There’s a scene in Bull Durham where Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) asks Millie (Jenny Robertson) how “Nuke” Laloosh (Tim Robbins) was in bed. Millie says “Well, he f**ks like he pitches….sorta all over the place”. That’s kind of where I am with my reading right now. I’ve finished one book and I’m being pulled in way too many directions as I’m trying to decide what to read next.
I did finish “Ancillary Sword” and enjoyed it – not nearly as much as “Ancillary Justice” but it was a good enough sequel. In this second book, Ann went from a very big stage and a very big story to a very small one. The less militaristic aspect of Anaander Mianaai has adopted Breq into her house, promoted her to Fleet Captain and put her in command of the ship Mercy Of Kalys. She sends Breq, Seivarden and Kalys off to Athoek with orders to secure the system and align it to her objectives. In fact, Athoek was a predetermined destination in Breq’s mind due to the presence of Lieutenant Awn’s sister – Basnaaid – and Breq’s need to make amends for her killing of Awn.
Along the way, Breq picks up another stray in the form of a 17 year old Lieutenant named Tisarwat assigned to Breq’s ship by Anaander – a covert ancillary of the Empress whose secret Breq discovers and addresses by removing Tisarwat’s implants. In doing so, Tisarwat evolves into a pretty intriguing but mixed up character – mostly teenager, part 3,000 year old Anaander Mianaai – free to become whoever she chooses to be – a process similar to the one Breq has gone through over the course of the last 20 years.
The story moves pretty crisply along multiple axes – with Breq attempting to remedy a number of the societal inequities he finds upon arrival at Athoek, experiencing a tragically brief first encounter with a representative of the alien Presger, dealing with a threat from another ship and her Captain allied with the hostile aspect of Anaander and uncovering what appears to be a black market trade in shipped / stored human bodies to an as yet unidentified and future adversary.
It was a worthy sequel but it’s very transitional – setting everyone up for the third and conclusive volume. It has none of the ambition of “Ancillary Justice”. It’s humble, moves the story along, introduces interesting new characters and allows Breq to grow in her independence and further define herself – overall, good enough to leave me wanting to see how all this would end.
Which I did – moved immediately to “Ancillary Mercy” – the third book in the series. Unfortunately, I finished “Sword” late on Thursday night and only made it through the first chapter before dozing off and ultimately calling it a night. I had every intention of picking it up again on Friday evening and finishing out the story….but a funny thing happened on the way to the 2nd Chapter.
Last night, my wife and I were watching the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies and it left me thinking about how little I knew about both Korea and the history of America’s involvement there. Combine that with what’s currently happening between the U.S. and North Korea and it reminded me that I’d not yet read Halberstam’s “The Coldest Winter”. I pulled it off the shelf and started in. Somewhere around 2:00 AM, common sense prevailed and I crawled back to bed but I’m going to have to get back to this book. It’s begging to be read.
Furthermore, I mentioned in an earlier post that I’d gone back and started rereading both Lovecraft and Howard. I didn’t stay with Lovecraft – either because I’ve read so much within that genre recently or maybe because it just wasn’t holding up as well as I’d hoped – maybe both – but Conan stuck. I continue to read a story or two a week – it was “The Phoenix On The Sword” and “The Scarlet Citadel” this week – and I’m almost embarrassed to admit how much I’m enjoying them. There’s NOTHING complex or sophisticated about this character, these stories or Howard’s writing – they’re all just colorful and totally unrestrained. After chopping up a roomful of adversaries and getting pretty chopped up in return – here’s a guy whose only thought is to demand wine and – upon having it delivered to him, observes “Good…slaying is cursed dry work” – or, after wrecking two separate armies and killing two opposing Kings, then moving on to decapitate an unsavory sorcerer only to see his body re-animate and run away – observes “A murrain on these wizardly feuds….give me a clean sword and a clean foe to flesh it in….damnation…what I would not give for a flagon of wine”. Conan is a very simple guy and he solves his problems in a very direct and simple way and I can’t help but enjoy seeing him go about it. So…I’m staying with Conan and I’ll likely reread the entire anthology – which is also going to pull me away from Ann Leckie.
This treasure also landed on my doorstep a few day ago – ordered when I decided to go back and reread Conan – and it’s tugging at me – a new Howard character and a whole new set of unread stories. I also have a Solomon Kane collection scheduled to arrive within the week that’s also going to have to be experienced.
Finally, I still have “Midnight Tides” waiting for me to return – currently about a quarter of the way through. Just like Nuke – I’m kind of all over the place right now – but it’s a good problem to have. I’ll figure it out tonight and let you know what road I’ve taken.