Doors of Sleep / Tim Pratt

 

Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

It has taken me quite a while to finish this book, but that's not because it's a poor book. Rather it's because I've been deluged with holds coming in at the library and most of them requested by others after me so no renewals allowed. I'm semi-caught-up now and had the time to revisit Zaxony Delatree as he plunged through the multiverse.

Tim Pratt has interesting ideas and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work. In this one, something goes wonky for Zax and whenever he falls asleep, he awakes in a new world. Sometimes it's hostile, sometimes benign, but never a repeat. Zax is lonely until he teams up with a woman from a farm planet, Minna. She can perform photosynthesis to feed herself if necessary and has remarkable abilities in replicating substances. Needless to say, their existence is complicated and becomes more so when they encounter a man that Zax has been trying to stay ahead of.

Pratt shows his knowledge of the science fiction canon. The novel, with its moral dilemmas, reminded me strongly of Ursula le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven. Her main character dreams the future into existence and unscrupulous people try to take control of his talent. Pratt gives this the multiverse treatment, which adds tension. There was also one world visited which reminded me of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine briefly. There were sky dwellers and groundlings, reminiscent of the Morlocks and Eloi.

The ending gave me many new questions. I have a hunch Pratt has plans for more adventures for Zaxony Delatree!


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The Crystal City / Orson Scott Card

 

The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is last published volume of this series and I have to say that I'm fine with that. This odd alternate history is really not my bag. At all.

This book finds Alvin in New Barcelona (referred to as Barcy) known to us as New Orleans. Because of political manoeuvring between the French, Spanish and Portuguese, Alvin ends up leading a large group of people out of the area by using his amazing Maker skills. He's very much a Moses figure, leading his people to the promised land of freedom and equality. In fact Card has a character expressly say this, just in case you're not quick on the uptake.

There's a side story consisting of Calvin signing up with Jim Bowie to go “deal with" the Aztecs of Mexica. This seems to be mostly to reacquaint the reader with how selfish and entitled Calvin is. He both loves and despises Alvin--I'm just not sure what he's supposed to be meaning to me as a reader. The Crystal City itself might be an interpretation of Salt Lake City, in keeping with Card's Mormon roots. The whole series seems to be thinly veiled allegory of a lot of Christian and LDS lore, troweled on thickly and rather confusingly. Card mixes his metaphors all over the place.

I have to say that I hate what the author does with historical figures like Abraham Lincoln. Yes, they were ordinary humans, but Card seems to be intent on kicking them off their pedestals and making them ultra-ordinary, even kind of goofy. Rather like Calvin is always attempting to do to Alvin.

Is his point that people are just people and that utopia is impossible? If so, thanks but we already know that. If he's used six books just to say that using our talents to build things is a good thing, even if our efforts don't last, well duh! I find his opinions and personal beliefs baked into these novels, but the point of that is not at all clear to me. I really liked Ender's Game, but having read these books, I find myself not liking the author very much. I don't think he's someone I would want to spend time with.

I hear that Card is planning to write one more book in this series, and I can see that there are still unanswered questions, but I am laying it down right here. No further will I read. I will celebrate freedom just as fervently as Alvin's followers.

Book number 421 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Library of the Dead / T.L. Huchu

 

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Delightful! I must confess that I chose this book on the basis of one of my favourite authors (Ben Aaronovitch) recommending it. When I got my hands on my library copy, there was also a testimonial from another fav (Genevieve Cogman). And they were both right.

Ropa is a young Zimbabwean Scot living in a post-apocalyptic Edinburgh. Her grandmother and her sister live with her in a small trailer in a slummy area, where Ropa manages to pay the rent by taking messages from the dead to the living (if they will make payment). Her mbira (an instrument of the Shona in Zimbabwe) assists her stabilizing these “deaders" and helping them move on to the next plain.

Much against her better judgment, Ropa ends up helping a ghost whose folk are unable to pay, but when admonished by her grandmother Ropa gives it her all. Her friend Jomo wants to show off his new gig at The Library of the Dead, getting both of them in trouble, but inadvertently getting Ropa a library membership and new friends and magical training. Huchu keeps a lot of balls in the air, juggling madly, and keeps the plot and the action rolling along nicely.

I have to say I'm not surprised by Aaronovitch’s reccie, as Ropa reminds me of a less fortunate Peter Grant. Add to that her fox friend, River, who invites herself along on some occasions and the ability to speak with ghosts, plus raw talent for using magic, and I see so many links between the two authors. Ropa, however, has to avoid coppers like Peter, who are corrupt in this version of Edinburgh. She's much more into education than my Peter and grasps every advantage with both hands.

Needless to say, there are threads left hanging at book's end. The main problem has mostly wrapped up, but there are details still to sort and bigger things floating on the horizon. For those of us who adore urban fantasy, I think Ms. Huchu will be an author to watch. I certainly shall be.


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Must Love Hellhounds / Charlaine Harris et al.

 

Must Love Hellhounds by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

***2021 Dog Days of Summer***

It's time for my summer theme and this year I have chosen to read books that include canine companions. This collection of four short fiction pieces feature hellhounds, sometimes as companions, sometimes as obstacles to be dealt with. It seems that Cerberus, the three headed hound of the underworld, is the model for many authors' visions of a hellhound. (It amuses me that Cerberus apparently means “spotted" which suggests that Hades named his dog Spot.)


Hades & Cerberus (Wikipedia)

I was familiar with three out of four of the authors in this collection. The story by Charlaine Harris was not to my taste at all. I find her fiction based in the American South to be far superior to this purely fantasy setting. Plus I'm not a fan of stories where the characters visit Hell. Not an easy location to make believable.

Nalini Singh writes good romance and is one of the more skillful writers of sex scenes. She doesn't seem to have the same inhibitions as other authors and writes unselfconsciously. The story included here is part of her angel series, rather than the Psy-Changling series. Her angels have no religious connotations and would probably horrify those with strong religious convictions.

The Ilona Andrews story features Kate Daniels' BFF, Andrea. I had missed this story which details Andrea and Rafael becoming a couple and Kate & Andrea learning more about Teddy Jo. It was nice to fill in the blanks, though I did feel this story wasn't one of the Andrews' best. Perhaps I'm just hot and grumpy.

Meljean Brook's story was interesting. She has thought up original abilities for some of her characters. I found that I'd already marked a couple of her novels on my TBR list, so I may have run into a short story of hers before. This one ensures that I'll be sampling one of her novels soon.

A fast & fun summer read. Glad I found a copy of it.





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The Fire Dragon / Katharine Kerr

 

The Fire Dragon by Katharine Kerr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, I am now done with this series, having finished the last volume that I purchased. I'm amazed that I have persevered through eleven volumes of a series that I like okay, but don't love. But I am grateful that I didn't find more volumes when I was buying up second hand books for my reading project.

The best part of this book was the dragon, Arzosah. Her grumbling and rumbling was very entertaining. In order to get her, I was willing to put up with Rhodry and Dallandra. I think there were only two references to pig's farts, an improvement! And there was another good feature: many fewer pages devoted to Evander and the otherworld. That whole plot line seems to have been put to bed in the last pages here (and none too soon). I never did see the sense of that aspect. Kerr also does a Shakespearean story arc with King-to-be Maryn back in Deverry. [Spoiler alert, there is a lot of dying, largely because the prince is a selfish, selfish man.]

Nevyn is still hanging in there, but he is disgusted with the king that he has helped to establish. I assume he will carry out his plans to vamoose in the next book. However, I am thrilled to say that this is none of my concern. I am free of Deverry, the Westfolk, the Guardians, Cerr Cawnen, the Horsekin, the whole lumpy lot of them!

I think there's a glass of wine in my future to celebrate!

Book number 420 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Death Waits in the Dark / Julia Buckley

 

Death Waits in the Dark by Julia Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


***2021 Dog Days of Summer***

It's time for my summer theme and this year I have chosen to read books that include canine companions. This series includes two German Shepherds, Heathcliff and Rochester. These good boys are still part of the action, although not featuring directly in the plot of this fourth book of the series. They are rather overshadowed by four abandoned kittens.

Buckley delves into Blue Lake history, where Camilla's late husband, James Graham, grew up. Lena and Camilla throw themselves into another investigation and the author has the inspired idea to have them read James' pre-marriage letters to Camilla for clues to what went on in 1971. There's no doubt that they have got on someone's last nerve, as mysterious, deadly events start to happen around the two women.

Early in the novel, Lena and Camilla are involved in a car crash and Lena's arm is badly broken. She not only has to struggle with a threatening situation, but a heavy cast and a reaction to the pain medication. She starts to question everything. But this is a cozy mystery, so I read on with the confidence that everything would get resolved.

I may as well come clean at this point and admit how much I dislike Camilla's love interest, Adam. I've been waiting for four books for him to be revealed as a villain and for four books I've been disappointed. This book sinks my theories completely as Adam gets his moment to shine.

There's just one volume left in this series and I hope to read it next month. As cozy mysteries go, this one is very good. Lena and Camilla may poke their noses into police business, but they aren't disrespectful and they share their findings. They leave the official investigating to Doug and Cliff, their friends on the force, and they concentrate on research and unofficial sources that the police don't have access to or time for. I'm going to feel a bit wistful when I finish these novels.



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Network Effect / Martha Wells

 

Network Effect by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, those F words! Feelings and friendship. Murderbot is much more comfortable with the F-bomb. I love these books, there is something worth quoting every couple of pages. Martha Wells‘ sense of humour is spot on for me.

This is the first novel-length Murderbot book and I hope there will be more. I had to be away from home yesterday (the parking lot was being patched and the lines repainted) so I was loitering at the public library. You know, reading. I first picked up a nonfiction book about crime scene techs, but found myself nodding. The only hard and fast rule at our library is no sleeping, so I switched quickly to Murderbot. Problem solved. (I'm going to enjoy the other book too, but you've got to know when to change course.)

I think so many of us love this murderous bot because we can empathize with its issues with humanity. I know I've got them. I struggle to identify emotions in real time and then figuring out what (if anything) to do about them. I need processing time, so I hear you Murderbot. Whatever our construct tells itself, “my humans" is starting to strongly resemble “my friends.“ Plus, when reunited with ART [Asshole Research Transport], MB finds that it is just as possessive of its crew. As observed by MB's humans: In a low voice, Ratthi commented to Overse, "Anyone who thinks machine intelligences don't have emotions needs to be in this very uncomfortable room right now.” When Murderbot explains its nickname for ART, the transport's crew says, “Oh, you do know Perihelion!” so there's mutual recognition.

I'm allowing myself to get up to date on this series this year and I hope I don't regret this choice. I've been borrowing them from the library, but I've begun acquiring my own copies this year. Once obtained, I hope to binge-read them just before the next new book is published. I can hardly wait!


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Madam, Will You Talk? / Mary Stewart

 

Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***2021 Dog Days of Summer***

It's time for my summer theme and this year I have chosen to read books that include canine companions. I've had remarkable luck with Mary Stewart this summer, this being the second novel of hers that I have thoroughly enjoyed. This one featured Rommel, a dog acquired by an unhappy boy during a distressing interlude in France.

Stewart uses a plot device that she will repeat in Nine Coaches Waiting , the fondness of a young woman for a little boy that she senses is in trouble. In both cases, she is correct and becomes embroiled in dangerous doings. At least in this book, I found the romance elements to be far more believable. The pace of the relationship was still precipitous by my standards. Apparently I am not very trusting!

My last foreign trip before the Covid-19 lockdown was to the south of France in 2019 so it was fun to revisit that part of the world through fiction. Since it was one of my favourite trips, there were many good memories. I'm sorry that the book passed so quickly—I will have to search for my own copy of it for my permanent collection.


In the mountains in France


The roads that I pictured Charity racing along



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Cryptonomicon / Neal Stephenson

 

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars?

If you are really into mathematics or a cryptography enthusiast, this is the book for you. There are pages devoted to solving physics problems. I skimmed those. TL;DR. Thankfully, Stephenson is a good writer and wrote amusingly of other things too. Also, if you are an Alan Turing fan, he is an influential character in this novel and you maybe would read it for his presence.

This book, for me, was an awful lot of reading for very little joy. I'm not enamoured of WWII novels, nor am I a fan of mathematical equations and graphs in fiction, so this was a poor choice for me and I only slogged onwards because it was part of my list of popular science fiction and fantasy titles. And I stubbornly wanted to know the ending. I was engaged enough to want to sort out how the descendants of the men who participated in the war finally resolved things. I confess to being underwhelmed by the finale.

For the right reader, this would be an excellent book. I believe people who enjoyed Gravity's Rainbow might also like this.

Book number 419 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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The Gabriel Hounds / Mary Stewart

 

The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***2021 Dog Days of Summer***

It's time for my summer theme and this year I have chosen to read books that include canine companions. The title of this romantic suspense novel hints at the presence of hounds and I am happy to report that there were two Salukis, Sofi and Star, that played a significant role in the proceedings. Not to mention a certain small dog that makes himself noticeable at the end.

This story has definitely aged awkwardly. I don't think you'll find too many young ladies nowadays passionately smooching their cousins, no matter how handsome. Mind you, Stewart uses this possibility in another of her novels, Touch Not the Cat. Geneticists tell us that cousin couples aren't really so bad, but I think most of us would shrink from the prospect now.

I'm sure I read this back in the 1970s when I was very much into Stewart and Victoria Holt. About a quarter of the way into the action, I got a niggling feeling that I knew where things were headed. Still, I enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. Stewart writes such gorgeous descriptions of the landscape, the birds, and the flowers of her settings. What she did for Greece in My Brother Michael she does for Syria in this novel. I assume that she visited the area, it is so beautifully realized. It was also fascinating to read about the area before the seemingly unending civil war that is currently blighting Syria.

Stewart manages to suitably threaten Christy and Charles, scions of an obviously wealthy and influential family, while making the reader wonder just what the heck is going on. She spins a good web, but their privileged status may make one slightly less sympathetic to their plight. Still, there was satisfaction in getting the ending sorted. If you enjoy romantic suspense or gothic mysteries, you will likely share my sentiments.



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Angel of the Overpass / Seanan McGuire

 

Angel of the Overpass by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My reading life is currently ruled by library due dates and I have been hoarding this book, the last of three that are all due on the same day. I love so many of Seanan McGuire’s novels and this one is no exception. The first book (Sparrow Hill Road) was a collection of short stories but the following volumes have been proper novels and up to McGuire's usual standards.

The Ghost Roads series takes those legends and urban myths about spectral phenomena and hangs it on a system of McGuire‘s own devising. She provides a field guide, the rules of their existence, and knowledge of the higher goddesses that make sure that everyone abides by their obligations. Our main character Rose is a hitcher, a hitchhiker ghost, who must interact with the living and gets to enjoy a bit of physicality if they lend her a jacket. Her pleasures are simple: a good cheeseburger, hot crisp fries, and a malted milk shake. Pie and coffee. A chance to rest and be warm.

Rose's life is more complex than most hitchers, for she is pursued in death by the man who killed her, Bobby Cross. He ran her down with his supernatural car and has been chasing her ghost self ever since. Rose has learned to discern the smell of his arrival and to identify other potential victims and she has taken it upon herself to help those that she can.

This series is enmeshed with McGuire’s InCryptid series, so some of the details here are closely related to events in That Ain’t Witchcraft. Antimony Price has done the world a favour by killing the ghostly dealmaker known as The Crossroads. Now Rose gets to have a showdown with her killer without his sponsorship by the Crossroads. But Rose is just a little hitchhiker ghost, right?

Thank you, Ms. Mcguire, for another hit of one of my chosen addictions.


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Brave New World / Aldous Huxley

 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Somehow I was never required to read this in high school or university. I completely missed it until 2011 when I began my quirky science fiction and fantasy reading list. I remember reading it in close proximity to Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Between the three of those novels, I was moved to ditch my television and to marvel at the prescience of these three authors.

This book was first published in 1932! Huxley gets so many predictions spot on. For instance, the materialism that came to dominate in the twentieth century onwards. Planned obsolescence. People who obsessively pursue happiness and use a lot of substances to achieve that state. The ostracism of those who refuse to conform to this oppressive sameness. The perceived value of never being alone (an introvert's nightmare) and not having to do any self reflection. Use of drugs, prescription or otherwise, to control mood.

Some things haven't changed, namely old white men running this society and although “Everyone belongs to everyone" it's still the men who are doing the choosing. And they choose lots of women, just as powerful men today think it's their right to make that same choice.

What is the worth of happiness? Can you even know you're happy if you drug every mildly unpleasant emotion? I appreciated love much more after experiencing grief. It's the contrasts that make the positive things truly feel good. Can intelligent people truly never be really happy? Are we tormented by all of our philosophical & religious fancies? Maybe happiness happens in the contemplation of all of these questions.


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The Lady in the Lake / Raymond Chandler

 

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I hate people hard, but I don't hate them very long.

This was my July birthday selection for the Dead Writers Society and what an excellent choice it turned out to be. Raymond Chandler was a heavenly wordsmith and I always find myself inspired by his novels. He writes Philip Marlowe with such a laconic style. Not a word wasted, but we feel we know the man despite the complete lack of personal details. Do we know anything about the guy? We meet no family members, no friends, no past history. Yet, we feel he's a somewhat decent man, wanting to collar the correct criminal and know what really went down.

Whether he's describing a hand shake that “feels like a towel rack" or a climb that “a well-nourished mountain goat” could make, Chandler makes me smile. The mystery is there so Chandler allows Marlowe to solve it, but I always get the impression that describing the setting and establishing the atmosphere was more important to him. He seems to have a concern with police conduct, something familiar to twenty first century people. Sadly, some things never change.

The ending of this novel is weak, with Marlowe’s part of small significance, but I can't bring myself to dock a star. The vocabulary, the dialogue, and the writing are just too delicious.




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Manners & Mutiny / Gail Carriger

 

Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***2021 Dog Days of Summer***

It's time for my summer theme and this year I have chosen to read books that include canine companions. This series includes a mechanical dog (a mechanimal), Bumbersnoot. He's a semi-illegal contraption that our main character, Sophronia, has smuggled into her finishing school. More of a companion than an assistant, Bumbersnoot is seldom far from his mistress.

In this final installment of the Finishing School series, Sophronia must put all of her intelligencer education to use. When her dirigible-based school is evacuated and hijacked by Picklemen and Flywaymen, she must count them and devise a plan to block their nefarious schemes. Old enemies transform into allies and old flirtations lose their fillip. But one young werewolf makes his mark on our heroine.

This series is set before the Parasol Protectorate books, but the next follows later characters, namely Alexia's daughter Prudence (whom I suspect may be misnamed). I look forward to further adventures in Ms. Carriger's world.



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Soldiers Live / Glen Cook

 

Soldiers Live by Glen Cook
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Black Company carries on. Croaker and Lady are back in the picture, having been rescued from the ice cavern under the glittering plain. They are older and their joints ache, they are semi-retired, because no one truly retires from the Black Company. So no one wants to listen to them, especially Sleepy, who is Captain of the Company now. Croaker is back to being the Annalist, a job he can't seem to find a volunteer for and everyone resists being voluntold. As he says at one point, “This is what happens when you get old. You start thinking. Worse, you start telling other people what you think.”

If you've read the previous eight volumes, you can be assured that the same plot line that we've been working on for a while now keeps rolling along. Kina, the goddess of death, is still trapped and they need to figure out a way to kill her. Croaker and Lady's daughter is still Kina's puppet, the Daughter of Darkness. The Company needs to get the hell out of the Shadowlands and return to their own world to deal with Lady’s sister, Soulcatcher. They do what the Black Company does, they roll along towards these goals with planning, determination, deception, and a fair amount of luck, while trying not to trample their honour, such as it is.

When interviewed back in 2005, Cook said he had plans for two more volumes of this series, but here we are more than fifteen years later with not a whisper of a publication date. This novel seems to wrap things up reasonably well, so I'm not sure where Cook would go in a new book. Not many of the old guard that we as readers have become fond of are still active and we haven't made the acquaintance of the new officers. Possibly the two young women semi-adopted late in this book by Croaker and Lady will be the focus, if they continue to share the duties of Annalist. That could be interesting. If Cook actually produces another BC book, I'll be up for it.

Book number 418 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Sufferance / Thomas King

 

Sufferance: A Novel by Thomas King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thomas King recently claimed that this is his final novel. If that's true (and I have no reason to doubt him) I am sad, but he is certainly going out with a bang. I loved this book. It reminded me a lot of his earlier work The Back of the Turtle and in some ways of his Thumps DreadfulWater mystery series. I have loved all of those books.

Jeremiah is a great narrator, which is kind of hilarious as he refuses to speak. Like Gabriel, from The Back of the Turtle, he is fleeing corporate America and has ended up back on his ancestral reserve. As usual, King creates a quirky cast of characters to fill the small community. No matter where Jeremiah goes to be alone, someone tracks him down. As part of his final package when he left his corporate job, he was awarded the ownership of the residential school of his mother's reserve. He's been living there, creating rock markers for the cemetery, with only an unnamed cat for company. And the crows.

King seems to have a fondness for cats. In Thumps DreadfulWater’s life, there was Freeway. As more and more people start taking a meddling interest in Jeremiah’s life, this feline gets christened Pancakes. And like Thumps, Jeremiah has his habitual rounds of town, breakfast here, coffee there, home for a nap, work in the graveyard. King manages to comment on the global economy and the immorality of excessive wealth while also examining issues closer to home—lack of clean water and proper sanitation on reserves, mould in homes, unmarked graves behind residential schools, unreliable politicians, lack of affordable housing. It is all just part of the wall paper, while Jeremiah can go stay in the hotel care of his former employer when the residential school gets too crowded.

The crows are the star of the show. They have three simple questions: can we steal it? Can we eat it? Can we shit on it? As Jeremiah observes, not very different from capitalists. They are the chorus to this Greek tragedy (and King does have Greek ancestry).

Mr. King, thank you for hours of reading pleasure. I confess that I hope something else will be the piece of grit that causes you to write another pearl of a novel, but I will be thankful for what you have given us.


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The Murder at the Vicarage / Agatha Christie

 

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this mystery in 2017 and I can't believe I didn't write a review! I was fairly new to Christie at that point. I am truly enjoying reading her works in publication order, one per month. I find it astounding that this is the first Miss Marple, she appears so complete and well developed already.

I am coming to the conclusion that I need to keep a closer eye on my neighbours. As the Rev. Clement states: “My dear young man, you underestimate the detective instinct of village life. In St. Mary Mead everyone knows your most intimate affairs. There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.” I am falling down on my duty as a spinster lady of uncertain age! We did recently receive a missive from the condo management board behoving us to be clothed when collecting mail from the communal mailboxes. Twas not me, as I am too slow moving for such shenanigans, but I have a hunch that I do know the streaker's identity. Perhaps a little more attention to such matters will make me a proper nosey old lady!

It's fun to relate certain details to Christie's own life. This book was written after her divorce and after her discovery of archaeology (and archaeologists). An archaeologist appears in this book, although it turns out that he's a fake. As revealed by Miss Marple’s nephew, also present right from the beginning. I enjoy Hercule Poirot, but I adore Jane Marple.


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Animal, Vegetable, Junk / Mark Bittman

 

Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a difficult read for a woman who grew up on a farm. Mind you, it was a small farm and we did mixed farming, a rarity these days. I learned to milk cows and to gather eggs. God help you if you said you were bored in the summertime! Mom would send us directly to the garden to pick peas, beans or berries. If none of those were ready, there was always weeding, a thankless task, as boring and repetitive as housework. The big days, when one of Mom's sisters would generally come over, were the canning days (pickles, relish, fruit) or chicken “processing" which involved decapitation (scary when you’re a kid), feather plucking (stinky), and evisceration (most fascinating, but I couldn't be convinced to do it). We ate venison until Mom announced that we were well enough off to eat our own beef & pork. We probably had a very healthy diet.

But as time went on, we were pushed more and more towards the “efficient “ factory farm model. I once asked my dad if he was disappointed that he didn't have a son to take over the farm. He replied that he was relieved that none of us felt compelled to carry on.

The adoption of agriculture has certainly led us directions that weren't readily apparent at the outset. Truly, it seemed like a good idea at the time. There are a lot of these books that examine the food industry and its many flaws. What it comes down to is big food businesses being greedy and exploitative. They don't want to pay workers, hence migrant labourers from Latin America. Our immigrants, who desperately need jobs, end up working horrible jobs in meat packing plants. Covid revealed how little their employers valued them and their health. We produce enough food worldwide to feed all seven billion of us, but distribution is uneven and governed by uncontrolled capitalism. What ever happened to earning enough to be comfortable and to helping our neighbours who have less? When did everyone decide that we should all aspire to be billionaires and grind others into the dust to achieve it?

This is a bit of a depressing read—agriculture, which should just be pure food production, turns out to have driven our history. Colonialism, slavery, monoculture crops, pesticides, genetically modified seed, ultra-processed foods, global warming, ongoing inequality, and forced migration. It's enough to make me long for a little piece of land with a well and a garden plot.

My to-do list:
- Support legislation to make life better for migrant labourers and low paid people in the food industry (remember that grocery store staff were called heroes during the pandemic and the grocery stores withdrew their higher pay at the first opportunity, despite making record profits?)
- Here in Canada, we need to provide a fast track to citizenship to Temporary Foreign Workers and welcome families of these folks.
- Community gardens! Enable city dwellers to grow some of their own food.
- Weed ultra-processed foods from my diet. I know this is difficult. I’ve developed a taste for some of it (Hawkins Cheezies, I'm looking at you).
- Support marketing restrictions, especially those targeting advertising junk to children.
- Support local farmers and growers. Shop at farmers markets. Buy local produce at the grocery store. Eat seasonally. (Half the reason I love cherries so much is that they are only available for a short time each year).
- Reduce meat consumption. Yes, it's delicious, but I can enjoy it sparingly.
- Support more palatable food in hospitals and elder housing facilities. Better food helps people heal faster and our elders deserve to look forward to their meals.

If Covid-19 has taught us nothing else, we now know the limitations of our food supply system. I've never seen more empty shelves in the stores. Various things that I couldn't find: garlic, baking powder, rice, and eggs. I know I'm going to be checking labels for things like country of origin now. Covid revealed that Canada had no vaccine production facilities and weren't making our own PPE. Yes, under normal circumstances we can import them cheaper, but we have to admit that some things are just worth spending more on. Health and food are among them.


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Kushiel's Dart / Jacqueline Carey

 

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have a hunch that this is a love-it-or-hate-it type of book. I fall in the first camp, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a heady mixture of sex and intrigue. Carey takes our world, gives it a twist, and creates a truly original society to populate it. I couldn't live there, but I'm happy to visit. I suspect some will be shocked by the main character's mixing of sexual pleasure and pain. If you wonder if you can handle it, may I ask “Have you read The Shadow of the Torturer (Gene Wolfe) or Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind)?” If you liked either of those, this novel should be within your tolerance zone. (I only read 2 of Goodkind's books because the misogyny wore me down, along with the violence.)

I've recently completed three of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series, another woman-authored sex and intrigue saga. In my opinion, Carey is far superior. She gives us an intelligent female main character, while Bishop writes from a male POV, observing the supposedly powerful woman who seems to often need his rescue. Phedre may get into scrapes, but she takes them into her own hands and learns from them. Her circle of trusted people is small, but sufficient. Plus, the opposition is not over done—they are regular people in pursuit of their own goals, not cardboard cut out villains like Bishop's. Which produces more tension, really, because we probably have people like that in our own lives. We can identify.

I spent this afternoon finishing up this book, while experiencing side effects from my second covid shot. Stupid me, it took me ages to realize what was going on. I'm running a temperature and my arm hurts like fury! Perhaps that's why I bawled through the last several chapters. It certainly hasn't helped my headache, but it has opened up my heart a bit. I will definitely be reading on to see where Phedre goes next.

Book number 417 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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Tarzan of the Apes / Edgar Rice Burroughs

 

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars?

Tarzan has become an iconic figure in our popular culture, but how many of us have read the original story? Until now I sure hadn't. My exposure to the ape man was through comic books and television. I have hazy memories of going to the cinema to see the movie Greystoke back in the 80s when I was in university. Burroughs created a story that we can pick and choose from to explore whatever issue we're currently worried about.

Now, I have attended lectures by one of heroes, Jane Goodall, who likes to share her relationship to Tarzan. She was quite adamant that she was far superior to Burroughs’ Jane! I was quite surprised in the first chapter when the author introduces us to the apes. Footnotes inform me that Burroughs invented this particular species, but they display some very authentic chimpanzee behaviours. The power structure of the group, survival of the toughest, for example. The way they travel through their territory depending on where food is accessible. The scattering of the group as they forage. Their search for ants and opportunistic consumption of flesh when available, though it is rare, just as Burroughs depicts it. And all this before Jane Goodall’s research began! Mind you, he also makes them monogamous (can't offend the readers' mothers after all) and gives them rudimentary language, so it's not a perfect thing.

I can't say strongly enough, if you have African heritage you should leave this book on the shelf. You will find it really offensive. It was a colonial viewpoint of the time to see Africans as superstitious cannibals, so that is what we get here. Contrasts are made between the “civilized” and the “primitive" through telling what Tarzan's cousin in the House of Lords is doing while he brawls and eats raw meat. (As if there isn't plenty of chimp-like poo flinging that happens in the House!) When Jane arrives on the scene, his aristocratic heritage, however, surges within him, and he behaves like a perfect gentleman.

I also see why Jane Goodall was scornful of Jane Porter! JP is a fluttering female with zero survival skills. She is completely ruled by convention, so despite her insta-love for her jungle rescuer, she can't imagine introducing him to polite society. She would rather be given out as a prize by her useless father. I don't think you'll find many 21st century women who want to be Jane Porter.

In the end, Tarzan gives us an interesting window into the mindset of 1912. Burroughs was an American and seems to have had a rather romantic view of European aristocracy, a paternalistic attitude toward women, and an interest in denigrating those of African heritage (as it seems too many still do).


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Memories of Ice / Steven Erikson

 

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What kind of synchronicity led me to read a nonfiction book on cannibalism concurrently with this installment of the Malazan? This allowed me a clear view of how Erikson was able to so effectively demonize the enemy facing the coalition of forces that includes the Bridgeburners. These epic fantasy novels revolve around various kinds of wars and this one gets additional oomph from the recoil from an enemy that embraces one of our strictest taboos.

I have to hand it to Erikson, he spins a convoluted tale, with so many factions that it's hard to keep them all sorted. But the more you read, the clearer it all becomes. He also succeeded in getting me to care about them, as I found my eyes leaking during the final chapters. The Bridgeburners remind me strongly of The Black Company, what with their nicknames and cunning plans. The death tolls among the prominent characters reminds me of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. The seeming hopelessness of the situation harks back to The Lord of the Rings, facing overwhelming odds.

I struggled with reading this during an extreme heatwave, my brain slowed by the discomfort. Although this might be a good spot to leave this saga, when the weather turns cooler I may attempt the next volume, despite its being another kitten squisher. After all, Erikson doesn't always leave his characters in their graves—they have a habit of returning in new forms and I'd like to see who comes back and what they plan to do now.

Book number 416 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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A Dark and Twisting Path / Julia Buckley

 

A Dark and Twisting Path by Julia Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***2021 Dog Days of Summer***

It's time for my summer theme and this year I have chosen to read books that include canine companions. This series includes two German Shepherds, Heathcliff and Rochester. Now that the heroine, Lena, has a definite love interest, the dogs don't get as much page time, but they are still a definite presence. In this book, they get to protect their home and bite a burglar, leaving a piece of blood stained denim for the police to find.

I continue to be surprised at how much I enjoy this cozy mystery series. I think the difference it presents is that the amateur sleuths don't keep their clues to themselves, they include the police at every step. I also love that the local research librarian is part of Lena's inner circle.

One thing is driving me crazy--there's one character that I find somewhat creepy and I keep expecting him to be involved in the crimes. Is Buckley just saving him for farther down the road or am I completely misreading the guy? Time will tell, as there are two novels remaining in the series and I plan to read them before the summer is done.




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