The Langoliers (Stephen King)

The Langoliers
The Four Past Midnight series, Book 1
Stephen King
Scribner
Fiction, Horror
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Pilot Brian Engle never meant to be on the redeye from Los Angeles to Boston, especially not so soon after completing another cross-country flight. But this time he's a passenger, rushing back to Boston after his ex-wife's untimely death. Thus, he finds himself on another American Pride jet shortly after departing the cockpit, so exhausted he falls asleep shortly after takeoff... to wake up in a nightmare. The plane is empty save a handful of other passengers, flying on autopilot over an America with no cities, no towns - no life. As the survivors try to figure out what to do and where to go and if they can ever get back to where they came from, they all become aware that a danger is approaching, a danger that takes form in one passenger's childhood tales of all-devouring monsters called the Langoliers.

REVIEW: This novella explores some familiar King themes: an isolated group stranded by an inexplicable Event, a largely-unseen and essentially unstoppable threat, the threat of madness within the group even as the enemy threatens without, and underlying hints of supernatural or psychic phenomena. I thought King explored these ideas a bit better in other stories, but this one does its job and hits its marks, creating ever-rising tension with creepy and memorable imagery, even if the characters sometimes feel a little flat and stereotyped. More than once, I wanted to shake the people to remind them to stop dithering and babbling and taking forever to explain things when the danger is marching relentlessly closer to them, but this isn't the first story where I've felt that urge.
It might have earned a Good rating, save it felt a little weak in spots and the audiobook narration of the edition I checked out from Libby was irritating. The narrator's pitch and volume kept rising and falling, surging and fading, all woven around musical accompaniment that threatened to overwhelm the quieter and lower parts. I kept having to crank up the volume, only to drop it half a minute later when he raised his voice again and nearly blew out my eardrums. It made for a frustrating listening experience that affected my overall enjoyment.

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The Guns Above (Robyn Bennis)

The Guns Above
A Signal Airship novel, Book 1
Robyn Bennis
Tor
Fiction, Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Josette Dupre never set out to become a war hero. The Garnian military barely tolerates women in lesser roles, even aboard their airships; it was pure chance that she was the highest-ranked officer left alive to perform a daring maneuver that turned the tide of one battle. Now, desperation and politics have combined to land her as the captain - by role if not by official rank - of a new airship, the Mistral. She knows the top brass are salivating for a chance to prove that women have no place in combat, and she intends to prove them wrong... ideally while taking down as many of the enemy as she can. But dreams of vindication and glory soon run head-first into challenges she never anticipated, from the flaws of her new ship's "revolutionary" design to crew morale and a war that's about to take a drastic turn for the worse.
Lord Bernat has never worked a day in his pampered life, cheerfully burning through the family coffers - until one day, instead of more money, his mother sends him to his general uncle. It seems that he's expected to earn his own money via a commission... unless he proves useful in another way, by providing eyewitness proof of Dupre's incompetence to put an end to any progressive notions that might take root in the military. Sure, he's never set foot on an airship before, but Bernat is certain it'll be much easier than actually being a soldier, not to mention the pay offered by his uncle is far better. But what seems like a simple task becomes much more complicated, when the Mistral becomes swept up in audacious new plot by Garnia's enemies. The foppish lord may have arrived on the airship intent on proving Dupre unfit for duty, but she may be the only one who can keep him and the rest of the crew alive.

REVIEW: It's been a bit since I read a steampunk adventure tale, so I figured I'd give this one a try. It offers plenty of action and detailed technical musings on the world's airships, as machines and as tools in greater combat... musings that, along with painstakingly explored battle tactics, threaten to sink the whole story and the characters with it.
The tale starts in the aftermath of Josette's victory, as she and the other survivors of her doomed old ship become part of a bold new idea handed down from Garnia's king that aims to put women in active leadership roles for the first time - in truth, a sign of desperation by a nation that's just plain running out of men and boys to throw into the meat grinder of war. She leverages her experience and skills from years serving in a non-combat role aboard the nation's airships to seize this chance to prove herself (and her gender) capable, but things aren't always easy for her; in a forgotten subplot, it turns out even her second-in-command and best friend secretly thinks women shouldn't be serving. This is not the only forgotten aspect of the story, which often is less about Josette and more about the author explaining to the reader in great detail every possible aspect of Garnia's airships in general and the Mistral in particular. The characters start to feel a bit like placeholders or even caricatures that have to squeeze their interactions, growth, and very existence into the limited spaces around these details, which later spread to encompass blow-by-blows of battles and military tactics. It goes without saying, of course, that Lord Bernat's trial by fire (quite literally) eventually brings him around, but he remains an insufferable twit far longer than he needs to, and his efforts at witty banter tend to fall flat. The action teeters between exciting drama and drawn-out excuses to relate more technical details, eventually leading up to a grand finale and the setup for the second book.
This isn't a bad military steampunk tale, and there are some very good moments. At some point, though, I just got tired of constantly being lectured about the minutiae of Garnian airship schematics and battle plans, and I never felt as engaged or invested as I should have been. I also kept thinking that I'd read the same basic ideas done more effectively elsewhere. Still, if you're looking for a story of soldiers, steampunk, and airships, this is a decent enough choice.

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The Bakery Dragon (Devin Elle Kurtz)

The Bakery Dragon
Devin Elle Kurtz
Knopf
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: A dragon is never a proper dragon until they have a hoard of gold, but when little Ember tries following the others, he's too small and clumsy to steal from humans, and is soon left behind. Determined not to return home until he gets his paws on treasure, he stays overnight in a human town... only to discover a new kind of "gold" at the local bakery.

REVIEW: I've been keeping an eye on this one, having followed the artist's works online for a while, but never got a chance to corner the book at work for a read until today. With bright, charming illustrations, author/artist Kurtz tells a simple, warmhearted story of a little misfit finding his own way to succeed. Quite enjoyable, and a nice way to fill some down time at work.

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I'd Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You, and Other Stories (Julianna Baggott)

I'd Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You, and Other Stories
Julianna Baggott
Blackstone Publishing
Fiction, Collection/Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: A power glitch reveals a terrifying truth about the adults in an idyllic suburban development, a young woman's morphing tattoo demands she confront a traumatic childhood incident, a peculiar pandemic scatters memories to random people, an AI "gaslighter" begins to question its role in manipulating humans... these and more stories by noted author Julianna Baggott are collected in this volume.

REVIEW: As with many short story collections, these tales could be a mixed bag, though I liked them more than I didn't. Many explore themes related to memories, the traumas of childhood (and parenthood), and the need to confront past hurts and unhealthy patterns if one is to have any hope of a better future. There are also some that explore what personhood means, and how we decide who gets to be recognized and who gets to be silenced. A few felt long, a few others felt abbreviated, and sometimes Baggott didn't seem to quite know where or how to end, what final note would make the strongest impact. Overall, though, they explored some interesting ideas without feeling too repetitive.

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The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (Zen Cho)

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water
Zen Cho
Tordotcom
Fiction, Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: When the handsome-faced bandit walked into the small coffeehouse, one of many nondescript coffeehouses in a nation slowly being crushed by the heavy boot of a foreign Protectorate, trouble was almost inevitable... especially when that bandit intervenes in a rude customer's ill treatment of the waitress. That should've been the beginning and end of it, a brief incident and crossing of paths - until the waitress, fired by the coffeehouse, tracks down the bandit and insists on joining his small crew. They are reluctant, naturally; not only is she a woman, but she has the shaven head of a former nun of the Order of the Pure Moon, and there are rumors about them dabbling in forbidden magics. But Guet Imm is persistent, and the bandits may turn out to be very much in need of her assistance, as their latest scheme is about to go horribly awry.

REVIEW: Set in an Asian-inspired world where outsiders have turned the nation against itself as soldiers target the heart of the culture and bandits, once the heart of the resistance, degenerate into infighting and thuggery, this novella had many ingredients that were intriguing, though for some reason I never quite found they clicked together as they should have. The characters are all scarred to varying degrees by what's happening to their country; Guet Imm was a nun in seclusion for many years before emerging to find the rest of her Order slaughtered, and is still a bit of an innocent in the ways of the wider world, while the bandits - particularly the jaded second-in-command Tet Sang - have given up their own former idealism to some degree; while they are trying in their own way to preserve what they can of their nation's heritage, doing so requires compromises that largely undermine whatever integrity they try to preserve, and more and more it's about the money rather than the honor. Tet Sang hides further secrets that are endangered by the presence of the former nun, which come out as their scheme is revealed and unravels before their eyes. Despite the terrible things that have happened, Guet Imm remains a devout follower of the Lady, insisting that the goddess still protects Her people and Her faithful and punishes their enemies, all evidence to the contrary... claims which might have a grain of truth behind them as events proceed. For some reason, I never really felt I was drawn into the story, kept a little at arm's length from the world and the people, making the resolution feel less cathartic and satisfactory than it should have been.

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