirling's approach is a bit different though, he does not really focus on the cause and looks more at the outcomes. He uses this vehicle to postulate how he thinks new societies might form, and how they might be influenced by charismatic and capable leaders to reshape things. What he is really doing is using a science fiction vehicle to create a fantasy. In fact the novel is a gritty realistic sword fighting fantasy novel. There are heroes and villains and monsters(men and women driven insane and cannibalistic by the change). It is just contemporary.

I could not put this novel down, and as much as I do not necessarily agree with some of his speculations pretty much everything is plausible. The characters he builds are likable and interesting and he series of events that unfolds is thoroughly gripping. I would recommend this novel quite happily and am going to add him to my list, though I am hard pressed to pigeon hole him as sci-fi or fantasy.

He follows up the story in the sequel, which I also read in good order by telling us a little of what happens in England, where the population is reduced to 600,000 and King Charles III rules with an iron fist, and an icelandic bride at his side.

The Dog From Hell, Chris Bunch

It is often difficult to define what makes a good piece of writing, or a good writer. In a genre that is so story driven as SF or Fantasy that can be especially true. The tricks of writing that pull you in can be very subtle indeed. Bad writing though is a lot easier to spot. Chris Bunch could be a good writer, but I think he lacks the scholarship necessary for the scope of the book he attempted.

The Dog from hell is a space adventure, or an attempt at one. We are intended to cheer for a small group of adventurers called Star Risk, who are attempting to get revenge on Cerberus, a large security concern who successfully squelched them. What follows is clearly intended to be a high octane thriller/ space drama. It fails short of its mark.

I think this book fails because the author does not actually know very much about the kind of thing he is writing about. He does not know how the military works, how special ops work, what type of people are involved and how they think. He does not understand how technology plays a roll in this field of human behavior and what its purpose is. If he read more Tom Clancy maybe and then brought some of his understanding to an imagined situation with projected technology then it could have worked.

This makes the action unbelievable, which then proceeds to make the characters flat, which leads to a fairly uninteresting read that does not hold the attention at all. I left this book unfinished, maybe 90% read, and will get rid of it at the earliest opportunity. Not an all time great.