Fear to Tread (James Swallow)
You probably already know from my Horus Heresy run down I really enjoyed this novel. What I remember most is the ending, which is about as happy as you can get in W40k. A good, fulfilling ending just really makes me feel nice when I remember a book, and when it's capping off 500+ pages of excellent sci-fi, well. Let me back up a little: This book is about the Blood Angels space marine chapter, sent into a trap by Horus (and his darn Heresy!!!!) to either be destroyed or turned to Chaos (there's some disagreement on this between Horus and Chaos, which is a nice touch). The first half the book is more charecter oriented, and has a certain very effective creepy vibe kicking in as the Blood Angels arrive at their destination and find nothing but horrid boneless corpses and empty cities. Eventually the shit really goes down in a spectacular scene where Chaos animates one of the dead cities, and from there it's basically a massive conflagration until the book's climax. Even knowing what was going to happen to the Blood Angels and their primarch Sanginus, this is quite thrilling stuff, and nailing the climax and aftermath is icing on the cake, as weak endings seem to plague this series. I don't know that this can quite edge out Flight of the Eisenstein as Swallow's best book, but it's right up there, and if you can handle 250+ pages of truly stunning violence, you shouldn't miss this book.
Grade: A
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
"Spring Moon"
Spring Moon (Bette Bao Lord)
When I told my wife I was giving up on Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, she looked at the cover and asked me why I even started reading it. Looking back, I think I was vaguely remembering another novel I'd read as a teenager, and thanks to Amazon, two days later I had that very same novel in my hands. Spring Moon is everything Snow Flower isn't - authentic, readable, gripping, full of real characters I found myself rooting for. The book follows our heroine from her childhood through her life as China itself transitions from the last days of the Manchus to the early republic period and eventually up to the present day, with most of the book's focus on Spring Moon herself until the spotlight shifts to her outspoken christian daughter at the end of the book. Through it all, there's never a dull moment, and I found the mother/daughter relationship between Spring Moon and her child much more real and fleshed out than the malfunctioning robots from Snow Flower. Even if this isn't a genre you usually enjoy - and a cursory look at my other reviews would suggest this is the case for me - this is a great read that I highly recommend.
Grade: A
When I told my wife I was giving up on Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, she looked at the cover and asked me why I even started reading it. Looking back, I think I was vaguely remembering another novel I'd read as a teenager, and thanks to Amazon, two days later I had that very same novel in my hands. Spring Moon is everything Snow Flower isn't - authentic, readable, gripping, full of real characters I found myself rooting for. The book follows our heroine from her childhood through her life as China itself transitions from the last days of the Manchus to the early republic period and eventually up to the present day, with most of the book's focus on Spring Moon herself until the spotlight shifts to her outspoken christian daughter at the end of the book. Through it all, there's never a dull moment, and I found the mother/daughter relationship between Spring Moon and her child much more real and fleshed out than the malfunctioning robots from Snow Flower. Even if this isn't a genre you usually enjoy - and a cursory look at my other reviews would suggest this is the case for me - this is a great read that I highly recommend.
Grade: A
Sunday, January 20, 2013
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan"
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel (Lisa See)
I'm just gonna cut to the chase right here: This book is really bad. It's sold as a touching story about two women in China who become friends and go through life and love and stuff. Unfortunately, the writing is absolutely horrible, in multiple ways. First off, the author is trying way, way, way too hard to drive home that this is taking place in CHINA, so nobody ever just gets sick, the monkey spirit within them falls ill because the ancestors blah blah CHINA blah blah. I wouldn't have batted an eye if I'd read "Then I put on my Chinese clothes because I was in China and went outside and stood on the Chinese ground since we're in China and walked down the Chinese path in China to the Yangxi River, in China, which is where I was, China". It's just too much, and it's downright painful to read. On top of that, the book's weird, disconnected writing style means that nobody in the book feels like a real actual person so much as a exposition robot here to remind everyone that we're in China, and also, China, and BTW, China, because that's where we are, China. For spice, add in the fact that the author has farmer's daughters getting their feet bound, which I'm pretty sure only happened to upper-class ladies, and it all adds up to a really terrible book.
Grade: F-
I'm just gonna cut to the chase right here: This book is really bad. It's sold as a touching story about two women in China who become friends and go through life and love and stuff. Unfortunately, the writing is absolutely horrible, in multiple ways. First off, the author is trying way, way, way too hard to drive home that this is taking place in CHINA, so nobody ever just gets sick, the monkey spirit within them falls ill because the ancestors blah blah CHINA blah blah. I wouldn't have batted an eye if I'd read "Then I put on my Chinese clothes because I was in China and went outside and stood on the Chinese ground since we're in China and walked down the Chinese path in China to the Yangxi River, in China, which is where I was, China". It's just too much, and it's downright painful to read. On top of that, the book's weird, disconnected writing style means that nobody in the book feels like a real actual person so much as a exposition robot here to remind everyone that we're in China, and also, China, and BTW, China, because that's where we are, China. For spice, add in the fact that the author has farmer's daughters getting their feet bound, which I'm pretty sure only happened to upper-class ladies, and it all adds up to a really terrible book.
Grade: F-
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
"China Marches West"
China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia (Peter C. Perdue)
When you read as much history as I do, you tend to start looking for the parts that are glossed over. A visit to your local bookstore will show shelves overflowing with World War 2, but finding a good book about the history of central Asia from the 1600s to the 1800s as the Russians, Chinese, and Mongols struggle for supremacy is a rare find. China Marches West can be a little intimidating, both because of its sheer size and scholarly tone (about as rip-roaring as it gets is on page 342 where we're told "We now turn to the material details of agrarian production"). The book demands your full attention, but in return it's quite interesting. The first half of the book is a narrative history of, well, you can probably tell from the title, with the second half being a more in-depth breakdown covering anything you could possibly want to know about trade and agricultural practices on the frontier. The second half is drier, and I admit I did start skipping a fair amount of pages, but it's weird how fascinating reading about Chinese military granaries can be.
Grade: B+
When you read as much history as I do, you tend to start looking for the parts that are glossed over. A visit to your local bookstore will show shelves overflowing with World War 2, but finding a good book about the history of central Asia from the 1600s to the 1800s as the Russians, Chinese, and Mongols struggle for supremacy is a rare find. China Marches West can be a little intimidating, both because of its sheer size and scholarly tone (about as rip-roaring as it gets is on page 342 where we're told "We now turn to the material details of agrarian production"). The book demands your full attention, but in return it's quite interesting. The first half of the book is a narrative history of, well, you can probably tell from the title, with the second half being a more in-depth breakdown covering anything you could possibly want to know about trade and agricultural practices on the frontier. The second half is drier, and I admit I did start skipping a fair amount of pages, but it's weird how fascinating reading about Chinese military granaries can be.
Grade: B+
Friday, January 11, 2013
Bite Sized Horus Heresy Rundown
The Horus Heresy series is now quite large, and despite the fact that I've read more of them than any other 40k nerd I know, there's still a great deal of them I don't have. Nevertheless, in the spirit of, um, bite-size-ism, here's a rundown of some of my favorite and least favorite novels in list form that should be easier to digest than reading all the reviews in a row (although I suggest you do that too - let's see if we can get the daily visit stat into the double digits!!!!!1)
Best novels: Opening trilogy (Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames), Flight of the Eisenstein, A Thousand Sons, The First Heretic
Lots of 40k books have incredible violence, and while these books have no shortage of bloodshed, they also share strong stories, interesting characters, and are some of the hardest books to put down out there. I'd rank The First Heretic and A Thousand Sons as the best two 40k books published hands down.
Honorable Mention: Fear to Tread
Not quite in the top tier but also quite excellent, and that's no small feat considering this is something like the 26th book in the series.
Worst novels: Fulgrim, Legion, Descent of Angels
Fulgrim and Legion are just unpleasant to read; Fulgrim never goes anywhere and never gives the reader a reason to care, and Legion is a big messy stew of weird concepts and terms that never really comes together. Both books do pick up at the very end, but they're painful slogs until you get to that point.
N. Web: Descent of Angels just absolutely stinks. Playing devil's advocate I guess I can sort of see it as a weird case of an anti-perfect Mary Sue story where the superstar Space Marine main character SURPRISE turns out to be on the side of the Dark Angels that fall to Chaos, but if that's even what the author was going for, it's not obvious and just falls flat.
Biggest disappointment: Prospero Burns, Deliverance Lost
Well, you can't be disappointed unless you had high hopes, and both of these looked quite good: A sequel/companion to the excellent Thousand Sons, and a novel focusing on the up until now ignored Raven Guard. Both books not only failed up to live up to expectations, but Deliverance Lost is kind of boring, and Prospero Burns flat out stunk.
Best pleasant surprise: The Age of Darkness
I didn't know this was a short story collection, and I'm glad I didn't, because I never buy them, and this is a great book, just missing out on being among the best because of a not very good Graham McNeill opener, and my still-ingrained distaste for short story collections.
Craziest Book: Nemesis
It takes some doing to be the most insane book in a 40k series, but I don't have any doubt about this. I had trouble keeping the characters straight and staying awake through some parts of the divided plot, and I STILL don't understand how a pariah can have a wraithskin, but here we are. Nemesis.
Perfectly Skippable: Mechanicum, The Outcast Dead
There's nothing really wrong with Mechanicum; it's just kind of there, which is a little disappointing considering the events it covers. The Outcast Dead is Graham McNeil at his worst, and it's so boring I forgot everything except the ending, which I only remember because of how dumb it was.
I should have known better: Fulgrim
N. Web told me how crappy this book was, and I got it anyway. Why? Well, it's next after Flight of the Eisenstein, and, uh, I don't really know. Suffice to say, I have been shown who is the boss.
Books I want: Betrayer, Angel Exterminatus, Know No Fear
Two of these are yet to be released - Betrayer is by the author of The First Heretic, and Angel Exterminatus is about the Iron Warriors. Know No Fear is on my wish list, hint hint, and hopefully features the Ultrasmurfs getting beaten up by the Word Bearers and Orks.
Watch this post as time goes on; Hopefully the titles on "Books I want" will graduate to pleasant surprise or best novels, and not the dreaded biggest disappointment or worst novels.
Best novels: Opening trilogy (Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames), Flight of the Eisenstein, A Thousand Sons, The First Heretic
Lots of 40k books have incredible violence, and while these books have no shortage of bloodshed, they also share strong stories, interesting characters, and are some of the hardest books to put down out there. I'd rank The First Heretic and A Thousand Sons as the best two 40k books published hands down.
Honorable Mention: Fear to Tread
Not quite in the top tier but also quite excellent, and that's no small feat considering this is something like the 26th book in the series.
Worst novels: Fulgrim, Legion, Descent of Angels
Fulgrim and Legion are just unpleasant to read; Fulgrim never goes anywhere and never gives the reader a reason to care, and Legion is a big messy stew of weird concepts and terms that never really comes together. Both books do pick up at the very end, but they're painful slogs until you get to that point.
N. Web: Descent of Angels just absolutely stinks. Playing devil's advocate I guess I can sort of see it as a weird case of an anti-perfect Mary Sue story where the superstar Space Marine main character SURPRISE turns out to be on the side of the Dark Angels that fall to Chaos, but if that's even what the author was going for, it's not obvious and just falls flat.
Biggest disappointment: Prospero Burns, Deliverance Lost
Well, you can't be disappointed unless you had high hopes, and both of these looked quite good: A sequel/companion to the excellent Thousand Sons, and a novel focusing on the up until now ignored Raven Guard. Both books not only failed up to live up to expectations, but Deliverance Lost is kind of boring, and Prospero Burns flat out stunk.
Best pleasant surprise: The Age of Darkness
I didn't know this was a short story collection, and I'm glad I didn't, because I never buy them, and this is a great book, just missing out on being among the best because of a not very good Graham McNeill opener, and my still-ingrained distaste for short story collections.
Craziest Book: Nemesis
It takes some doing to be the most insane book in a 40k series, but I don't have any doubt about this. I had trouble keeping the characters straight and staying awake through some parts of the divided plot, and I STILL don't understand how a pariah can have a wraithskin, but here we are. Nemesis.
Perfectly Skippable: Mechanicum, The Outcast Dead
There's nothing really wrong with Mechanicum; it's just kind of there, which is a little disappointing considering the events it covers. The Outcast Dead is Graham McNeil at his worst, and it's so boring I forgot everything except the ending, which I only remember because of how dumb it was.
I should have known better: Fulgrim
N. Web told me how crappy this book was, and I got it anyway. Why? Well, it's next after Flight of the Eisenstein, and, uh, I don't really know. Suffice to say, I have been shown who is the boss.
Books I want: Betrayer, Angel Exterminatus, Know No Fear
Two of these are yet to be released - Betrayer is by the author of The First Heretic, and Angel Exterminatus is about the Iron Warriors. Know No Fear is on my wish list, hint hint, and hopefully features the Ultrasmurfs getting beaten up by the Word Bearers and Orks.
Watch this post as time goes on; Hopefully the titles on "Books I want" will graduate to pleasant surprise or best novels, and not the dreaded biggest disappointment or worst novels.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
"The Brothers Bulger"
The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century (Howie Carr)
This is one of those good books that's hard to recommend. It details how, well, I guess you can tell from the title. Our two villains are Billy Bulger, the politically minded brother, who gets less ink, and his criminal brother, the notorious Whitey Bulger. Most of the book is about Whitey and his astounding corruption of multiple FBI agents and his getting away with murder for dozens of years (until he finally ran out of competitors to rat out and ended up on the FBI's most wanted list). It's tough to read - the book is very well researched and readable, but how corrupt the FBI was is truly stomach-turning, and this book is one of those stories where if I saw it on an episode of Law and Order, I'd be yelling "Oh, come on!" at the TV. Maybe it would have helped if there was a updated version released after Whitey was caught (spoiler alert), but as is, this is difficult to recommend without reservations.
Grade: :(
This is one of those good books that's hard to recommend. It details how, well, I guess you can tell from the title. Our two villains are Billy Bulger, the politically minded brother, who gets less ink, and his criminal brother, the notorious Whitey Bulger. Most of the book is about Whitey and his astounding corruption of multiple FBI agents and his getting away with murder for dozens of years (until he finally ran out of competitors to rat out and ended up on the FBI's most wanted list). It's tough to read - the book is very well researched and readable, but how corrupt the FBI was is truly stomach-turning, and this book is one of those stories where if I saw it on an episode of Law and Order, I'd be yelling "Oh, come on!" at the TV. Maybe it would have helped if there was a updated version released after Whitey was caught (spoiler alert), but as is, this is difficult to recommend without reservations.
Grade: :(
Saturday, January 5, 2013
"Faith and Fire"
Faith and Fire (James Swallow)
I have yet to be disappointed by a James Swallow book, and this one's subject matter - the W40k Sisters of Battle, basically a bunch of nuns with guns - gave me high hopes. Most of the ink in 40k novels goes to SPACE MARINES, so it's nice to see a book without a single one, and, oh yeah, some female characters who aren't Rememberencers. Given that, I'd love to say that this is an instant classic, but this is one of Swallow's good, not great, books. The plot feels a little bit low-stakes and predictable, and although Swallow does make an admirable attempt to fill out all of the Sisters, I didn't get a good sense of their personality except for the two leads. (Also, although this passes the Bechdel Test, it would do so with flying colors if it had a female antagonist, since a good chunk of the Sister's dialogue with each other is "I really want to get [antagonist]!") I can also nitpick a few small, strange details - Swallow has the Melta gun operating as a microwave - but overall, this was pretty good, if only recommendable for fellow 40k nerds.
Grade: B+
I have yet to be disappointed by a James Swallow book, and this one's subject matter - the W40k Sisters of Battle, basically a bunch of nuns with guns - gave me high hopes. Most of the ink in 40k novels goes to SPACE MARINES, so it's nice to see a book without a single one, and, oh yeah, some female characters who aren't Rememberencers. Given that, I'd love to say that this is an instant classic, but this is one of Swallow's good, not great, books. The plot feels a little bit low-stakes and predictable, and although Swallow does make an admirable attempt to fill out all of the Sisters, I didn't get a good sense of their personality except for the two leads. (Also, although this passes the Bechdel Test, it would do so with flying colors if it had a female antagonist, since a good chunk of the Sister's dialogue with each other is "I really want to get [antagonist]!") I can also nitpick a few small, strange details - Swallow has the Melta gun operating as a microwave - but overall, this was pretty good, if only recommendable for fellow 40k nerds.
Grade: B+
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)