/lit/ - Literature

>>19592721
The Alloy of Law, Wax & Wayne #1 - Brandon Sanderson (2011)
A quick, easy, and disappointing read. I thought I would enjoy the new setting more than I did. I ignored the warnings that the second series was generally less enjoyed, but I don't have any misgivings about having done so. Within the first few pages I could tell this would be written in the style of various comic book hero movies. The first to come to mind was Batman, though there are shades of many others as well. It's easy to see how the ideas from this would compel Sanderson to write Legion and Steelheart over the next couple years. The broadsheet page were neat, but I don't think they added much. I didn't think the new tech made much of any difference, the guns especially, and I felt like the magic was tacked on, even though I know it wasn't. Even so, I'll still be finishing this series for personal reasons. I won't be doing so anytime soon, but eventually. I'll finish sometime before the 4th book is released in November 2022 anyway.
Rating: 2.5/5

Engines of Empire, The Age of Uprising #1 - Richard S. Ford (2022)

The biggest problem for me with this book was that it didn't seem to have a sense of its own identity. It didn't know what it wanted to be. Perhaps that was the point. If everything is tried all at once then maybe some part of it will work. The story felt to me more like a cobbled together assemblage of disparate story elements rather than a coherent and organic whole. Even so, the overall narrative was weirdly traditional. Several promising ideas and concepts were included, but few of them saw regular use. It would've been far more interesting to me if it instead had been a metastory about contemporary fantasy versus traditional fantasy.

A basic plot summary would be that the children of a powerful family go their own ways and through the trials they face develop their own individual strengths. As noted by the series name, there's also an uprising. There are two empires, one is magitek and the other necromantic. Although there was some promise with the magitek, it's mostly surface level and not nearly enough was done with it for my preference. The necromantic followed through with demons, human sacrifice, immortality(?), and similar being prevalent.

I don't know quite why it was, but I didn't care for almost any of the characters. It's not just because almost every character constantly makes terrible choices or behaves ridiculously. I can tolerate that. Yet, I found myself indifferent to what any of them did. Some characters seemed to exist only to be killed off, but since they were only there for relatively few pages, it didn't really have any impact on me. At the reveal of the antagonist of the story, who is a cackling melodramatic megalomaniac convinced of their own self-righteousness, I could be barely be bothered to roll my eyes.

Initially this seemed to have promise, but it wasn't able to deliver what I wanted. While there are structural problems with it, it was more the accumulation of many small concerns that harmed my enjoyment. I won't be reading any more from this series. That's not because it's a bad book, it isn't, but rather because I don't have any sense of personal investment in it. I read this as part of a whim where I would read a book that was published each month this year. The book I was going to read for this month was pushed back to next month and this was its substitute.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>19894777
Deep Dive - Ron Walters (2022)

Both the author and readers have compared this to Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. I haven't read Dark Matter and probably won't ever. If I had looked into this book a bit more I wouldn't have read it, and overall that would've been for the better. I went into this with the wrong expectations. It's only nominally science fiction at best and only marginally about videogames. As the author notes, it's not even really a technothriller, though I don't seem to like those either. This is primarily a book where the protagonist is just along for the ride and the plot progresses due to external forces. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the pivotal plot point is him arguing on Reddit.

Pop culture, mostly videogames and movies, are regularly namedropped for decorative effect. There were times where it felt like he was trying to meet a quota and was just shoehorning in references. Based on what the author says in this interview I'm going to assume that this was written by the author with the hope it would be published because it supposedly copies a relatively very popular book and the publisher thought people would buy it for the same reason.
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-deep-dive-author-ron-walters/

Walters does have some strengths in his writing, but for whatever reason his weaknesses are showcased instead. I'd certainly give him another chance if he wrote a book that was about what he does well, namely family life and psychological horror somewhat similar to PKD. Instead, what I got was a bait and switch and arguably a misrepresentation. I blame marketing.

The ending is awful. It's one of the worst I've read in years. It ruined whatever enjoyment I had. I don't know if there's a word for it, but it's in the uncanny valley of plausibility between the metaphorical and literal. It isn't abstract enough to where you can take it on faith and enjoy it for what it is. It also isn't logical enough to where hopefully anyone would believe it's a reasonable explanation. The ending is so bad that I'm glad that I didn't like rest of the book more because then it would've severely painful rather than disappointing.

I was reluctant to write this, because as it says in the book:
People say the truth will set you free, but they’re wrong. The truth fucking sucks. The truth will tear your heart out of your chest and crush your soul and splinter your mind until your body is nothing more than a hollow shell.

A List of Namedrops & References

Games:
Animal Crossing
Bloodborne
Dark Souls
Doom Eternal
Ghost of Tsushima
God of War
Gran Turismo
Halo
Horizon Zero Dawn
Mario Kart
Mass Effect
Metal Gear Solid
Nier: Automata
Red Dead Redemption
Senua's Sacrifice
Silent Hill
Skyrim
The Last of Us

Movies:
Back to the Future
Die Hard
Fight Club
James Bond
Terminator
The Family Man
The Matrix
The Thirteenth Floor
Total Recall
Tron
WarGames

The Justice of Kings, Empire of the Wolf #1 - Richard Swan (2022)

This is a first person, linear, single POV memoir. Each chapter begins with an epigraph. Based on the cover and book's synopsis, you'd think it's about Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice in his forties, and that's correct, but not in the way implied. A Justice could be thought of as a marshal, magistrate, and inquisitor. It's their duty to seek out and prosecute lawbreakers, both in and out of the courtroom. Their sentences range from fines to summary execution without appeal. They answer only to the Emperor.

The sole POV, nineteen year old Helena Sedanka, is Vonvalt's clerk. This is her memoir, written many decades later, as noted by the book's opening line. There's both commentary on how she feels about how she lived her life and a a few direct addresses to the reader. There are also a few instances where she tells you what's going to happen in advance. For this first book at least, the protagonist, if defined as the most important character, and the viewpoint character aren't the same.

I have mixed feeling about books that so openly wear their influences. Much about the setting is only a cosmetic change from their real world counterparts. The Sovan Empire is the Holy Roman Empire. Its banner is a two-headed wolf rather than eagle and much else is the same, including a state religion reminiscent of Christianity, though considerably more syncretic. The northerners are an amalgamation of Celts and Norsemen, more the former with its focus on Druidism. There's also a constructed language that's vaguely Eastern European. I don't know enough to assess how similar any of this is than on a superficial level though.

Only Imperial Magistrates, Justices, are allowed to learn magic, though that seems to be a matter of practice rather than capability. Every Justice can use the Emperor's Voice, which is similar to the Bene Gesserit's Voice in Dune in that allows controlling people, though it can be much more physically destructive to the environment and individuals. Aside from that a Justice almost always has one additional ability. Several are mentioned, but only a few are shown. The abilities are physically draining and may require a ritual.

The narrative is primarily about investigations and enforcing laws. It's certainly slow for the most part. This is not a story about adventure, heroics, monsters, or similar. Fights occur, but not that often. Sex happens, but not in any graphic detail. Overall, the purpose of this book seems to be setting the scene for the trilogy. In-universe though the purpose of this memoir seems to be to record a tale of regret for posterity so that the truth isn't lost. There are many times where the writer wishes her life had gone differently. If you're looking for a rousing tale of high adventure and glory with self-confident and assured characters certain of what they're doing, this isn't that at all.

I'll read the trilogy.
Rating: 3.5/5

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, Yu Chen & Regina Kanyu Wang, editors (2022)

As stated on the cover, "FROM A VISIONARY TEAM OF FEMALE AND NONBINARY CREATORS"
All of the authors, translators, and editors are female or nonbinary. Though, only two listed their pronouns as she/they in their included biographical material, so not really much of the latter. I was going to have this as part of next month's theme, but it turned out that despite the preceding statement there's essentially zero LGBT content, which isn't what I expected. So, may as well post it while still doing Asian works.

The Stars We Raised - Xiu Xinyu (2017)
Rural children raise baby stars, but then their parents grind them up into a cement addictive. Urban children are uninterested in them. Possibly an allegory about hopes/dreams/personality/etc and how children feel about what is done to them.
Blah

The Tale of Wude’s Heavenly Tribulation - Count E (2011)
A black fox with 500 years of cultivation and is able to transform into a human, among various other abilities, prepares for his heavenly tribulation to proceed to the next level of cultivation.
Ok

What Does the Fox Say? - Xia Jia (2022)
A story about how an AI would generate a story using tropes, memes, and various rules to demonstrate creativity.
Meh

Blackbird - Shen Dacheng (2020)
A young nurse at a nursing home wonders about the elderly woman who has refused death several times.
Meh

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Tai-Chi Mashed Taro - Anna Wu (2016)
Li Jia, famed throughout the multiverse, orders takeout for a mortal that has caught his attention.
Meh

Baby, I Love You - Zhao Haihong (2002)
A programmer has been tasked with developing a holographic baby raising simulator. In order to make it as realistic as possible, he must convince his wife to have a child. Trouble ensues. Three years before this was written, Babyz was released. I was rather conflicted by this story, but I guess it won me over with the ending.
Enjoyable

A Saccharophilic Earthworm - BaiFanRuShuang (2005)
A troubled woman is a stage director for her plants to the dismay of her husband.
Blah

The Alchemist of Lantian - BaiFanRuShuang (2005)
This has the same translator and author as the previous story, but it's written entirely differently. It's filled with cursing, slang, and generally written in a very modern and youthful way. A being accidentally destroys something valuable to a human and feels bad about it and tries to provide recompense.
Meh

The Way Spring Arrives - Wang Nuonuo (2019)
A master and apprentice go on a fantastical journey to bring forth Spring.
Meh

The Name of the Dragon - Ling Chen (2007)
A dragon sealed away in a box for the last 600 years feels that it has been oppressed by humans for too long. It was already killed once and had to cultivate its soul for 4,000 years to get a body again.
Blah

>>20459848
Orphan Black - The Next Chapter Season 2 (2021-2022)
Season 2 written by Madeline Ashby, Lindsay Smith, E.C. Myers, Malka Older, Heli Kennedy, and Mishell Baker.

Season 1*: >>/lit/thread/S17470514#p17470531

This was calm by comparison to the previous season and the latter seasons of the TV series, but I liked that. Sometimes it becomes overdramatic. As with the first season it remains an ensemble cast. I'm not really in favor of there being an in-universe book called "Orphan Black", an autobiography originally marketed as science fiction that chronicles everything that has happened, minus the parts that would send them to prison. That's mostly because it's just added in as fanservice, but unlike the various other fanservice scenes, it didn't resonate with me.

Following the events of the first season, which was eight months ago, clones have been outed and serve as a stand-in for marginalized people with a few differences. The antagonist is a Goop-like cult of personality with a dark side. They peddle platitudes and junk products to lure vulnerable members in to more easily exploit them. There's various mentions of contemporary issues, some political poking, and memes now and again.

Although this is meant to be a serialized audio work I once again read it instead. I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. A lot of times it reads more like a script than prose, but that didn't detract overly much for me. There were a few typos and misused words, but I'll say that was because it was meant to be listened to. Yes, I'm quite biased in its favor.

Rating: 3.5/5

*4 may have been too high for the first season, probably 3.5. Maybe even rounded down, for both. It's difficult to know due to bias.

>>20476506
Age of Ash, Kithamar #1 - Daniel Abraham (2022)

In terms of Abraham's series this has more in common with The Long Price than The Dagger and the Coin, though it's not that similar. As stated by the author, this trilogy is about the city it takes place in, Kithamar, over the course of a single year. He calls it a standalone trilogy because although the stories take place in the same city at the same time, they won't have much overlap or the need to remember details from the prior books. The current schedule is for one book to release per year.

This isn't a story about chosen ones, heroics, adventure, or even about doing the right thing. It's slow-paced, low action, and character focused. There's magic, though none of it is explained in any way. That's fine for this story because it existed more for plot reasons than for having magic in of itself. Nothing takes place outside of the city, and I wouldn't expect that to be the case for the following books in the trilogy either.

More than anything else, I felt the narrative was about being blinded. Whether that was because of grief, revenge, love, greed, power, or whatever else, it left them unable to see anything else. Several of the characters had some level of dissociation from themselves. Often it's easier to choose not to see, but it may cost dearly later. However, having your eyes wide open taking in everything doesn't mean that there will be better outcome. It may just mean that the suffering is understood, but nothing can be done about it.

There are two primary viewpoint characters and a few other secondary viewpoints. Alys, the one the most time is spent with, isn't meant to be a likeable character. Relatable, maybe, but not likeable, which is intentional and serves a purpose. Whether that's acceptable is something that each reader will have to decide. The other, Sammish, seems to be a counterbalance and foil to Alys. She has her own issues as well, but who doesn't? The other viewpoints allow for a wider view of events.

For Alys, the plot, both literally and figuratively, is something that she charges into blindly. Right and wrong are of minimal consideration, until they aren't. If anything it's the story of someone trying to fake it until they make it and not really understanding what they're involved with, or even necessarily doing any of it of their own volition. Most of what Sammish is and does is the opposite, which provides for a nice contrast. I especially liked the stories of what she has to do to get through her day to day life, even while involved in the events of the narrative. That may be a downer for some as it does intrude on the escapism, but I didn't mind.

What I enjoyed most was the imagery, descriptions, and the sense of time, place, and being. Apart from anything else it brought the story to life. I liked the details and mundane events more than the overall plot. I'm conflicted about the rating, but I'll leave it as is for now.

Rating: 4/5

>>20562360
January Fifteenth - Rachel Swirsky (2022)

I rarely write anything about what I don't finish reading. I believe that this is the only time I've posted what I have outside the GR group. This is an exception and outlier in many ways. I strongly recommend against reading this.

I tried to finish reading this novella, but I couldn't. There's just so much utterly wrong with it. I don't doubt that a lot of is a personal reaction and perhaps even melodramatic, but I couldn't read anymore more than I did because of how upset it made me, in a unenjoyable way.

Keep in mind that because I didn't finish this that some details may not be exactly correct, though I did skim through the rest of it. The ostensible idea about this book is UBI, but saying that is a complete misrepresentation and bait & switch. If you're thinking about reading this for that, then don't, because you'll be severely disappointed.

As someone who is pro-UBI, this read as a completely propagandistic strawman attack that presented UBI as the worst it could about possibly be. All social welfare programs have been replaced by a single annual payment, the amount of which isn't specified. Though, basically nothing is specified in general. One character compares UBI to Special Field Orders No. 15, popularly known as "Forty Acres and a Mule". The narrative isn't really about the politics or anything else other than emotional disapproval. At most it's an excuse to call this speculative fiction. I can understand that and disagree with it without being upset, as opinions differ.

The problem was the characters and their interactions with each other. I don't know that I've ever read something that is so simultaneously exploitative, self-righteous, patronizing, and condescending with such intensity. I could feel my mind rebelling against the utter nonsense that I was reading. At first I was much more bewildered than angry. It's clearly not meant to be that way and the author may even be sincere rather than calculated. That makes this a story that has a bait premise and utterly fails at what it's actually about.

On a structural level it's a mess as well. There's not nearly enough pages dedicated to the four POVs, nor is that space used well, as apparently nothing is resolved in any way. I honestly don't know what the purpose of this novella is, let alone who it would be written for.

I've read short fiction from Swirsky before and what I read was at least alright and some won various awards. This though is an utter travesty. It cloaks itself with language that would make many of the author's political persuasion loathe to criticize for fear that they would be criticized in turn regardless, but that means little to nothing to me. I can't tell how much of this is performative allyship and how much isn't and honestly I can't bring myself to care.

Rating: 1/5

>>20578325
Grief of Stones, The Cemeteries of Amalo #2/Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison (2022)

...and so continued the further adventures of a gay melancholic elf who witnessed for the dead. This is a steampunk fantasy and gaslamp mystery. That's to say that it's almost all aesthetic, which is nice, and may suffice on its own for many readers, but it isn't enough for me. From the beginning that's been a problem for me because although the characters are elves and goblins there's almost nothing that distinguishes them or their society from humans and that bothers me.

I read this and the prior book primarily for its voice and the imagery it evokes for me. Both of those contrast with its content. Many seem able to put aside its darkness and still find it entirely comforting, cozy, and maybe even uplifting. That's confused me since the first book, since I haven't been able to do that at all.

There's murder and suicide aplenty. Within can also be found unwanted sex leading to pregnancy and then suicide, stillbirths, bereavement, ancient undead, and dozen of orphans forced into the production of child pornography. For this particular book I found myself wanting there to have been less depressing matters, if only because I felt it contrasted with much else of the book and made it more potent. Maybe I dislike such a mix even more than I already knew.

I was less taken with this book compared to the previous and I'll have to consider whether I'll read the next one or not. The ending sets up another book so it's certainly possible that there will be a sequel. At the end of the book the author thanks her Patreon supporters. As it notes, she has a day job, is an author, and has a Patreon. Certainly it's onerous to make a living depending on the circumstances, especially with a lot of personal difficulties. Prestige alone can't keep one alive.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>20594647
Speaking Bones, The Dandelion Dynasty #4 - Ken Liu (2022)

Now that I've finished the series, I can safely say that this is one of my all-time favorites. Each book never failed to delight in a new and exciting way. There were many times that I had slow down how quickly I was reading to better savor the experience, but the tension was difficult to resist. I didn't grow weary no matter how long I read. As I wrote about the first book in the series, and about a few other series, I'm unable to tell how much my enjoyment is because it's exactly what I personally enjoy and is probably the same for many others who have now read the entire series. Everything about this is far greater than the sum of its parts, which makes it difficult for me to point to any particular part that makes it truly great.

The advancement of technology through scientific endeavor has been marvelous. Every time a new technology was developed I was astounded by its ingenuity. It presented a wholly different way that technological progress may have been ordered than what it was for us. I didn't feel that the extended scenes that explain in detail were overly long or unneeded, but I can see how they could limit appeal.

The character drama was splendid. I greatly enjoyed every single perspective. There were times when it was ridiculous, but in the best way possible that had me ecstatic due to its audacity. At other times it was realistic in that it paid no heed to expectations of a fantasy series. There are no heroes, only narratives of heroism. Success is not guaranteed and death may come at any time to anyone.

There were many meaningful discussions that examined the relationship between the people, the organization of their societies, their material culture, and their systems of belief. All is approached with empathy and understanding. There's no praise or condemnation, as such valuations are for the reader to decide upon. Much of this series relies upon the reader to actively engage with the narrative and create their own meaning.

The ending was almost everything I could have wanted it to be. There were a few unresolved questions I still had, but almost anything can be better for personal preferences, but sometimes we may be wrong about what's for the best. The biggest surprise I had from this series was that there was a lot that I wanted and expected it to be, but that's not what I got. Instead, I was shown a better way and given what I didn't know that I wanted.

The two single sentences that explain the essence of the series are these:
"History has no plot, and kings do not follow character arcs."
"I want to tell a story that the people don't expect, a story of empathy that encompasses the world."

Rating: 5/5

>>20835357
Priest of Crowns, War for the Rose Throne #4 - Peter McLean (2022)

A fun, fast-paced, action-filled conclusion to the series. Considering how lacking the series was in subtlety or complexity for the most part, I still underestimated how literal the series title was. It's driven home that this series is a memoir, which may explain the various swerves over the course of the series, but I think that's more of an excuse for the author not being quite sure what to do with the narrative or characterization. In that regard, I think this may have been the series where I most disregarded how nonsensical it was for just how much fun it was. It helped that the grimdarkness was the sort that I mostly laughed at, which I don't know if that was intended, because of how ridiculous it could be. That his authorial voice remains wonderful also was quite the boon.

Most of the problems I had with the previous books weren't present here, or maybe I just didn't notice them as much. That being said, this was easily the least fulfilling, most streamlined, but also the most engaging and exciting book in the series. There were times that I forgot that I was reading a book. In terms of being content for a good time, it excels. For anything else, not so much. If I were trying to rate these on anything other than my subjective personal enjoyment then assessing it would be far more difficult and likely require multiple ratings, which I don't think I'd ever do. That's unfair in a way to books that I think are better in other ways than sheer enjoyment and thus are on overall superior work, but oh well.

I think this series went about as well it could've given its various limitations and what it was going for. The irony is that if McLean writes another series after this one, his improvement as an author may lead to less fun and enjoyable works. I hope he doesn't try to go for something more serious. It may be rude, but I also don't really intend to read his prior works. I think this hits rather on target for a certain kind of enjoyment and I have concern that his other works don't have the same aim. I haven't written really anything about the content of the book because this is the fourth and final in the series. If you were reading to determine whether to read this final book, then yes, you should. If it's whether to read the series at all, well, you're a reason why I've written this as I have.

Rating: 4/5

>>20871092
Councilor, The Grand Illusion #2 - L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2022)

I can't possibly recommend reading this book unless you enjoyed the first and are predisposed to enjoying this sort of narrative. These are definitely for a niche interest. There's almost certainly nothing else that I've read that's simultaneously so banal and dull, yet intriguing and interesting. The primary way I enjoy is it through what it makes me think about, so if that's not of interest, then you really ought to not read this series. I admit that I'm somewhat baffled as to why I've enjoyed it as much as I have.

Steffan Dekkard, the protagonist, is now a councilor, which is basically a national legislator. Literally almost the entire book is just him going back and forth to work. There's no traveling like in the first. This is just hardcore bureaucratic process and daily life. In some ways there's an inexorable crawling madness to its repetition. I don't think I could read a long series like this, but according to the author this series, or this part of it at least, will be a trilogy. In an interview he said there was a slight chance of their being a fourth book.

There are three major political concerns that Dekkard engages with. The foremost is the reform of the Security Bureau because recently it's had a tendency to wantonly massacre protestors, which doesn't cause as much social unrest as you'd think. Secondly is improving the working conditions of laborers, because they're often wretched at best. Lastly is to expand the rights of women to where they are equals with men, especially in terms of pay. The latter is by far the most difficult and the one which he makes the least progress towards. The overriding significant practical concern is that he's under constant threat of assassination, though many government officials are, but especially him, but despite that he takes it relatively in stride, as does the government in general. Considering how unprecedented everything is said to be I thought there would be more of a response.

As a character Dekkard remains mostly opaque with regards to the specific reasons why he votes as he does, so much has to be inferred. This makes sense in a way since he's an Isolate which means no one can read his emotions, but it's also frustrating. Overall, relative to the context of his society, though not to our world, I'd call him a Progressive Conservative. A US example of this would be President Theodore Roosevelt, though various UK politicians identify as such as well, and there are a few other similar European politicians. As Roosevelt stated that he had "always believed that wise progressivism and wise conservatism go hand in hand." Dekkard has no interest in revolution or reaction, or anything smacking of populism, but rather wants to conserve the country's founding ideals while also gradually and cautiously improving the quality of life for everyone. That isn't something I see often in what I read.

Rating: 4/5

>>21049217
Nona The Ninth, Locked Tomb #3 - Tamsyn Muir (2022)

I'd describe this book as unnecessary, at least in terms of how the overall plot structure of a series ought to be. If the previous book was metafiction about fandom, then this is a book written as fanservice for her fandom. As Muir herself has noted, this was an unexpected book, which I assume was allowed because it's potentially highly salable and would be well enough received by its core audience. This is a transitional book that's made of filler which shows a failure of editorial guidance due to profits and author indulgence.

When I wrote that this book is for her fandom, what I meant is that is focuses primarily on the interests of her fans, including herself as a fan of her own work, rather than the interests of the series. The entirety of the book, aside from the interludes, is from a new point of a view, Nona. I didn't care for Nona or her gang at all, but it does seem like the sort of character interactions that would be particularly favored by her typical fan. Although there are less memes this time, I'd say there's considerably more focus on comedy than the previous two books. The chaste lesbianism of almost all the female characters is really played up as well. As I saw one article say, the book very much embraces its own campiness, and unfortunately camp is not one of my preferred styles. The first book had other stuff that allowed me to put that aside, but this one doesn't, and it almost felt like it was much more prevalent.

As for what the book is about, the first half is Nona going through life as a newly born adult with the mentality of a child. There's a lot going on the background, but she's mostly oblivious to it compared to what truly matters, childhood antics with the other school children. Considering that they're living in a city under siege with doom and paranoia everywhere, they aren't really engaging in the typical childhood pastimes. The latter half is more action oriented and similar to the two previous books, though the plot doesn't have much progression until near the end.

I'll be reading the fourth and final book in the series, but mostly only to finish the series. It feels like to me that Muir wasn't sure how to continue from the first book other than that she didn't want to have anything be the same again. If that trend continues with the fourth book I have to wonder how it will be structured and what sort of narrative gimmick will be employed. I think one of the major problems for me is that I can't find the meaning, or maybe I just can't value what it has been presented. There's also a lot I simply don't understand well enough to my satisfaction and I don't know whether that's my fault or not. It may be the case that the understanding is unnecessary because the characters are what matter most by far. Unfortunately each book thus far has traveled further and further away from what I enjoyed about the first book.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>21259539
The Lost Metal, Wax & Wayne #4 / Mistborn #7 - Brandon Sanderson (2022)

The Lost Metal takes place and has been published roughly six years after The Bands of Mourning. This one is an investigation and counteroperation. It reminds me somewhat of a spy thriller. What it's really about though is references, references, and more references. If you've only read the Mistborn series, or somehow only this Era, it's possible that you may feel overwhelmed and not understand the significance of what's happening. Characters from nearly every system have a role and almost everything Cosmere-related that's been written is referenced in some way. New named systems, which may be related to the secret projects are mentioned. There are hints about what is to come in the various series.

I don't have any interest in the fandom, but the wider Cosmere is a primary draw for me. I know there are those who become unreasonablely irate at anything outside of a particular series being mentioned. That's silly because this has been the plan from the very beginning. It's been almost eighteen years since both the publication of Elantris and my reading of it. Longer still has it been since Sanderson decided upon this plan. For me, it's quite nice to see that plan in its first stages of being realized now that sufficient material has been published. Sanderson has confirmed that these crossovers will be both the norm and his legacy. His The Lost Metal Release Day video goes into detail about the specifics.

Character and plot developments have taken their course, so this book is mostly resolution. An exception is Marasi, who takes a leading role and confronts who she is and what she wants out of life. There are several characters introduced that have their own development, some continuing from previous works and others making their debut. These characters give quite a different feel for the chapters featuring them. The world has a different feel to me as well. It's only been six years but it seems so much more modern than it did in previous books. Considering their rate of advancement, I'd be surprised if Era 3 takes place more than a 100 years after Era 2, though Era 2 took place 300 years after Era 1. The glimpse at how Era 4 technology may work, which may have already been shown in Sixth of Dusk, was neat.

After the final chapter there are seven epilogues, which is very Sanderson. Era 2 has concluded in better fashion than Era 1 as far as I'm concerned. I'll read Era 3 when they eventually come out and the other Cosmere books as well. They serve as easy and fun reading and I do appreciate their interconnectedness, though I'd like the Stormlight Archive ones to be much shorter. In my teenage years I was mostly reading shared world settings, but they had surprisingly little to do with each other, which was disappointng. As with the Marvel movies I enjoy Sanderson less now, but it's more likely than not that I'll read to the Cosmere's conclusion.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>21391224
City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky (2022)

City of Last Chances was nominally a fantasy novel, but it obscured that so often that at times it seemed like anything fantastical could almost be considered as metaphorical instead. There were gods, demons, curses, possession, magic, interdimensional traveling, and other stuff, but it's not what the novel is about. There's a lot about how the Pallesand Archipelago is conquering and oppressing everyone in their quest to establish what they believe to be utopian socialism. It didn't explicitly say that, but it was heavily implied. The name may or may not have been a reference to Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, and/or the British Isles and Empire, especially as depicted in Orwell's 1984. They're all about controlling every aspect of behavior to come closer to their arbitrary ideal of perfection.

The novel had an unusual narrative structure where the viewpoint moved from one character to another from chapter to chapter. Some characters only had a single chapter and others had several. It began by establishing the primary viewpoints which were often included in the other viewpoints. A minor character in one viewpoint became the viewpoint in the next chapter and so on. I wanted to call this a mosaic novel but the paths of the characters are too overlapping for that to seem accurate. A few chapters were explicitly called mosaic because the narrator is the viewpoint in them, which was odd because there wasn't a frame story. The author simply described what happened as an omniscient narrator. The chapters open with similar narration.

The narrative was also different in its neutrality, as it's more an exploration of ongoing events through the lives of the characters rather than being about the characters themselves. So, in a way, the city could be considered a character, which is something I've seen in several books published in 2022. The downside was that because of the constantly changing perspective the characters were underdeveloped. I also disliked them. They're almost all stock characters with nothing to particularly distinguish them. The most egregious to me were the overeager and blindly idealistic college students eager to be martyrs for the revolution.

I don't know what this novel was meant to be about. To be entirely reductive, it's about the consequences following the theft of a magical item that leads to the death of one of the most important government officials. Everyone then wanted wanted to know who had the magical item and where it was. There were also various factions that worked towards revolution, but each had their own methods and incompatible end goals. I wouldn't be so concerned about what it meant if it weren't that it seemed like it was constantly trying to say something meaningful. Maybe that was intended or I read too much into it, but it left me unsatisfied.

Rating: 2.5/5

Memory's Legion, The Expanse - James S.A. Corey (2022)
A collection of The Expanse short fiction.

Drive (2012)
Drive takes place during and before Solomon Epstein's successful test of the eponymous drive, though one would think he that he would've taken more safety precautions than almost literally none. The before part is mostly about his love life, which is fine in that it provides more of an existence to one of the most influential characters in the series, but it's just ok.
Ok

The Butcher of Anderson Station (2011)
This nonlinear story takes place before, during, and after the titular event. It's about half a character study of Fred Johnson and half a demonstration of the lengths that governments will go to protect corporate interests, which are too often one and the same. Unfortunately labor relations are even worse than they are now in various ways. Lives are cheap and plentiful and interstellar commerce is lucrative.
Enjoyable

Gods of Risk (2012)
The viewpoint for this story is Bobbie's sixteen year old nephew. He's highly proficient in chemistry and has fallen into making drugs for a local dealer. He does so because it's something that's his own, outside of the oppressive expectations that his parents have. He fantasizes about saving the girl the dealer is often with. She's a perpetually strung-out junkie with a heart of, well, cardiac muscle, but he's infatuated with her all the same.
Enjoyable

The Churn (2014)
A young tough in Baltimore does what he has to do to survive and comes into the employment of a crime boss. He does what he's told, but life doesn't quite go as planned for anyone involved.
Enjoyable

The Vital Abyss (2015)
Paolo Cortazar, a protomolecule researcher, recounts his life history. The desperation to achieve one's dreams can lead to some very dark places, especially when circumstances only allow for a choice between which kind of being dead inside one prefers.
Enjoyable

Strange Dogs (2017)
An unintentional immigrant family on Laconia, a newly settled planet, is taking it day by day to see what happens. Their ten year old daughter only knows this new world. She comes across some strange dogs who have quite the abilities that come in handy for fixing her mistakes and those of others. It could be considered a horror story, but as the author's note, there are other perspectives as well.
Meh

Auberon (2019)
The planet Auberon has a new governor, filled with idealism, that meets the reality of corruption and fallibility. This is also the third part of Erich's story, starting in the Churn, continuing in Nemesis Games, and concluding here. There are a few references to other The Expanse works.
Ok

The Sins of Our Fathers (2022)
The conclusion to Filip's story and an example of what life is like after the events of Leviathan Falls on one of the undeveloped planets. A few hundred people try to maintain civilization, but monsters are everywhere.
Ok

>>22040654
New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction (2022)
Edited by Neil Clarke, Xia Jia, and Regina Kanyu Wang

Introduction - Xia Jia (2022)
I was surprised by the quality of the works in this anthology. Then I saw that they almost all won a prestigious award for the best SF of the year in China. That seems appropriate to me. In the introduction Xia Jia writes that we're in the Post-Liu Cixin era. That seems like a good thing to me, especially going by the stories included, and because I'm not a fan of his work. As to whether it's true, I wouldn't know. She also notes that this anthology was a stretch goal for her Kickstarter campaign to have her first English science fiction collection published. I'm not much a fan of her writing either, so I may or may not read A Summer Beyond Your Reach later.

My Family and Other Evolving Animals - Shuang Chimu, Carmen Yiling Yan (2019)
The year is 2119. In four years a new space megastation, one of almost a hundred already in space, will set off to begin its deep space ecological experiments. This story is almost entirely speculation about how ecosystems may change in space, with a focus on fruit flies. Its scientific narrative is presented through the lives of a particular family, especially the youngest daughter. This was a pleasing speculative slice-of-life story.
Enjoyable

The Bridge - Liu Xiao, Andy Dudak (2019)
I think I would like this story if I knew the specific context for its allegories rather than only vaguely being about the changes that modernity has brought to isolated areas. I assume it's an allegory about Atulie'er and other cliff villages in China, though that may only be at face value.
Ok

Tombstone - Yang Wanqing, Andy Dudak (2017)
Catastrophic climate disasters brought forth the Great Scattering of humanity. New Anchorage, population twenty million, is one of the last bastions of civilization that remain. Everything is devoted to Osiris Tower, which promises an afterlife through the creation of a soul. This is told through the life of a Charon, a ferryman of the dead, and his relationship with the love of his life. I wasn't liking this for almost half its duration, but by the end I was won over by its allegories.
Enjoyable

PTSD - Hui Hu, Rebecca Kuang (2016)
A VR journalist seeking clout radicalizes a young boy online hoping to goad him into becoming viral content. Four years later working at NetLord (NetEase) the consequences of his actions have caught up to him in a way that he never could've seen coming. This was a fun SF thriller about being unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. It also considers some problems that may arise from 3D printing and virtual reality.
Enjoyable

>>22207207
The Gate of the Feral Gods, Dungeon Crawler Carl #4 - Matt Dinniman (2021)

The Gate of the Feral Gods is definitely the most conflicted I've felt about the series thus far. However, there's still considerably more that I like about it than what I don't, though it also has more that I dislike than any previous book.

I've liked this setting the least so far. That's mostly personal bias and possibly because I'm unable to relate it to games or quite as well. I'd hazard a guess that the more relevant references here are Indiana Jones, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Middle Eastern fables, and Egyptian tales. What concerns me more than the setting is Carl's personal development.

After reading this book I looked at Dinniman's comment history on Reddit to see whether he had commented on my concerns, and he had, and it wasn't reassuring. That's not how I'd prefer the narrative to go if it does, as it's what I most dislike most about a lot of the progression protagonists I've tried reading, but at least I know that it's a likely possibility and can prepare myself for it.

Once again I felt the latter half was stronger than the first half, especially the last quarter which was all kinds of absurdities. For this and the last book I haven't been liking it as much until it gets to the rising action. It's not so much that it's filler as it that I find it uneven in terms of how much I'm interested in it.

This fourth book seems to be a turning point for the series, as it may now be halfway over, at least in terms of book count if not word count. In 2022, Dinniman commented on Reddit that he currently expected the series to last for 8 or 9 books. Based on what happens by the end of this book I fully believe it could be that long. The background space opera certainly made overtures to share the foreground, though that may up end being less overall than I'm now expecting.

Rating: 4/5

>>22217847
The Butcher's Masquerade, Dungeon Crawler Carl #5 - Matt Dinniman (2022)

The Butcher's Masquerade is a return to the RPG stylings of the second book and to traditional fantasy more generally. I don't know what the primary references for this one would be. Maybe Grimms' Fairy Tales, global folk tales, 19th century literary nonsense, and a splash of webcomics. There weren't any specific games that came to mind. The characters compare what they're doing to media, but they don't really think that's what it is either. I wrote that the first book may not had have had anything that was was original, but with each book that's been less and less the case, or may it be that I know what's being referenced less and less. In that way it may be becoming more accessible with each book rather than less, though that may not have any basis in reality. It's odd. Regardless, I'm still enjoying it quite a lot.

This time the floor premise is that the crawlers are being actively hunted down. As noted in the previous book preparations for a counterattack are now underway. Even so, that's easier said than done, though the new guild system allows for greater cooperation. They're certainly need as it their numbers continue to dwindle, inside the dungeon anyway.

There's certainly no lack of named characters to continue to die, which means that either more will have to be named, or there will be a tighter focus on those that remain. It makes me wonder how this will all end, especially considering that Dinniman wrote that he's never written a happy ending. This is the only series of his I've read so I'm unable to assess that claim. I've experienced various media works that have ended with all the characters dead, or otherwise have a bad ending for everyone, and it hasn't been one that I've preferred almost ever. I've found that it's rarely done well. Even of this series does go that, I don't think that would retroactively destroy my enjoyment.

Unlike the previous books, I don't know quite why I enjoyed this one as much as I did. Maybe it's the shift in focus and the promise of greater scope. I'm certainly very sympathetic to where the story seems to be heading, but less so about the methods and the possible end result. Regardless of anything else, I'm amazed by how much fun it continues to be.

Rating: 4.5/5

>>22376230
Servant Mage - Kate Elliot (2022)

Thirty years ago the Dragon Queen was slain, along with the rest of the royal family and many of their supporters, the Monarchists. The Liberationists, led by The Council, came to power. They're the sort that claims to be for the people, but really is only interested in empowering themselves. It's never made entirely clear how life is for the common people, though it doesn't seem like it's all that much better, but it's certainly worse for anyone who held higher station. Mages were once respected members of society and had their own guilds. Now they are feared and indentured at the least. Their powers may only be used in service, never for the self, and they may learn only the basics of their powers. A mage may be fire, water, air, earth, or aether. A dragon-born has all five.

Fillian is a nineteen year old fire mage in her fifth year of servitude, in which she cleans privies and provides light as a lamplighter. In her spare time she secretly continues the same crime for which her parents were executed, teaching people to read. She dreams of one day escaping and returning to the surviving members of her extended family. She has no love for either the Monarchists or the Liberationists. Both sides are bad, but choices have to be made of which to support. The Monarchists offer freedom for services rendered versus lifelong oppression, so for her, there's not really much choice until she's free to make her own choices.

The way that the novella is written makes it either seem like the set-up for a trilogy or a long prologue for a very long standalone book. The ending is all talk about the future, and what can be done now to prepare for what could be done in the years to come. For those who want a complete epic fantasy story, you won't find that here. Maybe it could eventually be, but as it is, it's the story of a single person's escape to freedom. Whatever other plans the future holds are outside its scope.

I don't know if it was intended, but what it made me think of most was political parties. None of the choices may be suitable, but one tends to be worse for you personally. A third party would be better, but that's much easier said than done. That at least sets it apart from many works that assume the binary of either being part of the system or directly opposing it. It may be best for some to wait until the system collapses on its own. The common folk suffer regardless.

Overall, everything about this novella is fine. It gets the point across. The characters, plot, setting, magic, whatever else are simply there. There wasn't anything I especially liked or disliked about this novella. It's all rather standard and makes for a decent read. The weakest part to me was probably the dialogue, as I thought it was silly at times but I didn't dislike it, but I see how others could be annoyed by it. After reading this I'm neither more likely to seek out or avoid anything written by Elliot.

Rating: 3/5

>>22415705
Kundo Wakes Up, #2 - Saad Z. Hossain (2022)

One year, 237 days ago Kundo's wife left him a note that simply read, "I'm leaving" and she hadn't been seen since. The famous painter who no longer paints tried all he could to find her, even hiring a hacker, but he then fell into a fugue state and many months slipped by unnoticed, and he became oblivious to the outside world. Eventually, one day Kundo Wakes Up and he decides to try living, and finding her, again. However, he's constantly assailed by intrusive thoughts about her, such as what if she's ran off her with online gaming guild members and she's cuckolding him daily by having constant orgies with them. Many other scenarios present themselves to him unbidden. The first step is to get back in contact with the hacker and see what he's found out. That's how the mystery of his wife's disappearance begins. In pursuit of her he'll enlist a motley band of misfits and travel to the figurative, or perhaps literal, end of the universe and beyond.

The blurb on the cover from Samit Basu provides an excellent summation: "Cyberpunk, high fantasy, climate catastrophe, and and its heart, a compelling story about broken people finding each other and a way to become whole again." Although this novella takes place in the same setting as the first, they're very different in almost any meaningful way. This one is an investigative mystery of a guy trying to find his wife as Chittagong, the city around him, is being lost to the waves, specifically the Bay of Bengal. Karma has declared the city a loss and is slowly withdrawing. Those who mostly remain are Zeros and the haplessly eccentric. Kundo's investigation is rather haphazard in that he hopes that in his stumbling about he'll find enough clues to point him in the right direction. Due to this lack of focus it often reads more like his daily life and the interactions he has with those he meets. That was kind of nice, but it lacked a certain something to make it definitively enjoyable. One of the main plot devices is a full immersion, literally and figuratively, VR gaming rig.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first novella, though it has its own charm. It's barely a 4. It takes place sometime after the first, but it's never made clear when that is. One character makes a return appearance, mostly for the purpose of commentary. The new cast is good, but lacks the vibrancy and zest of the former. The main problem for me is probably comparing it to the first, which may not be fair. The former was about over-the-top personalities and their outrageous antics. This is about a group of miserable has-beens who struggle to get through each day, yet still find some way to carry on for now, though not forever. I appreciate that it's a completely different perspective on the setting, though it's also a bit jarring because of that as well. The ending is poignant, that's for sure.

Rating: 4/5

>>22911765
Origin Complex - Andrew Skinner, Steel Frame #2 (2022)

Crash Bin'Syan is one of the highest ranked analysts for the Sigurd-Lem corporation. She has a Mirror, a cybernetic twin that she shares a dual consciousness with, though they can mentally split apart and act independently. For the last decade or so she's been analyzing the quarantined alien ruins on planet Vija. Thirty years ago an alien AI was unleased there that made what humanity had built become a new layer of ruins. However, it's now believed to have been only a testing grounds to create a prison for a far worse AI. Somehow it's a second transition point to The Eye. What's happening at The Eye threatens all of human existence.

This book is significantly different from the first, of which it takes place before, during, and after. I enjoyed it less, if only because I found it to be less interesting. There's much less emphasis on Shells (mecha), combat, and thrills. It's much more investigations and travelling. The writing and the atmosphere it created remained pleasing, but that wasn't enough for me. As with the first book the relationship with the protagonist and their mechanical counterpart is a primary focus. The characters from the first book are present in this one as well, though only at the very end.

Writing about this, and rating it possibly more so, presents its own difficulties in that as of this writing it's the only review on Goodreads and one of the few anywhere else. As such, I don't want to present further challenges, but I also don't want to write or rate differently than what I feel. What I feel is that this is a 3.5 rounded down. I felt the same about the first book, though I liked it somewhat more, and even then it was a very near thing that I rounded that one up. My main problems is that it reads like a side story. The most it does to justify its existence is providing a new ending and explaining the downfall of the alien civilizations. Although Crash does a considerable amount of self-reflection with her Mirror which provides for questioning, I don't think it went far enough. The same goes for the attempt at romance, which seemed almost more like a nod to Gundam The Witch From Mercury which began the prior month than an organic relationship.

None of this is to say that you shouldn't read the first book then this one. The main problem with reading this one first is that much of scant worldbuilding isn't repeated from the first, so it may be confusing in that it doesn't explain everything all over again. I do believe that reading both of these is a worthwhile due to the different perspective it provides. The first book was traditionally published though this one was self-published, then co-published. I haven't any idea whether this is the final book in this setting. This storyline seems to have ended, though it is somewhat ambiguous.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

A newer edition includes a short story.
https://scarletferret.com/books/origin-complex