/lit/ - Literature

>>22897750
Morning Star, Red Rising #3 - Pierce Brown (2016)

This wasn't as enjoyable as the second, but I liked it more than the first. Darrow was relatively better this time, though that was mostly through the lessening of everyone else. The highlights for me were the space battle for being fun and neat, and the ending, which was absurd and ridiculous. The ending makes it clear that you can stop reading here as it provides suitable resolution. I understand why many would think this concludes everything that needs to have been written.

https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/993.Pierce_Brown
https://scifibulletin.wordpress.com/books/science-fiction/interview-pierce-brown/

After I read this book I read two interviews, one that came out the month before the second book was released and another around a year later. I found them to be very revealing of Brown's thoughts on the series. He talks about his inspirations, one of which was The Count of Monte Cristo, and that's quite evident for this book. Once again what happens through the story has changed a lot and I liked it less if only for that. There's a heist, some special operations, and a space battle. Mostly though it's going from place to place recruiting allies to their cause. That's an odd choice of narrative pace to me for what was originally intended to only be three books.

As Brown says in the acknowledgements of this book, this one was far harder than the previous two to write. Considering that he says in the interview that he wrote Red Rising in less than two months without any outlines or structure, that's entirely understandable. It shows his growth as a writer and how he's transitioning styles, as discussed in the latter interview. A few years and a few books can really make a difference. The unfortunate truth though is changing as an author may make the author less popular even if they've become more proficient, or perhaps because they have. It may just be aging as well.

When Brown talks about greek plays, Plato, Dune, Book of the New Sun, and literary classics as what he sees as comparisons rather than YA, I have to wonder what he thinks he's writing. It's also telling when he says "Young Adult is simply a book that is interesting in every chapter." In the latter interview Brown pushes back even more on the YA label. When he said that Darrow is an unreliable narrator like Severian I was baffled. It showed that he had quite the different perspective on Darrow. He also emphasizes plot over everything else because as he says he's not trying to write a literary novel.

It makes me wonder what his current thoughts are, but that'll have to wait until I read more into the series, which probably won't be until considerably later in the year. Overall this trilogy can be a worthwhile read if you don't mind that it's all about entertainment and little else. If this is where it had ended I wouldn't believe it to be a notable series aside from its popularity.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>22888465
Golden Son, Red Rising Saga #2 - Pierce Brown (2015)

Golden Son is better in every way than Red Rising, which is what everyone has told me. Brown has clearly improved and learned a lot. This time it's space opera and while it doesn't focus on being military science fiction, it's certainly present. One of the biggest differences is how much more expansive it is and how much it's willing to do. I wasn't able to take the first book seriously, and I still can't with this one, but I can appreciate what it's doing. This is exceedingly commercial genre fiction done well. It knows what it is, focuses on that, and doesn't pretend otherwise.

Darrow remains insufferable, though I have to wonder how much that's because it's in first person. I get the feeling that for many others what I find insufferable may be relatable or even appealing. My main problem is that he's a character rather than a person. What I mean by that is that he's whatever the current scene requires him to be regardless of any other consideration. The same goes for every other aspect of the novel, but the weaknesses in characterization are the most readily apparent and the hardest to overlook for me. This book is among those that has that greatest gap between what I think about the protagonist and the book overall. Several other characters are better, but it wouldn't be the same story if Darrow weren't the protagonist.

This is a strange book in that it feels entirely crafted to reader considerations, yet still works well. It's not organic at all in the way it plays with reader expectations, however it does know what those expectations are and what to do with them. It's all very calculated in its craft. I don't know how sustainable that is, as with anything that relies upon novelty, but it suffices in the short term. The question Brown seems to ask himself for every scene is "What would make this most entertaining for the reader?". So, if you're reading this for anything other than base entertainment, I think you're doing it wrong. That puts a hard cap on how highly I can think of it, but I consider that entirely separate from enjoyment, and not at all relevant for most.

Despite almost everything I saw about this book being much better, I still had considerable doubt, but I was wrong. Even so, I'm keeping my expectations in check. However, as I've written before, I'm not concerned with novelty most times. If someone writes a formula that I enjoy, I don't care if they do it over and over again, as long as I'm still enjoying it. That's not something I would want everyone else to do, but it's what I do. As I wrote, I can't take this book seriously, though I can appreciate it. I don't find it meaningful, but not everything has to be. Sometimes fun things are simply fun and don't need to be anything more than that. At the end I realized that I had laughed enough in joy and was amused enough by its ridiculousness to give it a 4 rather than a 3.5 rounded up.

Rating: 4/5

>>22878295
The Surviving Sky, Rages #1 - Kritika H. Rao (2023)

All that remains of humanity reside in flying cities where plants and trees form the basis of their society. The architects design, maintain, and arguably control everything through their inborn ability to manipulate plants. Sungineers develop technology that runs on the architect power, such as computers and other modern technologies. Humanity was forced to escape to the sky over a thousand years ago due to the Earth Rages which through both tornadoes and earthquakes utterly destroy a region.

This book has a lot of Hindu influence. Most of what I recognized was because it had spread to other cultures. There's a considerable amount that was a clear reference, so I was able to look up a lot to have a general idea what it was going for. The spiritual aspects dominate the narrative for the last ~20%. I admit that much of its significance was lost on me and surely was the greatest contributor to my not comprehending the end goal of the antagonists.

There are two viewpoint characters, a husband and wife in their 30s. Irevan is a senior architect and a member of the council, while his wife, Ahilya, is the world's sole archaeologist. Their relationship is quite troubled for a lot of reasons and they're very bad at acknowledging their problems let alone resolving them. Their relationship drama is present from the beginning, though much else is more important than it. There's a considerable amount of political discussion, social commentary, and philosophizing. Later on the focus shifts to what felt like almost exclusively relationship melodrama with brief interludes of plot progression. Their cycle of remorse and apologizing then lashing out at each other becomes more aggressive, spiteful, and petty until it finally reaches a climax at around 75% through where they have a barely existent sex scene that instantly resolves all of their relationship problems and allows them to have multiple epiphanies.

As to what happens in the book, Ahilya is trying to prove her theories and Irevan is in damage control mode about everything all the time. Their sky cities aren't sustainable any longer and since they don't want them to crash they're trying to figure out what to do about that.

This has been one of the most difficult books for me to write about in a long time because of how promising it started and how disappointed I became by the end. I was greatly enjoying myself and thought I would be giving this 5 stars. For most of the first half I was already planning out how I'd write a strong defense of how and why it hadn't received the reception it deserved. Afterwards there was more and more I couldn't overlook or excuse. Overall, I still liked it for its world and ideas. If the second half and ending hadn't lost me, I would've rated this much higher. It's unlikely I'll read the sequel unless I get over my expectation of more disappointment.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>22756330
Pandora's Star, Commonwealth Saga #1 - Peter. F Hamilton (2004)

Humans landed on Mars for the first time in 2050, which would've been a momentous occasion if weren't entirely overshadowed by the wormhole generators that allowed humanity to quickly and easily colonize planets 100s of light years away. In the present day of 2380, humanity has established itself on over 600 planets in a spherical volume 400 light years wide. All of the alien species humanity has come across have been peaceful. The sentient AI that humanity developed is a friend and ally. Rejuvenation allows the elderly to become young, over and over again. Even death has lost much of its sting, as memories can be backed up and implanted into clones. For many it is a golden age, but the discovery of a star that disappears in less than a second is an omen of the troubling times to come.

Dudley Bose, an astronomer, discovers the disappearing star and believes that it's his chance for fame and fortune. Adam Elvin is a revolutionary socialist trying to reform the Commonwealth, though his actions have become much more mercenary. Paula Myo is a senior investigator obsessed with a case she's been pursuing for nearly 150 years. Nigel Sheldon oversees the organization that controls interplanetary transit. Justine Burnelli is a member of one of the most powerful families and is deeply involved in politics. Wilson Kime landed on Mars and now all these centuries later his expertise is needed again. Oscar Monroe leads an exploratory team finding new planets to colonize. Ozzie Isaac created the wormhole generators and now lives an itinerant lifestyle throughout the Commonwealth. Mark Vernon has had enough of fast-paced urban life and moves his family to a frontier planet that guarantees a slow and cozy lifestyle. Kazimir McFoster is a teenage member of the Guardians of Selfhood who believe that a being called the Starflyer secretly controls humanity. Mellanie Rescorai begins as a teenage trophy girlfriend to an old wealthy man.

That's not all of the viewpoint characters. The narrative continually switches between perspectives, often several times per chapter. For much of the novel it seems like a mosaic of lives as they don't often intersect. Depending on your preferences this may present itself as a slog of seemingly endless filler or a detailed depiction of everyday life in the Commonwealth. For me, it was more the latter. I loved the setting.

Here are some things I found to be notable. There are literally dozens of neologisms that are only used once, as are many characters and specific details. This creates a veneer of very detailed worldbuilding. There are several LGBT and non-white characters. Heterosexual sex happens a few times. I was reminded of Dan Simmon's Endymion with one of the storylines. Hamilton is another author I didn't think I liked, but turns out I do. This is first novel I've read by him, though I'll be reading many more if they're like this.

Rating: 4/5

>>22745951
Cixin Liu
So goes forgetting to put stuff from time to time when doing other things.
This was a winner's chosen book for me to read from A Contest of Ratings. The next book, the 6th, will be the last of those.

>>22744694
The Dark Forest, Rememberance of Earth's Past #2 (2008/2014)

The Dark Forest is primarily about ideas, as science fiction tends to be. The plot, characters, and whatever else matter, though mostly in what role they play in the elaboration of the ideas. Some of the the main ideas are survival at any cost, great man theory, dark forest hypothesis, and the difficulties involved with informational transparency when confronting an enemy. Many of these ideas are presented through the interplay between the Wallfacers and the Wallbreakers who oppose each other. Personally, I found it to be silly in that it seemed to be more for dramatic purposes than practical. Though, anything involving the ETO was garbage, as it was in the first book. There's also what people seem to call the tulpa part, but I think it was more a commentary on weltschmerz, contemporary literature, and the writing process than anything else, especially considering what later happens.

The first 60% of the book took place in more-or-less present day while the latter 40% was centuries later. The former was fine, though I preferred the latter because its presentation of the future within the technological restrictions and how society progressed during that time. Ideology is important to this book and unlike many other SF novels, their ideology evolved more over time than their technology. I believe these restrictions served a dual overt and covert purposes. They allow for a more plausible future because it's only, what if now only more developed, and without any surprises. It also places greater emphasis on non-technological changes. Perhaps less obviously it shows the effect that stagnation of theoretical science has on society as well as what wrong lessons may be learned due to ideological laxity.

What bothered me most in this book in particular was the way that it was presented as being serious, except when some moral lesson was expressed in which case everything was subordinated to that. Unfortunately, this happened a lot. Many characters, and a lot of the absolute idiocy, seemed to exist only to demonstrate to the reader why the character's way was a form of wrong thinking and then the character and/or reader were lectured on proper behavior. However, oftentimes that's only at face value. Some characters may lecture on about whether something is good or correct, but what seemed to be more important were the results and their implications. This can be especially seen when comparing the differences of the four plans, particularly their results and what the actual problem was with them.

This second book was better and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It still had many problems that greatly annoyed and irritated me, though not anywhere to the degree of intensity I felt when reading the first book. Since I've now read the second book I may as well read the third book eventually. That's when I'll decide if the series was worthwhile.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>22729911
Neverness, A Requiem for Homo Sapiens #0 - David Zindell (1988)

Mallory Ringess's graduation from journeyman to pilot is upon him. He has sworn to discover the secrets of the Solid State Entity. Many of the greatest pilots in the Order's nearly three millennia history have been lost to the nebula where the Solid State Entity resides. Neverness is on the planet Icefall, which is located in the densest thickspace known, as it has billions of connections to the manifold. Faster-than-light travel is made possible through continually solving mathematical equations that allow for a one-to-one mapping between stars. However, there are mysteries far closer as well. The secrets of those who genetically engineered themselves to live a primitive life as Neanderthals may prove equally useful in determining the meaning of life and the secret to immortality.

Thematically, the closest book I've to read to this would be The God Emperor of Dune, though Wolfe's influence is also evident. The vast majority is philosophizing about metaphysics in some way or another. Primarily there are discussions and monologues about existential topics. Why does anything exist at all? Who am I? What is meaning? How ought life be lived? Does free will exist? What is the fate of humanity? Questions abound and most of the events of the book attempt to answer them. Each of the characters have their own answers and change according to them. I found the character development to be peculiar in that they struggle towards insight then have an epiphany or some extraordinary event occurs and they become rather different. This happens multiple times. It's sort of like if Kuhn's paradigm shift was applied to character development. There's also a lot of sex, a whole lot of sex. Quite possibly an absurd amount of sex, including incest, though it's mostly told rather than shown.

Although there eighty-six civilized human planets, a multitude of alien species, a considerable amount of space travel, and even space battles, I don't consider the focus of this to be the space opera. The focus is on experience. The Order wants it to be about quests that allow for a greater understanding of the manifold and the universe in general, but it turns out to be much more about self-discovery and coming into one's own. By the end, Mallory is much more than what he began as, in every way. The climax is detailing the proof to a mathematical theorem, that's the kind of book it is. It serves a functional purpose, but honestly they're more excited about having solved it.

I was amazed by the first quarter of the book and less so by the next quarter as it becomes a very different story, at least in terms of its setting. The third quarter goes the hardest on the metaphysics and the last quarter is the most action oriented, though it still has many digressions. I'm impressed that this was Zindell's debut novel and I will definitely read the rest of this series.

Rating: 4/5

>>22719176
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester (1956)

Gully Foyle is lacking in all ways and he's been trapped in an inoperable spaceship for six months. After having a glimmer of hope revoked, he swears vengeance on those who left him stranded. All that he is and that all that he must become will be for destroying those who denied him freedom.

In the 24th century all humans can jaunte, teleport, up to 1000 miles away. This is an excellent premise, and if it had followed through on it I would've enjoyed this considerably more. As it is though it seems to be a metaphor for the golden age of air travel that was ongoing at the time of its publication. This is a book devoted to psionics of all sorts, as much was at the time. There's a lot that's of its era and I would've preferred that they were less metaphor and more explored. Society has reverted to the worst sorts of prudery. Religion has been outlawed. The solar system has been colonized and is at war. Corporations are as powerful as governments.

One of the problems with the science of science fiction for me is that it's based on relatively quickly outdated, if not obsolete ideas. When almost nothing is known anything is possible. The more that's known the less possibilities there are, until there's only one. The more that is known by everyone the less acceptable any alternative is if it's seriously proposed. I have no doubt that it's possible to entirely ignore all these concerns, but I don't think I can, nor do I want to. At least not for this book anyway, there are always exceptions. It doesn't help that it's centuries in the future but the technology is mostly the same, though often there isn't much that can be reasonably done about that. I have no doubt future generations will complain about the depiction of future technology as seen by the 2020s as well.

I may dislike pulp SF in general, though not categorically. Certainly it would seem that I have preference for the more recent based on my ratings and reading selections. There isn't a single pre-1962 SF novel I've rated higher than 3 stars. I don't seem to have much interest prior to New Wave SF. It's somewhat ironic to say that considering that Bester was championed by New Wave writers. Apparently it was initially received with a mixed reception at best, though it continually grew in stature over the decades, which I don't understand.

There wasn't really anything I liked about this, aside from the absurdity of the constant plot twists and contrivances. While Foyle does greatly develop as a character, I still disliked him from beginning to end. That's mostly because the more he changes, the more he stays the same. He simply switches from one monomaniacal pursuit to another. I did find it funny though how it denies that that self-improvement makes you a better person. It simply makes you more capable. I disliked the dialogue, but even more so I disliked the stylistic choices of the book's last 10%.

Rating: 2/5

>>22706730
Light, Kefahuchi Tract #1 - M. John Harrison (2002)

Reading Light is quite the experience. Oftentimes it feels like Harrison is indifferent to entertaining his reader. The reader is a spectator to what is happening and serves the functional role of having the story become some small part of them, for better or worse. It's not so much contempt for the reader as it is disinterest. That can understandably be off-putting both in attitude and stylistic effect. The narrative doesn't much care whether the reader has any idea of what's going on or why it matters. Some of what it means is stated, but the specific details are mostly left for the reader to speculate upon and attempt to make inferences and associations. That doesn't make it a puzzle, in which its purpose is to be solved, so much as an exercise in apophenia. Maybe it's meaningful, or maybe it isn't. My thought process was all over the place, especially about cats and names. There are many references.

Usually I'd write some sort of synopsis to start with, but I don't believe that's needed this time. You can find that easily enough if it's what you need as a hook. This isn't a character driven book. The characters matter, but they aren't the ones making the decisions, or if they are, their free will isn't meaningful. The "plot" is what determines everything. If you need the characters to be likeable, have a lot of agency, be well-developed, or experience much growth, you won't find it here. There's a considerable amount of philosophy, which I surely didn't understand much of, let alone what relevance it has, aside from that dualities are prominent. The story alternates between three different perspectives and times. Science is present as well, in that extreme technologies are used and that it's advanced to the point where it may as well be magic for some things. Is it ultimately technobabble? I don't know. It does state that everything is possible, even when theories are mutually exclusive.

Light is New Weird Cyberpunk Space Opera. That's being reductive, as it doesn't seem to know any boundaries. There's various elements of horror, mystery, thriller, romance, and other genres. It's absurd and surreal, comedic and tragic. It may try to be too much all at once. There's an abundance of sex and masturbation, which is much more notable for its frequency than its eroticism. The relationships are dysfunctional and tenuous.

As shown by its rating distribution, its readership doesn't know what to think about it. I'm not exempt from that. What I do know is that I'll read the rest of the trilogy. I recommend reading it if you're willing to have an open mind and put in some effort trying to understand it. The ratings are all over the place so why not see how you feel about it? This is difficult to rate, but because it's such a different experience, though I don't how enjoyable of one, I'm giving it the benefit of rounding it up. Reading it definitely affected me.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>22697481
A Portrait in Shadow - Nicole Jarvis (2023)

A Portrait in Shadow is a historical fantasy novel that loosely follows the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, a renowned 17th century painter, who accomplished several firsts as a female painter. The first half is Artemisia at nineteen years old trying to establish herself in Florence. She paints, seeks out patrons, attempts to be accepted by the academy/guild of magical artists, and tries to earn enough to avoid literally being a starving artist. The latter half has a focus on romance, introspection, and conflict. This novel is about her daily life and the struggles she goes through. It's almost entirely character driven. As this is a fantasy novel, the few years of her life that are depicted are considerably different from what is thought to be known. These differences are explained to be because in this version of Earth, magic and mythical beasts exist.

Magic is either healing or necrotic. The passionate emotions that an artist imbues their art with determines its function. A work of art can either be bound to a single person or affect everyone in an area. The two most common healing properties are alleviating chronic ailments and life extension. As a result the wealthy and Vatican priests commonly live to be well over a hundred years old. Artists die young though because they must give away part of their soul for each magically imbued work of art they create. The more powerful the magic is, the more of their soul it costs. At the opposite end is necrotic magic, the most powerful of which caused the Black Plague. The Grave Age then followed where for centuries all artists were hunted down and killed out of fear that they would bring down more plagues upon the world. Even now, centuries after the Grave Age, any artist who is even accused of dabbling in the dark arts can lose their entire reputation and be tortured to death. The two most important beasts are the Griffon and the Blood Drake, which symbolize Good and Evil, and were nearly hunted to extinction in Europe during the Grave Age.

I read this because I'm reading a manga, Arte, that's inspired by the life of the same historical person. It's even further from her life, though that's because isn't meant to be her. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. A lot of that is because I simply like how it's written. The romance of the latter half is a bit too saccharine and all the would-be sex scenes are fade to black, though I felt it did well enough. I'm conflicted about the purpose of changing so much and saying it's a different version of her rather than being an inspired character, but in this case I'll accept it. I had concerns about how meaningful the beasts and magic would be, but they're both organically integrated into the story in a pleasing way and matter a lot. There's also a considerable amount of sociological exploration concerning magic that I appreciated alongside the social commentary.

Rating: 4/5

>>22688429
Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay (1990)

Eighteen years ago Tigana was more than conquered. Its name was wiped from the memories of everyone who lived in the nine provinces of the Palm, except those who lived in Tigana. Its surviving citizens would have to live with everything they knew having been renamed. Anyone who heard them utter "Tigana" would hear but not understand. Nineteen year Devin, a musician in a traveling troupe, was born in Tigana but never knew his homeland. His fate takes a drastic turn when he stumbles upon a group of rebels seeking to restore Tigana. Catriana was a teenager when Tigana was erased and she swore to take vengeance upon Brandin, their conqueror. However, after so many years as part of his harem she's no longer who she once was.

As stated by the author in the afterword, The Palm is a stand-in for the city states of Italy during the Italian Renaissance. Two sorcerers, Brandin and Alberico, one representing Spain and the other France, have each conquered half of the Palm. Their magic does whatever they feel like it doing. They just think and it happens, whatever it may be, though the greater the magic, the more they expend themselves. Both are caricatures. Alberico is an insecure and paranoid psychopath while Brandin is a melodramatic obsessive who gave up his kingship, family, and humanity to pursue a grudge against Tigana. Opposing them is group of rebels that includes Devin who go from place to place setting up plans for the entire book except for the climax, which mostly happens for plot convenience. Catriana, the other main viewpoint, is basically a case study of stockholm syndrome. There are other viewpoints that serve to explain characters as well.

Tigana is made of metaphors and allegories. The integral one, Tigana, is about identity and self-worth. It gave me a nice sense of saudade, despite how overwrought it was about it. If that's all there was, I'd be happy with it. Unfortunately that's only where it begins. The sex scenes, which are ridiculous, are all allegorical as well. I know this because both the text and author say they are. The problem I have with that is that the allegories are elevated above everything else, which for me is to the story's detriment. Apparently all of GGK's novels take place in the same universe, but references are only that and nothing more meaningful.

This is the most disappointing novel I've read this year, whereas disappointment is measured by the distance between expectations and reality. I was expecting a serious historical fantasy and instead I got half melodrama and half tragedy. I can somewhat understand why it received so many rewards and praise in it has probably has great appeal for those who appreciate its prose and allegories at the expense of everything else. That seems to make this a rather polarizing book. It's still possible I may try reading something else from GGK eventually. It'll be a long time though, if ever.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>22678324
The Curse of Chalion, World of the Five Gods #1 - Lois McMaster Bujold (2001)

Cazaril, 35 years old, is bereft of all that he once had save the raggedy clothes he wears. Half his life has been in the military, though that ended when he was sold into slavery through betrayal. Having now escaped, he trudges towards where he spent time as a page for the provincial ruler. Though broken in body and spirit, he struggles on. Better days are soon to come for him. To his bewilderment, he finds himself having become a tutor to two teenage girls, a princess and her handmaiden. He becomes ever more involved in the battlefield that is courtly life.

This is a very character focused book, both in terms of introspection and what matters. The vast majority of that involves daily life at the palace and the court intrigue that entails. There's the occasional fight and some adventure, though it all results from the moves that players have made against each other. That means it's much more talking than anything else. Threats, demands, manipulation, bribes, accusations, and gossip abound. When those fail there's blackmail, beatings, and assassination to fall back upon. There's also some romance, a considerable amount of flirting, and a few unwanted advances. Despite the dark moments, it tends more towards being uplifting and triumphal by the end. I found this to be very refreshing and invigorating. I wouldn't call it a feel-good fantasy, but it's certainly closer to that than what I mostly read.

The Curse of Chalion has some historical inspiration and basis from the ending years of the Reconquista in the 15th century. One of the main differences is that their religion has five gods, who meddle in human affairs when possible. There are many religious customs and rituals to appease them. Various sorts of miracles are possible by the saints though they are mostly for the benefit of the god's agenda rather than anything else. However, death magic can potentially be used by anyone. If it's successful it takes both the life of the user and the target. There are theological conversations that discuss the particulars and implications of their religion. Aside from this there aren't really any other fantastical elements. It's the sort of book that could be called something like secondary world historical fantasy.

I ended up enjoying this more than anything else I've read this year and it's among the most I've enjoyed any fantasy novel. There's almost nothing with which I take any issue. It may not be exactly what I want, but it's close enough. One a different note, it's truly astounding and frustrating how different books can be from the same author. It'd a lot easier to be able to dismiss an author without any concerns if it could be assumed that all they write would be received in a similar way. If the rest in this setting are anywhere as pleasing as this was, then it'll definitely be among my favorite series.

Rating: 5/5

>>22667398
The Dragonbone Chair, Memory, Sorrow, Thorn #1 - Tad Williams (1988)

Simon is a fourteen year old orphan who has been raised among the kitchen staff since birth at castle Hayholt. His days are filled with menial chores, which he often doesn't complete to satisfaction, as he'd prefer to explore the castle grounds, daydream, or listen to stories. After a time he becomes apprenticed to the castle's wizard, from whom he hopes to learn magic, but finds instead he first must undergo an education. These pleasantly indolent days are not long to last. A dark being from ancient days rises once more. Having stumbled upon the truth, Simon must flee everything he has ever known to survive.

The preceding paragraph is an overview of Part One, which covers about 25% of its length. Depending on your preferences, its leisurely pace with much description and abundant lore may feel comfy and immersive or slow and lecturing. That goes for the entirety of the book, but especially so for Part One. There are several songs, pages at a time of lore, readings from a book, and much else in terms of exposition. Simon isn't the only viewpoint character, so at times there will be others who are doing their own separate thing that builds up what's going in the world outside of Simon's quest.

Where they are is called Osten Ard, probably meaning Eastern Earth or similar. It's their year of 1164. I would say that it's Arthurian if it weren't for that the king is literally called John Presbyter, a legendary Christian figure who was said to have reigned in the East. There's also considerable influence from a Norse-like people. Osten Ard was settled by this story's version of elves and then men came and started a war in which humans triumphed. Another notable race are the trolls, one of whom Simon travels with, though it's certainly a different take on what a troll is. It was nice though.

Based on this first book it seems like a fine enough standard quest fantasy series. The series name refers to the three legendary swords that may be needed to defeat the Dark Lord, which I assume they travel around to various locales in their meandering way to obtain. This isn't really my preferred sort of fantasy and I didn't find Simon to be a protagonist I wanted to spend more time with, but I didn't find anything particularly bad about it. Simon seems like he's in for a considerable amount of suffering despite the easygoing opening, so it doesn't seem like it'll be casual and lighthearted adventuring.

What I've written is reductive, it's considerably more complicated that that, but it remains smooth and easy reading. Most everything outside of Simon's perspective seemed extraneous to me, which may have been because I wasn't fully engaged with the narrative. I won't be continuing this series, but I'll try Williams other novels at some other time since I've liked his short fiction, though I don't know that I'll give them as much of a chance as I gave this one.

Rating: 3/5

>>22652157
Promise of Blood, Powder Mage #1 - Brian McClellan (2013)

Do you dislike Brandon Sanderson? If so, you may not need to read to any further, as this is a Sandersonian novel through and through. If you enjoy all things Sanderson adjacent, then you may want to read this as well. McClellan took the same writing class taught by Sanderson twice. The first time Sanderson said he needed to write better and be more creative. The second he said he had great talent and a future in writing. Both seem accurate to me. Maybe eventually McClellan comes into his own voice, or maybe that doesn't matter at all in terms of commercial sales. In any case, here's what it's about and what I thought about that.

Adamat is an ex-police, private investigator, and failed book publisher. He's been summoned to see the field marshal, Tamas, who has just deposed the king, slaughtered the Privileged in their sleep, and will soon publicly execute many hundreds. He's also the second POV. Tamas tasks Adamat to find out what the dying gasps of the Privileged mean. Taniel, the third POV, is Tamas's son and has been tasked with hunting down a dangerous Privileged. When they finish these tasks, Tamas gives them more tasks. Nila, a servant of a noble, is the fourth POV and becomes quite involved despite her station. Most of the book is about putting down the remaining Royalists, being worried about an impending invasion, and it wouldn't be a Cosmere-ish novel if it didn't involve something from beyond.

This book has at least four magic systems. Sometimes it wants to be hard fantasy and at other times it's as soft as it comes. There's the Privileged, who are elementalists and who can renounce their powers to be able to nullify magic. The Marked snort gunpowder as if it were magical cocaine with similar effects plus being able to mentally control bullets. The Knacked have one arbitrary magical ability. Then there's the one that isn't really understood but uses dolls and other stuff with a variety of abilities. That seems like an excessive amount to me.

Everything about this book is on the borderline of adequate and inadequate. The characters aren't notable or especially distinct, but that's fine. The dialogue is lacking, but it works. The plot doesn't do enough and not the way I prefer. The magic is cluttered and overdone. The worldbuilding suffices. Its greatest flaw may be its lack of focus and coherence.

Promise of Blood is tolerably written and has a lot that I could like, which makes it become rather disappointing in its failure to do enough with its content. For me this a case where an author's reach has exceeded his grasp. McClellan's skill isn't matched by his ambitions. There could've been a book I would've loved to read here, but then it would be an entirely different book. I haven't the slightest interest in continuing. That's why I'm rounding down. However, you may like it considerably more than I did since these are mostly personal issues.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>22618331
Black Sun Rising, Coldfire Trilogy #1 - C.S. Friedman (1991)

Damien Vyrce, a knight of the order of the Golden Flame, is a sorcerer in service to the Church. He has traveled far to the east to Jagganoth under orders to assist their patriarch. Upon his arrival he first visits the Fae Shoppe, which sells both items mundane and Worked (magical). He's immediately smitten with its proprietress, Ciani of Faraday. She's an adept, a person born with an innate connection to the Fae, which makes them natural sorcerers of far greater and exclusive ability. Soon after disaster strikes and Ciani has much of all that she is ripped from her. The only way for her to regain what was lost is to kill the one who did it to her. Damien, Ciani, and her sorcerer assistant Senzei Reese, set off in search of their quarry.

The main draw to me was the character dynamics. I don't remember when I last read such a contentious party who have so many competing emotions about their companions. That's especially the case for the character shown on the cover, who later joins, because at best he's a fallen hero, though it's probably more accurate to call him a villain. In reductive terms, he's an amoral vampire with a complex history. Somehow he's also the one who has the most character development, despite his age and desire to be set in his ways. Damien is extremely conflicted about his presence, though by the end there isn't much that he isn't conflicted about.

I also greatly enjoyed everything about the world. Unlike some other series, this one doesn't obfuscate. Everyone seems to know that humanity came to this planet, Erna, 1,200 years ago after 10s of millennia in cold sleep on a generation ship. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the planet, they had to make the Great Sacrifice and give up almost all of their technology. The animistic force that's omnipresent is called Fae and allows for emotions and beliefs to affect reality. It also allows for what's called magic for simplicity's sake. At the time of their arrival humanity were the only known sapient species. That didn't last long because humanity's intense beliefs caused a rapid evolution in several species and one in particular. If humanity was created in God's image, then this newly sapient species was created in humanity's image. War soon began. Elsewhere it wouldn't have been much of a conflict, but the problem with technology was if it wasn't fully understood and believed in, it often catastrophically failed.

I enjoyed everything about this except the plot, which I found to be too simple and convenient. It also failed to do enough with its setting and the backstories of its world and characters. The set-up for the next book also displeased me, but was more understandable. Simply put, I felt the plot was contrived and the weakest aspect by far. I had to think for a few days how to rate this, but there wasn't any doubt that I'd read the rest of the trilogy.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

>>22601218
Empire of Silence, Sun Eater #1 - Christopher Ruocchio (2018)

Empire of Silence is an autobiographical novel told from the perspective of the protagonist at roughly a thousand years old. I assume that's after the entire series has concluded. Each book seems to cover an era of his life, which I take to mean that the series ought to be considered as a single work split into several books.

In 16136 Hadrian Marlowe is the eldest son of the ruler of a planetary prefecture of the planet Delos, which is part of the Sollan Empire. The Empire is the largest polity, composed of roughly 250 million worlds, nearly half of all that have been colonized. Humanity has come across 49 intelligent species and has enslaved 48 of them. Only the Cielcin have been able to resist and so humanity has waged war against them for centuries.

Hadrian has no interest in being the next ruler, or in being anything one has told him to be. He wants to be an adventurer, like those in the stories he's read from ages long ago, finding new species and whatever marvels that still remain unfound throughout the galaxy. That doesn't go quite to plan and he finds himself stranded on some world. The rest of the book is the beginning of his rise from almost nothing except his genetic heritage, which is extremely valuable, and a few symbols of his past.

This novel is a reworking of many novels and other specific creative works. The foremost among them that I was reminded of was Dune, Hyperion, and The Shadow of the Torturer. These are excellent choices, but often I felt that Ruocchio was leaning too heavily on other works. There doubtlessly were several other inspirations that I didn't recognize. I would be highly interested in seeing how much of the content was based on other books and how much was original, insofar as that exists. If I enjoyed this more, then perhaps I wouldn't have minded as much. I wouldn't want that to be true, but cognitive dissonance is a powerful force. If this were an obvious parody or otherwise declared itself to be based on other novels, then I think I wouldn't have minded anywhere as much.

I don't think I would've enjoyed this all that more even if it were wholly without any of its arguable homages. I find that to be peculiar because there's so very much of this that I should like. Yet, somehow I find the whole to be so much less than the sum of its parts. I believe the two main reasons are that I find how it reads to be off-putting and I was uninterested in almost every single character in this character-driven novel.

I don't know if the following books are similar to this one and I'm uninterested in finding out. I doubt that I'll read anything from Ruocchio again. The main reason is because of how openly and intentionally he integrates his influences into what he's written here. It's not fanfiction and it's certainly not what Quentin Rowan did, but it's sufficient to be disqualifying for me.

Rating: 2.5/5

Ratings Contest Book #2

These Burning Stars, The Kindom Trilogy #1 - Bethany Jacobs (2023)

These Burning Stars is a character focused space opera told through a split narrative of past and present through multiple points of view. Usually I have several complaints about this method because I don't think it adds much value and slows momentum, but for this book I have no complaints and believe it is the best possible way to have told the story because of how much it enriches the narrative and by how amusing it becomes after having finished the book.

This is among the very best debut novels I've read and is a great novel in its own right. I am thoroughly impressed by how much I enjoyed it from beginning to end. For my personal taste it's written almost exactly how I prefer and there wasn't a single low point. It doesn't reach the heights of what I consider the best, but reading something that is consistently highly enjoyable without almost anything needing to be overlooked is a treasure as well.

All of the viewpoint characters are morally gray at the lightest, though I didn't find any of them to be unlikeable. Three of the viewpoint characters, all gendermarked as women, are Esek, Chono, and Jun. Esek is a sociopath prone to theatrical displays of emotionality and violence, which makes her fun in a terrifying way. Chono is deeply religious and wants to brighten the world, but she's dyed dark by Esek and is ambivalent about her rescuer. Jun is a rogue hacker seeking revenge and profit, though not to benefit herself. They're all involved with each other's drama. This isn't a story where the viewpoints don't cross paths.

The only significant point of contention I have it with it is that I don't understand the practicalities or the meaning of the gendermark system. Each person has a visible physical mark denoting man or woman, and a few taboo exceptions. Most people aren't allowed to choose a mark until they're an adult, though it can be changed afterwards. It's never made clear what percent people choose the same gender as their sex, which are considered separate, or what differences there are.

There a few sex scenes, which are romantic or violent. The most detailed scene isn't explicit enough to definitively know (or so I tell myself) the specific sexual characteristics of both of those involved, though I don't mind whichever configuration it may be. There are several relationships but due to ambiguity involved, it's probably most accurate to call almost all of them sapphic. There's definitely much more of a focus on women.

I'm already hopeful that this will become one of my favorite trilogies, which seems more likely than not currently, but considering how the book ends the second will probably have to be rather different, though I think Jacobs can manage. As far as I'm concerned Jacobs has outshone her relevant and similar contemporaries with her debut.

Rating: 5/5

I received this DRC from Orbit through NetGalley

>>22571793
Red Rising, #1 - Pierce Brown (2014)

Red Rising is a wish fulfillment revenge fantasy. The Hunger Games is a common comparison, which to me is only valid in that they're both dystopias with youths vs youths. Why this is a such a common comparison is a different discussion. The Will of the Many is compared to Red Rising, which also has many differences, but it's closer.

Darrow, the protagonist, is truly amazing in how much he's able to accomplish. This isn't competency porn though, because his successes aren't primarily because of his own actions. Darrow considers himself to be self-made man, which is ironic. He's one of the least interesting characters and it's only told from his perspective. I would hope this would make it easier to see that the protagonist's perspective needn't be the dominant narrative, others have their own stories, but it only hints at that. It could be argued this is all to show Darrow's steady growth, but to me it was more a series of discrete transformations. There's a lot of dissonance, but that's mostly left unexplored.

What I found most strange was whether its style was intentional or by coincidence. There are flashes of being more meaningful and providing a worthwhile discussion, but that's all there ever is. I don't know if that was me reading too much into it, or if there was anything there. I kept thinking there would be something more to it, some greater reveal, some deeper level of complexity, but in this first book at least it's played entirely straightforward at the surface level. That's my fault for expecting otherwise. Regardless, I can't argue with its commercial success. If the author had pursued anything more substantial it probably wouldn't have been anywhere as successful.

This is a science fiction book, but for most of the time I felt that it may as well have been a description of some war campaign from the middle ages or even older. I thought there would be a bit more academic stuff, but it turned out that aside from a single exam it wasn't present at all. There's a lot that doesn't really follow science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction in general. It presents itself as such, but that's mostly decorative. The ideal audience for this may be young adults who are only casually interested in SFF, and who are put off by having too much of either. That's certainly a much wider audience. That being said there's also a strange amount of neologisms that seem reminded me of Golden Age pulp SF, which was confusing. Maybe he intended to go after all audiences. He was successful regardless.

Despite all that, I found this to be rather amusing in its absurdity. It definitely goes for the dramatics. I would've enjoyed it much less if I hadn't quickly given up on taking it seriously in any way. I don't dislike the content so much as how it's presented. I'll be reading the second book because supposedly it changes a lot. Maybe I'll be surprised.

Rating: 3/5

Book #1/10 of my ratings contest

The Sunlit Man, Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson (2023)

The Nomad's Skip has gone awry and he finds himself stranded on a planet unknown to him. He lacks a sufficient amount of breath-equivalent units of Investiture to Skip again. To escape he'll need to find a power source. In doing so he becomes involved in the rather small planet's problems, namely there's a tyrant trying to subjugate the world to his rule. The sunlight melts and remakes the surface of the world every day. The populace is constantly either running away or hiding from it.

Sanderson said this book was an experiment as to whether he could write epic fantasy at a breakneck pace. The story starts with action and continues on for rest of the time at about the same speed. The climax was a bit more, though it wasn't relatively that much more by comparison to how Sanderson's books have tended to go with an explosive ending. This was a bit frustrating to read because it showed that Sanderson can write without including many hundreds of pages of not doing all that much at a glacial pace. I would prefer there to be far less pages for many of the books. That doesn't seem like it'll happen.

So, how much of the Cosmere does this book reference? A lot. Mostly that's because this novel is probably the furthest in the Cosmere timeline of anything that's been published. That makes this easily the most science fictional book set in the Cosmere yet. Some of the stuff shown is definitely far in advance of our technology. However, fantasy is still very present. This only whets my appetite to see how Sanderson will combine magic and technology in the many years to come. One of the most relevant works are the Stormlight Archive, as the protagonist is a character in those books. Who he is and where he's from is explicitly stated, so it's not something that has to be puzzled out. The other is Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell. That's where the populace is from, which again is explicitly stated early on. Aside from that, having read Warbreaker would be somewhat helpful as background information. There's a bit from the Mistborn series, but it would only be minimally useful to have read them. There's a few others, though it's mostly trivial stuff. It's weird to think that a lot of what's shown here may not be relevant to the main Cosmere series for a decade, or decades for that matter. Also, yes, Hoid makes a brief appearance.

So, yeah, it was just a fun time all around. I appreciated the literal change of pace. I may be overly interested compared to the average reader with seeing how the magical and technological systems of the various Cosmere worlds interact with each other. The future Nalthis of Warbreaker continues to play an outsized role in these books considering it only has a single book currently. I also like having the Cosmere in everything from now on as Sanderson has already said, despite the problems that causes for the casual or singular series reader.

Rating: 4/5

>>22557030
Red River Seven - A.J. Ryan (2023)

A man awakens, remembering nothing biographical, though otherwise retaining what he knows. He finds himself on a boat on a river shrouded in dense pinkish mist. There are others with him and they all share surgical scars and have the same memory loss. They seem to be on a mission as they realize they have a certain set of complementary skills that would be useful for survival and for carrying out a special operation. A voice from elsewhere speaks to them. It says they must obey or they will die. Whatever their purpose may be, they must follow their directions, because at the least the boat can be remotely deactivated, leaving them stranded. Precautions have been taken to minimize how much they can tamper with anything. Their greatest danger is each other, at least until they discover the current circumstances of the world.

As per the title, there's red mist, they're on a river, and there's seven of them. It's literal and suits it well. The amnesia is functional and serves a greater purpose than being for plot convenience. In terms of the plot, that they can't remember their lives is integral to everything. However, even if they did have their memories it wouldn't really be that different for several of them. This does limit them as a cast of characters because they're reduced to what their specialty is and a few other core personality traits.

I haven't read anything else by Anthony Ryan, so I'm unable to compare this SF/horror/mystery/thriller to his fantasy novels. What I do know is this seems like it was written to be a movie. Everything extraneous is removed and all there is, is the characters and their mission. I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing, though it's definitely notable. I would watch it if it were made into one because it seems like it could easily transition into a primarily action movie.

The last 15% started leaning into political allegory, or at least that's what I read it as. The only hint before that was that it was mentioned that the 45th president was someone whose name shouldn't be said in polite company. That was fine, though I don't think it was handled all that well. There wasn't an epilogue, which from a reader perspective would've been nice in terms of pay-off. Having one though would've gone against the allegory that had been established and the narrow focus of the narrative. Maybe it's just because it's not that long of a novel that there didn't seem to be any need to do so.

This was a nice read, though it's not really notable in any way. There was a good bit that this story had going in its favor for me. I like amnesiac group stories, which has lead me to read books that I might otherwise wouldn't, for better and worse. I also appreciate it when authors try writing in different genres than what they're known. If I had enjoyed it just a bit more I would've rounded it up.

I received this DRC from Orbit through NetGalley.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>22540152
Then I must be even braver for reading books that haven't even been released yet. Thanks!

>>22538555
Steel Frame - Andrew Skinner (2019)

Eyo Rook is a jockey, a highly skilled veteran shell pilot. She's one among a multitude of chain gang convicts who have volunteered to be sold to the Horizon. That's the Nor Collective's dreadnought and the largest space vessel ever constructed. It's stationed at the cosmic anomaly known as The Eye, which contains the remnants of an ancient civilization. They're here to serve their sentences more quickly, as time passes faster in the region, and it seems a better option than imprisonment. NorCol isn't the only corporation seeking the secrets of the ancients, several others are present. The corporations have already been here for subjective centuries without accomplishing their goals, but everything is about to change. Rook bonds with a centuries old shell, a Juno model, that can think for itself and thus begins a relationship that transcends flesh and steel.

Steel Frame is clearly influenced by mecha anime and videogames. In interviews Skinner has cited Evangelion, Knights of Sidonia, the Alien Universe, and several others as inspirations, especially in terms of its aesthetic. Personally the novel made me think more in terms of Armored Core, Zone of the Enders, and the Xeno series, but that may well be more about me. What that means that means for the mecha is that they're humanoid, fast moving, and flight capable. In terms of science fiction it's meant to be more on the Weird side, though I don't know that he quite succeeded in that regard. Iain M. Banks is noted specifically for how the book relates to AI and the story structure he wants to use.

The story is told from a first person perspective, which for me has a far greater variance of enjoyment than third person, though I felt it worked well enough here. You might think that because this is a non-Japanese mecha series, the author is South African, that that would be the most notable aspect of the book. It's definitely at the top, but arguably the non-sexual, non-romantic, yet all-consuming relationship between Rook and her Juno shell is just as important. I have to wonder if this book would've been somewhat different if it had came out after Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. That Gundam series is certainly reminiscent of it in ways, as are other media.

One of the greatest enjoyments I had while reading this was the visual imagery it conjured for me, though that may have only been possible because I had already had a considerably large visual library to draw upon for the specifics of what was detailed. It's difficult for me to know how much this affected my enjoyment versus a reader who isn't familiar with the mecha aesthetic and kinesthetic.

It's unfortunate that his debut novel hasn't received more recognition, even within its niche. It has its problems, much of which may originate from its inspirations, but I believe eventually those will be resolved. I'll be reading the sequel and I look forward to his future work.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>22528658
The Big Book of Cyberpunk (2023)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZeaffY4DMrD_GfcYbBtXq9rpGIGYNYChFSN6yjGUssw/

>>22518480
Ironclads - Adrian Tchaikovsky (2017
)
This novella, from start to finish, is about a rescue mission told after the fact. The narrator, Sergeant Ted Regan, even directly addresses that he's telling a story at one point. As far as I could tell he seems to be a reliable narrator, so this being a frame story is more a stylistic choice than anything else. So, Regan and his men have been ordered to rescue a scion of one of the most powerful corporations. Scion is both what he is and also what they call the exosuits they use. That's not what's shown on the cover. They have mechs, but most of the fighting is between infantry, vehicles, scions, and a gunship. The rescue mission takes place in the newest US corporate target, Sweden. Along the way there's various mishaps, duplicity, and shifting allegiances. This isn't only a story about machines though, as there also bioengineered humans with animal characteristics and other augmentations.

Considering the length of this novella there's a lot of background info, world history, and general worldbuilding that's done. The story takes sometime in the mid to late 21st century where because all of the climate disasters and other catastrophes corporations have started literal wars against other corporations to maximize their holdings and profits. Governments have been relegated to a lesser position. The US has become a theocratic fascist state that has removed the rights previously held by most of its citizens, especially women and non-whites. They don't really mind that the corporations wage war on Canadian, Mexican, and the other American corporations. The national governments of those being invaded don't seem mind as much as one would think.

Thematically this is anti-war, corporate, elite, theocratic, fascists and much else. That's mostly expressed through polemics, the book says so, and somewhat through what happens. Again, it's a rescue mission, so they're mostly just traveling from one point to another looking for the guy. There's not really much to it in terms of plot, but that's to be expected due to its length. It doesn't really show off much of it what it talks about because of how constrained it is. It's all elsewhere. Why it's so restricted is explained by the narrative and makes perfect sense, butI think the realism in this case got in the way of being cool and fun. I would've liked it more if it wasn't so straightforward until the the reveal at the end which is entirely thematically appropriate. All in all, it's fine. I don't feel strongly either way about it.

Rating: 3/5