2006-05-26
Blood of the Fold
Author: Terry Goodkind
Sword of Truth-3 is a necessary conclusion to the events begun in Stone of Tears, but the series may be in decline. While this is still a good page turner -- I read it in four days -- the page count is down and it really felt like only half a story. All the setup was in the previous book and it seemed like only an inevitable conclusion was left to be written.
The story covers a massive change in the world order. The Midlands alliance is no more, the barrier between the Old and New Worlds is gone, and invading armies from both east and south threaten the peace. Richard Rahl just wants to settle down somewhere quiet with his bride -- if they can actually fit in the wedding -- and see his grandfather again so he can learn to control the gifts he has. He doesn't want to rule the world, but he may have to just to get a moment's peace.
The characters that enjoy development this time are from the Palace of the Prophets: Sister Verna, Prelate Annalina, the Prophet Nathan, and young nerd Warren. The main storyline of interest is in the Palace, while Richard has things under control in Aydindril by the halfway point. Kahlan and Zedd don't even appear in the first 300 pages and have very little "screen time". The reunion of the original magic trio is teased, but nothing happens until the very end. I find this series needs a prequel featuring Zedd, much as Eddings would capitalize on his elder sorcerers by giving Belgarath and Polgara their own biographies.
The novel is less than satisfying in that it just falls to a conclusion dictated by the events in Stone of Tears. It does clear the table enough that Sword of Truth-4 (Temple of the Winds, which got an obligatory mention in this book) can start a new story. In a couple months, I'll tell you if it recaptured any of that First Rule magic.
Sword of Truth-3 is a necessary conclusion to the events begun in Stone of Tears, but the series may be in decline. While this is still a good page turner -- I read it in four days -- the page count is down and it really felt like only half a story. All the setup was in the previous book and it seemed like only an inevitable conclusion was left to be written.
The story covers a massive change in the world order. The Midlands alliance is no more, the barrier between the Old and New Worlds is gone, and invading armies from both east and south threaten the peace. Richard Rahl just wants to settle down somewhere quiet with his bride -- if they can actually fit in the wedding -- and see his grandfather again so he can learn to control the gifts he has. He doesn't want to rule the world, but he may have to just to get a moment's peace.
The characters that enjoy development this time are from the Palace of the Prophets: Sister Verna, Prelate Annalina, the Prophet Nathan, and young nerd Warren. The main storyline of interest is in the Palace, while Richard has things under control in Aydindril by the halfway point. Kahlan and Zedd don't even appear in the first 300 pages and have very little "screen time". The reunion of the original magic trio is teased, but nothing happens until the very end. I find this series needs a prequel featuring Zedd, much as Eddings would capitalize on his elder sorcerers by giving Belgarath and Polgara their own biographies.
The novel is less than satisfying in that it just falls to a conclusion dictated by the events in Stone of Tears. It does clear the table enough that Sword of Truth-4 (Temple of the Winds, which got an obligatory mention in this book) can start a new story. In a couple months, I'll tell you if it recaptured any of that First Rule magic.
2006-05-25
The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
Author: Julian Rubinstein
This is the biography of Attila Ambrus, the "Whiskey Robber", who staged 29 robberies in post-Communist Budapest and almost got away with it. Along the way he became a folk hero to the people, an icon of the common man striking back at the corrupt government.
I don't have time to do this book justice. Rubinstein's research has produced a story that could almost be fiction. This is another book I would never have been interested in on my own, but I'm very happy it was put in my hands. Not only is Attila's life story amusing, but the telling of that story illuminates life in modern-day Hungary and Romania in a believable fashion. If you ever wanted to reconcile the stories of how eastern Europe is both a thriving, modern economy and home to millions of people that make $2,000/yr., read this book. Attila lives with a foot in each world.
This is the biography of Attila Ambrus, the "Whiskey Robber", who staged 29 robberies in post-Communist Budapest and almost got away with it. Along the way he became a folk hero to the people, an icon of the common man striking back at the corrupt government.
I don't have time to do this book justice. Rubinstein's research has produced a story that could almost be fiction. This is another book I would never have been interested in on my own, but I'm very happy it was put in my hands. Not only is Attila's life story amusing, but the telling of that story illuminates life in modern-day Hungary and Romania in a believable fashion. If you ever wanted to reconcile the stories of how eastern Europe is both a thriving, modern economy and home to millions of people that make $2,000/yr., read this book. Attila lives with a foot in each world.
2006-05-18
Born to Run
Author: Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon
Lackey has produced some solid work before, so when I needed a new book I grabbed the ebook edition of Born to Run, the first book in the SERRAted Edge series. While it served its purpose of entertaining me, unfortunately it has not yet inspired me to shop for any sequels.
The novel has good ingredients. There's a girl on the run from her boring, upper-class family. There's a human mage talking to a ghost. There's a child porn/snuff film studio run by evil elves. And there are good elves that like stock car racing. Based on all that, I'm ready to read!
If only all of the above had come together more neatly. The girl's story is told in its entirety, and the human mage Tannim is a main character ... but even though the ghost Ross gets tied back into the story after going missing for half the book, why it was Tannim's "job" to find Ross in the first place isn't explained at all. The action is totally unterrifying because the bad elves are ridiculously vulnerable to Cold Iron, yet the good elves can build up a resistance. And I hope the back cover text was an error in the ebook production because it doesn't have a relation to the story whatsoever.
All told, the writing is at the level of a juvenile fantasy. There's nothing wrong with that, but half the story is about violent pornography and underage prostitutes. I'm wary of endorsing this for readers that might be exposed to such things for the first time this way. There's a narrow window where readers are old enough to see such topics but not old enough to simply read something a little more complicated. Maybe I'm old-fashioned -- the way the world is going, the age where kids are familiar with snuff films is going down and the age where they can read really good literature is rising towards infinity.
Born to Run is not a waste of time, but not recommended either. But you can't beat getting it free at the Baen Free Library.
Lackey has produced some solid work before, so when I needed a new book I grabbed the ebook edition of Born to Run, the first book in the SERRAted Edge series. While it served its purpose of entertaining me, unfortunately it has not yet inspired me to shop for any sequels.
The novel has good ingredients. There's a girl on the run from her boring, upper-class family. There's a human mage talking to a ghost. There's a child porn/snuff film studio run by evil elves. And there are good elves that like stock car racing. Based on all that, I'm ready to read!
If only all of the above had come together more neatly. The girl's story is told in its entirety, and the human mage Tannim is a main character ... but even though the ghost Ross gets tied back into the story after going missing for half the book, why it was Tannim's "job" to find Ross in the first place isn't explained at all. The action is totally unterrifying because the bad elves are ridiculously vulnerable to Cold Iron, yet the good elves can build up a resistance. And I hope the back cover text was an error in the ebook production because it doesn't have a relation to the story whatsoever.
All told, the writing is at the level of a juvenile fantasy. There's nothing wrong with that, but half the story is about violent pornography and underage prostitutes. I'm wary of endorsing this for readers that might be exposed to such things for the first time this way. There's a narrow window where readers are old enough to see such topics but not old enough to simply read something a little more complicated. Maybe I'm old-fashioned -- the way the world is going, the age where kids are familiar with snuff films is going down and the age where they can read really good literature is rising towards infinity.
Born to Run is not a waste of time, but not recommended either. But you can't beat getting it free at the Baen Free Library.
2006-05-03
Steve McMichael's Tales from the Chicago Bears Sideline
Author: Steve McMichael with Phil Arvia
When I heard Mongo wrote a book, I threw it on my Christmas list. Someone thought it was an appropriate gift and picked it up for me. So it's not like I paid $19.95 for a 192 page hardcover that I finished in an afternoon -- it was a gift, and a good one. While McMichael isn't about to write anything profound, I didn't feel like I wasted the time spent reading his memoirs. And the boy will probably like reading it, since he likes football, as soon as I decide the moderate number of four-letter words aren't overpowering.
Aside from the swearing, McMichael doesn't really cover any controversial topics in this short book. I remember reading Jim McMahon's autobiography 18 or 19 years ago, and while the individual words were less shocking the stories presented were deeper and more intimidating. I've read other sports autobiographies too, and most of them presented more adult ideas than this one. Steve wrote a family-friendly book except for a couple dozen words, and that makes me wish he had kept them out.
The charismatic lineman runs through a standard chronology of his career, going from Texas to New England, then to the Bears under Neil Armstrong and Buddy Ryan, then Mike Ditka, then the 1985 Super Bowl championship year (game by game, even if he didn't have much to say for any one game), then the following, disappointing year, then the declining years of the Bears and his career, and ends up in Green Bay, where he finished his career to the chagrin of many devoted Bears fans. The 1985 year gets extra coverage with his memories of the other 21 starters as well. His wrestling career after football comes up peripherally, but gets no real attention.
If you don't know who Steve McMichael is without me telling you, don't bother with the book. There's nothing timeless in the narrow space between the covers. But if you know the name, and remember the personality, his book is good for a couple smiles on an off-season Sunday.
When I heard Mongo wrote a book, I threw it on my Christmas list. Someone thought it was an appropriate gift and picked it up for me. So it's not like I paid $19.95 for a 192 page hardcover that I finished in an afternoon -- it was a gift, and a good one. While McMichael isn't about to write anything profound, I didn't feel like I wasted the time spent reading his memoirs. And the boy will probably like reading it, since he likes football, as soon as I decide the moderate number of four-letter words aren't overpowering.
Aside from the swearing, McMichael doesn't really cover any controversial topics in this short book. I remember reading Jim McMahon's autobiography 18 or 19 years ago, and while the individual words were less shocking the stories presented were deeper and more intimidating. I've read other sports autobiographies too, and most of them presented more adult ideas than this one. Steve wrote a family-friendly book except for a couple dozen words, and that makes me wish he had kept them out.
The charismatic lineman runs through a standard chronology of his career, going from Texas to New England, then to the Bears under Neil Armstrong and Buddy Ryan, then Mike Ditka, then the 1985 Super Bowl championship year (game by game, even if he didn't have much to say for any one game), then the following, disappointing year, then the declining years of the Bears and his career, and ends up in Green Bay, where he finished his career to the chagrin of many devoted Bears fans. The 1985 year gets extra coverage with his memories of the other 21 starters as well. His wrestling career after football comes up peripherally, but gets no real attention.
If you don't know who Steve McMichael is without me telling you, don't bother with the book. There's nothing timeless in the narrow space between the covers. But if you know the name, and remember the personality, his book is good for a couple smiles on an off-season Sunday.
Wizardry Compiled
Author: Rick Cook
I was at a conference last week and needed ebooks on my phone to keep my sane through the vast periods between talks. On the last 1.5 days I was down to one book and it turned out to be one I had already read. Fortunately it wasn't a terrible book -- better than the first in the series -- and I wasn't terribly displeased to be stuck with it. Since I finished it before the conference ended and I could get another book, I'm logging it.
If you want to read Wizardry Compiled, first
read Wizard's Bane, both at the Baen Free Library.
I finished this one just last Thursday, 4/27, so I'm almost caught up!
I was at a conference last week and needed ebooks on my phone to keep my sane through the vast periods between talks. On the last 1.5 days I was down to one book and it turned out to be one I had already read. Fortunately it wasn't a terrible book -- better than the first in the series -- and I wasn't terribly displeased to be stuck with it. Since I finished it before the conference ended and I could get another book, I'm logging it.
If you want to read Wizardry Compiled, first
read Wizard's Bane, both at the Baen Free Library.
I finished this one just last Thursday, 4/27, so I'm almost caught up!
Galactic Derelict
Author: Andre Norton
The story of time travel begun in The Time Traders continues in the desert plains of the American Southwest. Travis Fox is a modern Apache, looking for a good place to raise his herd this season. It's a dry year, and he leads them far from home, into a valley that only he and a wise old man know about. Travis is about the only one that chooses to listen to the stories of the Old Ones, and that knowledge lands him in the middle of a strange governement project when he's captured by someone named Ross ....
After being drafted into the team of time travellers, Travis goes with Ross and Ashe to look for more ancient spaceships. They hit a bigger jackpot than they would have imagined.
Having now read four novels by Norton, I'm glad I kept going. Star Guard was the outlier. Each of the other three was better than the last, with more action and more identifiable characters. Galactic Derelict is a fairly direct sequel to The Time Traders, so I suggest starting with the first novel and its gentle introduction to time travel. The second story, however, is superior. A ride in time turns into a ride in space, and sabretooth tigers share pages with aliens. The Norton books I've read all seem to cover declining civilizations, but she does it well. All the characters are believable and there are no super-heroes, just people wondering if they'll survive to ever see home again.
I recommend you read this story as part of the two-novel collection Time Traders at the Baen Free Library.
The story of time travel begun in The Time Traders continues in the desert plains of the American Southwest. Travis Fox is a modern Apache, looking for a good place to raise his herd this season. It's a dry year, and he leads them far from home, into a valley that only he and a wise old man know about. Travis is about the only one that chooses to listen to the stories of the Old Ones, and that knowledge lands him in the middle of a strange governement project when he's captured by someone named Ross ....
After being drafted into the team of time travellers, Travis goes with Ross and Ashe to look for more ancient spaceships. They hit a bigger jackpot than they would have imagined.
Having now read four novels by Norton, I'm glad I kept going. Star Guard was the outlier. Each of the other three was better than the last, with more action and more identifiable characters. Galactic Derelict is a fairly direct sequel to The Time Traders, so I suggest starting with the first novel and its gentle introduction to time travel. The second story, however, is superior. A ride in time turns into a ride in space, and sabretooth tigers share pages with aliens. The Norton books I've read all seem to cover declining civilizations, but she does it well. All the characters are believable and there are no super-heroes, just people wondering if they'll survive to ever see home again.
I recommend you read this story as part of the two-novel collection Time Traders at the Baen Free Library.
The Time Traders
Author: Andre Norton
Ross Murdock is introduced to a top-secret project run by the American Government when he's given the choice to volunteer, or go to jail. The Russians have been quiet lately, but they seem to have been busy inventing some interesting things. Or have they? One of the inventions seems to be time travel, and the Americans suspect they're stealing everything else they've come up with recently. The overall project objective: either plunder the same treasure the Russians have found, or prevent them from continuing.
But first, Ross needs to go out for a simple training mission, since it's his first trip back in time. To interact with the existing people, the time travellers on both sides disguise themselves as traders -- people that come and go and have slightly strange customs. It's the perfect cover. Of course, Ross's training mission turns into something a little more interesting than anyone planned.
The story continues in Galactic Derelict, and the two novels make up Time Traders, which you can read at the Baen Free Library.
Ross Murdock is introduced to a top-secret project run by the American Government when he's given the choice to volunteer, or go to jail. The Russians have been quiet lately, but they seem to have been busy inventing some interesting things. Or have they? One of the inventions seems to be time travel, and the Americans suspect they're stealing everything else they've come up with recently. The overall project objective: either plunder the same treasure the Russians have found, or prevent them from continuing.
But first, Ross needs to go out for a simple training mission, since it's his first trip back in time. To interact with the existing people, the time travellers on both sides disguise themselves as traders -- people that come and go and have slightly strange customs. It's the perfect cover. Of course, Ross's training mission turns into something a little more interesting than anyone planned.
The story continues in Galactic Derelict, and the two novels make up Time Traders, which you can read at the Baen Free Library.
Star Rangers
Author: Andre Norton
I'm catching up on logging books here, and probably won't be doing good reviews. I've finished four books since the last post.
Star Rangers is the second novel in the omnibus Star Soldiers. It's now 8054 AD, and the galactic empire is breaking up. A Patrol scout ship crashes on a distant planet, far off any existing star chart, and their ship is damaged beyond repair. Luckily, it's a good world, full of water and food and with a suitable climate for both the humans and non-humans in the crew. The world must be uncivilized -- the animals have never seen and have no racial memory of superior life forms. (Some of the castaways are telepathic and can tell this.) So it's a surprise when they find an advanced, but abandoned, city in the distance, and a bigger surprise when it isn't entirely abandoned.
My complaints about Norton from the previous story are now in the past. This work, a distant sequel to the other one, has everything desireable. Humans and non-humans, cosmopolitan planets and boondocks, telepaths and non-telepaths, and prejudice in every direction keep the characters interesting if difficult to sort out at first, and the plot proceeds towards a defined goal: will the stranded crew be able to make a new life for themselves and figure out the mystery of the abandoned city? A satisfying conclusion caps a well-paced journey. This story is recommended on its own -- no prior knowledge of the First Galactic Empire seems necessary.
Read Star Soldiers at the Baen Free Library.
I'm catching up on logging books here, and probably won't be doing good reviews. I've finished four books since the last post.
Star Rangers is the second novel in the omnibus Star Soldiers. It's now 8054 AD, and the galactic empire is breaking up. A Patrol scout ship crashes on a distant planet, far off any existing star chart, and their ship is damaged beyond repair. Luckily, it's a good world, full of water and food and with a suitable climate for both the humans and non-humans in the crew. The world must be uncivilized -- the animals have never seen and have no racial memory of superior life forms. (Some of the castaways are telepathic and can tell this.) So it's a surprise when they find an advanced, but abandoned, city in the distance, and a bigger surprise when it isn't entirely abandoned.
My complaints about Norton from the previous story are now in the past. This work, a distant sequel to the other one, has everything desireable. Humans and non-humans, cosmopolitan planets and boondocks, telepaths and non-telepaths, and prejudice in every direction keep the characters interesting if difficult to sort out at first, and the plot proceeds towards a defined goal: will the stranded crew be able to make a new life for themselves and figure out the mystery of the abandoned city? A satisfying conclusion caps a well-paced journey. This story is recommended on its own -- no prior knowledge of the First Galactic Empire seems necessary.
Read Star Soldiers at the Baen Free Library.
