April 2003 Archives

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb.

I do enjoy her writing. I'm almost sorry I didn't discover her earlier. On the other hand, I can slip a book of hers into each book order I make for the rest of the year, and not run out.

This was a good read, but definitely a "middle book". Fitz moves from boy to man, and though you know he survives because of the frame story, I didn't expect what a close thing it would be. The ending felt a bit contrived to me, though. We hadn't been clued in that it was possible, beforehand. Partly that's the fault of sticking closely in Fitz' viewpoint. But I wished that we'd learned a bit more about the Wit before those final chapters, so it didn't seem so much of a deus ex machina rescue.

This one reminded me of George R. R. Martin's Ice and Fire series, particularly the first book. I'm not sure exactly what triggered the memory though -- could be the snow and ice, the pirantets, the deaths, or the intrigue, or just some of each.

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. 4/23 Just re-reading this one before I pick up the sequel. It's been long enough since I read it that I don't remember as much of the plot as I'd like to before reading the next book.

Ventus by Karl Schroeder. I was a little suspicious when I started out that it was going to be akin to Orson Scott Card's Children of Earth series, which I enjoyed on first read, but didn't enjoy enough to keep for re-reading.

However, after the first 50 pages, the book reminds me of Sylvia Engdahl's Enchantress From the Stars (which I misremembered as authored by Andre Norton).
(4/15).

I got a little worried at the beginning of the second section. The first section had been largely from Jason's POV, and the second section began in another POV entirely. I was concerned that I might never see Jason again, and learn the rest of his story. But Schroder did a wonderful job moving from one POV to another to shine light on the core of the story from different angles. He also kept me guessing at the ultimate resolution of the plot until the very end of the book. Some very cool ideas about nanotech computers in here, and most enjoyable. I'll be looking for his other books.

I described the book to my husband as Saberhagen meets Gibson meets O.S. Card. Or perhaps it's Iain M. Banks rather than Saberhagen.

The Wellstone, another one by Wil McCarthy, purchased because I enjoyed The Collapsium.

Again, a book I enjoyed. The first chapter, excerpted on Amazon, is a little misleading -- it's the frame story for the real content of the book, and is one of a few cameo appearances of Bruno de Towaji, the hero of The Collapsium in this book. (And re-reading the excerpt, I see he doesn't appear there, though he does appear later in that chapter.)

The book is really the coming-of-age story of Conrad Mursk, with cool technology, and an interesting follow-up to what happens when immorbitity becomes commonplace.

The frame story, especially the last chapter, leaves dozens of hooks to hang further stories on. Hopefully the two planned books will tell some of the stories that caught my interest.

I'm now planning to search up copies of Analog that contain other stories in this universe. I may even look for Hacking Matter, his nonfiction book about some of the physics behind the stories.

Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers. According to the bibliography, this was the first Lord Peter book published. But it reads as if you should be very familiar with the characters, so I suppose some of the short stories were actually published first. I'll have to get the shorts collection in my next book order.

Green Rider by Kristen Britain.

I needed a break after the complexity of the last one. So far, this has bits that remind me of Pamela Dean or Mercedes Lackey. The scene with Karigan in the library reminded me of C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Nice little book, and mostly complete in itself, but wide, wide, wide open for its sequel. (Coming soon).

Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury. [Excerpt.] Another book found, in desperation, at the supermarket.

A clear homage to Asimov's Foundation series, in more ways than one. There's the obvious galactic empire framework, including the lost location of the homeworld in the Sirius sector. Kingsbury is not quite as dry/pedantic as Asimov (something I've noticed in recent rereading of his work).

At the moment (3/24) I'm about six chapters in, and the book still doesn't have a clear focus. We do want to understand how Eron Osa has gotten to the point where his fam must be destroyed, but we don't have much clue about the underlying problems yet. We also haven't seen any female characters, another Asmovian trait.

I think I'll enjoy re-reading this one in a couple of years when I can concentrate on the details better. It had a slow start (those first six chapters!), and a slow build. But it was an enjoyable read, as long as you want a book that places demands on you to figure out what's going on.

Female characters -- not so hot. The salient characteristic of the Frightfulpeople is "controlling", quite literally. And Kingsbury has a wierd thing going on with age of consent. (The Hyperlord's attraction to prepubesent girls made me dread the chapters from his POV.)