The Christmas Cookie Killer / Livia J. Washburn

 

2.25 stars out of 5

Recommended only for the most devoted fans of cosy mysteries. The usual tropes apply: small towns, old fashioned values, religious details, a very low key romantic element, lots of food description, plus a son involved in law enforcement. Most of the plot is paint-by-numbers, but the identity of the perpetrator surprised me mildly.

I picked this novel for its Christmas theme and so I don't feel like I can complain too much about the writing, but I found it to be quite boring. An awful lot of telling rather than showing, a really simple plot with no plausible red herrings, an easily resolved murder, figured out by an only mildly intelligent woman. Even her love interest is boring!

I guess I moved away from the small town for a reason! I don't live a wildly exciting life in the city either, but at least I have more to my existence than competing with a roommate over who bakes the best cookies. Thank the Goddess for small mercies!

Defender / C.J. Cherryh

 

4 out of 5 stars

Cherryh writes a complex plot here, replete with who-has-said-what-to-whom confusion from beginning to end. Secrets are revealed on Captain Ramirez's deathbed, causing consternation among the three party agreements that were hammered out ten years previously. From Bren Cameron's point of view, it's the humans who are the problem, both the ones in the star ship and the ones on the planet. They all have to accept the atevi as trusted equals if the mission is to be successful and Bren is willing to be pretty ruthless on the atevis' behalf to make that happen. But both flavors of human are xenophobic toward their atevi partners, a major hurdle.

I'm somewhat dismayed that there has been so little change in ten years with Bren's mother, brother, and ex-girlfriend. They are still looking for attention and expecting him to solve all their problems. Even if he was there, they would all still be unhappy, for they just seem to be wired that way. The current mission, however, promises to solve this situation for Bren, as he will be incommunicado for at least two years. They will get on with things or they won't. But I doubt that we will find out in the next book—maybe in two books time?

So, nothing is settled at the end of this novel, and the ship commanders are going to have to decide if their other human and atevi passengers are friend or foe. Are they together against the hostile aliens or are they on different teams? Perhaps it will take a hostile outsider to unite this motley crew.

Book Number 435 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

The Thousand Orcs / R.A. Salvatore

 

2 out of 5 stars

I have to say that this book was a big step backwards in the writing and plot aspects of this series. We are back to overly simplistic story lines and frankly boring villains. Although Drizzt and Cattie-Brie are officially a couple, we are left wondering if they have consummated their relationship. There is some doubt about the cross-fertility of their two species and whether half-breed children would face a fair future. The difference in life spans between the drow elf and the human is another consideration. There seems to be a bit of reconsideration on both sides.

After the more adult themed books that centered on Wulfgar, this reversion to a major juvenile outlook is a big disappointment to me. If you're into fight scenes, there are plenty of those (as there always are), but for me they are getting old. I need a bit more complex character development to keep me fully engaged.

Predictably, there is a cliffhanger ending, which may be sufficient to lure me on to the next book. My library doesn't have it, so we'll see if I'm motivated enough to interlibrary loan it in the New Year.

Book Number 434 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project. 

Kushiel's Avatar / Jacqueline Carey

 

4 out of 5 stars

I won't say that the two previous books in this series didn't have their dark moments, but this third volume takes things much, much deeper into shadow and despair. If you struggled with the earlier books, consider leaving this one unread, because it will test you. I won't deny that I floundered at points with the sheer brutality. I also won't deny that Phedre is a lot Mary Sue-ish. Sometimes, while nearing the end of the book, I reflected on the distances traveled, dangers faced, rulers placated and confronted, darkness embraced and overcome, languages learned, and knowledge acquired, and I realized that realistically no one woman would be capable of all of this in the course of a few years. Nevertheless, I couldn't put it down. I had to know how Carey would end the crazy journey.

So much stuff shoved into this one novel! The search for a lost tribe of Israel and the treasures of Solomon, time in the seraglio of an avatar of Death, rescuing the son of a betrayer, traveling the Middle East, Egypt, and Ethiopia. All under the fantastical names that Carey assigned the, of course. I don't often consult the maps in the first pages of fantasy novels, but I broke that habit with this one. There were so many place names to keep track of!

During the section in Darsanga, which Phedre spends with the crazy ruler appointed by Death, I was unwillingly reminded of Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. It was like Richard Cypher's time being tortured by the Mord-Sith, Mistress Denna, whom he becomes fond of despite her discipline. Being an anguisette, Phedre is built for the task, but those of us who don't get turned on by pain may find ourselves flinching at some passages in the text. I might look away briefly, but I needed to know what happened next.

In short, Carey gives her main character several heavy burdens to bear for long distances and to uncertain receptions. She risks her status with her own gods at one point, by debating whether to keep going. Her faith is vastly superior to mine, her willingness to lean into the gods' appointed task is admirable. But really, if one has read this far, can one doubt that Phedre will prevail?

Book Number 433 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

Gingerdead Man / Maya Corrigan

 

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3 out of 5 stars

I may have started with the last book of this series, but it didn't handicap my understanding of any of the details. Val and her grandfather not only share a house, they share a natural nosiness that must drive their police chief friend bonkers. No matter what the poor man says to them, they just keep poking the bear.

This is a cozy mystery, so there is a great deal of focus on the food. Val is a caterer, so that's understandable here. There's also a lot of discussion on small community events and politics. I was somewhat surprised at how low key the romantic element was. Thankfully for once it wasn't the lawman who was the romantic partner. But you'd barely know that Val likes her guy from how little she thinks about him and how quickly she decides that he's moving away.

I had hoped for a little more Christmas content too. The murder occurs in the aftermath of a Christmas festival and there are casual mentions of gifts, but once again, extremely low key. I would expect Val, as a caterer, to be hopping busy during the holiday season, adding some pressure to her amateur sleuthing. I was a bit disappointed, as I read this kind of novel to get into the Christmas spirit.

So, I liked the book well enough—I enjoyed the first half more than the second. I found the solution to the mystery to be a little far fetched. Yes, I suppose it could happen, but it just isn't too likely. 

Scion of Cyador / L.E. Modesitt

 

3 out of 5 stars

Ever find yourself in a mood? You know, not a book slump per se, but at least a reading lull? As the pandemic drags on, I find myself balanced on this boundary quite often. Counterintuitive as it may sound, I find one of my best weapons is to pick up a book that I am sure that I won't love. That way I know it won't get tainted by my bad mood. Modesitt's books are perfect for this task for me. I like them well enough to read to the end, but I will never reread them and have zero desire to own them.

This novel is the second half of Lorn's story, begun in Magi'i of Cyador. And it confirmed my suspicions which started to develop when Lorn married Ryalth. Lorn shows himself once again to be very utilitarian, willing to do what must be done for Cyador's survival and good. He continues to be ruthless in pursuit of the good of his nation and the military personnel serving under him. Those above him are wary of him, those lower in rank reluctantly admire him.

Modesitt will never be my favourite writer, with his plodding style. At least in this book he refrains from giving measurements for every damn thing. But he still refers to horses as ‘mounts' and holds to the awkward ‘consortship' as opposed to saying marriage. The dialog was less repetitive in this book (fewer ‘yes, ser’s per page) and there was much less patrolling. Just a lot of meetings and report writing! Is that an improvement? Strangely, for me, it was. I also appreciated that Lorn's spouse, Ryalth, got a lot more page time here. The depiction of their son, Kerial, made me wonder if Modesitt had ever spent time with a baby unsupervised by a woman. He doesn't seem too well versed on realistic baby behaviour.

All of Lorn's life experience combines here to his advantage: his Magi'i parentage, his many years of service in the Mirror Lancers, and his marriage to a very successful merchanter. I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read these two books, but my brain began to fit the pieces together back in the first book of this dyad, when he married his lady merchanter. So although I found the plot somewhat predictable, I was interested in the details of how the author was going to deliver the goods.

I'm wavering on how much longer I intend to keep reading this series. Obviously I wanted to see how this adventure resolved. If I stick to my tentative reading plan for 2022, there are two more volumes coming up. I guess it will depend on what my reading mood is when the time comes.

Book Number 432 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

Twelve Slays of Christmas / Jacqueline Frost

 

3.6 stars out of 5

I think I'm getting sentimental in my old age! I really enjoyed this Christmas mystery & romance. There are all the cozy mystery details: a heroine coming home to a small town when her Christmas Eve wedding gets cancelled, the loving parents ready to welcome her, the family Christmas tree business for her to slide back into, and the mysterious death on the tree farm just days before December 25th. Not to mention the handsome sheriff who shows up to investigate the murder and the charming newspaper reporter who seems interested in more than the story.

Just in case you're wondering about the title, there is only the one death, right at the book's beginning, not twelve as I had mistakenly assumed. The title is merely a play on the Twelve Days of Christmas. Although Holly (yup, that's her name) gets threatened regularly. In fact, there are piles of cheesy Christmas details, but I guess I am less of a grinch than I thought, as I really didn't mind. My absolute favourite detail was Holly's cat named Cindy Lou Who!

There is a mystery to be solved and Holly puts a lot of thought and effort into it, despite the sheriff's repeated suggestions that she butt out. This is also typical of cozies and if I worked in any kind of law enforcement role, I wouldn't be able to read them. It worked for me in this instance because the plot was at least as much about finding Holly a new love interest as it is about solving the murder.

This reminded me a lot of Vicki Delany's Year Round Christmas series, except that I think I like this one a little more. Perhaps I like Holly's lumberjack father or Holly's cat more than I thought. Actually, I think it's her better attitude towards law enforcement; she treats them as allies, not like incompetents as Delany's characters tend to. Unless Jacqueline Frost has another pen-name that she writes under, this is her only series. And with a name like Frost, how could she write anything but Christmas stories?

Fuzz / Mary Roach

 

4 out of 5 stars

Mary Roach never fails to delight me, both because I appreciate her sense of humour and because I love the somewhat off-kilter way she follows her research program. The conflict between humans and other animals is a topic that I know a little bit about. I grew up on a farm, so I have some awareness of agricultural pests. Mostly insects, but occasionally ground squirrels. I spent some time doing conservation education at our local zoo, so I know all about the people who want to pave the planet at one end of the spectrum and the other extreme who find it outrageous that the owls get fed dead chicks. Apparently in captivity they should eat carrots or something?

I also live in a place where deer, moose, bears, and cougars are resident. There have been reports of all of these species within city limits of our one million plus community. Heck, there are plenty of coyotes and bobcats that live right in my inner city neighborhood. (I once saw a coyote waiting on a street corner until the walk light came on, then trot across six lanes of traffic, being ignored by people crossing the opposite direction). So some of Roach's research was familiar.

I was impressed by the variety of places she visited. India (elephants, monkeys, leopards), New Zealand (penguins plus a poison centre striving for a humane solution), the Vatican (laser bird deterrence) plus numerous parks, cities, landfills, forests, and a mouse breeding facility In North America. Her willingness to follow the next odd step in the pathway truly endears her to me. Who else would hear about gulls ravaging Easter floral displays in Vatican City and say to themselves, “Well, I guess that's where I must go next?”

I will tell you right now that you will never survive the zoo lunchroom if you can't handle talk about poop and animal sex while eating your sandwich (and snickering without spraying crumbs). Mary would fit right in and would probably ask fascinating questions. She'd leave with promises to introduce her to the guy who knows all about that. She must be quite charming, to talk her way into as many offices and conferences as she does, in addition to the persistence to phone and phone and phone until she wears down the recalcitrant.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mary Roach, if you should ever find yourself in Calgary and would be willing to have coffee with one of your fans, message me. I'll be there with bells on!

Mayhem at the Orient Express / Kylie Logan

 

4 out of 5 stars

Well, this was the perfect follow up to Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Having the events of that book fresh in my mind made this little cozy mystery even more enjoyable. However Logan gives no spoilers, so you can safely read it before Christie should you choose to.

The main character, Bea, has moved to a small town on an island to avoid some never-fully-explained nastiness in the big smoke of NYC. This is a common feature of this kind of mystery. There is usually some friction with neighbours too, which is where this novel gets its beginning. Bea, Chandra, and Kate are locked in a never-ending disagreement which has ended up in the local courthouse, where the judge sentences them to be a book club, run by his wife, where they must learn to talk to each other and to listen. And maybe read a book.

This is where Murder on the Orient Express  comes in. It is their first book pick. After their first rather cranky meeting, they all end up running into each other again at the local Chinese restaurant, the Orient Express. Naturally, they discover the proprietor dead on the floor. All of a sudden, these women have a mutual interest and the template of Hercule Poirot to show them what to do.

Just like Christie's book, there is an overwhelming snowstorm, trapping everyone on the island. Bea's bed and breakfast starts filling up with strays and neighbours when light and heat go out over most of the island. Clues are plentiful and contradictory and the women must use their little grey cells.

The action is well constructed and believable, the characters realistic, and the mystery resolves in a reasonable way.  We haven't learned Bea's personal history too clearly, although the guy introduced as a love interest for her thinks he knows what's going on. I must say that I'm looking forward to the second volume to understand Bea a little better and to see if Levi is going to stick around. Excellent fun!

Murder on the Orient Express / Agatha Christie

 

4.25 stars out of 5

It constantly amazes me how hazy even a really good mystery can become in my mind in the course of four years. Christie, even upon re-read, managed to lead me around by the nose. This time, there was no Hastings to share my confusion. Instead, Poirot's friend, M. Bouc, fills the role of bamboozled sounding board. Poirot treats him much the same, giving him all the facts and encouraging him to think. Sadly, real thought is not something that many people practice regularly. There are people in my circle who mistake feeling emotion or ruminating for reasoning, so I have sympathy for M. Poirot.

This is an ingenious mystery! Not a solution that a reader would readily anticipate, but one that makes perfect sense when laid out in the end by Poirot. I love the way that Christie does the unexpected. This is another of those instances where she is lenient with the criminal. I'm amazed at how often she is sympathetic to the law breaker.

Sense and Sensibility / Jane Austen

 

4.5 stars!

How did I completely miss Jane Austen's fiction while growing up? Baffling but true. It means that I got to enjoy this delightful novel as my Dead Writers Society birthday book for December. I hope that I won't wait until next December to pick up another Austen book.

Jane Austen turns a very clear eye on the stratum of society to which she belongs. This story compares two sisters, Elinor (sense) and Marianne (sensibility). Elinor is a woman after my own heart. Keep your cards close to your chest, don't give others too much latitude to manipulate you, and never let everyone know how deeply you feel. Marianne is one of those let-it-all-hang-out types, feeling the need to dramatically share her every thought and mood. Setbacks are met with drama, requiring her to act out her emotions according to her exaggerated standards. 

I think we all know people in both of these camps. The drama llamas always think that the reserved people are “not being truthful" because they refuse to act out their emotions. The reserved think that the dramatists are being immoderate and giving others ammunition with which to hurt them. I have both kinds of folk on my Facebook feed and I am consistently horrified by the “loud and proud" contingent. My own view is that the less I say, the less I will have to regret later. Sometimes, it is more important to be kind than to be right. 

Perhaps because I am a member of the reserved, I think that Elinor comes out in the best situation at book's end. All the way along, I kept thinking, “Yes, that's what I would have done.” She must manage the emotions of Marianne and their mother in addition to her own. Boy, do I relate to that! Many times I have parsed my words carefully to prevent the emotional friend from charging away half-cocked to bugger up their own life. My favourite question: “What result do you want?” I admit it sometimes feels somewhat manipulative. I prefer to think of it as outcome planning and emotional management. And I often get what I want, so it's working for me.

But back to Jane. We tend to look back and think, “How awful that their marriages are based completely on money.” I wonder how much things have actually changed? Money is one of the major causes of divorces today. How much of courtship is determining whether the couple is financially compatible? Today we would call these people seeking rich spouses gold diggers. And anyone who critiques arranged marriages should be required to read a couple of Austen novels to see that it's an old English tradition too.

The Cellist of Sarajevo / Steven Galloway

 

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4 out of 5 stars

I've listened to a few interviews of people who lived through the siege of Sarajevo. I think this novel represents that reality exceedingly well. I also checked to see if there was a real cellist and there was. This author used that real-life situation as the basis for his fictional version.

The chapters that I found most compelling were those from Arrow's point of view. Arrow isn't her real name, it's her sniper name. She was part of a sharpshooting team before the siege and gets recruited by those who are attempting to defend those trapped in the city. Her mission is to keep the cellist alive, safe from opposition sniping. She has survived the siege by suppressing her emotions, but finds the cellist and his music are reaching through her defenses.

This is the power of art in all its forms. Music, literature, painting, architecture, you name it. The men in the hills who are trying to bring Sarajevo to its knees are destroying all these things methodically. The library was one of the first casualties. All the psychologically important buildings are pummeled. There is the minor musical rebellion of the unnamed cellist, who determines that he will play Albioni's adagio every day at 4 p.m. for 22 days in honour of the 22 people killed while waiting in a bread line outside his home. His defiance through art moves everyone in Sarajevo. Everyone on both sides understands the power of his performances, the power of art.

The three viewpoints (Dragan, Kenan, Arrow) seem to be about the necessities for hope and survival: food, water, and art. I am reminded of Viktor Frankel's Man's Search for Meaning, where he credits luck and having an unfinished task waiting for him for his survival. The daily worry about snipers is in some ways the working of luck in this situation. The task of rebuilding the city awaits those who survive, their unfinished business.

[Do yourself a favour: don't research this author until you have finished the novel, if ever. He didn't talk to the real cellist until after the book was published, claiming that a public figure performing in public is fair game for fiction. That may be true, but it was kind of a jerk move, especially when he admits in the afterword that he searched for the female sniper who inspired Arrow. Mind you, the cellist wanted cash, so there was some equal opportunity awfulness. Then the author went on to demolish his own life through more poor choices. This is a phenomenal book, written by an imperfect person (as we all are). His life-wreck and unfulfilled talent are a crying shame, even if it is a self-inflicted wound].

Despite my reservations, this novel proves that wonderful art can be created by us less than wonderful people.

The God of Lost Words / A.J. Hackwith

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4 out of 5 stars

A very satisfying ending to an entertaining trilogy. Maybe not exactly the ending that I was hoping for, but the inevitable “this makes sense" ending. The author tells us in an afterword that this book was written during the craziness that has been covid-19. The result, she tells us, is more affection, love, and caring in this last installment.

Claire, our former librarian in Hell's Library, is a typical urban fantasy heroine. She gradually assembles a circle of friends-who-are-family, quite a collection, including Brevity the muse, Hero the escaped fictional character, and Ramiel the fallen angel. Because the library is a collection of the unwritten works of human kind. What a great idea this is—when you consider how many unfinished manuscripts must have existed during human history. I loved the other characters that don't rest easy, snoozing in their books, inhabiting the Damsel Room. This group of feisty female characters get starring roles in book three, as they should.

I love the character development as our four main characters face difficulty together. Hero isn't just a character trying to escape the Unwritten wing. He is a Librarian in his own right, as is Brevity. Brevity doubted the ability of a non-human to become a Librarian, but she has overcome her self-imposed limitations. Rami is finally finding a spot that he can call home and isn't quite so homesick for Heaven. Claire has first been transferred to the Archive of Hell, the Arcane wing, then watched as her new domain is burned by demonic intervention. Now she must decide if she will support the Library of the Unwritten or if she will undermine Brevity's tenure.

All the characters face situations that call on all of their resources and must decide what's most important to them. We get to witness their bravery and resilience. And their love. I don't know about you, but this is just what I needed right now.

Macaws of Death / Karen Dudley

4 out of 5 stars

First things first: the author, Karen Dudley, is my friend. We volunteered together, teaching about animals and conservation. Her sense of humour appeals to me because I get it, unlike some others. We also have a mutual interest in birds. Maybe I'm off base, but I find that I get along best with biologists and geologists—I know we will laugh at the same things.

Robyn Devara is someone I feel like I could have in my own friendship circle. She's a field biologist, not a crime investigator. However, she keeps finding herself in these dangerous situations, fending off the bad guys while trying to defend the birds and her research. She has a mild case of imposter syndrome, doubting her instincts fairly often. I enjoyed the references to the city I live in (fictional Robyn lives there too when she's not chasing parrots in Costa Rica) and the many Canadian references scattered throughout the text. 

I love the title of this one. (I know Karen's husband was responsible for her titles and for once I will not complain about them being punny). I think I know the Andres that her field camp manager is named after (a Tico married to a mutual friend). I think the real Andres probably enjoyed being portrayed as the Latin lover in this novel.

If you enjoy the birdy aspect of these books, I'd recommend that you also try Steve Burrows' Birder Murder Mysteries, which begin with A Siege of Bitterns. 

The Caves of Steel

3 out of 5 stars

It was more interesting reading this novel after a biography of Asimov. He has given some of his personal characteristics to his main character, Elijah Baley. It's no accident that The Caves of Steel is set in a future New York, the city where Asimov grew up. Baley is very much a city man and he likes the windowless coziness of the enormous cities of this future earth. Asimov wasn't a traveler—he hated flying and he didn't move far afield from the cities that he felt comfortable in. He also like smaller, windowless spaces to write in. He may have been able to identify with his future New Yorkers who can't fathom being willing to go outside.

Asimov portrays a pretty dismal future, with Earth's surface essentially covered by enormous cities, people living in barracks-like accommodations, and most people eating yeast derivatives for most meals. (It is very reminiscent of the planet of Trantor in his Foundation series). Humanity needs to spread itself to other planets, but how do you do that if your population is agoraphobic?

Perhaps Asimov was thinking about the courage it took his Russian family to pull up stakes and move to the United States. I am continually amazed by the bravery of those who left behind everything they knew and moved to another continent, my grandparents among them. Moving to another planet would require adventurousness of another order of magnitude.

Asimov also uses the situation between Earth citizens, Spacers, and robots to explore the nature of prejudice and discrimination. He felt the bite of anti-Semitism during his life, despite not being an observant Jew. He makes the Earther objections to robots look as unreasonable as our xenophobic attitudes today.

I know I loved these books as a teen, but now as an older adult I am not so enamoured. However I recognize this author's significance to the science fiction genre and the place of these books in the history of Iain M. Banks' Culture series and Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries. Some of my current favourites.

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? / Sherry Thomas

3.5 stars

I assume that Sherry Thomas has a plan, because the ending of this installment leaves me with oh so many questions. 

Although I still really enjoyed this book, I didn't find it as riveting as previous volumes. Partly because I was able to predict some of it. And I never thought I would say this, but we got far too much of Charlotte and Ash's sex life. It distracted from the intrigue with Moriarty. It also illustrates how difficult it is to maintain plot tension when the romantic couple achieve coupledom. Suddenly, one of this reader's major motivators is gone.

The reappearance of some earlier characters was welcome, as was Olivia's oblique encounters with her beau, Mr. Marbleton. Her anxiety was contagious, making my chest and throat tighten in sympathy. I guess the romantic plot tension is transferred now to this couple. 

I guess the outcome of all of these musings is that I will be excited to read the next book, although I won't be on the edge of my seat like I was for this one.

As a postscript, isn't that cover gorgeous?

Diplomatic Immunity / Lois McMaster Bujold

 

4 stars

Miles and Ekaterin Vorkosigan are a formidable team. While returning from their honeymoon (with two babies ripening in uterine replicators back on Barrayar), Miles receives an unwelcome transmission from Emperor Gregor. There's a diplomatic situation brewing that requires the Imperial Auditor's attention.

In many ways, this novel is kind of Miles Vorkosigan’s greatest hits. His days spent as his alter ego, Admiral Naismith, are recalled when he unexpectedly finds his former officer, Bel Thorne, as Portmaster at Graf Station, the site of the current disturbance. Bel still has ties to Barrayaran security (ImpSec), another former role of our current Imperial Auditor. Bel is partnered with a quaddy woman, Garnet Five, a circumstance which links back to the fourth book of this series, set in quaddy space (a freefall environment perfect for people with four arms and no legs). Incredibly, Bujold manages not only to squeeze in some references to dire events which occurred on Jackson's Whole but also to end up with Miles relying on his former contacts in Cetaganda, Ghem-General Benin and haut lady Pel, thereby avoiding the current disaster.

Bujold drew on all the events and qualities that make Miles the man we know him to be, a human chaos centre with quick wits and a talent for thinking outside the box. Not to mention bravery and a strong sense of responsibility for those he is surrounded by. No wonder Ekaterin loves him and his staff are fanatically loyal. I also enjoyed seeing Lady Vorkosigan come into her own, standing her ground against military bigwigs until Miles regained consciousness.

Not everyone will love the Vorkosigan saga, but I always enjoy a high energy visit to this familiar universe.

Book number 431 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.

I Shall Not Want / Julia Spencer-Fleming

 

 

4.5 stars

I should have known better, but I had forgotten the addictive quality of this series. I started it in the morning, when it was a lovely day outside and I should have been catching up on tasks that are easier when there's no snow. At the very least, it would have been sensible to start freshening up the guestroom for my Christmas visitor. I did none of that. From the very first chapter, Spencer-Fleming grabbed me with suspense and I could not set the book down until I had finished.

The mystery component of the books in this series are quite acceptable, but it is the relationship between Russ and Clare that keeps me coming back for more. Both are feeling unhappy and guilty after the death of Russ's wife, Linda. Clare's other admirer, Hugh, is trying to take advantage of their estrangement, but he obviously has no clue how tightly bound together the police chief and the reverend are. However, Clare does wish at a certain point that she was a lesbian and could just leave men out of her life.

So, although that's the drama that glued me to the page, Spencer-Fleming doesn't just leave it at that. Added, and also interesting, is the interaction between the new female police officer, Hadley, and a young officer we already know, Kevin Flynn. I can see where this story line will become more important in future books. Confined to this novel is a romance between a brutalized sister of some of the local thuggish brothers and a Mexican migrant worker. One very intense scene has Isobel and and Amado hiding in the woods as a brother calls for her. Amado thinks that the brother sounds like a farmer calling chickens with an axe in his hand. A shiver went down my spine as I realized I knew exactly what he meant.

This is another draw of the series, the social issues that drive the mystery plot. In this one, it's both the situation of migrant workers and the awful familiarity of domestic violence. We get to see our societal prejudices from a new angle and see what we think of them.

The book ends with personal upheaval in Clare's life, because an author can't let their characters breathe to easily or the suspense is shot. Russ is a widower, but he still needs to mourn Linda and tend to his family relationships. Clare must survive her time away and come back to Miller's Kill. I can hardly wait to pick up the story again with the next book.

9 likes

The Man Who Died Twice / Richard Osman

 

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Every bit as much fun as the first book. Where can I apply for membership to the Thursday Murder Club? I desperately want to have a glass of wine with Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim. I'll cross my fingers that Chris and Donna show up too. Even Bogdan, although he reminds me of the mobster Toxic in The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning.

Osman is awfully good at all the twisty doublethink of espionage literature. He reminds me of Le Carre and Herron for plotting, but he somehow makes his novels lighter. (Probably because there isn't really any political agenda in them, his villains are motivated by simple greed.) That and his background in comedy. He has the good sense not to over do it, providing just enough humour.

I love the amount of vigor and agency he grants to his older characters. Yes, they fall asleep in the car after a big day and they keep a sharp eye out for the nearest toilet, but they still retain their brains and their kindness. They are lively and interested in events around them and spend remarkably little time marinating in the past. They have good relationships with children, grandchildren, police officers, and their neighbours. Dementia isn't swept under the rug--Elizabeth's husband Stephen suffers from it and we watch her fight to keep him at her side. If anyone can do it, Elizabeth can. I have every faith in her.

I hear there are to be two more books in the series. This makes me very, very happy.


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Issola / Steven Brust

 

Issola by Steven Brust
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The ninth book of the Vlad Taltos series. If you, like me, have made it this far, you know what to expect and Brust serves it up. Vlad is hiding out from the Jhereg mainly and everybody else incidentally. So he is surprised when Lady Teldra, the servant of the Dragonlord Morrolan appears in his campsite one night.

Always willing to hear out the people that seek him out, Vlad learns from her that Morrolan and Aliera are missing. Vlad may talk a good line about being a cold and calculating assassin, but in reality he is easily talked into being part of the rescue mission. And he does wonder why all these wizards and demigods seem to want him included in the effort. Lady Teldra is an Issola (hence the title) which means that she is the soul of courtesy and graciousness. During periods of captivity and when the sorcerors are debating things, Vlad and Teldra discuss manners, politeness, and appropriate behaviour. While there may be epic battles taking place, this quiet discussion becomes the real centre of the novel.

If you're not into that, don't worry—there are threatening Jenoine abductors, tight places to escape from, deadly Morganti weapons being brandished, and a final decisive battle. Vlad is still making smartass remarks and as usual, Loiosh, Vlad's familiar, provides some comic relief. All the stuff we are used to finding in this series.

Book Number 429 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Astounding / Alec Nevala-Lee

 

Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of my Isaac Asimov reading binge, as he is one of the chosen focal points for the last quarter of the year by the Dead Writers Society. Searching for a better understanding of the man through an examination of the ecosystem that he worked in, I picked up this book. It was just what I was looking for, providing a much desired perspective on the so-called golden age of science fiction.

The majority of the book is focused on the editor of Astounding, John W. Campbell Jr. Although he authored some science fiction himself, he seemed to prefer to be a gatekeeper to the genre, supplying ideas to writers and demanding that they produce work in accordance with his prejudices. It is absolutely no wonder that modern science fiction is still struggling to extricate itself from racist and misogynist world views that call Campbell's reign “the good old days.” By which they mean when it was an exclusive straight white male endeavor.

I read a lot of this kind of sci-fi when I was a teen because that was what was available and I enjoyed it because that was what was available. Having reread a fair amount of it relatively recently during my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project, I can tell you that the genre may owe these men for getting it started, but it has moved along at a lively pace and that some of the most interesting stuff is now written by women, people of colour, and the LGBTQ+ community. They have wildly varying viewpoints that give them unique windows on possible futures which are a great complement to the white guys in the field today.

It really struck me as significant that three of these men (Campbell, Heinlein and Hubbard) all believed themselves to be strong leaders. They all had a tendency to lecture and a strong antipathy to criticism. It is no wonder that they went their separate ways. Asimov, as the one of the group who had experienced racism, was more tempered in his behaviour, although he benefited from white male privilege routinely, assuming that he could grope and proposition women around him continually without reprimand or repercussion.

If these four are the most influential of the early age of the genre, it's no wonder that there is a conservative faction of fandom who are outraged that more progressive themes are awarded prizes and honours (the Sad Puppies of the Hugo awards for example or the harassment campaign of Gamergate). They don't seem to realize that they may not be the majority of the fandom any more, that there are plenty of non-white and female fans out there who buy just as much product (or more) and have every right to expect to see their faces and dilemmas reflected in the literature and games too. By the way, this book illustrates how the fandom started out exclusively white male as well, often led by men who would be classified as trolls today.

The interactions of these four major players are fascinating to read about, while at the same time knowing that they would be the most tiresome kind of people to spend time with, all of them way too fond of the sound of their own voices. On the other hand, I think it would be fascinating to have a cup of coffee with the author, Alec Nevala-Lee, to get the scoop on all the details he didn't have room to include in this volume.


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The Graveyard Game / Kage Baker

 

The Graveyard Game by Kage Baker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

If this is really how the 23rd century is going to be, count me relieved that I won't be around to experience it. Not only is veganism mandatory, but alcohol, coffee, tea, sugar, and chocolate are verboten. Even sex is coming to be frowned upon. So far they still seem to allow sleep, but who knows for how long? Anything remotely pleasurable seems to be suspect. Worse to my way of thinking: novels are a thing of the past!

Mendoza is still missing and her mentor, Joseph, and her friend, Lewis, have been looking for her for centuries. They've found lots of things, but not Mendoza (or her mortal lover, Edward Bell-Fairfax). Lewis is a literature specialist and has been using his research skills to trace both of these missing persons, but he has to be careful not to let the Dr Zeuss Company know what he's up to or what he's looking for. He and Joseph try not to meet too often, but occasionally vacation together in strategic locations. The Company monitors its cyborgs pretty closely, so they are both risking their freedom to investigate.

There is also the question of whether an immortal, self-repairing cyborg can be killed, or at least rendered inoperative. Some of them have been functional for millennia and have developed some strong opinions about the Company. Frankly, the 24th century employees don't seem to have the necessary guile or intelligence to manipulate their immortal employees. They are far too inhibited by their societal requirements to be politically correct at all costs. Can they truly be responsible for the Silence that falls in 2355?

There's a lot of intrigue, but few answers. I find it disappointing when there is no resolution to at least a couple of the main subplots by the end of a book. However, I have the next book waiting on my shelf, so I'll be able to continue on as planned in 2022.

Book Number 429 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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By Chance Alone / Max Eisen

 

By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz by Max Eisen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Memoirs like this one are important documents. November, when we observe Remembrance Day, seems to be an appropriate time to read a Holocaust narrative. The people who lived through this hell are aging, their health was compromised by the concentration camp conditions, and we won't have them with us forever to bear witness to these events of WWII.

We would like to think that the brutal treatment of Jews during the war is a rare thing, but I think we have seen enough genocides and general cruelty since then to determine that this impulse seems to lurk within all of us. It is a tendency that we must struggle against, trying to be kinder and more accepting of our fellow humans, even those who are different from ourselves in some way. A change from xenophobic to xenophilic.

If you are interested in reading other powerful accounts of this subject, I would recommend Night by Elie Wiesel or Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Another option is The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi. For younger audiences, the graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Siegelman is a good option. There is also the old standby, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (but I couldn't force myself to read it as a young person, I waited until I was an older adult before I appreciated it.)

These days, when truth seems to be a matter of choice rather than actual events, we need books like this one more than ever.


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Callahan's Key / Spider Robinson

 

Callahan's Key by Spider Robinson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a tribute novel to Robert A. Heinlein (and to some extent other authors of his vintage). If you don't know his work or that of Theodore Sturgeon, you'll miss some of the point of this book. As Jake Stonebender, his family, and his clan of weirdos migrate to Key West, Fla., from Long Island, NY, they make a stop close to where Heinlein's widow lives and they consider (and reject) the idea of visiting her. Instead, they acquire a new misfit to add to their number: Robert Heinlein's cat, Pixel, the cat who can walk through windshields (get it?). There are lots of obvious and subtle references to RAH fiction. (Including a sign that Zoey puts up by the door of their new home: “Did you remember to dress?”)

I really enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter—nuggets from the many silly things said by George W, Bush's vice-president, Dan Quayle. That there are 20 of them is amazing and sad somehow. I bet many people barely remember the poor guy or how much the press loved his flubs. Public speaking just wasn't his jam, plus he seems to have had a pretty loose grip on facts.

The absolute best part of the book is the description of the space shuttle launch that the clan attends during their drive south. Did Robinson attend one? Because it reads like he did. The excitement and awe seem completely authentic and it has the feeling of an eyewitness account.

For some reason that I cannot put my finger on exactly, I find Robinson's authorial voice in this series highly annoying, so I am glad that I am almost finished with the Callahan books. Only one left, next year. My library has weeded them, but I bought them second hand (before I realized how irritated they made me). I'm stubborn enough that I intend to read them before I recycle them back to the second hand bookstore.

Book Number 428 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Why Didn't They Ask Evans? / Agatha Christie

 

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As usual, Ms. Christie led me a merry dance. Although I had my suspicions, she managed to distract me with well placed red herrings. Her two amateur sleuths, Bobby and Frankie, remind me a lot of another pair of Christie's, Tommy and Tuppence. Poor old Bobby even gets clonked on the head, just like Tommy.

Frankie, or Lady Frances if you prefer, is another one of Christie's adventurous young women who knows what she wants and sets out to get it. I love these books that feature intelligent young women, giving them the starring role. They are like a tonic after all the mystery novels that feature male protagonists. Frankie is a lively person, not letting the grass grow under her feet. She's pretty good at managing the men around her too, including Bobby, his pal Badger, and the family lawyer.

Christie also seems to have a reluctant admiration for the conscience-free criminal. She often allows them to escape justice and live to grift another day. My sister, who works in our provincial justice system, claims that only the dumb criminals see the inside of a courtroom, so maybe Christie is just using her writing to reflect reality.

I'm somewhat disappointed that Bobby and Frankie get only one novel to strut their stuff. But one is better than none.


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Time / Stephen Baxter

 

Time by Stephen Baxter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why I put off this book for so long. I didn't expect to get as involved as I did and was pretty startled by how emotionally engaged I was. My own prejudice, I suppose, as I don't generally enjoy the more technically based stories. Baxter included enough human interaction (and squid interaction) to keep me happy.

It helped that one of the major point of view characters is Emma Stoney, the ex-wife of one Reid Malenfant, billionaire with grandiose plans. Emma still retains a significant position in his business empire and seems to be an important presence at any of his dramatic events. In fact, nothing of any import happens without her and even she is not sure why she sticks around.

There are details that remind me of earlier science fiction. H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, with its intelligent cephalopod invaders from Mars. On page 254, there was a little shout out to Kurt Vonnegut: So it goes. The mysterious object on the near Earth asteroid reminded me of the black monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. The Blue children smacked of another Clarke novel, Childhood's End. Maybe some echoes of David Brin's Uplift series regarding the engineering of the intelligent squid pilot, Sheena, and her dreams of the shoal (much like the Whale Dream that Brin's dolphin space explorers experience).

This novel is copyrighted in 2000, but some of the plot details are pulled from the 2021 news headlines: billionaires starting space companies, religious nuttiness about science, protesting, etc. I read the first few pages and thought about Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson and their space travel plans, separate from NASA. Today’s entrepreneurs just seem to be fixated on Mars rather than the asteroids.

I know the ending is meant to be hopeful, but I found it rather depressing. I can't imagine what is left to be discussed, but there are two more books. Curiosity will carry me along to the next one for sure.

Book number 427 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Apollo Murders / Chris Hadfield

 

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars?

Let me preface this review by saying that thrillers are really not my genre. This novel is well written and Chris Hadfield has proven himself to be a very well rounded guy, more creative than I would expect given his military and astronaut background. During the early pages of this novel, I found myself checking Wikipedia in order to determine Hadfield‘s age. Sure enough, he's two years my senior, and that's what I would have guessed from the time period he chose to write about. The years of Richard Nixon, Apollo space missions, and Russo-American rivalry. The stuff we grew up in. The choice of an alternative history, where another Apollo mission occurred, was an inspired choice for him.

Hadfield is almost uniquely qualified to write this book, former test pilot, astronaut, and commander of the ISS. He obviously has a good grasp of space history, both Russian and American. He speaks Russian, having spent time on both Mir and the ISS and in Star City, Russia. In short, he knows how the Russian space program, NASA, and astronauts look, sound, and act. He can keep it real. Especially that “you can have emotions on your own time" ethos that seems to govern the space program. Hadfield manages to shoehorn in a couple of female characters. One rather minor one is a geologist involved in the lunar program, who becomes a love interest for the more prominent CAPCOM, Kaz. The other is a female cosmonaut who provides much of the opposition needed for the book's purpose.

I struggled to stay engaged because for me there were far, far too many technical flying details included. The folks who do care about such things will have a field day dissecting his descriptions. Whenever I set the book down, it was hard work to convince myself to pick it back up again. That, however, is me, not the book or the author. When the book first came out, Hadfield was all over Canadian public radio, doing the publicity for it—I am unsurprised that he said that thrillers were his preferred genre. He has studied them well and has a well structured book with excellent tension and he threw in some imaginative twists. Don't judge the book by my rating. My ratings reflect my enjoyment of the reading experience, not the quality of the book.

The pressure in the last few chapters is intense, the action nonstop. It was such a relief, to see the end in sight, and to read the final reveal. The book has garnered a lot of attention due to the author—there are 554 people waiting for it at my library. I don't know if Hadfield has plans to write another novel, but this one is good enough that I expect there would be an appetite for it.



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Isaac Asimov / Michael White

 

Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction by Michael White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

During this fourth quarter of 2021, the Dead Writers Society has chosen Isaac Asimov as one of our featured writers. I read his Foundation trilogy and some Robot novels way back when I was a teen, and I reread several in 2011 when I started my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project. I was reading fast in those days and not necessarily processing too much.

It seemed to make sense, then, to find a biography of Asimov and get some perspective on this author who became one of the founders of the science fiction genre. He seems to be one of those people that inspire strong feelings, love him or hate him. Interestingly, I read a biography of Ray Bradbury earlier this year and I got much the same feeling about him. Both men really seemed to want to be the centre of attention. You can almost imagine them saying, “Me, me, me, look at me!” I think both of them were a weird combination of overly egotistical and very insecure. Neither one of them was truly selfish, but they were both very self-focused. It took a lot to get them to actually consider other people's points of view.

I hadn't truly realized how young Asimov was when he wrote Foundation and I, Robot. It's amazing that something produced by such an inexperienced young man would still have some relevance today. The human characters are rather wooden, but the robots are more lively! Just the opposite of what you would expect. If you read for relationships, Asimov's books are not going to be among your favourites. He was much more interested in big ideas and scientific principles. In many ways, nonfiction was the perfect genre for him and I was surprised by how many nonfiction books he churned out.

I think Asimov was a product of a patriarchal system that led him to discount women, unless he knew them personally and could therefore appreciate their intellect or talent or humour (or whatever caught his respect). Understandably, many women didn't like being dismissed and disliked Asimov intensely (and with reason). I do think that he dismissed many men in exactly the same way, but the men didn't take it as personally perhaps. I also read Ursula le Guin's No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters this year and recall an award that she turned down, despite the fact that she knew it would go to Asimov and she also disliked giving him another accolade. She was no fan, considering him a conservative asshole.

This biographer calls Asimov a liberal, but in these days of Me Too, the “man with a thousand hands" would be having a hard time of it. He didn't always realize that if a thing applied to him, it should apply to everyone and vice versa. He could be absurdly outraged when someone else got the same consideration or same advantage that he had benefited from.

In short, he was as imperfect as we all are. I think we all have one of those friends with high intelligence but no idea how to deal with people. What amuses me is how often psychologists of one kind or another feature in his writing. His robot characters require them more often than the humans. His human characters are so coldly logical in their dealings that they verge on the robotic. Perhaps emotional, illogical people were more difficult for him to deal with.




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I, Robot / Isaac Asimov

 

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I know that I read this back in 2011, but honestly this felt like the first time! I realize that I read quite a few science fiction novels quite rapidly that year, as I had just cancelled my cable TV subscription and was going a bit nutty as a result!

This time around, I started this book right after reading Asimov's Foundation. I'm not surprised to find similar characters here in what became the Robot series. Arrogant men, from Mr. Weston in the first story, to Donovan and Powell, the testers of new models of robots. (They are so nasty to each other that I wondered why neither of them sought different employment.) The expert robopsychologist, Susan Calvin, is of course an intellectual ice queen, not very attractive (at least by Asimov's standards, including considering being 38 as far too old). She is a psychologist, lower on the hierarchy than the male scientists. (The old stereotype that intellect and being pleasant looking are mutually exclusive.)

There is a rather insidious parallel with slavery in the human-robot relationship here. The robots on Mercury reply to Donovan and Powell with the response “Yes, Master.” The duo are outraged by a space station robot which doesn't instantly believe everything they say and refuses to obey their orders because it views them as inferiors. (Incidentally, this robot seems to have spontaneously created a religion with similarities to Islam, a religion practiced in America first by Muslim slaves, then by free African Americans in response to racism.) When Susan Calvin interviews a robot who witnessed an accident, it cringes and assures her that it would never allow harm to come to “a master.” As she questions the robot, she addresses it as “Boy.”

Basically, this book is a series of short stories about robots which are stitched together by the interview of Susan Calvin by a young reporter. The inspired idea introduced is the Laws of Robotics, the programming which states that a robot may not harm a human nor through inaction allow a human to come to harm. This principle seems to have entrenched itself into the science fiction genre, as I have seen it referenced in other fiction which includes robot characters (e.g. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons).

One of Asimov's assumptions is that a sufficiently intelligent machine will automatically feel emotions, have ambitions, and acquire a sense of humour. Real life experimentation has proven we have a hard time programming the basic things, like facial recognition. At any rate, I feel like Asimov's robots are the spiritual ancestors of my beloved Murderbot and of the sentient AIs of the Culture universe.


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Foundation / Isaac Asimov

 

Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of my reading groups (The Dead Writers Society) chose Isaac Asimov as a featured author for the final quarter of 2021. I am interested in revisiting his work, having read quite a bit of it when I was in high school, and I remember being quite the fan of the Foundation series back then. I know that I reread this trilogy back in 2011 when I had just begun my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project, but before I joined Goodreads.

This novel still retained the ability to suck me into the plot, as the Galactic Empire lurches to disaster and Hari Selden establishes the Foundation in order to diminish the period of “barbarism" before another “civilized" empire arises. I remember as a teen being fascinated by the concept of psychohistory, being able to predict human behaviour and history through mathematics. The concept of taking one of the social sciences and converting it into a “hard" science was exciting.

This time through, I was amused by some of the details, such as the Encyclopedia Galactica. The thought of a printed encyclopedia is archaic now in the days of Wikipedia, but it seemed completely plausible to me in the 1970s, well before the internet. Like a lot of other books published in the 1950s, there is a lot of smoking, making me remember how ubiquitous that behaviour was. No one in my family smoked, but we kept ashtrays on hand for the smokers among the relatives who visited. It would have been rude not to accommodate them, but it was perfectly polite for them to smoke in our tobacco free home. How life has changed!

I was also struck this time at how few female characters there are. Those that are included seem to be largely shrewish wives, making their husbands' lives miserable, or young women who are completely captivated by jewelry and gadgets. None of the featured male characters has a woman in his life and they are all coldly intellectual. When faced with a crisis, we find that these men have always planned for it and they emerge victorious by virtue of their superior thinking skills. To be successful in this universe, you must be male, unencumbered by relationships, logical, and unemotional.

For whatever reason, there is a long line of people at the library wanting to read this series. The waiting list for book two is amazing, so I don't think I'll be revisiting it any time soon. Asimov wrote such an astounding number of books that I can explore his work easily without continuing this series.


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