Tag: Book Review

Book Review: Escape from Tekmar I

HC provides the first review of Kiti Lappi’s Escape from Tekmar, the seventh book to be presented in the Lions Den series.

Rahan and Ryn are partners on assignment for an interstellar agency that monitors the health of ecosystems on terraformed planets. In any other circumstance, one might consider Rahan a badass. Unfortunately, his superior officer, Ryn, is one of the genetically engineered Shemasharra. He’s stronger, faster, smarter, and better looking. He’s also a near mind-reading Boy Scout: honest, fair, ready to help old ladies and inferior men alike to cross dangerous intersections, neither asking nor accepting any reward. Little wonder Rahan finds him so irritating.

The two men are forced to make an unscheduled stop for repairs on Tekmar, a financially and technologically poor world with a paranoid police state and a xenophobic populace. To minimize the potential for conflict, Ryn remains on board the ship, while Rahan deals with the locals. While absorbing a little local culture, he meets a girl named Lida, and they spend several days together sight-seeing. Of course, Lida has an ulterior motive: she’s a member of a revolutionary group that wants to destroy Tekmar’s rigid feudalism. The organization is in desperate need of cash, and there are people who will pay a high price for a live Shemasharra. Rahan and Ryn are kidnapped by a faction of the revolutionaries led by a man named Kerrin who intends to sell them to a mysterious group of off-worlders. Fisticuffs, cyborgs, shootouts, dogfights, and races against time follow.

The Good: Escape from Tekmar is a good adventure story with a suspenseful plot and several secondaries involving the relationships of Rahan with Ryn, Rahan with Lida, and Lida with Kerrin. Lappi portrayed some aspects of those relationships well. For example, Rahan resents Ryn for being superior and for being patient and patronizing. Rahan comes across like a spoiled teenager acting out in passive aggressive rebellion, and I think that’s precisely what Lappi intended the reader to see.

There are several exciting and suspenseful sequences. One of the best scenes is a fight between Rahan and Kerrin, whose cybernetically enhanced skeleton and musculature can’t quite make up for his lack of imagination. Later, Rahan pilots an aged sports flyer and has to outwit surveillance drones and police cruisers.

On the more cerebral side, the author indulges in some interesting speculation on space travel and colonization, genetic engineering, terraforming, politics, and more. Most of that is interesting and worth discussing over a few beers.

The Bad: Tekmar is a good concept piece and rough first draft, but it’s a long way from publication readiness. Almost all of the flaws can be traced to two insufficiencies with which I’m reasonably sure the author will agree:

Lack of depth in the English language

Before I say anything else, Lappi’s native language is Finnish, and I have nothing but respect for someone who attempts to write fiction in a foreign language. Especially in English, the linguistic Borg. I once possessed a familiarity with conversational Russian, but I couldn’t keep up with her alcohol consumption. She left me for a more attentive linguist. I’ve also picked up bits and pieces of half a dozen other languages over the years. Here’s what I finally learned: Effective communication in a foreign tongue is very difficult. Ms. Lappi has that down. Artistic communication, on the other hand, is virtually impossible for most people as they can’t even hope to accomplish it in their own language.

Ms. Lappi’s vocabulary is very simple, but that is only a problem if her target audience is adults. It’s spot on for a mid-grade audience. If she wants to write for adults, I recommend she starts reading Ursula LeGuin, Walter Miller Jr., or Dan Simmons with a dictionary at her side, looking up every interesting or unfamiliar word. (A related word of advice for all writers: Ignore readability tests. Any test that tells you Ray Bradbury wrote at a fifth grade level is worthless.)

Tekmar also has a significant number of punctuation errors, run-on sentences, double words, and awkward constructions, probably cultural and linguistic artifacts. (Let me know if you want specific examples.) Another odd thing: every instance of the character string “aining”, such as in “training” and “raining,” seems to have been replaced by “Amarng,” which looks oddly like a problem with optical character recognition software. On the plus side, there are very few spelling errors compared to most self-published work.


Lack of discipline in storytelling.

The greatest flaw in Tekmar is excessive exposition. The opening scene is fatally interrupted by pages of rambling history, disrupting the flow and dramatic tension. Many readers won’t get past the third or fourth page. Throughout the story, Ms. Lappi commits the cardinal literary sin of “telling, not showing” with abandon.

The characters are shallow. It seemed to me that Rahan and Ryn behave more like women in the secretarial pool than masculine adventurers. The Shemasharra are too perfect. That helped me sympathize with Rahan at the start, but before long I found myself hoping Ms. Lappi would kill Ryn off early. On the other hand, Kerrin was too despicable. Every bad guy needs to be admirable in some way, but he was just a low-IQ strong man with a jealous, vindictive streak. His only positive quality was surgically implanted and admittedly third rate technology. I kept looking for the mysterious slave traders to take over his role.

Finally, I was mildly annoyed with some of the technological anachronisms. For example, how can an organization that possesses artificial intelligence capable of infiltrating an entire planet’s police and military networks not have the data processing capacity to handle the incoming data from its scattered survey missions? They can build FTL starships, but they can’t make a hideable security camera? I can believe this is possible, but I’d like some kind of explanation. (But show me. Don’t tell me.) This is a very common problem in science fiction, and only the best writers are able to overcome it in a way that satisfies me.

Kiti Lappi has written a fun, middle-grade adventure story, but it needs to be tightened up. If she chooses to rework it, the next draft will likely take much more time and effort than she has spent to date. The challenges aren’t insurmountable, but they are significant.

Book Review: Come and Take Them III

RW provides the third review of Come and Take Them by Tom Kratman:

Tom Kratman’s Come and Take Them is the fifth book in his Carrera series.  This review of C&TT is based on this particular work alone since I have not read any of the previous four books in the Carrera series, which obviously influences my perception of key elements such as major characters and ideas, since many of these were most likely developed thoroughly in the thousands of pages that precede C&TT but only touched upon here.  With that caveat in place, I conditionally give a high recommendation for C&TT.  There are tradeoffs that the author made that weaken particular elements of the work when analyzed individually; but these decisions were made to forcefully drive the story forward, and the overall effect is that the work holds together very strongly.  Personally I enjoyed the book and plan to read the others in the series, but it is not hard to see where some people would not like Kratman’s style or opinions.

Characters (4/10)  Character development is sparse in C&TT.  One reason is that many among this “cast of thousands” (think Spartacus) serve little purpose other than to catch bullets (recommendation:  wait until a character has been mentioned in at least three chapters before becoming emotionally invested).  Kratman portrays these minor characters just enough so that the reader senses their humanity, then he shows them dying either heroically or cowardly, and usually gruesomely, very reminiscent of the realism found in Homer’s battle scenes.  For the major characters who were introduced earlier in the series, there is just enough description within either the introduction or from the context of their actions and thoughts to be able to reasonably infer what motivates them.  Occasionally the author will spend a brief moment elaborating on a character, particularly if it helps explain the actions that the he will take shortly, and less frequently as a bridge to other works in the series.  A third group, important characters who first appear in C&TT, lead to the rather poor review, as their introduction is little more than the author filling in a basic template.  Males are introduced with name, country of origin, and military rank or organizational position.  Females get the same introduction, but also with the vital statistics of hair color, eye color, breast size, and sexual orientation (somewhat comically, a woman’s first thought when meeting someone in this world is about sex).  Granted, these descriptions are more than adequate if the target audience is male, but this is one of the tradeoffs that Kratman makes: providing the bare minimum character development necessary for the story to proceed.

Prose (6/10)  Kratman’s perspective as narrator is very masculine, very militaristic.  This is not a criticism; it is very clean and direct and perfectly complements the tone of a book primarily about war.  A couple of notes about the structure of the book that I began to appreciate: the chapters are almost uniformly ten pages in length, and chapters do not end with the forced contrivance of cliff-hangers.  In other words, Kratman allows the reader to reach a good stopping point in short order, and also he has enough confidence in his storytelling that he doesn’t need to string you along to keep you interested.  The scoring for this element is mid-range for three reasons.  First, it is a warning to readers who prefer a more florid tome – I recall seeing only one metaphor in the entire 563 pages.  Second, and probably more important to readers of science fiction, is the description of the landscape of Terra Nova, which is essentially Earth’s geography physically and politically, except where the author says it’s different.  If you are looking for new worlds to explore, then move along.  Likewise, Kratman gives sufficient yet concise descriptions of the military technology employed, so readers will not confuse him with Clancy when it comes to details.  Similar to the final assessment of character development, each of these three criticisms represent tradeoffs that the author made to keep the story on track.

Plot (8/10)  The briefest of summaries is that Balboa defends itself against an attack by the elitist Tauran Union (change the names to Panama and European Union and you’ll be up to speed).  Carrera is the main protagonist, who makes most of the military decisions for Balboa, rightfully so, seeing how it apparently is his money that purchases the military equipment and supports most of the economy.  Over half of the book is about the preparations that he engages the country in to make it ready for the imminent battle.  An interesting, though not fully developed, parallel thread is Carrera preparing his son Hamilcar for adulthood.  This appears to be an arc that plays out over the series, with some issues brought up in C&TT that will probably be instrumental in later volumes.  Similar arcs are passed through while potential new storylines are introduced, but primarily the story takes place within the boundaries of Balboa and is mainly contained to the time around the preparation for and execution of the battle.  Even though a substantial portion of the book is about preparing for battle, Kratman keeps the story flowing by building tension as events escalate.  He efficiently provides enough detail of the military equipment along with strategies and tactics to keep the story interesting but not overburdened.  When the battle finally commences, Kratman switches gears to short blurbs, very briefly describing battlefields all across the countryside.  Who is winning individual battles is fairly clear, but who is winning the overall war, not so much.  Overall the storyline was thoroughly engaging.

Ideas (8/10)  There appear to be continuously developing themes over the series regarding national identity and political structures which are continued in C&TT.  Other ideas briefly discussed include whether measurements of intelligence correspond to leadership aptitude and whether it is ethically acceptable to include physically and mentally handicapped and also children in the military.  Though apparently discussed more thoroughly in the fourth book of the series, the Amazon Legion, there is a discussion of how military units comprised exclusively of women, or homosexuals, would function in battle.  But the overarching idea of this book goes back to the title: “Come and Take Them” (if there were any doubt as to the reference, “Molon Labe” on the front cover should dispel it).  There are essential elements that must be true for that quote to have any backbone.  First is whether you should possess “them.”  Kratman addresses this by contrasting militarized Balboans to their pacifist neighbors to the east, the residents of Santa Josefina, who rely on the goodwill and peaceful intentions of the rest of the world.  They are overrun by the Taurans and don’t even recognize it.  Second, you must possess “them” prior to the time you need them.  Balboa procures various weapons, from heavy artillery and armaments to their own navy and small air force, while recognizing that there are opportunity costs.  Third, you must know how to use “them.”  Carrera sets up a three-tier military of highly trained regular, reserve, and militia units, along with establishing multiple military academies across the country.  Finally, you must be willing to use “them.”  After the Balboans decide to go all in, now the Taurans must determine how committed they are to victory – is it worth the cost to them as much as it is to Balboa?  These questions are pertinent to both the preparedness of a country as well as to individuals and families.

Book Review: Come and Take Them II

CK is the second to review Come and Take Them, by Tom Kratman.

Tom Kratman’s Come and Take Them is an exciting continuation of his
Carreraverse series, and lays some interesting foundations for future
series developments. While it is possible to enjoy CATT on it’s own
merits, I recommend that readers read the rest of the series first, as I
will explain further into the review.

Prose: 7/10  Competently done,
describes the action clearly concisely and with verisimilitude. There are
no particular passages that stand out as literary masterpieces. I
believe that this is a deliberate stylistic choice as the main concern
of the novel is to tell the story, and especially with this series,
convey the ideas therein. Since this novel is as much a polemic as a
story, and the author personally hates too clever by half literary
pretension, the prose is deliberately stripped down. Of particular value
is the description of combat, and it’s vagaries. Our society has fewer
and fewer people familiar with just how dangerous modern combat can be,
and far too many x box warriors who think a SEAL team can kill anything.
In it’s own way, the stripped down, economical use of language portrays
the difficulties combat more effectively by focusing on the
essentials. 
Plot: 6/10  Above average, especially for
military technothriller/ military scifi. Things go wrong, the Good Guys
are not infallible, and the Bad Guys aren’t totally incompetent.
Mistakes are made on both sides, for understandable reasons. The
Balboans fail to anticipate an obvious antagonists’ attempt to seize
power, starting the war they wished to avoid. While things go generally
the way they want, serious errors are made that could have disastrous
repercussions. The Taurans, despite being arrogant, vain, and encumbered
by a sclerotic bureaucracy, are brave, tough and competent. and are
able to inflict serious damage on their adversaries. The twists and
somewhat telegraphed, and there are no major surprises, but it doesn’t
bog down anywhere, and enjoyable throughout.
Characters 8/10  Perhaps the author’s
strongest suit as a writer is the ability to create believable,
fallible characters. Every major character is complex, with
understandable motivations, emotions, and actions that flow logically
from those motivations. Each character also has strengths as well as
flaws. For instance, Raul Parilla the President of Balboa, is personally
brave, honest, and loyal, yet can be indecisive and overly cautious.
Admiral Wallenstein is sexually perverse, vain, and yet determined,
capable and politically savvy. No one side has a lock on virtue, or on
vice, and the conflict is heightened by the wholly believable goals and
motivations of the characters.
Ideas 7/10  Perhaps the least ideological
book the author has published, the Ideas developed earlier in the series
are worked out here in a more straight forward action oriented manner.
For instance the heavily ideological Amazon Legion was nearly all
polemic, and the action covered there in brief is treated with more
detail in this book. This however is still a Kratman book, and ideas are
always behind the scenes somewhere. Readers of VP do not need to be
told that our elites are perverse, vain, totalitarian, and humorless,
but others might yet have faith in them. Come and Take Them demolishes
that Faith rather effectively. The individual soldiers of Taurus are
portrayed in an almost wholly favorable light, brave, resourceful, and
tough. The leadership of Taurus, The Federated States, the Old Earth
Peace Fleet, and Balboas neighbors have none of the virtues associated
with maintaining civilization. This I think is the key to understanding
the whole series, and why I believe that this book and the associated
series are must reads for anyone interested in preserving civilization.
I rated the novel as 28/40, very good, but not a
Great Book. Why do I believe this series is a must read for all
civilized people? Simple, Tom Kratman is not primarily a novelist, he is
a pro civilizational polemicist whose chosen medium is novels. After
all Heinlein and Rand did more for libertarianism than any economics
text by Rothbard, despite Rothbard’s superior intellectual rigor.
Stories are the best way to reach the average person, and are far more
enjoyable than political tracts to read, so Tom tells stories.
Tom predicted US losses in the Middle East years ago, because we
refused to recognize the nature of our enemy and act accordingly. In A
Desert Called Peace and Carnifex, Tom show what an actual winning
strategy would look like, and shows further why our present elite are
unable to execute such a strategy for purely ideological reasons. In
addition, the decadence, sexual perversion, disloyalty, and arrogance of
our bankster-political elite are on display throughout the series. Tom
shows some familiarity with taboo topics such as HBD and the SMP which
is refreshing.  
I don’t know if Tom is familiar with the Anon Conservative, but
these books are a textbook of how to perform an amygdala hijack of
leftist rabbits. Read negative Amazon reviews of Amazon Legion or Watch on the Rhine. Leftists
literally can’t comprehend the book, engage with the ideas, or even
begin to refute them. For instance through the whole series, some
opposition soldiers are portrayed as brave, loyal and deserving of
respect, even if their leaders aren’t. The Iraqi and Jihadis analogues
are treated with more respect than the liberal progressive in the
analogous US and EU, and they deserve it. 
This of course terrifies rabbits because they themselves are
neither brave or loyal, and if the wolves they depend upon to protect
them, feed them, keep them warm and make thier stuff ever have enough,
they are going to die, and they know it. Note that competence while
desired, is not necessarily required to be worthy of in group loyalty.
For instance, the legion takes care of the totally disabled and their
families, at considerable expense, because they are members of the
legion. The purely transactional relationships of the elite are shown to
be ultimately hollow and worthless, as are our current rabbits promises
and relationships. If you value civilization and want to preserve it,
you can do yourself a favor and read the Carrera Series, or anything
else by Tom Kratman.

Book Review: Come and Take Them I

FP is the first to review Come and Take Them, by Tom Kratman.

Tom Kratman is one of
today’s premier practitioners of military-oriented fiction. His
“CarreraVerse” SF series and his “Countdown”
just-barely-future series both display his talents in that genre.
Come And Take Them is the latest entry in the “CarreraVerse”
line, wherein retired soldier Patrick Hennesey di Carrera returns to
the colors in service to his adopted home of Balboa on Terra Nova,
against all enemies foreign and domestic, and in so doing reshapes
the politics of his world.

Terra Nova is a
designed world. The hypothesized race that designed it,
conventionally called the Noahs, appear to have intended it for
eventual human occupancy. Whether they knew that Man would bring his
legacy of strife along with him, no one can say. In any case, the
inter-religious and international animosities that gave rise to so
much warfare on Old Earth have found their way to the new world, and
Carrera has been in the thick of them for five volumes with more to
come.
The Timocratic Republic
of Balboa owes its current political structure and much else to
Carrera and President Raul Parilla. That structure depends heavily on
the Legion del Cid, created by Carrera and Parilla to provide
Balboa with a military of high quality. It has also been an
instrument for the transformation of their nation, as readers of the
first three books — A Desert Called Peace, Carnifex, and The
Lotus Eaters — will already be aware.
The other nations of
Terra Nova are not happy about Balboa’s acquisition of such a
powerful, politically dominant fighting force. To Balboa’s west, the
Tauran Union, a multinational alliance in the style of today’s
European Union but with many more soldiers and guns, seeks to
impose its will on the small republic. It’s an effort in which the
Taurans have the support of the orbiting “Peace Fleet” from
Old Earth. Nominally there only to suppress warfare below, the Peace
Fleet has the additional mission of preventing Terra Nova or any of
its nations from becoming capable of threatening the corrupt
hereditary oligarchy that bestrides the mother world. To that end,
its masters would dearly love to see the threat of Balboa put down
for good.
Come And Take Them
concerns itself with events before and during the Tauran Union’s
attempt to evict the Carrera-designed government of Balboa, and to
install a puppet regime biddable by the TU’s masters. Its timespan is
roughly coextensive with that from the end of The Lotus Eaters
through the events of The Amazon Legion. As one might
expect of a novel from a specialist in military fiction, much of the
book is concerned with war and the preparations for it. However,
Kratman has another mission alongside that one: to depict the
swelling of regret within Carrera himself over having militarized his
nation, thus exposing it to the enmity of the Taurans and others.
Carrera has sickened of
bloodshed, and is particularly contrite about the all but certain
high price his nation will pay when it faces off against the Taurans,
as he believes, correctly, it must. However, he’s a soldier, bound to
his profession as much by its ethic as by his aptitudes and
experience. Despite the certainty of mass death, he contrives a plan
by which his tiny republic can defeat the far larger Tauran Union,
and in so doing create a continent-sized political upheaval that
might result in a new birth of freedom for millions beyond Balboa’s
borders.
Come And Take Them
is a big book, replete with plot subthreads and secondary adventures
in which Supporting Cast characters rise to local prominence, whether
they live and triumph or fail and die. There are splashes of highly
colored drama throughout the action. The reader is advised to give it
his full attention, perhaps with the aid of a large map of Balboa and
a lot of little counters to represent the units fighting over it. A
dramatis personae annotated with character sketches and
timelines might also be advisable. Though it must be read slowly and
with concentration to get the maximum enjoyment from its richness,
the effort is amply repaid.
There will be more
segments in the “CarreraVerse” series. The best way to
prepare for them is to absorb this one in all its bright and gory
spectacle, and to reflect on the questions that forever hang over all
tests of arms: How high a price ought one to be willing to pay for
one’s objectives? At what point must a man, a commander, or a nation
say, “Enough,” and act accordingly?
The thrust of the
question may change according to whether the lead is or is not
already flying, but its urgency does not. From the vengeance and bloodshed of A Desert Called Peace and the steady army and nation-building of Carnifex and The Lotus Eaters, Come And Take Them continues the completion of a portrait of patriotism, heroism, and the ultimate price that must be paid in their service. Highly recommended.

Audiobook Review: A Magic Broken

eShamus reviewed A Magic Broken on Amazon:

This book seems to represent a clever marketing conceit: take the tight first five chapters of your book, make them stand alone (include all three acts) and sell it as a novella. This works well here. Yes, it’s a lead-in to a larger book, but it stands alone as both a fulfilling literary meal and an appetizer for more of the author’s work.

I recommend it highly.

The plot of the book is small in scope – appropriate to a novella – but hints at larger machinations, particularly in its conclusion. The story is told from the perspective of two seeming protagonists, a technique that pays off at the conclusion. (8/10)

A Magic Broken’s characters lack some complexity. They are archetypical, which is likely necessary in a novella intended to introduce the reader to an array of types and characters. Despite this, the key protagonist is strong and easily identified with. There’s no wishy-washy uncertainty or hand wringing over trivial issues. Our lead is strong, bold, competent and formidable. The author has skill with the ‘male voice’. It is passé to comment on authors (of either gender) and their ability with the ‘female voice.’ This author accurately captures a masculine hero’s point of view, wit, thoughts, and action. You want a direct, witty, slightly cocky hero? You got him. It’s easy to lose yourself in the character because he owns the traits you wish you’d embody were you in his shoes. This strength outshines the lack of complexity with which other characters may be rendered. Our hero could easily be Nicolai Hel traversing Middle Earth. Beautiful and captivating. How long do you think it would take Nicolai Hel to destroy the ring—or would he? This book opens possibilities that may (in future writings) blow through assumed limitations in fantasy. (8/10)

Scenery/Description is suited for the fantasy world. Pay attention in the beginning because the author seems to take words seriously and descriptions you may skim over will become strategically / tactically relevant soon. There is little wasted scenery. (8/10)

This review is specifically of the audio presentation. In the first 15-20 minutes, the narrator seemed to struggle to find his voice and the voices of the characters. It was the least valuable part of the presentation and hurt the delivery. But as the story unfolded, so too did the reader’s ability. Suddenly characters had unique vocal tics and tone. Accents, range, and emphasis more fully identified the characters. As much as the first 10% disappointed me, suddenly the narrator came to life and it was like listening to Aragorn reciting the history of the Two Towers. (9/10)

Strong writing, good plotting, a hero you will root for, and an audio presentation that grows stronger as it proceeds. I recommend this audio recording.

A common theme appears to be emerging in the early reviews of the AMB audiobook, which is that Nick Afka Thomas is the right man for the narrative job. I’m quite pleased that the listeners appear to appreciate him as much as I did when I first heard his demo reading.

Mailvox: “a fine book”

Some time ago, I got an email from a bestselling author, who shall remain nameless. Said author informed me that they had picked up two of the Selenoth shorts as free downloads from Amazon and found them to be more entertaining than expected. That was nice to hear, but the following review, which arrived in my email yesterday along with permission to post it here, was remarkably gracious and unexpectedly positive.

A Throne of Bones by Vox Day is not a novel for just anyone. The scope and ambition of the world and the numerous storylines would probably be overwhelming to the casual reader of fantasy fiction – and perhaps even those who enjoy the novels of George R.R. Martin or similar writers of massive fantasy tomes. At times, A Throne of Bones even forced me to mentally review my Roman and biblical history, and it stretched my vague memories of Latin to the limit.

I cannot say that I’m surprised that traditional publishing houses passed on this work. I imagine that many editors who looked at it were intimidated by it in terms of content and length. This is not an easy novel, and if one’s only background is a Bachelor’s degree in English, as an editor it would appear to be an impossible mountain to climb in terms of the required knowledge to do it justice. I very much found myself wondering what would have happened had it been published by a large house with a marketing campaign behind it.

As an editor myself, I would have felt compelled to take a run at it, and no doubt would have advised Vox Day to take a couple of different directions than he did, but the end result of his work cannot be denied: it’s a fine book and one to recommend to people who like their fantasy novels with genuine width and depth. All in all, A Throne of Bones offers an incredibly in-depth story, and a remarkable level of craftsmanship in the world building.

As an author, I’d suggest that old advice is good advice: don’t try this at home. Not very many writers have the ability to pull off something this ambitious, but Vox Day did. A Throne of Bones would be a career achievement any writer would be proud to call his own.

It’s been a surprisingly exciting ten months since Marcher Lord Hinterlands published A Throne of Bones. I’ve been formally barred from some Christian awards and nominated for others. I’ve been rejected by an international publishing house that loved the book because I’m too personally controversial. And I’m the first writer in history to be kicked out of the SFWA.

Even so, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t trade my literary career for any living author who isn’t named either a) Neal Stephenson or b) Umberto Eco.

Now, I’m not unaware of the gentle criticism implicit in the review, notwithstanding the kind words of praise. The book could certainly be better, and I am optimistic that the second book in the series will be, although no book I write is ever likely to be a masterwork of literary style. But the author, editor, and reviewer was dead-on. A Throne of Bones is not a book for everyone and it was never intended to be. I am simply pleased to know that it appears to have reached a few of its ideal readers and is appreciated for what it is.

Book review: Lights in the Deep

LD provides a second look at Brad Torgersen’s Lights in the Deep:

I went into this with two disadvantages: I wasn’t at all familiar with
the author, and I haven’t regularly read short form science fiction for
many, many years. I ended up enjoying this collection nonetheless.

Diving into these stories quickly reminded me why I’m not as
big a fan of short stories as I used to be–the limitations in form
itself. As a young man I would devour short stories, but just about any
author, but particularly Larry Niven, Heinlein, Zelazy, Keith Laumer,
Robert Sheckley, and other similar authors. Back then, quick dips into
short stories appealed to me, but now that I’m an old man, I find my
tastes trending toward larger sized (huge) Space Operas from Peter F.
Hamilton, Neal Asher, Alastair Reynolds, etc.

The only recent short story collections I had read were by
Hamilton, and those were related for the most part to the various novels
he’s written, so this was my first dive into a collection like this in
years.

I’ll make quick comments about each entry in the collection and then give my summary.

The
Three Introductions – I read them, but I couldn’t tell you a thing
about them now. They were nice, but didn’t contain anything memorable.
Neither a plus, nor a minus to the whole.

Outbound – Quite a good story, one that I would have been
happy to see expanded to novel length. For me the downsides were the
brevity of this story… I wanted more detail about this setting.

Gemini 17 – A nice exploration of a *slightly* alternate history. Fun story with a good, humorous ending.

Influences: Allan Cole and Chris Bunch – I’m not familiar with
either author, but it’s always nice to see the influences in an
author’s background.

The Bullfrog Radio Astronomy Project –
Be careful what you transmit or the Men in Black (or are they) will
come for you. It brought back memories of laughing at the Art Bell show.

Exiles of Eden – Another nice story. I figured out what was
happening before the characters did. It’s an interesting concept that
you’ll be familiar with if you’ve read Alastair Reynolds “Revelation
Space” novels.

Writer Dad: Mike Resnick – More background on the author.

Footprints – A character piece. Perhaps a bit too “literary” for my tastes.

The
Exchange Officers – This excellent story is the polar opposite of most
of the previous stories. It has action, combat, technology, and less
emphasis on memories, and feelings. Perhaps my second favorite story in
the collection.

Essay: On the Growth of Fantasy and the Waning of Science
Fiction – An excellent subject to discuss that’s quite relevant to my
own thoughts and tastes. I’m NOT a fantasy fan. I’ve read Lord of the
Rings once, and that was quite enough for me thank you. I enjoy the Game
of Thrones TV show, but my attempt to start reading the first novel
resulted in boredom and sleepytime. I’m a HARD SF kinda guy, and this
essay covers some of the things that bug me with current SF/Fantasy–I
hate Star Wars, especially the second trilogy, I only liked the original
Star Trek, anyone who likes Avatar is an Ava-tard in my book. My
opinion is that the growth of fantasy reflects the decline of STEM in
modern American society. Fantasy is perfect for those with less than a
firm grasp on science.

The Chaplain’s Assistant – A return to a “character-based”
story. Interesting, but ultimately boring to me. I was not enthused to
find out that the next long story in this collection was a sequel to
this.

The Chaplain’s Legacy – My lack of enthusiasm for the previous
story caused me to put the entire collection down for a few days, but I
had volunteered to review this book for Vox, so I did my duty and read
the story. The good news is that I liked this much more than the
previous short, though in my opinion the size could have been condensed.

The Hero’s Tongue: Larry Niven – Of all of the essays in the
book, this one was the most enjoyable for me because of my own fondness
for Niven.

Exanastasis – Interesting, enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable.

Ray of Light – The final story of the collection and probably
my favorite. There were points in this story where I thought it was
going to break badly, but the story didn’t go in the direction I thought
it would end up, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The last story really brought my opinion of the whole
collection back up from a low spot. I enjoy Torgerson’s writing style,
and I will look up some of his longer work, but probably not the
forthcoming “Chaplain” story.

I’d give this collection a solid 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Tour of Duty II

BW reviews Michael Z. Williamson’s Tour of Duty.

Tour of Duty is a pretty decent collection of short stories by Michael Z. Williamson. I enjoyed it. The sci-fi was detailed and exciting. The short stories set in hell didn’t fail to drag out a chuckle or two. Crazy Einar was a particular favorite. If I was a more barbarous man I’d take his advice, find the perfect ax for a large Germanic man’s rampage and enjoy ‘spoils’.

I hadn’t heard of Michael Z. Williamson and his Freehold except in passing, nor, sad as it may be, the Valdemar universe. This likely wasn’t the best introduction to either. There is a lack of context in my mind. I know that there’s some sci-fi things happening, and the hints of the people and events outside the small viewpoint are tantalizing. I wanted more.

His skill seems to be in the military recounting and strong realism. There’s strong organization in the tales. His past in the military comes out in the many science fiction short stories and personal tales. Military people writing fiction about military things adds a feeling that isn’t in non-military writers. Each story has precision to it, no word wasted or gained, which I favor.

As the other reviewer mentioned, this is a difficult book to review, so I’ll focus on my two favorites.

I mentioned the ‘Lawyers in Hell’ before, but I thought that ‘A Hard Day At The Office’ was superior. Hellfrica seems a terrible place, yet appropriate. Anyone can make a story about lawyers in hell, it takes a lot more effort to kill Theodore Roosevelt. Death had to take him in his sleep, after all, and being crushed by a giant hellefino is not exactly a worse fate.

The reason I enjoyed this story was not Teddy Roosevelt, it was the underlying humor of it all. Lawyers on pogo sticks are funny. The hopelessness of always losing your employers to the crazy hell-versions of animals has depth to it. And you’ve got to admit, having to face down something called a hellephant with a pea-shooter has a certain appeal. The best portion of the story are the hunters themselves. Each one somehow aware, or not caring, that they will die. Each one with motivations beyond simply surviving in Hell, making them larger than life, and maybe even more complex characters than the protagonist himself. At the end of the story the protagonist learns little and is no better off than he was before. Perhaps, that is hell.

The second story I felt worth mentioning is the first fiction. For a while I was confused as to the main character’s species and other facets of the story. But as it evolved, I got to see the motivations of the character. I got to look into an alien mind. Usually, those peeks are just giant ‘humans are bad’ or ‘different’ stories with the aliens having human tendencies and feelings. It’s similar to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s The Mote in God’s Eye, with the aliens being nearly without human traits and needing to imitate us, rather than develop new concepts on shared culture, to interact.

The main characters concepts of ‘duty’ and hunting spoke to me, in a way. It’s a theme of the universe, society cannot survive without those who do their duty. At the same time, it cannot have a hope to achieve victory without those willing to make the sacrifice. The terror of the soldiers was palpable, and the militaristic approach they attempted struck me as very realistic, but I did expect even one of them to survive. All in all, it was a great experience.

I got to admit that while I usually had very little of the overall contexts of the universes he wrote in and for, I did enjoy what little I saw. While I won’t recommend it to anybody. To the fans of Micheal Z. Williamson, go for it you bold beautiful bastards. If you’re not, this won’t be more than an enjoyable sightseeing tour. I’m not going to rate it with a number because of that reason. A couple short stories are a good 5/5, but not all of them.

Book Review: Lights in the Deep I

CL provides the initial take on Brad Torgersen’s anthology, Lights in the Deep:

The SF/F genre is one I’ve enjoyed for years and am a fan of Larry
Niven.  Stories like ‘Ringworld’ and ‘Neutron Star’ captured my
imagination.  So, after reading Torgersen’s self-described style being
like Niven’s, and the hope of finding a great-read in a genre I enjoy, I
took the plunge and volunteered to provide a review.

Lights in the Deep is a compilation of 10 short stories, all previously published.  It begins with 3 glowing reviews of Torgersen’s writing and story telling ability by veteran publishers/editors he has worked with.  After reading these introductory reviews, my hopes for an enjoyable experience were raised even further.

What could there be not to like?  Niven-type Sci-Fi.  Praise from veteran Sci-Fi publishers and editors.  Short stories, which make for quick reading and lots of variety.  Sounds like the perfect setup for either the discovery of a new treasure or deep disappointment.

It is with sadness that the verdict is ‘deep disappointment’. The disappointment stems from three issues and one ironic observation.  The issues: pointless stories, the inclusion of ‘the story behind the story’ after each tale, and rampant political correctness.  The ironic observation will be summarized later.

Having reviewed the disappointments, it must be noted there are positive aspects of the book.  Torgersen writes very well.  Story pace, literary elements and vocabulary are all really superb.  I kept thinking, “This guy writes well.  Maybe the next story will have a message, meaning, challenge, etc.”  But the next story failed to deliver and then it was on to the next.

Of the 10 tales, there are a couple stories that are somewhat engaging.  The issue of “pointless stories” infected every tale.  Whether the story is pure Sci-Fi or alternate history, there is not an underlying moral challenge, message, belief explosion or anything that made me sit back and ponder or question or exclaim.  Each telling concludes and its just over.  No surprises, no deus ex machina, no anger or relief, just an end to the words.

Unfortunately, the words didn’t really end.  After each tale, Torgersen then tells another tale about how the story came to be and who published it.  This was like rubbing salt in the wound.  As I was scratching my head asking why I spent 30-60 minutes reading the just concluded story, I then had to endure the history of how the story came to be.

The ‘story behind the story’ can be interesting, if the story itself leaves one: moved, pondering, angry, motivated, enlightened, etc.  But here, I left with the same feeling one gets after watching the vacation slide show of a family you don’t know, “That must have been nice for you, but I don’t really care.”

Next was the rampant Political Correctness.  These ranged from Black-American male and a Soviet-Jewish woman astronauts in the ‘60’s, to female commanders, a female President of the U.S., female battle marines, Asian business owners, etc., etc., etc.  I can take the occasional challenge to stereotypes, especially when it is backed with an underlying purpose, but when most characters are an anti-stereotype it seems to be attacking your basic perception of things as racist or bigoted, for no reason at all.

This feeling arose because there never was a reason why each person had to be identified in the anti-stereotypical way.  There was no background, benefit or reason why the heroine in the first story or the astronaut in the second had to be black.  Why a Jewish woman astronaut in the ‘60’s? How did knowing the businessman was Asian in a later story add anything?  Why a female base-commander?  Because these are short stories, the addition of the anti-stereotypical characteristics seemed forced in simply for the purpose of being P.C. not because they were relevant to conveying a point.

I was left with the impression that either Torgersen majored in women’s studies or feels anti-stereotypes are necessary in order to be published by today’s liberal publishing houses.  Either way, too much PC in any story, but especially in a short story, makes it seem silly.  In one very short story we have a female president, female base commander and female marine.  Rather than Sci-Fi, it felt like Fem-Fi instead.

This brings us to the final point, the ironic observation.  In the middle of the book, Torgersen writes an essay on why he believes Sci-Fi readership is dwindling, even as Fantasy readership remains strong.  He cites two reasons: our technological advances make Sci-Fi less ‘fantastic’ and the secularization of Sci-Fi has resulted in most Sci-Fi lacking an underlying morality or purpose for the story.

What makes this ironic is the lack of an underlying purpose or morality in the stories contained in this book!  There are several attempts to mention God, but they seemed thrown in, rather than meaningful additions to the plot.  So, Torgersen is correct.  One reason Sci-Fi is dying is because many formerly avid readers are longing for purpose and meaning to be conveyed in a story.

However, Torgersen missed another major reason for the failure of modern Sci-Fi.  Namely, Political Correctness, of which these stories are supporting evidence.  Too often today, Sci-Fi authors are constrained by PC to take the story to its logical PC conclusion.  Their worlds are turned upside down, where warriors are women, back-stabbing politicians are women, the random support character has to be gay or a kid with a middle-eastern mother and a Polish father.  The fact the author has to add these character descriptions are proof they are forced.

I submit the real reason Sci-Fi is dying on the vine, is because Sci-Fi has become the realm in which the liberal vision of how humanity ‘should be’ is presented to the public and the public rejects it.  Based on these stories Torgersen has fallen into the same PC failure trap.  If he can escape, and then add the purpose and meaning he notes is missing from Sci-Fi today, then he definitely has the literary prowess to become an excellent author.

Book Review: The Last Witchking

Lagrandil reviews The Last Witchking:

When I started The Last Witchking (which I chose in part
because it was free from Amazon.com for the Kindle) I didn’t know much
about Vox’s fantasy world.  I had heard vague rumors that he was writing
a Christian reply to the superbly-crafted and spiritually toxic Game of Thrones series.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The short stories in The Last Witchking have nothing to do with Martin’s crime against fiction.  Witchking
is not directly derivative of any single voice in the fantasy genre. 
Instead, much like Jordan before him, Vox draws richly on the expansive
fantasy lore of the western tradition while avoiding some of the more
common pitfalls of the current writing generation….

“Opera Vita Aeterna” was a fascinating insight on what I believe to be
one of Vox’s oldest ideas in this world: the interplay between
Christianity and non-human races.  In this case it’s the story of a
master sorcerer elf who spends a paltry few years in a humble Christian
monastery.  This was easily my favorite piece of the three.  It also
illuminates a relevant point about Vox Day’s style.  The man is
educated, and while he doesn’t waste time rubbing anyone’s nose in that
fact, neither does he write for the lowest common denominator.

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