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+
Showing posts with label scifi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scifi. Show all posts
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Saturday, November 10, 2012
"Lord of Light"
Lord of Light (Roger Zelazny)
I thought this book was great - imaginative, overflowing with ideas, and reading as strikingly modern for a book that came out in 1967. The basic plot is... you know, this is one of those books you might want to just read; Zelazny introduces a lush setting that sounds kind of silly compressed to a paragraph, but here goes:
The book's story is a conflict between a group of colonists from Earth who have anointed themselves gods and rule over a planet with advanced technology indistinguishable from magic, and our hero Sam, who struggles against them in the guise of the Buddha. I can't really say more except that this is a wonderful read. My only caveat is that the book's structure is a little strange - the book kicks off with Sam being summoned down from a radiation belt, which is actually almost the endpoint of the story told in the book. After one flashback it goes into a linear narrative that barely goes past this beginning point before the story is over, which did leave me a little confused (although I more chalk that up to reading this while being sick and in a daze). All in all, this book is a gem, and you shouldn't miss it.
Grade: A
I thought this book was great - imaginative, overflowing with ideas, and reading as strikingly modern for a book that came out in 1967. The basic plot is... you know, this is one of those books you might want to just read; Zelazny introduces a lush setting that sounds kind of silly compressed to a paragraph, but here goes:
The book's story is a conflict between a group of colonists from Earth who have anointed themselves gods and rule over a planet with advanced technology indistinguishable from magic, and our hero Sam, who struggles against them in the guise of the Buddha. I can't really say more except that this is a wonderful read. My only caveat is that the book's structure is a little strange - the book kicks off with Sam being summoned down from a radiation belt, which is actually almost the endpoint of the story told in the book. After one flashback it goes into a linear narrative that barely goes past this beginning point before the story is over, which did leave me a little confused (although I more chalk that up to reading this while being sick and in a daze). All in all, this book is a gem, and you shouldn't miss it.
Grade: A
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