Book Review: Cry, The Beloved Country

Every now and then I get the urge to step back from works of fantasy and science fiction and read something out of my usual comfort zone.  Often, these breaks from the norm can be a path to discovery for me, and help me recharge my reading batteries.  It's been a while since my last SF/F getaway, so I figured a little recharge was in order. Cry, The Beloved Country seemed like just the book to help me switch things up.

Set during 1948 in South Africa, Cry, The Beloved Country is a novel about a black man's country under white man's law.  The book follows Stephen Kumalo, a catholic priest from a small rural village.  Early on, Kumalo receives a letter from another priest in Johannesburg explaining that Kumalo's sister is sick and in need of his help. Kumalo rounds up his life savings, and travels to Johannesburg to help his sister, and to find his son, who had left for Johannesburg some time ago to find the very same sister, but has never returned, and no longer writes.

When Kumalo arrives in the city, he finds himself for the first time, in a bustling urban setting that he can barely comprehend or function in. However, with the help of Msimangu, the priest who summoned him to Johannesburg, he not only gets his bearings, and beings his mission of reconnecting with his family.

Way back when I bought Cry, The Beloved Country, my friend who recommended it to me said that it reminded him a lot of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.  That statement was always faintly echoing in the back of my head while I was reading through this book.  In some ways, the two novels share a connection. Helplessness and devastation in the face of something completely out of the protagonist's control is definitely a theme both books share.  However, I didn't really find that my reading of Cry, The Beloved Country had me hearkening back to Grapes of Wrath very often. Instead, I found that it was a book that stands out as an almost wholly unique reading experience for me.

The most interesting quality of the book for me was how Paton explored the theme of racial segregation and injustice in the early days of apartheid South Africa.  Paton manages to explore this theme from multiple angles and shows the many layers of such a system while remaining objective and unbiased.  He explores perspectives on "native crime", the many social issues that are resultant thanks to the break down of the tribal structure, degradation and exploitation of the land and it's resources, and the flight from rural areas into over-crowded urban centers.

On the one hand, it was interesting to read about those topics, but it was also pretty upsetting to see that many of those same topics are still issues, with slightly different spins, that are prevalent today not only in South Africa, but here in the United States, and every other part of the world.  No matter what, this is a novel that forces the reader to engage, to wonder, to reflect, and to consider the ways of the world, both the fucked up and the wonderful.  I'm not gonna lie, Cry, The Beloved Country is a sad story, but there's beauty in that sadness.

Cry, The Beloved Country isn't just a book that explores themes.  It has a wonderful, and heartbreaking story at it's core too.  Kumalo is not a character that I share many commonalities with, but I had no problem connecting with him and his travails because he so wonderfully embodies the human spirit.  His strength, wisdom and unique experience is one that everyone can learn from, and I feel like I'm a better person for having known him just through the pages of this book.

Not bad for a fictional character, eh?

If you want to talk about having a "reading experience" this is certainly an experience. I feel like I gained insight, and perspective on topics that are incredibly relevant in my every day life.  This one is an all around great read for sure. So the next time you find yourself in need of a break from your usual reading fare...why not give this one a go?

Grade: A

Book Review: Heart-Shaped Box

The most recent stop on my quest to devour all things Joe Hill related led me to his first full-on novel, Heart Shaped Box.  Somehow, this one has slipped by me until now.  The title alone, also the title to one of Nirvana's greatest songs, seems to shout that it is a book that will appeal to my inner rock n' roll fan. Then there's the synopsis: Judas Coyne, an aging rock-god (think Alice Cooper meets Ozzy) and collector of the macabre discovers someone is selling a ghost.

A poltergeist will fit in perfectly with his ever growing collection of dark oddities, not to mention, he's already haunted by memories of an abusive father, recollections of former band-mates who are dead and gone, and the lingering guilt he feels for the suicidal girlfriend he abandoned in her time of need. So of course, he buys the ghost. Sooner or later, as these things go, the ghost is delivered to his house, packaged up nice and neat in a heart-shaped box.

This ghost is not hoax either; it sets the dogs barking up a frenzy, casts a chill over the house, and Coyne even starts having visions of an old man with black scribbles for eyes sitting in his living room.  That'd be enough to give any normal man a fear of the dark, but after some digging, Coyne discovers just who this ghost once was, and it's enough to put him on the run and on the search for some closure.

Jesus, talk about a book right up my alley.

Not that the guy hasn't impressed me before, but Joe Hill really rocked my socks off with Heart-Shaped Box.  Sure, what with my love of rock/metal music it may seem like I would have been a little predisposed to like this book, but I actually think my love of rock/metal actually makes Hill's task of making the book seem authentic all the more difficult.  He had to sell Judas Coyne as an aged rock-god, and make him feel like he fits in with the canon of other rock and metal gods, all while ensuring that he doesn't come across as too Spinal Tap-ish. Not only that, but he's gotta make Coyne seem like he's lived the rock n' roll life, but not make him seem like some washed-up VH-1 reality star.

I greatly appreciated that Hill did not take the easy route and make Coyne out to be just some caricature of the pop culture rock-star stereotype.  He's a guy that, had you really a fan of back in his glory days, you could still feel pretty good liking; He hasn't sold out, kept making sub-par cash cow albums, toured casinos, or starred in reality tv shows. He's just a regular dude who wants a quiet life of walking his dogs and...that's about it.  I was a fan.

Being a rock/metal fan helps, but Judas Coyne is the big reason Heart-Shaped Box is so damn good.  Hill really delves into Coyne's psyche, and his past, and it's interesting to see how those things all led him to make certain decisions along his life path, but also led him to who he is today.  He's certainly no angel, but he's not the angel of death either. For a reader like me, who has always sorta idolized many larger-than-life rock stars, I had a great time rooting for the guy.

On top of having a great character to center the narrative around, a plot that easily captured my interest, Hill also paced his story quite well. I've found that pacing is particularly valuable in the horror genre, and Hill definitely seems to have a firm grasp on that concept here. You won't find a pace that is hell-bent for leather, instead Hill moves things along at a deliberate pace that will satisfy any reader's craving to get into the story. That deliberate pace doesn't let up when the intensity rises either, which made for some fantastic reading, and scary scenes.

If there was ever any doubt, I can now safely say Joe Hill, hallowed be thy name, is firmly entrenched near the top of my favorite author rankings.  Heart-Shaped Box hit pretty much all the right notes for me in terms of what makes a good book, and on top of that, in wizard-like fashion, Hill conjured up elements of rock 'n roll that were a delicious cherry on top.  If you are looking for a great read, that mixes some contemporary fantasy elements, with classic horror, and a dash of hard-rockin' metal music, Heart-Shaped Box is the real thing.

Grade: A

Book Review: The Red Knight

It's still very early in the year, but we've already got a fantasy debut that seems poised to challenge the established ranks of the epic fantasy pantheon.  Enter Miles Cameron and his fantasy debut, the first book in the Traitor Son Cycle, The Red Knight.

The Red Knight isn't just the name of this book, it's also the name of the main character.  He's the leader of a band of mercenaries who have been hired by an abbess and her convent of nuns to protect them from the dangers of the wild.  The wild is an unruly expanse of the map where dangerous creatures, be they wyverns, irks, boglins, and other creatures of nightmare live.  It appears one of these fearful beasts has been causing problems in the lands around the nunnery, and the Red Knight and his soldiers have been hired to defeat the beast.

However, it looks like the mercenaries might be in for more than what appears to be a tidy profit, and the company of comely novices.  The creatures of the wild are out in force, with a malevolent, magical being pulling the strings. With help from the king and his knights days, possibly weeks, away, it's up to the Red Knight to devise a defense of the abbey against not only the hordes of the wild, but a magical onslaught from an unknown powerful being.

From the get-go it is pretty clear to see that Miles Cameron does a lot of things right with The Red Knight. First off, he sets his story in a very realistic medieval setting, albeit one with lots of crazy monsters hanging around.  For the first time since I read Mary Gentle's Ash I felt like a writer provided an accurate depiction of medieval arms, armor, and the mercenary life-style.  This quality came through clearest during battles or action scenes where the fighting was visceral and bloody...exactly how you might expect things to go when sharp, pointy bladed things are the weapons of choice.  On a personal note, I also liked how Cameron didn't treat horses as something the heroes can just hop on and make a charge to glory.  The war horses got appropriately tired from charging with a shit-ton of armor, and an armored dude on their backs. A small thing sure, but it was a detail I appreciated and added a nice layer of realism.

Mary Gentle's Ash wasn't the only work of fantasy this book reminded of. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself finding some parallels between The Red Knight and the works of Steven Erikson.

The Red Knight doesn't start out nearly as complex, or on such a huge scale as Erikson's stuff, but it definitely builds in complexity, and depth as the story progresses.  What begins as a tightly focused siege tale in an analog for medieval England soon expands to include Galle, a very French-like country, as well as some locales and characters with middle-eastern influences, and the Sossag people who reminded me in some ways of Native American/First Nations people.

Another aspect that gave me fond reminiscences of Erikson is that Cameron definitely went for the grand conversion ending where all his plot threads came together in one epic, and deafening crush of action of mayhem.  I loved it. Sure, he didn't pull it all together as craftily as Erikson, (who could?) but it works pretty damn well, and I was impressed.

In addition to a wide range of people and cultures that come into play, there's also some impressive and devastating magic in this world that Miles Cameron has crafted.  The magic system, which is based on hermeticism,  is one that struck me as pretty unique to the fantasy genre, but I was never quite sure I understood just how it all worked.  Granted, this is only the opening novel in a series, and not everything can or should be explained in the first book. I'm willing to give Cameron a pass on this one as I think more exposure to the magic system would lead to a greater understanding.

I'm always a stickler for great characters, and Cameron did pretty well in that regards here too. Though this is a book of knights and ladies, there isn't a true "hero" in the King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table sense. Most everyone in The Red Knight, with a few exceptions, is more gray than clearly black or white.   I can't say that I was an instant fan of too many of these characters, but I definitely acquired a taste for more than a few of them.  By the end, there were a few whose viewpoint sections I came to look forward to.

I wouldn't be the person, or the reviewer that I am, if I didn't mention the creatures of the wild.  I love crazy beasts and monsters.  Oh, sure the creatures of the wild are fairly standard fantasy fare; irks and boglins sure sound an awful lot like orcs and goblins.  Not to mention we've got trolls, wyverns, and even a dragon. But you know what? That's fine. Why reinvent the wheel?  It's how you use them, and Cameron did a pretty damn good job of that. Yes, the irks and boglins were mostly used as sword fodder, but the larger beasts were quite awesome, gruesome and terrifying.  And intelligent. Which made for some really great monster fights.

Though there's a lot to like about The Red Knight, I found myself hung up on one key factor: That there isn't a lot about the plot that seems new.  You've got a giant siege, the "good guys" are out numbered and out-gunned, or more accurately, out-magicked, and there's a super-powerful evil tree-wizard trying to take over the world.  As I was reading, I kept wanting Cameron to steer the story away from those classic story elements, but the more I read, the more I discovered the direction towards a been-there-done-that plot was inevitable.   This led to a large degree of predictability for the story, and caused my interest to flag in the second half of the book.

The predictability and standard plot wasn't a total deal breaker for me though. Cameron still delivered enough great action and monster fights for me to be pretty well entertained from start to finish.  That being said, in a book that had a lot to like, I still found myself wanting more.

Despite drawbacks, The Red Knight is a fantasy that will likely find it's way into many hands and onto many "debut of the year" lists.  Cameron shows a lot of promise and though The Red Knight fell a little short for me, there's certainly hints that this is a series to keep an eye on.

Grade: B-

Book Review: The Emperor's Knife

A terrible disease is chewing away at the heart of the Cerani Empire.  Victims of the disease find their flesh become increasingly covered in geometric patterns until one of two things occur: the victim either dies in agony, or becomes a carrier who is essentially a salve to the mysterious and evil Pattern Master.

The emperor himself, Beyon has been stricken with the disease, and though he hides it from his people for now, it is only a matter of time before the patterns spread and it becomes clear that he is not only afflicted, but disobeying his own decree that anyone showing signs of the disease be killed.

The emperor's loyal agents have been dispatched to the corners of the world in search of a cure.  A last ditch deal has been struck with the people of the northern plains in hopes that Mesema, the daughter of a great chieftan, and a windreader, can help not only produce a much needed heir, but also a cure for the disease. Meanwhile, the royal assassin, Eyul has been sent to the desert wastes to seek the wisdom of a hermit.

The plans all seem like random shots in the dark, but the empire is on the brink of disaster, and the Emperor seems to be out of good ideas.  While the emperor's health flags, and the empire teeters on collapse, his chief adviser, Tuivani, plots and schemes to turn the events to his favor.  However, there's other players in this game of illness and politics and even the emperor himself has an ace up his sleeve in the form of a secret brother.

The Emperor's Knife is a book I've had my eye on for a while, and when Night Shade Books did a free Thanksgiving giveaway, I jumped on the opportunity to get my hands on this book.  I was interested in the concept of an unstoppable deadly sickness, and Williams did a good job of creating a disease that, like all terrible diseases, is unbiased in who it attacks, and completely bewildering to those who try to stop it.  Adding to my interest in the novel is the fact Williams sets it in a middle eastern-like setting which I found to be a nice switch from the typical European setting that dominates many fantasy worlds.  These concepts certainly served to draw me into Williams' world and set the stage early for an interesting read filled with political intrigue and action.

Concepts are all well and good for getting a person to start a book, but it takes more than that to fashion a great novel, and Williams takes a couple more steps in that direction with a couple interesting characters and a great magic system.

I was most taken with Eyul, the Emperor's assassin.  He's a bit of an aged dude, and I liked that rather than center a huge chunk of the narrative on a young boy poised fulfill a prophecy, Williams instead based a lot of the story on a man who's getting a little long in the tooth, and finds himself doing the dirty work of the empire.   Sarmin, the emperor's brother, was another interesting character, as his life and mental stability made him a bit of a wild card, which helped spice things up a bit. Though Eyul and Sarmin were interesting characters, I never really got invested in the other characters, and found it hard to relate to, or make myself care about what was happening to a bunch of scheming privileged politicians.

Another feather in Williams' cap is the magic system in The Emperor's Knife.  Mages in this world have elemental powers which I not only found interesting, but genius in it's simplicity.  I'm not really a fan of complex magic systems, so it was refreshing to see one that was simple, creative and cool all at the same time.

Though I did find stuff to enjoy with The Emperor's Knife, I had my gripes too.  This is a novel with lots of political twists and turns, but the events, grand actions and schemes that play out over the course of the novel don't really seem to affect anyone other than a few dozen politicians and the guards who happen to get caught in the undertow.  At times, it almost seems like the Cerani empire is an empty place, populated only by the characters in the book.  This definitely made things feel a bit more flat, and took away from what was an interesting setting.

Additionally, though there was an unstoppable sickness at the heart of this novel, I never felt that Williams took advantage of the tension this plot element could cause. Though Williams tells the reader the sickness is plaguing many people in the empire, this is never shown, and thus weakens the story with this lack of depth.

When the dust clears, The Emperor's Knife is a debut that ultimately fell a bit flat for me.  Though I experienced some highs and lows, Williams brings some very interesting elements to the table and shows promise in his/her future novels. In the end, I wanted to like this book more than I did.  I never found myself fully invested in the characters or the world, as both lacked the vibrancy I need to get fully engaged in a novel.  Though this is the first in a trilogy, The Emperor's Knife can be read completely as a stand alone novel, as Williams wraps things up pretty neatly, yet leaves the door open just enough for stories with this world and these characters.

Grade: C

I Lost My Blurb-ginity!

The other day I got a really awesome email from my fellow blogger-buddy Bryce from Only The Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Bryce was kind enough to give me the heads up that my review of Scourge of the Betrayer got blurbed in the trade paperback edition of said book.   

Bryce also sent me a photo of the blurb, which was exciting, but I really wanted see it for myself. I've been searching around a few of the local book shops here in Seattle, but I didn't come across a paperback copy of the book until today.

Exciting! It was all I could do to not show it off to the random people in the fantasy and sci-fi section.

Thanks go out to Bryce for the heads up, and thanks to Jeff Salyards for blurbing my review!

Kicking it Old School: The Dispossessed

I've been traipsing around in the annals of old school SF again, this time around I decided to explore the fertile ground that is the works published list of Ursula K. Le Guin.  I picked out The Dispossessed based on the back blurb, and a staff recommendation from my favorite local bookstore.

A few generations ago, the moon Anarres, with its bleak desert-like landscape, was settled by an anarchic utopian civilization.  Urras, the mother planet, is a planet much like our own. It has a capitalist system with extreme wealth and severe poverty, as well as it's fair share of warring nations, and savage inequalities.  On the surface, the two planets seem like night and day, and that discrepancy has led to hatred and misunderstanding between the two planets for years.

Shevek, a brilliant physicist from Anarres is underappreciated and underutilized on his own planet. So he decides to undertake a most unheard of mission, and travels to Urras in hopes of pursuing his physics career, learning about this unknown world, to share his knowledge, and reunite the two planets.

The Dispossessed has a unique narrative style that I enjoyed quite a lot.  The chapters alternate between focusing on Shevek's time on Urras, and his time on Anarres.  The cool part is that the Urras chapters deal with the events of Shevek's time on the foreign planet, and the Anarres chapters deal with the events of Shevek's life that lead up to his departure from Anarres.  I enjoyed this quality of the book as it made me feel like I was having to put together a mental jigsaw puzzle so that I could understand the book.

There was a bit of a drawback however, as it makes the reader wait a long time for an explanation as to why Shevek decided to leave his home planet behind.  This long development worked as a double-edged sword as it kept me on the hook... to an extent, because for a large portion of the book I didn't understand Shevek's motives, and that led to some frustration on my part.

For me, the most impressive part of this novel is that Le Guin had to create and make real not one world but two, and she did it incredibly well. There were plenty of parallels between Urras and our own, which was a deliberate part of the plot, but Le Guin also made Urras different enough so that it was fun to explore alongside Shevek.  It was interesting to see how further exploration of each planet brought about more highlights and inadequacies of each. The exploration of these two disparate societies reminded me a bit of books like Brave New World, but The Dispossessed explores both the Utopian and Dystopian side by side which I found much more interesting.

In the past, I have had a hard time getting fully into SF books where the focus is on a political exploration/message.  I've often felt like the politics often overtake the narrative and don't leave any space for an interesting story.  For two thirds of The Dispossessed, I felt the same way. However, once the back story kicked in and gave meaning to the current events of the novel, I found myself enjoying it a lot more, and felt rewarded for sticking with it.  It might take a while the whole picture to become clear, but I was glad I hung in there.

I didn't enjoy The Dispossessed as much as my previous Le Guin read, The Lathe of Heaven, but I still enjoyed what this book has to offer.  Despite being published before I was born, it still is a book that can have relevance today.  That should say a lot.  It's not too bad of a read either.

Grade: 7.5 Fanny Packs

Book Review: The Silent Land

At the onset of this haunting tale, Jake and Zoe, a married couple on a skiing vacation in the French Pyrenees, are buried in an avalanche.  Somehow, they both survive, and are able to dig themselves out of the snow. In the aftermath of the avalanche, Jake and Zoe notice that an eerie silence and pervasive sense of loneliness has taken over.  Upon returning to their hotel, they discover that the bustling ski village has been evacuated.

They soon discover that the phone lines are down, and their varied attempts to head further down the mountain to the next town are stymied and bring them back in a circle.  Jake suspects that they have died, but Zoe begins to experience strange, unsettling events that seem to suggest a more complex explanation than death.

The quality that instantly stands out about The Silent Land is how gripping of a novel this is.  From the opening pages, up to the very last words, I was fully taken in by this book.  Not only is it one of those book that is hard to put down, but The Silent Land is a read that is extremely well plotted and paced.  There's absolutely no fluff, or plumping to this novel, instead it is slim, trim and tightly focused.  That tight focus is a big reason behind why this is such a gripping novel, but for my personal tastes, I need a book with some interesting characters to really set a book apart from the crowd.

The strange thing about The Silent Land is that there isn't too much interesting about Jake and Zoe.  They struck me as incredibly regular folks.  However, it is that regularity of the characters that makes this book better.  I found that it was very easy for me to relate to both Jake and Zoe, their life, and their experiences.  This ease of relate-ability not only helped make the events of the book seem more real, but also made it easier for me to get caught up in the supernatural events going on around Jake and Zoe. Their reactions to events, and the ways they dealt with everything made it easy for me to feel like I was in their shoes, and experiencing events alongside them.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed about this book, is that it's a contemplative read.  As easy as it was for me to understand and relate to both Jake and Zoe, I also wondered how I would feel were I to find myself in their predicament.  Would being completely alone with an abundance of everything at your fingertips, yet with no way out feel freeing, or would it feel like a trap?  Despite this being a slim read, this is a book that lends itself to some thought provoking moments.

If I had one complaint about The Silent Land, it would be that I had the end game figured out pretty easily.  I typically prefer an author to play things closer to the chest, but I'm not totally sure Joyce was going for the big reveal here as much as he was going for that slow drawn out yanking of the heartstrings.  Either way, it didn't take too much away from the overall experience, as I still greatly enjoyed this book.

Though categorically a fantasy, The Silent Land is definitely a book that can be read by both genre and non-genre fans alike.  I think every reader will find something to enjoy in this book and maybe find a piece of themselves in these characters too.  No matter what, any reader who turns the pages of this book will find some food for thought, and an incredibly engrossing read.  The Silent Land is a very well done book and one that I'll be recommending to a number of the readers in my life.

Grade: B+

Looking Back and Looking Ahead to 2013

LOOKING BACK:

Holy cow, it is kinda scary how fast 2012 went by.  2012 was a pretty big year for me both in my personal life and here at the blog.  I graduated college, got a big boy job and moved into a new place with my lady.  With all that personal stuff going on, it shouldn't surprise that the blog suffered a bit in terms of output.  I didn't manage to crank out as many blog posts as I have in years past, but I'd like to think that the quality of the posts I did produce make up for the slight drop in quantity.

Regardless of how many posts I cranked out, this was by far a banner year for Battle Hymns.  I had the pleasure of contributing my "wisdom" to a couple of other blogs, which was an honor.  I contributed a piece to Sarah's Special Needs in Strange Worlds event at Bookworm Blues and took over the Speculative Scotsman, if only for a day, while Niall was on vacay.

In addition to the guest posts, and single handedly averting the Mayan-pocalypse, (yeah, that was me), I also conducted four author interviews, which has got to be the highlight of this blogging experience for me so far! Check 'em out:

Tim Marquitz

Michael J. Sullivan

Jeff Salyards (and part 2)

Paul S. Kemp

Yep, a pretty awesome year!  Before I start looking ahead, I just want to thank everyone who has made Battle Hymns a piece of their lives.  It's you people who visit, leave comments and all that good stuff that keep me driven and keep me cranking out the blog material.  I hope I give you guys plenty of good reason to keep coming around in 2013!

LOOKING AHEAD: 

My shelves are already stuffed to near capacity, but I'm sure I'll plump 'em out even further in 2013.  There's already a few choice items sitting pretty, ready for review, and even more sitting there waiting for my attention.  Here's a little glimpse at what I hope to have in store for the blog in 2013...

BOOKS:

I don't often pony up for the brand new stuff, I simply don't have the spendin' money for it.  On occasion however, I'll shell out for a book that I just can't wait to get my hands on. Last year, the big release I shelled out for was Stephen King's The Wind Through the Keyhole, which, given my history with the Dark Tower series, was a fun book to be reading and reviewing around the time of release.  I expect Joe Hill's latest, Nos4a2 will have the honor of being the release I pony up the cash for this coming year.

I've been increasingly impressed with Mr. Hill with each work of his I read. Both his prose works and his works in comics have been great, and I'm hungry for more of both. Lucky for me, 2013 should bring not only his latest prose work, but also the conclusion of his fantastic Locke & Key series.  For that reason alone, signs point towards the fact that 2013 should be a good year, however there's some other good lookin' stuff on the horizon, both new and not so new, that I have my eye on. Here's a glimpse:

The Red Knight: I'm definitely intrigued by this early 2013 release, and I have a copy of it on my Kindle, so expect to see this one get covered here early in the year.

Red Country: 2012 was a Joe Abercrombie-less year for me, and that is sad.  I'll be looking to get my hands on his latest before too long, as I have a hankering for some Bloody Nine.

The Coldest War: I belatedly began Ian Tregillis' The Milkweed Triptych this year, and enjoyed it immensely.  With the second book out and third one due, I'm looking to get a move on in this series.

Railsea: It wouldn't be much of a year if I didn't read something by China Mieville. I'm looking to keep pace with his publications by reading his latest, albeit a year later.

Rise of Empire: Another series whose grip I got caught in this year.  Another series I'm looking to dig deeper into.

Some authors I've never read but hope to in 2013:

Nick Harkaway
Adam Roberts
Courtney Schafer
Felix Gilman
Robert Jackson Bennett
Teresa Frohock

COMICS: 

I'm always on the lookout for great new comic reads, but I've had to govern my comics spending more closely lately and limit the number of active titles in my pull box.  However, in 2013, for the first time since I became a comics reader, there's going to be a gaping hole in my monthly comics reading when Sweet Tooth finishes up.  Lucky for me, and every other comics reader out there, we'll see a new Jeff Lemire comic sometime in 2013 in the form of Trillium, a science fiction love story that spans centuries.

While Trillium is sure to make me happy, here's some other titles I'm looking forward to:

Walrus: It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Brandon Graham.  In Spring of 2013, PictureBox Inc. will release a printed edition of his sketchbook.  I'm hoping it will be like a tangible version of his blog, which is a cool mix of comics, and weirdness.

Sullivan's Sluggers: I purchased this months ago on Kickstarter, and still haven't got my copy. I gave them my mailing address though, so I'm hoping I'll see my copy soon.  I've been waiting for this one for months, so I'm pretty excited to finally get my hands on it.

East of West: I've had mixed feelings about the Jonathan Hickman material that I've read in the past, but East of West which promises to be a "sci-fi western set in a dystopian America where all hope for the future rests in the four horsemen of the apocalypse" (quoted straight from the Image website). I dare say from that description that East of West sounds like it is right up my alley.  I'll for sure be checking out a few issues of this title to get a taste for it.


MUSIC:

2012 was a bit of a music fail for me, so I hope to make more of an effort to experience more of it in 2013.  That means going to more live shows and listening to more music on a daily basis.  Right now, my work situation is pretty conducive to listen to whatever I want for a good chunk of the day, so that should help.  As  for stuff I'm looking forward to, my fingers are crossed that there'll be a new Red Fang album for me to listen to before the end of the year.

So there you go, a good look at some of the stuff I'm looking forward to in 2013.  And now I turn things over to you faithful Battle Hymns readers: What Books, comics, and musics are you pumped about for 2013? Head to the comments section to let the world know!

Book Review: Blood Song

I've had my eye on Anthony Ryan's Blood Song ever since my interview with Michael J. Sullivan.  Blood Song was a book that Sullivan singled out as a recent great read. His words about it, and further research were enough to convince me to give this book a read.

At the age of 10, Vaelin al Sorna's father leaves him at the gates of the 6th Order, a militant religious group devoted to the arts of war.  Over the course of the next few years Vaelin is trained, hardened, and tested repeatedly in the various skills required of any great warrior: the sword, bow, horseback riding, tracking, wilderness survival, and more.   During that time Vaelin learns to put his past behind him, embrace the faith, and look to his fellow brothers of the 6th Order as his only family.

However, the past has this bad habit of popping back up from time to time and there are people, powerful people, who are unwilling to forget just whose son Vaelin al Sorna was before joining the 6th Order.  Before too long, Vaelin finds himself ensnared in the struggles of the great and mighty.  Struggles that will not only test Vaelin's skills, but also his faith.

Blood Song is one of those books that reminded me of some other fantasy works I'd read, but at the same time, managed to stand on it's own as a fantasy novel that is different enough stand out from the crowd.  Ryan is a writer that does no hand-holding for the reader, and instead drops them right into his world mid-stream.  From the opening, Vaelin has been captured by the Alpiran Empire, a land mass that barely makes it onto the map that's provided, but we don't know how, or why.

While captured, Vaelin tells the tale of his life, which reminded me a bit of The Kingkiller Chronicles, a story of which his training with the 6th Order was a big chunk of.  The tales of his training again was reminiscent of The Kingkiller Chronicles and Harry Potter, yet still different enough to be interesting. The biggest difference being that Ryan doesn't linger on the "schooling" aspect.  The ensuing ten years of Vaelin's life unfold over the course of about half the book.

Ryan uses this portion of the book to show the reader pieces of the world, the various politics at play, how many of the various faiths throughout the land work, who many of the players are, and how all these things work (or don't work) together.  I'm definitely a fan of this show - don't tell approach, and it works particularly well here as it made me want to keep reading the book and learn more about the characters and the world they inhabit.

With the exception of a few short sections where events are seen through the eyes of the chronicler, Blood Song is seen wholly through the eyes of Vaelin.  I liked that Ryan limited the POV shifting and instead focused on Vaelin and the events that he is part of.  The success of having a limited POV is based a lot on having a character that is interesting enough to be around for the course of the book.  That's definitely the case here as Vaelin is a character I greatly enjoyed.  He's a guy I could relate to in some ways, didn't like in others, and when he got thrust into interesting situations he kept me incredibly entertained.  Add to that the fact that there many of the situations Vaelin found himself in were incredibly tight spots with no clear "right" way to do things and you have a recipe for success.

I wouldn't say that Blood Song is a fast paced book, but it is deliberately paced, and has an incredibly interesting plot which I found quite addictive.  Ryan also mixes in some great action and adventure.  These scenes are definitely the star of the book as they are vivid, tense and insanely entertaining.  Again, I was happily reminded of other works of fantasy as Ryan's tight pacing and vivid description of the action sequences was reminiscent of Steven Erikson.

By the time I had worked my way through Blood Song I was quite taken with the characters, and the world.  If I had my druthers, there'd be more time spent with the female characters as they were quite interesting, and well written, just in too small of doses.  I definitely have high hopes for the rest of this series given that the opener was so strong.  Blood Song isn't available in print until July, but it is available for your fancy e-reading device, which is way better than having to wait.  Strongly recommended.

Grade: B+

Book Review: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

The snazzy cover and promises of time travel are what initially drew me towards How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.    Reviews from around the web led me to believe that the author, Charles Yu, was a young and upcoming writer in the SF genre, and that this debut novel would herald in a great writing career.

Nope.

The novel, stars Charles Yu, (yup, he's the character in his own book), who's a time travel repairman. Yu is an unambitious loner who's only companions in life are a dog and the sexy female voiced AI on his computer, which he happens to have the hots for.  In the universe How to Live Safely... is set in, time travel exists, but most people don't use it for much other than to continuously travel back to the worst day of their life and relive that moment over and over again.

Yu's own family isn't much different from the norm.  His mom is stuck in a one-hour time loop where she repeatedly prepares dinner, and his dad, who had a hand in inventing time travel, is somewhere lost in time doing who knows what.  And Charles, well, he's in a tough bind because one day he accidentally shoots his future self, and now he's inextricably getting closer and closer to the time when he becomes that future self who gets shot.  His key to survival is in a book called How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, which, of course, is written by none other than Charles Yu.

On the surface, this sounds like what might be an entertaining and humorous read, but that wasn't my experience at all.  I found this book to be a pretty slow and boring read.  Yu commits what is, in my books, a cardinal sin of writing and tells but doesn't show.  This led to long, windy paragraphs where Yu would describe events and what people were feeling to great, and excessive length to the point where I'd either get lost in the sentences, which felt quite repetitive, or I'd mentally fall out of the flow of the narrative completely due to the weak prose.  The end result was that I never really felt fully engaged in this book, and reading through it would feel like a chore at times.

There's not really any characters to speak of either.  Sure, there's Yu himself, but he's not really all that likable.  There's very little substance to the current version we see of him and for the most part he spends his time thinking back on his past and his relationship with his dad.  In those moments, he's a bit of a jerk.  As for other characters, there's Yu's parents, but they aren't much more than just names for completely undeveloped characters which play a small role in the narrative.

The plot isn't much to speak of either.  The whole thing where a time traveler runs into his future self resulting in a situation where his life is seemingly in irreparable peril has been done before.  More than once.  Yes, I'd have been okay with this if he had managed to put a twist on the plot, or do something new with it, but that wasn't the case.

With a stale plot, characters I couldn't care one way or the other for, and writing that failed to capture my interest, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe was a definite let down.  I can't find a reason to recommend this as it was a book that failed to hit the mark on multiple levels for me. Despite the many lows, my interest in the subject matter, (I do love me some time travel), and the bits of humor here and there, were just barely enough to keep me going on this one to the very end. That being said, "just barely" doesn't cut it, so, sadly, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is one book I do not recommend.

Grade: D-

Book Review: Echoes of the Past

It's always an exciting day here at Battle Hymns HQ when a Demon Squad book makes its way into my mailbox.  It was especially exciting this time around because the last installment in this urban fantasy series left me more eager than usual to see where things would go next.  Once it arrived, Echoes of the Past only sat on the shelves for a few days before I picked it up and dove in.

From the get-go the personal stakes are high for our hero Frank Trigg.  Up to this point, a typical Demon Squad novel usually finds Frank fighting long odds in order to save the world, but this time around we see Frank trying to sort out and deal with some very personal business while dire threats to the world build around him.

Echoes of the Past is a stand out novel in the Demon Squad series for many reasons, but likely the biggest reason is because so many burning questions get answered here...I don't want to be rude and spoil anything, but there were some very satisfying reveals in this installment. All of which upped the stakes a few notches and added layers of depth to the series.

I was surprised to find that Echoes of the Past felt like a much different read compared to the past Demon Squad books...and not just because Frank finally has himself a steady lady-love.

Each of the books in this series focus on some sort of threat, and Frank's battle to stave off that threat. This time around we see a similar situation crop up, but while Frank hustles to find a plan to save the earth from a cross-dimensional war with demon-aliens, he uncovers some particularly unsettling bits of information about his past.  This sets Frank off on a path of personal discovery, the likes of which he probably hasn't seen since he hit puberty.

Jokes aside, I learned a lot about Frank Trigg in this one, and it was really nice to get some of the back story on this character.  These reveals also informed a lot of the whys and wherefores of the grand, over-arching plot which has been sort of hovering just out of reach for the past three books.  That grand plot has now moved to the forefront, and the result is that the stakes for this series have somehow managed to get higher than ever before.

I will say that Echoes of the Past is less of a thrill ride than the past Demon Squad books, but that's not a bad thing. This book still has it's share of action, plot twists, and large scale battles, just less of that than the past volumes. It was interesting to see this book, and series, take a different direction than what has been the norm for rest of the series.  This change of direction caught me unawares at first, but I eventually came to really enjoy the level of character development and plot building that takes center stage in Echoes of the Past.

I was pained (in a good way) by the fact that this book doesn't provide much sense of closure. There's a brutal cliffhanger ending that makes Echoes of the Past feel like more of an opening salvo, or first act to a much larger story.  Even though many of my series-long burning questions were answered in this installment, the tantalizing ending meant that those questions were replaced with new ones that will beleaguer me until the next Demon Squad book.

Tim Marquitz' Demon Squad series is one of the few series I've managed to start, and stick with as the series progresses... Not something I've been so good at the past few years, which is a testament as to how good this series is.  Not only that, but it's a series that has grown on me and gotten better with each installment.  This is a series that appears to be building towards great things, and I'm very much looking forward to what's in store next.

Grade: B+

Book Review: The Wise Man's Fear

About a year and a half ago, I reviewed The Name of the Wind, bought The Wise Man's Fear, and went to a Patrick Rothfuss author event all in the span of two days.  You'd think with such fervor devoted to one author, I'd have read The Wise Man's Fear long before now.  Well, shit, I thought I would have too.  Okay, so this wont be the most timeliest of reviews ever, but what matters is that I did get around to reading and reviewing this monster of a novel.

And oh, what a monster it is.  A monster in terms being one of the biggest fantasy novels released in the past couple of years, and a monster in terms of sheer size and girth.

I have been known to steer clear of giant cinder-block sized books, but The Name of the Wind left me with very high expectations for its sequel.  Expectations which likely likely colored my enjoyment of this volume a bit, as I was left feeling some twines of disappointment despite this being an all-around fantastic book.

The Wise Man's Fear picks up the story more or less right where things left off on the previous volume.  It's late in the night after the shocking events at the Waystone Inn, and when morning comes, Kote and the chronicler pick up the story of Kvothe's youth at pretty much the same spot where the storytelling left off the night before.  I'd like to say that Rothfuss ramped the story up a notch or two, but instead the story lingered while depicting the ins and outs of Kvothe's life at the University.  It was hard for me to not see the parallels between Kvothe's life at the University, and Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts.  That's not really a bad thing, as Rothfuss, like Rowling, has a great skill for writing incredibly engaging stories, but this portion of the story felt a little too recycled for my tastes.

The good news is, Kvothe doesn't spend the whole book at the University.  Not by a long shot. In fact, Kvothe spends a good portion of this novel out exploring the great wide world.  That's when things get interesting.  Kvothe's character starts to develop and he begins his path towards becoming a living legend. Along the way, during his attempts to unveil some secrets about the Amyr and the Chandrian, he rises in status in a far off royal court, learns some of the martial skills of the Adem Mercenaries, and ventures into the Fae realm for an extended love affair.

I enjoyed the fact that Rothfuss took things away from the University for a big stretch of this novel, and it was cool to see Kvothe in a bunch of different situations. At the same time, it wasn't easy for me to get completely lost in the stream of events.  For my tastes, a lot of the tension has been taken out of the story by having Kvothe tell his own tale. As a reader, I don't like knowing, without a doubt, that Kvothe will survive no matter how sticky the situation he finds himself in, and there's some incredibly sticky ones to be had.

Personally, I tend to be more engaged in a story when I fret for the safety and survival of the main characters, which is why I've been enjoying the brief interludes at the Waystone Inn way more than I have the yarn that Kote has been spinnin' to the Chronicler.  There's much more tension involved, and definitely a greater premonition of doom than there is in the main portion of the book.  Yes, I am enjoying both narrative threads of The Kingkiller Chronicles,  due in large fact that Rothfuss is a fantastic story teller, but I've found that I'm more interested in what is about to go down, rather than what has gone down already.

Though there's tons going on in this second volume of The Kingkiller Chronicle, there's also very little movement in what I perceive of as being the main plot, that of Kvothe's struggle with the Chandrian and his struggle to find out more about them.  A fact that is a little frustrating given the epic length of this novel.

As I mentioned earlier, The Wise Man's Fear left me with a slight taste of disappointment.  I felt like there wasn't a lot of movement in terms of the greater, overarching struggle, the beginning third of the book felt too akin to Harry Potter, and story,  for my tastes, lacks some much needed tension.

All that said, this is still a strong novel.  As I mentioned earlier, Rothfuss is one incredibly sharp story teller.  He's so good in fact that he can almost make me forget all my nit-picks and get totally lost in this great tale.  Tension or not, there's plenty of great story here, and The Wise Man's Fear is still one of the more entertaining books on my shelves, and one of the better fantasies released in the past few years.

I'll be looking forward to the concluding third volume whenever it finds its way to publication, as I have a ton of burning questions and plot pay-offs that I can't wait to see unfold.  Sure, this volume didn't hit all the high notes for me, but I've learned that my expectations can be a dangerous thing.  Make no mistake, Rothfuss is one of my top writers in the genre, and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.

Grade: B+

Kicking it Old School: Babel-17

I've got another read here that falls into the Kicking it Old School category of things.  This time around, I went for Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17.  I've been wanting to read something by Delany for a while now, but Dhalgren seems too intimidating and Triton seemed less accessible as a first read for an author who is new to me.  So I settled on Babel-17.

In Babel-17 there's a very basic plot dilemma going on;  The good guys, also known as the Earth People's Alliance, are losing a war to alien invaders.  The tricky part is that the aliens are capable of communicating in a language that only they can understand, which makes it really tough for the good guys to defend themselves and plan for their enemy's next moves.  Enter cosmic poetess, aikido blackbelt, star captain, and master of languages, Rydra Wong.  The Earthpeople's Alliance enlists Wong in hopes that she can learn the alien language, and thus help her people win the war.

In order to do so,  Wong puts together a crew to man a starship, and travels the stars dig up bits of the language and piece together meaning in hopes of helping in the war efforts. Along the way, she discovers that Babel-17 can actually alter the way a person thinks, thus making those who hear it engage in acts of sabotage and destruction.

It was pretty interesting to read Babel-17, after reading China Mieville's Embassytown, as they are both novels that explore language and how language makes people think and act.  It was also interesting to see how each author took very different approaches to exploring language.  It was also interesting to see how each author, despite taking separate approaches to exploring language, failed to capture my interest in the topic at hand.

I guess I'm just not all that into reading about language.

Though most of the best qualities of this book were overshadowed by the dullness of the subject matter, Delany did have some cool ideas.  Wong wasn't my favorite character ever, not by a long shot.  She was just too damn good at everything.  It was kinda annoying.  Perfection isn't really something I find all that interesting.  Delany's vision of an intergalactic future was pretty cool though.  Many of the humans all had significant body enhancements, which made them resemble human-animal hybrids, which I though was pretty cool, and body enhancements are probably a few logical steps away from tattoos and piercings.

Wong and her crew also got caught in some sort of space-time slipstream where they traveled on the edge of reality, which I found absolutely fascinating...it was sorta a hard concept to understand though and, if you couldn't tell from my description, hard to describe.  But still, I enjoyed trying to wrap my brain around the concept.  Delany also wrote some pretty well orchestrated action scenes, and delivered some tense moments, so even though I didn't totally enjoy this book, I have a good feeling I might click with one of his other works.

I think I'm done reading books that explore language for a while though.

Before I wrap this one up, I just want to point out that ridiculous cover.  How awesomely bad is that?  I'm pretty sure that his meant to Wong, and one of her crew members, but Wong wasn't a blonde-haired white woman, and I didn't really picture the altered humans looking that goofy.  Anyway, this was one of my least successful Kicking it Old School reads, but I'm up for some more Delany in the future.

Grade:  6.5 Teddy Ruxpins

Book Review: Kafka on the Shore

I consider myself to be a fairly well-read guy, but that doesn't mean that there aren't a few thousand gaping holes in my reading resume.  Until very recently, Haruki Murakami represented one of the largest holes in said resume.

I honestly didn't really know where to start with Murakami, I'd heard friends and book reviewers mention a few of his titles, so I just grabbed a few of the familiar sounding titles off the shelf at the bookstore, read the blurbs on the back of the book, and settled on Kaka on the Shore  based on the fact that it promised talking cats and a couple of protagonists who aren't the typical folks I come across in my usual reading habits.

Kafka on the Shore is a novel the derives much of it's power from the two protagonists.  The first is a fifteen year old boy named Kafka, who at the start of the book, runs away from home for three good reasons: His Dad is an asshole, he's escaping a creepy oedipal prophecy, and he's searching for his long-lost mother and sister. The last reason is sorta at odds with the second reason, but hey, he's fifteen.  As far as most fifteen year old's go, Kafka is one incredibly well put together young man.  He's mentally regimented, he's clever and resourceful...all which help him get by in a world where he has no one to help him on his way.  The kicker is, like any fifteen year-old striving for self-sufficiency would find, he's incredibly vulnerable, and completely lacking in the life experiences and common sense know-how that comes with growing up, and is essential to "making it" in the real world.  This combination of strengths and weaknesses makes Kafka a very interesting person to read about.

The other main character is an aging man, Nakata, who lost much of his cognitive ability during a strange episode during his youth which left him in a coma for an extended length of time.  Nakata has been getting by thanks to a government subsidy, and his freelance cat finding side work.  Nakata excels at finding people's missing cats due mostly to the fact that he has the ability to speak to cats.  It is the search for one particular missing cat that leads Nakata on a path towards life changing events, and inextricably, towards Kafka.

Both narrative paths were quite interesting to read and both Kafka's and Nakata's paths introduced a number of other characters that were equally interesting and amazingly well developed.

The characters in Kafka on the Shore are amazingly well written.  Murakami is flat out one of the very best character writers I've ever read.  I felt like I could see each and every character so clearly in my mind's eye. While reading this book, I had an incredibly clear picture of what each character looked like, what sort of facial expressions they made, their idiosyncrasies and more. Each character feels so life-like it was amazing.  What's more amazing is that Murakami pulled this off and I have no clue how he did it.  What I'm saying is that it was nothing obvious or overt that made these characters stand out. It is hard to put my finger on just how Murakami pulls this off, but the fact is he writes some incredibly fleshed out and "real" characters in a very subtle way.

On top of great characters, Kafka on the Shore is a book this is easy to get lost in.  This is a novel that has incredibly blurry lines between reality and the fantastical.  It challenges the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what is possible within the bounds of reality that is represented in the story.

I believe everyone's journey from youth into adulthood has a little bit of magic in it no matter what.  There's no doubt that relationships, love and life can take on a magical quality during those times, and Murakami takes this phenomenon a step further with Kafka's coming of age story.  There's some beautiful moments, some brutal moments, and some that are just flat out weird.  This blend of fantasy-literature/magical realism made for an enjoyable read.

Despite these great qualities, Kafka on the Shore has been sitting in my review queue for some time, getting actively ignored in favor of books that are easier for me to talk about.  Obviously, I really enjoyed this book, but it's one of those books that is hard for me to articulate why I found it so enjoyable. Even the things I just wrote about ring hollow when I think about how I really feel about this book in my heart and mind.  Sure, this is a fantastic book on a technical level.  And it's a great book on a readability level.  But it's frustrating when I can't point to why I like something so much.  Maybe it's that combination of technical skill and storytelling that makes this book feel so different and special to me.  Whatever it is, reading Kafka on the Shore sorta feels like receiving a really awesome gift.

My shortcomings as a reviewer aside, Kafka on the Shore is a book that shouldn't be missed.

Grade: A+

Book Review: The Islanders

The last time I read a Christopher Priest novel I was resoundingly blown away.  The Prestige is easily one of my all-time favorite books, and it's a book that has had a lasting effect on me.  Almost exactly a year later, I still find myself still thinking about that book and all it's amazing nuances.

I'll be honest, despite such success with my first Christopher Priest reading experience, I was hesitant to dive into another of his works. Not long after I read The Prestige, my lady bought me a copy of The Islanders, and I've had it sitting on my shelf ever since.  Though I told myself I was waiting for the right moment to read it, that is only partially true.  Part of me had been hesitant because I was afraid that my next Priest read might not be as impressive as The Prestige, and thus lower my esteem for Priest and his works.  What if it wasn't as good?  What it Priest isn't as phenomenal a writer as I think he is?  These doubts assailed my conscience, and delayed my next Christopher Priest reading venture. Eventually though, my curiosity won over my doubts and I moved away from uninformed speculating and got down to the reading.

By the end of The Islanders' introduction, I knew I had been a fool for doubting Priest.

And to think I almost skipped the introduction!

For real.  I almost skipped it.  I almost always skip introductions as they tend to be spoiler-ridden gush fests. Seriously, introductions don't do a lot for me, and out of habit I almost passed this one over.  Then I got a sneaking suspicion that Priest might be just the kind of guy to write a fake introduction to his own book.  Then I took a look at the writer who introduces the novel; A guy by the name of Chaster Kammeston.  It sounded like a made up name, so I decided I'd better not skip a single printed word of this one, and dove in.    My suspicions were quickly proven correct, and within a few paragraphs I found myself completely lost in this novel that is one part travelogue to a fantastical world, one part mystery, one part literary puzzle, and sports a myriad of additional facets that make this book one of the most engaging, challenging, and artful books I've ever read in my life.

This might sound like hyperbole, but The Islanders is one of the most cleverly written books I have ever read.  The layout of the book is a sort of atlas/travel guide to a vast archipelago.  Each chapter covers a different island, or island group in the archipelago, and talks about the island's flora, fauna, and geographical characteristics. The chapters would often cover a bit of history and some information about notable people who have lived on the island as well.  As the reader begins to progress through the novel, certain notable islanders start popping up all over the map, and certain well-known stories get fleshed out, and further developed.  The end product is an amazing jigsaw puzzle of a novel where all the pieces are presented to the reader, but the reader is left to do much of the piecing together and a bit of the mystery solving as well.

It's kinda funny, but I don't think I've ever had to work this hard for a novel, but at the same time, I don't think I've ever wanted to "figure everything out" more than I did with The Islanders.  Priest does absolutely no hand holding here, and instead, assumes that he has a readership that can parcel things out given his hints, clues and reveals.

Much like with The Prestige, Priest once again plays the part of writer-magician, as he masterfully employs clever acts of deception, and sleight of hand as his narrative unfolds.  There's a murder mystery at the heart of this novel, and though it, (or any other story element for that matter), never really takes center stage, it is this story element that many other elements swirl around.  Every now and then, other pieces of this mosaic will touch on the murder mystery story, and a clearer picture of the whole tapestry will be provided.

Although it was easy to fall into this novel, and easy to bask in the joy of reading such skilled writing, it took some time to get fully into the swing of this novel and what it is all about.  The reason being is that many chapters seemingly wouldn't reveal anything that ties into the overall tapestry of the novel, while others would provide massive treasure troves of pertinent information that the reader had been craving.  Eventually, I got into the swing of things, but this is a novel that requires a measure of patience from the reader.

That patience will certainly pay off, as this is not only one of the very best novels sitting on my shelves, but it is also a completely unique book in that it is an art piece that is also a book.  Priest plays with the reader's notions of story format, narrative flow, and expectations.  On top of that, he ensures that his work is something that has to be actively engaged by the reader.  Yes, I understand that by opening any book, reading its words, and turning its pages is active engagement, but Priest goes far beyond that by making the reader work to piece this narrative together, and in the end, make sense of it all.  Sure, this is a pretty big risk on his part, as some readers might not want to work that hard for the pay-off, but I can't remember ever feeling so rewarded after reading a novel, nor have I ever felt such a give and take sensation from reading a novel.

After a years and years of reading, it is pretty fucking exciting to read something that manages to do so much new stuff in just one novel.

To top it all off, Priest shows that his world building skills put even the greatest epic fantasists in check.  The island archipelago upon which this mosaic novel is set is a place that Priest brings to life in such a way engages all five senses.  Like all the best fantasy worlds, this is a place that is so well created that a reader will want to journey there again and again.

While a reread of The Islanders purely for fantasy world escapist pleasure would be rewarding, I can see plenty of other reasons to revisit this novel for the sake of greater understanding of the narrative as well.  Priest laces his sentences, paragraphs, and pages with clues and hints, and I'm sure I missed a few along the way.   Though I loved every page of this novel, by the end I couldn't help but think I'd maybe missed a thing or two along the way that would have led to a fuller understanding.

Here it is October, and I'm pretty sure I have a clear front runner for best read of 2012.  The Islanders is simply an astounding achievement of literature.  It is very safe to say I was blown away.  I'm enthusiastically giving this my recommendation.  If a fascinating world, and an expertly clever narrative aren't enough to entice you, The Islanders also has possibly the best fantasy creature ever...the Thryme is not to be trifled with.  Purely sublime stuff here. Read and enjoy!

Grade: A+

Book Review: Kindred

This might sound all kinds of crazy, (or maybe not, perhaps my fellow readers have the same experience), but the one person I love more than anything, (my lady), is not usually the person I go to for book recommendations.  We just flat out have different tastes in books.

I like books, she doesn't.

Kidding!  For real though, we're both avid readers though rarely do our tastes coincide.  On occasion though we'll recommend something to each other, and I'm happy to say, she hasn't led me astray yet...and I have her reading GRRM, so it is a win-win.

Anyway, she's a fan of Junot Diaz, an author I need to read sooner than later, and she recently went to a Junot Diaz author event here in Seattle.  Apparently, during that event Diaz was talking about some of his influences and he mentioned Octavia E. Butler as an big influence. He even stated that she had written five perfect books.

When my lady came home from this author event, she asked me if I had read any of Butler's books, and when I answered "no", she filled me in on the story I just relayed to you, which peaked my interest enough so that when I was out and about on my next bookstore cruise, I made sure to pick up a couple of her books.

Lord knows I'm a sucker for time travel, so I started with Kindred.

Kindred is a novel about Dana, a 20th century black woman who, at the start of the book, is quietly celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday in her new home with her white husband, Keith.  (I mention both Dana's and Keith's race here, because it plays a role in the overall narrative of Kindred.)  With little more than a strong sense of dizziness as a warning, Dana is suddenly transported from her home in modern times, back to the antebellum South.  When she arrives, she discovers herself by a riverside where a small boy is drowning.  Acting purely on instinct, Dana saves the child, who turns out to be the son of a slave-owning plantation owner.  Against all odds, and bounds of reality, it appears that the child, Rufus, has the ability to draw Dana to him across the gap of time and space to save him.

Though Dana returns shortly after the rescue, she soon finds herself drawn back to Rufus again, and again as he ages.  Each time Dana must do something to save him from certain death.  This second time, through physical contact during the transfer, Keith is able come along. This time though, rather than a stay of mere minutes, their stay spans weeks and months.  Dana soon learns that saving Rufus might just be a key to her future existence, as she discovers he is likely one of her ancestors.

However, as a black woman in the antebellum South, each of Dana's transfers is fraught with peril, and her second transfer ends with her transferring back to modern times, and Keith getting left behind.  When Dana returns again, years have passed, and Keith is nowhere to be found.  All the while, Dana must strive to get by in a society where she has no rights, and is treated as less than human.

If you couldn't tell from the plot summary, Kindred is one incredibly engrossing novel.  Even though it has a fantasy concept at it's center, it is a novel that is firmly based in the unflinchingly portrayed reality of the antebellum South.  I'll be completely honest, I found many parts of this novel absolutely terrifying. The thing is, all those terrifying moments were things that were a part of every day reality for so many black people during those times.  When that is juxtaposed with modern racial tensions and equal rights movements, it is striking to see how glacially slow progress has come about.

Butler did an amazing job of bringing the world of the antebellum South to life in Kindred.  And she did this all while maintaining an objective stance.  Characters from both sides of the racial divide were given equal amounts of development and the result is that each and every character was incredibly fleshed out and realistic.  Butler has an amazing knack of making the reader see the characters as individuals rather than literary, or sociological stereotypes.  Don't expect to be fed common caricatures of the times where the white plantation folks are portrayed as one dimensional racist fucks and the black slaves to be portrayed as powerless victims of brutal treatment, inhumane and unjust laws.  Instead, Butler gives the reader an incredibly honest and unflinching look at the times and the people who lived during those years.  Butler created a novel where the reader will feel like they are right there, watching everything unfold, but are just barely too far away from the events to lend a hand to help.

In addition to presenting a story filled with incredible, heart wrenching drama, incredibly realistic characters, and a gripping plot, I was also impressed with Butler's skill at writing a story that deals with such sensitive subject matter.  The fact is that race is still a very difficult subject to talk about, yet Butler seemingly created a novel that does just that, opens up a space for discussion, with relative ease.  Simply put, Kindred is a very accessible novel.  Butler uses language that is simple enough to understand, and thus incredibly accessible to readers of varying ages, and Kindred is a book that could be read, understood, and enjoyed by probably any reader over the age of 12.  That being said, readers of different ages are going to get different things out of this novel, and achieve varying levels of understanding and self-reflection. Because of that, I have a good feeling that it is an incredibly re-readable novel, as it is a book that can have different meanings and value at varying stages of a person's life.

There's a lot to be impressed with in Kindred, as a reader I was incredibly impressed by this tense, and emotional novel.  As a human, I found many parts of the book that inspired personal reflection and growth, and as a book critic, I found a new (to me) writer whose literary craftsmanship is impressive and whose voice is one that has largely been missing from my reading habits.

Grade: A

Book Review: Theft of Swords

Back in the early days of the blog I read the first book of a six book series by an author who had taken the indie route to publishing.  The author was Michael J. Sullivan, and the book was The Crown Conspiracy.  

The book had been receiving some positive reviews around the fantasy blogging corners of the internet, and I was intrigued enough to check it out.  Near the very end of that review, (which feels sorta amateurish looking back), I said that I "look forward to reading more from the Riyria Revelations."  In the (roughly) two years since that review, Sullivan has not only finished up his series, but also been picked up by a major publisher, (Orbit) and had the books re-released in an awesomely package three book omnibus set.  

Despite these developments, I continued to put off my return to the lands of Avryn.  Then, one day, literally out of the blue, the author himself, apparently not willing to let even the most wayward reader off the hook, contacted me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  The offer: an ebook copy of his first omnibus, Theft of Swords in return for a future encounter that will soon play out on this very blog.  (For those of you hoping for a live thumb-wrestling showdown, sorry that's not in the works...yet.)  

Anyway, I jumped at the opportunity, and quickly moved Theft of Swords up to the top of the ol' reading heap.  I considered just skipping the first half of the book, which I had already read earlier, but upon scouring my brain for old details, decided a re-read would do me a world of good.  Turned out to be a good move because some slight changes, tightenings, and alterations had been made for the Orbit publication.  

On the grand scale, The Crown Conspiracy remains largely unchanged; two very skilled and professional thieves are contracted to steal famous sword, and wind up being framed for the murder of the king.  Though they are captured, jailed and sentenced to death the following morning, our intrepid heroes Royce Mellborn and Hadrian Blackwater, with some aid, escape; only to then kidnap the prince-who-will-become-king and take him off on a wild adventure filled with magic, a wizard, a civil war, and much more.  Like I said, still the same plot and premise, but Sullivan made a number of smallish changes that really made the story much more tight, and did a better job of introducing the characters and their personalities at the early stages of the novel.

One of my favorite qualities of Sullivan's work is that each individual novel can be read as a standalone adventure.  That being said, there are a number of plot points and story developments that lend themselves to a much more epic story line that appears to be playing itself out across all the novels.  After reading Theft of Swords which contains the books The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha I've come to really appreciate Sullivan's self-contained, yet with overlapping plot style. I like the feeling of reading a book and knowing that the events that take place in it will be wrapped up by the end without crazy cliffhangers.  

It was nice to know that when I started reading Avempartha I was reading a new story.  However, it was interesting to discover just how some of the major plot events from The Crown Conspiracy were still making waves a couple years down the road.  

 Avempartha also has a much different feel to it than The Crown Conspiracy.  In The Crown Conspiracy Sullivan seems to almost deliberately limit the amount of fantasy elements in the novel.  Sure, there's some magic, but aside from the classic fantasy races getting some mention, there's really very little else that says "fantasy".  

Avempartha is a whole 'nother beast though.  In this one Royce and Hadrian travel to a small village on the very edge of the frontier which separates the lands of men from the lands of the elves.  Royce and Hadrian have been hired by a young woman from the village to help slay a mighty beast that has been killing the villagers.  So right off the bat you've got one of my favorite things about fantasy: beasts.  There's more fantasy elements at play though and the village seems to be some sort of lodestone for attention, because while there, Royce and Hadrian meet up with a number of old friends, accomplices, and enemies as the church of Nyphron holds a tournament with a grand prize greater than any contestant could imagine.  In addition to drawing the attention of the church, the realms greatest knights, there's also another powerful force that has an interest in what Royce and Hadrian are up to.  

Whereas The Crown Conspiracy was tightly focused, Avempartha certainly feels like it sprawls out a lot more.  At least it does in terms of world building, character development, and political schemes, but despite all this fleshing out of, well, everything, Sullivan never lets the story lose focus.  Avempartha is equally as sharp as its predecessor, all while managing to up the ante considerably.  An impressive feat. 

In all honesty, there is hardly a negative thing I can say about The Crown Conspiracy, these are not only well written, and well paced books, but they are also a hell of a lot of fun to read.  At first, I found myself thinking of Royce and Hadrian as homages to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, but as I read further into the novels, these characters began to feel less like homages or pastiches and more like their own characters.  I will say that Royce's character seems to be coming together a lot slower than Hadrian, and there are times when Royce seems pretty one-dimensional.  However, by the end of Avempartha, I got the sense there there is a lot of back story to be told for both Royce and Hadrian, and in the telling, the characters will become more well rounded.  

If you are looking for a deep character-driven narrative, this might leave some people wanting more.  Still, Sullivan is no slouch when it comes to writing characters, and when you combine that with great action and strong plotting, you get a great read.  

What it all comes down to is that fact that Theft of Swords is one stellar fantasy read.  I can only look back at my earlier reading of The Crown Conspiracy and see that all the qualities that made it good then, are only  tighter, sharper and more finely focused now.  Avempartha takes all that was great about the series opener, and cranks every aspect up notch to raise the bar even higher.  More magic, more political scheming, more swords...plus a fell beast.  All this adds up to make a book that should be on every fantasy reader's shelf.  Last time out I said I looked forward to reading more of Sullivan's Riyria Revelations series, this time it wont be two years between reads.  

Grade: A