Glory Days

You don’t have to have anything in common with people you’ve known since you were five. With old friends, you’ve got your whole life in common.

Lyle Lovett

I bought a paperback copy of “Magician: Apprentice” sometime around 1982 when it was first published.  I was 21 at the time and a Junior in college.  That book somehow managed to penetrate the beer-soaked, party driven haze of a typically rambunctious Fraternity life style and demand my attention – it delighted me.  I enjoyed it enough that I progressed to the sequel – “Magician: Master” – then the next and the next and the next.  I bought and read every word that Feist wrote about Midkemia until he finished his work in this world in 2013 with the publication of “Magician’s End” – I believe I was 52 at the time – 30 years of great reads.

In all, his Midkemia work consists of 30 titles – my shelf count is 29 since I have the combined “Magician” volume consisting of both “Apprentice” and “Master”.  I enjoyed this world so much I even played through the 1993 “Betrayal At Krondor” computer game – multiple times – it’s considered a classic.  It’s a mammoth body of work and I believe it’s worth the time of anyone who enjoys this genre.

Needless to say, I was sad to see this all come to an end but – in the back of my mind – I couldn’t help but feel that it was time.  The stories had gotten a bit stale to me – the players and the world a bit long in the tooth.  It was almost like saying goodbye to a beloved but old and infirm dog – one who’d been a good and loyal friend for most of your life but who didn’t really have anything left in him – ready to slip away and let you move on.

That was 5 years ago and I’d wondered from time to time if I’d ever hear from Feist again or if he had decided to call it quits.  I got a pretty decisive answer a year ago when I found out that he was almost ready to launch a new series – one he’d obviously been working on for quite a while.  I was – of course – excited but I was also a bit wary – that feeling you have when you decide it’s time to bring a new pup into your life – wondering if your new friend would bring the same sense of joy and wonder and companionship as your former best friend.

“King Of Ashes” came out this month and there was no question that it was going on my New May Releases list.  Interestingly enough, of the five books on that list, I saved it for last – partly because it was the longest but partly out of that sense of hesitation and wariness described above.

I’m happy to say that Feist seems to have put the intervening 5 years to very good use.  I really enjoyed this one.  It’s is an extremely well-crafted book – the writing is very good, the world is effectively constructed, the characters are strong, multi-faceted and likable and the story builds in a very satisfying way – the product of a professional, experienced and truly skilled writer.  The book serves as the first chapter in what will obviously be an extended story – it serves to build his characters, explain his world and its history and bring everyone to what feels like the starting line of a long distance event.

It’s a less forgiving world than Midkemia – death is closer and less sanitary – the heroes are not quite as pure – baser human instincts and emotions play no small part in the narrative – but it doesn’t aim to shock or brutalize – it’s a far cry from some of the GrimDark fantasy that’s so popular today.  It feels genuine and real – very human – imperfectly epic and heroic – a reflection of Feist’s ability to adjust to and incorporate our own changing sensibilities.  The tone he sets really worked for me.

By the end of the book, you’ve come know the three – possibly four – young adults who are likely to serve as our protagonists – understand their histories – and experience the year in all their lives where they transition from adolescents to adults – independent, increasingly confident and quite capable.  In one case, two of them are bound together in a tense and highly ambiguous relationship that could end either in a powerful, lifelong alliance or confrontation leading to assassination.  I found that to be a particularly strong inducement to buy and read the next volume.  I said Feist did this all in a skillful way – shame on me for not paying enough attention to the maps at the beginning of the book or possibly just being slow to catch on – but I loved the way he managed to bring all of these characters together over the course of the last 100 pages.

I found small imperfections along the way – Feist has a habit of occasionally repeating an explanation – almost as though he assumes that his readers weren’t paying attention at earlier points in the narrative – Hatu’s internal struggle with his developing sexual maturity and the urges he’s feeling for Hava – his closest childhood friend – was a bit tiring – but I found them to be inconsequential and they in no way interfered with my enjoyment of the story.  For me, almost everything he did over the course of a 500 page introductory novel worked and worked well.  I’m in – all in – and I can’t wait for the second book in the series.

Still too early to tell but I suspect that this pup and I are going to spend quite a few years together – me growing old and him growing up – enjoying every minute of a fine new friendship.

This was the 3rd of my New May Releases – the first two being “The Wolf:  Under The Northern Sky” and “Artificial Condition”.  I was doing just fine – “The Wolf” being a beautifully written book which takes place in a truly engaging world – and “Artificial Condition” being a funny and entertaining installment in the “Murderbot Diary” series – UNTIL I hit this book.  This was one of those reads that leaves you regretting that you ever turned the first page.

It’s based on an interesting premise – a description of the Lewis and Clark expedition in an alternate America that’s cut off from the rest of the world by the destruction of Halley’s Comet due to a past magical battle.  As a result, magic is somehow amplified and strengthened in the New World.  In my very humble opinion, this book hit it’s high point with that short blurb on Amazon.

Instead of going through the motions of writing a traditional review, I’m just going to list out some of the elements of the book that simply made no sense to me:

• Why even introduce the idea of a celestial event separating America from the rest of the world and amplifying magic in the New World.  This is an alternate history.  Magic obviously already existed in the world if Halley’s comet was destroyed as a result of a magical battle.  The separation of the New World isn’t really relevant to all that comes after – a tale of Lewis and Clark dealing with the magic of the native Americans and untamed America.
• The most interesting character in the book – the alternate history Benjamin Franklin – the most powerful magician in the New World – is introduced briefly in the beginning of the story for no reason other than to serve as a source of funding for the expedition.  Why create a fascinating character just to summarily dispose of him.
• The magic that’s most relevant to the story is the mysticism and magic of the native Americans – the rebellion of the spirit of the land against European encroachment.  That whole premise – which would have been fascinating in and of itself and which would have more than effectively carried the story – is intermingled with an element of Welsh / European mythology that – to me – just seems bizarre and unnecessary.  I still don’t know why Dragons were introduced or why it was necessary to the plot for Raven to possess a dying Welsh trapper – thereby driving him crazy to the point of corrupting the land and directing its fury against both his Native American worshipers and the European newcomers.  I would have thought that colonialism, the destruction of the land and the expansion of European power would have been more than enough to earn his wrath.
• The clumsy way in which native American mysticism and mythology is utilized.  This could have – should have been – a tale about the collision of two cultures and two sets of beliefs.  I may be very wrong about this but if feels like Anderson did a couple of hours of internet research on native American religion – picked two interesting divinities – Raven and Coyote – and then used them in what ultimately becomes a silly way.  When I think of authors who know their subject matter deeply and in detail – like S.M. Stirling in “The Change Series” – Anderson pales in comparison.  There was an opportunity for some real amateur scholarship here that could have turned the book into a fascinating read.
• The silly and unnecessary letters written by William Clark – a secondary character throughout the book – to his child fiancee living back east of the Mississippi.  The letters are – at best – unnecessary and – at worst – a constant irritant.  They give you insight into a man who plays little role in the story and simply recaps the events that have already been described in detail over the course of the preceding chapter.
• So many discordant elements – the Whiskey revenants, the way Sacajewa is characterized and utilized, the one irrelevant and disconnected reference to an alternate reality more closely resembling the United States in the 1800’s, the manifestations of the anger of the land – undead, little people,re-animated dinosaurs – REALLY…dinosaurs…T-Rex…Raptors…Pterodactyls – it just starts to feel like a silly, hot mess.

Those are just some of the many things which – for me – were completely offputting.  It all just strikes me as sloppy, lazy writing and it’s reinforced an impression that was likely lurking in the back of my mind regarding Kevin J. Anderson.  I’ve tried him in the past – bought a couple of volumes of his major work – “The Saga Of The Seven Suns” – and gave it a try but I never even finished the first volume.  At the time, I just drifted away – gave up on it early in the 1st book – and gave it little critical thought – assuming I’d go back and try it again at some point in the future.  I’d wager that – if I did so – I’d find similar problems with those books.  My experience here only guarantees that I’ll never go back and give them another try.

I rarely write such a negative review.  This book earned it.

Please God – Give Me These Hours Back!!!

“Give ‘Em The Razor and Make ‘Em Buy The Blades”

I’ll explain that one in a bit.  First, let’s talk about the book.  This is the 2nd volume in Martha Wells’ “Murderbot Diaries” – following “All Systems Red” – reviewed below:

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-all-systems-red-1-16-2018/

It’s also the 2nd of my May New Releases – the first being “The Wolf:  Under The Northern Sky” – which turned out to be a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable book.

I enjoyed “All Systems Red” – enough to convince me to buy the three sequels.  The next book – “Rogue Protocol” – is scheduled for release in August of this year.  Contrary to what I wrote in the first review, I did actually did buy all volumes in hardcover.  Given what I know Wells is capable of – I guess I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and just assume that she’s going to do something special with this story.

After reading this second book, I have to say…Murderbot is growing on me.  I was right about the holes in “All Systems Red” – Wells is parsing out her backstory and is filling in the blanks as she goes.  MB is becoming a more substantial and relate-able character as the story progresses.  He’s growing and defining himself – starting to come to terms with his independence and deciding who he wants to be.  Most of that growth is driven by his need to interact with a growing group of diverse individuals and the choices those interactions force on him.  He obligates himself to a new group of humans – first via a contract he negotiates and then in response to a series of ethical choices that result from that contractual obligation.  Those choices allow you to better understand MB, how he thinks about himself and how he feels about the humans who created him.

Just as important are the relationships he forms with other machine intelligences.  The first and most entertaining of these is the alliance or friendship or something in between that he forms with the Artificial Intelligence – ART – responsible for the operation of a Research Transport vessel that he uses to escape from the world of his first set of human patrons.  ART is a surprise for MB – he’d assumed that this would be an uncommunicative machine intelligence.  In fact, ART turns out to be as communicative and as richly complex as MB and their relationship transitions from arms length wary to mutually supportive and amusingly familiar.  ART is arrogantly confident in his superior abilities but humanizes as a result of his interactions with MB.  As the story progresses, they become an effective, entertaining, almost lovable team united partially by the boredom of their constrained lives in service to human beings that are – in many ways – far less capable than either of them.

Long to short – this story is becoming increasingly interesting and entertaining.  I actually enjoyed “Artificial Condition” more than I did “All Systems Red”.  It was richer, more complex and it finally allowed me to connect in a more meaningful way to MB.  I can’t help but think that I’m going to really wind up liking this guy as the story progresses.

I honestly have only one complaint and it has nothing to do with the book itself.  I don’t like the way Martha Wells and the publisher are commercializing the work – hence the Razor / Blades quote.  The story is being sold as 4 separate novellas:

• All Systems Red – 2017
• Artificial Condition – May 2018
• Rogue Protocol – August 2018
• Exit Strategy – October 2018

They’re sold separately as hardcovers at the price of $16.19 and as e-copies for $9.99.  In reality, these are 4 sections of one book – obvious as you read through each separately – and could easily have been published in one volume.  The fact that they were all released within an 18 month period only confirms that the Author and the publisher made a pretty crass commercial decision to break the book into four pieces and sell them separately to maximize revenue.

Instead of paying $25 for a single hardcover volume, I’m forced to purchase 4 separate novellas for a combined cost of ~$68.00 in hardcover or ~$40.00 in digital format.  Before you say it, I will – shame on me – no one forced me to spend the money – I know I’m being played.  Nevertheless, I’m really enjoying the books and I want to get my hands on them as they become available.  It just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and it makes me wonder about Wells’ attitude towards her fans and readers.  Wells and her publisher gave me the Razor but she’s selling me the blades – one at a time – at a pretty high price.

My recommendation – wait until an omnibus edition is published and just read it straight through.  You’ll enjoy the story AND you won’t feel like you’re being exploited.  I wish I was able to take my own advice.  🙁

I mentioned this one in my May Releases post:

On The Shelf – May Releases – 5/18/2018

….as the new arrival I was most excited about and I went straight to it after spending a couple of weeks dedicated to reading new Military Science Fiction titles.  My instinct was right.  It was a very satisfying read in so many ways.

I have an approach to evaluating new books – laid out in my “Ancillary Justice post:

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-ancillary-justice-2-3-2018/

It lists up the critical criteria I use to inform my decision about a book’s “worthiness” or “literary value” – not always related to the amount of fun I have with a book.  I read a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy and – as I’ve said before – I usually find something to enjoy in most of the titles I read.

Having said that, however, some new titles stand out – you know as you read them that they’re going to have staying power, that they’ve pushed the boundaries in a really fascinating or compelling way, that they’ve introduced a novel concept that you know you’ll see in the work of other writers in future years.  After reading “The Wolf” by Leo Carew – first in a new series called “Under The Northern Sky” and thinking about it in terms of those 4 criteria – I’d have to say that this represents a resounding “Maybe”!

I found the writing to be quite good – it was a well crafted book.  It’s sparse where it needs to be and rich when Carew wants to touch you, force you to feel something or make a judgement.  The world and history and culture that he’s created are well-designed and extremely interesting.  The contrast he’s created between the two peoples at the heart of his story and the emotional and intellectual connection to the structure, values and traditions of the Anakim society – the people of the North – he allows you to establish – were – for me – pretty compelling.  It was very easy for me to develop a deep appreciation for the Anakim in the collective sense and at the same time judge individual actors – those that failed to live up to the standards Carew writes into the heart of Anakim culture – quite harshly.  He allowed me love the nation but despise many of it’s citizens.

I also enjoyed the story as a whole – but there were weaknesses.  The book is divided into 3 parts – Autumn, Winter and Spring – and I found the transitions a bit cumbersome.  I thought the introduction of the plague in the second section did little to contribute to the overall narrative.  I understand what Carew was trying to do – give Roper an opportunity to grow as a ruler and develop a unique connection to and empathy with his people – but it wasn’t as well done as it could have been and wound up being more of a distraction for me than anything else.  The Kryptea – the secret society of assassins – was introduced but only as a bogeyman – not a critical component of the story – likely there to be used in future volumes.

There were other small bumps and warts but no serious problems – first novel stuff – which is nothing compared to what he did right.  When you juxtapose those negatives against the way Carew paints his picture of the Anakim people, society and culture and uses it to drive the story – the way he teases you regarding the outcome of the book’s second pivotal battle and the return to the Hindrunn – the steps behind Roper’s path to power – securing his allies and destroying his rival’s supporters – I felt there was far more good than bad – enough so that the story really grabbed me and pulled me along.

Finally, the book was full of truly fascinating characters that you wind up wanting to know even better – Gray, Price, Tekoa, Keturah, Uvoren – even Bellamus – Roper’s foil and primary Sothrun antagonist – who in many ways turns out to be the most interesting character in the book.  The only character that I found to be disappointing in any way was Roper himself – the new Black Lord – The Wolf.  It’s not that Carew doesn’t make him likable or that you ever come to see him as anything but worthy – it’s just that he seems less real – less substantial than those who surround him – and the author gives me very little in the way of back story that allows me to believe he’s capable of becoming the Leader he turns out to be in Part 3 – Spring.

By way of example – Gray and Pryce and Uvoren – who they are and what motivates them – are easy to relate to and accept.  Roper…not so much.  As you first come to know him – early in the Autumn narrative – during the Battle of the Floodplain and it’s aftermath – he’s presented as weak and slow to understand what’s happening around him.  I’m willing to believe that he learns and grows but I really needed to see into his past – to get a feel for a personal history that would allow me to accept the man he ultimately becomes.  I couldn’t help but think that Carew missed an opportunity to flash back to episodes in Roper’s past – when he was training at the Haskoli – glimpses of courage or intellect or charisma – that would ease my acceptance of his growth and transition to manhood and leadership.

Even Bellamus – his opponent – is easier to accept and believe – his political skill – his leadership – his motivation – all grow out of a backstory that hangs together.  You come to like and buy into Roper based on his actions but you never really know him the way you do all the other fascinating players in the book.  When I compare him to Paul in Dune – who you admire and support and understand due in part to your admiration for and influence of his father, his mother, his  retainers – those who have trained him – Roper feels almost empty – not fully formed – to me.

Beginning to end – that’s why this feels like a Maybe to me.  I did really fall in love with the Anakim – their culture and way of life – the way all of that is reflected in so many of the secondary characters described by Carew – but I don’t completely connect with Roper.  I would unhesitatingly recommend this book to anyone – I really enjoyed it – but I just can’t tell yet whether this series and the world in which it lives – has that “worthiness” it needs to become a classic.  I guess that’s up to Carew and what he does in subsequent volumes.

Just a quick note to cap my experience with this series.  I stumbled across it as part of my Military Science Fiction binge and wound up really enjoying it.  I wrote a balanced but largely favorable review of the first book:

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-empire-of-bones-5-13-2018/

…one that was good enough to prompt me to read through 6 of the remaining 7 titles in the series. After doing so, I can honestly say that I’ve ended where I began – average books that turned out to be a whole lot of fun.

Be warned – to enjoy this series – you have to enjoy a simplistic, good guy vs. bad guy type of military Space Opera.  You won’t find any subtleties in these books, they don’t raise meaningful issues and they don’t provoke deep thought.  What you will get is plenty of action and plenty of Knight In Shining Armor heroes and heroines.  Each book is based on a predictable formula – Terry Mixon has a blueprint and he sticks to it – allowing him to churn these out pretty rapidly – 8 books in less than 4 years – but it generally works – if you’re reading with a forgiving eye.

It also helps that they’re short quick reads – you can finish a title in ~4 hours of uninterrupted reading.  I was able to finish 7 of 8 in a little over two weeks – testament to the fact that there’s really no such thing as “uninterrupted reading”.  This was actually a positive for me – not unusual with this genre – as it provides a fair bit of immediate gratification.  You’re not going to read every word, you’re not going pause to consider the larger implications of a plot development or the meaning of an exchange between the characters.  You’re just going to drive through, fight the fights, watch the New Terran Empire find new allies and develop new and powerful capabilities and win battles.  It’s just good fun.

It was enough to prompt me to pause my binge and get back to the regularly scheduled programming – satisfied in the knowledge that the whole exercise left me with another 21 titles from 4 other series that I can come back to any time I get bitten by this particular bug.  In the meantime, I shifted back to my May releases, was able to finish “The Wolf” – review forthcoming – and get halfway through “Artificial Condition” by Martha Wells – second book in the Murderbot series.  Once done there, I’ll probably circle back around and finish #8 in this series – for no other reason but a sense of closure – until Mixon releases another entry.

Overall, worth every minute. 🙂