1632 / Eric Flint

 

1632 by Eric Flint
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars?

I felt like I was reading a rerun of the Nantucket series by S.M. Stirling. In that series, the island of Nantucket is somehow transported thousands of years into the past. The community must somehow keep themselves alive without the support systems that modern society has come to rely on and they obviously want to maintain a somewhat modern lifestyle. Eric Flint has a very similar idea, transporting a West Virginia town back to the time of the 30 Years War in Germany. They not only translocate in time, but also in space.

The similarities don't end there. Both series have a prominent black character with an important role. (A female naval officer in Nantucket and a male surgeon and former Marine in this novel.) Also, there seem to be people with needed skills in both communities who can swoop in to recreate needed technologies. Very handy, that coincidence. How many people do you know who build steam engines as a hobby? (None. I know none.) Both series highlight people with manual skills, something that Flint states in his afterword was very important to him as a former union organizer.

In this book's foreword, there's an explanation of why the translocation event happened (a careless intergalactic artist, accidentally creating an alternate universe.) But the characters don't know that and there is absolutely no philosophizing about whether they are changing history or whether they are wiping out their home country/culture. It seems odd to me that intelligent people wouldn't even consider the possibility.

Checking the copyright dates of both series, I note that they were both published before September 11th, 2001. That probably goes some way toward explaining their “Rah, rah, America" attitudes. I was very struck by the assumptions in both series that American culture and values were superior to all others. (I also noted the cover art on both series which features prominent American flags.)

The big weakness of this kind of tale is the inevitable info dumps that litter their pages. The author has to do a lot of research and when they have chosen a less well known period of history, they may feel the need to fill in the reading audience. I confess to ignorance of this time period and place, but I can't help feeling that there must be a less clunky way to share that knowledge than all the mini lectures (there was one that lasted 10 pages.) There is a definite leaning on battles to provide plot momentum, but there are only token obstacles for the Americans to overcome, so there is very little character development. Additionally, Flint seems to think that matching everyone up into couples is characterization. But even those relationships are anemic compared to the love of guns and ammunition! If there's a real romance in this novel, it's the author and weapons. At the end, the book just kind of bumps to a halt with no real wrap up or hook to lead the reader on to the next installment.

I know there are lots more books in the series, but one is enough for me.

Book number 413 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco / Laura DiSilverio

 

4 stars

I picked this up because I recently read The Maltese Falcon, which plays a small part in this novel. It was a happy connection, although this is a cozy mystery with no hint of noir and no hard-boiled investigator. 

 A book club investigates the death of one of their members. Not a likely scenario, requiring a very high suspension of disbelief. In real life, police do not take kindly to such shenanigans. However, the author makes this work by having the police declare the death a suicide and the book club women refuse to believe that conclusion. 

As cozy mysteries go, this is one of the better ones. Unlike so many of them, there is very little discussion of cooking, household tasks, personal grooming, or detailing everyone's wardrobe. Those details may be part of everyday life, but I find them boring to read about. There is a quite a bit about the main character's event planning business, but since it is relevant to the plot, I don't begrudge the time spent on it. 

 Like so many cozies, there is a significant romantic element, with Amy-Faye, our narrator, being attracted to the detective involved in the case. She's a small town girl, he's a big city guy. As an event planner, she is planning her high school boyfriend's wedding, adding another complication to the equation. I find these kind of emotional entanglements equal to the mystery in terms of interest, so I'm pretty sure that I'll be reading the remaining two books in the series.  

Exit Strategy / Martha Wells

 

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Damn, I love Murderbot! It is insecure, confident, ambivalent, snarky, and occasionally cocky. In short, much more human than it would ever admit to. Especially that urge to seek some revenge! I also love all the parenthetical remarks in its narrative.

The way it sums up a situation is always accurate and amusing. “So the plan wasn't a clusterfuck, it was just circling the clusterfuck target zone, getting ready to come in for a landing.” I assume it has learned its colourful language from its beloved shows and serials. "I might be wrong. I knew interpreting the emotional subtext in the speech and appearance of real humans was completely different from interpreting it in shows and serials. (For one thing, the shows and serials were trying to communicate accurately with the viewer. As far as I could tell, real humans usually didn't know what the hell they were doing.)"

I was having an emotion, and I hate that. I'm having an emotion myself, and I'm delighted.

Thank you, Martha Wells. You can hug me if you want to. These books are too easily finished much too quickly.



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Sea of Swords / R.A.Salvatore

 

Sea of Swords by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Just acquiring this novel turned into a bit of an issue. First, I ordered it from a secondhand book website. Actually, I ordered the two Salvatore books that I intended to read this year that weren't available at my library. I received my shipment and put the books into the “to read soon" pile without looking at them too closely. Earlier this month I intended to get going on this book and went in search of it. Blimey! I did indeed get two Drizzt titles, but this was not one of them! Undaunted, I whipped off an interlibrary loan request and felt somewhat triumphant when I was informed that it was waiting for me. Was it worth all this fuss and bother?

This is a more typical Drizzt book, less gritty than the last couple of books and reverting to the tried and true formula of plenty of fight scenes. Drizzt brandishes his scimitars, Twinkle and Icingdeath, regularly. It's not Salvatore's fault that those names make me think of cake decorating implements rather than weapons. The fights are fun to read, but I'm not convinced that all of them are necessary to move the plot along.

This is the book that finally sorts out the Drizzt/Wulfgar/Cattie-brie love triangle. Bruenor, Cattie-brie's adoptive father, gives Drizzt a firm nudge and urges him to get on with things (as does Cattie-brie herself). It also eventually features the reunion of the Companions and gives a template for how to overcome the awkwardness after major misunderstandings. Wulfgar gets a romantic interlude or two with Delly, but if Drizzt even kisses Cattie-Brie, we don't get told of it. We are back to being much more coy about sexual relationships.

I had such high hopes after the last two books! But Salvatore seems to have retreated back to the “violence is okay, but sexual attraction is not" school of thought. More kissing, Mr. Salvatore, more kissing! I don't require detailed sex scenes, especially if you are incredibly uncomfortable writing them, but let's at least have Drizzt & Cattie-Brie sharing a bed roll and/or a passionate kiss. Quit teasing me with possibilities that you don't intend to deliver on!

A small detail was annoying. Salvatore dramatically over uses the verb “to skitter.” Everyone seems to be skittering everywhere. Once seen, it could not be unseen. I had at least one instance of the word being used three times on two pages. Several times it was used in two adjacent paragraphs. Blargh!

Book number 412 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus / Harry Harrison

 

The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus by Harry Harrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

That old black magic…Harrison has got his mojo back with this Stainless Steel Rat adventure! Maybe it's just my pandemic state of mind, but I found this novel had the same charm as the first couple of books. Perhaps because he may have considered this to be the last of the series.

Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, is feeling his age. It's getting more difficult to stay in shape, he no longer has the physical stamina of his younger years, and the temptation to spend more time relaxing with his darling Angelina is strong. Unfortunately, he is approached by the self-styled “richest man in the galaxy" who makes him an offer he can't refuse. Greed overcomes good sense and Jim and Angelina are off to a backwater planet to join the circus as a cover for their venture.


Naturally, the criminal life does not run smoothly. The Stainless Steel couple must rely on their twin sons, James and Bolivar, to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. The boys have learned well from dear old mom and dad. The worst thing that can happen to a conman has happened—Jim has been played by another slippery character.

There was a tinge of sadness as I read. There are amusing details that I doubt younger folk will ever understand. Who still remembers Roach Motels? Does anyone comprehend why an explosive called Playtexx made me smile? Despite that, Harrison writes things like burner phones that feel rather modern. An interesting mix of up-to-date and out-of-date.

Slippery Jim Digriz, with his penchant for booze and cigars, is a remarkable character that Harrison obviously enjoyed writing. Coming up with convoluted cons must have been great fun. He ends this book with the words “The End?” and seems unsure about the future. Now we know that there is one more, but that is well into my future if I stick to my reading plans.

Book number 411 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Fall of the Kings / Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman

 

The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this novel to have a rather dreamlike quality, where myth and reality rub up against one another in an unsettling way. But it also deals with intellectual concerns such as whether one should restrict oneself to studying the works of other scholars or dig into the archives and documents in order to come to one's own conclusions through original research. I would hope that most of us would prefer the latter. Having spent some of my working life on archival projects may have prejudiced me in this regard.

I admit that although I read Swordspoint (and rated it 4 stars) I really don't remember the details of it. I hope I am more successful at holding the details of this novel in my memory. It seems to me that Basil is Merlin to Theron's Arthur, both of them being manipulated by magic that shimmers on the edge of their comprehension. How many times do ancient patterns unexpectedly take our lives hostage, causing chaos of our otherwise satisfactory lives? Old patterns of behaviour or childhood roles may sabotage the best of us when we least anticipate it and when we may even believe them to be dealt with, ancient history. Like most myths, there is no unequivocally happy ending, but there is hope. And really, what more can a reader ask for?

Thomas Canty has provided an attractive cover, beautifully illustrating both the book's mythology and its handsome protagonist. It is reminiscent of a stained glass window. Perhaps it is meant to recreate one of Ysaud's paintings?

If you enjoyed this book, I would recommend that you try Song for the Basilisk by Patricia McKillip and Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint, both of which seem to me to have a similar atmosphere and outlook.

Book number 410 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Invisible Ring / Anne Bishop

 

The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I knocked off this book in just over half a day and was pretty sure that I didn’t have anything much to say about it. But strangely, I keep thinking about the details of the plot, so perhaps I will write a quick note.

Yes, this series is cheesy and soap-opera-like, but Bishop has some worthwhile messages on the nature of relationships. Force and punishment don't build loyalty. Neither does rewarding brutality. If you want to get loyalty from those around you, you must treat people (especially those you are responsible for) with kindness and respect. Honour is silver and can eventually turn to love, which is gold. To be respected, you must act honourably. As the old saying goes, you can catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar.

I find I'm quite uncomfortable with some of the role reversals in this series. The patriarchy has been programmed into me from childhood and it's difficult to shake. It feels so strange to have men in the subservient role, secretly working against the unfair rule of brutal women and supporting those who govern well. It makes me really think hard about my own assumptions, which I'm finding very interesting. Also, I can see the roots of such series as Black Dagger Brotherhood and other paranormal series.

Book number 409 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Lord of Emperors / Guy Gavriel Kay

 

Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore this man's writing. Love, love, love it. His people are so real. They are imperfect and you love some and hate others. Love them or hate them, you understand why they do what they do. And Kay shows you, with the minimum of telling. They may be part of an ancient society, but I feel how much humanity I share with them.

The other thing that I deeply appreciate is Kay's treatment of his female characters. They have aspirations, desires, and ambitions of their own, despite their supposedly inferior position in this society. The relationships are largely that of equals, in emotion if not in law. He writes women as real people, not the unknowable enigmas that so many male writers like to give us. Thank you, Mr. Kay for recognizing my humanity!

Caius and his monumental mosaic spoke loud and clear to me. As true art does. Just as in the first book, this mosaic made me think of What's Bred in the Bone, where Francis Cornish used the symbolism of his own life to paint a wonderful and enigmatic painting in the Old Master style. Just as Caius does with this pinnacle of his career.

I am not a sports aficionado, but after these two books, I could be convinced to go to the Hippodrome for a chariot race or two. The drama on the sands echoes the events unfolding in the Palace beautifully.

Like all of my favourite books, I was sorry to finish this one. The ending surprised me, but was pleasing. And not too tightly tied up in a bow. I prefer less cut and dried denouements, giving my imagination more to do. GGK seems to understand this need and his epilogues avoid unnecessary detail.

For some time now, I have been building a “small" collection of books that will go to the nursing home with me when the time comes. I'm embarrassed at the way it has swollen over the last few years, but Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors have now been designated as volumes that I need to add to this list.

Book number 408 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Ship of Destiny / Robin Hobb

 

Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A satisfying ending to a dramatic trilogy. Hobb’s planning managed to weave details from the very first book into the whole fabric of this ending. It is very skillfully done, staying compatible with her Farseer Trilogy.

My favourite aspect was the transformation of Malta Vestrit from spoiled pouty teenager to tough, wily Trader. The development of her relationship with Reyn was a joy to witness and I hope that Hobb will return to them and Selden at some future point. I want to know more about the human-dragon bond. I also like the man that Wintrow has become and hope to see his progress too.

Plus I like these touchy, bossy, demanding dragons. It has always seemed odd to me that such huge, intimidating animals would defer to humans, as in Anne McCaffery's Pern books. As one of my cousins reminds me sometimes, it's amazing that horses are so cooperative with our wishes. They are large animals that could do us serious damage if they decided to and yet they allow us to think we are in charge. These feisty, impatient, despotic dragons seem much more realistic to me.

I've peeked ahead. There are no more of Hobb's books in my reading project, but I'll definitely be continuing to read in her Realm of the Elderlings series. I see that the next book returns to Fitz and I can't believe that I'm a tiny bit disappointed about that. The spell of the dragons and the liveships has me in its grip right now. But when the time comes, I'll no doubt be happy to see that old friend again and find out what's happening in that part of Hobb's world. A pleasant thing to look forward to.

Book number 407 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Maigret's Holiday / Georges Simenon

 

Maigret's Holiday by Georges Simenon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Probably starting a series with the 28th volume is not a good idea. Inspector Maigret is obviously a detective in the same line as Penny's Gamache and James' Dalgliesh, though Simenon was writing at a much earlier time period. Maybe if I'd started earlier in this series I'd be more impressed with it. As things stood, I only chose this book because I'm part a reading group. On the basis of this book, I have no inclination to read more about Maigret.

I found the murderer to be frightfully obvious, merely requiring threshing out the details of where and how the deed was accomplished. Maigret doesn't have charm nor does he easily think of life from any point of view but his own. Figuring out a female outlook on life seems to stretch him much more than I would have expected of an experienced investigator. Some of this is no doubt due to the position of men in society when this novel was written, when men didn't feel much need consider about “female" issues such as shopping or female friends. I liked Maigret even less when he got bent out of shape when women (even if they were nuns) weren't quite deferential enough for his liking. He redeemed himself somewhat by being concerned for Lucile's family, who were not well off and had no defenses against the vicissitudes of life.

Not sorry to have read this, mostly because I can eliminate the rest of these books from my TBR. It is overburdened enough already.


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American Gods / Neil Gaiman

 

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Neil Gaiman's fiction is really hit or miss for me. I always like it, but I don't always love it. This is one of the better novels in my experience.

Gaiman takes an old idea, that the ancient gods dwindle as they lose worshippers, and turns it into a novel. Previously I've only read short stories on this theme (see the story “Daemon" in The Best of C.L. Moore, 1946). I think Lester del Ray also wrote a short story along these lines.

The author also uses the idea that money, television, the internet, phones, fame, etc., are becoming gods, replacing the older pantheons. It reminds me of H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy books, where alien species considered the human “cocktail hour" to be a religious observance. This is an idea which has been around since Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, during which he declared, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon, or the accumulation of worldly goods, has a long history of being perceived as a competitor with organized religion.

The human condition seems to require belief in something. I loved that Shadow was ultimately guided by the land, the heart of America. That he was linked with Thunderbird and the buffalo, symbols of the indigenous cultures of this continent. Natural environments have always been the places that inspire awe in me, so that makes perfect sense to my mind.

Everybody wants to believe in something. I believe I'll go for a walk and choose another book.

Book number 406 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Hangman's Holiday / Dorothy L. Sayers

 

Hangman's Holiday by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I find that I prefer Dorothy Sayers' novels to her short fiction. But I never mind spending time with Sir Peter Wimsey, so I'm glad to have read this collection.

Other readers should be aware that not all of the stories feature Sir Peter, however. There are a number of tales starring Mr. Montague Egg, salesman of fine wines & spirits. He doesn't seek out crimes to solve, as Wimsey does, but he does have a talent for applying his observational skills and fairly devious brain to any mysterious situation that he runs across. I quite like him.

There are also two stories which do not include any repeating characters. I found both to be entertaining.

Ms. Sayers, like all writers, needed more outlets for her creativity than one character could provide. This collection certainly shows how many interests the author had and how much information she had at her finger tips. There's no denying her sharp intelligence or writing skill.

Those who love short mystery stories will enjoy this little volume.


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Queen of the Darkness / Anne Bishop

 

Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This series is like a dark fantasy soap opera. Everything is just so over-the-top and emotional. Everyone over reacts to everything and despite that they can't seem to communicate clearly with each other. It's very Grade Seven drama, set in Hell.

In this installment, the Kindred take on more substantial roles. Yup, the mind-talking horses, wolves, dogs, spiders, unicorns, etc. Jaenelle's circle are regular Doctor Doolittles. I wonder why this fantasy is so compelling that we keep repeating it? Think of the Houyhnhnms in Gulliver's Travels. In fantasy literature, there are the telepathic dragons in Anne McCaffery's Pern novels, the horse-like Companions in Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald-Mage and the wolves in Robin Hobbs' Farseer Trilogy and George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. Apparently people who love fantasy also love animals and have a burning desire to talk with them. I personally think we would be disappointed, that it would probably be like Todd and his dog Manchee in The Knife of Never Letting Go, with Manchee often telling Todd that he needs to poo.

So, this series is silly fun and I'll read at least one more volume of it this year, if all goes according to plan.

Book number 405 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Deadhouse Gates / Steven Erikson

 

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another chunk of the Malazan series done. I found this volume more comprehensible than the first one, maybe because I knew the major players. However there are still plenty of opaque spots from my point of view. That may be partly because I took a long pause about midway through, needing a rest before heading on. I wish the author had taken a technique from George R.R. Martin and had each chapter dedicated to a particular character. I found the multiple POVs annoying. I assume that the events of each chapter were to be interpreted as happening at the same time? I think readers are smart enough to figure that out without having it spelled out in that fashion.

I must say that this series still reminds me of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time in both its complexity and enormous cast of characters. What Erikson does better, in my opinion, is the female characters. They follow their own paths, which may or may not include men. The relationship between the sexes is less hostile, too. Jordan's characters pair up, but seem determined to misinterpret each other. Erikson's people have, to my mind, more realistic expectations of one another.

There's a lot of magical influence in this world, not to mention a plethora of species, gods, and ascendants stirring the political pot. There's a lot to keep track of and to try to assimilate. I'm pretty sure I have just as many misunderstandings as things understood. My reading plan for this year includes at least one more installment of this series and I think I can handle that, although I will need a significant break before I attempt it. I don't believe my library has book 3, so an interlibrary loan will be necessary.

Book number 404 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Maltese Falcon / Dashiell Hammett

 

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars?

Would you believe that reading this book answered questions that I have had for almost 40 years? It was the early 1980s and I was attempting to see all of Humphrey Bogart's movies. Even then, I liked to have a project and a list. There was a scruffy old theatre where we went to see these films, and they were literally films with the photos on plastic film reels. The movie was building to its conclusion when the inevitable happened and the plastic film snapped. The break was too close to the end of the film, preventing the projectionist from splicing it back together to finish up. No conclusion for me. But I can't have been too scarred by it, as I never worried about getting the final say until 2021.

I can see why this book was chosen as the basis of a movie. Lots of action, conflict, subterfuge, back stabbing, sex, and a mysterious artifact. Sam Spade is honourable on his own terms, but he doesn't let mere emotion stand between himself and the solution to the mystery. I don't often venture into the hard-boiled genre, but this is a classic. Hammett is a competent writer, giving us a good yarn and plenty of clues to figure out what's going on. As friends had warned me, his writing is not nearly as pretty as Raymond Chandler's, a shame but really how many people can claim to equal him?

Hammett was born in May, so this is my May birthday book for the (Mostly) Dead Writers Society. I'll return to Chandler in July for the same purpose. Very nice noir.


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Wild Sign / Patricia Briggs

 

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this latest installment featuring Anna and Charles. It reminded me strongly of the Mercy Thompson book River Marked, probably because of the watery opponents in both books. Not to mention the appearance of Coyote.

There were fun details: the fleeting appearance of a Sasquatch or two and a nod to the Lovecraft renaissance & renovation that seems to be happening right now. Please Ms. Briggs, can we have more Sasquatches? They are charming and have such potential.

I also appreciated getting more details of the Bran-and-Leah relationship, something that I have never really understood. I can't say that Leah has been totally redeemed, but I certainly had more sympathy for her by book's end. Briggs has been very skillfully filling us in on Bran's life and choices and perhaps making him less sympathetic over the last several books. It makes sense that the Wolf Who Rules would be ruthless and a bit of a bastard, but in the Mercy books, he is mostly portrayed as a caring father and foster-father, fond of manipulation, maybe, and of the Socratic method of achieving compliance. But we are coming to realize that he cares very little for anyone who isn't a werewolf, an attitude that is antithetical to Anna and Charles (and to Mercy too, for that matter, who has built a network of supernatural allies).

I don't have any doubts that there will be more books, as there are many devoted readers of both the Anna and Mercy series. But if I had any doubts, the last couple of paragraphs clinched it! What a note to leave us on! Well done, Ms. Briggs.


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The Mystery of the Blue Train / Agatha Christie

 

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can see why Christie disliked this book. It is overly convoluted, with too many moving parts, and in several respects it doesn't make any sense. Judging from her account in her autobiography, she was in a highly distracted state when she wrote it. But she needed the income, so off to the publisher it went.

Christie is still playing around with international crime syndicates and costly jewels in this Poirot adventure. More on the thriller side of the street, although there is the mystery aspect for Poirot to solve. In the early pages of the novel, when we learned that Ruth Kettering was a redhead, I waited for Captain Hastings to show up to admire her! I was so disappointed when he never arrived on the scene.

Christie's female characters have a pronounced predilection for bad boys. In that, this novel is consistent with The Man in the Brown Suit and The Secret of Chimneys. Even Poirot seems to intimate that this is the way of the world. I found myself very disappointed in Katherine, even though Christie arranged things to ensure that she chose the less criminal of the rascals provided for her to choose from.

Really, I thought that the real murderer should have been Mirielle, Derek Kettering's mistress. She was the first to suggest that Ruth's death would solve all his problems, we know she was on the train, that she considered herself pragmatic rather than swayed by emotions, that ironically she had a violent temper, and that she did seem to want to keep Derek as a lover. Alas,  Christie did not use this very logical strategy, but chose a more convoluted path.

You can't win them all and not every book that an author produces can be masterful. Books like this one prove Agatha Christie was not exempt from human foibles.


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