Review: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

2001, Gollancz Books. 480 pages.

Writing rule of thumb: Don’t parcel out your good ideas, saving them for the sequel. It takes more than one to make a good book.

Alastair Reynolds must have listened, because his novel, Revelation Space, is packed with great ideas.

When a 26th-century dig turns up clues about a dead alien civilization on a distant world, archeologist Dan Sylveste will stop at nothing to discover who -- or what -- caused “The Event” that wiped them out. But as determined as Sylveste is to find answers to the mystery of the extinct Amarantin, others are just as determined to find him. Among them, the crew of the city-sized interstellar ship, Nostalgia for Infinity, who need Sylveste to cure their captain of the nano-plague which is slowly consuming both him and their ship. And among them -- assassin Ana Khouri, contracted by the mysterious Madamoiselle, who has her own interest in Sylveste – namely seeing him dead.

Across multiple worlds and decades, these factions pursue their own ends only to find themselves mere pawns in a millennias-old struggle between ancient intellegences. And of course, this is a struggle that will determine the survival of life in the galaxy.

Review: THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss

2007, DAW Books. 662 pp (hardcover)

“As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men.”

-Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind)

So stipulated, at almost 700 pages, Rothfuss’s debut novel, The Name of the Wind, should have enough words to stoke a mental inferno.

But even for all its hype and commercial success, I'd have gotten more spark from an empty Bic.

For a book its publisher claimed was the best fantasy manuscript they’d seen in thirty years – likening it to George R.R. Martin and Tad Williams – this book tips the scales with too many elements that are just average or awkward.

The story revolves around Kvothe, who we find as an unassuming innkeeper in a backwater village as the tale begins. But when a travelling scribe named Chronicler comes into town, we learn Kvothe is something of a legendary figure – one whose influence has somehow affected the world for good and for ill. At the scribe’s request, Kvothe reluctantly agrees to recite the story of his life for Chronicler to…well…chronicle.

Review: Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

Voted #1 on Tor's Best SFF Novels of the Decade poll. I had heard of it before, but when I was looking for books to catch me up with what's been going on in science fiction (I've been reading a lot of nonfiction) this became my shopping list.

It was a lighter and faster read than I expected. Quickly digestible. It doesn't skimp on the violent details, but I wouldn't call it gruesome. I also wouldn't call it hard SF, but it's not excessively soft either. Good balance, in other words.

From a writerly perspective, war from the standpoint of one grunt on the ground is difficult. It has to be a character-driven story, since as far as action goes the goals are simple and well defined and consistent across all war stories: survive and/or win. Here, the war is really just a distraction from the goal that even our first-person narrator isn't entirely aware he has until the third act. Nicely done.

I've read a little military SF, and I'm glad that this did not fall into the trope of the hero being the best soldier ever, suffering through the inadequacies of his comrades. It's also not married to imitating Napoleonic naval warfare, World War II  or any other era. The world building is substantial (since there are many and varied worlds) and impressive for a relatively short book.

I'm interested to see what he does with this universe in the rest of the series, and I hope to be reviewing them here too.

4 out of 5 weeblies

Write the Fight Right, by Alan Baxter

Write the Fight Right, by Alan Baxter
Published April 4, 2011
Ebook available on Smashwords and Amazon

From the Smashwords page: "Author and martial arts instructor, Alan Baxter, presents a short, ~12,000 word, ebook describing all the things a writer needs to consider when writing fight scenes. Baxter's experience from decades as a career martial artist make this book a valuable resource for writers who want to understand what fighting is all about - what it really feels like and what does and doesn't work - and how to factor those things into their writing to make their fight scenes visceral, realistic page turners."

Baxter has a number of good pointers and practical tidbits about fighting. "Something unexpected will happen almost immediately" and "Describe the reaction to the hit instead of describing the hit" particularly got my brain moving. I've done a fair amount on research into hand-to-hand combat over the years (he notes, and I'm sure he's right, that taking classes would be better than reading) so I had heard some of the thing he says before. Even so, I found this a good and useful set of pointers. 

I wish he had explained more about what "disrupting the opponent's centerline" means and entails. Disrupt how? By hitting? Knocking off balance? Both?

He includes a Cheat Sheet Checklist at the end with the major points -- I'll be using that for quick reference.

For only two dollars, a tasty twelve thousand words of insider information. I don't know what rating system we're using this week, so I'll give this two thumbs up!

ETA: We are using a five weeble system, so I give this 3.5 weebles! Now, as they say "weebles wobble but they don't fall down" but I'm thinking that half a weeble would indeed fall down... that's another post, though.

Review - Hunter's Run by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, and Daniel Abraham

There are a number of interesting things going on in this story. I'll try to explain without causing any spoilers.

1. Our hero is a jerk.
2. Interesting, sympathetic aliens who are neither cute nor cuddly.
3. Human civilization in the background is Hispanic/South American, not your standard issue white bread.
4. Interesting identity bending.

Suffice it to say that #2-4 managed to keep me reading in spite of #1.

From a writer's point of view, this story is all about carefully choosing what to explain to the reader, and when to explain it, and how to do it without bogging down the hunting aspect of the plot that's keeping the whole thing moving. At the same time, the hero is coming to grips with things that he never expected to. Can't say much more without spoiling it for you, though.

The ending was a little... soft, in my opinion, but I'm not complaining too much. Still recommending it.

Retro tie-in: The hunting aspect made me fondly remember two anthologies I read many years ago. They probably qualify as "vintage" SF if not "classic" by now... Men Hunting Things and Things Hunting Men. Pulpy, fun, old-school SF.

Book review: Song of Scarabaeus

In anticipation for Sara Creasy's sequel, which comes out March. 29, I thought I'd post this review of her awesome debut novel Song of Scarabaeus.

The gist: Edie is a biocyph, a combination of biology and cybernetics that's necessary to germinate new worlds. While on the job, she's kidnapped by space-pirates and forced to work for them. Their goal: to free the Fringe colonists from the repressive Crib government that holds a monopoly over everyone's heads. And it's not just her life on the line. The pirates link her up to a former slave, now her bodyguard, and if she tries to run, her bodyguard will die.

Pros: Now I like Edie, except for her stupid moments at the end when she tries to save everybody - sorry, but you're not superwoman. She's neither a kick-ass female nor a weak vulnerable girl; she has her strengths and weaknesses and has some really cool abilities, like being able to manipulate DNA on a cybernetic level. She is slightly passive, but considering her circumstances it's not like she could do much. She did attempt to break free and to me that says something even if she wasn't successful. I also like the allusions to music in the tech scripts, how the scripts sang their songs. That was cool.

I love the science in the book it gets into a technical level, but if you've taken a biology course it shouldn't be too hard to get. It's what makes science fiction science fiction after all. The romance is brief, but for me, I was glad it didn't derail the main plot. I honestly hate it when the romance between characters overwhelms the main point of the book.

Negs: I had my eyes rolling when some of the crew, who were originally sticking guns into Edie's side, suddenly try to be her best pals. I felt like Edie forgave them too easily just because they put a smile on. There's also a false choice at the start, where they say she can go with them or stay working for the Crib, which made no sense. Why go through the trouble of kidnapping her only to give her a choice? Plus, it was clear they were never going to let her go. Kill her, sure. But not set her free.

I also didn't care for Edie's dreams, partly because they're in present tense, and partly because they read like a prologue, except they're spread throughout the book rather than dumping it in front. I guess it's a clever way to get people to read prologues. I know the dreams are suppose to add context to Edie, but I always feel how the main character behaves in their current situation will reveal more about them than giving us a history lesson on the character. Plus, who has dreams of their past? These aren't exactly flashbacks.

Then there's Haller. I hated him so much. But not because he's the antagonist, but because he's so stupid and 2-dimensional. I honestly cannot picture a whole crew following his short-sighted plans. He constantly lets his anger get the better of him, which makes him a bad leader with very little respect. If there was some redeeming quality, I could see why they may follow him, like perhaps he's a jerk but he has brilliant strategies. Instead, he was just a doofus who demanded that everyone else to fix his problems. Luckily, he won't be coming back for the sequel.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It has its flaws, but still enjoyable to read if you're looking for a space adventure with a touch of romance.

This review was originally posted on Amazon under my account.