V.E. Schwab
Book 2 - Shades of Magic Trilogy
We start with Lila the pirate. She has really come into her own as she is a member (and best thief) of the crew on the Night Spire, under command of Alucard Emery. And it is here she begins to learn magic from Emery. And after a few months, they return to Red London for what is basically the Olympics of magic, where Emery is competing. And where Kell has finagled a way to compete anonymously. And where Lila continues to be able to generate trouble like no other. At the same time, the political machinations around the "events" of the Black Night from Book 1 are still churning and affecting lives of the princes of the kingdom, Kell and Rhy. On the flip side, the sudden power vacuum in White London results in its own machinations, and in Grey London foreshadowing something. Fascinating, clever, and fun.
3 stars (out of 4)
Monday, November 19, 2018
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Head On
John Scalzi
A follow up, of sorts, to Lock In, we are about 1 year later and FBI detectives Shane and Vann are still partners and still on the job. Recall that Shane is a Haden, a human who has contracted a disease that completely immobilizes their body, but not their brain. These Hadens have neural network hardware implanted in their brain that allows them to remote operate humanoid robots (Threeps) and participate in the physical world. The political/social culture in this novel opens with a new major sports league based on Hadens (i.e. their threeps) competing on a football-like field where the goal is to decapitate an opposing player and score with the head. At the same time, massive government subsidies to help Hadens with affording all this expensive access to the world is ending. And then a journeyman Haden athlete dies on the field (which shouldn't be able to happen) followed by a suicide, an arson, a murder-suicide, and assassination, etc. Special Agents Shane and Vann are on the job. I love the technology, the ethical gray areas, and the buddy cop dynamic that thread through the entire story. Keep them coming.
4 stars (out of 4)
A follow up, of sorts, to Lock In, we are about 1 year later and FBI detectives Shane and Vann are still partners and still on the job. Recall that Shane is a Haden, a human who has contracted a disease that completely immobilizes their body, but not their brain. These Hadens have neural network hardware implanted in their brain that allows them to remote operate humanoid robots (Threeps) and participate in the physical world. The political/social culture in this novel opens with a new major sports league based on Hadens (i.e. their threeps) competing on a football-like field where the goal is to decapitate an opposing player and score with the head. At the same time, massive government subsidies to help Hadens with affording all this expensive access to the world is ending. And then a journeyman Haden athlete dies on the field (which shouldn't be able to happen) followed by a suicide, an arson, a murder-suicide, and assassination, etc. Special Agents Shane and Vann are on the job. I love the technology, the ethical gray areas, and the buddy cop dynamic that thread through the entire story. Keep them coming.
4 stars (out of 4)
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Victory Conditions
Elizabeth Moon
Book 5 of Vatta's War series
In this final chapter, everything gets wrapped. Ky gets her fleet and the battle and war are taken to Nexus, the planet where all interstellar communication is controlled. Rafe is there on planet, Ky is coming in hot after the pirates, Stella is managing the 'behind-the-lines' subterfuge, and Aunt Grace is already next level. Overall, this is a quality ending to a great storyline and storytelling. In hindsight, I liked the hints (but not in-your-face integration) of AI and augmented humans (humods), the subtle quality science (some rules are broken, but not all of them and the ones that aren't are plot essential), and the (unfortunately) non-standard role for women who don't necessarily want to grow up to be parents. Well done Elizabeth Moon.
4 stars (out of 4)
Book 5 of Vatta's War series
In this final chapter, everything gets wrapped. Ky gets her fleet and the battle and war are taken to Nexus, the planet where all interstellar communication is controlled. Rafe is there on planet, Ky is coming in hot after the pirates, Stella is managing the 'behind-the-lines' subterfuge, and Aunt Grace is already next level. Overall, this is a quality ending to a great storyline and storytelling. In hindsight, I liked the hints (but not in-your-face integration) of AI and augmented humans (humods), the subtle quality science (some rules are broken, but not all of them and the ones that aren't are plot essential), and the (unfortunately) non-standard role for women who don't necessarily want to grow up to be parents. Well done Elizabeth Moon.
4 stars (out of 4)
Friday, October 5, 2018
A Darkness More than Night
Michael Connelly
Book 7 in the Harry Bosch Series
This felt like a departure, of sorts, from the Bosch formula. The first part of the book didn't really even include Bosch, except in an ancillary way. Instead, we are introduced to former FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, who now lives the retired life on Catalina Island. We are treated to his backstory, and how he now gets involved with a potential serial killer case as a consultant, brought to him courtesy of the LA County sheriff. Turns out the murder is connected to Bosch since the crime scene has lots of explicit "clues" left behind that point directly to the painter Heironymous Bosch, thereby implicating Harry. And Harry is in court testifying against a Hollywood producer bigwig who is also a serial murderer... hmmm, any connection?
I didn't really feel the connection with McCaleb or his detective-ing style, so didn't really like the story as much as the others that focus on Bosch and his neurosis. Just enough to get me to finish I guess.
2 stars (out of 4)
Book 7 in the Harry Bosch Series
This felt like a departure, of sorts, from the Bosch formula. The first part of the book didn't really even include Bosch, except in an ancillary way. Instead, we are introduced to former FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, who now lives the retired life on Catalina Island. We are treated to his backstory, and how he now gets involved with a potential serial killer case as a consultant, brought to him courtesy of the LA County sheriff. Turns out the murder is connected to Bosch since the crime scene has lots of explicit "clues" left behind that point directly to the painter Heironymous Bosch, thereby implicating Harry. And Harry is in court testifying against a Hollywood producer bigwig who is also a serial murderer... hmmm, any connection?
I didn't really feel the connection with McCaleb or his detective-ing style, so didn't really like the story as much as the others that focus on Bosch and his neurosis. Just enough to get me to finish I guess.
2 stars (out of 4)
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Command Decision
Elizabeth Moon
Book 4 of Vatta's War series
The war gets real. Ky sets up Space Defense Force and sets out really get serious about her job. Cousin Stella has remained on Cascadia at the new Vatta Ltd. headquarters to run the transport business and Ky has with her some other privateers and a few ships from Bissonet set on revenge. Of course, nothing goes quite right, and yet it all works out in the end. Moon continues to mix the storylines between space battles, planetary political intrigue, and silly eccentricities that come about with the mixing of alien cultures. And the pure brilliance of dealing well with time and space continues to impress. Looking forward to wrapping it all up.
4 stars (out of 4)
Book 4 of Vatta's War series
The war gets real. Ky sets up Space Defense Force and sets out really get serious about her job. Cousin Stella has remained on Cascadia at the new Vatta Ltd. headquarters to run the transport business and Ky has with her some other privateers and a few ships from Bissonet set on revenge. Of course, nothing goes quite right, and yet it all works out in the end. Moon continues to mix the storylines between space battles, planetary political intrigue, and silly eccentricities that come about with the mixing of alien cultures. And the pure brilliance of dealing well with time and space continues to impress. Looking forward to wrapping it all up.
4 stars (out of 4)
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Engaging the Enemy
Elizabeth Moon
Book 3 of Vatta's War series
Now with a couple of ships, Ky Vatta begins to develop plans to rid the galaxy of the pirate horde that plagues her family and her business. But she is still a trader, so these plans evolve while traveling to different planets to make some money. At one point, she is at Cascadia when another Vatta transport ship arrives, and challenges her identity. There is bad history between Captain Fuhrman and Ky, and this time it leads to a local trial. I love that the distinguishing cultural characteristic of the Cascadians is politeness. So distinguishing that rudeness is a death penalty offense. Who would have thought... After all the conflict, Ky leaves Cascadia with 3 ships under her control, and a plan for reviving the company and stopping the pirates. Oh, and the Bissonet system has just been taken over by the pirates.
4 stars (out of 4)
Book 3 of Vatta's War series
Now with a couple of ships, Ky Vatta begins to develop plans to rid the galaxy of the pirate horde that plagues her family and her business. But she is still a trader, so these plans evolve while traveling to different planets to make some money. At one point, she is at Cascadia when another Vatta transport ship arrives, and challenges her identity. There is bad history between Captain Fuhrman and Ky, and this time it leads to a local trial. I love that the distinguishing cultural characteristic of the Cascadians is politeness. So distinguishing that rudeness is a death penalty offense. Who would have thought... After all the conflict, Ky leaves Cascadia with 3 ships under her control, and a plan for reviving the company and stopping the pirates. Oh, and the Bissonet system has just been taken over by the pirates.
4 stars (out of 4)
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Marque and Reprisal
Elizabeth Moon
Book 2 of Vatta's War series
Ky Vatta survived an attack in her about-to-be-junked cargo hauler and begins to discover her talents as a spacer. With much of the intersteller communication network sabotaged, she is making decisions as best she can. Her cousin Stella has arrived in Sabine with a package containing her fathers command level implant (all the company data as CEO) and the two cousins are basically it for Vatta Ltd. Stella also brings a letter of marque from the Slotter Key government authorizing Ky to be a privateer (sort of a legal pirate) to protect shipping lanes. Ky is basically in the middle of an internal struggle: is she a cargo hauler or a fighter. But while hauling cargo, they encounter family reject and pirate Osman Vatta, and the choice is made for her. And in the end, Ky now has a cargo hauler and an armed escort ship. It looks like the pattern for the books in the series is one major conflict per book that wraps up a major part of the story, and clearly moves the plot forward, but doesn't finish. And it doesn't feel like stalling (as middle books often do in series). The story here is big enough for the entire series.
4 stars (out of 4)
Book 2 of Vatta's War series
Ky Vatta survived an attack in her about-to-be-junked cargo hauler and begins to discover her talents as a spacer. With much of the intersteller communication network sabotaged, she is making decisions as best she can. Her cousin Stella has arrived in Sabine with a package containing her fathers command level implant (all the company data as CEO) and the two cousins are basically it for Vatta Ltd. Stella also brings a letter of marque from the Slotter Key government authorizing Ky to be a privateer (sort of a legal pirate) to protect shipping lanes. Ky is basically in the middle of an internal struggle: is she a cargo hauler or a fighter. But while hauling cargo, they encounter family reject and pirate Osman Vatta, and the choice is made for her. And in the end, Ky now has a cargo hauler and an armed escort ship. It looks like the pattern for the books in the series is one major conflict per book that wraps up a major part of the story, and clearly moves the plot forward, but doesn't finish. And it doesn't feel like stalling (as middle books often do in series). The story here is big enough for the entire series.
4 stars (out of 4)
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Trading in Danger
Elizabeth Moon
Book 1 of Vatta's War series
Ky Vatta is a cadet in Spaceforce Academy, the system defense force for the Slotter Key system. And a member of the Vatta family, one of the largest and most respected interstellar shipping companies in the galaxy. Then she is kicked out of the Academy, and her father (Vatta Ltd. CEO) sends her as captain on a voyage with an old cargo hull on its way to the scrap yard, mostly to keep her out of the public eye for a year or so. Along the way, her life is turned on its head as the company, her family and her first voyage are all attacked. Now she is one of the only people in the family who can begin to sort things out.
This is in many ways a typical space opera. But there are a few things that make this quality sci-fi. Moon doesn't live only in space. There are great storylines on planet, with airplanes, and cars and trains and buildings that seem remarkably "normal". This fits a world where FTL travel happens, but not after hover cars, etc. Moon has created a world that doesn't ignore the realities of the vastness of space even with FTL travel. FTL jump points are out of the solar systems where they must be to avoid collisions with mass. So after jumps, insystem travel often takes weeks. And insystem communication still has lag (sometimes hours) based on the size of the systems. Which means that breaking FTL travel doesn't mean you have to break everything. And Moon has created a world where the protagonist is a woman, and there are strong women characters, but the world is not about strong women, it is about characters. Many are introduced and well into the story line before their gender is revealed. Quincy from engineering and Lee the pilot... male? female? we don't really know for quite some time because it really isn't relevant to the story.
I hope the whole series holds up
4 stars (out of 4)
Book 1 of Vatta's War series
Ky Vatta is a cadet in Spaceforce Academy, the system defense force for the Slotter Key system. And a member of the Vatta family, one of the largest and most respected interstellar shipping companies in the galaxy. Then she is kicked out of the Academy, and her father (Vatta Ltd. CEO) sends her as captain on a voyage with an old cargo hull on its way to the scrap yard, mostly to keep her out of the public eye for a year or so. Along the way, her life is turned on its head as the company, her family and her first voyage are all attacked. Now she is one of the only people in the family who can begin to sort things out.
This is in many ways a typical space opera. But there are a few things that make this quality sci-fi. Moon doesn't live only in space. There are great storylines on planet, with airplanes, and cars and trains and buildings that seem remarkably "normal". This fits a world where FTL travel happens, but not after hover cars, etc. Moon has created a world that doesn't ignore the realities of the vastness of space even with FTL travel. FTL jump points are out of the solar systems where they must be to avoid collisions with mass. So after jumps, insystem travel often takes weeks. And insystem communication still has lag (sometimes hours) based on the size of the systems. Which means that breaking FTL travel doesn't mean you have to break everything. And Moon has created a world where the protagonist is a woman, and there are strong women characters, but the world is not about strong women, it is about characters. Many are introduced and well into the story line before their gender is revealed. Quincy from engineering and Lee the pilot... male? female? we don't really know for quite some time because it really isn't relevant to the story.
I hope the whole series holds up
4 stars (out of 4)
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Angels Flight
Michael Connelly
Book 6 in the Harry Bosch Series
This story is the primary plot inspiration for season 4 of the TV series Bosch. A high profile defense attorney is found murdered on the Angels Flight trolley a couple days before opening a high profile trial against the LAPD for abuse of a murder suspect. Since the everyone involved in the trial has an obvious conflict of interest, Bosch and his team are called in to take the case. Bosch is not sure whether a "solve" is actually wanted by the chiefs, but that is what he plans to give them. This is a great "return to LA" and the setting of a few years after the Rodney King and OJ trials gives the political tension a truth. And of course, Bosch is politically irreverent in his pursuit of truth, which is part of the fun.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 6 in the Harry Bosch Series
This story is the primary plot inspiration for season 4 of the TV series Bosch. A high profile defense attorney is found murdered on the Angels Flight trolley a couple days before opening a high profile trial against the LAPD for abuse of a murder suspect. Since the everyone involved in the trial has an obvious conflict of interest, Bosch and his team are called in to take the case. Bosch is not sure whether a "solve" is actually wanted by the chiefs, but that is what he plans to give them. This is a great "return to LA" and the setting of a few years after the Rodney King and OJ trials gives the political tension a truth. And of course, Bosch is politically irreverent in his pursuit of truth, which is part of the fun.
3 stars (out of 4)
Friday, August 24, 2018
Trunk Music
Michael Connelly
Book 5 in the Harry Bosch Series
Coming off a suspension, Harry is back in Hollywood on the homicide desk with a new boss and new team (Edgar and new team member Kiz Rider). Catching his first case, it is seemingly a classic mob hit with a body found in a trunk above the Hollywood Bowl. The leads take the investigation to Las Vegas, where nearly the entire book takes place, and reintroduces us to Eleanor Wish (love interest from Book 1 The Dark Echo). In all, this was a strong detective story, but since it was not LA, I found it only moderately engaging. Or actually, engaging but pining for LA.
2 stars (out of 4)
Book 5 in the Harry Bosch Series
Coming off a suspension, Harry is back in Hollywood on the homicide desk with a new boss and new team (Edgar and new team member Kiz Rider). Catching his first case, it is seemingly a classic mob hit with a body found in a trunk above the Hollywood Bowl. The leads take the investigation to Las Vegas, where nearly the entire book takes place, and reintroduces us to Eleanor Wish (love interest from Book 1 The Dark Echo). In all, this was a strong detective story, but since it was not LA, I found it only moderately engaging. Or actually, engaging but pining for LA.
2 stars (out of 4)
Sunday, August 19, 2018
All the Birds in the Sky
Charlie Jane Anders
Laurence and Patricia are lifelong friends, having met in middle school. They were each the oddball, and so by default gravitated to each other. But Laurence was tech and Patricia was nature. The first third of the book develops their world and sets the stage for the relationship. Unfortunately, it almost lost me in clearly YA tone. That is, I felt like the writing was intentionally geared to appeal to youth. Which is different that YA that is written with themes that appeal to youth, but written to treat the youth as adult minds. So strike one. But after that introductory third, the story gets engaging enough to hold me in. This becomes a battle (albeit mostly of ideas) between tech and nature, and really becomes a treatise for how it is not either, but both, that we must learn how to navigate. A nice little allegory.
3 stars (out of 4)
Laurence and Patricia are lifelong friends, having met in middle school. They were each the oddball, and so by default gravitated to each other. But Laurence was tech and Patricia was nature. The first third of the book develops their world and sets the stage for the relationship. Unfortunately, it almost lost me in clearly YA tone. That is, I felt like the writing was intentionally geared to appeal to youth. Which is different that YA that is written with themes that appeal to youth, but written to treat the youth as adult minds. So strike one. But after that introductory third, the story gets engaging enough to hold me in. This becomes a battle (albeit mostly of ideas) between tech and nature, and really becomes a treatise for how it is not either, but both, that we must learn how to navigate. A nice little allegory.
3 stars (out of 4)
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
The Bourne Objective
Eric Van Lustbader
Book 8 in the Jason Bourne series
Lustbader went full Dan Brown with this one. Hopefully this is not the new trend for the Bourne series. Previously the intrigue for Bourne is based on his getting pulled into political/national security/national intelligence scenarios that are complicated by the Treadstone training and his amnesia. This story inhabits that world, and those characters take part, but the story is pure illuminati. Disappointing. I give hime another try, hoping this is an aberation.
2 stars (out of 4)
Book 8 in the Jason Bourne series
Lustbader went full Dan Brown with this one. Hopefully this is not the new trend for the Bourne series. Previously the intrigue for Bourne is based on his getting pulled into political/national security/national intelligence scenarios that are complicated by the Treadstone training and his amnesia. This story inhabits that world, and those characters take part, but the story is pure illuminati. Disappointing. I give hime another try, hoping this is an aberation.
2 stars (out of 4)
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
The Bourne Deception
Eric Van Lustbader
Book 7 in the Jason Bourne series
Bourne is living the dream in Bali when he is nearly assassinated. He uses the attempt on his life to be "dead" and find out who is hunting him. Meanwhile, the US Intelligence community is involved in an investigation of potential Iran terrorists trying to start WWIII. Of course Bourne's pursuit of his hunter leads directly to the Iran crisis and puts him right in the center of conflict again. And all the characters (Marks, Moore, Trevor, Arkadin, Karpov, Maslov, Halliday, etc.) continue to be helpful/traitorous as Bourne navigates his life.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 7 in the Jason Bourne series
Bourne is living the dream in Bali when he is nearly assassinated. He uses the attempt on his life to be "dead" and find out who is hunting him. Meanwhile, the US Intelligence community is involved in an investigation of potential Iran terrorists trying to start WWIII. Of course Bourne's pursuit of his hunter leads directly to the Iran crisis and puts him right in the center of conflict again. And all the characters (Marks, Moore, Trevor, Arkadin, Karpov, Maslov, Halliday, etc.) continue to be helpful/traitorous as Bourne navigates his life.
3 stars (out of 4)
Monday, August 6, 2018
Calypso
David Sedaris
I love David Sedaris. He is funny and poignant all at the same time. In Calypso, he basically tells the story of his family relationships, and in true form, some of his stories are told such that they MUST be exaggerated or made up. But at the same time, he tells them is such a way, that they are completely believable as 100% true. So you have to just read and enjoy. And along the way, you are pulled into the Sedaris family as he reflects honestly on love and disappointment and failure and guilt and crazy fun that all families experience at different levels for different times. I do think that my enjoyment was even greater since I listened to the audio version, read by Sedaris. This is a great memoir.
4 stars (out of 4)
I love David Sedaris. He is funny and poignant all at the same time. In Calypso, he basically tells the story of his family relationships, and in true form, some of his stories are told such that they MUST be exaggerated or made up. But at the same time, he tells them is such a way, that they are completely believable as 100% true. So you have to just read and enjoy. And along the way, you are pulled into the Sedaris family as he reflects honestly on love and disappointment and failure and guilt and crazy fun that all families experience at different levels for different times. I do think that my enjoyment was even greater since I listened to the audio version, read by Sedaris. This is a great memoir.
4 stars (out of 4)
Friday, August 3, 2018
The Bourne Sanction
Eric Van Lustbader
Book 6 in the Jason Bourne series
The CIA, NSA, DOD interagency squabble continues and now we add in private contract organizations. Lots of subterfuge and power grabbing. Bourne is brought into the story through the back door as he investigates a secret society that is still hanging around from WWII and is somehow related to a plot to blow up a target in the US. His David Webb identity mentor is involved and his potential new girlfriend Moira Trevor. And eventually his nemesis, the other Treadstone trained rogue agent Leonid Arkadin. I enjoyed the 4 seemingly independent threads weaving and intertwining to make a single story.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 6 in the Jason Bourne series
The CIA, NSA, DOD interagency squabble continues and now we add in private contract organizations. Lots of subterfuge and power grabbing. Bourne is brought into the story through the back door as he investigates a secret society that is still hanging around from WWII and is somehow related to a plot to blow up a target in the US. His David Webb identity mentor is involved and his potential new girlfriend Moira Trevor. And eventually his nemesis, the other Treadstone trained rogue agent Leonid Arkadin. I enjoyed the 4 seemingly independent threads weaving and intertwining to make a single story.
3 stars (out of 4)
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
The Bourne Betrayal
Eric Van Lustbader
Book 5 in the Jason Bourne series
Having seen the Bourne movies, I figure I would start this series after the films. Treadstone is dead and Bourne is basically free of Central Intelligence. But when his only really friend Martin Lindros ends up missing, he goes out to find him. His contacts at CI try to support him, or wrangle him, and the NSA and DOD basically want him dead. Lots of back home political intrigue intertwined with the spy thriller action of finding out what happened to Lindros. And Bourne brings in his contacts in Russian FSB and drug/weapons selling cartels to help him out. It seems like a few individuals rise to the top as "trustworthy", but in his life, Bourne can never be sure.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 5 in the Jason Bourne series
Having seen the Bourne movies, I figure I would start this series after the films. Treadstone is dead and Bourne is basically free of Central Intelligence. But when his only really friend Martin Lindros ends up missing, he goes out to find him. His contacts at CI try to support him, or wrangle him, and the NSA and DOD basically want him dead. Lots of back home political intrigue intertwined with the spy thriller action of finding out what happened to Lindros. And Bourne brings in his contacts in Russian FSB and drug/weapons selling cartels to help him out. It seems like a few individuals rise to the top as "trustworthy", but in his life, Bourne can never be sure.
3 stars (out of 4)
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
The Black Ice
Michael Connelly
Book 2 in the Harry Bosch Series
Black Ice, referring to that invisible layer of ice that is deposited on roads in freezing rain. Bosch catches the case of a police officer suicide. But something doesn't sit right and when he starts poking, the trail leads him (solo, of course) to Mexico and the drug trade. Nothing is ever quite what it seems at first glance, and it is always surprisingly dangerous.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 2 in the Harry Bosch Series
Black Ice, referring to that invisible layer of ice that is deposited on roads in freezing rain. Bosch catches the case of a police officer suicide. But something doesn't sit right and when he starts poking, the trail leads him (solo, of course) to Mexico and the drug trade. Nothing is ever quite what it seems at first glance, and it is always surprisingly dangerous.
3 stars (out of 4)
Monday, July 23, 2018
A Darker Shade of Magic
V.E. Schwab
Shades of Magic Trilogy
A really quite interesting world set in several Londons. That is, a London exists in 4 different worlds, with 4 different levels of access to magic. In the past, doors were open between the worlds and people could travel between them. But then bad things happened in Black London, and the doors were sealed. Now only the Antari can make doors, and there are only two Antari left. Kell (who belongs to the royalty in Red London where magic is ubiquitous and good) and Holland (who belongs to the royalty in White London where all magic is used to acquire power). Kell meets up with small time thief Lila in Grey London (where magic no longer exists) and the two of them become embroiled in a magical thriller to save all London from the evil of Black. A nice world that Schwab has created and probably Lila is my favorite character, so hoping she becomes the prime protagonist in book 2
3 stars (out of 4)
Shades of Magic Trilogy
A really quite interesting world set in several Londons. That is, a London exists in 4 different worlds, with 4 different levels of access to magic. In the past, doors were open between the worlds and people could travel between them. But then bad things happened in Black London, and the doors were sealed. Now only the Antari can make doors, and there are only two Antari left. Kell (who belongs to the royalty in Red London where magic is ubiquitous and good) and Holland (who belongs to the royalty in White London where all magic is used to acquire power). Kell meets up with small time thief Lila in Grey London (where magic no longer exists) and the two of them become embroiled in a magical thriller to save all London from the evil of Black. A nice world that Schwab has created and probably Lila is my favorite character, so hoping she becomes the prime protagonist in book 2
3 stars (out of 4)
Saturday, July 21, 2018
The Last Coyote
Michael Connelly
Book 4 in the Harry Bosch Series
Following all the Dollmaker mess, Bosch is suspended until he gets signed off by his department shrink. And while sorting all of his personal life out, he is led to reopen the 30 year old cold-case that is his mother's murder. There is LA political intrigue, and Bosch is dealing with the red-tagging of his house due to the recent 1994 Northridge earthquake. So while doing his job, he is digging into his own psyche and trying to figure out whether he is actually a "lonely, isolated coyote", or if there is anyone he can trust.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 4 in the Harry Bosch Series
Following all the Dollmaker mess, Bosch is suspended until he gets signed off by his department shrink. And while sorting all of his personal life out, he is led to reopen the 30 year old cold-case that is his mother's murder. There is LA political intrigue, and Bosch is dealing with the red-tagging of his house due to the recent 1994 Northridge earthquake. So while doing his job, he is digging into his own psyche and trying to figure out whether he is actually a "lonely, isolated coyote", or if there is anyone he can trust.
3 stars (out of 4)
Thursday, July 19, 2018
The Concrete Blonde
Michael Connelly
Book 3 in the Harry Bosch Series
The character of Bosch is deeply rooted in his mothers death and his solving of the case of the Dollmaker, a serial killer who made up his victims with their own makeup. The fact that solving this case resulted in Bosch killing the Dollmaker while confronting him at home means that of course, there will be a lawsuit. This book allows Connelly to simultaneously offer a crime to solve, while also telling the history of the the Dollmaker case to provide deep background on Harry. Turns out, in the middle of this trial, another Dollmaker victim is found and is clearly a victim two full years after Bosch killed the suspect. So... Bosch must sit through a trial and solve a case at the same time. Somehow all the ancillary characters (other detectives, lawyers, reporters, etc.) are caricatures, perhaps by contrast, allowing the main characters to appear more full without much effort. I am not sure, but something to watch as I work through the series.
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 3 in the Harry Bosch Series
The character of Bosch is deeply rooted in his mothers death and his solving of the case of the Dollmaker, a serial killer who made up his victims with their own makeup. The fact that solving this case resulted in Bosch killing the Dollmaker while confronting him at home means that of course, there will be a lawsuit. This book allows Connelly to simultaneously offer a crime to solve, while also telling the history of the the Dollmaker case to provide deep background on Harry. Turns out, in the middle of this trial, another Dollmaker victim is found and is clearly a victim two full years after Bosch killed the suspect. So... Bosch must sit through a trial and solve a case at the same time. Somehow all the ancillary characters (other detectives, lawyers, reporters, etc.) are caricatures, perhaps by contrast, allowing the main characters to appear more full without much effort. I am not sure, but something to watch as I work through the series.
3 stars (out of 4)
Monday, July 16, 2018
The Dark Echo
Michael Connelly
Book 1 in the Harry Bosch Series
Detective Harry Bosch is an LA cop created by Connelly in the early 90's, shortly after the LA riots. He is an old school, 40 something, stereotypical cowboy cop working the homicide table in the Hollywood division. I loved the Bosch TV series put out by Amazon starring Titus Welliver and figured I would give the books a try. While the series takes liberties with the characters details, the books and series definitely portray LA as central to the storytelling and I look forward to seeing how that evolves over a couple of decades. In this introductory novel, Bosch is working a case where he ID's the victim as a guy he new in Vietnam. This leads to a complex unwinding of an old bank robbery, some smuggling, and the psychological complexities of Bosch working through his own history in Vietnam and recent notoriety having worked an LAPD serial killer case. My mental images while reading are definitely colored by the TV portrayal, but I would characterize that as an enhancement of my enjoyment. This is a classic police procedural, murder mystery setup that delivers exactly what a beach reader is looking for (and likely continues to deliver based on the 20 or so books still to come in the series).
3 stars (out of 4)
Book 1 in the Harry Bosch Series
Detective Harry Bosch is an LA cop created by Connelly in the early 90's, shortly after the LA riots. He is an old school, 40 something, stereotypical cowboy cop working the homicide table in the Hollywood division. I loved the Bosch TV series put out by Amazon starring Titus Welliver and figured I would give the books a try. While the series takes liberties with the characters details, the books and series definitely portray LA as central to the storytelling and I look forward to seeing how that evolves over a couple of decades. In this introductory novel, Bosch is working a case where he ID's the victim as a guy he new in Vietnam. This leads to a complex unwinding of an old bank robbery, some smuggling, and the psychological complexities of Bosch working through his own history in Vietnam and recent notoriety having worked an LAPD serial killer case. My mental images while reading are definitely colored by the TV portrayal, but I would characterize that as an enhancement of my enjoyment. This is a classic police procedural, murder mystery setup that delivers exactly what a beach reader is looking for (and likely continues to deliver based on the 20 or so books still to come in the series).
3 stars (out of 4)
Monday, July 2, 2018
Everfair
Nisi Shawl
A self described steam-punk alternate history, and it is exactly that. The history involved is that of the colonization of the Belgian Congo in the 1900's. The alternate part of the history consists of Shawl envisioning Belgian King Leopold selling most of the land of the Congo to a collection of nationalists (local tribal leaders, African-American slave repatriationists, and missionaries) who work with various levels of cooperation to create an African nation. Of course, each of these groups has its own idea of what said African nation should consist of and how it should be governed. Throw in the fact that the scientists of this nation are global leaders in automation technology (developing and perfecting dirigible transportation, steam/nuclear powered bicycles, and knife throwing guns) and we get the steam-punk flavor. This is in some ways a fascinating vision and imaginative story telling. But somehow it also left me yearning for more, ultimately being too mired in the reality of colonization, race, and nation building. While providing insights about these realities along the way, I feel like a truly good alternate history will at least hint at an alternate future that is more optimistic. Here, Shawl simply provides a history that leads to a present that is different, but in many ways just as deficient in hope.
3 stars (out of 4)
A self described steam-punk alternate history, and it is exactly that. The history involved is that of the colonization of the Belgian Congo in the 1900's. The alternate part of the history consists of Shawl envisioning Belgian King Leopold selling most of the land of the Congo to a collection of nationalists (local tribal leaders, African-American slave repatriationists, and missionaries) who work with various levels of cooperation to create an African nation. Of course, each of these groups has its own idea of what said African nation should consist of and how it should be governed. Throw in the fact that the scientists of this nation are global leaders in automation technology (developing and perfecting dirigible transportation, steam/nuclear powered bicycles, and knife throwing guns) and we get the steam-punk flavor. This is in some ways a fascinating vision and imaginative story telling. But somehow it also left me yearning for more, ultimately being too mired in the reality of colonization, race, and nation building. While providing insights about these realities along the way, I feel like a truly good alternate history will at least hint at an alternate future that is more optimistic. Here, Shawl simply provides a history that leads to a present that is different, but in many ways just as deficient in hope.
3 stars (out of 4)
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
Stephen King
Roland continues his journey to the dark tower with his ka-tet. But most of this book is a flashback telling of Roland in his gunslinger youth. We learn how he becomes a gunslinger, of his first love, of the events that lead him to know of the dark tower and the fate that has been chosen for him. In hindsight, I have lost the thread of the overall search, in a way that it became less important that the story being currently told. I am sure that the big theme picks up in the next volume.
3 stars (out of 4)
3 stars (out of 4)
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower all Learners
Dominique Smith, Ian Pumpian, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher
This is part motivational writing to justify why equity is important in schools, and part 'how-to' for districts to assess current equity. They propose an Equity Taxonomy so you can work on different foundational problem areas, and have accompanying checklists for assessment. The book says it is for all educators, but the emphasis (most examples) are from public school districts and mostly lower schools (K-8). So while systemically this might be good for my private high school as a self assessment tool, it is not particularly useful for the individual teacher. The one exception would be the Instructional Excellence chapter that had a few good reminders on the value of explicitly establishing purpose and how to think about progression toward student centered learning.
2 stars (out of 4)
This is part motivational writing to justify why equity is important in schools, and part 'how-to' for districts to assess current equity. They propose an Equity Taxonomy so you can work on different foundational problem areas, and have accompanying checklists for assessment. The book says it is for all educators, but the emphasis (most examples) are from public school districts and mostly lower schools (K-8). So while systemically this might be good for my private high school as a self assessment tool, it is not particularly useful for the individual teacher. The one exception would be the Instructional Excellence chapter that had a few good reminders on the value of explicitly establishing purpose and how to think about progression toward student centered learning.
2 stars (out of 4)
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead
Exactly what you expect from the title, and yet different. Whitehead follows Cora, a 3rd generation slave in Georgia as she runs away and is ferried from state to state along the railroad. The conceit here is that the railroad is an actual railroad, in secret underground tunnels. But while that little surprise adds flavor to the story, setting it clearly in historical fiction, the mastery of this fiction is in its ability to hold to the truth. Yes, I understand that slavery was bad, and intellectually I know that the atrocities were outrageous. But in this telling, Whitehead provides a sampling of what these atrocities were, and how they affected lives and people. And we both see and feel the evil of 'humans as property' from all perspectives (slave, benevolent owner, harsh owner, abolitionist, freeman, slave hunter, etc.). Not a single person or role is exempt from the destruction begat by the system. And not a single person or role is oblivious to the fact that this country, especially in its infancy, was built with the lives and blood of the human capital of native and slave populations. Amidst this reality, we follow Cora through 5 or 6 states along her journey and get a distinct perspective from each, noting the individuality and "state sovereignty" presumed by each. In the end, I suppose I am not sure whether this tale is ultimately a tragedy or hopeful telling of the history of this country.
4 stars (out of 4)
Exactly what you expect from the title, and yet different. Whitehead follows Cora, a 3rd generation slave in Georgia as she runs away and is ferried from state to state along the railroad. The conceit here is that the railroad is an actual railroad, in secret underground tunnels. But while that little surprise adds flavor to the story, setting it clearly in historical fiction, the mastery of this fiction is in its ability to hold to the truth. Yes, I understand that slavery was bad, and intellectually I know that the atrocities were outrageous. But in this telling, Whitehead provides a sampling of what these atrocities were, and how they affected lives and people. And we both see and feel the evil of 'humans as property' from all perspectives (slave, benevolent owner, harsh owner, abolitionist, freeman, slave hunter, etc.). Not a single person or role is exempt from the destruction begat by the system. And not a single person or role is oblivious to the fact that this country, especially in its infancy, was built with the lives and blood of the human capital of native and slave populations. Amidst this reality, we follow Cora through 5 or 6 states along her journey and get a distinct perspective from each, noting the individuality and "state sovereignty" presumed by each. In the end, I suppose I am not sure whether this tale is ultimately a tragedy or hopeful telling of the history of this country.
4 stars (out of 4)
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Lab Girl
Hope Jahren
A memoir telling the 20 year story of what it is like being a woman scientist. Jahren is a botanist who documents her journey through grad school and subsequent setting up of 3 separate labs as she moves from school to school to find her home. Along the way, we are invited into her life story where she details the subtleties of scientific thinking, work relationships, funding, mental illness, family, students and humanity's relationship with the planet. All of this is chronicled in a way that truly provides insight into the mind of a scientist. Jahren uses a storytelling device where each chapter is preceded by a short description of something fascinating from the world of plants that she then parallels in her own story. She clearly loves plants and the earth and the amazing life that these plants are. This is clearly communicated and gives the reader a true appreciation for both the complexity of life and the crazy adaptability of living things to make live over generations possible. This is a fabulous story. At the same time, I found it to be a story that easily walks that middle ground of books. Every time I sat down to read it, I was enthralled and educated and engaged. But is was not a thriller/page turner such that when I set it aside, it did not demand that I come back. As such, I was allowed to read this over a longer span that I normally spend on books, and maybe because of this, the appreciation set in more slowly, and more deeply.
4 stars (out of 4)
A memoir telling the 20 year story of what it is like being a woman scientist. Jahren is a botanist who documents her journey through grad school and subsequent setting up of 3 separate labs as she moves from school to school to find her home. Along the way, we are invited into her life story where she details the subtleties of scientific thinking, work relationships, funding, mental illness, family, students and humanity's relationship with the planet. All of this is chronicled in a way that truly provides insight into the mind of a scientist. Jahren uses a storytelling device where each chapter is preceded by a short description of something fascinating from the world of plants that she then parallels in her own story. She clearly loves plants and the earth and the amazing life that these plants are. This is clearly communicated and gives the reader a true appreciation for both the complexity of life and the crazy adaptability of living things to make live over generations possible. This is a fabulous story. At the same time, I found it to be a story that easily walks that middle ground of books. Every time I sat down to read it, I was enthralled and educated and engaged. But is was not a thriller/page turner such that when I set it aside, it did not demand that I come back. As such, I was allowed to read this over a longer span that I normally spend on books, and maybe because of this, the appreciation set in more slowly, and more deeply.
4 stars (out of 4)
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Die Trying
A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
This is early Reacher, recently out of the army. He bumps into a woman on a crutch as she comes out of a dry cleaning place, setting in motion his involvement in a cross-country, white supremacist secession/kidnapping plot that involves the FBI and Military at the highest level. Reacher is his typical chivalrist self as he protects the girl and effectively prevents civil war all on his own. And in the end, just disappears into the sunset. I like how he is still struggling with who he is post-army, but never questions his value set, and responsibility to that value set.
And now having read this, I have completed all 22 Reacher novels. Time to look for a new series that can be tossed off when I need a quick read.
3 stars (out of 4)
Lee Child
This is early Reacher, recently out of the army. He bumps into a woman on a crutch as she comes out of a dry cleaning place, setting in motion his involvement in a cross-country, white supremacist secession/kidnapping plot that involves the FBI and Military at the highest level. Reacher is his typical chivalrist self as he protects the girl and effectively prevents civil war all on his own. And in the end, just disappears into the sunset. I like how he is still struggling with who he is post-army, but never questions his value set, and responsibility to that value set.
And now having read this, I have completed all 22 Reacher novels. Time to look for a new series that can be tossed off when I need a quick read.
3 stars (out of 4)
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The Book of Joan
Lidia Yuknavitch
I don't know really anything about the story of Joan of Arc. Presumably this is a retelling (or re-envisioning) of that story in an alternate future. The future is post nuclear apocalypse on earth, and the resulting moving of humanity (or some wealthy portion of humanity) to space based living. In this space environment, humans are post gender, and basically post biology. They have no biological features that are unnecessary (hair, skin pigment, sex organs, etc.). In this world, personal expression exists in the form of skin grafts added in layers to various parts of the body. And these layered grafts come with burned scar tissue in text patterns to tell stories. If this short description of the world does not fascinate you, go no further. On earth (where Joan is) it gets a bit cheesey along the lines of the Loric energy infusing earth of the Lorian Legacies series. But overall, an interesting tale.
I must also say that Yuknavitch nailed the dialogue/discussions around justice and violence. For example
3 stars (out of 4)
I don't know really anything about the story of Joan of Arc. Presumably this is a retelling (or re-envisioning) of that story in an alternate future. The future is post nuclear apocalypse on earth, and the resulting moving of humanity (or some wealthy portion of humanity) to space based living. In this space environment, humans are post gender, and basically post biology. They have no biological features that are unnecessary (hair, skin pigment, sex organs, etc.). In this world, personal expression exists in the form of skin grafts added in layers to various parts of the body. And these layered grafts come with burned scar tissue in text patterns to tell stories. If this short description of the world does not fascinate you, go no further. On earth (where Joan is) it gets a bit cheesey along the lines of the Loric energy infusing earth of the Lorian Legacies series. But overall, an interesting tale.
I must also say that Yuknavitch nailed the dialogue/discussions around justice and violence. For example
I don't care which careful slice of history you choose to cling to, there is not part of being human that does not include the death spectacle: the resort to killing, through war or "justice" or revenge.strikes me as particularly aware of the role and effectiveness of violence through history. Did I ever tell you I love books that make me think.
3 stars (out of 4)
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
The Midnight Line
A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
Reacher is on a bus to somewhere. During a pit stop he wanders over to the local pawnshop for a look-around and sees a West Point class ring. Something "must be wrong" so he pursues the origin story of this ring. His pursuit takes him to Wyoming and the local black market opioid pipeline, DEA investigations, and a purple heart earning veteran. He works with a Chicago private detective, his cute-young-thing client, and unknowingly a local persistent police officer to find the girl and shut down the regional crime boss. And then gets back on a bus to somewhere. Maybe for the first time in this series, I feel like Child has phoned it in. Reacher has become a caricature of himself, without any real effort at either exploring the psychological depths or motivations of the man. Granted, it has been sparse throughout, but never before have I noted the vacancy of the characters. Being as this is the latest publication, I can only hope this is an aberation and not the new normal.
2 stars (out of 4)
Lee Child
Reacher is on a bus to somewhere. During a pit stop he wanders over to the local pawnshop for a look-around and sees a West Point class ring. Something "must be wrong" so he pursues the origin story of this ring. His pursuit takes him to Wyoming and the local black market opioid pipeline, DEA investigations, and a purple heart earning veteran. He works with a Chicago private detective, his cute-young-thing client, and unknowingly a local persistent police officer to find the girl and shut down the regional crime boss. And then gets back on a bus to somewhere. Maybe for the first time in this series, I feel like Child has phoned it in. Reacher has become a caricature of himself, without any real effort at either exploring the psychological depths or motivations of the man. Granted, it has been sparse throughout, but never before have I noted the vacancy of the characters. Being as this is the latest publication, I can only hope this is an aberation and not the new normal.
2 stars (out of 4)
Thursday, April 5, 2018
An Unkindness of Ghosts
Rivers Solomon
A really fascinating space life novel in the vein of Dust and Across the Universe. We have a colony spaceship that is taking a group of people off to a new frontier (they are 300 years into their journey) and stuff is going wrong with the ship. What Solomon does here on the surface is to set up a social structure that pushes us to think about racism, segregation, and slavery. There are definite power differentials and the black/white division is the prime source of the antagonism between those without and those with power. Our protagonist is a young black girl who is an aspiring doctor (and is quite good at it), is probably quite autistic, and happens to be looking for her missing nuclear physicist mother who left her clues about what is going wrong with the ship. While this is not a book about race and racial relations, like in real life, the fact of race permeates all other aspects of the story, in often subtle ways that cannot be ignored, but don't really have to be paid attention to. This really is, for me, ideal science fiction. We are using the genre to initiate thinking about social issues and spark ideas about what change is necessary and possible.
3 stars (out of 4)
A really fascinating space life novel in the vein of Dust and Across the Universe. We have a colony spaceship that is taking a group of people off to a new frontier (they are 300 years into their journey) and stuff is going wrong with the ship. What Solomon does here on the surface is to set up a social structure that pushes us to think about racism, segregation, and slavery. There are definite power differentials and the black/white division is the prime source of the antagonism between those without and those with power. Our protagonist is a young black girl who is an aspiring doctor (and is quite good at it), is probably quite autistic, and happens to be looking for her missing nuclear physicist mother who left her clues about what is going wrong with the ship. While this is not a book about race and racial relations, like in real life, the fact of race permeates all other aspects of the story, in often subtle ways that cannot be ignored, but don't really have to be paid attention to. This really is, for me, ideal science fiction. We are using the genre to initiate thinking about social issues and spark ideas about what change is necessary and possible.
3 stars (out of 4)
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
I loved this book. It is the story of Starr, a teenage black girl who lives two lives. One is her home life, the life of her upbringing and family. She lives in the neighbor hood, the bad part of town. Her dad is a former gang member who did 3 years in prison as a way to get out. The other life is her school life. Her parents sent Starr to a suburban, wealthy, private school after she witnessed her best friend being shot and killed as a 10 year old. Her two lives mean that Starr has developed two different personas, each appropriate for one of her lives. This story picks up with Starr as the witness (she was the passenger) when her best childhood friend is shot and killed by police in a 'routine' traffic stop. So not only do we get to navigate the current reality of police shooting and racial tension from the perspective of a young black woman, we also get her perspective on life, culture, and how to be a teenager. Thomas does a fabulous job with her storytelling and I feel enriched having read this.
4 stars (out of 4)
I loved this book. It is the story of Starr, a teenage black girl who lives two lives. One is her home life, the life of her upbringing and family. She lives in the neighbor hood, the bad part of town. Her dad is a former gang member who did 3 years in prison as a way to get out. The other life is her school life. Her parents sent Starr to a suburban, wealthy, private school after she witnessed her best friend being shot and killed as a 10 year old. Her two lives mean that Starr has developed two different personas, each appropriate for one of her lives. This story picks up with Starr as the witness (she was the passenger) when her best childhood friend is shot and killed by police in a 'routine' traffic stop. So not only do we get to navigate the current reality of police shooting and racial tension from the perspective of a young black woman, we also get her perspective on life, culture, and how to be a teenager. Thomas does a fabulous job with her storytelling and I feel enriched having read this.
4 stars (out of 4)
Sunday, April 1, 2018
New Rating Scale
Lately, I am finding my Read - Wait - Skip rating system to be lacking. Specifically, almost everything is READ and I am not able to differentiate 'Read Now' from 'Read Sometime'. So moving forward, I am going to try a Star-system. And I will use a 4-star scale, just to make sure that I don't put everything in the 3-star/average category. Stars will fall out something like:
4-stars: Loved it. A book that I will remember, and will recommend to someone.Happy Reading
3-stars: Good book. Average plus. Well written and enjoyable. May have one or two extravagant passages, but not enough for the entire book to be promoted. This is my starting expectation for any book I bring home.
2-stars: OK. Average or below. Had some redeeming qualities, but basically forgettable.
1-star: Didn't like it, or didn't even finish it. Serious flaws or Not my cup of tea.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Remnant Population
Elizabeth Moon
Ofelia is a colonist on another world. She loves spending her time in the garden and doesn't really have much patience for the youth of the world, including her own grown children. When the corporation that runs the colony decides that it is no longer viable (i.e. profitable), they decide to relocate the colonists to another world and try again. But Ofelia is not interested in doing this again. And because of her age, the corporation decides she is not an actual valuable colonist and plans to charge her son an additional baggage transfer fee to bring her along to the new world. Ofelia hides, and stays behind... alone. Moon has created a character with the resilience and stubbornness to survive, the patience to enjoy the solitude, and with just enough curiosity and practicality to thrive. And when Ofelia meets the locals, her role on the planet changes dramatically, whether she feels too old or not. I love the exploration that we are able to do with Ofelia, both external around the village, and internal through her memories and identity. I love the pushing against an ethnocentric worldview, even though is is brutish and obvious. Maybe that is what it takes (a bit of caricature) to get the average reader to see it. I love the evolving picture that we get of the locals, that it doesn't all just come at once. Really a fun exploration of exploring and living and being.
Read
Ofelia is a colonist on another world. She loves spending her time in the garden and doesn't really have much patience for the youth of the world, including her own grown children. When the corporation that runs the colony decides that it is no longer viable (i.e. profitable), they decide to relocate the colonists to another world and try again. But Ofelia is not interested in doing this again. And because of her age, the corporation decides she is not an actual valuable colonist and plans to charge her son an additional baggage transfer fee to bring her along to the new world. Ofelia hides, and stays behind... alone. Moon has created a character with the resilience and stubbornness to survive, the patience to enjoy the solitude, and with just enough curiosity and practicality to thrive. And when Ofelia meets the locals, her role on the planet changes dramatically, whether she feels too old or not. I love the exploration that we are able to do with Ofelia, both external around the village, and internal through her memories and identity. I love the pushing against an ethnocentric worldview, even though is is brutish and obvious. Maybe that is what it takes (a bit of caricature) to get the average reader to see it. I love the evolving picture that we get of the locals, that it doesn't all just come at once. Really a fun exploration of exploring and living and being.
Read
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Dragonfish
Vu Tran
This is a really interesting genre mixup. On the surface, it is a crime thriller, with Oakland cop Robert Ruen getting involved in the search for his missing ex-wife. She has moved to Las Vegas to work in the casinos as a dealer and has suddenly disappeared. We get a little bit of backstory in the telling of how Ruen finds out about the disappearance, and then are jumped in to the Vegas scene, gambling and crime, the glitzy strip and seedy off-strip reality. In many ways a traditional crime detective novel to race through and then leave on the shelf during your next vacation.
But wait, there's more. The detective-thriller is all just a container for the storytelling. Tran is really giving us a story of the immigrant experience, particularly that of southeast Asians coming to the US after the Vietnam war. It is a story of mental illness, trauma, the loss of culture and relationship (and even the ability to communicate) between the 1st and 2nd generation, and the long term tragic effects of violence and lack of place or home. Tran captures the full emotion of every character, and as you might expect, there is not much happy. Very memorable.
Read
This is a really interesting genre mixup. On the surface, it is a crime thriller, with Oakland cop Robert Ruen getting involved in the search for his missing ex-wife. She has moved to Las Vegas to work in the casinos as a dealer and has suddenly disappeared. We get a little bit of backstory in the telling of how Ruen finds out about the disappearance, and then are jumped in to the Vegas scene, gambling and crime, the glitzy strip and seedy off-strip reality. In many ways a traditional crime detective novel to race through and then leave on the shelf during your next vacation.
But wait, there's more. The detective-thriller is all just a container for the storytelling. Tran is really giving us a story of the immigrant experience, particularly that of southeast Asians coming to the US after the Vietnam war. It is a story of mental illness, trauma, the loss of culture and relationship (and even the ability to communicate) between the 1st and 2nd generation, and the long term tragic effects of violence and lack of place or home. Tran captures the full emotion of every character, and as you might expect, there is not much happy. Very memorable.
Read
Monday, March 26, 2018
Obsidian Mirror
Catherine Fisher
Time travel, mystery, fantasy creatures. All the things I like. Jack Wilde is at a posh private school, but is angry and the world since his dad disappeared last year. He will do anything to find him. Oberon Venn lost his wife several years ago and it was his fault. The man with a scarred face had his Obsidian Mirror stolen, and in the process was sent into an exile of sorts. Piers is a man who wants his freedom, Summer a Shee who wants her lover, and Sarah a girl who simply wants the world not to end. Lots of characters, each with their own motivations, some clearly written by Fisher, others intentionally withheld, revealed or guessed at as we traverse this first book in a trilogy. Tying the entire plot together is the mirror, which is not completely understood (hence Jack's dads disappearance), that allows time travel. One thing I love about this is the idea of the replicant. Most time travel storylines avoid at all costs the mixing of timelines. If you "see yourself" the timeline implodes. Here, Fisher has created a scene where traveling back to a time before you left just creates a copy of yourself, a replicant. It raises the question of identity and soul, but she doesn't let that stop her from making replicant creation become somehow central to at least one of her storylines. This is very clearly a trilogy, so the entire world must be worthwhile before getting a recommendation. After only one installment, we have to wait.
Wait
Time travel, mystery, fantasy creatures. All the things I like. Jack Wilde is at a posh private school, but is angry and the world since his dad disappeared last year. He will do anything to find him. Oberon Venn lost his wife several years ago and it was his fault. The man with a scarred face had his Obsidian Mirror stolen, and in the process was sent into an exile of sorts. Piers is a man who wants his freedom, Summer a Shee who wants her lover, and Sarah a girl who simply wants the world not to end. Lots of characters, each with their own motivations, some clearly written by Fisher, others intentionally withheld, revealed or guessed at as we traverse this first book in a trilogy. Tying the entire plot together is the mirror, which is not completely understood (hence Jack's dads disappearance), that allows time travel. One thing I love about this is the idea of the replicant. Most time travel storylines avoid at all costs the mixing of timelines. If you "see yourself" the timeline implodes. Here, Fisher has created a scene where traveling back to a time before you left just creates a copy of yourself, a replicant. It raises the question of identity and soul, but she doesn't let that stop her from making replicant creation become somehow central to at least one of her storylines. This is very clearly a trilogy, so the entire world must be worthwhile before getting a recommendation. After only one installment, we have to wait.
Wait
Sunday, March 18, 2018
23 Minutes
Vivian Vande Velde
Zoe is a teenage girl who has had a rough life. She has lived in the foster system for quite some time, and most recently has had difficulty with medical diagnoses that she doesn't agree with. Zoe has the ability to playback time to 23 minutes ago. She can replay that 23 minutes up to 10 times and since she remembers, she can cause different outcomes. The problem is that most times, the changes she makes result in worse outcomes. This story is really about Zoe trying to save lives. She is playing back the 23 minutes around a bank robbery where people are killed. How do you get help or tell someone your ability (hence the schizophrenic medical diagnosis) without getting committed? This is a well done treatment of time travel and adolescence.
Read
Zoe is a teenage girl who has had a rough life. She has lived in the foster system for quite some time, and most recently has had difficulty with medical diagnoses that she doesn't agree with. Zoe has the ability to playback time to 23 minutes ago. She can replay that 23 minutes up to 10 times and since she remembers, she can cause different outcomes. The problem is that most times, the changes she makes result in worse outcomes. This story is really about Zoe trying to save lives. She is playing back the 23 minutes around a bank robbery where people are killed. How do you get help or tell someone your ability (hence the schizophrenic medical diagnosis) without getting committed? This is a well done treatment of time travel and adolescence.
Read
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Tripwire
A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
Reacher is working in south Florida, trying to earn some money and it is not too long after his departure from the service. When a detective comes looking for him, he plays coy, and when that detective comes up dead, and a couple of goons are also looking for him, Reacher does Reacher. He travels to New York, gets reconnected with an old crush, and then gets mixed up in a loan sharking business that is clearly hurting someone military (or Reacher wouldn't be involved). Pieces of the Reacher are shown that become standard fare later, and the development of the person are definitely worked through.
Read
Lee Child
Reacher is working in south Florida, trying to earn some money and it is not too long after his departure from the service. When a detective comes looking for him, he plays coy, and when that detective comes up dead, and a couple of goons are also looking for him, Reacher does Reacher. He travels to New York, gets reconnected with an old crush, and then gets mixed up in a loan sharking business that is clearly hurting someone military (or Reacher wouldn't be involved). Pieces of the Reacher are shown that become standard fare later, and the development of the person are definitely worked through.
Read
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
The Power
Naomi Alderman
Historical fiction, written from sometime 5,000 years in the future (which means it is a story of what is about to happen in our time). Written as fiction because from the point of view of future humans, the descriptions of what life is like now is so outside the norm of their reality, that a true history would be seen as crazy and false. The story follows a series of women who are on the forefront of an evolutionary change in humanity where women are born with an electrical skein, or a reservoir of electrical static charge. These women use the ability to change the male/female power dynamic to the point that from the future, the mere idea that men could be soldiers, or violent, or powerful, or leaders is unimaginable. I see that one point of this telling is to turn traditional gender roles on their head so dramatically that the reader begins to think about stereotypes and biases in a new way. What I like is that woven into the story about gender is the more important story of power, and empire. We get to explore the human condition, seeking to understand, regardless of gender, the effects of seeking and finding power. And in that way, it is truly frightening and depressing. Alderman does not have a pleasant view of the truth of humanity and we can only hope that she is wrong in her assessment. A necessary read.
Read
Historical fiction, written from sometime 5,000 years in the future (which means it is a story of what is about to happen in our time). Written as fiction because from the point of view of future humans, the descriptions of what life is like now is so outside the norm of their reality, that a true history would be seen as crazy and false. The story follows a series of women who are on the forefront of an evolutionary change in humanity where women are born with an electrical skein, or a reservoir of electrical static charge. These women use the ability to change the male/female power dynamic to the point that from the future, the mere idea that men could be soldiers, or violent, or powerful, or leaders is unimaginable. I see that one point of this telling is to turn traditional gender roles on their head so dramatically that the reader begins to think about stereotypes and biases in a new way. What I like is that woven into the story about gender is the more important story of power, and empire. We get to explore the human condition, seeking to understand, regardless of gender, the effects of seeking and finding power. And in that way, it is truly frightening and depressing. Alderman does not have a pleasant view of the truth of humanity and we can only hope that she is wrong in her assessment. A necessary read.
Read
Monday, March 5, 2018
Running Blind
A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
Reacher once again, out of his own sense of justice, gets in trouble by trying to do the right thing. His favorite restaurant is getting hit up for protection money. So he goes and knocks the protectors around. In the process, gets picked up by the FBI and ends up getting entangled with their psychological profiling division to try to find a killer. He is tangled because apparently he fits the profile of the killer. So instead, he does his own thing and works with his agent babysitter/partner to solve the crime. The crime (on the surface) being to kill the women in the service who came forward with harassment claims and won. A bit of hokum with the hypnotism (but I will chalk that up to early Lee Child before he figured it all out). I also think the struggle of Reacher is interesting as he is really searching for whether he can be a normal guy (homeowner, girlfriend, job, etc.)
Read
Lee Child
Reacher once again, out of his own sense of justice, gets in trouble by trying to do the right thing. His favorite restaurant is getting hit up for protection money. So he goes and knocks the protectors around. In the process, gets picked up by the FBI and ends up getting entangled with their psychological profiling division to try to find a killer. He is tangled because apparently he fits the profile of the killer. So instead, he does his own thing and works with his agent babysitter/partner to solve the crime. The crime (on the surface) being to kill the women in the service who came forward with harassment claims and won. A bit of hokum with the hypnotism (but I will chalk that up to early Lee Child before he figured it all out). I also think the struggle of Reacher is interesting as he is really searching for whether he can be a normal guy (homeowner, girlfriend, job, etc.)
Read
Friday, March 2, 2018
Echo Burning
A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
Reacher is picked up by a woman who needs help in southwest Texas. He is convinced that she is a victim of abuse, and the offending husband is getting out of jail next week, having served his IRS tax evasion time. Overlay this with the south Texas, white v. mexican cultural conflict, and throw in a couple of assassins. Perfect. As always, fun to read, not everything is as it seems (which is exactly what you expect), and Reacher comes out none the worse. This is maybe a bit more interesting as an early book in the series in that it is the first book that Reacher has truly embraced his vagrancy.
Read
Lee Child
Reacher is picked up by a woman who needs help in southwest Texas. He is convinced that she is a victim of abuse, and the offending husband is getting out of jail next week, having served his IRS tax evasion time. Overlay this with the south Texas, white v. mexican cultural conflict, and throw in a couple of assassins. Perfect. As always, fun to read, not everything is as it seems (which is exactly what you expect), and Reacher comes out none the worse. This is maybe a bit more interesting as an early book in the series in that it is the first book that Reacher has truly embraced his vagrancy.
Read
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Thunderhead
Neal Shusterman
Book 2 in Arc of a Scythe trilogy
Picking up where Scythe left off, the Scythedom is polarized between the old and new guard. The old guard promotes the solemnity of the job of the Scythe while the new guard caters to the sociopathic tendencies of those who simply enjoy killing. We follow new Scythes Rowan and Citra (now Lucifer and Anastasia) as they play out their roles in the post massacre politics that ended book 1. Interstitial to the "main story" (but actually the driving plot) is the influence and thought process of Thunderhead, the AI that runs everything on earth (except the Scythes). On the surface, this is a traditional and standard fantasy/sci-fi treatment of a possible future that has yet to be designated dystopian/utopian. But the most interesting piece of this writing is the development of Thunderhead. In book 1, the AI was sentient, and nearly omnipotent. Here we see that the AI is really just a teenager. The Thunderhead is nearly omnipotent, but considers the things it does not know as practically irrelevant. So basically it is omnipotent, and therefore basically a god (very much the attitude of most teenagers). The Thunderhead is also discovering what it knows about itself, as separate from what it was taught by its parents, is beginning to push boundaries and assert its own personality, which we see as benevolent, but also petulant at times. I love this idea of a long story arc that allows us to see the aging and character development process for an AI. We talk about AI learning, but we don't really talking about AI personality development. Here we see that both are necessarily interconnected. If only book 3 were available now.
Read
Book 2 in Arc of a Scythe trilogy
Picking up where Scythe left off, the Scythedom is polarized between the old and new guard. The old guard promotes the solemnity of the job of the Scythe while the new guard caters to the sociopathic tendencies of those who simply enjoy killing. We follow new Scythes Rowan and Citra (now Lucifer and Anastasia) as they play out their roles in the post massacre politics that ended book 1. Interstitial to the "main story" (but actually the driving plot) is the influence and thought process of Thunderhead, the AI that runs everything on earth (except the Scythes). On the surface, this is a traditional and standard fantasy/sci-fi treatment of a possible future that has yet to be designated dystopian/utopian. But the most interesting piece of this writing is the development of Thunderhead. In book 1, the AI was sentient, and nearly omnipotent. Here we see that the AI is really just a teenager. The Thunderhead is nearly omnipotent, but considers the things it does not know as practically irrelevant. So basically it is omnipotent, and therefore basically a god (very much the attitude of most teenagers). The Thunderhead is also discovering what it knows about itself, as separate from what it was taught by its parents, is beginning to push boundaries and assert its own personality, which we see as benevolent, but also petulant at times. I love this idea of a long story arc that allows us to see the aging and character development process for an AI. We talk about AI learning, but we don't really talking about AI personality development. Here we see that both are necessarily interconnected. If only book 3 were available now.
Read
Sunday, February 25, 2018
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived
Adam Rutherford
History of genetics, what we know, how we know it, and what it will tell us soon. Most books in this 'popular science' genre are simultaneously fascinating and so-dry-they-are-a-chore-to-finish, and this book is exactly that. Get it, keep it handy, and read a bit now and then. Don't try to power through, and don't get frustrated that you can't finish it. Even in short spurts, I learned something every time I picked it up. Some of the most interesting things that stick with me are how we can use genetic comparisons to tell us something about the history of migration and what genetic testing does/does not tell us about race.
Read (slowly)
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Jesus and the Disinherited
Howard Thurman
Written immediately post WWII as a treatise on what it means to be a follower of Jesus at the same time you are a member of an oppressed class. Thurman talks about fear and deception as tools that the oppressed utilize to cope with their reality, or as tools to 'get over' on the oppressor. The argument here is that these tools are precisely what Jesus was teaching against and offering alternate ways to cope and 'get over'. Thurman takes the additional step, arguing that in fact, utilizing these will always turn back on the user, in effect ceding your power to the oppressor instead of giving you power over them. In his opening section, and supported thereafter, Thurman sets an important foundation for the argument by showing how important it is to read Jesus life and teaching first knowing the context from which he lived and taught. The book was a foundational work for radically nonviolent social justice movements that followed over the next several decades, and is unsurprisingly still relevant and challenging today.
Read
Written immediately post WWII as a treatise on what it means to be a follower of Jesus at the same time you are a member of an oppressed class. Thurman talks about fear and deception as tools that the oppressed utilize to cope with their reality, or as tools to 'get over' on the oppressor. The argument here is that these tools are precisely what Jesus was teaching against and offering alternate ways to cope and 'get over'. Thurman takes the additional step, arguing that in fact, utilizing these will always turn back on the user, in effect ceding your power to the oppressor instead of giving you power over them. In his opening section, and supported thereafter, Thurman sets an important foundation for the argument by showing how important it is to read Jesus life and teaching first knowing the context from which he lived and taught. The book was a foundational work for radically nonviolent social justice movements that followed over the next several decades, and is unsurprisingly still relevant and challenging today.
Read
Saturday, February 3, 2018
The Dead Lands
Benjamin Percy
A very clever dystopian future fiction that recreates the Oregon trail and the journey of Lewis and Clark. Earth is in a post global nuclear war scenario, where the nuclear bombs were dropped not out of aggression, but in an attempt to burn out an impossibly virulent flu that decimated humanity. The opening setting is St Louis. A few tens of thousands of people live in St. Louis, and they have built a serious wall around the city to keep out the monsters and goblins, who are in reality mutagenic results of the massive radiation dosage on earth. Most people have cancer, or will have cancer and water is the premium limiting resource in the desert of St. Louis. Due to a series of circumstances, the local museum curator (Lewis) and low level police deputy (Clark) escape the wall and begin a journey to the west coast and Oregon. I love the occasional breadcrumb of historical trivia overlapping this dystopian future. I love the world created... well, the world created is quite scary, but I love the detail and imagination of a post flu epidemic/nuclear catastrophe North America. This is quite fun and engaging throughout.
Read
A very clever dystopian future fiction that recreates the Oregon trail and the journey of Lewis and Clark. Earth is in a post global nuclear war scenario, where the nuclear bombs were dropped not out of aggression, but in an attempt to burn out an impossibly virulent flu that decimated humanity. The opening setting is St Louis. A few tens of thousands of people live in St. Louis, and they have built a serious wall around the city to keep out the monsters and goblins, who are in reality mutagenic results of the massive radiation dosage on earth. Most people have cancer, or will have cancer and water is the premium limiting resource in the desert of St. Louis. Due to a series of circumstances, the local museum curator (Lewis) and low level police deputy (Clark) escape the wall and begin a journey to the west coast and Oregon. I love the occasional breadcrumb of historical trivia overlapping this dystopian future. I love the world created... well, the world created is quite scary, but I love the detail and imagination of a post flu epidemic/nuclear catastrophe North America. This is quite fun and engaging throughout.
Read
Saturday, January 20, 2018
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
Stephen King
In this installment, our three gunslingers are making their way along the beam in their journey to get to the Tower. Along they way, they pick up Jake again (who was lost in book 1), and encounter more dying technology from the previous world, before it moved on. I really like the mixture of western and sci-fi that is developing here. This is really a significant exploration and quest novel, a dusty-dirty us-vs-them save-the-town hero story, and simultaneously a commentary on technology, an eerie look at what a technological world gasping for life could look like. My sense is that a full review will require a full reading of the entire series.
Saturday, January 6, 2018
The Prey of Gods
Nicky Drayden
In many ways, this is the South African version of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Only better... for me, at least. In addition to magical realism, with gods and demigods breaking into modern society, Drayden adds a cyberpunk flavor and puts it all together in a way that makes me look closely at South African culture. Loved this. The story follows a series of characters that, obviously, will all connect in the end. We have a couple of teens, a politician, a young township girl, a pop-diva, a nail-salon worker. But these characters are also drag queens, drug users, hackers, demigods and demons and afflicted with MS. Add in the AI helper bots ("Alphies"), who have their own perspective/observations on the story and this really gets fun. We get to think about purpose, friendship, the difference between fear, anger, love, praise and belief, the afterlife and integrity. Drayden's writing is easy and light, resulting in an almost trivial feel to the book. Is this really making me think about all these things? Definitely should be on your read list.
Read
In many ways, this is the South African version of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Only better... for me, at least. In addition to magical realism, with gods and demigods breaking into modern society, Drayden adds a cyberpunk flavor and puts it all together in a way that makes me look closely at South African culture. Loved this. The story follows a series of characters that, obviously, will all connect in the end. We have a couple of teens, a politician, a young township girl, a pop-diva, a nail-salon worker. But these characters are also drag queens, drug users, hackers, demigods and demons and afflicted with MS. Add in the AI helper bots ("Alphies"), who have their own perspective/observations on the story and this really gets fun. We get to think about purpose, friendship, the difference between fear, anger, love, praise and belief, the afterlife and integrity. Drayden's writing is easy and light, resulting in an almost trivial feel to the book. Is this really making me think about all these things? Definitely should be on your read list.
Read
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