And it's been another one of "those" months, but I managed to get the previous ten reviews onto the main Brightdreamer Books site.
Enjoy!
(Edit: Oops, managed to miss one review, there. As I mentioned, it's been one of "those" months. Relatives are having health Issues, so it's been taking a toll on my focus, my time, and my focus. And I also can't focus. In any event, should be fixed now.)
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Friday, March 29, 2024
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (Kelly Jones)
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer
The Unusual Chickens series, Book 1
Kelly Jones
Yearling
Fiction, MG Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: When twelve-year-old Sophie Brown moves to Blackbird Farm in rural California, she doesn't know what to make of the place. She's been an apartment-dwelling city girl all her life, though her father claims they once visited the farm when she was too little to remember. It's a sprawling place full of overgrown grapevines, junk-filled barns, a disused chicken coop... or maybe not so disused. When Sophie spots a little white hen in the blackberries, she realizes not all of her late great-uncle's flock is gone. And when she watches that little hen levitate a spilled jar of water, she realizes that his chickens were very, very unusual indeed. With the help of a dusty old catalog she finds among the junk from Redwood Farm Supply (which advertises unusual chickens for exceptional poultry farmers, so surely they must be experts on the matter), Sophie decides to become a chicken keeper - a task made all the more complicated when she discovers someone trying very, very hard to get their hands on the strange hens of Blackbird Farm.
REVIEW: This is a fun, odd little story of a girl finding her place under strange circumstances. Told in epistolary format, in letters to her late Hispanic grandmother and the deceased great-uncle, as well as correspondence with the eccentric owner of Redwood Farm Supply (who offers a free correspondence course in chicken keeping), Sophie's tale unfolds as she struggles to deal with a new home and a mother and father who both are under their own stresses; they didn't move to the farm because they had starry-eyed notions of becoming farmers, but because they had no choice, with Dad being out of work and Mom's freelance articles not being enough to pay for city life. The girl may not even recall setting foot on a farm before, but she is eager to make the best of a bad situation. The fact that she remembers to water her bean plant regularly certainly means she's qualified to keep poultry, doesn't it? If not, she's more than willing to learn. From her discovery of "Henrietta" and its unusual abilities, more strange chickens trickle their way back to the hen house - even as a neighbor seems unusually keen to poke around. Who else knew of her great-uncle's bizarre birds, and how is one twelve-year-old girl going to stop the thief from taking them? It's a fun story, with some nice information on chickens and chicken keeping thrown in along the way; even the "villain" isn't necessarily evil or scary or mean, and has their own reasons for thinking they'll do better by Sophie's strange flock than a green city girl. One twist is a bit obvious early on (to a grown-up reader, at least), but plays out okay nonetheless, and the ending leaves the coop open for more unusual poultry adventures.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Cora and the Nurse Dragon (H. L. Burke) - My Review
Walk Two Moons (Sharon Creech) - My Review
Bob (Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead) - My Review
The Unusual Chickens series, Book 1
Kelly Jones
Yearling
Fiction, MG Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: When twelve-year-old Sophie Brown moves to Blackbird Farm in rural California, she doesn't know what to make of the place. She's been an apartment-dwelling city girl all her life, though her father claims they once visited the farm when she was too little to remember. It's a sprawling place full of overgrown grapevines, junk-filled barns, a disused chicken coop... or maybe not so disused. When Sophie spots a little white hen in the blackberries, she realizes not all of her late great-uncle's flock is gone. And when she watches that little hen levitate a spilled jar of water, she realizes that his chickens were very, very unusual indeed. With the help of a dusty old catalog she finds among the junk from Redwood Farm Supply (which advertises unusual chickens for exceptional poultry farmers, so surely they must be experts on the matter), Sophie decides to become a chicken keeper - a task made all the more complicated when she discovers someone trying very, very hard to get their hands on the strange hens of Blackbird Farm.
REVIEW: This is a fun, odd little story of a girl finding her place under strange circumstances. Told in epistolary format, in letters to her late Hispanic grandmother and the deceased great-uncle, as well as correspondence with the eccentric owner of Redwood Farm Supply (who offers a free correspondence course in chicken keeping), Sophie's tale unfolds as she struggles to deal with a new home and a mother and father who both are under their own stresses; they didn't move to the farm because they had starry-eyed notions of becoming farmers, but because they had no choice, with Dad being out of work and Mom's freelance articles not being enough to pay for city life. The girl may not even recall setting foot on a farm before, but she is eager to make the best of a bad situation. The fact that she remembers to water her bean plant regularly certainly means she's qualified to keep poultry, doesn't it? If not, she's more than willing to learn. From her discovery of "Henrietta" and its unusual abilities, more strange chickens trickle their way back to the hen house - even as a neighbor seems unusually keen to poke around. Who else knew of her great-uncle's bizarre birds, and how is one twelve-year-old girl going to stop the thief from taking them? It's a fun story, with some nice information on chickens and chicken keeping thrown in along the way; even the "villain" isn't necessarily evil or scary or mean, and has their own reasons for thinking they'll do better by Sophie's strange flock than a green city girl. One twist is a bit obvious early on (to a grown-up reader, at least), but plays out okay nonetheless, and the ending leaves the coop open for more unusual poultry adventures.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Cora and the Nurse Dragon (H. L. Burke) - My Review
Walk Two Moons (Sharon Creech) - My Review
Bob (Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead) - My Review
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Jolly Regina (Kara LaReau)
The Jolly Regina
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1
Kara LaReau
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Jaundice and Kale Bland have lived alone in their drab little house near Dullsville ever since their parents left on an "errand" and never returned (at least, not yet, but surely any day now). In the meantime, they mend socks and eat cheese sandwiches and entertain themselves by watching the grass grow and reading to each other from their favorite (and only) book, Dr. Nathaniel Snoote's Illustrated Children's Dictionary. It's a dull life, a predictable life, and it's just the kind of life they want.
Then the stranger knocks on their door with a surprise - the "surprise" being a burlap sack and an abduction to the deck of a pirate ship. The captain, "Dead-Eye" Delilah, claims that Mother and Father Bland were her hostages not so long ago, but when they refused to give up the location of the famed treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, the pirates marooned them on Gilly Guns Island, then came back to grab the girls. If they can't tell Delilah where the booty is, they'll be stuck scrubbing decks on the ship forever.
Jaundice and Kale know nothing about gold; they don't even like the color (their favorites being brown and gray). Now, though, they at least know where their parents are, and that they're in trouble (and not out on an errand at all). But what can two girls who have hardly ever set foot outside their home before, who don't even like the word "adventure", hope to do about it?
REVIEW: As the description implies, this is a lightweight, often silly little adventure tale starring two girls who would much rather mend socks and stare at their wallpaper than be out and about. Nevertheless, sometimes adventure is thrust upon those who least want it, and with a little scraping of pluck and the help of their dictionary and its educational sidebars, they manage to get by. Characters don't tend to have a ton of depth, but there's sometimes a little more to them than is initially apparent; one thing the Bland sisters learn is that most everyone has a story if you sit and let them tell it. The text is riddled with puns, many of which aim at least a couple generations over the target age, and the narrative is quick and lively. Does the experience turn Jaundice and Kale into seasoned, eager adventurers? Hardly, but they are not quite the same girls they were at the end of their adventure, and the fact that it's Book 1 of a series hints that there's more in store for the reluctant travelers. There's a bit at the end that almost knocked it down a half star, some implications where I was probably reading a little too much into things (with shades of adults misunderstanding possibly-neurodivergent children and their needs and trying to make them be people that they just are not). Overall, though, it made for a quick and amusing yarn.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Piratica (Tanith Lee) - My Review
Meet the Dullards (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1
Kara LaReau
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Jaundice and Kale Bland have lived alone in their drab little house near Dullsville ever since their parents left on an "errand" and never returned (at least, not yet, but surely any day now). In the meantime, they mend socks and eat cheese sandwiches and entertain themselves by watching the grass grow and reading to each other from their favorite (and only) book, Dr. Nathaniel Snoote's Illustrated Children's Dictionary. It's a dull life, a predictable life, and it's just the kind of life they want.
Then the stranger knocks on their door with a surprise - the "surprise" being a burlap sack and an abduction to the deck of a pirate ship. The captain, "Dead-Eye" Delilah, claims that Mother and Father Bland were her hostages not so long ago, but when they refused to give up the location of the famed treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, the pirates marooned them on Gilly Guns Island, then came back to grab the girls. If they can't tell Delilah where the booty is, they'll be stuck scrubbing decks on the ship forever.
Jaundice and Kale know nothing about gold; they don't even like the color (their favorites being brown and gray). Now, though, they at least know where their parents are, and that they're in trouble (and not out on an errand at all). But what can two girls who have hardly ever set foot outside their home before, who don't even like the word "adventure", hope to do about it?
REVIEW: As the description implies, this is a lightweight, often silly little adventure tale starring two girls who would much rather mend socks and stare at their wallpaper than be out and about. Nevertheless, sometimes adventure is thrust upon those who least want it, and with a little scraping of pluck and the help of their dictionary and its educational sidebars, they manage to get by. Characters don't tend to have a ton of depth, but there's sometimes a little more to them than is initially apparent; one thing the Bland sisters learn is that most everyone has a story if you sit and let them tell it. The text is riddled with puns, many of which aim at least a couple generations over the target age, and the narrative is quick and lively. Does the experience turn Jaundice and Kale into seasoned, eager adventurers? Hardly, but they are not quite the same girls they were at the end of their adventure, and the fact that it's Book 1 of a series hints that there's more in store for the reluctant travelers. There's a bit at the end that almost knocked it down a half star, some implications where I was probably reading a little too much into things (with shades of adults misunderstanding possibly-neurodivergent children and their needs and trying to make them be people that they just are not). Overall, though, it made for a quick and amusing yarn.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Piratica (Tanith Lee) - My Review
Meet the Dullards (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Domesticating Dragons (Dan Koboldt)
Domesticating Dragons
The Build-A-Dragon Sequence, Book 1
Dan Koboldt
Baen
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Noah Parker didn't set out to design dragons. He didn't even really like them. His interest in genetics research was prompted by his brother Connor's progressive muscle-wasting disease, one too rare for a definitive diagnosis but which Noah is sure is linked to a particular genetic mutation. By studying genes and writing new programs to virtually model genetic alterations in real-time, he hopes to prove it, and maybe get Connor some sort of help before it's too late. Unfortunately, there's only so much computing power he can wrangle from the universities. The best servers are in private hands... such as the ones powering Arizona's cutting-edge Reptilian Corporation. Brainchild of eccentric inventor Simon Redwood, the company started off creating genetically engineered life forms to help curb the exploding feral pig population: apex predators based on reptile DNA (with a little rodent thrown into the mix) that are essentially dragons. Since then, new working forms have been developed, largely to fill roles left open after a devastating disease nearly wiped out the world's domestic dogs... but, to date, nobody has cracked the code to make "dragons" suitable as household companions, the ultimate potential market.
Noah needs access to Reptilian's computers. The company needs a genetic engineer to solve their domestic dragon problem. Maybe they both can get what they want... but one truth everyone forgot about dragons is that meddling with them is almost always more trouble than it's worth. Noah's greatest breakthrough may unleash far more trouble than he can imagine - and test Noah's priorities and loyalties to their limits.
REVIEW: I'll admit going into this one with middling-to-low expectations. (I'll also admit that part of this came from a not-great cover design, at least on the audiobook edition I borrowed via Libby.) But it was almost the exact right length to fill a shift at work (well, the right length at the speed I usually play audiobooks, at least), and I was tired of scrolling through options. The presence of dragons in the title didn't exactly hurt, either. So I figured it was worth a shot. Given that, it may not be surprising that Domesticating Dragons exceeded my expectations, but even I was amazed by how much I ended up enjoying it, enough I came close to giving it another half-star at several points.
Considering how much of this story relies on genetics (the author apparently is a genetics researcher, with published articles), this book manages to avoid lengthy infodumps, managing to set up the world and characters fairly quickly and backfill more details later on. There is a sense of wonder and inherent awe in dragons that even Noah, who is indifferent to fantasy, feels when in the presence of a dragon's egg for the first time. Never mind that it's not a "real" dragon from a storybook. Never mind that, as a genetic researcher, he is fully aware that this is a product of humanity tinkering/meddling with biological code it still doesn't fully understand. A dragon is a dragon, and one can't help feeling something when encountering them in the flesh. For all that Noah comes to Reptilian with ulterior motives - he mostly wants a foot in the door so he can secretly hijack some of their processing power for his own secret research - he finds himself caught up in the challenge of designing dragons, which are all crafted in company software and the "God machine" of a biological 3D printer with proprietary (handwave) technology. When a technical error winds up with him inadvertently creating an extraneous, uncounted dragon egg off an unauthorized design - an egg he impulsively takes home - his ambivalence about dragons takes on a new twist... ans when he learns the truth about the company director and the fates of too many of the dragons he has designed, that twist becomes a knife in the gut. Meanwhile, his personal life is shaken by an unexpected reconnection with Summer, the roommate of his former college girlfriend, and by his brother's continued deterioration.
There are acknowledged shades of Jurassic Park and other franchises throughout - at one time, Noah even makes a comment about Pernese dragons, perhaps the original genetically-engineered dragons in a sci-fi setting - as Noah is drawn deeper in the corporate culture and (despite himself) into the world of the dragons themselves. The dragons here may be products of science, but are very much dragons, and even the "pet" models are far more than scaly puppies. They are usually intelligent, often cunning, frequently proud (and perhaps a touch vain), loyal to their allies and absolutely devastating to their enemies... and humans, predictably, often have no clue how to handle them, frequently underestimating them. Interludes with customer service calls show just how far things are going off the rails in the real world, as real people interact with dragons (and demonstrate a sometimes-tragic inability to read the instruction manuals that came with their new companions). Corporate greed, however, sees no reason to even tap the brakes when they're making money hand over fist, and it's too easy to forget the consequences of one's work when one is parked behind a computer screen all day (and focused on personal goals that don't involve dragons at all). At some point, of course, Noah must face what's really going on - and his own role in that, via the dragons he has designed and consigned to uncertain fates - and must decide which takes precedent: stopping the atrocities being committed by Build-A-Dragon, or taking an increasingly-slim chance at saving his brother. This choice is not as simple as it may sound, when even Connor is telling him that this obsession is making him focus on the wrong things.
As I mentioned, I didn't really expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, so I found myself rather pleasantly surprised throughout. There were, however, a few stumbling points now and again, especially toward the ending - an ending that felt both a little too neat and a little too open to the inevitable sequel. I may or may not follow the sequence on to the next book, but I will say that I was well entertained.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Eve and Adam (Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant) - My Review
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) - My Review
Dragon's Blood (Jane Yolen) - My Review
The Build-A-Dragon Sequence, Book 1
Dan Koboldt
Baen
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Noah Parker didn't set out to design dragons. He didn't even really like them. His interest in genetics research was prompted by his brother Connor's progressive muscle-wasting disease, one too rare for a definitive diagnosis but which Noah is sure is linked to a particular genetic mutation. By studying genes and writing new programs to virtually model genetic alterations in real-time, he hopes to prove it, and maybe get Connor some sort of help before it's too late. Unfortunately, there's only so much computing power he can wrangle from the universities. The best servers are in private hands... such as the ones powering Arizona's cutting-edge Reptilian Corporation. Brainchild of eccentric inventor Simon Redwood, the company started off creating genetically engineered life forms to help curb the exploding feral pig population: apex predators based on reptile DNA (with a little rodent thrown into the mix) that are essentially dragons. Since then, new working forms have been developed, largely to fill roles left open after a devastating disease nearly wiped out the world's domestic dogs... but, to date, nobody has cracked the code to make "dragons" suitable as household companions, the ultimate potential market.
Noah needs access to Reptilian's computers. The company needs a genetic engineer to solve their domestic dragon problem. Maybe they both can get what they want... but one truth everyone forgot about dragons is that meddling with them is almost always more trouble than it's worth. Noah's greatest breakthrough may unleash far more trouble than he can imagine - and test Noah's priorities and loyalties to their limits.
REVIEW: I'll admit going into this one with middling-to-low expectations. (I'll also admit that part of this came from a not-great cover design, at least on the audiobook edition I borrowed via Libby.) But it was almost the exact right length to fill a shift at work (well, the right length at the speed I usually play audiobooks, at least), and I was tired of scrolling through options. The presence of dragons in the title didn't exactly hurt, either. So I figured it was worth a shot. Given that, it may not be surprising that Domesticating Dragons exceeded my expectations, but even I was amazed by how much I ended up enjoying it, enough I came close to giving it another half-star at several points.
Considering how much of this story relies on genetics (the author apparently is a genetics researcher, with published articles), this book manages to avoid lengthy infodumps, managing to set up the world and characters fairly quickly and backfill more details later on. There is a sense of wonder and inherent awe in dragons that even Noah, who is indifferent to fantasy, feels when in the presence of a dragon's egg for the first time. Never mind that it's not a "real" dragon from a storybook. Never mind that, as a genetic researcher, he is fully aware that this is a product of humanity tinkering/meddling with biological code it still doesn't fully understand. A dragon is a dragon, and one can't help feeling something when encountering them in the flesh. For all that Noah comes to Reptilian with ulterior motives - he mostly wants a foot in the door so he can secretly hijack some of their processing power for his own secret research - he finds himself caught up in the challenge of designing dragons, which are all crafted in company software and the "God machine" of a biological 3D printer with proprietary (handwave) technology. When a technical error winds up with him inadvertently creating an extraneous, uncounted dragon egg off an unauthorized design - an egg he impulsively takes home - his ambivalence about dragons takes on a new twist... ans when he learns the truth about the company director and the fates of too many of the dragons he has designed, that twist becomes a knife in the gut. Meanwhile, his personal life is shaken by an unexpected reconnection with Summer, the roommate of his former college girlfriend, and by his brother's continued deterioration.
There are acknowledged shades of Jurassic Park and other franchises throughout - at one time, Noah even makes a comment about Pernese dragons, perhaps the original genetically-engineered dragons in a sci-fi setting - as Noah is drawn deeper in the corporate culture and (despite himself) into the world of the dragons themselves. The dragons here may be products of science, but are very much dragons, and even the "pet" models are far more than scaly puppies. They are usually intelligent, often cunning, frequently proud (and perhaps a touch vain), loyal to their allies and absolutely devastating to their enemies... and humans, predictably, often have no clue how to handle them, frequently underestimating them. Interludes with customer service calls show just how far things are going off the rails in the real world, as real people interact with dragons (and demonstrate a sometimes-tragic inability to read the instruction manuals that came with their new companions). Corporate greed, however, sees no reason to even tap the brakes when they're making money hand over fist, and it's too easy to forget the consequences of one's work when one is parked behind a computer screen all day (and focused on personal goals that don't involve dragons at all). At some point, of course, Noah must face what's really going on - and his own role in that, via the dragons he has designed and consigned to uncertain fates - and must decide which takes precedent: stopping the atrocities being committed by Build-A-Dragon, or taking an increasingly-slim chance at saving his brother. This choice is not as simple as it may sound, when even Connor is telling him that this obsession is making him focus on the wrong things.
As I mentioned, I didn't really expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, so I found myself rather pleasantly surprised throughout. There were, however, a few stumbling points now and again, especially toward the ending - an ending that felt both a little too neat and a little too open to the inevitable sequel. I may or may not follow the sequence on to the next book, but I will say that I was well entertained.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Eve and Adam (Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant) - My Review
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) - My Review
Dragon's Blood (Jane Yolen) - My Review
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands (K. Eason)
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands
Arithmancy and Anarchy: The Weep series, Book 1
K. Eason
DAW
Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Generations ago, the multiverse was rocked by interspecies war - a war that only ended when the vakari Protectorate inadvertently ripped the very fabric of spacetime with a powerful act of arithmancy. The fissures of the Weep extend into an unknown plane of existence, from which reality-warping entities known as the Brood periodically emerge to ravage anything in their path. The Protectorate, the splinter defectors of the Five Tribes, and the Confederacy alliance of species were forced to the treaty table in order to deal with the threat. But so far no arithmancers, hex-workers, artificers, priests, or others on any side have figured out how to close up the rifts. All they can do is stand watch over the fissures, wait, and pray to whatever gods or entities that might listen that today will not be a surge day.
The backwater world of Tanis was lucky enough to survive the worst of the Weep, but still has a minor fissure running through the system. As such, it has its contingent of Aedis templars - soldiers with advanced nanotech and battle suits and other augmentations, trained to fight Brood - as well as an official Five Tribes vakari presence. Templar Lieutenant Iari, a native tenju and veteran of the last Brood outbreak on Tanis (with the scars and cracked tusk to prove it), is devout and loyal, so when Knight-Marshal Tobin assigned her to be the escort of Ambassador Gaer, she took the assignment without complaint, for all that babysitting a diplomat was not why she took oaths as a templar. In truth, the duty isn't too terrible, for all that Gaer has terrible taste in night club music. But when an excursion to B-town is interrupted by screams, Iari and Gaer stumble into a horrific and impossible murder: a wichu artificer has apparently been brutally killed in their own workshop, but the apparent culprit should not have been able to hurt so much as a fly, let alone a sentient being. The riev - amalgamations of magic and technology wound around the reanimated corpses of deceased soldiers, created originally to fight the vakari - were repurposed after the treaty, their ability to kill removed from their systems. Are the riev going rogue, or is someone controlling them... and to what end? The more Iari and Gaer unearth, the more they realize the terrible plot at work, the danger that might bring Protectorate, Tribes, and Confederacy to their knees.
REVIEW: I greatly enjoyed Eason's Thorne Chronicles, which mashed up fairy tale tropes and space opera to create an original and entertaining world. When I saw Eason was continuing the tale with this new sequel series, I snapped it up (even if it took a while to rise to the top of the reading pile; I read by mood, not necessarily order of acquisition). Nightwatch on the Hinterlands both is and isn't like its predecessor, in ways that were initially a bit jarring but which quickly became compelling and fascinating. This is Rory Thorne's young adult-tinged multiverse all grown up, gritty and battle-scarred. While there are callbacks and follow-ups on some threads from the first duology, and while it uses the same magic-tech blend of "arithmancy", hexwork, turing devices, and such to create an interstellar milieu powered by magic so advanced it's almost indistinguishable from technology, it's almost effectively a standalone work. There is no chronicler adding amusing footnotes, no fairy tale structure or archetype underlying it (at least not one I readily recognized), no princesses or queens or fairies placing blessings or curses upon children to shape their destinies. Instead, there is a thorny tangle of alliances and rivalries, ranging from personal to interplanetary, a collection of nicely rounded and individually flawed characters in a multiverse that has literally been shattered, and a fast-paced, twist-filled murder investigation whose implications could destabilize, even destroy, what's left of that shattered multiverse, wrapped in a noir-tinged tale haunted by past traumas and punctuated with violence.
From the start, it's clear that this isn't Rory Thorne's multiverse anymore, for all that there were definite shades of darkness and significant depth in the earlier tales. Within ten pages, there's a gory murder and a mystery, not to mention loads of confict and tension in the setting. A lot of setting and worldbuilding gets layered in along the way - sometimes pushing toward new-term overload, especially as it's been a while since I read the Thorne Chronicles - but it sorts itself out along the way. As before, nobody is stupid or stubborn just for plot's sake, each doing their best with the information and resources they have. Iari and Gaer make for a good, if outwardly unlikely, investigation team, wending their way through B-town's underworld with some help from Iari's ex, former soldier turned private investigator Corso, as well as a pair of unusually independent riev. The traumas of war - between species and against Brood incursions - have left their mark on everyone and everything, and the notion of facing a renewal of hostilities and a brand-new enemy that may combine the worst of all previous conflicts is almost more than anyone can face. The plot, as mentioned, starts fairly quickly and hardly ever lets up, leading to a high-octane climax that sets up the next book in the Weep series. Despite the change in gears from the first duology, I found myself very much enjoying this new facet of Eason's arithmancy-laced multiverse, and eagerly look forward to more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Leviathan Wakes (James S. A. Corey) - My Review
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (K. Eason) - My Review
Shards of Earth (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - My Review
Arithmancy and Anarchy: The Weep series, Book 1
K. Eason
DAW
Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Generations ago, the multiverse was rocked by interspecies war - a war that only ended when the vakari Protectorate inadvertently ripped the very fabric of spacetime with a powerful act of arithmancy. The fissures of the Weep extend into an unknown plane of existence, from which reality-warping entities known as the Brood periodically emerge to ravage anything in their path. The Protectorate, the splinter defectors of the Five Tribes, and the Confederacy alliance of species were forced to the treaty table in order to deal with the threat. But so far no arithmancers, hex-workers, artificers, priests, or others on any side have figured out how to close up the rifts. All they can do is stand watch over the fissures, wait, and pray to whatever gods or entities that might listen that today will not be a surge day.
The backwater world of Tanis was lucky enough to survive the worst of the Weep, but still has a minor fissure running through the system. As such, it has its contingent of Aedis templars - soldiers with advanced nanotech and battle suits and other augmentations, trained to fight Brood - as well as an official Five Tribes vakari presence. Templar Lieutenant Iari, a native tenju and veteran of the last Brood outbreak on Tanis (with the scars and cracked tusk to prove it), is devout and loyal, so when Knight-Marshal Tobin assigned her to be the escort of Ambassador Gaer, she took the assignment without complaint, for all that babysitting a diplomat was not why she took oaths as a templar. In truth, the duty isn't too terrible, for all that Gaer has terrible taste in night club music. But when an excursion to B-town is interrupted by screams, Iari and Gaer stumble into a horrific and impossible murder: a wichu artificer has apparently been brutally killed in their own workshop, but the apparent culprit should not have been able to hurt so much as a fly, let alone a sentient being. The riev - amalgamations of magic and technology wound around the reanimated corpses of deceased soldiers, created originally to fight the vakari - were repurposed after the treaty, their ability to kill removed from their systems. Are the riev going rogue, or is someone controlling them... and to what end? The more Iari and Gaer unearth, the more they realize the terrible plot at work, the danger that might bring Protectorate, Tribes, and Confederacy to their knees.
REVIEW: I greatly enjoyed Eason's Thorne Chronicles, which mashed up fairy tale tropes and space opera to create an original and entertaining world. When I saw Eason was continuing the tale with this new sequel series, I snapped it up (even if it took a while to rise to the top of the reading pile; I read by mood, not necessarily order of acquisition). Nightwatch on the Hinterlands both is and isn't like its predecessor, in ways that were initially a bit jarring but which quickly became compelling and fascinating. This is Rory Thorne's young adult-tinged multiverse all grown up, gritty and battle-scarred. While there are callbacks and follow-ups on some threads from the first duology, and while it uses the same magic-tech blend of "arithmancy", hexwork, turing devices, and such to create an interstellar milieu powered by magic so advanced it's almost indistinguishable from technology, it's almost effectively a standalone work. There is no chronicler adding amusing footnotes, no fairy tale structure or archetype underlying it (at least not one I readily recognized), no princesses or queens or fairies placing blessings or curses upon children to shape their destinies. Instead, there is a thorny tangle of alliances and rivalries, ranging from personal to interplanetary, a collection of nicely rounded and individually flawed characters in a multiverse that has literally been shattered, and a fast-paced, twist-filled murder investigation whose implications could destabilize, even destroy, what's left of that shattered multiverse, wrapped in a noir-tinged tale haunted by past traumas and punctuated with violence.
From the start, it's clear that this isn't Rory Thorne's multiverse anymore, for all that there were definite shades of darkness and significant depth in the earlier tales. Within ten pages, there's a gory murder and a mystery, not to mention loads of confict and tension in the setting. A lot of setting and worldbuilding gets layered in along the way - sometimes pushing toward new-term overload, especially as it's been a while since I read the Thorne Chronicles - but it sorts itself out along the way. As before, nobody is stupid or stubborn just for plot's sake, each doing their best with the information and resources they have. Iari and Gaer make for a good, if outwardly unlikely, investigation team, wending their way through B-town's underworld with some help from Iari's ex, former soldier turned private investigator Corso, as well as a pair of unusually independent riev. The traumas of war - between species and against Brood incursions - have left their mark on everyone and everything, and the notion of facing a renewal of hostilities and a brand-new enemy that may combine the worst of all previous conflicts is almost more than anyone can face. The plot, as mentioned, starts fairly quickly and hardly ever lets up, leading to a high-octane climax that sets up the next book in the Weep series. Despite the change in gears from the first duology, I found myself very much enjoying this new facet of Eason's arithmancy-laced multiverse, and eagerly look forward to more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Leviathan Wakes (James S. A. Corey) - My Review
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (K. Eason) - My Review
Shards of Earth (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - My Review
Friday, March 15, 2024
A Night in the Lonesome October (Roger Zelazny)
A Night in the Lonesome October
Roger Zelazny
William Morrow and Company
Fiction, Horror/Humor
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Full moons have power, as does the night of Halloween. When the two coincide, great and terrible things may happen... depending on who involves themselves, and whether they stand for preserving the world or opening doorways to elder gods who may destroy everything. The dog Snuff, loyal familiar of cursed sorcerer Jack, has been through these events more than once in his long life, but this year's convergence in the English countryside already has unusual hallmarks, drawing all manner of strange characters and their own animal familiars. Before, Jack and his allies have managed to keep the elder entities at bay, but this time, dangerous newcomers are violating nearly every rule and custom to ensure that they fail, and even a loyal familiar like Snuff may not be able to save the day.
REVIEW: This is one of those classics I keep meaning to get to, generally at a more seasonably-appropriate time (this being a very springlike mid-March, with the novel taking place over the 31 days of October), but it's understandably harder to secure the audiobook though the library in autumn. In any event, I'm not sure if it would've been notably improved by the proper atmosphere, for while the prose could be amusing and there are some very interesting and imaginative ideas and images at play, the whole starts feeling less like its own horror tale and more like a fanfic mashup of various gothic figures familiar from page and silver screen, to the point of distracting absurdity.
The narrator, Snuff, makes allusions to the histories of himself, his master (who, though never explicitly named, is clearly Jack the Ripper as well as a very long-lived sorcerer), and the October ritual that may or may not end the world. When not protecting his master on nightly jaunts for spell ingredients, he's protecting the master from various entities contained in various parts of their home (such as the "Thing in the Circle" that keeps trying to tempt Snuff to free it by transforming into various exotic lady canines, and the often-threatening "Thing in the Wardrobe" up in the attic) and keeping an eye on the other local "players" in the coming "game". As part of the latter duties, he develops professional relationships with the other masters' and mistresses' familiars that range from friendly to antagonistic; the cat Greymalk, familiar of local "mad" witch Jill, is perhaps his closest friend, even when they realize that their keepers are destined to stand on opposite sides of the conflict.
At first, Snuff views it all with a certain weary familiarity. This isn't his first supernatural rodeo, after all. But when dead bodies turn up near his house, a wild card turns up in the form of a neighbor with a wolfish secret who may or may not be a player, and other oddities (such as a detective and his portly companion poking their noses into things) shake that complacency, Snuff starts feeling his first sense that maybe master Jack won't come out on the winning side come the end of October. The strongest parts of the story are Snuff's interactions with his fellow familiars, underlings with their own agendas that may or may not coincide with the humans they serve. The humans, on the other hand... despite what Hollywood and many comic book "multiverses" seem to insist, there are only so many disparate "worlds" and rules one can throw together before it just starts getting a bit ridiculous. Here, there's Jack the Ripper, Count Dracula (who keeps a company of stereotype "Gypsy" followers, not the only trace of unfortunate dating in the book), Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Larry Talbot (the Wolfman), Doctor Frankenstein and Igor and the Creature, and numerous others I didn't recognize off the top of my head but which were clearly lifted from other works. They draw too much attention to themselves and clutter the game board until the game itself is almost an afterthought. As a result, the climax feels weirdly muted, too surreal to even begin to care about the stakes or who wins or loses, with a bit of a deus ex machina thrown in the middle. The ending just kind of shrugs the whole thing off with a glib final line that doesn't even fit what we readers were told earlier about the consequences for whoever loses the contest (not really a spoiler if there's not really a point).
This is the second swing-and-miss for Zelazny for me, so I'm pretty sure he's just not an author I'm equipped to really enjoy, for all that I can appreciate some of the writing and the concepts. He may be an inspiration to many in the genre, but for me I fear he's just too dated and not my cup of cocoa.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (John Joseph Adams, editor) - My Review
At the Mountains of Madness (Howard Phillips Lovecraft) - My Review
Forever After (Roger Zelazny, creator) - My Review
Roger Zelazny
William Morrow and Company
Fiction, Horror/Humor
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Full moons have power, as does the night of Halloween. When the two coincide, great and terrible things may happen... depending on who involves themselves, and whether they stand for preserving the world or opening doorways to elder gods who may destroy everything. The dog Snuff, loyal familiar of cursed sorcerer Jack, has been through these events more than once in his long life, but this year's convergence in the English countryside already has unusual hallmarks, drawing all manner of strange characters and their own animal familiars. Before, Jack and his allies have managed to keep the elder entities at bay, but this time, dangerous newcomers are violating nearly every rule and custom to ensure that they fail, and even a loyal familiar like Snuff may not be able to save the day.
REVIEW: This is one of those classics I keep meaning to get to, generally at a more seasonably-appropriate time (this being a very springlike mid-March, with the novel taking place over the 31 days of October), but it's understandably harder to secure the audiobook though the library in autumn. In any event, I'm not sure if it would've been notably improved by the proper atmosphere, for while the prose could be amusing and there are some very interesting and imaginative ideas and images at play, the whole starts feeling less like its own horror tale and more like a fanfic mashup of various gothic figures familiar from page and silver screen, to the point of distracting absurdity.
The narrator, Snuff, makes allusions to the histories of himself, his master (who, though never explicitly named, is clearly Jack the Ripper as well as a very long-lived sorcerer), and the October ritual that may or may not end the world. When not protecting his master on nightly jaunts for spell ingredients, he's protecting the master from various entities contained in various parts of their home (such as the "Thing in the Circle" that keeps trying to tempt Snuff to free it by transforming into various exotic lady canines, and the often-threatening "Thing in the Wardrobe" up in the attic) and keeping an eye on the other local "players" in the coming "game". As part of the latter duties, he develops professional relationships with the other masters' and mistresses' familiars that range from friendly to antagonistic; the cat Greymalk, familiar of local "mad" witch Jill, is perhaps his closest friend, even when they realize that their keepers are destined to stand on opposite sides of the conflict.
At first, Snuff views it all with a certain weary familiarity. This isn't his first supernatural rodeo, after all. But when dead bodies turn up near his house, a wild card turns up in the form of a neighbor with a wolfish secret who may or may not be a player, and other oddities (such as a detective and his portly companion poking their noses into things) shake that complacency, Snuff starts feeling his first sense that maybe master Jack won't come out on the winning side come the end of October. The strongest parts of the story are Snuff's interactions with his fellow familiars, underlings with their own agendas that may or may not coincide with the humans they serve. The humans, on the other hand... despite what Hollywood and many comic book "multiverses" seem to insist, there are only so many disparate "worlds" and rules one can throw together before it just starts getting a bit ridiculous. Here, there's Jack the Ripper, Count Dracula (who keeps a company of stereotype "Gypsy" followers, not the only trace of unfortunate dating in the book), Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Larry Talbot (the Wolfman), Doctor Frankenstein and Igor and the Creature, and numerous others I didn't recognize off the top of my head but which were clearly lifted from other works. They draw too much attention to themselves and clutter the game board until the game itself is almost an afterthought. As a result, the climax feels weirdly muted, too surreal to even begin to care about the stakes or who wins or loses, with a bit of a deus ex machina thrown in the middle. The ending just kind of shrugs the whole thing off with a glib final line that doesn't even fit what we readers were told earlier about the consequences for whoever loses the contest (not really a spoiler if there's not really a point).
This is the second swing-and-miss for Zelazny for me, so I'm pretty sure he's just not an author I'm equipped to really enjoy, for all that I can appreciate some of the writing and the concepts. He may be an inspiration to many in the genre, but for me I fear he's just too dated and not my cup of cocoa.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (John Joseph Adams, editor) - My Review
At the Mountains of Madness (Howard Phillips Lovecraft) - My Review
Forever After (Roger Zelazny, creator) - My Review
Thursday, March 14, 2024
The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane)
The Lost Words
Robert Macfarlane
Anansi International
Fiction, CH Poetry
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Oxford Children's Dictionary was updated in 2007, several words were removed as no longer relevant to young readers, replaced with more modern terms related to technology. Acorn, newt, raven, willow... their loss hinted at a loss of nature, a loss of connection to the green world beyond the classroom. With these poems inspired by the missing words, Robert Macfarlane hopes to reforge that connection and spark the sense of wonder that the natural world can bring, even in the internet age.
REVIEW: This is a case where the presentation - in this case, the audiobook - had a distinct impact on the rating. The poems themselves are decent, if a bit variable in quality and content. (I also wonder how much a kid who didn't already know and appreciate nature - particularly the nature of the English countryside - would get out of some of them.) But the audiobook insisted on inserting long lulls between the poems full of birdsong and natural sounds. They comprised at least a third of the total runtime; I timed more than one as longer than the accompanying poem. There's adding atmosphere, and there's just plain overkill... I think this one would work better in the original format, as a picture book with illustrations by Jackie Morris, but as I listened to the audiobook, it's the audiobook version I must review.
(As a closing note, I wonder why the original word definitions weren't included, either with the poems or in an afterword. Wasn't half the point to re-introduce those words to children's vocabulary?)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Imagine a World (Rob Gonsalves) - My Review
The Dream of the Thylacine (Margaret Wild) - My Review
Robert Macfarlane
Anansi International
Fiction, CH Poetry
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Oxford Children's Dictionary was updated in 2007, several words were removed as no longer relevant to young readers, replaced with more modern terms related to technology. Acorn, newt, raven, willow... their loss hinted at a loss of nature, a loss of connection to the green world beyond the classroom. With these poems inspired by the missing words, Robert Macfarlane hopes to reforge that connection and spark the sense of wonder that the natural world can bring, even in the internet age.
REVIEW: This is a case where the presentation - in this case, the audiobook - had a distinct impact on the rating. The poems themselves are decent, if a bit variable in quality and content. (I also wonder how much a kid who didn't already know and appreciate nature - particularly the nature of the English countryside - would get out of some of them.) But the audiobook insisted on inserting long lulls between the poems full of birdsong and natural sounds. They comprised at least a third of the total runtime; I timed more than one as longer than the accompanying poem. There's adding atmosphere, and there's just plain overkill... I think this one would work better in the original format, as a picture book with illustrations by Jackie Morris, but as I listened to the audiobook, it's the audiobook version I must review.
(As a closing note, I wonder why the original word definitions weren't included, either with the poems or in an afterword. Wasn't half the point to re-introduce those words to children's vocabulary?)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Imagine a World (Rob Gonsalves) - My Review
The Dream of the Thylacine (Margaret Wild) - My Review
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Mac Barnett)
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity
The Brixton Brothers series, Book 1
Mac Barnett
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, MG Humor/Mystery
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Steve Brixton may just be a kid, but he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up: a private detective. He already knows everything he needs to know about sleuthing and catching criminals thanks to his favorite book series, the Bailey Brothers, and their handy guide for aspiring young detectives, The Bailey Brothers' Detective Handbook. All he needs is a case to get him started... but he never expected to stumble into one thanks to his social studies class, of all things, and certainly not researching the history of American needlework for an eight-page essay (due Monday). When he tries to check out the town library's only book on the subject, all heck breaks loose. Suddenly, he's on the run from both the librarians - really a secret society of elite agents that makes the FBI look like Cub Scouts - and the law, with everyone convinced he's an undercover private eye working for a mysterious figure known only as Mr. E. The only way to prove he's not a real detective is to find Mr. E for himself - a dangerous caper that might stump even the famed Bailey Brothers.
REVIEW: A tongue-in-cheek riff on boy detective series like the Hardy Boys, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity pits a young would-be detective against intentionally over-the-top baddies in a twisty, turny plot that both leans on and tweaks familiar tropes. Steve thinks he has what it takes to be a real, live crime fighter, and even outsmarts his mother's new cop boyfriend by cracking a burglary at the dinner table, Encyclopedia Brown style (not that the man believes him, or appreciates the boy showing him up). But it's one thing to read about the fictional Bailey Brothers stalking smugglers and dodging gunfire, and a whole different thing altogether when armed men are breaking through the library windows hunting him down for trying to check out an old book on quilts. Still, Steve has his notebook, his mail-order official Bailey Brothers detective badge, his handbook for young detectives, and even his magnifying glass (which is apparently a vital accessory to any private eye, though he only figures out a use for it later on), and it's not like he has a choice about taking the case when the case is literally dropped in his lap... and when failure means either being hauled off to jail as a national traitor or taken away to a secret compound by the shadow organization of librarians, which might be even worse. Of course, one thing he knows from his reading is that every good detective has a "chum", or partner, though his best friend Dana isn't exactly thrilled to be drug into the role of sidekick, and even less thrilled by Steve calling him "chum" all the time, which in a modern coastal town is more often associated with fish bait than with partnership (the Bailey Brothers aren't exactly a modern duo). Through a combination of pluck, cleverness, sheer luck, and beneficial failures, not to mention a handbook that sometimes is more hindrance than help, Steve manages to make his way through the tale, though not without several setbacks and contusions. The whole manages to be amusing, delivering chuckles and thrills and intentional ridiculousness.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Library of Ever (Zeno Alexander) - My Review
Write This Book: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Brixton Brothers series, Book 1
Mac Barnett
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, MG Humor/Mystery
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Steve Brixton may just be a kid, but he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up: a private detective. He already knows everything he needs to know about sleuthing and catching criminals thanks to his favorite book series, the Bailey Brothers, and their handy guide for aspiring young detectives, The Bailey Brothers' Detective Handbook. All he needs is a case to get him started... but he never expected to stumble into one thanks to his social studies class, of all things, and certainly not researching the history of American needlework for an eight-page essay (due Monday). When he tries to check out the town library's only book on the subject, all heck breaks loose. Suddenly, he's on the run from both the librarians - really a secret society of elite agents that makes the FBI look like Cub Scouts - and the law, with everyone convinced he's an undercover private eye working for a mysterious figure known only as Mr. E. The only way to prove he's not a real detective is to find Mr. E for himself - a dangerous caper that might stump even the famed Bailey Brothers.
REVIEW: A tongue-in-cheek riff on boy detective series like the Hardy Boys, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity pits a young would-be detective against intentionally over-the-top baddies in a twisty, turny plot that both leans on and tweaks familiar tropes. Steve thinks he has what it takes to be a real, live crime fighter, and even outsmarts his mother's new cop boyfriend by cracking a burglary at the dinner table, Encyclopedia Brown style (not that the man believes him, or appreciates the boy showing him up). But it's one thing to read about the fictional Bailey Brothers stalking smugglers and dodging gunfire, and a whole different thing altogether when armed men are breaking through the library windows hunting him down for trying to check out an old book on quilts. Still, Steve has his notebook, his mail-order official Bailey Brothers detective badge, his handbook for young detectives, and even his magnifying glass (which is apparently a vital accessory to any private eye, though he only figures out a use for it later on), and it's not like he has a choice about taking the case when the case is literally dropped in his lap... and when failure means either being hauled off to jail as a national traitor or taken away to a secret compound by the shadow organization of librarians, which might be even worse. Of course, one thing he knows from his reading is that every good detective has a "chum", or partner, though his best friend Dana isn't exactly thrilled to be drug into the role of sidekick, and even less thrilled by Steve calling him "chum" all the time, which in a modern coastal town is more often associated with fish bait than with partnership (the Bailey Brothers aren't exactly a modern duo). Through a combination of pluck, cleverness, sheer luck, and beneficial failures, not to mention a handbook that sometimes is more hindrance than help, Steve manages to make his way through the tale, though not without several setbacks and contusions. The whole manages to be amusing, delivering chuckles and thrills and intentional ridiculousness.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Library of Ever (Zeno Alexander) - My Review
Write This Book: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
The Neanderthals Rediscovered (Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse)
The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting Their Story
Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse
Thames and Hudson
Nonfiction, Anthropology/Archaeology
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Neanderthal. Caveman. Ever since the first discoveries of primitive hominins and early reconstructions, these terms have been tossed around as pejoratives, expressing brutish stupidity and dinosaur-like obsolescence. The proof, of course, is that Homo sapiens has survived to invent the very archaeology that renders our extinct relatives as inferiors. If we weren't smarter, weren't stronger, weren't faster and more clever and overall just plain better and more blessed beings, we'd be the bones in the caves and they'd be the ones excavating our tools and wondering about us, right? In recent years, new discoveries and investigative techniques have upended nearly everything we thought we knew about Homo neanderthalensis, the iconic "caveman" relatives who once spread across Europe and Asia before disappearing into the mists of time. Just what were Neanderthals like? Where did they come from and why did they vanish... and is there anything other than old bones and stone tools left of them today? And, given what we've learned, is it really fair or accurate to treat their name as a synonym for stupidity?
REVIEW: In the foreword, the authors mention that the book was supposed to have gone to press earlier than it did (in 2015), but that various factors ended up holding it up... and even in that brief delay, much of what they'd written had to be rewritten, or at least adjusted, to account for new discoveries, breakthroughs, and theories. I can only imagine where things stand in the scientific community in 2024. Even when it was published, though, it was clear that popular cultural images of the Neanderthal as a knuckle-dragging, club-swinging, misogynistic monster were about as accurate as the Flintstones in depicting our prehistoric ancestors and relatives. From missteps in early reconstruction and investigations to biases on race (and species), the history of prehistoric study has wended its way slowly and circuitously toward something approaching the truth, though of course we probably will never know the whole truth unless time travel becomes a thing (and fiction informs us that that's frankly more trouble than it's probably worth). The authors recount both the history (as understood) of the human/hominin diaspora that created Neanderthals, early "modern" humans, and other relatives known and unknown, and the history of discoveries and theories that have shaped our understanding of our lost kin. Sometimes the recitations can feel a bit dry and technical, and once in a while it seemed they were dismissing or downplaying hypotheses and ideas without really getting into why, but overall it paints a fascinating, if naturally (sometimes frustratingly) incomplete, picture of a lost species that was far more like us than many H. sapiens are comfortable admitting... for if we allow that Neanderthals were also capable of many of the things we think of as exclusively ours, that they were not obviously or inherently lesser beings, we might have to consider that we, too, could follow them into oblivion with the next roll of the evolutionary dice.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Smart Neanderthal (Clive Finlayson) - My Review
Last Ape Standing (Chip Walter) - My Review
Paleofantasy (Marlene Zuk) - My Review
Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse
Thames and Hudson
Nonfiction, Anthropology/Archaeology
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Neanderthal. Caveman. Ever since the first discoveries of primitive hominins and early reconstructions, these terms have been tossed around as pejoratives, expressing brutish stupidity and dinosaur-like obsolescence. The proof, of course, is that Homo sapiens has survived to invent the very archaeology that renders our extinct relatives as inferiors. If we weren't smarter, weren't stronger, weren't faster and more clever and overall just plain better and more blessed beings, we'd be the bones in the caves and they'd be the ones excavating our tools and wondering about us, right? In recent years, new discoveries and investigative techniques have upended nearly everything we thought we knew about Homo neanderthalensis, the iconic "caveman" relatives who once spread across Europe and Asia before disappearing into the mists of time. Just what were Neanderthals like? Where did they come from and why did they vanish... and is there anything other than old bones and stone tools left of them today? And, given what we've learned, is it really fair or accurate to treat their name as a synonym for stupidity?
REVIEW: In the foreword, the authors mention that the book was supposed to have gone to press earlier than it did (in 2015), but that various factors ended up holding it up... and even in that brief delay, much of what they'd written had to be rewritten, or at least adjusted, to account for new discoveries, breakthroughs, and theories. I can only imagine where things stand in the scientific community in 2024. Even when it was published, though, it was clear that popular cultural images of the Neanderthal as a knuckle-dragging, club-swinging, misogynistic monster were about as accurate as the Flintstones in depicting our prehistoric ancestors and relatives. From missteps in early reconstruction and investigations to biases on race (and species), the history of prehistoric study has wended its way slowly and circuitously toward something approaching the truth, though of course we probably will never know the whole truth unless time travel becomes a thing (and fiction informs us that that's frankly more trouble than it's probably worth). The authors recount both the history (as understood) of the human/hominin diaspora that created Neanderthals, early "modern" humans, and other relatives known and unknown, and the history of discoveries and theories that have shaped our understanding of our lost kin. Sometimes the recitations can feel a bit dry and technical, and once in a while it seemed they were dismissing or downplaying hypotheses and ideas without really getting into why, but overall it paints a fascinating, if naturally (sometimes frustratingly) incomplete, picture of a lost species that was far more like us than many H. sapiens are comfortable admitting... for if we allow that Neanderthals were also capable of many of the things we think of as exclusively ours, that they were not obviously or inherently lesser beings, we might have to consider that we, too, could follow them into oblivion with the next roll of the evolutionary dice.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Smart Neanderthal (Clive Finlayson) - My Review
Last Ape Standing (Chip Walter) - My Review
Paleofantasy (Marlene Zuk) - My Review
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
The Art of Prophecy (Wesley Chu)
The Art of Prophecy
The War Arts Saga, Book 1
Wesley Chu
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: It was the prophecy that founded a religion, that gave the beleaguered nations hope, that justified exorbitant expenditures of time, effort, and cold hard liang coins once the child was found: the Prophecized Hero of the Tiandi and Champion of the Five Under Heaven, who would rise to slay the Immortal Khan of the Grass Sea and end the relentless raids of those barbaric Katuian people upon civilized Zhuun lands. Thus was young Jian raised in a luxurious palace, surrounded by bodyguards and servants catering to every whim, trained by the best war artists in every possible manner of combat... and utterly incapable of winning a fight against so much as a child, let alone the Khan. Aging windwhisper Taishi, long past her prime, despairs when she discovers how spoiled the hero-to-be has become, how greed and corruption have turned his training into a mockery. She determines to do her best to salvage the situation - until the Immortal Khan is killed by someone else, rendering the prophecy obsolete and Jian a political liability.
Jian doesn't understand it. As far back as he can recall, he's been the glorified chosen one. He's learned everything his exalted masters have taught him, struck every pose perfect as a painting, won every practice match he's ever been in - and never questioned why. Only the one-armed old hag of a war artist who plucks air currents like harp strings doubts his prowess... but when the very people who once praised him try to kill him in his own garden, only that old hag defends him, whisking him away from Mute Men assassins and bounty-hungry shadowkills. Faced with the very real possibility that not only was his entire life a lie but that he may not actually be a good war artist, Jian finds himself staring into a bleak future... but the prophecy may not be quite as obsolete as everyone believes, and the Champion of the Five Under Heaven may yet be needed to save the land.
The Viperstrike warrior Sali has served the moving cities of the Grass Sea and the Immortal Khan himself with unwavering loyalty. She even bears a piece of his Will within her, a fragment of soul that beckons her when the Khan's too-mortal body is struck down. Tradition compels her to lay down her life, to return that fragment of the Khan's will that it may be reborn in a new body... but with the land-chained Zhuun armies destroying her people, Sali defies her sacred duty to become a Soul Seeker, to find the Khan's new vessel and unite the Grass Sea against the enemy. Once she has found him, she'll gladly die and return his piece of soul to him - but destiny may have another fate in mind for the warrior.
REVIEW: Warriors who can step through shadows or ride upon winds or even blur time, a "sea" of moving, living plants where cities rove upon great wheels, a prophecy that appears to have ruined more than it promised to save, and a collection of characters left to pick up the pieces and figure out what went wrong and why nothing seems to be going right... Chu blends magical martial arts with a well-imagined world and flawed yet interesting characters in this amusing epic adventure
Starting with Taishi discovering just how far astray the coddled would-be hero has been led by advisors and trainers more interested in their own glorification (and purses) than with saving Zhuun from the Immortal Khan's people, the tale takes several surprising turns. Jian, naturally, undergoes some much-needed growing up by being literally chased out of the lap of luxury and into the harsh reality beyond the palace walls... not quite as much growing up as one might expect by the end, in some ways, but he is still young and has a lot of botched upbringing to erase before he can truly become anything like a proper hero. Taishi, for her part, sees just enough promise in the boy to keep from giving up on him - just as she's not convinced that it's the prophecy that failed, a journey that leads her to the heart of the Tiandi religion and some surprising revelations, not to mention some new allies and enemies along the way. Steadfast warrior Sali of the Grass Sea has dedicated herself fully to her people and her Khan - especially when a childhood best friend became the new incarnation of the Katuian ruler after the previous one passed away. She eats, sleeps, and breathes tradition... yet finds herself defying not only the shamans but her own soul's pull toward death when she decides that she can serve the Grass Sea better by finding the new Khan amid the postwar chaos than by committing suicide in the temple - the first of many clashes she'll encounter with truths and rules she once considered as solid and unquestionable as the sun and three moons in the heavens. Further complications come from Quisimi, an ambitious (if not entirely mentally stable) shadowkill mercenary who means to make a name for herself and her crew by taking down the ex-hero and his traitor protector, the windwhisper war artist Taishi. They all have their parts to play in the unfolding saga, all facing conflicts that force them to reexamine their loyalties and beliefs and long-unquestioned assumptions.
The tale moves decently enough, with plenty of action, many exciting fight sequences and fascinating settings, some emotion and drama, and more than a touch of humor throughout, though sometimes it feels like it's not quite covering as much ground as it seems it should be given the page count, if that makes any sense. I wasn't entirely certain I'd read over five hundred pages worth of story when I reached the end, for all that I generally enjoyed it and look forward to where the saga goes from here.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Blacktongue Thief (Christopher Buehlman) - My Review
The Lives of Tao (Wesley Chu) - My Review
Jade City (Fonda Lee) - My Review
The War Arts Saga, Book 1
Wesley Chu
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: It was the prophecy that founded a religion, that gave the beleaguered nations hope, that justified exorbitant expenditures of time, effort, and cold hard liang coins once the child was found: the Prophecized Hero of the Tiandi and Champion of the Five Under Heaven, who would rise to slay the Immortal Khan of the Grass Sea and end the relentless raids of those barbaric Katuian people upon civilized Zhuun lands. Thus was young Jian raised in a luxurious palace, surrounded by bodyguards and servants catering to every whim, trained by the best war artists in every possible manner of combat... and utterly incapable of winning a fight against so much as a child, let alone the Khan. Aging windwhisper Taishi, long past her prime, despairs when she discovers how spoiled the hero-to-be has become, how greed and corruption have turned his training into a mockery. She determines to do her best to salvage the situation - until the Immortal Khan is killed by someone else, rendering the prophecy obsolete and Jian a political liability.
Jian doesn't understand it. As far back as he can recall, he's been the glorified chosen one. He's learned everything his exalted masters have taught him, struck every pose perfect as a painting, won every practice match he's ever been in - and never questioned why. Only the one-armed old hag of a war artist who plucks air currents like harp strings doubts his prowess... but when the very people who once praised him try to kill him in his own garden, only that old hag defends him, whisking him away from Mute Men assassins and bounty-hungry shadowkills. Faced with the very real possibility that not only was his entire life a lie but that he may not actually be a good war artist, Jian finds himself staring into a bleak future... but the prophecy may not be quite as obsolete as everyone believes, and the Champion of the Five Under Heaven may yet be needed to save the land.
The Viperstrike warrior Sali has served the moving cities of the Grass Sea and the Immortal Khan himself with unwavering loyalty. She even bears a piece of his Will within her, a fragment of soul that beckons her when the Khan's too-mortal body is struck down. Tradition compels her to lay down her life, to return that fragment of the Khan's will that it may be reborn in a new body... but with the land-chained Zhuun armies destroying her people, Sali defies her sacred duty to become a Soul Seeker, to find the Khan's new vessel and unite the Grass Sea against the enemy. Once she has found him, she'll gladly die and return his piece of soul to him - but destiny may have another fate in mind for the warrior.
REVIEW: Warriors who can step through shadows or ride upon winds or even blur time, a "sea" of moving, living plants where cities rove upon great wheels, a prophecy that appears to have ruined more than it promised to save, and a collection of characters left to pick up the pieces and figure out what went wrong and why nothing seems to be going right... Chu blends magical martial arts with a well-imagined world and flawed yet interesting characters in this amusing epic adventure
Starting with Taishi discovering just how far astray the coddled would-be hero has been led by advisors and trainers more interested in their own glorification (and purses) than with saving Zhuun from the Immortal Khan's people, the tale takes several surprising turns. Jian, naturally, undergoes some much-needed growing up by being literally chased out of the lap of luxury and into the harsh reality beyond the palace walls... not quite as much growing up as one might expect by the end, in some ways, but he is still young and has a lot of botched upbringing to erase before he can truly become anything like a proper hero. Taishi, for her part, sees just enough promise in the boy to keep from giving up on him - just as she's not convinced that it's the prophecy that failed, a journey that leads her to the heart of the Tiandi religion and some surprising revelations, not to mention some new allies and enemies along the way. Steadfast warrior Sali of the Grass Sea has dedicated herself fully to her people and her Khan - especially when a childhood best friend became the new incarnation of the Katuian ruler after the previous one passed away. She eats, sleeps, and breathes tradition... yet finds herself defying not only the shamans but her own soul's pull toward death when she decides that she can serve the Grass Sea better by finding the new Khan amid the postwar chaos than by committing suicide in the temple - the first of many clashes she'll encounter with truths and rules she once considered as solid and unquestionable as the sun and three moons in the heavens. Further complications come from Quisimi, an ambitious (if not entirely mentally stable) shadowkill mercenary who means to make a name for herself and her crew by taking down the ex-hero and his traitor protector, the windwhisper war artist Taishi. They all have their parts to play in the unfolding saga, all facing conflicts that force them to reexamine their loyalties and beliefs and long-unquestioned assumptions.
The tale moves decently enough, with plenty of action, many exciting fight sequences and fascinating settings, some emotion and drama, and more than a touch of humor throughout, though sometimes it feels like it's not quite covering as much ground as it seems it should be given the page count, if that makes any sense. I wasn't entirely certain I'd read over five hundred pages worth of story when I reached the end, for all that I generally enjoyed it and look forward to where the saga goes from here.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Blacktongue Thief (Christopher Buehlman) - My Review
The Lives of Tao (Wesley Chu) - My Review
Jade City (Fonda Lee) - My Review
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Whales on Stilts (M. T. Anderson)
Whales on Stilts
A Pals in Peril Tale, Book 1
M. T. Anderson
Beach Lane Books
Fiction, MG Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Lily Gefelty is nobody's idea of a heroine. She spends most of her life hiding behind her bangs, as good as invisible... but being invisible means she notices things others miss. So when she goes to work with her dad for Career Day, she notices something amiss with the place - inside an abandoned warehouse (in the abandoned warehouse district of town) and protected by armed guards - and with the boss - Larry, a strange man who always wears a burlap sack on his head, rubber gloves on his hands, and has a strange habit of dumping seawater on his face for lunch. She's also not too sure about the outfit's business plan, though her father insists it's just an ordinary business dedicated to building stilts (and other accessories) for whales. Lily, though, is certain that Larry is a mad scientist trying to take over the world... a certainty that only becomes stronger when Larry tells Lily and her father that he's going to take over the world this coming Tuesday.
Lily doesn't know what to do with this information, or how to stop it. She's just the girl nobody notices, not the girl who saves the day. Fortunately, she has two best friends who are famous for saving days: Kate Mulligan, whose exploits surviving monster attacks in Horror Hollow (a suburb off Route 666) have landed her a book series and fan club, and Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, whose steam-powered contraptions and science-based adventures used to have a far greater following (though he still has a lucrative endorsement from Gargletine breakfast drinks). But it's going to take more than Kate and Jasper to stop Larry's evil schemes. It's going to take a new heroine to step up... a heroine like Lily Gefelty.
REVIEW: The title promises over-the-top silliness in the vein of old implausible serials and kid adventurer tales, and the story delivers on that promise in full and then some. Part Lemony Snickett, part Goosebumps, part homage to/satire of logic-light but action-heavy adventure series the likes of which date back well over a century, this is the kind of book that only works if the author fully commits to the gimmick, leans all their weight on the gas pedal, and puts every needle in the red, start to finish, which Anderson gleefully does. The fourth wall gets so many holes in it it's practically a window, which can be a tough trick to pull off but works here. (Some of the humor seemed aimed a little over the heads of the target reader, to the grown-ups reading along - or, like me, reading entirely on our own - not in a crude way, but referencing experiences and cultural knowledge the average youngster likely just doesn't have or hasn't been exposed to yet.) The main characters, despite their inherent exaggeration and silliness, make for a fun trio bonded by genuine friendship, each pulling their weight (even if they're sometimes hampered by the tropes that created them; Jasper Dash's clunky gear-and-steamwork gadgetry was all the rage back in the heyday of his serials and peak Gargletine sales, but is more than a little outdated in the cell phone era, while Kate is often shadowed by a trio of ghostwriters who crank out even more exaggerated versions of her exaggerated exploits so fast they often hit stores before the exploit itself has concluded). That friendship forms an emotional core that makes the story more than a collection of gags and winks, pulling all the elements together to be even stronger than the sum of the parts. The author often intrudes to skip over boring or repetitive parts or add the odd flashback or commentary, plus more than a few one-liners and asides. At the end of the wild adventure, which naturally leaves the door open for future installments (like any good serial), is a "study guide" for classrooms and book groups written by an expert... a guide that reveals far more about the expert's issues than the book it purports to examine. The fact that I was prompted to snicker out loud at work multiple times while listening to this story kicks it above four stars. I'm not sure if I need to follow the Pals in Peril tales further - this feels like a gimmick that, while hilarious once, might not be able to carry more installments without getting stale or repeating itself - but I'd be game to try at least one more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Name of This Book is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
A Pals in Peril Tale, Book 1
M. T. Anderson
Beach Lane Books
Fiction, MG Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Lily Gefelty is nobody's idea of a heroine. She spends most of her life hiding behind her bangs, as good as invisible... but being invisible means she notices things others miss. So when she goes to work with her dad for Career Day, she notices something amiss with the place - inside an abandoned warehouse (in the abandoned warehouse district of town) and protected by armed guards - and with the boss - Larry, a strange man who always wears a burlap sack on his head, rubber gloves on his hands, and has a strange habit of dumping seawater on his face for lunch. She's also not too sure about the outfit's business plan, though her father insists it's just an ordinary business dedicated to building stilts (and other accessories) for whales. Lily, though, is certain that Larry is a mad scientist trying to take over the world... a certainty that only becomes stronger when Larry tells Lily and her father that he's going to take over the world this coming Tuesday.
Lily doesn't know what to do with this information, or how to stop it. She's just the girl nobody notices, not the girl who saves the day. Fortunately, she has two best friends who are famous for saving days: Kate Mulligan, whose exploits surviving monster attacks in Horror Hollow (a suburb off Route 666) have landed her a book series and fan club, and Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, whose steam-powered contraptions and science-based adventures used to have a far greater following (though he still has a lucrative endorsement from Gargletine breakfast drinks). But it's going to take more than Kate and Jasper to stop Larry's evil schemes. It's going to take a new heroine to step up... a heroine like Lily Gefelty.
REVIEW: The title promises over-the-top silliness in the vein of old implausible serials and kid adventurer tales, and the story delivers on that promise in full and then some. Part Lemony Snickett, part Goosebumps, part homage to/satire of logic-light but action-heavy adventure series the likes of which date back well over a century, this is the kind of book that only works if the author fully commits to the gimmick, leans all their weight on the gas pedal, and puts every needle in the red, start to finish, which Anderson gleefully does. The fourth wall gets so many holes in it it's practically a window, which can be a tough trick to pull off but works here. (Some of the humor seemed aimed a little over the heads of the target reader, to the grown-ups reading along - or, like me, reading entirely on our own - not in a crude way, but referencing experiences and cultural knowledge the average youngster likely just doesn't have or hasn't been exposed to yet.) The main characters, despite their inherent exaggeration and silliness, make for a fun trio bonded by genuine friendship, each pulling their weight (even if they're sometimes hampered by the tropes that created them; Jasper Dash's clunky gear-and-steamwork gadgetry was all the rage back in the heyday of his serials and peak Gargletine sales, but is more than a little outdated in the cell phone era, while Kate is often shadowed by a trio of ghostwriters who crank out even more exaggerated versions of her exaggerated exploits so fast they often hit stores before the exploit itself has concluded). That friendship forms an emotional core that makes the story more than a collection of gags and winks, pulling all the elements together to be even stronger than the sum of the parts. The author often intrudes to skip over boring or repetitive parts or add the odd flashback or commentary, plus more than a few one-liners and asides. At the end of the wild adventure, which naturally leaves the door open for future installments (like any good serial), is a "study guide" for classrooms and book groups written by an expert... a guide that reveals far more about the expert's issues than the book it purports to examine. The fact that I was prompted to snicker out loud at work multiple times while listening to this story kicks it above four stars. I'm not sure if I need to follow the Pals in Peril tales further - this feels like a gimmick that, while hilarious once, might not be able to carry more installments without getting stale or repeating itself - but I'd be game to try at least one more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Name of This Book is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle (Terry Pratchett)
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales
Terry Pratchett
Clarion Books
Fiction, CH? Collection/Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: One of King Arthur's least promising knights leads a quest to rid Crumbling Castle of a dragon infestation... a race of tiny people, so small they can dwell upon a speck of dust, explore the wild universe within a living room... a boring prince sets out to seek his fortune... an ordinary bus trip takes an extraordinary turn through time... This volume collects fourteen stories written by the legendary author Sir Terry Pratchett.
REVIEW: Long before Discworld debuted and changed the course of fantasy and satire, Terry Pratchett was a teenage journalist who penned numerous little confections like the ones collected here. Some, such as the "carpet people" tales, revisit the same settings and a few of the same characters - those stories would eventually inspire his first published novel, The Carpet People - but many of the rest are just light, often silly amusements. Even then, there are traces of Pratchett's later, more signature style and wit, and every story brims with imagination. If there aren't really any girl characters of note, and if there are hints of some racial stereotypes now and again, well, not only was the author just a teenager, but the stories were written in emulation of older fairy stories, adventure yarns, and once-upon-a-time tales that shared similar blind spots. The whole may not be up to the lofty heights Pratchett would later reach, but are certainly enjoyable and entertaining for what they are.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Book of Enchantments (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
Terry Pratchett
Clarion Books
Fiction, CH? Collection/Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: One of King Arthur's least promising knights leads a quest to rid Crumbling Castle of a dragon infestation... a race of tiny people, so small they can dwell upon a speck of dust, explore the wild universe within a living room... a boring prince sets out to seek his fortune... an ordinary bus trip takes an extraordinary turn through time... This volume collects fourteen stories written by the legendary author Sir Terry Pratchett.
REVIEW: Long before Discworld debuted and changed the course of fantasy and satire, Terry Pratchett was a teenage journalist who penned numerous little confections like the ones collected here. Some, such as the "carpet people" tales, revisit the same settings and a few of the same characters - those stories would eventually inspire his first published novel, The Carpet People - but many of the rest are just light, often silly amusements. Even then, there are traces of Pratchett's later, more signature style and wit, and every story brims with imagination. If there aren't really any girl characters of note, and if there are hints of some racial stereotypes now and again, well, not only was the author just a teenager, but the stories were written in emulation of older fairy stories, adventure yarns, and once-upon-a-time tales that shared similar blind spots. The whole may not be up to the lofty heights Pratchett would later reach, but are certainly enjoyable and entertaining for what they are.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Book of Enchantments (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
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