Category :: Review :: Page 67

I think I’ve mentioned before how I like to see authorial “progress” from one book to the next. Seeing them get better in at least one aspect of their craft with each progressive offering to the reading masses gives me hope that there will, someday, be more authors that I love to read. In general, I think that most authors fall into this category. It’s hardly ever that I find one that seems to have regressed further from the goal that I think each of them should strive for: greatness in storytelling. As I’m sure you can guess by now, this book is one of those.

LANCE OF EARTH AND SKY (Amazon) is the second in the planned Chaos Knight trilogy and continues the story of Vidarian Rulorat and the empire of Alorea. Mostly, however, this is a story about the empire, as Vidarian factors so little in what actually happens.
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Over the last couple of years, Adrian Tchaikovsky has become one of my favorite authors. Very few authors actually take their setting and story and move it forward technologically. In Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series, we get exactly that, along with huge amounts of character progression, thrilling large-scale battles, and intense small-scale fights.

THE SEA WATCH (Amazon) is the sixth book in this projected 10-book story. I guess the best way to describe it is by saying THE SEA WATCH, in a way, is the Shadows of the Apt series’ 20,000 leagues under the sea. The results overall are great, but that doesn’t mean the novel is absent some missteps.
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Anyone out there like movies that are based on actual historical events? I think there’s something to be said for them, but in general I find that regardless of how much I love them, the endings always end up being particularly less that I had anticipated. This book was totally like that. Steve’s going to love this, because this time around, I totally agree with his overall opinion of Ms. Parker’s latest offering, SHARPS (Amazon): full of unfulfilled promises. I do still disagree that this description applies to the Engineer Trilogy, but in this case, he’s totally spot-on.

SHARPS is another stand-alone from the veritable K.J. Parker, an author whom the reading public still knows so little about. It’s another book about war, and what people are willing to do to get what they want. It’s another book full of sarcasm, and multi-hued characters. It’s another book of swords and mayhem. And if she didn’t write it so dang well, I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much as I did.

But I did. Cause, boy, was it fun.
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My first introduction to Tim Lebbon was in the SWORDS & DARK MAGIC anthology (EBR Review) a while back. In a collection of stories full of absolute WIN, Tim Lebbon’s “The Deification of Dal Bamore” was one of the best. After that I read ECHO CITY (EBR Review) and was similarly impressed. Lebbon’s ability to write Horror the way Miéville writes Weird Fiction is astounding.

And then I heard Lebbon was going to write a YA novel, and it would be published through Pyr SF&F. Holy anticipation, Batman!
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I was a little late to get on board with Alastair Reynolds. I only picked up a book of his two or so years ago, but once I found him he quickly became one of my favorite authors. He writes the type of book I love: big, grand space operas with vast ideas that can take place over thousands of years and span across galaxies.

Recently I’ve tried to get my dad to try Reynold’s books out. He kept asking me which book of his to start with. I honestly didn’t have an answer. It seemed like everything he had written (that I had read) had some great stuff in it. I enjoyed all of his books.

Sadly after reading BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH (Amazon), I can tell him which book not to start with.
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Did you read VARIANT (EBR Review) by Robison Wells? If you answered, “Yes” then by all means read on. If you answered, “No” then STOP. Just stop. Go on Amazon and buy a copy, read it, and then you can come back to browse this review. VARIANT is one of the best YA books of 2011, far superior to the YA fiction behemoth that is THE HUNGER GAMES in my not-so-humble opinion. Now here is the highly anticipated sequel, FEEDBACK (Amazon). I’m going to try and give away as few spoilers as possible but if you haven’t read the first book please check out our review of VARIANT instead of continuing on.
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One of the hardest things about being a reviewer is not letting yourself fall into a routine. By that, I mean only reading one type of book, or only reading books you are positive you are going to like. I think it is something most reviewers struggle with when we get sent a pile of novels to read. Hmm, do I choose the Steven Erikson epic… or a novel about fairies in historical London. For me, the choice would seem obvious–Erikson. However, I think it is healthy as a reviewer to read outside your comfort zone. Often times the results are astounding. Reading outside my comfort zone is how I discovered Marie Brennan (fairies in historical London) and Robert Jackson Bennett. It’s how rediscovered that elves can be OK with James Barclay, and that YA can be entertaining.
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Do you guys know who Paul Melko is? No? Then let me introduce you. Paul Melko is great. He writes good, funny, quick-paced Science Fiction novels. I love them. There are times when I’m in the mood for some heavy Hard SF. There are times when I want Weird Fantasy. Then there are times when I want just a fun Science Fiction read that makes me smile as I read it. Paul Melko writes those.

THE BROKEN UNIVERSE (Amazon) is actually a sequel to his novel THE WALLS OF THE UNIVERSE (Amazon) which in turn was a novel length version of his Hugo nominated short fiction story (also called the “The Walls of the Universe”). Instead of just telling you what the THE BROKEN UNIVERSE is about, I’m also going to tell you the set up for THE WALLS OF THE UNIVERSE and why this is such a fun place to be in. In a way, this review will serve as a review for both novels.
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Jonathan Maberry makes it all look so easy, doesn’t he? Book after book is released with his name gracing the cover, and we all snatch them up greedily. Why? Because a Jonathan Maberry novel never disappoints.

FLESH & BONE (Amazon) is no different.
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I’m just not getting it. Science Fiction. I hate the fact that I sometimes sound like a broken record, but there’s just so little SF out there that I’ve read to prove me wrong that I just can’t help but feel jaded. The up-side is that as long as it’s well-written, I’m not going to rip into too much, because if there’s one thing that is consistent and good about these books, it’s the prose.

IN THE LION’S MOUTH (Amazon) by Michael Flynn is the third installment in his most recent space opera series featuring the inimitable Donovan Buigh.  I wasn’t very keen on the second, UP JIM RIVER (EBR Review), but I decided that to be fair, I had better read the first, THE JANUARY DANCER (Amazon), before diving into this one.  Unfortunately, I needn’t have bothered, for I just found more of the same: a beautifully-written story with a swiss cheese of a plot that ended with me asking, “What was the point of that?”
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