Joseph's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:08:24 -0700 60 Joseph's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Angel with the Sword (Merovingen Nights #0)]]> 9665406 302 C.J. Cherryh Joseph 0 currently-reading 4.17 1985 Angel with the Sword (Merovingen Nights #0)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hunter of Worlds (Hanan Rebellion #2; Alliance-Union Universe)]]> 1598846
Aiela was a world-survey officer who found himself abducted to serve the iduve clanship Ashanome. Forcibly mind-linked with two other humans, life became for him wholly intended for dedication to the service of his captors.

But events involving a human world that had become prey to the Ashanome were to bring out contradictions and confrontations that make the story of this man and his captor-master, the Hunter of Worlds, a truly powerful science fiction novel.]]> C.J. Cherryh 0886772176 Joseph 4 3.70 1977 Hunter of Worlds (Hanan Rebellion #2; Alliance-Union Universe)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Brothers of Earth (Hanan Rebellion #1)]]> 4379263 254 C.J. Cherryh 0879974702 Joseph 4
So the story begins in the final moments of a space battle that may be the final moments of an interstellar war that has been waged for over two thousand years between two human factions -- the Alliance (the only quasi-explicit connection to the larger Alliance-Union setting, as far as I noticed) and the Hanan (about whom we learn practically nothing). The two contending ships destroy each other, leaving just one survivor, one Kurt Morgan, in an escape capsule. Fortunately, he's able to land on an inhabited planet in the system, home to the almost-but-not-quite-human race the nemet. Kurt is rescuted by one of the nemet, Kta by name, and taken back Kta's city, Nephane, which is, in fact, currently ruled by a human woman, one Djan, although matters are complicated because she's a refugee from the other (Hanan) side of the war.

(Also, while Djan has a few high tech weapons at her disposal, the nemet and the world as a whole are operating at a much lower tech level, something like bronze age/iron age Mediterranean, complete with triremes and other galleys of war. And there are a few other humans on the world, but they're tribal savages descended from generations-past crashed ship crews, and one of Kurt's challenges will be trying to convince the nemeth that he's not part of that particular group of humans.)

And, this being a Cherryh novel, much of the conflict and story will be driven by Kurt trying to fit his square self into the round hole of nemet society, causing much stress to himself and to Kta in the process; and while there will be fights aplenty, the conversations will be just as deadly, if not moreso.]]> 3.39 1976 Brothers of Earth (Hanan Rebellion #1)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves:
review:
Another very early Cherryh -- I believe this was only her second novel. It's ostensibly another Alliance-Union novel, but it's set so far down the timeline (and who knows whether the timeline even existed when she was writing it) that it doesn't really matter; it's effectively a standalone.

So the story begins in the final moments of a space battle that may be the final moments of an interstellar war that has been waged for over two thousand years between two human factions -- the Alliance (the only quasi-explicit connection to the larger Alliance-Union setting, as far as I noticed) and the Hanan (about whom we learn practically nothing). The two contending ships destroy each other, leaving just one survivor, one Kurt Morgan, in an escape capsule. Fortunately, he's able to land on an inhabited planet in the system, home to the almost-but-not-quite-human race the nemet. Kurt is rescuted by one of the nemet, Kta by name, and taken back Kta's city, Nephane, which is, in fact, currently ruled by a human woman, one Djan, although matters are complicated because she's a refugee from the other (Hanan) side of the war.

(Also, while Djan has a few high tech weapons at her disposal, the nemet and the world as a whole are operating at a much lower tech level, something like bronze age/iron age Mediterranean, complete with triremes and other galleys of war. And there are a few other humans on the world, but they're tribal savages descended from generations-past crashed ship crews, and one of Kurt's challenges will be trying to convince the nemeth that he's not part of that particular group of humans.)

And, this being a Cherryh novel, much of the conflict and story will be driven by Kurt trying to fit his square self into the round hole of nemet society, causing much stress to himself and to Kta in the process; and while there will be fights aplenty, the conversations will be just as deadly, if not moreso.
]]> <![CDATA[Alternate Realities (Alliance-Union Universe)]]> 9853937 628 C.J. Cherryh 1101495618 Joseph 4 direct connection between any of the individual books other than their being set in Cherryh's Union/Alliance universe, and all being slightly ... weird or experimental to one degree or another. In order:

Port Eternity -- a 1982 novel. Interestingly, it's written in first person -- this might be the only time Cherryh's written an entire first-person novel? although she's used it in some of her shorter fiction. The narrator is Elaine, one of the crew of the ship Maid of Astolet, owned by the unthinkably rich (and perhaps somewhat horrible) Dela Kirn. Elaine and the rest of the crew (Lancelot, Percivale, Gawain, Modred, Lynette and Vivian) are not "born men" -- they're tank-grown and tape-trained; apparently, they're azi (Cherryh's term for the tank-grown people Union uses as, well, slave labor probably isn't the wrong term, although the term azi itself wouldn't appear in her books for a few more years (EDIT: I was wrong, wrong, wrongity wrong: The term azi appears in Serpent's Reach, which had come out a few years prior)) and, as revealed by their names, they're at least loosely modeled on the Arthurian characters of legend, although they're mostly unaware of this fact -- Dela Kirn being rich enough that she can indulge her whims to make an impractically opulent spaceship and crew it with people artificially made and modeled after old legends.

And for the most part, the crew has been content (because they're made to be that way, and because it's constantly being reinforced by their tape learning).

But then, a jump drive malfunction leaves Dela and Griffin (her current boy-toy) and the crew trapped in hyperspace (an environment very much not conducive to human minds) and moored to a ... station? ... that is old, studded with other derelict ships of unfamiliar design, and clearly not of human make, and something starts tapping on the hull ...

This is one of the very few Cherryh books from that era that I'd never read before -- I must not have known about it back in the day, although at some point (probably 35 years ago, plus or minus) I did pick up a copy which still sits unread on my shelf. And now I regret not reading it sooner -- it's not one of her major works, but even minor Cherryh is worth the time.

Voyager in Night -- a 1984 novel. This one I did read back in the day. It might have been the first new Cherryh novel to come out after I had started reading her work (in my case, beginning with Downbelow Station, Merchanter's Luck and The Pride of Chanur), so I'm sure I grabbed it off of the bookstore shelf.

This one is very definitely Union-Alliance set because the opening section includes snippets of a timeline that ends with the Company Wars which concluded in Downbelow Station. Part of that first section is from the point of view of three humans (Rafe, his sister Jillan, and her husband Paul), crew of the Lindy an insystem miner working on the construction of Endeavor Station; the rest of that first section is from the point of view of <>, the commander(?) of a ship(?) most definitely not built by humans that had been exploring the galaxy for a very long time, and which briefly jumps into Endeavor's system, engenders a great deal of panic, and inadvertently drags Lindy along with it when it jumps back out.

At which point (minor spoilers) <> notices its stowaway and its crew, two of whom are beyond repair, but it still manages to "record" all three of them at a level of detail (down to particle state and spin) that allows it to recreate them as simulations on the ship, although it takes them (and the one who did survive the incident, barely; and the recording process is not pleasant) a while to suss out exactly what their situation is; and over the millennia of its voyaging, the ship and its inhabitants (not just <> <>self, but also >, <^>, ((((())))) and various other largely incomprehensible entities) have grown altogether strange and factional, and now these new arrivals (and such other copies as may be created from those templates) are drawn into the inter-ship politics as they try to figure out what in the hell has actually happened to them.

This one has some similarities with Port Eternity, mostly in the thematic sense of "space is weird and there are Things out there", but it's a much more ... experimental book, in terms of its narrative, and it's always been a dark horse favorite of mine.

Wave Without a Shore -- a 1981 novel. The world Freedom was colonized some time ago but due to an accident was left without a station and has existed mostly at a relatively low tech level and with minimal contact with the wider universe. And its inhabitants are, for the most part, insufferable. The cities and continents are named things like Kierkegard and Sartre and Camus, which should tell you what you need to know about the locals.

Most of the book is built on the relation between one Herrin Law (student and sculptor) and his friend Walden Jenks (also a student, at least at first, and son of the planetary ruler, at least at first), who meet and enter into a relationship of prickly admiration and guarded mutual respect (to the extent that either of them can respect any other human being) that results in Herrin being recruited to make a sculpture of Walden that will be a thing for the ages. But once you've made your masterpiece, maybe the subject of said masterpiece doesn't want you going off and making another masterpiece?

Lots of thoughts about obsession and the relationship between art and politics, and what we see and what we choose not to see. Again, not major Cherryh, but doing some interesting things.]]> 4.01 2000 Alternate Realities (Alliance-Union Universe)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves:
review:
Another omnibus collection of C.J. Cherryh novels, this time from the early 1980s. This time, there's no direct connection between any of the individual books other than their being set in Cherryh's Union/Alliance universe, and all being slightly ... weird or experimental to one degree or another. In order:

Port Eternity -- a 1982 novel. Interestingly, it's written in first person -- this might be the only time Cherryh's written an entire first-person novel? although she's used it in some of her shorter fiction. The narrator is Elaine, one of the crew of the ship Maid of Astolet, owned by the unthinkably rich (and perhaps somewhat horrible) Dela Kirn. Elaine and the rest of the crew (Lancelot, Percivale, Gawain, Modred, Lynette and Vivian) are not "born men" -- they're tank-grown and tape-trained; apparently, they're azi (Cherryh's term for the tank-grown people Union uses as, well, slave labor probably isn't the wrong term, although the term azi itself wouldn't appear in her books for a few more years (EDIT: I was wrong, wrong, wrongity wrong: The term azi appears in Serpent's Reach, which had come out a few years prior)) and, as revealed by their names, they're at least loosely modeled on the Arthurian characters of legend, although they're mostly unaware of this fact -- Dela Kirn being rich enough that she can indulge her whims to make an impractically opulent spaceship and crew it with people artificially made and modeled after old legends.

And for the most part, the crew has been content (because they're made to be that way, and because it's constantly being reinforced by their tape learning).

But then, a jump drive malfunction leaves Dela and Griffin (her current boy-toy) and the crew trapped in hyperspace (an environment very much not conducive to human minds) and moored to a ... station? ... that is old, studded with other derelict ships of unfamiliar design, and clearly not of human make, and something starts tapping on the hull ...

This is one of the very few Cherryh books from that era that I'd never read before -- I must not have known about it back in the day, although at some point (probably 35 years ago, plus or minus) I did pick up a copy which still sits unread on my shelf. And now I regret not reading it sooner -- it's not one of her major works, but even minor Cherryh is worth the time.

Voyager in Night -- a 1984 novel. This one I did read back in the day. It might have been the first new Cherryh novel to come out after I had started reading her work (in my case, beginning with Downbelow Station, Merchanter's Luck and The Pride of Chanur), so I'm sure I grabbed it off of the bookstore shelf.

This one is very definitely Union-Alliance set because the opening section includes snippets of a timeline that ends with the Company Wars which concluded in Downbelow Station. Part of that first section is from the point of view of three humans (Rafe, his sister Jillan, and her husband Paul), crew of the Lindy an insystem miner working on the construction of Endeavor Station; the rest of that first section is from the point of view of <>, the commander(?) of a ship(?) most definitely not built by humans that had been exploring the galaxy for a very long time, and which briefly jumps into Endeavor's system, engenders a great deal of panic, and inadvertently drags Lindy along with it when it jumps back out.

At which point (minor spoilers) <> notices its stowaway and its crew, two of whom are beyond repair, but it still manages to "record" all three of them at a level of detail (down to particle state and spin) that allows it to recreate them as simulations on the ship, although it takes them (and the one who did survive the incident, barely; and the recording process is not pleasant) a while to suss out exactly what their situation is; and over the millennia of its voyaging, the ship and its inhabitants (not just <> <>self, but also >, <^>, ((((())))) and various other largely incomprehensible entities) have grown altogether strange and factional, and now these new arrivals (and such other copies as may be created from those templates) are drawn into the inter-ship politics as they try to figure out what in the hell has actually happened to them.

This one has some similarities with Port Eternity, mostly in the thematic sense of "space is weird and there are Things out there", but it's a much more ... experimental book, in terms of its narrative, and it's always been a dark horse favorite of mine.

Wave Without a Shore -- a 1981 novel. The world Freedom was colonized some time ago but due to an accident was left without a station and has existed mostly at a relatively low tech level and with minimal contact with the wider universe. And its inhabitants are, for the most part, insufferable. The cities and continents are named things like Kierkegard and Sartre and Camus, which should tell you what you need to know about the locals.

Most of the book is built on the relation between one Herrin Law (student and sculptor) and his friend Walden Jenks (also a student, at least at first, and son of the planetary ruler, at least at first), who meet and enter into a relationship of prickly admiration and guarded mutual respect (to the extent that either of them can respect any other human being) that results in Herrin being recruited to make a sculpture of Walden that will be a thing for the ages. But once you've made your masterpiece, maybe the subject of said masterpiece doesn't want you going off and making another masterpiece?

Lots of thoughts about obsession and the relationship between art and politics, and what we see and what we choose not to see. Again, not major Cherryh, but doing some interesting things.
]]> Hestia 737470 160 C.J. Cherryh 0886772087 Joseph 4 couldn't be included.

Sam Merritt is part of a team that has come, on the starship Adam Jones to Hestia, a mostly low tech (like, they use steamboats) and struggling colony world, to determine if the colony can be made viable or if they should just march all of the colonists onto the ship and send them elsewhere. (A course of action that the colonists strenuously oppose.)

Not entirely -- well, not really at all -- of his own volition, Merritt is "persuaded" to stay behind when the Adam Jones departs so that he can go upriver and supervise the design and construction of a dam that will, they hope, tame the river and make the colony a going concern.

And that's when the real story begins. Y'see, there are rumors of Outsiders dwelling off in the wilderness and, sure enough, it doesn't take long for Merritt to meet a couple of them off in the wilderness and find himself entangled with one in particular, one Sazhje, a female of the species. (The species being vaguely feline looking furred humanoids, at least if the cover painting is to be believed.) And the Outsiders are decidedly displeased with the idea of a dam that will flood one of their valleys, and the humans are decidedly displeased with Merritt's conflicted loyalties and attempts to bridge the gap ...

And it's only just now, 40 years after I first read it, that I realize that this book is essentially an American frontier story transplanted to an alien planet.

]]> 3.51 1979 Hestia
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves:
review:
Another relatively early (1979) Cherryh novel that's not included in the Alliance-Union universe, but there's not really anything in the book to say that it couldn't be included.

Sam Merritt is part of a team that has come, on the starship Adam Jones to Hestia, a mostly low tech (like, they use steamboats) and struggling colony world, to determine if the colony can be made viable or if they should just march all of the colonists onto the ship and send them elsewhere. (A course of action that the colonists strenuously oppose.)

Not entirely -- well, not really at all -- of his own volition, Merritt is "persuaded" to stay behind when the Adam Jones departs so that he can go upriver and supervise the design and construction of a dam that will, they hope, tame the river and make the colony a going concern.

And that's when the real story begins. Y'see, there are rumors of Outsiders dwelling off in the wilderness and, sure enough, it doesn't take long for Merritt to meet a couple of them off in the wilderness and find himself entangled with one in particular, one Sazhje, a female of the species. (The species being vaguely feline looking furred humanoids, at least if the cover painting is to be believed.) And the Outsiders are decidedly displeased with the idea of a dam that will flood one of their valleys, and the humans are decidedly displeased with Merritt's conflicted loyalties and attempts to bridge the gap ...

And it's only just now, 40 years after I first read it, that I realize that this book is essentially an American frontier story transplanted to an alien planet.


]]> <![CDATA[The Deep Beyond: Cuckoo's Egg / Serpent's Reach (Alliance-Union Universe)]]> 34189785 This omnibus volume combines two Alliance-Union novels: Hugo Award nominee Cuckoo’s Egg and Locus Best Novel Award nominee Serpent’s Reach.

In Cuckoo’s Egg: ĚýThey named him Thorn. They told him he was of their people, although he was ugly in their eyes, strange, sleek-skinned instead of furred, clawless, different. Yet he was of their power class: judge-warriors, the elite, the defenders. Thorn knew his difference was important—but not important enough to prevent murderous conspiracies against him, his protector, his caste, and perhaps against the peace of the world. But when Thorn finally learned what his true role in life was to be, that on him might hang the future of two worlds, then he had to stand alone to justify his very existence.

In Serpent’s Reach:Ěý Raen a Sul Meth-maren was very young when the machinations of her distant kin erupted into a bloodbath. Years passed and Raen bided her time. Then, on a voyage to the outermost planet of the Reach, Raen encountered Betas with an intriguing tale to tell, an Azi unlike any other, and a Blue Warrior who remembered her contribution to the Hive mind. And she knew her time had comeâ€�.]]> 600 C.J. Cherryh 1101666447 Joseph 4
First, Cuckoo's Egg from 1985 -- this would have been another one that I bought when it first came out because I was already a big fan of Cherryh's, although for some reason I didn't read it as frequently as some of the others. (Also, at the time I wasn't sure if it actually was an Alliance-Union book, or if it was just a standalone SF novel; and despite its inclusion in this omnibus, I'm still not actually sure.)

The POV at first is one Duun, whose species Shonun and whose avocation is Hatani. Hatani are sort of wandering independent judges -- if you have a problem or a conflict, you can ask a Hatani and they'll resolve it for you; but be very sure before you ask, because (if they agree it's a Hatani matter), once asked they will resolve it for you, and you may not like their solution ... Duun has actually been mostly retired, but now he's engaged to raise an infant (whom he names Thorn); a weird, unsightly creature, pink-skinned, furless, flat-faced, with no decent teeth or claws to speak of. And raise him he does, and as Thorn grows older, we start to get scenes from his POV as well as he tries to live up to the very high expectations of his foster-father and also to figure out why he's so different from everybody else. [spoilers removed]

Second, Serpent's Reach from 1980. This one explicitly is Alliance-Union, but it's set a ways down the timeline, in a region (the Hydri Reach, also known as the Serpent's Reach) that has been entirely sealed off by the Alliance because one of the stars (well, a planet orbiting the star, but you know what I mean) is home to the Majat, a hive-minded (and therefore effectively immortal) race of giant insectoids who are weird. And who did establish some kind of relationship with the Kontrins (the human family who led the original settlement of the Reach) and who produce a number of uniquely useful and irreplaceable items (including some kind of substance that lets humans -- well, lets rich, important humans live more or less indefinitely. And now, 700 years after that initial contact & settlement, the Kontrins are divided into a number of families constantly scheming and plotting against each other, as shown in the opening bit when Raen a Suel hant Meth-Marin (henceforth just Raen) sees her entire family wiped out, then flees to a Majat hive for refuge and revenge and when that all goes tits-up, another 20 years pass and then the real story begins -- the status quo in the Reach having been effectively unsustainable for quite some time and Raen having a vested interest in finding the fracture points and knowing how to push them.

This is actually a pretty great book that I think got a bit overshadowed by coming out very shortly before Downbelow Station, the Cherryh book that won all the big SF awards. It's also Cherryh's first real deep dive into azi, the tank-grown, tape-trained, well, "slaves" is probably not the wrong word to describe them, several of whom are "recruited" (i.e. purchased) by Raen to aid her in her plans.

Again, I don't think I'd give this to someone as their first Cherryh book, but if you've read a few and want to dive deeper, you could do much worse.]]> 4.43 2005 The Deep Beyond: Cuckoo's Egg / Serpent's Reach (Alliance-Union Universe)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:
And still another collection of 1980s Cherryh novels set in the Alliance-Union universe. This time, two somewhat longer books:

First, Cuckoo's Egg from 1985 -- this would have been another one that I bought when it first came out because I was already a big fan of Cherryh's, although for some reason I didn't read it as frequently as some of the others. (Also, at the time I wasn't sure if it actually was an Alliance-Union book, or if it was just a standalone SF novel; and despite its inclusion in this omnibus, I'm still not actually sure.)

The POV at first is one Duun, whose species Shonun and whose avocation is Hatani. Hatani are sort of wandering independent judges -- if you have a problem or a conflict, you can ask a Hatani and they'll resolve it for you; but be very sure before you ask, because (if they agree it's a Hatani matter), once asked they will resolve it for you, and you may not like their solution ... Duun has actually been mostly retired, but now he's engaged to raise an infant (whom he names Thorn); a weird, unsightly creature, pink-skinned, furless, flat-faced, with no decent teeth or claws to speak of. And raise him he does, and as Thorn grows older, we start to get scenes from his POV as well as he tries to live up to the very high expectations of his foster-father and also to figure out why he's so different from everybody else. [spoilers removed]

Second, Serpent's Reach from 1980. This one explicitly is Alliance-Union, but it's set a ways down the timeline, in a region (the Hydri Reach, also known as the Serpent's Reach) that has been entirely sealed off by the Alliance because one of the stars (well, a planet orbiting the star, but you know what I mean) is home to the Majat, a hive-minded (and therefore effectively immortal) race of giant insectoids who are weird. And who did establish some kind of relationship with the Kontrins (the human family who led the original settlement of the Reach) and who produce a number of uniquely useful and irreplaceable items (including some kind of substance that lets humans -- well, lets rich, important humans live more or less indefinitely. And now, 700 years after that initial contact & settlement, the Kontrins are divided into a number of families constantly scheming and plotting against each other, as shown in the opening bit when Raen a Suel hant Meth-Marin (henceforth just Raen) sees her entire family wiped out, then flees to a Majat hive for refuge and revenge and when that all goes tits-up, another 20 years pass and then the real story begins -- the status quo in the Reach having been effectively unsustainable for quite some time and Raen having a vested interest in finding the fracture points and knowing how to push them.

This is actually a pretty great book that I think got a bit overshadowed by coming out very shortly before Downbelow Station, the Cherryh book that won all the big SF awards. It's also Cherryh's first real deep dive into azi, the tank-grown, tape-trained, well, "slaves" is probably not the wrong word to describe them, several of whom are "recruited" (i.e. purchased) by Raen to aid her in her plans.

Again, I don't think I'd give this to someone as their first Cherryh book, but if you've read a few and want to dive deeper, you could do much worse.
]]> <![CDATA[The Faded Sun Trilogy (The Faded Sun #1-3)]]> 26846266 784 C.J. Cherryh 1101665424 Joseph 4
The first book, Kesrith, opens on the world of, well, Kesrith, in the aftermath of what had been a devastating 40 year long interstellar war between, on one side, humans, and on the other side the regul (kind of walking mercantilist slugs with eidetic memories; and as they age into adulthood, their legs atrophy to the point where they're effectively immobile if they're not riding in mechanized sleds); but all of the actual fighting was being done by the mri, a race of mostly humanoid-looking mercenaries who had been employed by the regul for the past few thousand years.

And we never get a lot of detail about the war, but at some point the mri took Haven, the Alliance capital, and then the humans took it back, and this is still a sore spot for many of the humans, some of whom are Haveners and some of whom might have merely fought there.

But at this point, as mentioned, the war is basically over -- the humans defeated the regul/mri alliance (with deleterious consequences for the mri in particular, given that they were the ones who did all of the actual fighting) and have now come to take control of the rather unpleasant and inhospitable world of Kesrith, which is, in fact, the mri's current homeworld.

And while there are quite a few POV characters, at least one from each of the three races, the important ones are a pair of young mri, Niun of the Kel (the warrior caste) and Melein of the Sen (sort of a priestess caste); and Sten Duncan, a young human who during the war had served as sort of a commando but now is an aide to the incoming human planetary governor. And yes, their paths will eventually cross, with both good and bad consequences; and yes, the regul are doing their best to gum things up (they're terrified that the humans will hire the mri, even though but a handful of mri remain in the entirety of known space -- while the mri did the actual fighting, the regul did all of the "strategizing", and they made quite the botch of it), and by the end, unforgivable acts will have been committed and Duncan, Niun and Melein will have to try to recon with what has happened.

Which leads to the second book, Shon'jir, in which Niun and Melein (and Sten, who has been sent with them and who is trying to become mri in thought and deed, at least) set out on a journey retracing the mri's long, long wanderings that led them ultimately to Kesrith (and why are all of the worlds in the mri's backtrail dead?), and then to Kutath, the third book, where Niun and Melein and Duncan have, in fact, found the long-lost mri homeworld and learned that they are not, in fact, the only mri left in existence; but humans and regul have followed their backtrail as well and the regul are determined that this time the mri "problem" will be solved for once and for all (and if bad things happen to their human "allies", well, gosh, isn't that a shame?).

And although this is, as mentioned, early Cherryh, it already has the elements that make her so great -- multiple, well-imagined cultures, both human and alien, rubbing uncomfortably together, and deeply-flawed or damaged characters trying to adapt to their new circumstances.]]> 4.47 1978 The Faded Sun Trilogy (The Faded Sun #1-3)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves:
review:
An omnibus collecting a relatively early (late 70s) trilogy by Cherryh. This is part of her Union/Alliance universe, but it predates most of the actual Union/Alliance books and is set very, very far down the timeline; but the main human government is referred to as Alliance, so ...

The first book, Kesrith, opens on the world of, well, Kesrith, in the aftermath of what had been a devastating 40 year long interstellar war between, on one side, humans, and on the other side the regul (kind of walking mercantilist slugs with eidetic memories; and as they age into adulthood, their legs atrophy to the point where they're effectively immobile if they're not riding in mechanized sleds); but all of the actual fighting was being done by the mri, a race of mostly humanoid-looking mercenaries who had been employed by the regul for the past few thousand years.

And we never get a lot of detail about the war, but at some point the mri took Haven, the Alliance capital, and then the humans took it back, and this is still a sore spot for many of the humans, some of whom are Haveners and some of whom might have merely fought there.

But at this point, as mentioned, the war is basically over -- the humans defeated the regul/mri alliance (with deleterious consequences for the mri in particular, given that they were the ones who did all of the actual fighting) and have now come to take control of the rather unpleasant and inhospitable world of Kesrith, which is, in fact, the mri's current homeworld.

And while there are quite a few POV characters, at least one from each of the three races, the important ones are a pair of young mri, Niun of the Kel (the warrior caste) and Melein of the Sen (sort of a priestess caste); and Sten Duncan, a young human who during the war had served as sort of a commando but now is an aide to the incoming human planetary governor. And yes, their paths will eventually cross, with both good and bad consequences; and yes, the regul are doing their best to gum things up (they're terrified that the humans will hire the mri, even though but a handful of mri remain in the entirety of known space -- while the mri did the actual fighting, the regul did all of the "strategizing", and they made quite the botch of it), and by the end, unforgivable acts will have been committed and Duncan, Niun and Melein will have to try to recon with what has happened.

Which leads to the second book, Shon'jir, in which Niun and Melein (and Sten, who has been sent with them and who is trying to become mri in thought and deed, at least) set out on a journey retracing the mri's long, long wanderings that led them ultimately to Kesrith (and why are all of the worlds in the mri's backtrail dead?), and then to Kutath, the third book, where Niun and Melein and Duncan have, in fact, found the long-lost mri homeworld and learned that they are not, in fact, the only mri left in existence; but humans and regul have followed their backtrail as well and the regul are determined that this time the mri "problem" will be solved for once and for all (and if bad things happen to their human "allies", well, gosh, isn't that a shame?).

And although this is, as mentioned, early Cherryh, it already has the elements that make her so great -- multiple, well-imagined cultures, both human and alien, rubbing uncomfortably together, and deeply-flawed or damaged characters trying to adapt to their new circumstances.
]]> <![CDATA[Tripoint (The Company Wars, #6)]]> 57067

Marie's attacker, Austin Bowe, is captain of the Corinthian. When both ships dock at Mariner Station, Marie vanishes and Tom searches for his mother...only to find himself trapped on Austin's ship with a half-brother he never knew he had and a crew fanatically loyal to Bowe. Now as the Corinthian flees the pursuing Sprite and a raider guns after both, the lives on board the two Merchanter ships are in the hands of Tom Hawkins. To save them all, Tom must trust his sworn enemy...

His father.

]]> 361 C.J. Cherryh 0446602027 Joseph 4 Sprite finds herself in a dockside sleepover with Austin Bowe of the merchanter Corinthian and, well, things go just about as badly as they possibly could.

Today: Tom Hawkins, son of Marie and Austin, raised on Sprite by Marie (well, to one degree or another) who has never forgotten and most certainly never forgiven Austin for what he did in that sleepover, oh, no, and she's tried to pass as much of that on to her son as possible.

Also, on Corinthian: Tom's slightly younger half-brother Christian (whose mother actually joined Corinthian's crew so that she could be with his father); and Austin Bowe, all other things being equal, would probably have preferred not to have been saddled with a son at all. (To say nothing of that other son he knows about; and whose mother has a habit of sending very matter-of-factly threatening messages).

And (through freak circumstance; or maybe by Marie's machinations? She's a damn' fine cargo officer, almost supernaturally good at playing the markets, buying low and selling high, and, as such, has a fair bit to say about which stations Sprite visits, and when) Sprite finds itself docked on Viking Station at the same time as Corinthian and Tom (through a certain amount of youthful damnfoolery, both by himself and by his heretofore unknown half brother) finds himself locked in the brig on Corinthian when she launches for Pell Station via Tripoint, and, well, this is the sort of thing that's going to have consequences, isn't it?

(Especially given the fact that Corinthian has always been a ship with an ... iffy reputation, and there are still some of those Mazianni carriers out in the deep dark and someone has to be keeping them supplied ...)]]> 3.93 1994 Tripoint (The Company Wars, #6)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/21
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
20 years ago: Marie Hawkins of the merchanter Sprite finds herself in a dockside sleepover with Austin Bowe of the merchanter Corinthian and, well, things go just about as badly as they possibly could.

Today: Tom Hawkins, son of Marie and Austin, raised on Sprite by Marie (well, to one degree or another) who has never forgotten and most certainly never forgiven Austin for what he did in that sleepover, oh, no, and she's tried to pass as much of that on to her son as possible.

Also, on Corinthian: Tom's slightly younger half-brother Christian (whose mother actually joined Corinthian's crew so that she could be with his father); and Austin Bowe, all other things being equal, would probably have preferred not to have been saddled with a son at all. (To say nothing of that other son he knows about; and whose mother has a habit of sending very matter-of-factly threatening messages).

And (through freak circumstance; or maybe by Marie's machinations? She's a damn' fine cargo officer, almost supernaturally good at playing the markets, buying low and selling high, and, as such, has a fair bit to say about which stations Sprite visits, and when) Sprite finds itself docked on Viking Station at the same time as Corinthian and Tom (through a certain amount of youthful damnfoolery, both by himself and by his heretofore unknown half brother) finds himself locked in the brig on Corinthian when she launches for Pell Station via Tripoint, and, well, this is the sort of thing that's going to have consequences, isn't it?

(Especially given the fact that Corinthian has always been a ship with an ... iffy reputation, and there are still some of those Mazianni carriers out in the deep dark and someone has to be keeping them supplied ...)
]]> Regenesis (Cyteen, #4) 25797216 The long-awaited sequel to the Hugo award-winning novels Cyteen and Downbelow Station.

The direct sequel to Cyteen, Regenesis continues the story of Ariane Emory, Personal Replicate, the genetic clone of one of the greatest scientists humanity has ever produced, and of her search for the murderer of her progenitor-the original Ariane Emory. Murder, politics, deception, and genetic and psychological manipulation combine against a backdrop of interstellar human factions at odds to confront questions that have remained unanswered for two decades...

Who killed the original Ariane Emory?

And can her Personal Replicate avoid the same fate?]]> 688 C.J. Cherryh 1101665416 Joseph 4 Cyteen came out in 1988. Regenesis came out in 2009. Despite which, it feels less like a sequel than a direct continuation.

At the end of Cyteen Ariane Emory 2 (the now-18-year-old Personal Replicate (PR) of the original Ariane Emory; the original having been murdered and that murder having triggered the program that created Ari Two) had survived an attempt on her own life and had moved to take up the reins of control of Reseune, the corporation her mother & grandmother had built on Cyteen (Reseune's primary product being azi, the lab-birthed and tape-trained servant class of Union). Regenesis picks up literally days (well, OK, maybe a month?) after the end of Cyteen and follows Ari's struggles to take and hold power in the face of strong, sometimes lethal, opposition from the other Bureaus in Union (most notably Defense, which was a major user (and misuser?) of Azi back during the original Company War, and which has major disagreements with pretty much everyone else's vision of how Union should be run).

While Cyteen took place over the course of a couple of decades (starting with Ari Senior's murder and skipping through Ari Two's carefully-structured childhood), Regenesis spans a period of maybe six or seven months -- admittedly, very turbulent months -- as Ari tries to deal with opposition (political, bureaucratic, personal), to unwind the strands of various plots against her, and to possibly finally actually solve her predecessor's murder. As with Cyteen there are multiple viewpoints -- primarily Ari and Justin Warrick (Justin himself being a PR of his still-living and very bitter father Jordan, who agreed in the beginning of Cyteen to falsely take the blame for Ari's murder for the sake of his son), but with a few others. Again, there's plenty of tense conversations, maneuverings and infighting, most of which we see only insofar as it impinges directly on the viewpoint characters -- no widescreen pullbacks to show the entire battlefield. And while this book isn't as good as Cyteen, that doesn't mean it isn't still very good and worthy of attention if you enjoyed Cyteen and want to know what happened next.]]> 4.50 2009 Regenesis (Cyteen, #4)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2019/03/24
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
Cyteen came out in 1988. Regenesis came out in 2009. Despite which, it feels less like a sequel than a direct continuation.

At the end of Cyteen Ariane Emory 2 (the now-18-year-old Personal Replicate (PR) of the original Ariane Emory; the original having been murdered and that murder having triggered the program that created Ari Two) had survived an attempt on her own life and had moved to take up the reins of control of Reseune, the corporation her mother & grandmother had built on Cyteen (Reseune's primary product being azi, the lab-birthed and tape-trained servant class of Union). Regenesis picks up literally days (well, OK, maybe a month?) after the end of Cyteen and follows Ari's struggles to take and hold power in the face of strong, sometimes lethal, opposition from the other Bureaus in Union (most notably Defense, which was a major user (and misuser?) of Azi back during the original Company War, and which has major disagreements with pretty much everyone else's vision of how Union should be run).

While Cyteen took place over the course of a couple of decades (starting with Ari Senior's murder and skipping through Ari Two's carefully-structured childhood), Regenesis spans a period of maybe six or seven months -- admittedly, very turbulent months -- as Ari tries to deal with opposition (political, bureaucratic, personal), to unwind the strands of various plots against her, and to possibly finally actually solve her predecessor's murder. As with Cyteen there are multiple viewpoints -- primarily Ari and Justin Warrick (Justin himself being a PR of his still-living and very bitter father Jordan, who agreed in the beginning of Cyteen to falsely take the blame for Ari's murder for the sake of his son), but with a few others. Again, there's plenty of tense conversations, maneuverings and infighting, most of which we see only insofar as it impinges directly on the viewpoint characters -- no widescreen pullbacks to show the entire battlefield. And while this book isn't as good as Cyteen, that doesn't mean it isn't still very good and worthy of attention if you enjoyed Cyteen and want to know what happened next.
]]> The Dreaming Tree 33394346
But fear of the world of Faery ran deep in the hearts of men, and when Ciaran Cuilean, Lord of Caer Wiell, a man with Elvish blood in his veins, found himself the object of increasing distrust and suspicion from his men, his king, and even his own family, he knew he must once again put his humanity aside and return to Ealdwood. For shadows of a newly awakened evil swarmed across both lands, and unless Ciaran reclaimed his haunted weapons from the Tree of Swords and joined Arafel, he would see this evil overtake not only the warm hearthstones of the mortal keeps but the silvery heart of Ealdwood itself!]]> 381 C.J. Cherryh 1101666471 Joseph 4 C.J. Cherryh has been one of my very favorite authors for, well, dangerously close to 40 years now. But when I first started reading her books back in high school, I was primarily focused on her SF -- Downbelow Station, Merchanter's Luck, The Pride of Chanur, etc. I remember trying to read The Dreamstone (first of the two books collected in this volume; the other being its sequel The Tree of Swords and Jewels) back in high school and maybe in college, and just kind of bouncing off of it, and now, I've finally read the entire duology (collected in this one book) and I'm really glad I did, but I can also see why I wasn't ready for it back in the day.

This is a fantasy that takes place in a sort of vaguely Celtic setting -- the names are primarily Old English, Celtic or Welsh -- in & around a couple of small, unnamed kingdoms, one of which borders Eald, the last outpost of Faery and home of Arafel, the last surviving Duine Sidhe (her fellow elves didn't die precisely, but they grew weary of the world, not least because of the encroachments of men and iron, and departed, leaving their relics behind on the Tree of Swords and Jewels that gives its name to the second book).

The first book is a sort of series of linked short stories in which the kingdom bordering Eald is in some turmoil due to succession crises, and Arafel becomes entangled in its affairs when a refugee crosses her borders, starting a cascade of events that will unfold over two or three generations, told mostly from the humans' point of view although Arafel is always the linking thread.

The second book takes place over a much more compressed timeframe, but on a larger scale -- again, the kingdom bordering Eald is in turmoil, but this time, due in part to Arafel's involvement previously, dark forces from Sidhe history are taking the opposing side, using the humans as proxies to restage a war they lost before the age of Man.

These are lovely books, full of faery magic (which is in no wise unperilous) and cold iron, and old, dark things lurking in tree or in stream. They require a fairly careful reading, but, to my mind, are well worth it.]]> 4.15 1983 The Dreaming Tree
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/07
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
C.J. Cherryh has been one of my very favorite authors for, well, dangerously close to 40 years now. But when I first started reading her books back in high school, I was primarily focused on her SF -- Downbelow Station, Merchanter's Luck, The Pride of Chanur, etc. I remember trying to read The Dreamstone (first of the two books collected in this volume; the other being its sequel The Tree of Swords and Jewels) back in high school and maybe in college, and just kind of bouncing off of it, and now, I've finally read the entire duology (collected in this one book) and I'm really glad I did, but I can also see why I wasn't ready for it back in the day.

This is a fantasy that takes place in a sort of vaguely Celtic setting -- the names are primarily Old English, Celtic or Welsh -- in & around a couple of small, unnamed kingdoms, one of which borders Eald, the last outpost of Faery and home of Arafel, the last surviving Duine Sidhe (her fellow elves didn't die precisely, but they grew weary of the world, not least because of the encroachments of men and iron, and departed, leaving their relics behind on the Tree of Swords and Jewels that gives its name to the second book).

The first book is a sort of series of linked short stories in which the kingdom bordering Eald is in some turmoil due to succession crises, and Arafel becomes entangled in its affairs when a refugee crosses her borders, starting a cascade of events that will unfold over two or three generations, told mostly from the humans' point of view although Arafel is always the linking thread.

The second book takes place over a much more compressed timeframe, but on a larger scale -- again, the kingdom bordering Eald is in turmoil, but this time, due in part to Arafel's involvement previously, dark forces from Sidhe history are taking the opposing side, using the humans as proxies to restage a war they lost before the age of Man.

These are lovely books, full of faery magic (which is in no wise unperilous) and cold iron, and old, dark things lurking in tree or in stream. They require a fairly careful reading, but, to my mind, are well worth it.
]]> Ayesha: The Return of She 1895809 She, Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey once again embark on a quest to find the mysterious woman known as Ayesha. Knowing that She is no longer in Africa, they go east, eventually reaching a lamasery in the mountains of Tibet. The abbot warns them against continuing, but they press on and discover an ancient city named Kaloon, which is ruled by the evil Khan Rassen and his imperious wife, the Khania Atene. Near the city is a huge volcano, wherein lives the Hesea, the Priestess of Hes, and her servants. Leo becomes the center of a conflict between Atene and the Hesea, both of whom desire him.]]> 338 H. Rider Haggard 0345275578 Joseph 4 She), Haggard finally decided to tell us what Leo and Holly and Ayesha (yes, I know, she perished horribly at the end of the original book, but bear with me) were up to in the intervening years. Although Haggard, per his introductory note, is disinclined to call it a sequel, preferring to regard it as the continuation of the story begun in the first book; and honestly, I'm inclined to agree with him.

Spoilers for a 120 year old book, although I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

So we open, as per usual, with Haggard explaining how yet another mysterious manuscript came into his hands -- L. Horace Holly, after being absent from England's green and pleasant lands for some 20 years, has returned alone and in poor health. He provides Haggard with a manuscript (well, most of one -- he at one point had chucked it into the fire, but changed his mind and retrieved it with minimal damage) and an artifact, and then promptly expires.

After the calamitous events that ended the original book, Holly and Leo had returned to England where they spent a year recuperating (and, in Leo's case, moping) until Leo had a vision that suggested that Ayesha was maybe not completely dead? So he & Holly pack their bags and set out for central Asia -- Thibet [sic] and suchlike parts.

Smash cut to sixteen years later ... Leo and Holly have been wandering the Himalayas searching unsuccessfully for the vista that Leo had seen in his vision (a looming volcano with what appears to be a giant ankh on its crest). They find themselves (after dangers untold and hardships unnumbered) in a particularly isolated monastery and wouldn't you know it, the valley they seek is just up the way.

Well, in this case "just up the way" means "over there, across many, many miles of treacherous mountain terrain and glaciers in utterly unforgiving weather".

And it won't come as too much of a surprise, I assume, to say that yes, they do make it to that valley and yes, it's inhabited by two warring factions and one of them (the place where they first make their entrance via a glacial river) is ruled by a beautiful queen, Atene, and her jerk of a husband, and the other (over on the slopes of the volcano) is ruled by the goddess Hes and her oracle, and Atene gets the total hots for Leo, which will not do because Hes and her oracle have seen Leo and Holly arrive and have their own interest in the two of them.

And yes, there's a dramatic reunion with Ayesha, and Atene takes things most poorly and things progress to their foreordained, tragic conclusion.

And is this book as good as the original? Well, no, but what could be? But it's still very worthy in its own right, not least because we get to see Ayesha unveiled and actually using her powers and she's even more reminiscent of Galadriel in her "in place of a Dark Lord you would have a queen!" speech.

So if you read and enjoyed She and want to see how it all turns out, well, then, this is the book for you.

]]> 3.69 1905 Ayesha: The Return of She
author: H. Rider Haggard
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1905
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
Twenty years after publishing his masterpiece (She), Haggard finally decided to tell us what Leo and Holly and Ayesha (yes, I know, she perished horribly at the end of the original book, but bear with me) were up to in the intervening years. Although Haggard, per his introductory note, is disinclined to call it a sequel, preferring to regard it as the continuation of the story begun in the first book; and honestly, I'm inclined to agree with him.

Spoilers for a 120 year old book, although I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

So we open, as per usual, with Haggard explaining how yet another mysterious manuscript came into his hands -- L. Horace Holly, after being absent from England's green and pleasant lands for some 20 years, has returned alone and in poor health. He provides Haggard with a manuscript (well, most of one -- he at one point had chucked it into the fire, but changed his mind and retrieved it with minimal damage) and an artifact, and then promptly expires.

After the calamitous events that ended the original book, Holly and Leo had returned to England where they spent a year recuperating (and, in Leo's case, moping) until Leo had a vision that suggested that Ayesha was maybe not completely dead? So he & Holly pack their bags and set out for central Asia -- Thibet [sic] and suchlike parts.

Smash cut to sixteen years later ... Leo and Holly have been wandering the Himalayas searching unsuccessfully for the vista that Leo had seen in his vision (a looming volcano with what appears to be a giant ankh on its crest). They find themselves (after dangers untold and hardships unnumbered) in a particularly isolated monastery and wouldn't you know it, the valley they seek is just up the way.

Well, in this case "just up the way" means "over there, across many, many miles of treacherous mountain terrain and glaciers in utterly unforgiving weather".

And it won't come as too much of a surprise, I assume, to say that yes, they do make it to that valley and yes, it's inhabited by two warring factions and one of them (the place where they first make their entrance via a glacial river) is ruled by a beautiful queen, Atene, and her jerk of a husband, and the other (over on the slopes of the volcano) is ruled by the goddess Hes and her oracle, and Atene gets the total hots for Leo, which will not do because Hes and her oracle have seen Leo and Holly arrive and have their own interest in the two of them.

And yes, there's a dramatic reunion with Ayesha, and Atene takes things most poorly and things progress to their foreordained, tragic conclusion.

And is this book as good as the original? Well, no, but what could be? But it's still very worthy in its own right, not least because we get to see Ayesha unveiled and actually using her powers and she's even more reminiscent of Galadriel in her "in place of a Dark Lord you would have a queen!" speech.

So if you read and enjoyed She and want to see how it all turns out, well, then, this is the book for you.


]]> The Brethren 1449817 The Brethren is a classic tale of love and chivalry, unfolding amidst the touching story of two English knights who are in love with the same maiden. The devotion of these men is tested when their beloved is carried away against her will to Palestine and eventually to the court of the famous Muslim leader, Saladin.

Excerpt:
From the sea-wall on the coast of Essex, Rosamund looked out across the ocean eastwards. To right and left, but a little behind her, like guards attending the person of their sovereign, stood her cousins, the twin brethren, Godwin and Wulf, tall and shapely men. Godwin was still as a statue, his hands folded over the hilt of the long, scabbarded sword, of which the point was set on the ground before him, but Wulf, his brother, moved restlessly, and at length yawned aloud. They were beautiful to look at, all three of them, as they appeared in the splendour of their youth and health. The imperial Rosamund, dark-haired and eyed, ivory skinned and slender-waisted, a posy of marsh flowers in her hand; the pale, stately Godwin, with his dreaming face; and the bold-fronted, blue-eyed warrior, Wulf, Saxon to his finger-tips, notwithstanding his father's Norman blood. At the sound of that unstifled yawn, Rosamund turned her head with the slow grace which marked her every movement. "Would you sleep already, Wulf, and the sun not yet down?" she asked in her rich, low voice, which, perhaps because of its foreign accent, seemed quite different to that of any other woman.]]> 424 H. Rider Haggard 1421842661 Joseph 4
As always, potential spoilers for a 120 year old book.

The setting this time is the late 12th Century. We open in Essex on the English coast, although we won't be staying here for an excessively long time.

Our cast this time around: Godwin and Wulf D'Arcy, twin brothers and men at arms, both in love with their attractive cousin Rosamund D'Arcy, whose own affections are ... indecisive between the two of them.

I tell you, I won't live in a town that robs men of the right to marry their cousins!

Complicating matters, to the extent of setting the whole book in motion: Rosamund is also niece to Saladin (yes, that Saladin) -- her father apparently eloped with one of Saladin's sisters, which he found ... less than pleasing.

So Saladin creates her Princess of Baalbec and sends a couple of Frankish knights who are actually spies in his service (and are otherwise low-down, dirty dogs) to abduct her and bring her back home and when that does eventually happen, the brothers, of course, set out in hot pursuit to bring her back, not least because they need her to tell them which of them she like likes.

(Before any of the kidnapping commences, the brothers come to an Arrangement: They both, separately, meet with Rosamund to declare their intentions, telling her not to reply immediately so that she'll have heard from both of them and then can, I guess, make an informed decision as to whether she's Team Wulf or Team Godwin. As mentioned, they're twins, both doughty at arms, but Wulf is perhaps moreso doughty while Godwin is perhaps moreso courtly. Decisions, decisions.)

And then commences a series of adventures that will take them across the Mediterranean to the Holy Land with stops in Cyprus and in Masyaf (city of the Old Man of the Mountain, the master of the Assassin cult, who has his own interests in the matter, mostly because he and Saladin hate each other), along the way picking up two extremely top-notch horses, Flame & Smoke, and also a local woman, Masouda, who obviously knows more than she lets on and who becomes the fourth point of the aforementioned Haggard Love Triangle.

And, because this book is set in the Holy Land in the late 12th Century, they manage to reach Damascus and Jerusalem just in time to get mixed up in the Battle of Hattin, and if some of the names start sounding familiar, that's because the end of this book overlaps pretty substantially with Ridley Scott's movie , so every time they encounter Balian or Sibylla, I'm envisioning Orlando Bloom or Eva Green which is, to be sure, no bad thing.

And while things don't end happily for everyone, they reach a satisfactory enough conclusion given the circumstances, and if you're interested in this sort of thing, I do recommend the book. (And also the movie Kingdom of Heaven, although be sure you're watching the full director's cut, not the badly-mangled theatrical release; and just pretend that some of the characters in the background are named Wulf and Godwin.)]]> 3.97 1904 The Brethren
author: H. Rider Haggard
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1904
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:
Another Rider Haggard historical with another patented Haggard Love Triangle (which turns for a while into a parallelogram or a rhombus or some such figure), but this one I thought was really quite good.

As always, potential spoilers for a 120 year old book.

The setting this time is the late 12th Century. We open in Essex on the English coast, although we won't be staying here for an excessively long time.

Our cast this time around: Godwin and Wulf D'Arcy, twin brothers and men at arms, both in love with their attractive cousin Rosamund D'Arcy, whose own affections are ... indecisive between the two of them.

I tell you, I won't live in a town that robs men of the right to marry their cousins!

Complicating matters, to the extent of setting the whole book in motion: Rosamund is also niece to Saladin (yes, that Saladin) -- her father apparently eloped with one of Saladin's sisters, which he found ... less than pleasing.

So Saladin creates her Princess of Baalbec and sends a couple of Frankish knights who are actually spies in his service (and are otherwise low-down, dirty dogs) to abduct her and bring her back home and when that does eventually happen, the brothers, of course, set out in hot pursuit to bring her back, not least because they need her to tell them which of them she like likes.

(Before any of the kidnapping commences, the brothers come to an Arrangement: They both, separately, meet with Rosamund to declare their intentions, telling her not to reply immediately so that she'll have heard from both of them and then can, I guess, make an informed decision as to whether she's Team Wulf or Team Godwin. As mentioned, they're twins, both doughty at arms, but Wulf is perhaps moreso doughty while Godwin is perhaps moreso courtly. Decisions, decisions.)

And then commences a series of adventures that will take them across the Mediterranean to the Holy Land with stops in Cyprus and in Masyaf (city of the Old Man of the Mountain, the master of the Assassin cult, who has his own interests in the matter, mostly because he and Saladin hate each other), along the way picking up two extremely top-notch horses, Flame & Smoke, and also a local woman, Masouda, who obviously knows more than she lets on and who becomes the fourth point of the aforementioned Haggard Love Triangle.

And, because this book is set in the Holy Land in the late 12th Century, they manage to reach Damascus and Jerusalem just in time to get mixed up in the Battle of Hattin, and if some of the names start sounding familiar, that's because the end of this book overlaps pretty substantially with Ridley Scott's movie , so every time they encounter Balian or Sibylla, I'm envisioning Orlando Bloom or Eva Green which is, to be sure, no bad thing.

And while things don't end happily for everyone, they reach a satisfactory enough conclusion given the circumstances, and if you're interested in this sort of thing, I do recommend the book. (And also the movie Kingdom of Heaven, although be sure you're watching the full director's cut, not the badly-mangled theatrical release; and just pretend that some of the characters in the background are named Wulf and Godwin.)
]]> Stella Fregelius 27584073 Stella Fregelius 214 H. Rider Haggard 1502855925 Joseph 3
Spoilers below for a 120+ year old novel.

The players this time are:

Morris Monk (a young would-be inventor who's been trying to perfect an aerophone which, as described, sounds sort of like a set of walkie-talkies? IIRC, each pair of units would only be able to talk to each other, although the whole thing is very far from the focus of Haggard's story); Morris lives with his father, the Colonel, who has managed, mostly without the knowledge of his son, and not through any real fault of his own, to leave the family accounts exhausted and the family lands encumbered.

Mary Porson, Morris' attractive cousin, who lives with her father (the Colonel's brother-in-law), whose circumstances are considerably less straitened; in point of fact, her fairly wealthy father has been floating the Colonel loan after mortgage after loan).

Stella Fregelius, who enters partway through the book, newly-arrived with her father because he's come to take the local parish priest position.

The Colonel, needless to say, thinks it would be great if Morris (who never really evinced any interest in young ladies) would up and get married, preferably to someone in line to inherit considerable funds. The other local ladies being entirely unsuitable, well, Mary really is an attractive girl, isn't she?

I tell you, I won't live in a town that robs men of the right to marry their cousins!

So, with a bit of nudging by both of their respective fathers, Morris and Mary come to an Understanding, at which point Mary and her father (due to his ill health) promptly depart for more healthful climes in France.

And very shortly after they depart, the ship bringing Stella and her father to Monksland founders on the rocks and Morris very bravely sails out to the wreck where he finds and rescues Stella (who was left on the wreck by the panicked sailors, although they did rescue her father despite his broken leg) and Stella really is a remarkable sort of woman, isn't she?

And then Stella and Morris spend much of the rest of the book forming an extremely intimate but entirely proper (no throbbing biological urges here!) relationship as she helps him perfect his aerophone; and despite the best efforts of a particularly nasty local young woman (one of the ones Morris had previously deemed unsuitable; and worse yet, her brother proposed to Stella and was completely rebuffed), when Mary returns after her father's demise, she's extremely understanding about the whole situation and has no doubt whatsoever as to Morris' innocence, and Stella (for the record, Stella and Morris come to the conclusion that they are, in fact, truly, madly and deeply in love with one another, but they can Never Act Upon It in this world because Mary) plans to leave them forever by going to London and singing and playing the violin, but alas!, tragically drowns when the ruined church on the shore is lost to the sea, along with several hundred feet of shoreline, and of course she spends the last moments of her life talking to Morris on the aerophone.

And then Morris and Mary do get married and have a reasonably happy couple of years (and couple of children) before Morris discovers and read Stella's journals, gets reobsessed with her and eventually (even more spoilers) dies because he's too busy trying to conjure her spirit to settle down with a good meal.

And that, as they say, is that.

And again, it was a very readable but not especially memorable book and Haggard really does like his doomed romances and tragic triangles, doesn't he?]]> 4.00 1904 Stella Fregelius
author: H. Rider Haggard
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1904
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
Another of Haggard's Victorian (well, this came out in 1903, so I guess technically Edwardian) contemporary novels of romantic melodrama, this time around with just the barest hint of science fictional elements.

Spoilers below for a 120+ year old novel.

The players this time are:

Morris Monk (a young would-be inventor who's been trying to perfect an aerophone which, as described, sounds sort of like a set of walkie-talkies? IIRC, each pair of units would only be able to talk to each other, although the whole thing is very far from the focus of Haggard's story); Morris lives with his father, the Colonel, who has managed, mostly without the knowledge of his son, and not through any real fault of his own, to leave the family accounts exhausted and the family lands encumbered.

Mary Porson, Morris' attractive cousin, who lives with her father (the Colonel's brother-in-law), whose circumstances are considerably less straitened; in point of fact, her fairly wealthy father has been floating the Colonel loan after mortgage after loan).

Stella Fregelius, who enters partway through the book, newly-arrived with her father because he's come to take the local parish priest position.

The Colonel, needless to say, thinks it would be great if Morris (who never really evinced any interest in young ladies) would up and get married, preferably to someone in line to inherit considerable funds. The other local ladies being entirely unsuitable, well, Mary really is an attractive girl, isn't she?

I tell you, I won't live in a town that robs men of the right to marry their cousins!

So, with a bit of nudging by both of their respective fathers, Morris and Mary come to an Understanding, at which point Mary and her father (due to his ill health) promptly depart for more healthful climes in France.

And very shortly after they depart, the ship bringing Stella and her father to Monksland founders on the rocks and Morris very bravely sails out to the wreck where he finds and rescues Stella (who was left on the wreck by the panicked sailors, although they did rescue her father despite his broken leg) and Stella really is a remarkable sort of woman, isn't she?

And then Stella and Morris spend much of the rest of the book forming an extremely intimate but entirely proper (no throbbing biological urges here!) relationship as she helps him perfect his aerophone; and despite the best efforts of a particularly nasty local young woman (one of the ones Morris had previously deemed unsuitable; and worse yet, her brother proposed to Stella and was completely rebuffed), when Mary returns after her father's demise, she's extremely understanding about the whole situation and has no doubt whatsoever as to Morris' innocence, and Stella (for the record, Stella and Morris come to the conclusion that they are, in fact, truly, madly and deeply in love with one another, but they can Never Act Upon It in this world because Mary) plans to leave them forever by going to London and singing and playing the violin, but alas!, tragically drowns when the ruined church on the shore is lost to the sea, along with several hundred feet of shoreline, and of course she spends the last moments of her life talking to Morris on the aerophone.

And then Morris and Mary do get married and have a reasonably happy couple of years (and couple of children) before Morris discovers and read Stella's journals, gets reobsessed with her and eventually (even more spoilers) dies because he's too busy trying to conjure her spirit to settle down with a good meal.

And that, as they say, is that.

And again, it was a very readable but not especially memorable book and Haggard really does like his doomed romances and tragic triangles, doesn't he?
]]> Manhunt 58368353 Manhunt, an explosive post-apocalyptic novel that follows trans women and men on a grotesque journey of survival.

Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they'll never face the same fate.

Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren't safe.

After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics—all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons.
]]> 293 Gretchen Felker-Martin Joseph 3 3.63 2022 Manhunt
author: Gretchen Felker-Martin
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)]]> 61145554
A girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never even noticed them. That's about to change.

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.]]> 571 Mark Lawrence Joseph 4 4.19 2023 The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Blood of the Old Kings (The Bleeding Empire Book 1)]]> 203924588 Blood of the Old Kings begins an epic adventure in which three strangers journey through a vast Empire that uses the power of dead wizards to conquer and subdue, from award-winning author Sung-il Kim and translated by the highly-acclaimed Anton Hur.

Powered by the corpses of sorcerers, the Empire has conquered the world. It claims to have brought peace and stability to its conquered lands, but some see that peace for what it is—a lie—and will give everything in the fight against it.

Loran is desperate for revenge after the Empire killed her family, so much so that the swordswoman climbs the volcano where the legends say an ancient dragon slumbers and leaps in. She finds that the legends are true, and Loran leaves the mountain with a sword made of dragon’s fang and a great purpose before her.

Cain arrived in the Imperial Capital lost and orphaned, and it’s only thanks to the kindness of a stranger-turned-mentor that he survived on the city’s streets. When his friend is found murdered, he will leave no stone unturned to find those responsible, even if it means starting a war.

Arienne’s future has never been in question—born a sorcerer, she’ll be a Power Generator for the Empire upon her death. But when she starts to hear the voice of a powerful necromancer in her head, she realizes the only thing more terrifying than dying for the Empire is never getting to truly live in the first place.

When peace is a lie, there is power in truth—and as Loran, Cain, and Arienne hunt for answers in their own lives, any one of their small rebellions could be the stone that brings the Empire toppling down.]]> 320 Sung-Il Kim 1250895340 Joseph 4 3.88 2016 Blood of the Old Kings (The Bleeding Empire Book 1)
author: Sung-Il Kim
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine: Issue #4]]> 222711068 80 pages, 8.5Ă—11 in, traditionally printed, perfect bound.

Featuring new, original work by:
Harry Turtledove
Dariel Quiogue
Jeremy Pak Nelson
Kirk Johnson
Jonathan Olfert
June Orchid Parker
Bryn Hammond
Nat Webb
Doris V. Sutherland
Oliver Brackenbury
…and
an Elric reprint by Michael Moorcock!]]> 80 Oliver Brackenbury Joseph 4 Dariel Quiogue's "Battle of the Nine Waters", then you need to understand that I'm saying so although this issue also includes stories by both Michael Moorcock and Harry Turtledove, amongst others.

And the usual reviews, essays and interviews at the back, including a look at one of my personal favorite authors, Tanith Lee.]]> 4.23 New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine: Issue #4
author: Oliver Brackenbury
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves:
review:
At risk of repeating myself, yet another fine assortment of modern sword & sorcery. And if I tell you that for me the standout story was Dariel Quiogue's "Battle of the Nine Waters", then you need to understand that I'm saying so although this issue also includes stories by both Michael Moorcock and Harry Turtledove, amongst others.

And the usual reviews, essays and interviews at the back, including a look at one of my personal favorite authors, Tanith Lee.
]]> <![CDATA[New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine: Issue #3]]> 222710971
80 pages, 8.5Ă—11 in, traditionally printed, perfect bound.

Featuring new, original work by:
Molly Tanzer
Thomas Ha
John R. Fultz
Matt John
Premee Mohamed
Cora Buhlert
Jay Wolf
Robin Marx
Oliver Brackenbury
&
Flash Fiction by W.O. Balmer, Timaeus Bloom, Melissa Burlock, James A. Estes, Samantha Rich, and R.L. Summerling]]> 80 Oliver Brackenbury Joseph 4 Matthew John's "Beating Hearts, Dying Stars" (which reminded me at times of something from a vintage Heavy Metal magazine or from the animated series Scavengers Reign) and culminating in Molly Tanzer's brand new Jirel of Joiry(!!!!) story, "Jirel and the Mirror of Truth", along the way showcasing contributions by Premee Mohamed, John R. Fultz and a whole rogues' gallery of other authors, some of whom were familiar to me already, and the rest of whom I'll be watching with great interest.

And the art; did I mention the art? I really do need to mention the art! Plus some thoughtful non-fiction pieces, including an essay about Jessica Amanda Salmonson that reminds me that I really do need to go back and read some of the anthologies she edited back in the day, and some of the novels she's written.]]> 4.35 New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine: Issue #3
author: Oliver Brackenbury
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
Another carefully-curated selection of great modern sword & sorcery stories, beginning with Matthew John's "Beating Hearts, Dying Stars" (which reminded me at times of something from a vintage Heavy Metal magazine or from the animated series Scavengers Reign) and culminating in Molly Tanzer's brand new Jirel of Joiry(!!!!) story, "Jirel and the Mirror of Truth", along the way showcasing contributions by Premee Mohamed, John R. Fultz and a whole rogues' gallery of other authors, some of whom were familiar to me already, and the rest of whom I'll be watching with great interest.

And the art; did I mention the art? I really do need to mention the art! Plus some thoughtful non-fiction pieces, including an essay about Jessica Amanda Salmonson that reminds me that I really do need to go back and read some of the anthologies she edited back in the day, and some of the novels she's written.
]]> Beyond This Horizon 12609881
Illustrated by Robert Breck. Publisher's blue cloth over boards with gilt ruling and titles on spine.

Dust jacket with illustration by A. J. Donnell.]]> 242 Robert A. Heinlein Joseph 3
Hamilton Felix lives in utopia (well, relatively speaking -- technically, it seems more like a post-scarcity society where the economy is managed and everybody maintains a comfortable lifestyle; but most people men walk around armed, and duels to the death over real or perceived slights are perhaps not common, but at least not much remarked upon) and he's ... really just kind of bored, as is his friend Monroe-Alpha Clifford. (And it took me longer than it should have to realize that at some point society had changed so that people put their family name first rather than their personal name. So: Felix and Cliff.) And the District Moderator for Genetics would really like Felix to reproduce (on account of his superior genes; this is a lightly eugenic utopia), but Felix has no interest, although the District Moderator is sure he's found the perfect partner, genetically speaking. And, well, there are also scheming malcontents who think Felix might be interested in going along with their plan to overthrow society, and Longcourt Phyllis, the aforementioned perfect partner, really is kind of intriguing; and Cliff is also having his own meet-cute; and that's just the first half of the book (presumably, the part published in the first magazine issue) and the second half gets altogether more metaphysical.

And it's ... fine, I guess? It has ideas in great profusion, many, of course, based on science that was state-of-the-art in the 1930s, and even from the beginning Heinlein could spin an engaging sentence (and even from the beginning, he had some of his tics established -- Phyllis calls Felix "Filthy" in an effort to be gratingly cute, e.g.), and I'm glad I read it, but it's probably not one that I'll need to revisit, not least because of the aforementioned light eugenics, and it's just not as engaging as his later juvenile novels or The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress or what have you.]]> 3.20 1948 Beyond This Horizon
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.20
book published: 1948
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:
A very early, short Heinlein novel (first published in hardcover 1948, but taken from a 2 part magazine serial from 1942) that I'd never read before. (And apparently written before Pearl Harbor and the US entry into WWII.)

Hamilton Felix lives in utopia (well, relatively speaking -- technically, it seems more like a post-scarcity society where the economy is managed and everybody maintains a comfortable lifestyle; but most people men walk around armed, and duels to the death over real or perceived slights are perhaps not common, but at least not much remarked upon) and he's ... really just kind of bored, as is his friend Monroe-Alpha Clifford. (And it took me longer than it should have to realize that at some point society had changed so that people put their family name first rather than their personal name. So: Felix and Cliff.) And the District Moderator for Genetics would really like Felix to reproduce (on account of his superior genes; this is a lightly eugenic utopia), but Felix has no interest, although the District Moderator is sure he's found the perfect partner, genetically speaking. And, well, there are also scheming malcontents who think Felix might be interested in going along with their plan to overthrow society, and Longcourt Phyllis, the aforementioned perfect partner, really is kind of intriguing; and Cliff is also having his own meet-cute; and that's just the first half of the book (presumably, the part published in the first magazine issue) and the second half gets altogether more metaphysical.

And it's ... fine, I guess? It has ideas in great profusion, many, of course, based on science that was state-of-the-art in the 1930s, and even from the beginning Heinlein could spin an engaging sentence (and even from the beginning, he had some of his tics established -- Phyllis calls Felix "Filthy" in an effort to be gratingly cute, e.g.), and I'm glad I read it, but it's probably not one that I'll need to revisit, not least because of the aforementioned light eugenics, and it's just not as engaging as his later juvenile novels or The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress or what have you.
]]> <![CDATA[Deryni Rising (The Chronicles of the Deryni, #1)]]> 537124 271 Katherine Kurtz 034525290X Joseph 4
(I assume that it's our world because the religion is most definitely Christianity, complete with scripture quotes, and because there are a few Moors in the background.)

The basic premise: The Deryni are a race of magic-using humans. A few hundred years back, they ruled the land (unpleasantly) until the normal humans, with the help of a few renegade Deryni, overthrew them. Then, with the tables turned, there were the sorts of pogroms and atrocities you'd expect. Now they're a mostly-hidden, mostly-despised minority.

Kelson becomes king of Gwynnedd at the ripe old age of 14, and faces all manner of intrigues and prejudice (directed not at him but at his Deryni advisor Morgan), to say nothing of the Shadowed One, an evil sorceress who thinks she should be in charge.

I wonder if this book doesn't get as much credit as it deserves -- as far as I can tell, it was one of the first books to kind of bridge the gap between Tolkienian high fantasy and Howardian sword & sorcery. The heroes and villains are all human (more or less), they're mostly members of the noble class, and the plot tends more to political intrigues and dynastic succession rather than epic battles against a Dark Lord or adventures in tomb-robbing and other skullduggery. I feel like I can trace a line from this book to, say, Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion, or the works of Judith Tarr, or even George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.]]> 3.96 1970 Deryni Rising (The Chronicles of the Deryni, #1)
author: Katherine Kurtz
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1970
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:
Quite good for a first novel; heck, quite good even were it not a first novel. Not a secondary-world fantasy, precisely, but not set in our world either -- more of a one-and-a-half-ary world fantasy, I'd call it, where it seems to take place on our globe but in a very heavily modified version of the British isles.

(I assume that it's our world because the religion is most definitely Christianity, complete with scripture quotes, and because there are a few Moors in the background.)

The basic premise: The Deryni are a race of magic-using humans. A few hundred years back, they ruled the land (unpleasantly) until the normal humans, with the help of a few renegade Deryni, overthrew them. Then, with the tables turned, there were the sorts of pogroms and atrocities you'd expect. Now they're a mostly-hidden, mostly-despised minority.

Kelson becomes king of Gwynnedd at the ripe old age of 14, and faces all manner of intrigues and prejudice (directed not at him but at his Deryni advisor Morgan), to say nothing of the Shadowed One, an evil sorceress who thinks she should be in charge.

I wonder if this book doesn't get as much credit as it deserves -- as far as I can tell, it was one of the first books to kind of bridge the gap between Tolkienian high fantasy and Howardian sword & sorcery. The heroes and villains are all human (more or less), they're mostly members of the noble class, and the plot tends more to political intrigues and dynastic succession rather than epic battles against a Dark Lord or adventures in tomb-robbing and other skullduggery. I feel like I can trace a line from this book to, say, Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion, or the works of Judith Tarr, or even George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.
]]> <![CDATA[Checkmate (The Lymond Chronicles, #6)]]> 59039635 Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

Sixth in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Checkmate takes place in 1557, where Francis Crawford of Lymond is once again in France, leading an army against England. But even as the Scots adventurer succeeds brilliantly on the battlefield, his haunted past becomes a subject of intense interest to forces on both sides.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 767 Dorothy Dunnett Joseph 5 4.85 1975 Checkmate (The Lymond Chronicles, #6)
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.85
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-bal-ja the Golden Lion - The Original Classic Edition]]> 22747661 70 Edgar Rice Burroughs Joseph 3 The Tarzan Twins, this is more or less a direct sequel to that book and places it in the timeline prior to Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle by introducing characters who will show up in that book. (EDIT: The characters (the von Harben family) don't actually show up until Tarzan and the Lost Empire, but I think this still makes sense for a placement within the timeline.)

This time, insufferable not-twins "Dick" and "Doc" (cousins! identical cousins!) have made it safely to Tarzan's ranch, so, naturally, Tarzan takes them on an expedition back into the jungle where they're promptly separated from him by a mighty storm, and promptly start heading off on their own, where they get tangled up in events.

This time, happily, instead of a horribly racist, stereotyped cannibal village, the events involve a group of priest fleeing the lost Atlantean colony of Opar (having been supporters of would-be usurper Cadj during the events of Tarzan and the Golden Lion) -- they have a little, blonde girl they intend to press into service as their new High Priestess when they found a new and improved city out in the back of the beyond.

And, of course, the insufferable twins are bound and determined to rescue the girl from her captors and yes, Tarzan does show up at the end, as does Jad-bal-ja, although he hardly has enough of a presence in the book to warrant title credit.

Again, eminently skippable, but less egregiously offensive than the first.]]> 3.38 Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-bal-ja the Golden Lion - The Original Classic Edition
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.38
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/11
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:
Although written a good few years after The Tarzan Twins, this is more or less a direct sequel to that book and places it in the timeline prior to Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle by introducing characters who will show up in that book. (EDIT: The characters (the von Harben family) don't actually show up until Tarzan and the Lost Empire, but I think this still makes sense for a placement within the timeline.)

This time, insufferable not-twins "Dick" and "Doc" (cousins! identical cousins!) have made it safely to Tarzan's ranch, so, naturally, Tarzan takes them on an expedition back into the jungle where they're promptly separated from him by a mighty storm, and promptly start heading off on their own, where they get tangled up in events.

This time, happily, instead of a horribly racist, stereotyped cannibal village, the events involve a group of priest fleeing the lost Atlantean colony of Opar (having been supporters of would-be usurper Cadj during the events of Tarzan and the Golden Lion) -- they have a little, blonde girl they intend to press into service as their new High Priestess when they found a new and improved city out in the back of the beyond.

And, of course, the insufferable twins are bound and determined to rescue the girl from her captors and yes, Tarzan does show up at the end, as does Jad-bal-ja, although he hardly has enough of a presence in the book to warrant title credit.

Again, eminently skippable, but less egregiously offensive than the first.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ship of Ishtar: Centennial Edition]]> 221331344
Upon the Ship of Ishtar, Sharane and the priest of Nergal, Klaneth, wage a millennia-old struggle as proxies for their respective deities. Kenton ends up at cross-purposes with the Nergalite faction, killing several priests before being chained to an oar-bench. Though the gods themselves place obstacles in his way, Kenton will let nothing daunt him in his quest to break free, win Sharane’s heart, and become master—of the Ship of Ishtar!

When The Ship of Ishtar hit the stands in 1924 between the covers of Argosy All-Story magazine, nothing like it had ever seen print in American popular culture. Drenched in blood, sex and the supernatural, the American public loved the novel so much it would eventually go through twenty-plus printings and sell millions before the end of the twentieth century. The Ship of Ishtar’s influence on fantasy literature is immense, having captured the imaginations of hundreds of significant authors, including Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian), Gary Gygax (co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons), and Michael Moorcock (author of Elric of Melniboné). This special Centennial Edition of The Ship of Ishtar includes the author’s preferred text, as well as nearly two dozen vintage illustrations and previously unpublished ephemera from the Merritt estate.]]> 361 A. Merritt Joseph 4 4.40 1924 The Ship of Ishtar: Centennial Edition
author: A. Merritt
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1924
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions]]> 25398855 In 1884, Edwin Abbott Abbott wrote a mathematical adventure set in a two-dimensional plane world, populated by a hierarchical society of regular geometrical figures-who think and speak and have all too human emotions. Since then Flatland has fascinated generations of readers, becoming a perennial science-fiction favorite. By imagining the contact of beings from different dimensions, the author fully exploited the power of the analogy between the limitations of humans and those of his two-dimensional characters.

A first-rate fictional guide to the concept of multiple dimensions of space, the book will also appeal to those who are interested in computer graphics. This field, which literally makes higher dimensions seeable, has aroused a new interest in visualization. We can now manipulate objects in four dimensions and observe their three-dimensional slices tumbling on the computer screen. But how do we interpret these images? In his introduction, Thomas Banchoff points out that there is no better way to begin exploring the problem of understanding higher-dimensional slicing phenomena than reading this classic novel of the Victorian era.

]]> 92 Edwin A. Abbott Joseph 3 4.17 1884 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
author: Edwin A. Abbott
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1884
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:
A 141 year old book that I've known about for probably 45 years but never actually got around to reading until just now. And it was ... well, the actual two-dimensional stuff was interesting as an intellectual exercise, at least, but the somewhat ham-handed Victorian attempt at satire and/or social commentary was less easy to stomach.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ringed Castle (The Lymond Chronicles, #5)]]> 59039628 Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

Fifth in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, The Ringed Castle leaps from Mary Tudor's England to the barbaric Russia of Ivan the Terrible. Francis Crawford of Lymond moves to Muscovy, where he becomes advisor and general to the half-mad tsar. Yet even as Lymond tries to civilize a court that is still frozen in the attitudes of the Middle Ages, forces in England conspire to enlist this infinitely useful man in their own schemes.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 638 Dorothy Dunnett Joseph 5 4.79 1971 The Ringed Castle (The Lymond Chronicles, #5)
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.79
book published: 1971
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pawn in Frankincense (The Lymond Chronicles, #4)]]> 59039621 Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

Pawn in Frankincense is the fourth in the legendary Lymond Chronicles. Somewhere within the bejeweled labyrinth of the Ottoman empire, a child is hidden. Now his father, Francis Crawford of Lymond, soldier of fortune and the exiled heir of Scottish nobility, is searching for him while ostensibly engaged on a mission to the Turkish Sultan. At stake is a pawn in a cutthroat game whose gambits include treason, enslavement, and murder. With a Foreword by the author.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 614 Dorothy Dunnett Joseph 5 4.83 1969 Pawn in Frankincense (The Lymond Chronicles, #4)
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.83
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:

]]> She (She, #1) 682681 317 H. Rider Haggard 0192835505 Joseph 5 first read this book, I was a lot younger, meaning that I myself wasn't as sensitive to such issues.)

Having said that, this is pretty much a genre-defining masterpiece, all the more amazing when you consider that it was only Haggard's fourth(?) novel. L. Horace Holly, the narrator, ugly and something of a misanthrope as a result, but generally good-hearted, is tasked with raising Leo Vincey, the son of Holly's one close friend, after that friend's sudden demise. When Leo turns 25, he & Holly open the strongbox left by Leo's father and discover the Vincey family's extraordinary history; a history that will take Leo & Holly (and their servant Job) to uncharted Africa where they will meet Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, surely one of the most memorable characters in literature.

Remember Galadriel's speech when Frodo offers her the One Ring? "[...]I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" Well, that's Ayesha in a nutshell; fortunately, she's spent the last 2,000 years brooding in the ruins of KĂ´r (a couple hundred miles inland from the east coast of Africa) waiting for the return of her lover Kallikrates (whom she slew in a jealous rage); Leo Vincey may or may not be Kallikrates reborn ...

Stunning adventure and memorable characters; and if you read through this thinking, "Wow, what a bunch of clichés ...", well, remember that they weren't clichés when the book was written; they became clichés because the book was so phenomenally successful (published initially in 1886 and never out of print to this day).]]> 3.56 1887 She (She, #1)
author: H. Rider Haggard
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1887
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:
OK, standard disclaimer: This book was written in 1885 or 1886. It contains racial and gender attitudes that are Really Not Cool. I think it's better than many of its contemporaries in that regard (for one thing, Haggard had actually lived in Africa for a while, so to some extent he kind of knew what he was talking about), but if as a result you don't want to read it, I'll completely understand. (And, to be fair, when I first read this book, I was a lot younger, meaning that I myself wasn't as sensitive to such issues.)

Having said that, this is pretty much a genre-defining masterpiece, all the more amazing when you consider that it was only Haggard's fourth(?) novel. L. Horace Holly, the narrator, ugly and something of a misanthrope as a result, but generally good-hearted, is tasked with raising Leo Vincey, the son of Holly's one close friend, after that friend's sudden demise. When Leo turns 25, he & Holly open the strongbox left by Leo's father and discover the Vincey family's extraordinary history; a history that will take Leo & Holly (and their servant Job) to uncharted Africa where they will meet Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, surely one of the most memorable characters in literature.

Remember Galadriel's speech when Frodo offers her the One Ring? "[...]I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" Well, that's Ayesha in a nutshell; fortunately, she's spent the last 2,000 years brooding in the ruins of KĂ´r (a couple hundred miles inland from the east coast of Africa) waiting for the return of her lover Kallikrates (whom she slew in a jealous rage); Leo Vincey may or may not be Kallikrates reborn ...

Stunning adventure and memorable characters; and if you read through this thinking, "Wow, what a bunch of clichés ...", well, remember that they weren't clichés when the book was written; they became clichés because the book was so phenomenally successful (published initially in 1886 and never out of print to this day).
]]> Mexican Gothic 52873094
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And NoemĂ­, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 304 Silvia Moreno-Garcia Joseph 4 deeply creepy (and more than a little racist), old, dying patriarch and, well, everything's fine here, right? Entirely, utterly fine?

(Oh! And did I mention the Terrible Family Secrets? I forgot all about the Terrible Family Secrets, didn't I?)

Gothic indeed, in all the best senses of the word.]]> 3.76 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/02/22
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:
NoemĂ­ Taboada, young socialite daughter of a Mexican paint company magnate in 1950 Mexico City, leaves home and her circle of parties and admirers to check on her newlywed cousin Carolina, who went to live in her husband's isolated ancestral estate high up in the mountains next to the failed silver mine. And NoemĂ­ makes her way to the creepy, crumbling house with its sullen servants and its isolated (they're actually transplanted English gentry) and creepy family, including the deeply creepy (and more than a little racist), old, dying patriarch and, well, everything's fine here, right? Entirely, utterly fine?

(Oh! And did I mention the Terrible Family Secrets? I forgot all about the Terrible Family Secrets, didn't I?)

Gothic indeed, in all the best senses of the word.
]]> <![CDATA[The Disorderly Knights (The Lymond Chronicles, #3)]]> 59039615 The Lymond Chronicles, the highly renowned series of historical novels by Dorothy Dunnett, Disorderly Knights takes place in 1551, when Francis Crawford of Lymond is dispatched to embattled Malta, to assist the Knights of Hospitallers in defending the island against the Turks. But shortly the swordsman and scholar discovers that the greatest threat to the Knights lies within their own ranks, where various factions vie secretly for master.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 626 Dorothy Dunnett Joseph 5 4.69 1966 The Disorderly Knights (The Lymond Chronicles, #3)
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.69
book published: 1966
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tremontaine: The Complete Season Two (Tremontaine, #2.1-2.13)]]> 32303341 Tremontaine, where ambition, love affairs, and rivalries dance with deadly results. In this novel Ellen Kushner and a team of writers return readers to the world of scandal and swordplay introduced in her cult-classic novel Swordspoint. Readers familiar with the series will find a welcome homecoming while new fans will learn what makes Riverside a place they will want to visit again and again. Tremontaine follows Diane, Duchess Tremontaine, whose beauty is matched only by her cunning; Rafe Fenton, a handsome young scholar with more passion than sense; Ixkaab Balam, a tradeswoman from afar with skill for swords and secrets; and Micah, a gentle genius whose discoveries herald revolution. Sparks fly as these four lives intersect in a world where politics is everything, and outcasts are the tastemakers. Tread carefully, dear reader, and keep your wit as sharp as your steel.

Originally presented in serial form by Serial Box Publishing, Tremontaine is brought to you by Ellen Kushner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Joel Derfner, Racheline Maltese, Paul Witcover, Tessa Gratton, and Mary Anne Mohanraj.]]> 625 Ellen Kushner Joseph 4 4.32 2017 Tremontaine: The Complete Season Two (Tremontaine, #2.1-2.13)
author: Ellen Kushner
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/31
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Night Flower (Court of Fives, #0.5)]]> 27774058 Court of Fives, the epic story of Jessamy and her struggle to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.

Kiya is a Commoner who has just arrived in the bustling city of Saryenia. Esladas is a member of the Patron ruling class and determined to prove himself in the army. His plans are disrupted by the outgoing and beautiful girl who sells him fruit in the market, though, despite the fact that neither of them speaks a word of the others language. Brief conversations and stolen moments together soon become something more, but when their divided cultures clash, Kiya and Esladas must decide if their blossoming love is worth becoming outsiders for the rest of their lives. Read the beginning of their legendary love story in this Court of Fives companion novella!]]> 60 Kate Elliott 0316344451 Joseph 4 3.74 2015 Night Flower (Court of Fives, #0.5)
author: Kate Elliott
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2017/09/11
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Queens' Play (The Lymond Chronicles, #2)]]> 59039606 Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

Second in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Queen's Play follows Frances Crawford of Lymond who has been abruptly called into the service of Mary Queen of Scots. Though she is only a little girl, the Queen is already the object of malicious intrigues that extend from her native country to the court of France. It is to France that Lymond must travel, exercising his sword hand and his agile wit while also undertaking the most unlikely of masquerades, all to make sure that his charge's royal person stays intact.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 524 Dorothy Dunnett Joseph 5 4.34 1964 Queens' Play (The Lymond Chronicles, #2)
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1964
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Game of Kings (The Lymond Chronicles, #1)]]> 8850377 Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

The first book in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Game of Kings takes place in 1547. Scotland has been humiliated by an English invasion and is threatened by machinations elsewhere beyond its borders, but it is still free. Paradoxically, her freedom may depend on a man who stands accused of treason: Francis Crawford of Lymond.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 562 Dorothy Dunnett Joseph 5 4.04 1961 The Game of Kings (The Lymond Chronicles, #1)
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Alliance Unbound (The Hinder Stars #2)]]> 61858235 The second novel of The Hinder Stars series returns to an intergalactic corporate conflict, set in the Hugo-award winning Alliance-Union Universe.

When Cyteen opened up faster-than-light travel, it gave the technology for free to any ship that could reach it; and with that technology, it provided a map of jump-points, points of mass enabling starships to navigate hyperspace safely.

The map of jump-points, however, stopped with the route to Alpha--thus excluding Sol, and Earth, and the Earth Company, whose gateway to the stars was Alpha. Cyteen knew exactly what it was doing with its gift. Sol and the EC could still reach Alpha with sub-light pusher-ships as it always had--but Sol and the Earth Company no longer had any authority in the Beyond.

But Sol intends to take back control of its star-stations and stop Cyteen's unbridled expansion, however it can. To do that, they are willing to starve Alpha, and concentrate their efforts on a huge FTLer capable of carrying military force.]]> 607 C.J. Cherryh 0756415985 Joseph 5 Alliance Rising and very much ends on a "To Be Continued ..."

It's also a great book.

[n.b. Untagged spoilers are about to abound for Alliance Rising, so if you haven't read that yet, stop reading this review, go read Alliance Rising, and then come back. I'll wait.]

So when last we left our heroes, Ross Monahan had been conked on the head, shoved into a spacesuit and unceremoniously booted from the airlock of his family's merchanter, the Galway, sent drifting towards the (much newer, larger and faster) merchanter Finity's End after Earth Company goons staged a takeover of the Galway as it set out to prove (or, maybe, catastrophically disprove) the existence of an actual FTL jump route that would for the first time connect Mother Earth to the rest of the interstellar society. (Earth being, at this point in the timeline, just a bit too far away from nearby stars to allow for an FTL jump; but in the previous book, Alpha Station and Galway had become aware of a couple of possible, previously-uncharted jump points that might allow Earth to join the FTL community instead of having to rely on a combination of sublight pusher ships and years-lagged radio communication to try to exert control over the various stations it had birthed, stations who ... really aren't all that interested in bowing to the Earth Company's whims any more, not to put too fine a point on it.)

As the book opens, Ross and a few of his older Monahan cousins have taken passage on Finity's End to be witness to the Earth Company's perfidy (which JR Neihart, Finity's captain, hopes might persuade the last few holdout stations and merchanters to join his nascent Alliance ...), while leaving other Monahans back on Alpha Station to await Galway's hoped-for return. Ross, who had been part of Navigation on his own ship, has been sitting the nav boards on Finity (and as the book opens, having some spooky and disorienting experiences for Reasons) while also trying to navigate the equally tricky contours of his relationship with one Jen Neihart -- they love each other very much, but there's the nagging awareness that most likely neither of them would be willing to actually leave their own ship permanently to be with the other (always assuming, of course, that Galway is still out there somewhere for Ross to leave ...). And which system's gravity well do they drop into as the book opens? Pell's! That's right, Downbelow Station itself looms on scan ...

And during their stay at Downbelow, Ross and the Neiharts will discover evidence of even more Earth Company machinations that will take them, eventually, to a particularly hellish sort of system for FTLers to drop into and jump out of, and a confrontation with some not-very-nice people.

And I have to say that I was so happy to revisit Downbelow again after all these years (well, technically the Hinder Stars books take place before all of the other Alliance/Union books), and to visit other places that had previously only existed as names or off-hand references, and to see the underpinnings being laid for events that will transpire in later books (that were written 45 years ago and what even is time?).

And the story is 100% pure high-octane Cherryh with the almost claustrophobically-tight POV and the deep attention to both small- and large-scale details -- at one point, Important Revelations are gleaned from a souvenir gathering dust on the shelf of a museum gift shop.

And I, for one, cannot wait for the third volume.]]> 4.56 2023 Alliance Unbound (The Hinder Stars #2)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:
Just to set expectations: This is very much the middle part of a story -- it picks up in the immediate aftermath of Alliance Rising and very much ends on a "To Be Continued ..."

It's also a great book.

[n.b. Untagged spoilers are about to abound for Alliance Rising, so if you haven't read that yet, stop reading this review, go read Alliance Rising, and then come back. I'll wait.]

So when last we left our heroes, Ross Monahan had been conked on the head, shoved into a spacesuit and unceremoniously booted from the airlock of his family's merchanter, the Galway, sent drifting towards the (much newer, larger and faster) merchanter Finity's End after Earth Company goons staged a takeover of the Galway as it set out to prove (or, maybe, catastrophically disprove) the existence of an actual FTL jump route that would for the first time connect Mother Earth to the rest of the interstellar society. (Earth being, at this point in the timeline, just a bit too far away from nearby stars to allow for an FTL jump; but in the previous book, Alpha Station and Galway had become aware of a couple of possible, previously-uncharted jump points that might allow Earth to join the FTL community instead of having to rely on a combination of sublight pusher ships and years-lagged radio communication to try to exert control over the various stations it had birthed, stations who ... really aren't all that interested in bowing to the Earth Company's whims any more, not to put too fine a point on it.)

As the book opens, Ross and a few of his older Monahan cousins have taken passage on Finity's End to be witness to the Earth Company's perfidy (which JR Neihart, Finity's captain, hopes might persuade the last few holdout stations and merchanters to join his nascent Alliance ...), while leaving other Monahans back on Alpha Station to await Galway's hoped-for return. Ross, who had been part of Navigation on his own ship, has been sitting the nav boards on Finity (and as the book opens, having some spooky and disorienting experiences for Reasons) while also trying to navigate the equally tricky contours of his relationship with one Jen Neihart -- they love each other very much, but there's the nagging awareness that most likely neither of them would be willing to actually leave their own ship permanently to be with the other (always assuming, of course, that Galway is still out there somewhere for Ross to leave ...). And which system's gravity well do they drop into as the book opens? Pell's! That's right, Downbelow Station itself looms on scan ...

And during their stay at Downbelow, Ross and the Neiharts will discover evidence of even more Earth Company machinations that will take them, eventually, to a particularly hellish sort of system for FTLers to drop into and jump out of, and a confrontation with some not-very-nice people.

And I have to say that I was so happy to revisit Downbelow again after all these years (well, technically the Hinder Stars books take place before all of the other Alliance/Union books), and to visit other places that had previously only existed as names or off-hand references, and to see the underpinnings being laid for events that will transpire in later books (that were written 45 years ago and what even is time?).

And the story is 100% pure high-octane Cherryh with the almost claustrophobically-tight POV and the deep attention to both small- and large-scale details -- at one point, Important Revelations are gleaned from a souvenir gathering dust on the shelf of a museum gift shop.

And I, for one, cannot wait for the third volume.
]]> <![CDATA[Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]]> 77262337 An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.

In this exhilarating novel by the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry two friends--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> 418 Gabrielle Zevin Joseph 4 4.22 2022 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tevinter Nights (Dragon Age, #6)]]> 52488341 An anthology of original stories based on the dark fantasy, role-playing video game series from Bioware.

Ancient horrors. Marauding invaders. Powerful mages. And a world that refuses to stay fixed.

Welcome to Thedas.

From the stoic Grey Wardens to the otherworldly Mortalitasi necromancers, from the proud Dalish elves to the underhanded Antivan Crow assassins, Dragon Age is filled with monsters, magic, and memorable characters making their way through dangerous world whose only constant is change.

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights brings you fifteen tales of adventure, featuring faces new and old, including:

"Three Trees to Midnight" by Patrick Weekes
"Down Among the Dead Men" by Sylvia Feketekuty
"The Horror of Hormak" by John Epler
"Callback" by Lukas Kristjanson
"Luck in the Gardens" by Sylvia Feketekuty
"Hunger" by Brianne Battye
"Murder by Death Mages" by Caitlin Sullivan Kelly
"The Streets of Minrathous" by Brianne Battye
"The Wigmaker" by Courtney Woods
"Genitivi Dies in the End" by Lukas Kristjanson
"Herold Had the Plan" by Ryan Cormier
"An Old Crow's Old Tricks" by Arone Le Bray
"Eight Little Talons" by Courtney Woods
"Half Up Front" by John Epler
"Dread Wolf Take You" by Patrick Weekes]]> 490 Chris Bain Joseph 3
This is a collection of stories primarily (as per the title) set in and around Tevinter, the Bad Mage Empire that's always been kind of off on the outer periphery of things in the previous games (and is homeland to one Dorian Pavus), and it was obviously intended to serve as a lead-in to the fourth Dragon Age game.

But that game (now out; now called Dragon Age: The Veilguard) had a particularly tortured development history with multiple false starts and restarts, and this book, which came out in 2020, was clearly written to tie in to an earlier iteration of the game, where you and your companions would be spending more time in Tevinter getting up to heists and skullduggery and other shenanigans.

So while some of the stories do introduce characters and places that you encounter in the game as it currently exists (and/or bring back characters from some of the previous games), it doesn't quite mesh as nicely with the final version of the game as one might hope.

Having said which, the stories themselves, independent of the game, are generally pretty enjoyable, some moreso than others, obviously -- as mentioned, they mostly take place in and around the Tevinter Imperium and mostly are on the smaller scale/lower stakes end of things.

So if you like Dragon Age, this is definitely one to put on your list; if you've never played a Dragon Age game, I don't think I'd recommend it, but there's a nonzero chance that you'd enjoy it regardless, just on the strength of the individual stories.]]> 4.13 2020 Tevinter Nights (Dragon Age, #6)
author: Chris Bain
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:
Dragon Age is one of my favorite video game series, and I've enjoyed all of the fiction I've read in the setting (the five previous novels; I know there are also a whole bunch of graphic novels, but I've never quite gotten into those) and this book was no exception. Having said which, it's a bit of an odd one.

This is a collection of stories primarily (as per the title) set in and around Tevinter, the Bad Mage Empire that's always been kind of off on the outer periphery of things in the previous games (and is homeland to one Dorian Pavus), and it was obviously intended to serve as a lead-in to the fourth Dragon Age game.

But that game (now out; now called Dragon Age: The Veilguard) had a particularly tortured development history with multiple false starts and restarts, and this book, which came out in 2020, was clearly written to tie in to an earlier iteration of the game, where you and your companions would be spending more time in Tevinter getting up to heists and skullduggery and other shenanigans.

So while some of the stories do introduce characters and places that you encounter in the game as it currently exists (and/or bring back characters from some of the previous games), it doesn't quite mesh as nicely with the final version of the game as one might hope.

Having said which, the stories themselves, independent of the game, are generally pretty enjoyable, some moreso than others, obviously -- as mentioned, they mostly take place in and around the Tevinter Imperium and mostly are on the smaller scale/lower stakes end of things.

So if you like Dragon Age, this is definitely one to put on your list; if you've never played a Dragon Age game, I don't think I'd recommend it, but there's a nonzero chance that you'd enjoy it regardless, just on the strength of the individual stories.
]]> <![CDATA[Imaro: The Quest for Cush (Imaro #2)]]> 1535274
Like his contemporaries, Karl Edward Wagner (Kane) and Michael Moorcock (Elric), Charles Saunders brings something new to the traditional heroic fantasy tale. A broad knowledge of, and passion for, the history and myths of Africa led to the creation of a heroic fantasy character the likes of which the world has never seen. Imaro is no Tarzan� no Conan� Imaro is a warrior out of African legend.

Saunders' novel fuses the narrative style of fantasy fiction with a pre-colonial, alternate Africa. Inspired by and directly addresses the alienation of growing up an African American fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy, which to this day remains a very ethnically homogonous genre. It addresses this both structurally (via its unique setting) and thematically (via its alienated, tribeless hero-protagonist). The tribal tensions and histories presented in this fantasy novel reflect actual African tribal histories and tensions, and provide a unique perspective to current and recent conflicts in Africa, particularly the Rwandan genocide and the ongoing conflict in The Sudan.]]> 224 Charles R. Saunders 159780066X Joseph 4 4.28 1984 Imaro: The Quest for Cush (Imaro #2)
author: Charles R. Saunders
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman]]> 28113699 293 Geoffrey Crayon Joseph 3 Washington Irving, mostly of essays about his travels in England, together with some stories you may have heard of -- Rip Van Winkle, The Spectral Bridegroom, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I tried with the essays, honestly I did, but, well, they just weren't that ... interesting, for the most part. And were written in that mid-19th century style where a single sentence can go on for a page and a half. So I couldn't do it.

The aforementioned stories, though, were pretty good, albeit written in the same style. Kind of hard to believe that I'd never (unless I'm forgetting) actually read any of them until now.]]> 3.53 1819 The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman
author: Geoffrey Crayon
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1819
rating: 3
read at: 2016/12/01
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves:
review:
OK, I'm going to be honest here: I didn't read the full thing. This is a collection by Washington Irving, mostly of essays about his travels in England, together with some stories you may have heard of -- Rip Van Winkle, The Spectral Bridegroom, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I tried with the essays, honestly I did, but, well, they just weren't that ... interesting, for the most part. And were written in that mid-19th century style where a single sentence can go on for a page and a half. So I couldn't do it.

The aforementioned stories, though, were pretty good, albeit written in the same style. Kind of hard to believe that I'd never (unless I'm forgetting) actually read any of them until now.
]]> Spicy Adventures 218323761 Spicy AdventuresĚýare in for a surprise in this volume. For if Howard's agent, Otis Kline - and us - thought that Howard's stories were perhaps too tame for publisher Armer, it turned out, upon examination of the surviving carbons and drafts, that it was in fact exactly the all of the stories had been heavily censored when first published in Spicy Adventures (and thus in the 1983 edition.) In typical fashion, Howard had gone further than the guidelines imposed, stretching the boundaries as much as possible, probably because he understood what his readers wanted. This was nothing new.




All of the Howard stories and portions thereof contained in Spicy Adventures come from Howard's original typescripts, manuscripts, and carbons. Virtually all of them were scanned from the Glenn Lord collection, now at the University of Texas, Austin; the Robert E. Howard collection at Texas A&M University; or the typescript collection at Cross Plains Library.




CHANGES FROM THE 1ST In this Ultimate Edition, previously edited versions of "The Girl on the Hell Ship," "Ship in Mutiny," and "Daughters of Feud" have been restored to typescript. Five "new" earliest-known drafts have been "Desert Blood," "Dragon of Kao Tsu," "Murderer's Grog," "Guns of Khartoum," and "Daughters of Feud." We have also replaced the previous "early" drafts of "The Girl on the Hell Ship" and "Ship in Mutiny" with their earliest known drafts.]]> Robert E. Howard 1955446296 Joseph 3 working writer -- writing was how he paid the bills, so he'd happily sell to any market he could crack. Second, any story he sold to those markets was always going to be, at its core, a Robert E. Howard story.

So this is a relatively brief collection (the main body comprises 8 stories taking up about 160 pages) of stories he wrote to crack the newly-developing market in the 1930s for "spicy" adventure stories. (Oh, my stars and garters!) Which, in practice, means it's a collection of what I'd regard as mostly upper lower middle class Howard stories, but with added lashings of young ladies in garments more revealing than concealing, allowing glimpses of curvy contours.

(The level of spiciness is, of course, by modern standards positively quaint -- for the most part, those ladies, who may or may not be trying to employ their Feminine Wiles on the typically Howardian heroes, tend to shed most (or even, gasp!, all) of their garments as the stories progress, but any actual ... activities happen either off the page or in extremely nonspecific form. The level of consensuality, sad to say, is frequently ... not great.)

Six of the eight stories are about a certain Wild Bill Clanton, and are for the most part set in either the South Seas or in various exotic ports of call. The time period seems to be relatively contemporary? But it's not always entirely clear -- Clanton's ship is a schooner and there's sometimes talk of piracy or a British warship to hide from.

Probably the best story in the book, Guns of Khartum, is set in, well, Kartum(q.v.) and concerns a certain Emmet Corcoran who finds himself in the city as it's being besieged by the Mahdi's forces. Yes, there's a girl who sheds garments and needs rescuing, but this is the story that feels most like it would have worked as more of a straight adventure tale.

And lastly we have Daughters of Feud, about a schoolteacher in an Appalachian village with feuding families (think Hatfield/McCoy), whose (nubile, 19 year old) daughters he's forced to chastise for fighting in school and, well, complications ensue.

The book is rounded out with early drafts or synopses of the stories which are interesting from a scholarly perspective but less so for general readers; but then again, few, if any, general readers are going to be picking up a book of Robert E. Howard's spicy adventure stories in the first place.

Honestly probably closer to a 2.5 than a 3, but you probably already know whether this is something that might be of interest or not.]]> 3.50 2011 Spicy Adventures
author: Robert E. Howard
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves:
review:
Two things to know about Robert E. Howard: First, he was a working writer -- writing was how he paid the bills, so he'd happily sell to any market he could crack. Second, any story he sold to those markets was always going to be, at its core, a Robert E. Howard story.

So this is a relatively brief collection (the main body comprises 8 stories taking up about 160 pages) of stories he wrote to crack the newly-developing market in the 1930s for "spicy" adventure stories. (Oh, my stars and garters!) Which, in practice, means it's a collection of what I'd regard as mostly upper lower middle class Howard stories, but with added lashings of young ladies in garments more revealing than concealing, allowing glimpses of curvy contours.

(The level of spiciness is, of course, by modern standards positively quaint -- for the most part, those ladies, who may or may not be trying to employ their Feminine Wiles on the typically Howardian heroes, tend to shed most (or even, gasp!, all) of their garments as the stories progress, but any actual ... activities happen either off the page or in extremely nonspecific form. The level of consensuality, sad to say, is frequently ... not great.)

Six of the eight stories are about a certain Wild Bill Clanton, and are for the most part set in either the South Seas or in various exotic ports of call. The time period seems to be relatively contemporary? But it's not always entirely clear -- Clanton's ship is a schooner and there's sometimes talk of piracy or a British warship to hide from.

Probably the best story in the book, Guns of Khartum, is set in, well, Kartum(q.v.) and concerns a certain Emmet Corcoran who finds himself in the city as it's being besieged by the Mahdi's forces. Yes, there's a girl who sheds garments and needs rescuing, but this is the story that feels most like it would have worked as more of a straight adventure tale.

And lastly we have Daughters of Feud, about a schoolteacher in an Appalachian village with feuding families (think Hatfield/McCoy), whose (nubile, 19 year old) daughters he's forced to chastise for fighting in school and, well, complications ensue.

The book is rounded out with early drafts or synopses of the stories which are interesting from a scholarly perspective but less so for general readers; but then again, few, if any, general readers are going to be picking up a book of Robert E. Howard's spicy adventure stories in the first place.

Honestly probably closer to a 2.5 than a 3, but you probably already know whether this is something that might be of interest or not.
]]> <![CDATA[The Gods of Mars (Barsoom #2)]]> 3147132
The Gods of Mars is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second of his Barsoom series. It was first published in The All-Story as a five-part serial in the issues for January-May 1913.[1] It was later published as a complete novel by A. C. McClurg in September, 1918.

Excerpt:
For moments after that awful laugh had ceased reverberating through the rocky room, Tars Tarkas and I stood in tense and expectant silence. But no further sound broke the stillness, nor within the range of our vision did aught move.At length Tars Tarkas laughed softly, after the manner of his strange kind when in the presence of the horrible or terrifying. It is not an hysterical laugh, but rather the genuine expression of the pleasure they derive from the things that move Earth men to loathing or to tears.Often and again have I seen them roll upon the ground in mad fits of uncontrollable mirth when witnessing the death agonies of women and little children beneath the torture of that hellish green Martian fete-the Great Games.I looked up at the Thark, a smile upon my own lips, for here in truth was greater need for a smiling face than a trembling chin.]]> 190 Edgar Rice Burroughs 0345235797 Joseph 5 3.72 1913 The Gods of Mars (Barsoom #2)
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1913
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:
This might be my favorite book in the series. Now that Barsoom has been established, ERB can really go to town -- the creatures are scarier, the settings more exotic, the villains more villainous and we get the single biggest engagement between aerial navies in the entire series. Again, coincidence plays rather more of a role than it probably should, but the narrative moves so quickly and so forcefully that you hardly notice the creak of the rails.
]]> <![CDATA[The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles]]> 11783348 File Under:ĚýEpic FantasyĚý[ Blood Oil | Alchemy & Infamy | The Axeman Cometh | A Hero’s Doom ]e-book 978-0-85766-206-4]]> 896 Andy Remic Joseph 3 3.73 2012 The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles
author: Andy Remic
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tremontaine: The Complete Season 4]]> 41794020 539 Ellen Kushner 1682107590 Joseph 4 4.17 2018 Tremontaine: The Complete Season 4
author: Ellen Kushner
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/15
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Silver Warriors (Erekosë #2)]]> 22793473
First published in 1970,ĚýThe Silver WarriorsĚýis a classic staple of the sword and sorcery genre, followed byĚýThe Dragon in the Sword, and preceded byĚýThe Eternal Champion.]]> 240 Michael Moorcock 1783291591 Joseph 4 The Eternal Champion, John Daker, from our world, was summoned by the collective will of Humanity to a distant time when he became the champion ErekosĂ« in the final war between Humanity and the Eldren.

Now, many years after the conclusion of that war, when he has found a certain kind of peace, he finds himself called again across Time and Space, this time directly into a Frank Frazetta painting.

The Silver Warriors

No, really. He manifests in this world in the form of legendary hero Urlik Skarskol, and when he first appears he is riding his polar-bear-drawn chariot across the ice -- this particular world being mostly frozen and at the end of its run. The bears lead him to the decadent city of Rowernarc and its rulers, the decadent Belphig and the ascetic Shansofane. Again, Humanity is in trouble -- in this case, from the Silver Warriors who are reputed to come from a place called Moon somewhere on the far side of the world (according to legend, apparently this "Moon" place was once up in the sky?). And to fulfil his destiny, despite his reluctance, Urlik Skarskol will need to take up the Black Sword ...

Another relatively short & fast-reading novel -- I think I knocked it out in less than two hours -- but highly recommended to fans of old-school sword & sorcery.]]> 4.14 1970 The Silver Warriors (Erekosë #2)
author: Michael Moorcock
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1970
rating: 4
read at: 2017/12/04
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
In The Eternal Champion, John Daker, from our world, was summoned by the collective will of Humanity to a distant time when he became the champion Erekosë in the final war between Humanity and the Eldren.

Now, many years after the conclusion of that war, when he has found a certain kind of peace, he finds himself called again across Time and Space, this time directly into a Frank Frazetta painting.

The Silver Warriors

No, really. He manifests in this world in the form of legendary hero Urlik Skarskol, and when he first appears he is riding his polar-bear-drawn chariot across the ice -- this particular world being mostly frozen and at the end of its run. The bears lead him to the decadent city of Rowernarc and its rulers, the decadent Belphig and the ascetic Shansofane. Again, Humanity is in trouble -- in this case, from the Silver Warriors who are reputed to come from a place called Moon somewhere on the far side of the world (according to legend, apparently this "Moon" place was once up in the sky?). And to fulfil his destiny, despite his reluctance, Urlik Skarskol will need to take up the Black Sword ...

Another relatively short & fast-reading novel -- I think I knocked it out in less than two hours -- but highly recommended to fans of old-school sword & sorcery.
]]> <![CDATA[Tremontaine: The Complete Season 3]]> 38730550 607 Ellen Kushner 1682101894 Joseph 4 4.15 2018 Tremontaine: The Complete Season 3
author: Ellen Kushner
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/10
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Jewel and Her Lapidary 28097860
An epic fantasy, in miniature.]]> 92 Fran Wilde 0765384973 Joseph 4 3.37 2016 The Jewel and Her Lapidary
author: Fran Wilde
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/10
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Night in the Lonesome October]]> 57823573 290 Roger Zelazny 1515451127 Joseph 5 4.31 1993 A Night in the Lonesome October
author: Roger Zelazny
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Pirate Adventures 218324099



"Oh Heavens!" he screeched, writhing about and staring up at his mates with wild, crazed eyes. "Oh, Grand Dieu, I burn, I die! Oh, saints, grant me ease!"




Even Bellefonte's steel nerves seemed shaken at this terrible sight, but John Gower remained unmoved. He drew a pistol and flung it to the dying man.




"You are doomed," said he brutally. "The venom is coursing through your veins like the fire of Hell, but you may live for hours yet. Best end your torment."




La Costa clutched at the weapon as a drowning man seizes a twig. A moment he hesitated, torn between two terrible fears, then as the burning of the venom shook him with fiercer stabbings, he set the muzzle against his temple, gibbering and yammering, and jerked the trigger. The stare of his tortured eyes will haunt me till Doomsday, and may his crimes on earth be forgiven him for if ever a man passed through Purgatory in his dying, it was he.




"By God!" said Bellefonte, wiping his brow. "This looks like the hand of Satan!"]]> Robert E. Howard 1955446288 Joseph 4 The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures, etc.) has finally started rereleasing their back catalog in both Amazon POD physical volumes and in eBook format, Pirate Adventures being one of the first of those reprints.

As you might infer from the title, this is a collection (a relatively slim one) of pretty much every otherwise uncollected piratical story or poem that Howard wrote, and as you might expect given the author, it's a thundering great read, full of pistol shot and flashing cutlasses and blood in the scuppers. Whatever those are. And, again because Howard, plenty of lost temples and glittering jewels and the occasional ... questionable ethnic portrayal; but if you're already this far along in your Howardry, you've probably girt your loins accordingly.

So, the book itself. As mentioned, it's relatively brief -- four major stories (one of which is a full-on novella) and a handful of poems, and rounded out with an assortment of drafts and fragments. Two of the stories (Blades of the Brotherhood and Swords of the Red Brotherhood) you've probably read before in slightly different form. Blades, to give it away, features a dour Puritan hero named "Malachi Grim"; and Swords of the Red Brotherhood is a rewritten version of the Conan story The Black Stranger (after that version failed to sell to Howard's usual markets). (And don't tell anyone I said this, but this version might be better than the Conan version if only because it always felt jarring to have Conan stomping around in full Treasure Island cosplay.)

So is this essential? Probably not, but it is an excellent way to while away a few pleasant hours; and if you happen to have some rum or grog to hand while reading, well, I won't hold it against you.]]> 4.00 2013 Pirate Adventures
author: Robert E. Howard
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves:
review:
Good news! The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press, which for the past 17 years or so has been gradually bringing into print (in handsome, but unfortunately very limited editions) pretty much everything Howard ever wrote that's not already included in one of the big Del Rey collections (The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures, etc.) has finally started rereleasing their back catalog in both Amazon POD physical volumes and in eBook format, Pirate Adventures being one of the first of those reprints.

As you might infer from the title, this is a collection (a relatively slim one) of pretty much every otherwise uncollected piratical story or poem that Howard wrote, and as you might expect given the author, it's a thundering great read, full of pistol shot and flashing cutlasses and blood in the scuppers. Whatever those are. And, again because Howard, plenty of lost temples and glittering jewels and the occasional ... questionable ethnic portrayal; but if you're already this far along in your Howardry, you've probably girt your loins accordingly.

So, the book itself. As mentioned, it's relatively brief -- four major stories (one of which is a full-on novella) and a handful of poems, and rounded out with an assortment of drafts and fragments. Two of the stories (Blades of the Brotherhood and Swords of the Red Brotherhood) you've probably read before in slightly different form. Blades, to give it away, features a dour Puritan hero named "Malachi Grim"; and Swords of the Red Brotherhood is a rewritten version of the Conan story The Black Stranger (after that version failed to sell to Howard's usual markets). (And don't tell anyone I said this, but this version might be better than the Conan version if only because it always felt jarring to have Conan stomping around in full Treasure Island cosplay.)

So is this essential? Probably not, but it is an excellent way to while away a few pleasant hours; and if you happen to have some rum or grog to hand while reading, well, I won't hold it against you.
]]> Valentine Pontifex 19252588 The Classic Bestselling Saga by Science Fiction Grand Master Robert Silverberg


Plagued by nightmares of Majipoor besieged by blizzards and earthquakes, Lord Valentine believes these omens signal an encroaching war between his people and the Shapeshifters who once ruled the planet. For centuries they have conspired to regain their stolen world and recently, they were discovered impersonating members of the kingdom’s inner circle.

Since coming to power, Valentine has made peaceful overtures to the Shapeshifters, actions that have many in the royal court questioning his motives and loyalties—and led them to consider removing him from his governing duties so that he may ascend to the higher ceremonial office of Pontifex.

But if Valentine accepts the mantle of Pontifex and surrenders his position to his successor-in-waiting, he may be remembered as a leader who evaded his responsibilities—and shattered the peace that has reigned for eight thousand years...
]]> 370 Robert Silverberg 1101598247 Joseph 4 4.08 1983 Valentine Pontifex
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Majipoor Chronicles 19033630 When Hissune, Lord Valentine's successor-designate and a clerk in the House of Records, is assigned to organizing the archives of the tax-collectors, he is disheartened to say the least. No one will ever have need of his findings, his useless busywork.
But close to the House of Records lies a far more interesting the Register of Souls.
Home to millions of telepathically recorded stories, the Register contains Majipoor's infinitely complex histories--tales of love and loss, triumph and heartbreak. And as the young prince-to-be immerses himself in the lives of those who have come before, he creates an enthralling chronicle of his own...
]]> 322 Robert Silverberg 1101615435 Joseph 4 4.20 1981 Majipoor Chronicles
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1981
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Three Adventures]]> 12479311 79 Garth Nix Joseph 4
My only complaint: I want more! (Which, to be fair, there are at least two or three additional stories, but they're scattered in various anthologies; hopefully, we'll get another collection. I also wouldn't say no to a full-on novel.)]]> 4.12 2011 Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Three Adventures
author: Garth Nix
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/21
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves:
review:
Three highly entertaining short stories about Sir Hereward (sort of a Napoleonic-era artillerist by trade, I believe) and his animated magical puppet Mr. Fitz, who roam around the world getting into scrapes while secretly on a mission to locate and banish/destroy various forbidden gods &c.

My only complaint: I want more! (Which, to be fair, there are at least two or three additional stories, but they're scattered in various anthologies; hopefully, we'll get another collection. I also wouldn't say no to a full-on novel.)
]]> <![CDATA[Lord Valentine's Castle (Lord Valentine, #1)]]> 252838
Valentine's journey is a long one, a tour through a series of magnificent environments. Fields of predatory plants give way to impossibly wide rivers, chalk-cliffed islands and unforgiving deserts. The prose is unrelentingly dreamlike—no accident given that on Majipoor, dreams rule the minds of great and humble alike.

Originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in four parts: November 1979, December 1979, January 1980 and February 1980.]]> 506 Robert Silverberg 0061054879 Joseph 4 3.89 1980 Lord Valentine's Castle (Lord Valentine, #1)
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Navigational Entanglements 198111938 Award-winning author of The Red Scholar’s Wake Aliette de Bodard comes for your heart with a compelling tale of love, duty, and found-family in an exciting new space opera that brings xianxia-style martial arts to the stars.

Jockeying navigator clans guide spaceships through the an area of space populated by the mysterious but deadly creatures known as Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes the Hollows for the first time in living memory, each clan must send a representative to help capture it—but the mission may be doomed and the hearts of two clan juniors may be in danger too.

Việt Nhi is not good with people. Or politics. Which is a problem when the Rooster clan sends her on the mission against her will, forcing her to work with an ill-matched group of squabbling teammates from rival clans, including one who she can’t avoid, and maybe doesn’t want to.

Hạc Cúc of the Snake clan has always been better at poisoning and stabbing than at making friends, but she’s drawn to Nhi’s perceptiveness and obliviousness to social conventions—including the ones that really should make Nhi think twice about spending time with her.

But when their imperial envoy and nominal leader is poisoned, this crew of expendable apprentices will have to learn to work together—fast—before the invisible Tangler can wreak havoc on a civilian city and destroy the fragile reputation of the clans. Along the way, Nhi and Hạc Cúc will have to learn the hardest lesson of to see past their own misconceptions and learn to trust their growing feelings for each other.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 168 Aliette de Bodard 1250793297 Joseph 4 4.10 2024 Navigational Entanglements
author: Aliette de Bodard
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Lady (Marakand, #2) 23616015 443 K.V. Johansen 1616149817 Joseph 4 4.40 2014 The Lady (Marakand, #2)
author: K.V. Johansen
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/28
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Leopard (Marakand, #1) 21793013
To Marakand, too, come a Northron wanderer and her demon verrbjarn lover, carrying the obsidian sword Lakkariss, a weapon forged by the Old Great Gods to bring their justice to the seven devils who escaped the cold hells so long before.]]> 432 K.V. Johansen 1616149043 Joseph 4 3.76 2014 The Leopard (Marakand, #1)
author: K.V. Johansen
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Beasts of Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #3]]> 55228888
After settling at their London estate as Lord and Lady Greystoke, Tarzan and Jane find their contentment shattered by the ape-man's former enemies, the Russian spies Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch. Bent on revenge, the two villians kidnap Jane and the couple's infant son Jack, stranding Tarzan naked and alone on a remote jungle island while fleeing to the African interior.

Tarzan's savage nature reemerges as he recruits Sheeta the panther, Akut and his tribe of great apes, and the mighty warrior Mugambi to pursue the criminals up the Ugambi River into the heart of the jungle, where cannibal tribes hold sway and his desperate adversaries pursue their cruel vendetta.

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS AUTHORIZED LIBRARY

For the first time ever, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library presents the complete literary works of the Master of Adventure in handsome uniform editions. Published by the company founded by Burroughs himself in 1923, each volume of the Authorized Library is packed with extras and rarities not to be found in any other edition. From cover art and frontispieces by legendary artist Joe Jusko to forewords and afterwords by today's authorities and luminaries to a treasure trove of bonus materials mined from the company's extensive archives in Tarzana, California, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library will take you on a journey of wonder and imagination you will never forget.]]> 248 Edgar Rice Burroughs 1951537025 Joseph 3 The Return of Tarzan), Tarzan sets out to rescue him and thence commences the usual Burroughsian mix of breathtaking adventure, highly convenient (or inconvenient) coincidence and occasional deplorable racial stereotypes (this time expanding out from African natives to include Chinese, Maori and a Swede). And it's ... fine. Tarzan, naturally, gets dumped naked on an island just off the African coast that by incredible coincidence happens to have a tribe of the same (entirely fictional) "great apes" that raised him in his childhood; he also befriends Sheeta, a panther; and if you think you can kidnap the son of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle and not suffer hideous consequences, well, you're probably reading the wrong books.

One nice thing -- Jane actually gets a fair bit of time onscreen, and she turns out to be more than capable of taking care of herself and taking charge of things when the situation demands it.]]> 3.70 1914 The Beasts of Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #3
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1914
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves:
review:
If the first two books were the origin story, this is like an epilogue to that origin. As things open, Tarzan and Jane and new baby Jack Clayton are making a home for themselves in London; then Jack is kidnapped (by Rokoff and Paulvitch, the evil Russian villains -- think turn-of-the-20th-century parodies of "revolutionaries" and "anarchists"; Paulvitch is even a literal bomb-maker -- of The Return of Tarzan), Tarzan sets out to rescue him and thence commences the usual Burroughsian mix of breathtaking adventure, highly convenient (or inconvenient) coincidence and occasional deplorable racial stereotypes (this time expanding out from African natives to include Chinese, Maori and a Swede). And it's ... fine. Tarzan, naturally, gets dumped naked on an island just off the African coast that by incredible coincidence happens to have a tribe of the same (entirely fictional) "great apes" that raised him in his childhood; he also befriends Sheeta, a panther; and if you think you can kidnap the son of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle and not suffer hideous consequences, well, you're probably reading the wrong books.

One nice thing -- Jane actually gets a fair bit of time onscreen, and she turns out to be more than capable of taking care of herself and taking charge of things when the situation demands it.
]]> Rocket Ship Galileo 21270814 228 Robert A. Heinlein Joseph 3 bad book; it's just that there's not very much there there.

This one was first published in 1946, so must've been written in the immediate aftermath of WWII. It takes place at least a few years in the future, at least relative to when it was written (so probably 60-70 years in our past; as I recall, the only concrete date mentioned is 1951, when they're talking about an event that happened in the past relative to the events of the book). Heinlein doesn't really go deeply into the background of the setting -- that's not why we're here -- but apparently the UN has been established as a sort of supreme power (although nations still exist, as long as they don't try to wage war on each other) and trans-oceanic or trans-continental rockets are fairly common but nobody has gone to the Moon yet.

Hence our story, which actually reminds me in some ways of nothing so much as The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, except that I assume all of the orbital mechanics, thrust/weight ratios, etc., have been worked out in much greater detail.

As we open, our three protagonists, Ross, Art and Morrie (all just out of high school) are out in the countryside conducting some fairly large-scale (and not entirely successful) rocketry experiments when Art's uncle Donald Cargraves (a veteran of the Manhattan Project) shows up and recruits them for his next project -- buying a surplus mail rocket, outfitting it with a thorium reactor for the drive, and heading off to the Moon. Which plan, needless to say, the boys enthusiastically support; their parents, perhaps less so.

And so out to the New Mexico desert for a good bit of engineering (and some apparent attempted sabotage by Bad Actors) prior to liftoff and then the whole thing ends with the discovery of a Nazi base on the Moon (promptly taken out of commission) and evidence that the Moon once housed intelligent beings of its own.

I think it may also be the shortest of his juveniles? So I'm not going to say don't read it if you're in the mood for that kind of thing and have a few hours to kill (and have a reasonably high tolerance for "folksy" dialogue), but know that you could do better with, well, pretty much any of his later juveniles. (Personal favorites include but are not limited to Space Cadet, Red Planet and Citizen of the Galaxy.)]]> 4.17 1947 Rocket Ship Galileo
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1947
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/12
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:
Of all the Heinlein juvenile novels (well, of the ones that Dad owned, or that they had at the local public library), this is the one that I read the least. And revisiting it now for the first time in ... 45 years? Probably something along those lines ... I can kind of see why. It's not that it's a bad book; it's just that there's not very much there there.

This one was first published in 1946, so must've been written in the immediate aftermath of WWII. It takes place at least a few years in the future, at least relative to when it was written (so probably 60-70 years in our past; as I recall, the only concrete date mentioned is 1951, when they're talking about an event that happened in the past relative to the events of the book). Heinlein doesn't really go deeply into the background of the setting -- that's not why we're here -- but apparently the UN has been established as a sort of supreme power (although nations still exist, as long as they don't try to wage war on each other) and trans-oceanic or trans-continental rockets are fairly common but nobody has gone to the Moon yet.

Hence our story, which actually reminds me in some ways of nothing so much as The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, except that I assume all of the orbital mechanics, thrust/weight ratios, etc., have been worked out in much greater detail.

As we open, our three protagonists, Ross, Art and Morrie (all just out of high school) are out in the countryside conducting some fairly large-scale (and not entirely successful) rocketry experiments when Art's uncle Donald Cargraves (a veteran of the Manhattan Project) shows up and recruits them for his next project -- buying a surplus mail rocket, outfitting it with a thorium reactor for the drive, and heading off to the Moon. Which plan, needless to say, the boys enthusiastically support; their parents, perhaps less so.

And so out to the New Mexico desert for a good bit of engineering (and some apparent attempted sabotage by Bad Actors) prior to liftoff and then the whole thing ends with the discovery of a Nazi base on the Moon (promptly taken out of commission) and evidence that the Moon once housed intelligent beings of its own.

I think it may also be the shortest of his juveniles? So I'm not going to say don't read it if you're in the mood for that kind of thing and have a few hours to kill (and have a reasonably high tolerance for "folksy" dialogue), but know that you could do better with, well, pretty much any of his later juveniles. (Personal favorites include but are not limited to Space Cadet, Red Planet and Citizen of the Galaxy.)
]]> The Ceremonies 57733231
This summer sees the long-anticipated re-issue of The Ceremonies, a celebrated masterpiece from a generation ago, now fully corrected by its author. Chalking up the British Fantasy Award for Best First Novel on its original publication back in 1984, The Ceremonies was hailed by Stephen King as the best horror novel since Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. It is now included in 100 Best Books.

From the terrifying vision of its opening scene to the breathtaking horror of its climax, The Ceremonies turns our familiar world into a place of malevolent intrigue and ominous design. In the grip of an extraordinary writer, it plumbs the darkest underpinnings of ancient myth and folklore to reveal an undying evil.

For graduate student Jeremy Freirs, citified, cynical, yet prone to daydreams, summer is the time to shed a few pounds and finally get some reading done for a course on gothic literature. He's picked just the right the small, secluded village of Gilead, New Jersey, only ninety minutes from Manhattan but, with its antique customs and clannish traditions, seemingly centuries away. For farmers Sarr and Deborah Poroth, young members of Gilead's fundamentalist community, the summer threatens a conflict between their passionate natures and the stern dictates of their faith. For Sarr's widowed mother, gifted with second sight, it promises the frightful awakening she's dreaded all her life. And for aspiring dancer Carol Conklin, a naive country girl struggling to survive in the city, it brings not only the first blush of romance but a lucky job with a kindly-looking old man known as Mr. Rosebottom.

But "Rosie," as he calls himself, bears a more sinister name—the Old One—and a far more terrifying secret. Though the signs are all about them, he alone knows the invisible design that rules these people's lives as they dance unwittingly toward for in the heat of summer an ancient corruption is stirring, an evil rooted not far from the Poroth farm, yet reaching to the city and beyond. The time has come for the Ceremonies, the monstrous rites that will unleash on a despised creation an age-old promise of apocalypse. And to see the scheme unfold, like some deadly flower, is to watch a nightmare come to life.]]> 524 T.E.D. Klein 1786362759 Joseph 4 Dark Gods) and another collection in 2006, but really, that's been about it, which is a shame, because Klein really is a very good author.

The Ceremonies is one of the better examples I've read of novel-length Lovecraftian fiction -- mostly because Klein is taking inspiration from Lovecraft's vibe and worldview, not just regurgitating pages of Cthulhu Necronomicon whoops tentacles just ate your head.

Jeremy Friers, a nebbishy New York academic working on a thesis about weird fiction, decides that he needs to get away from it all to focus on his studies, so he rents a guest cabin (well, a very recently converted chicken coop) from Sarr and Deborah Poroth near the town of Gilead, NJ. (Although when the Poroths posted their rental notice, they certainly didn't post it on a library bulletin board all the way in New York City ...)

The Poroths are members of the Brethren (as is the entire community of Gilead), one of those religious groups that views the Mennonites and Amish as a little too soft and modern, although the guest house has been electrified and they do occasionally listen to radios &c.; and Jeremy, as the outsider from the godless city is viewed with not a little suspicion by pretty much everybody except the Poroths. And the Poroths' farm (which they've newly taken possession of after it lay fallow for some years) is right up next to some suitably creepy New Jersey swampy forests in which unspeakable events have taken place and may be taking place again.

Also in the mix: Carol Conklin, a librarian Jeremy meets just as he's getting ready to leave the city, and Aloysius Rosebottom, the scholarly and mysterious, charming old gentleman who engineers Jeremy & Carol's meet-cute (and is there more to him than meets the eye? well, yes).

As mentioned, this is Klein very much working in a Lovecraftian vein -- the story's DNA seemed to contain equal parts "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Dunwich Horror" at times, but with some of those things that good ol' HPL never quite seemed to have a grasp on, like actual characters and actual dialogue.

Happily, after many years of undeserved unavailability, The Ceremonies is now back in print, and if you like that kind of 80s die-cut cover paperback horror, you could do much worse.]]> 3.46 1984 The Ceremonies
author: T.E.D. Klein
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.46
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/11
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:
Classic 1980s horror (expanded from a 1974 novella, "The Events at Poroth Farm") by an author who sadly really hasn't written a whole lot else since -- there was one contemporary story collection (Dark Gods) and another collection in 2006, but really, that's been about it, which is a shame, because Klein really is a very good author.

The Ceremonies is one of the better examples I've read of novel-length Lovecraftian fiction -- mostly because Klein is taking inspiration from Lovecraft's vibe and worldview, not just regurgitating pages of Cthulhu Necronomicon whoops tentacles just ate your head.

Jeremy Friers, a nebbishy New York academic working on a thesis about weird fiction, decides that he needs to get away from it all to focus on his studies, so he rents a guest cabin (well, a very recently converted chicken coop) from Sarr and Deborah Poroth near the town of Gilead, NJ. (Although when the Poroths posted their rental notice, they certainly didn't post it on a library bulletin board all the way in New York City ...)

The Poroths are members of the Brethren (as is the entire community of Gilead), one of those religious groups that views the Mennonites and Amish as a little too soft and modern, although the guest house has been electrified and they do occasionally listen to radios &c.; and Jeremy, as the outsider from the godless city is viewed with not a little suspicion by pretty much everybody except the Poroths. And the Poroths' farm (which they've newly taken possession of after it lay fallow for some years) is right up next to some suitably creepy New Jersey swampy forests in which unspeakable events have taken place and may be taking place again.

Also in the mix: Carol Conklin, a librarian Jeremy meets just as he's getting ready to leave the city, and Aloysius Rosebottom, the scholarly and mysterious, charming old gentleman who engineers Jeremy & Carol's meet-cute (and is there more to him than meets the eye? well, yes).

As mentioned, this is Klein very much working in a Lovecraftian vein -- the story's DNA seemed to contain equal parts "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Dunwich Horror" at times, but with some of those things that good ol' HPL never quite seemed to have a grasp on, like actual characters and actual dialogue.

Happily, after many years of undeserved unavailability, The Ceremonies is now back in print, and if you like that kind of 80s die-cut cover paperback horror, you could do much worse.
]]> <![CDATA[Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle - Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library (#11)]]> 58361300 Book 11 of the Tarzan® Series
Authorized by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and Featuring Rare and Previously Unpublished Archival Materials.
--------------------

Cruel slave traders have invaded the jungle domain of Tarzan of the Apes. Now they head toward a fabled empire of riches that no outsider has ever seen, intent on looting its great treasures.
And toward the same legendary land stumbles the lost James Blake, an American whom Tarzan has vowed to rescue. Following their spoors, the ape-man comes upon the lost Valley of the Sepulcher, where Knights Templar still fight to resume their holy crusade to free Jerusalem.
Soon Tarzan, the true lord of their ancient motherland, finds himself armed with lance and shield, partaking of jousting and ancient combat. And then it is that the slavers strike!

--------------------

The Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library
Tarzan® Series:
Book 1: Tarzan of the Apes
Book 2: The Return of Tarzan
Book 3: The Beasts of Tarzan
Book 4: The Son of Tarzan
Book 5: Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
Book 6: Jungle Tales of Tarzan
Book 7: Tarzan the Untamed
Book 8: Tarzan the Terrible
Book 9: Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Book 10: Tarzan and the Ant Men
Book 11: Tarzan Lord of the Jungle
Book 12: Tarzan and the Lost Empire
Book 13: Tarzan at the Earth's Core
Book 14: Tarzan the Invincible
Book 15: Tarzan Triumphant
Book 16: Tarzan and the City of Gold
]]> 298 Edgar Rice Burroughs 1951537106 Joseph 4
This uses a template that we've probably seen before and will definitely see again -- a nice American or European (in this case, one James Blake) is part of a safari in the Heart of Darkest Africa(tm) and, through no fault of his own (more or less) gets lost/gets into trouble, and Tarzan sets out to find him.

In this specific case, the lost/trouble involves finding his way to the Valley of Nimmr, which is inhabited by the descendants of a group of Crusaders who got lost on their way to the Holy Land centuries ago (something something left turn at Albuquerque) and have set up two mostly-warring cities (one descended from the Crusaders who said, "Eh, this looks like the Holy Land to me, now let's go home," and the other descended from the Crusaders who said, "What, are you stupid? No, it's clearly not!", and never the twain shall meet). So in addition to the usual jungle shenanigans and overuse of the word "spoor", we get to see knights jousting in highly anachronistic but very cinematic style, and castles and beautiful princesses and all of that great stuff.

Most of which, TBH, is happening to James Blake while Tarzan is still tracking his spoor, until he shows up at the end and saves the day because, well, Tarzan.

Ridiculous but fast-moving and engaging.]]> 3.71 1928 Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle - Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library (#11)
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/14
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
Another from what I regard as Tarzan's golden period (not least because these were the ones that I was reading back when I was 10 or whatever).

This uses a template that we've probably seen before and will definitely see again -- a nice American or European (in this case, one James Blake) is part of a safari in the Heart of Darkest Africa(tm) and, through no fault of his own (more or less) gets lost/gets into trouble, and Tarzan sets out to find him.

In this specific case, the lost/trouble involves finding his way to the Valley of Nimmr, which is inhabited by the descendants of a group of Crusaders who got lost on their way to the Holy Land centuries ago (something something left turn at Albuquerque) and have set up two mostly-warring cities (one descended from the Crusaders who said, "Eh, this looks like the Holy Land to me, now let's go home," and the other descended from the Crusaders who said, "What, are you stupid? No, it's clearly not!", and never the twain shall meet). So in addition to the usual jungle shenanigans and overuse of the word "spoor", we get to see knights jousting in highly anachronistic but very cinematic style, and castles and beautiful princesses and all of that great stuff.

Most of which, TBH, is happening to James Blake while Tarzan is still tracking his spoor, until he shows up at the end and saves the day because, well, Tarzan.

Ridiculous but fast-moving and engaging.
]]> <![CDATA[Shadow's Master (Shadow Saga Book 3)]]> 18964420 314 Jon Sprunk Joseph 4 3.76 Shadow's Master (Shadow Saga Book 3)
author: Jon Sprunk
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/07/25
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dark Ocean 13630030 156 Jack Vance 161947025X Joseph 3 Jack Vance's mystery novels that I've ever read. I'm almost not even certain if "mystery" is the proper term -- it's mostly a leisurely travelogue between various Polynesian islands, with a couple of casual murders and a neat wrap-up in the final chapter. I enjoyed it, but more because of the travelogue elements than the mystery elements -- I believe Vance himself spent a fair amount of time sailing those waters, and it shows. (Although he was sailing those waters probably back in the 1940's or 1950's and the book was written in 1966 so some of the portrayals of the natives are not quite as . . . nuanced as we might prefer.)

All things considered, an enjoyable book -- probably closer to a 3.5 than a 3 -- with occasional flashes of characteristic Vancean wit and sparkle in the dialogue and descriptive passages.]]> 4.08 1969 The Dark Ocean
author: Jack Vance
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2012/05/03
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
The first of Jack Vance's mystery novels that I've ever read. I'm almost not even certain if "mystery" is the proper term -- it's mostly a leisurely travelogue between various Polynesian islands, with a couple of casual murders and a neat wrap-up in the final chapter. I enjoyed it, but more because of the travelogue elements than the mystery elements -- I believe Vance himself spent a fair amount of time sailing those waters, and it shows. (Although he was sailing those waters probably back in the 1940's or 1950's and the book was written in 1966 so some of the portrayals of the natives are not quite as . . . nuanced as we might prefer.)

All things considered, an enjoyable book -- probably closer to a 3.5 than a 3 -- with occasional flashes of characteristic Vancean wit and sparkle in the dialogue and descriptive passages.
]]> <![CDATA[Sojourn (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #3; Legend of Drizzt, #3)]]> 66695 320 R.A. Salvatore 1560760478 Joseph 3 4.22 1991 Sojourn (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #3; Legend of Drizzt, #3)
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/31
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Exile (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #2)]]> 66678 343 R.A. Salvatore 0786939834 Joseph 3 4.24 1990 Exile (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #2)
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #1)]]> 50027 Discover the origin story of one of the greatest heroes of the Realms—Drizzt Do’Urden—in this thrilling first installment of the Dark Elf Trilogy

Drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden, first introduced in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, quickly became one of the fantasy genre’s standout characters. With Homeland, Salvatore pulls back the curtain to reveal the startling tale of how this hero came to be—how this one lone drow walked out of the shadowy depths of the Underdark; how he left behind an evil society and a family that wanted him dead.

As the third son of Mother Malice and weaponmaster Zaknafein, Drizzt Do’Urden is meant to be sacrificed to Lolth, the evil Spider Queen, per drow tradition. But with the unexpected death of his older brother, young Drizzt is spared—and, as a result, further ostracized by his family. As Drizzt grows older, developing his swordsmanship skills and studying at the Academy, he begins to realize that his idea of good and evil does not match up with those of his fellow drow. Can Drizzt stay true to himself in a such an unforgiving, unprincipled world?

Homeland is the first book in the Dark Elf Trilogy and the Legend of Drizzt series.]]> 343 R.A. Salvatore Joseph 3 4.26 1990 Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #1)
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Machine Vendetta (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #3)]]> 78819202
Ingvar Tench was one of Panoply's most experienced operatives. So why did she walk alone and unarmed into a habitat with a vicious grudge against her organization?

As his colleagues pick up the pieces following her death, Prefect Tom Dreyfus must face his conscience. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the inquiry by proxy. In using her, did Dreyfus also put her in the line of fire? And what does Tench's attack tell him about an enemy he had hoped was dormant?]]> 416 Alastair Reynolds 0316462853 Joseph 4 4.50 2024 Machine Vendetta (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #3)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Elysium Fire (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #2)]]> 35601772
But even utopia needs a police force. For the citizens of the Glitter Band that organization is Panoply, and the prefects are its operatives.

Prefect Tom Dreyfus has a new emergency on his hands. Across the habitats and their hundred million citizens, people are dying suddenly and randomly, victims of a bizarre and unprecedented malfunction of their neural implants. And these "melters" leave no clues behind as to the cause of their deaths...

As panic rises in the populace, a charismatic figure is sowing insurrection, convincing a small but growing number of habitats to break away from the Glitter Band and form their own independent colonies.]]> 415 Alastair Reynolds 0316555665 Joseph 4 4.06 2018 Elysium Fire (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #2)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/17
date added: 2024/07/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths]]> 79626
"For any child fortunate enough to have this generous book...the kings and heroes of ancient legend will remain forever matter-of-fact; the pictures interpret the text literally and are full of detail and witty observation."--The HornĚýĚýBook

"The drawings, particularly the full-page ones in this oversized volume, are excellentĚýĚýand excitingly evocative."--The NewĚýĚýYork Times

"Parents, uncles, and aunts who have been searching for a big picture book that has good reading-aloud value for the younger ones and fine read-it-yourself value on up, have it in this volume...a children's classic."--Christian Science Monitor]]> 208 Ingri d'Aulaire 0440406943 Joseph 5 D'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants (since retitled D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths, he noted disapprovingly), I was happy to find that it still held up as a fine introduction to classical mythology. As with the Norse book (actually, probably much moreso than the Norse book), most of the rougher edges have been sanded off -- Zeus' constant perving on mortal women and/or other goddesses is described as him seeking new "wives", e.g. And Hylas, the beautiful young man who sails with the Argonauts and is lost, is Herakles' "friend". And my personal favorite, submitted without further comment: After Zeus finds himself smitten with Queen Pasiphaë (eventual mother of the Minotaur), he comes to her in the form of a great, white bull, and she

admired the bull so much that she ordered Daedalus to construct a hollow wooden cow, so she could hide inside it and enjoy the beauty of the bull at close range.


Well.

Still, it's great to revisit all of these stories that are so foundational and so woven into our culture and, on a personal level, to see the various bits & pieces Ray Harryhausen extracted & combined to create Jason & the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans.

And I love, love, LOVE the artwork.]]> 4.41 1962 D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
author: Ingri d'Aulaire
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1962
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/03
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:
Returning again to the green & pleasant lands of my childhood; I checked this one out from the children's section of the public library about 100,000 times back in the day. And, as with the D'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants (since retitled D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths, he noted disapprovingly), I was happy to find that it still held up as a fine introduction to classical mythology. As with the Norse book (actually, probably much moreso than the Norse book), most of the rougher edges have been sanded off -- Zeus' constant perving on mortal women and/or other goddesses is described as him seeking new "wives", e.g. And Hylas, the beautiful young man who sails with the Argonauts and is lost, is Herakles' "friend". And my personal favorite, submitted without further comment: After Zeus finds himself smitten with Queen Pasiphaë (eventual mother of the Minotaur), he comes to her in the form of a great, white bull, and she

admired the bull so much that she ordered Daedalus to construct a hollow wooden cow, so she could hide inside it and enjoy the beauty of the bull at close range.


Well.

Still, it's great to revisit all of these stories that are so foundational and so woven into our culture and, on a personal level, to see the various bits & pieces Ray Harryhausen extracted & combined to create Jason & the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans.

And I love, love, LOVE the artwork.
]]> <![CDATA[Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #1)]]> 50329893
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is the Glitter Band, that vast swirl of space habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone, the teeming hub of a human interstellar empire spanning many worlds. His current case: investigating a murderous attack against one of the habitats that leaves nine hundred people dead. But his investigation uncovers something far more serious than mass slaughter-a covert plot by an enigmatic entity who seeks nothing less than total control of the Glitter Band.]]> 428 Alastair Reynolds 0316462578 Joseph 4 4.42 2007 Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Knight and Knave of Swords (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Book 7)]]> 22878654 388 Fritz Leiber 1497616719 Joseph 3 Swords and Ice Magic, the sixth and previously final book in the series, had been published in 1977, but Leiber did continue writing a few more stories about the famous Twain, all set in the twilight of their (and his) career, taking place almost entirely on Rime Isle where they had actually settled down after leaving Lankhmar (for good?) in the previous book.

And, as with the stories in the previous book, Leiber is getting much more comfortable with letting his freak flag fly, so: Fair warning.

This time we open with three medium-length stories, all of which had been published in various short fiction markets earlier in the 70s & 80s (including, I note with approval, one story appearing in an issue of TSR's Dragon Magazine) and close with a much longer piece -- I think it's the second-longest single Fafhrd & Gray Mouser story, after the novel The Swords of Lankhmar, and might be long enough to be considered a short novel on its own -- "The Mouser Goes Below".

And while it's interesting to see a classic sword & sorcery duo allowed to actually grow older (well, I think they're supposed to be maybe in their late 40s at this point in their careers) and suffer consequences (Fafhrd's hand has not, in fact, grown back so he's getting used to having a hook at the end of one arm, although sometimes he also mounts other items there, like a bow), and while Leiber's prose remains as witty and elegant as ever, the whole thing feels, in the end, like a bit of a letdown or an anticlimax (ironical term, that, considering what F&GM get up to at multiple times, with multiple partners and described at multiple levels of detail).

Part of the issue is that in pretty much all of the stories, F&GM are much more acted upon than acting -- events instigate because somebody else (various gods, their sorcerous patrons Sheela and Ningauble, the overlord of Lankhmar, etc., sometimes all at once) decide to start messing with the Twain. And the final, longest story carries this to extreme lengths by having Mouser spend almost the entirety of the tale entombed alive in dirt, being dragged semi-ethereally from point to point to witness various tableaus, sometimes of an erotic nature, while Fafhrd mounts aloft to a cloud-pinnace crewed by yet another of his former ladies, Queen Frix of Arilia and an assortment of her winsome handmaidens. And while at some level it does make sense that F&GM are, every time they thought they were out, being dragged back in, it's also ultimately a bit unsatisfying.

Which isn't to say the book is entirely without merit -- at risk of repeating myself, Leiber's prose is a joy to read, and there are delightful touches such as the pair of assassins dispatched from Lankhmar who prepare for their roles by effectively becoming their targets even if they don't actually look anything like them.

Probably somewhere around a 3.5, but this time I'm rounding down to 3.
]]> 3.68 1988 The Knight and Knave of Swords (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Book 7)
author: Fritz Leiber
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1988
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/04
date added: 2024/07/05
shelves:
review:
Sigh. And this is where everything ends. Swords and Ice Magic, the sixth and previously final book in the series, had been published in 1977, but Leiber did continue writing a few more stories about the famous Twain, all set in the twilight of their (and his) career, taking place almost entirely on Rime Isle where they had actually settled down after leaving Lankhmar (for good?) in the previous book.

And, as with the stories in the previous book, Leiber is getting much more comfortable with letting his freak flag fly, so: Fair warning.

This time we open with three medium-length stories, all of which had been published in various short fiction markets earlier in the 70s & 80s (including, I note with approval, one story appearing in an issue of TSR's Dragon Magazine) and close with a much longer piece -- I think it's the second-longest single Fafhrd & Gray Mouser story, after the novel The Swords of Lankhmar, and might be long enough to be considered a short novel on its own -- "The Mouser Goes Below".

And while it's interesting to see a classic sword & sorcery duo allowed to actually grow older (well, I think they're supposed to be maybe in their late 40s at this point in their careers) and suffer consequences (Fafhrd's hand has not, in fact, grown back so he's getting used to having a hook at the end of one arm, although sometimes he also mounts other items there, like a bow), and while Leiber's prose remains as witty and elegant as ever, the whole thing feels, in the end, like a bit of a letdown or an anticlimax (ironical term, that, considering what F&GM get up to at multiple times, with multiple partners and described at multiple levels of detail).

Part of the issue is that in pretty much all of the stories, F&GM are much more acted upon than acting -- events instigate because somebody else (various gods, their sorcerous patrons Sheela and Ningauble, the overlord of Lankhmar, etc., sometimes all at once) decide to start messing with the Twain. And the final, longest story carries this to extreme lengths by having Mouser spend almost the entirety of the tale entombed alive in dirt, being dragged semi-ethereally from point to point to witness various tableaus, sometimes of an erotic nature, while Fafhrd mounts aloft to a cloud-pinnace crewed by yet another of his former ladies, Queen Frix of Arilia and an assortment of her winsome handmaidens. And while at some level it does make sense that F&GM are, every time they thought they were out, being dragged back in, it's also ultimately a bit unsatisfying.

Which isn't to say the book is entirely without merit -- at risk of repeating myself, Leiber's prose is a joy to read, and there are delightful touches such as the pair of assassins dispatched from Lankhmar who prepare for their roles by effectively becoming their targets even if they don't actually look anything like them.

Probably somewhere around a 3.5, but this time I'm rounding down to 3.

]]> Space Odysseys 517555 Science fiction stories. 272 Brian W. Aldiss 0425036812 Joseph 4 Space Opera, although I didn't know it existed until many years after I first was reading Space Opera courtesy of the local public library when I was growing up.

Again, this is a mid-70s collection of mostly 1950s SF, although a few stories date back to the 40s and a few stories would have been, as of the time of publication, very recent, although not original to this anthology.

And again, I had a very pleasant time reading pretty much all of it. Highlights included an excerpt from one of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman books, Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel" (the short story that eventually became the germ of the idea used in 2001: A Space Odyssey), and probably my favorite piece in the whole book, Poul Anderson's "Star Ship", an extremely sword & planet-feeling story from his Psychotechnic League series.

Recommended if you're in the mood for this sort of thing, which I clearly was.]]> 3.33 1974 Space Odysseys
author: Brian W. Aldiss
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:
A companion volume to Aldiss' Space Opera, although I didn't know it existed until many years after I first was reading Space Opera courtesy of the local public library when I was growing up.

Again, this is a mid-70s collection of mostly 1950s SF, although a few stories date back to the 40s and a few stories would have been, as of the time of publication, very recent, although not original to this anthology.

And again, I had a very pleasant time reading pretty much all of it. Highlights included an excerpt from one of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman books, Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel" (the short story that eventually became the germ of the idea used in 2001: A Space Odyssey), and probably my favorite piece in the whole book, Poul Anderson's "Star Ship", an extremely sword & planet-feeling story from his Psychotechnic League series.

Recommended if you're in the mood for this sort of thing, which I clearly was.
]]> <![CDATA[Swords and Ice Magic (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, #6)]]> 102247
· The Sadness of the Executioner · ss Flashing Swords! #1, ed. Lin Carter, Dell, 1973
· Beauty and the Beasts · vi The Book of Fritz Leiber, DAW, 1974
· Trapped in the Shadowland · ss Fantastic Nov �73
· The Bait · vi Whispers Dec �73
· Under the Thumbs of the Gods · ss Fantastic Apr �75
· Trapped in the Sea of Stars · ss The Second Book of Fritz Leiber, DAW, 1975
· The Frost Monstreme · nv Flashing Swords! #3, ed. Lin Carter, Dell, 1976
· Rime Isle · na Cosmos SF&F Magazine May �77 (+1)]]> 243 Fritz Leiber 0441791964 Joseph 4
Roughly, the book breaks into two halves. The first section starts relatively strongly enough, with "The Sadness of the Executioner" (where Nehwon's Death has a quota to fill, including two Heroes, and he just happens to know of a pair who may fit the bill), but things go off the rails pretty quickly as the stories in that first half (all relatively short) are all about F&GM encountering their (lengthy assortment of) lost, sometimes dead, loves in a variety of contexts, which could have given a sort of elegiac tone, but instead ends up being a bit ... skeevy, because so many of those lost loves range, in fact, from nubile to barely pubescent. And especially coming all in a row like this, it becomes a bit much to handle.

The second half of the book I think is a much more successful return to form as the Duo leave Lankhmar for distant Rime Isle in "The Frost Monstreme" and then help the Rimers defend themselves from a Sea-Mingol invasion in Rime Isle. And again there are some lovely ladies to chivvy them along, but this time, the ladies come much closer to being able to hold their own; and in the end, it does seem like F&GM might actually be ready to settle down (well, at least until The Knight and Knave of Swords is published in 1988).

So yeah, I'm going to give this 4 stars (probably rounding up from something closer to 3.5) on the strength of Leiber's prose, which remains characteristically elegant & witty, but caveat lector.

Oh, also, I was reading the Open Road eBook, which I believe I got from the Baen Electronic Library some years ago, and the last section of the book is just riddled with typos, mostly of the obvious OCR error variety.]]> 4.01 1977 Swords and Ice Magic (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, #6)
author: Fritz Leiber
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:
This is another tricky one. For a long time, this was the final Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser collection, containing stories he wrote between 1973 & 1977; at that point, Leiber himself was getting older (in his 60s) and these stories were also set near what was shaping up to be the end of the duo's wanderings, but the results are unfortunately something of a mixed bag.

Roughly, the book breaks into two halves. The first section starts relatively strongly enough, with "The Sadness of the Executioner" (where Nehwon's Death has a quota to fill, including two Heroes, and he just happens to know of a pair who may fit the bill), but things go off the rails pretty quickly as the stories in that first half (all relatively short) are all about F&GM encountering their (lengthy assortment of) lost, sometimes dead, loves in a variety of contexts, which could have given a sort of elegiac tone, but instead ends up being a bit ... skeevy, because so many of those lost loves range, in fact, from nubile to barely pubescent. And especially coming all in a row like this, it becomes a bit much to handle.

The second half of the book I think is a much more successful return to form as the Duo leave Lankhmar for distant Rime Isle in "The Frost Monstreme" and then help the Rimers defend themselves from a Sea-Mingol invasion in Rime Isle. And again there are some lovely ladies to chivvy them along, but this time, the ladies come much closer to being able to hold their own; and in the end, it does seem like F&GM might actually be ready to settle down (well, at least until The Knight and Knave of Swords is published in 1988).

So yeah, I'm going to give this 4 stars (probably rounding up from something closer to 3.5) on the strength of Leiber's prose, which remains characteristically elegant & witty, but caveat lector.

Oh, also, I was reading the Open Road eBook, which I believe I got from the Baen Electronic Library some years ago, and the last section of the book is just riddled with typos, mostly of the obvious OCR error variety.
]]> <![CDATA[Swords Against Wizardry (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, #4)]]> 102241 188 Fritz Leiber 0441791948 Joseph 4
In this case, we have two quite long stories and one shorter linking piece. First, in "Stardock", F & GM find themselves on the far side of the Cold Waste scaling the mountain Stardock, whose peak pierces the very firmament. (There were these parchment poems, see, that promised to the one brave enough to scale Stardock great rewards, both pecuniary and amorous ...)

Then, in the bridging piece "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar", our heroes attempt to dispose of any pecuniary rewards they may have recovered with ... varying degrees of success.

And then finally, in "The Lords of Quarmall", longest of the three stories, they find themselves recruited separately and secretly to aid one or the other of the two sons of Quarmal, Lord of Quarmall, an unpleasant and mostly underground city, who seek champions from distant lands as they conspire against each other and their father. It's an altogether horrible place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there ...]]> 4.12 1968 Swords Against Wizardry (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, #4)
author: Fritz Leiber
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1968
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/17
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:
More of Leiber's finely-crafted tales of adventure featuring barbarian Fafhrd (whose bluff exterior hides one frequently given to flights of fancy or romance) and thief Mouser (who would describe himself, not altogether with cause, as the more practical of the pair).

In this case, we have two quite long stories and one shorter linking piece. First, in "Stardock", F & GM find themselves on the far side of the Cold Waste scaling the mountain Stardock, whose peak pierces the very firmament. (There were these parchment poems, see, that promised to the one brave enough to scale Stardock great rewards, both pecuniary and amorous ...)

Then, in the bridging piece "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar", our heroes attempt to dispose of any pecuniary rewards they may have recovered with ... varying degrees of success.

And then finally, in "The Lords of Quarmall", longest of the three stories, they find themselves recruited separately and secretly to aid one or the other of the two sons of Quarmal, Lord of Quarmall, an unpleasant and mostly underground city, who seek champions from distant lands as they conspire against each other and their father. It's an altogether horrible place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there ...
]]> Space Opera 1564916 243 Brian W. Aldiss 0425033449 Joseph 4 thought this was a book I had read back in high school or before; I do distinctly remember it being on the public library shelves, and I do seem to recall checking it out, but now I'm starting to wonder if I ever actually read it cover-to-cover back then; parts in the beginning were familiar, but the further I got, the less I remembered.

Having said which: This is one of a pair of anthologies that Brian Aldiss put together back in the 70s (the companion being a book called Space Odysseys, which I didn't know existed until fairly recently); the stories mostly date from the 1950s, with a couple of outliers (one from 1900; one from 1972). And they're all pretty solid stories, but I was surprised at how few of them felt to me like something I'd consider space opera, even as Aldiss defines it in the introduction. Instead, several of them are stories of planetary exploration (George Griffiths' "Honeymoon in Space", the 1900 story; Philip K. Dick's "The Colony") or just kind of general 1950s planetary SF (Thomas N. Scortia's "Sea Change"; Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day") or even Stapledonian cosmological stories (Jeff Sutton's "After Ixmal"; Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question").

Which isn't to say that any of them are bad or that I didn't enjoy them; just that they weren't quite what was advertised on the tin.

The actual space opera stories were pretty great, though, including Robert Sheckley's "Zirn Left Unguarded", an excerpt from Edmond Hamilton's The Star of Life, and A.E. van Vogt's "The Storm", which had all of the trans-galactic empires, mighty stellar battleships and sword-and-blaster play that one might expect.

(And the other highlight of the book, maybe the highlight of the book was an excerpt from Leigh Brackett's The Sword of Rhiannon, although that's really more sword & planet than space opera.)

So all told there are many worse ways to spend an afternoon or so; just calibrate your expectations accordingly.]]> 3.78 1974 Space Opera
author: Brian W. Aldiss
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:
I thought this was a book I had read back in high school or before; I do distinctly remember it being on the public library shelves, and I do seem to recall checking it out, but now I'm starting to wonder if I ever actually read it cover-to-cover back then; parts in the beginning were familiar, but the further I got, the less I remembered.

Having said which: This is one of a pair of anthologies that Brian Aldiss put together back in the 70s (the companion being a book called Space Odysseys, which I didn't know existed until fairly recently); the stories mostly date from the 1950s, with a couple of outliers (one from 1900; one from 1972). And they're all pretty solid stories, but I was surprised at how few of them felt to me like something I'd consider space opera, even as Aldiss defines it in the introduction. Instead, several of them are stories of planetary exploration (George Griffiths' "Honeymoon in Space", the 1900 story; Philip K. Dick's "The Colony") or just kind of general 1950s planetary SF (Thomas N. Scortia's "Sea Change"; Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day") or even Stapledonian cosmological stories (Jeff Sutton's "After Ixmal"; Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question").

Which isn't to say that any of them are bad or that I didn't enjoy them; just that they weren't quite what was advertised on the tin.

The actual space opera stories were pretty great, though, including Robert Sheckley's "Zirn Left Unguarded", an excerpt from Edmond Hamilton's The Star of Life, and A.E. van Vogt's "The Storm", which had all of the trans-galactic empires, mighty stellar battleships and sword-and-blaster play that one might expect.

(And the other highlight of the book, maybe the highlight of the book was an excerpt from Leigh Brackett's The Sword of Rhiannon, although that's really more sword & planet than space opera.)

So all told there are many worse ways to spend an afternoon or so; just calibrate your expectations accordingly.
]]> <![CDATA[World Without End (Kingsbridge, #2)]]> 45145958 #1 New York Times Bestseller

In 1989, Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England centered on the building of a cathedral and many of the hundreds of lives it affected.

World Without End is its equally irresistible sequel—set two hundred years after The Pillars of the Earth and three hundred years after the Kingsbridge prequel, The Evening and the Morning.

World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroads of new ideas—about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race—the Black Death.

Three years in the writing and nearly eighteen years since its predecessor, World Without End is a "well-researched, beautifully detailed portrait of the late Middle Ages" (The Washington Post) that once again shows that Ken Follett is a masterful author writing at the top of his craft.]]> 1030 Ken Follett Joseph 4 The Pillars of the Earth, although it takes place about 200 years later in the 14th century.

As with the first book, there's a bit of a cold opening -- this time, a group of children who will grow up to be the main protagonists of the book (and who are themselves in some cases descended from the main characters of Pillars of the Earth) have gone into the woods around Kingsbridge for ... well, to do child stuff (including establishing that one of them, Ralph, is kind of a jerkhole), when they encounter a wounded knight, Thomas, carrying a vital missive and being pursued by some men-at-arms whom he (with the help of the children, unlikely as it seems) manages to dispatch before burying the letter in the forest and making the children swear not to dig it up before his death.

Those children: The aforementioned Ralph, his brother Merthin, fellow Kingsbridge dweller Caris, and one Gwenda, whose entirely sketchy father has taught her such useful skills as purse-cutting.

We also meet, at this point, some of the other prominent Kingsbridge townsfolk, monks, nuns and what have you.

Smash cut 10 years ahead and this is when things really begin: Ralph gets sent off to be a squire, Merthin (who takes after his ancestor Jack Builder) gets apprenticed, and the girls are off doing girl stuff.

If you've read Pillars of the Earth, you'll kind of know what to expect -- a series of sections, each focusing on some eventful time for the characters and for Kingsbridge as a whole, followed by another time skip to the next major section. And plenty of non-intrusive discussion of medieval architecture, agricultural practices, beliefs, etc. And more than you might expect of fairly graphic sex scenes, both consensual and otherwise.

This time around, much of the focus is on Merthin and Caris, the Sam & Diane (kids! ask your parents!) of Kingsbridge, obviously very into each other, but never quite both in the same place at the same time, relationship-wise (whether haring off to Italy to study building techniques or taking vows in the convent to avoid being burned as a witch -- you know, the usual stuff), at least not for much of the book.

The other big specter looming over much of the book is the Black Death as it ebbs and flows across Europe and the British Isles; and boy howdy, some of those sections (especially the debates early on about whether it's a real problem and, if so, what steps to take to address it) carry an entirely different weight these days than they might have five or six years ago ...

As with the first book, the whole thing is highly readable. I don't think it quite measures up to its predecessor -- for one thing, it doesn't have a single, overarching framework (Tom & Jack's obsession with building Kingsbridge its very own cathedral) to undergird its structure -- but it'll still keep those pages turning.]]> 4.60 2007 World Without End (Kingsbridge, #2)
author: Ken Follett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/22
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:
The first of now several sequels (and I think one prequel) to Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, although it takes place about 200 years later in the 14th century.

As with the first book, there's a bit of a cold opening -- this time, a group of children who will grow up to be the main protagonists of the book (and who are themselves in some cases descended from the main characters of Pillars of the Earth) have gone into the woods around Kingsbridge for ... well, to do child stuff (including establishing that one of them, Ralph, is kind of a jerkhole), when they encounter a wounded knight, Thomas, carrying a vital missive and being pursued by some men-at-arms whom he (with the help of the children, unlikely as it seems) manages to dispatch before burying the letter in the forest and making the children swear not to dig it up before his death.

Those children: The aforementioned Ralph, his brother Merthin, fellow Kingsbridge dweller Caris, and one Gwenda, whose entirely sketchy father has taught her such useful skills as purse-cutting.

We also meet, at this point, some of the other prominent Kingsbridge townsfolk, monks, nuns and what have you.

Smash cut 10 years ahead and this is when things really begin: Ralph gets sent off to be a squire, Merthin (who takes after his ancestor Jack Builder) gets apprenticed, and the girls are off doing girl stuff.

If you've read Pillars of the Earth, you'll kind of know what to expect -- a series of sections, each focusing on some eventful time for the characters and for Kingsbridge as a whole, followed by another time skip to the next major section. And plenty of non-intrusive discussion of medieval architecture, agricultural practices, beliefs, etc. And more than you might expect of fairly graphic sex scenes, both consensual and otherwise.

This time around, much of the focus is on Merthin and Caris, the Sam & Diane (kids! ask your parents!) of Kingsbridge, obviously very into each other, but never quite both in the same place at the same time, relationship-wise (whether haring off to Italy to study building techniques or taking vows in the convent to avoid being burned as a witch -- you know, the usual stuff), at least not for much of the book.

The other big specter looming over much of the book is the Black Death as it ebbs and flows across Europe and the British Isles; and boy howdy, some of those sections (especially the debates early on about whether it's a real problem and, if so, what steps to take to address it) carry an entirely different weight these days than they might have five or six years ago ...

As with the first book, the whole thing is highly readable. I don't think it quite measures up to its predecessor -- for one thing, it doesn't have a single, overarching framework (Tom & Jack's obsession with building Kingsbridge its very own cathedral) to undergird its structure -- but it'll still keep those pages turning.
]]> <![CDATA[The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)]]> 50881608 The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother.

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.

For the miniseries tie-in edition with the same ASIN go to this Alternate Cover Edition]]> 1008 Ken Follett Joseph 4 David Macauley's book Cathedral: A Caldecott Honor Award Winner, which is also about the building of a medieval cathedral, but because it's a children's book, it's filled with very helpful illustrations and diagrams showing exactly what a flying buttress is and why it matters, e.g. (And because it's a children's book, it's completely lacking in the sexual assault and brutal violence and fairly graphic sex scenes of Pillars of the Earth.)

The first (and I think only previous) time I read Pillars of the Earth would've been shortly after it came out, so something on the order of 30-35 years ago; which is less time than it takes the people of Kingsbridge to actually build their cathedral.

After a cold opening at a hanging in 12th century England (the reasons for which are mysterious but will be made clear in time), the story skips ahead a dozen years or so to introduce our main protagonists, Tom Builder, his son Alfred and his daughter Martha (and wife Agnes, but, well, about that ...). Tom is in the process of building a house for William of Hamsleigh, when he is unceremoniously dismissed by William (who is, in fact, a Very Bad Man and only gets worse over the course of the book). Which at that point in history, means Tom & his family get to spend some time trudging through the picturesque woods slowly starving to death until they meet a woods-dwelling woman name Ellen (whom we met previously at the cold-opening hanging scene) and her son Jack. And then, after more trudging and starving (and occasional changes of point of view to be introduced to Aliena, young daughter of the Earl of Shiring, and Philip, leader of a monastery cell associated with Kingsbridge Priory, both of whom will have important roles to play in subsequent events), everybody ends up at Kingsbridge Priory, whose current church is already in the process of falling down and then it mysteriously catches fire and surely God Himself wants nothing more than for Tom to build a brand new, entirely magnificent cathedral, right? Right?

(Well, the aforementioned extremely bad man William of Hamsleigh may have some thoughts on the matter, as may Waleran Bigod, Philip's superior in the church hierarchy.)

This is a sprawling historical novel, although mostly confined to the area around Kingsbridge and Shiring (with one notable detour across the Channel to France and Spain); it has a cast of thousands and covers literally several decades (periodically jumping ahead 10-15 years at a stretch), with plenty of war (initially between the feckless King Stephen and his rival the Empress Maud), politics both secular and sacerdotal and intrigue both secular and sacerdotal to make all of the cathedral building more ... interesting for all concerned. The characters are well-drawn (if occasionally a bit one-note) and of their time, and it's never less than compulsively readable.

I find these kinds of big, fat historical novels scratch the same sort of itches for me as do epic fantasy series. If you need something to fill your time while waiting for Winds of Winter to hit the local Waldenbooks, you could do much worse.]]> 4.51 1989 The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
author: Ken Follett
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.51
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves:
review:
First, a tip: If you're going to read this book, go to the children's nonfiction section of your local public library and check out a copy of David Macauley's book Cathedral: A Caldecott Honor Award Winner, which is also about the building of a medieval cathedral, but because it's a children's book, it's filled with very helpful illustrations and diagrams showing exactly what a flying buttress is and why it matters, e.g. (And because it's a children's book, it's completely lacking in the sexual assault and brutal violence and fairly graphic sex scenes of Pillars of the Earth.)

The first (and I think only previous) time I read Pillars of the Earth would've been shortly after it came out, so something on the order of 30-35 years ago; which is less time than it takes the people of Kingsbridge to actually build their cathedral.

After a cold opening at a hanging in 12th century England (the reasons for which are mysterious but will be made clear in time), the story skips ahead a dozen years or so to introduce our main protagonists, Tom Builder, his son Alfred and his daughter Martha (and wife Agnes, but, well, about that ...). Tom is in the process of building a house for William of Hamsleigh, when he is unceremoniously dismissed by William (who is, in fact, a Very Bad Man and only gets worse over the course of the book). Which at that point in history, means Tom & his family get to spend some time trudging through the picturesque woods slowly starving to death until they meet a woods-dwelling woman name Ellen (whom we met previously at the cold-opening hanging scene) and her son Jack. And then, after more trudging and starving (and occasional changes of point of view to be introduced to Aliena, young daughter of the Earl of Shiring, and Philip, leader of a monastery cell associated with Kingsbridge Priory, both of whom will have important roles to play in subsequent events), everybody ends up at Kingsbridge Priory, whose current church is already in the process of falling down and then it mysteriously catches fire and surely God Himself wants nothing more than for Tom to build a brand new, entirely magnificent cathedral, right? Right?

(Well, the aforementioned extremely bad man William of Hamsleigh may have some thoughts on the matter, as may Waleran Bigod, Philip's superior in the church hierarchy.)

This is a sprawling historical novel, although mostly confined to the area around Kingsbridge and Shiring (with one notable detour across the Channel to France and Spain); it has a cast of thousands and covers literally several decades (periodically jumping ahead 10-15 years at a stretch), with plenty of war (initially between the feckless King Stephen and his rival the Empress Maud), politics both secular and sacerdotal and intrigue both secular and sacerdotal to make all of the cathedral building more ... interesting for all concerned. The characters are well-drawn (if occasionally a bit one-note) and of their time, and it's never less than compulsively readable.

I find these kinds of big, fat historical novels scratch the same sort of itches for me as do epic fantasy series. If you need something to fill your time while waiting for Winds of Winter to hit the local Waldenbooks, you could do much worse.
]]> <![CDATA[Threshold: Volume 1: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny]]> 200771973 807 Roger Zelazny 1610373529 Joseph 4 Nine Princes in Amber from the public library paperback spinner sometime around 1980. (Well, I think I initially picked up Sign of the Unicorn and was quite confused until I went back and found the first book in the series.) But while I knew that he wrote a lot of short fiction, I never really read much of it -- I was mostly smitten with the Amber books and some of his other novels -- Jack of Shadows, Doorways in the Sand, etc.

Happily, a while back NESFA Press put out a six-volume collection of all (or at least all-ish) of Zelazny's short fiction; and even more happily, they very recently released it on Kindle, allowing me to fill this major gap in my reading.

On the one hand, this volume contains his earliest professional (and pre-professional) work, so allowances do sometimes have to be made; but on the other hand, it comes out of the gate with the novelette A Rose for Ecclesiastes and that one left me just gobsmacked.

The bulk of the collection is relatively short (5-10 page) stories, many of which he was clearly writing to hone his craft, but hone it he did, and plenty of poetry, which he also wrote prolifically; but the collection is anchored by several major works -- the aforementioned Rose for Ecclesiastes; The Graveyard Heart; The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth; and Nine Starships Waiting, amongst others, all of which were new to me, and all of which I immediately regretted not reading many years ago.

I'm not sure if this is the collection I'd give to somebody who's just Zlaz-curious -- for that, I'd probably look for something that was more of a best-of instead of a comprehensive survey -- but if you do want to dig deep, then this is the place to start.]]> 4.56 2009 Threshold: Volume 1: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny
author: Roger Zelazny
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves:
review:
I've been a fan of Roger Zelazny ever since I first picked up a copy of Nine Princes in Amber from the public library paperback spinner sometime around 1980. (Well, I think I initially picked up Sign of the Unicorn and was quite confused until I went back and found the first book in the series.) But while I knew that he wrote a lot of short fiction, I never really read much of it -- I was mostly smitten with the Amber books and some of his other novels -- Jack of Shadows, Doorways in the Sand, etc.

Happily, a while back NESFA Press put out a six-volume collection of all (or at least all-ish) of Zelazny's short fiction; and even more happily, they very recently released it on Kindle, allowing me to fill this major gap in my reading.

On the one hand, this volume contains his earliest professional (and pre-professional) work, so allowances do sometimes have to be made; but on the other hand, it comes out of the gate with the novelette A Rose for Ecclesiastes and that one left me just gobsmacked.

The bulk of the collection is relatively short (5-10 page) stories, many of which he was clearly writing to hone his craft, but hone it he did, and plenty of poetry, which he also wrote prolifically; but the collection is anchored by several major works -- the aforementioned Rose for Ecclesiastes; The Graveyard Heart; The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth; and Nine Starships Waiting, amongst others, all of which were new to me, and all of which I immediately regretted not reading many years ago.

I'm not sure if this is the collection I'd give to somebody who's just Zlaz-curious -- for that, I'd probably look for something that was more of a best-of instead of a comprehensive survey -- but if you do want to dig deep, then this is the place to start.
]]> <![CDATA[The Storm Lord (Wars of Vis #1)]]> 35596827 A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror.

In the land of Dorthar, the Storm Lord reigns as king.

According to law, the Storm Lord’s youngest son will be the rightful heir. His queen, the cunning and ambitious Val Mara, intends her young son, Amrek, to be that heir.

But fate has other ideas. When the Storm Lord abducts a Lowlander priestess, conceives a child with her, and then dies in mysterious circumstances, the unborn baby of that union suddenly becomes the heir to a vast kingdom—a situation that Val Mara is eager to rectify.

When his mother also dies, the infant, Raldnor, must be taken far from the Storm Lord’s stronghold to escape the queen’s murderous wrath, forsaking all knowledge of his royal heritage.

Raldnor grows up among the people of the Plains, but he is set apart from his friends and neighbors by the mystery of his past. Meanwhile, Amrek has taken the throne as his mother intended. If Raldnor is to reclaim his destiny and defeat the usurper who has taken his place, he will have to survive trials of strength, political sabotage, and threats against his life, regaining his birthright as the true Storm Lord of Dorthar.]]> 413 Tanith Lee 0698404653 Joseph 4
It was, I believe, Tanith Lee's second adult novel (after The Birthgrave), with which it shares a number of similarities, some of them problematic -- there are a number of rapes or sexual assaults, some of which take place on the page, and at least one of which is committed by the ostensible protagonist. Also, like The Birthgrave, it has a very 1970s sort of understanding (or lack thereof) of consent, and at least one or two examples of that "He mastered me and I fell for him" trope.

So with that out of the way (well, mostly):

The story begins with Rehdon, High King and Storm Lord of Dorthar, and a hunting party, riding out onto the plains and into a village of lowlanders. And because the Red Moon is in the sky (which brings the Dortharians into mating season, or something like that), he takes a local woman, Ashne'e, devotee of the Lowlanders' serpent goddess Anackire, to satisfy his Throbbing Biological Urges. (Without, to be clear, giving her any actual say in the matter.) And the next morning, Rehdon is dead and Ashne'e is possibly pregnant. And because the Dortharian throne passes to the youngest child, Ashne'e is brought back to Koramvis, the capital city (again without being given any choice in the matter) to see whether she might be carrying the Storm Lord's heir, much to the dismay of his queen Val Mala and her young son (and potential heir) Amrek. And, well, long story short, it ends with the infant Raldnor (true heir to the Storm King) spirited away and his mother dead.

And then the story really begins, with Raldnor growing up initially ignorant of his true heritage, making his way through the Lowland villages of the plains and the decadent, savage cities of Dorthar and its neighboring nations, growing gradually into his destiny (and doing, to be sure, at least a couple of unforgivable things along the way).

And again, I do like this book, and if you want more of that sort of 1970s bronze/iron age fantasy with relatively little magic (mostly some minor psychic abilities manifesting; and there are even hints that this may be more of an SF book, with the Dortharians originally coming from space) but with plenty of colorful adventure, and if the occasional moment of unpleasantness won't drive you away, then I do recommend it.Ěý]]> 4.00 1976 The Storm Lord (Wars of Vis #1)
author: Tanith Lee
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/05/23
shelves:
review:
This is a book that I like a lot, rate very highly, and probably can't recommend, at least not without a number of caveats.

It was, I believe, Tanith Lee's second adult novel (after The Birthgrave), with which it shares a number of similarities, some of them problematic -- there are a number of rapes or sexual assaults, some of which take place on the page, and at least one of which is committed by the ostensible protagonist. Also, like The Birthgrave, it has a very 1970s sort of understanding (or lack thereof) of consent, and at least one or two examples of that "He mastered me and I fell for him" trope.

So with that out of the way (well, mostly):

The story begins with Rehdon, High King and Storm Lord of Dorthar, and a hunting party, riding out onto the plains and into a village of lowlanders. And because the Red Moon is in the sky (which brings the Dortharians into mating season, or something like that), he takes a local woman, Ashne'e, devotee of the Lowlanders' serpent goddess Anackire, to satisfy his Throbbing Biological Urges. (Without, to be clear, giving her any actual say in the matter.) And the next morning, Rehdon is dead and Ashne'e is possibly pregnant. And because the Dortharian throne passes to the youngest child, Ashne'e is brought back to Koramvis, the capital city (again without being given any choice in the matter) to see whether she might be carrying the Storm Lord's heir, much to the dismay of his queen Val Mala and her young son (and potential heir) Amrek. And, well, long story short, it ends with the infant Raldnor (true heir to the Storm King) spirited away and his mother dead.

And then the story really begins, with Raldnor growing up initially ignorant of his true heritage, making his way through the Lowland villages of the plains and the decadent, savage cities of Dorthar and its neighboring nations, growing gradually into his destiny (and doing, to be sure, at least a couple of unforgivable things along the way).

And again, I do like this book, and if you want more of that sort of 1970s bronze/iron age fantasy with relatively little magic (mostly some minor psychic abilities manifesting; and there are even hints that this may be more of an SF book, with the Dortharians originally coming from space) but with plenty of colorful adventure, and if the occasional moment of unpleasantness won't drive you away, then I do recommend it.Ěý
]]> Adventures of Mary Jane 200250795
* * *

Meet Mary Jane Guild � she’s on a dangerous and unpredictable adventure down the Mississippi River � and she’ll steal Huck Finn’s heart along the way.

In these chapters you’ll come to know the real Mary a girl on her own dangerous and unpredictable journey down the Mississippi River in pre–Civil War America. Equipped with an uncanny ability for mathematics, a talent for sewing, and a bale of beaver skins, Mary Jane navigates deadly illnesses, angry mobs, treacherous landowners, outright thieves and swindlers, and more than a thousand miles of muddy water. What’s more, she thrives in the face of these challenges, thanks to support from a caring boat captain, generous neighbors, a cheery peddler, a chosen family, a loyal and loving dog, and two hardworking horses. Traveling solo requires Mary Jane to grow up fast, but it ultimately leads her to a new resilience, a love of adventure, deep and enduring sisterhood, and a blue-eyed, pony-tailed boy she can’t stop thinking about.

Jahren offers a wealth of layered characters and deeply researched, authentic details of changing times in the North and South. Using the language and style of Twain and shifting the point of view to a smart and determined young woman, she explores timeless themes of duty, family, romance, and betrayal, with grit and courage at the core.]]> 464 Hope Jahren 0593484118 Joseph 5
The disclaimers: I received an ARC of this book (shipped all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, much like Morfar himself) from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. And I've known the author since high school, so while I'll endeavor to be fair and honest, don't expect me to be objective.

The confession: I'm pretty sure the last time I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was when I was in junior high; that's assuming that I've ever read the entire book cover-to-cover.

And, in the interest of scrupulous honesty, the one thing that slightly bugged me -- one of Mary Jane's prized possessions on her adventures is her copy of Charles Dickens' A Child's History of England, but Mary Jane's adventures are taking place in the year 1846, and the Dickens book wasn't actually published in full until 1853; but really, what's 7 or 8 years amongst friends?

So if, unlike me, you have read Huckleberry Finn sometime in the last 40 years, you probably remember Mary Jane as the girl he encounters near the end of his travels. (And if, like me, you haven't read Huckleberry Finn in a shockingly long time, fear not: Mary Jane's story stands more than well enough on its own.)

As events begin, Mary Jane, age 14-ish, is living well up to the north on the shores of Lake Winnipeg with her Morfar (grandfather) and Ma (her mother). Things start off with a literal bang -- the Company's trading post (as happens not infrequently) is in the process of burning down, and, well, there are these sheds of gunpowder ... But that's just the sort of thing that you have to expect, what with all of the tarred-pine construction and the rum-soaked voyageurs; and it just means that it's time for the annual trek to Fort Snelling, 500 miles further south.

But this time, that's just the beginning of Mary Jane's travels -- there's a letter from Aunt Evelyn down in Fort Rockford saying she, Uncle George, and their two daughters could use a hand, so Mary Jane will be sent packing on a voyage that will ultimately take her much of the length of the Mississippi River on an assortment of steamboats, during which she'll encounter any number of colorful characters, some genuinely good people (looking at YOU, Mrs. Captain), others ... distinctly less so, and find herself having to scramble (and bend the truth right to the breaking point) to keep herself and her two cousins together, and have to do a whole lot of growing up before ultimately encountering a fine-looking blond boy with a ponytail at Peter Wilks' tannery in Greenville.

And I really don't want to say a whole lot more than that because one of the joys of this book is in the discovery; but what I will say is that I enjoyed it immensely -- Hope has done an amazing job here in capturing the voice and attitude of a remarkable (albeit sometimes naive) girl of her time having some extraordinary adventures. Adventures that, to be clear, are not all sunshine and roses -- the story doesn't shy away from the darker parts of Mary Jane's tale, including bouts with something that may or may not have been typhoid (both her own and others'), the fact that some folks are, well, just plain bad (or worse, mostly good but with some deep, dark undercurrents of bad) and, of course, once she gets into the southern part of the country, its Peculiar Institution; and sometimes having really good intentions or even trying to do the right thing just can't be enough.

And now I probably should go off and read Huckleberry Finn to acquaint myself with the events as shown from his point of view ...]]> 3.86 2024 Adventures of Mary Jane
author: Hope Jahren
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/12
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves:
review:
To begin with, some disclaimers and a confession.

The disclaimers: I received an ARC of this book (shipped all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, much like Morfar himself) from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. And I've known the author since high school, so while I'll endeavor to be fair and honest, don't expect me to be objective.

The confession: I'm pretty sure the last time I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was when I was in junior high; that's assuming that I've ever read the entire book cover-to-cover.

And, in the interest of scrupulous honesty, the one thing that slightly bugged me -- one of Mary Jane's prized possessions on her adventures is her copy of Charles Dickens' A Child's History of England, but Mary Jane's adventures are taking place in the year 1846, and the Dickens book wasn't actually published in full until 1853; but really, what's 7 or 8 years amongst friends?

So if, unlike me, you have read Huckleberry Finn sometime in the last 40 years, you probably remember Mary Jane as the girl he encounters near the end of his travels. (And if, like me, you haven't read Huckleberry Finn in a shockingly long time, fear not: Mary Jane's story stands more than well enough on its own.)

As events begin, Mary Jane, age 14-ish, is living well up to the north on the shores of Lake Winnipeg with her Morfar (grandfather) and Ma (her mother). Things start off with a literal bang -- the Company's trading post (as happens not infrequently) is in the process of burning down, and, well, there are these sheds of gunpowder ... But that's just the sort of thing that you have to expect, what with all of the tarred-pine construction and the rum-soaked voyageurs; and it just means that it's time for the annual trek to Fort Snelling, 500 miles further south.

But this time, that's just the beginning of Mary Jane's travels -- there's a letter from Aunt Evelyn down in Fort Rockford saying she, Uncle George, and their two daughters could use a hand, so Mary Jane will be sent packing on a voyage that will ultimately take her much of the length of the Mississippi River on an assortment of steamboats, during which she'll encounter any number of colorful characters, some genuinely good people (looking at YOU, Mrs. Captain), others ... distinctly less so, and find herself having to scramble (and bend the truth right to the breaking point) to keep herself and her two cousins together, and have to do a whole lot of growing up before ultimately encountering a fine-looking blond boy with a ponytail at Peter Wilks' tannery in Greenville.

And I really don't want to say a whole lot more than that because one of the joys of this book is in the discovery; but what I will say is that I enjoyed it immensely -- Hope has done an amazing job here in capturing the voice and attitude of a remarkable (albeit sometimes naive) girl of her time having some extraordinary adventures. Adventures that, to be clear, are not all sunshine and roses -- the story doesn't shy away from the darker parts of Mary Jane's tale, including bouts with something that may or may not have been typhoid (both her own and others'), the fact that some folks are, well, just plain bad (or worse, mostly good but with some deep, dark undercurrents of bad) and, of course, once she gets into the southern part of the country, its Peculiar Institution; and sometimes having really good intentions or even trying to do the right thing just can't be enough.

And now I probably should go off and read Huckleberry Finn to acquaint myself with the events as shown from his point of view ...
]]> <![CDATA[This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (Bruno & Boots, #1)]]> 160680 0 Gordon Korman 0590057782 Joseph 4
And at some point later (probably just a few weeks, but at the time it felt like it took forever), you'd walk into class in the morning and there'd be a stack of BRAND! NEW! BOOKS! sitting on your desk.

And one of the books I ordered in fourth grade was this story about two boys in a Canadian boarding school; and my most vivid memory is of reading the book in class, and laughing so loudly and hysterically that the teacher asked me to go sit in the hall so as not to disturb the other students.

And then at some point that book just kind of went away.

Fast forward many, many years and on a whim, I decided to start Googling to try to identify this book whose title and author I could no longer remember and: Success! (And come to find out, there had been a number of sequels that I had no idea ever existed.) So of course I had to go online and order myself a copy -- and very specifically a copy of the 1978 Scholastic edition that I remembered reading.

And now, having spent something less than an hour reading the book cover-to-cover, I'm happy to report that it remained a damn' delight.

Our heroes(?) are Bruno and Boots, generally good-natured troublemakers at Macdonald Hall, a prestigious boarding school (conveniently right across the road from Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Young Ladies). As the book opens, Bruno & Boots are in the process of staging a trifecta of pranks -- replacing the school's Canadian flag with the flag of Malbonia, replacing the recording of the National Anthem that plays before the hockey game with "The Strip", and kidnapping the opposing team's feline mascot. And while they don't actually get caught, Mr. Sturgeon (The Fish) has a pretty darned good idea of whodunnit, and since he can't quite bring himself to expel them, he decides to break them up and send them off to room with other boys (one a kind of weird would-be naturalist and the other an insufferable rich prick), which causes Bruno and Boots to embark on a series of increasingly ill thought out schemes to convince The Fish to reunite them and, well, suffice to say that hilarity ensues. And shenanigans. Lots and lots of shenanigans, some of them involving those nice young ladies Miss Scrimmage is in the process of finishing.

At this point in my life I probably don't need to continue on to the sequels, but I'm very glad I dredged this up from the recesses of my memory.]]> 3.86 1977 This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (Bruno & Boots, #1)
author: Gordon Korman
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/07
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves:
review:
So there I was in the fourth grade lo these many, many years ago. And periodically, you'd get a flyer from the Scholastic Book Club and then (well, if you were me, at least), you'd go through it, identify the books you wanted, cadge money out of your parents (and probably have to reduce the number of books you were actually going to order), then hand in the order slip and your payment.

And at some point later (probably just a few weeks, but at the time it felt like it took forever), you'd walk into class in the morning and there'd be a stack of BRAND! NEW! BOOKS! sitting on your desk.

And one of the books I ordered in fourth grade was this story about two boys in a Canadian boarding school; and my most vivid memory is of reading the book in class, and laughing so loudly and hysterically that the teacher asked me to go sit in the hall so as not to disturb the other students.

And then at some point that book just kind of went away.

Fast forward many, many years and on a whim, I decided to start Googling to try to identify this book whose title and author I could no longer remember and: Success! (And come to find out, there had been a number of sequels that I had no idea ever existed.) So of course I had to go online and order myself a copy -- and very specifically a copy of the 1978 Scholastic edition that I remembered reading.

And now, having spent something less than an hour reading the book cover-to-cover, I'm happy to report that it remained a damn' delight.

Our heroes(?) are Bruno and Boots, generally good-natured troublemakers at Macdonald Hall, a prestigious boarding school (conveniently right across the road from Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Young Ladies). As the book opens, Bruno & Boots are in the process of staging a trifecta of pranks -- replacing the school's Canadian flag with the flag of Malbonia, replacing the recording of the National Anthem that plays before the hockey game with "The Strip", and kidnapping the opposing team's feline mascot. And while they don't actually get caught, Mr. Sturgeon (The Fish) has a pretty darned good idea of whodunnit, and since he can't quite bring himself to expel them, he decides to break them up and send them off to room with other boys (one a kind of weird would-be naturalist and the other an insufferable rich prick), which causes Bruno and Boots to embark on a series of increasingly ill thought out schemes to convince The Fish to reunite them and, well, suffice to say that hilarity ensues. And shenanigans. Lots and lots of shenanigans, some of them involving those nice young ladies Miss Scrimmage is in the process of finishing.

At this point in my life I probably don't need to continue on to the sequels, but I'm very glad I dredged this up from the recesses of my memory.
]]> Just Stab Me Now 195500935
Caroline Lindley is determined that her new romance novel will be her best one yet. Fantasy! Formal gowns! Fencing! And, of course, a twentysomething heroine to star in an enemies-to-lovers plot with all of Caroline’s favourite tropes.

But Lady Rosamund Hawkhurst is a thirty-six-year-old widow with two children, her sole focus is facilitating a peace treaty between her adopted nation and her homeland, and she flatly refuses to take the correct approach to there being Only One Bed.

What’s an author to do?

Based on her popular Fantasy Heroine YouTube Shorts series, Jill Bearup’s debut novel brings us the best of worlds both meta and medieval-inspired. Terry Pratchett aficionados will enjoy the political intrigue paired with convivial, tongue-in-cheek satire. And then there's the slow-burn, fade-to-black romance too . . .

If you loved Stranger Than Fiction and The Princess Bride, you will soon find yourself cheering on enemies-to-BFFs Rosamund and Caroline as together they learn what it means to be the hero of your own story.]]> 309 Jill Bearup Joseph 4 4.29 2024 Just Stab Me Now
author: Jill Bearup
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/08
date added: 2024/05/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Across the Sorrow Sea (The Seven Swords #5)]]> 199148714 107 Anthony Ryan 1645241564 Joseph 3 4.38 2023 Across the Sorrow Sea (The Seven Swords #5)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Blackfyre Keep (The Seven Swords, #4)]]> 63029787
Magically guided to enlist in the retinue of a lovesick knight, Guyime and his companions journey to the haunted ruin of Blackfyre Keep, a castle legend tells cannot be held. But a far deadlier threat than mere ghosts awaits. An ancient evil has been conjured and to defeat it Guyime may be forced to become the monster he used to be—the Ravager reborn.

Continuing the epic adventure of The Seven Swords, To Blackfyre Keep is an enthralling tale of creeping menace and pulse pounding action from New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria trilogies.]]> 152 Anthony Ryan 164524086X Joseph 3 4.32 2022 To Blackfyre Keep (The Seven Swords, #4)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rimrunners (The Company Wars, #3)]]> 57127 280 C.J. Cherryh 0445209798 Joseph 4 Loki (although Bet's deepest, most closely-held secret is that she was actually part of the Mazianni fleet, a marine aboard one of Mazian's carriers until she got left behind when the Fleet fled Pell at the end of Downbelow Station), despite the fact that Loki is giving off a seriously hinky vibe -- once you're crew on this ship, you're going to stay crew on this ship, at least unless you give them cause to put you in an airlock without a pressure suit ...

So Bet finds herself thrust into inter-crew politics and rivalries just as cutthroat as the recently-ended War itself, and finds herself hooking up with one NG Ramey (one of Cherryh's patented deeply damaged characters) despite being warned away from him pretty much from the get-go; and Loki is out doing Loki's business the whole time, but nobody will tell her exactly what that business is ...

Another excellent, tense adventure from Cherryh, this one leaning almost into MilSF territory.]]> 3.87 1989 Rimrunners (The Company Wars, #3)
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/17
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:
Bet Yeager, slowly starving to death dockside on Thule Station -- she had been running hired crew on a merchanter, but they had to let her go; and now she's trying to just survive until she can get another ship berth. But ships are few and far between on Thule (one of the old Hinder Stars stations, newly reactivated after the end of the Company Wars, and about to be scuttled because discovery of a new mass point has made Thule unnecessary as a stepping-stone between Earth and Pell, and because nobody wants to leave an entire station around for Mazian and his fleet of now-pirates to use as a base of operations); and after run-ins with a couple of Thule men have ended ... badly, and with bodies (not, to be sure, that they didn't have it coming), she's just desperate enough to try for a berth on the Alliance ship Loki (although Bet's deepest, most closely-held secret is that she was actually part of the Mazianni fleet, a marine aboard one of Mazian's carriers until she got left behind when the Fleet fled Pell at the end of Downbelow Station), despite the fact that Loki is giving off a seriously hinky vibe -- once you're crew on this ship, you're going to stay crew on this ship, at least unless you give them cause to put you in an airlock without a pressure suit ...

So Bet finds herself thrust into inter-crew politics and rivalries just as cutthroat as the recently-ended War itself, and finds herself hooking up with one NG Ramey (one of Cherryh's patented deeply damaged characters) despite being warned away from him pretty much from the get-go; and Loki is out doing Loki's business the whole time, but nobody will tell her exactly what that business is ...

Another excellent, tense adventure from Cherryh, this one leaning almost into MilSF territory.
]]> <![CDATA[Tarzan of the Apes: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #1]]> 52292623
Orphaned as a babe in the African jungle, tiny John Clayton, the only child of Lord and Lady Greystoke, is rescued by a tribe of great apes. The child, now named "Tarzan," grows to manhood in this savage world among the fierce anthropoids. Aided by his keen knife and innate intelligence, Tarzan ascends to become king of the apes, able to face any peril and conquer all foes.

When men come to Tarzan's jungle, they bring danger that is motivated by greed and deceit. All of Tarzan's cunning will be required if he is to defeat this threat and win the love of Jane Porter, the beautiful young woman whose appearance in Tarzan's jungle leaves him forever changed.

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS AUTHORIZED LIBRARY

For the first time ever, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library presents the complete literary works of the Master of Adventure in handsome uniform editions. Published by the company founded by Burroughs himself in 1923, each volume of the Authorized Library is packed with extras and rarities not to be found in any other edition. From cover art and frontispieces by legendary artist Joe Jusko to forewords and afterwords by today's authorities and luminaries to a treasure trove of bonus materials mined from the company's extensive archives in Tarzana, California, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library will take you on a journey of wonder and imagination you will never forget.


Tarzan of the Apes
How is this book unique?
Illustrations Included
Free Audiobook
Unabridged Edition
Original Edition
E-Reader friendly

Tarzan of the Apes is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in a series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine in October, 1912. The character was so popular that Burroughs continued the series into the 1940s with two dozen sequels.
]]> 312 Edgar Rice Burroughs 1951537009 Joseph 4
You know who Tarzan is. I'm pretty sure everyone (who wasn't orphaned in the jungle and isn't currently being raised by a tribe of entirely fictional "great apes") knows who Tarzan is; but odds are, the Tarzan most people know is a version filtered through countless movies and TV series and the like that has very little resemblance to the actual Tarzan as shown in the couple dozen books Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote about him from 1912 until the late 1940s. (The whole "Me Tarzan, you Jane" thing is entirely a movie invention.) Tarzan as written by ERB is not just a perfect physical specimen, but possessed of a remarkable intellect, to the point that he was able to teach himself to read English just by looking at the old schoolbook primers his father had packed on their ill-fated voyage; and by the end of the first book he's also perfectly fluent in English and French.

I first started reading about John Clayton, Lord Greystoke when I was ... for the sake of argument, let's say, ten years old. I'm sure I already knew about the character from some context or other -- possibly the Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle Saturday morning cartoon series from 1976, possibly from comic books, possibly just by absorbing him from the ether. But at some time around this point, I started reading whatever random Tarzan novels I could find on the paperback spinners at the local public library, and I was hooked.

(Not least because at that point many of the books I was bringing home from the library were the ones with the black Ballantine covers and the Boris Vallejo or Neal Adams art:

description

I'm pretty sure that the last time I actually read any of the Tarzan books was around the time that I was in college -- 30 years ago, give or take. So how well did the first book hold up now that I'm revisiting it (in the very handsome new authorized edition from the Burroughs estate)? Well, as I said, this is going to be tricky ...

So, here's the thing: On the one hand, Burroughs was a natural and gifted storyteller -- once I started reading the book, I burned through it in about 24 hours, and moved eagerly on to the sequel (because, spoiler alert, this book is really only the first half of Tarzan's origin story -- you need to continue to The Return of Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #2 to get to the end of the beginning of his story). It has all of the excitement and peril and romance that you could want in a book about an orphaned boy raised in the jungle -- fights with Great Apes, fights with lions, fights with a group of natives who, fleeing conflict elsewhere, establish a village in the Great Apes' territory -- and it's engaging to watch Tarzan gradually realize he's not one of the Apes, and come into his own, especially once a certain Jane Porter (and her ridiculous father, her father's ridiculous assistant, her even more ridiculous maid Esmeralda (about whom more anon) and a certain William Cecil Clayton, heir to the new Lord Greystoke, brother to the long-lost John Clayton (yes, Tarzan's cousin)) are themselves marooned in the VERY SAME COVE where, 20 years, ago, Tarzan's parents had made their home and met their fate -- ERB never met a coincidence he didn't like -- and start having encounters with this godlike, grey-eyed giant of the forest. And it all ends with Tarzan and a Frenchman motoring through the wilds of Wisconsin to save Jane et al. from a forest fire so that Jane and William can tie the knot -- as I said, this is just the first half of the story, and that's why I gave it four stars.

But on the other hand, there's a lot of really unpleasant, sometimes downright ugly, racial stuff going on in here and I think it'd be a disservice to try to gloss over it. This is the sort of stuff that went straight over my (white, middle class, 1970s, 10 year old) head when I was first reading the books, although even by the time I was in college it was sometimes enough to raise my eyebrows. The book has more than its share of Tarzan doing something, or feeling a certain way, because of his elevated status as an English lord, descended of a long line of English lords and therefore, kind of by definition, brave and chivalrous and noble (which, based on my reading of English history, seems kind of a ... generous reading?). And Esmeralda, Jane Porter's aforementioned nurse, exists pretty much solely for "comedy relief", by which I mean she mispronounces words ("gorilaphants", e.g.) and, at the first sign of danger, shrieks "Gaberelle!" and promptly faints. And the natives who invade Tarzan's territory (and whom Tarzan torments incessantly, not without a certain amount of cause) are, of course, cannibals and superstitious and physically repulsive and so on and so on. And was Burroughs being malicious? Eh, I don't think so -- he was writing jungle adventure fiction in 1912 (and writing about places and about peoples he had clearly never visited) and drawing upon the common tropes of the time. But that doesn't change the fact that they were bad and harmful tropes.

So: Did I enjoy the book? With the caveats mentioned above, yes, very much. Will I read more books in the series? Yes, definitely. Am I happy the Burroughs estate is keeping these books in print? Indubitably, and I'll keep buying the new editions as fast as they keep publishing them. Would I give a copy of the book to a 10 year old as something they should read? At this point, I don't think I could do so in good conscience; at least, not without penciling in some time for some very uncomfortable discussions.

(Also, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that this new edition has a 20-30 page section at the end with reproductions of various letters, book jackets, etc. from around the time of the book's first publication, and it's all fascinating stuff.)]]> 4.27 1912 Tarzan of the Apes: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #1
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1912
rating: 4
read at: 2020/09/07
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:
OK, this is going to be tricky ...

You know who Tarzan is. I'm pretty sure everyone (who wasn't orphaned in the jungle and isn't currently being raised by a tribe of entirely fictional "great apes") knows who Tarzan is; but odds are, the Tarzan most people know is a version filtered through countless movies and TV series and the like that has very little resemblance to the actual Tarzan as shown in the couple dozen books Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote about him from 1912 until the late 1940s. (The whole "Me Tarzan, you Jane" thing is entirely a movie invention.) Tarzan as written by ERB is not just a perfect physical specimen, but possessed of a remarkable intellect, to the point that he was able to teach himself to read English just by looking at the old schoolbook primers his father had packed on their ill-fated voyage; and by the end of the first book he's also perfectly fluent in English and French.

I first started reading about John Clayton, Lord Greystoke when I was ... for the sake of argument, let's say, ten years old. I'm sure I already knew about the character from some context or other -- possibly the Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle Saturday morning cartoon series from 1976, possibly from comic books, possibly just by absorbing him from the ether. But at some time around this point, I started reading whatever random Tarzan novels I could find on the paperback spinners at the local public library, and I was hooked.

(Not least because at that point many of the books I was bringing home from the library were the ones with the black Ballantine covers and the Boris Vallejo or Neal Adams art:

description

I'm pretty sure that the last time I actually read any of the Tarzan books was around the time that I was in college -- 30 years ago, give or take. So how well did the first book hold up now that I'm revisiting it (in the very handsome new authorized edition from the Burroughs estate)? Well, as I said, this is going to be tricky ...

So, here's the thing: On the one hand, Burroughs was a natural and gifted storyteller -- once I started reading the book, I burned through it in about 24 hours, and moved eagerly on to the sequel (because, spoiler alert, this book is really only the first half of Tarzan's origin story -- you need to continue to The Return of Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #2 to get to the end of the beginning of his story). It has all of the excitement and peril and romance that you could want in a book about an orphaned boy raised in the jungle -- fights with Great Apes, fights with lions, fights with a group of natives who, fleeing conflict elsewhere, establish a village in the Great Apes' territory -- and it's engaging to watch Tarzan gradually realize he's not one of the Apes, and come into his own, especially once a certain Jane Porter (and her ridiculous father, her father's ridiculous assistant, her even more ridiculous maid Esmeralda (about whom more anon) and a certain William Cecil Clayton, heir to the new Lord Greystoke, brother to the long-lost John Clayton (yes, Tarzan's cousin)) are themselves marooned in the VERY SAME COVE where, 20 years, ago, Tarzan's parents had made their home and met their fate -- ERB never met a coincidence he didn't like -- and start having encounters with this godlike, grey-eyed giant of the forest. And it all ends with Tarzan and a Frenchman motoring through the wilds of Wisconsin to save Jane et al. from a forest fire so that Jane and William can tie the knot -- as I said, this is just the first half of the story, and that's why I gave it four stars.

But on the other hand, there's a lot of really unpleasant, sometimes downright ugly, racial stuff going on in here and I think it'd be a disservice to try to gloss over it. This is the sort of stuff that went straight over my (white, middle class, 1970s, 10 year old) head when I was first reading the books, although even by the time I was in college it was sometimes enough to raise my eyebrows. The book has more than its share of Tarzan doing something, or feeling a certain way, because of his elevated status as an English lord, descended of a long line of English lords and therefore, kind of by definition, brave and chivalrous and noble (which, based on my reading of English history, seems kind of a ... generous reading?). And Esmeralda, Jane Porter's aforementioned nurse, exists pretty much solely for "comedy relief", by which I mean she mispronounces words ("gorilaphants", e.g.) and, at the first sign of danger, shrieks "Gaberelle!" and promptly faints. And the natives who invade Tarzan's territory (and whom Tarzan torments incessantly, not without a certain amount of cause) are, of course, cannibals and superstitious and physically repulsive and so on and so on. And was Burroughs being malicious? Eh, I don't think so -- he was writing jungle adventure fiction in 1912 (and writing about places and about peoples he had clearly never visited) and drawing upon the common tropes of the time. But that doesn't change the fact that they were bad and harmful tropes.

So: Did I enjoy the book? With the caveats mentioned above, yes, very much. Will I read more books in the series? Yes, definitely. Am I happy the Burroughs estate is keeping these books in print? Indubitably, and I'll keep buying the new editions as fast as they keep publishing them. Would I give a copy of the book to a 10 year old as something they should read? At this point, I don't think I could do so in good conscience; at least, not without penciling in some time for some very uncomfortable discussions.

(Also, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that this new edition has a 20-30 page section at the end with reproductions of various letters, book jackets, etc. from around the time of the book's first publication, and it's all fascinating stuff.)
]]> <![CDATA[The Scarlet Ziggurat (The Seven Swords, #0.5)]]> 146068065
The Scarlet Ziggurat is an exciting prequel adventure to the highly acclaimed Seven Swords series from New York Times bestselling author Anthony Ryan.]]> 48 Anthony Ryan 164524170X Joseph 3 3.91 2023 The Scarlet Ziggurat (The Seven Swords, #0.5)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[City of Songs ( The Seven Swords #3)]]> 59121596 ATHERIA-THE FABLED CITY OF SONGSTHE SHINING JEWEL OF THE THIRD SEAWHERE THE MASKED EXULTIA CASTE HOLD SWAY AND VIE TO OUTDO EACH OTHER IN THEIR PATRONAGE OF THE ARTS,SOMETIMES WITH DEADLY CONSEQUENCES...Guyime, wandering, dethroned King of the Northlands, is drawn to the Atheria by his quest for the Seven Swords, the demon cursed blades of legend. But to claim the next sword he must first solve a seemingly impossible murder—a puzzle that, once untangled, will unveil secrets so dark they could bring the City of Songs to utter ruin.

Continuing the epic tale of The Seven Swords, City of Songs is an action-packed, darkly magical mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria trilogies.]]> 140 Anthony Ryan 164524038X Joseph 3 4.38 2021 City of Songs ( The Seven Swords #3)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/04
date added: 2024/05/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kraken's Tooth (The Seven Swords #2)]]> 55513990 THE GREAT MERCHANT CITY OF CARTHULA—RAISED FROM THE BONES OF A KRAKEN ON THE WHIM OF A GODDESS WHERE NOBLE HOUSES CALL UPON DARK MAGIC TO TRIUMPH IN THEIR ENDLESS AND DEADLY GAME FOR DOMINIONâ€� Landless one-time kingĚýGuyime,Ěýonce called Pilgrim but known to history as the Ravager, has survived the fall of the Execration—an event that set him on a path to find the legendary Seven Swords.Ěý Guided by sorcery, Guyime journeys to Carthula in theĚýcentreĚýof the First Sea to claim the mythical blade known as the Kraken’s Tooth. Aided by three companions—the beast charmer Seeker, a powerful sorceress and a scholarly slave—Guyime ventures into Carthula’s perilous underbelly to secure a prize guarded by ancient magics, cursed spirits,ĚýandĚýlethal traps. But can he survive an ultimate ordeal crafted from his worst nightmares? Continuing the epic story begun inĚýA Pilgrimage of Swords,ĚýThe Kraken’s ToothĚýis aĚýfast-pacedĚýtale of low intrigue and grand adventure from theĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author of theĚýRaven’s ShadowĚýandĚýDraconis MemoriaĚýtrilogies.Ěý]]> 126 Anthony Ryan 1596069805 Joseph 3 4.24 2020 The Kraken's Tooth (The Seven Swords #2)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/02
date added: 2024/05/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Pilgrimage of Swords (The Seven Swords, #1)]]> 51885573 WHERE THE DAMNED AND THE DESPERATE
COME TO PRAY TO THE MAD GOD�

It is two hundred years since the deity known as the Absolved went mad and destroyed the Kingdom of Alnachim, transforming it into the Execration, a blasted wasteland filled with nameless terrors. For decades, desperate souls have made pilgrimage to the centre of this cursed land to seek the Mad God’s favour, their fate always unknown.

Now a veteran warrior known only as Pilgrim, armed with a fabled blade inhabited by the soul of a taunting demon, must join with six others to make the last journey to the heart of the Execration. Allied with a youthful priest, a beast-charmer, a duplicitous scholar, an effete actor and two exiled lovers, Pilgrim must survive madness, malevolent spirits, unnatural monsters and the ever-present risk of treachery, all so that the Mad God might hear his prayer and, perhaps, grant redemption. But can sins such as his ever be forgiven?]]> 109 Anthony Ryan 1596069252 Joseph 3 4.22 2019 A Pilgrimage of Swords (The Seven Swords, #1)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mammoths at the Gates (The Singing Hills Cycle, #4)]]> 58007996 The Hugo and Crawford Award-Winning Series!

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.

Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.

But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entrypoint.]]> 123 Nghi Vo 1250838002 Joseph 5 4.22 2023 Mammoths at the Gates (The Singing Hills Cycle, #4)
author: Nghi Vo
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Conquering Sword of Conan (Conan the Cimmerian, #3)]]> 6606304 –Harry Turtledove

In a meteoric career that covered only a dozen years, Robert E. Howard defined the sword-and-sorcery genre. In doing so, he brought to life the archetypal adventurer known to millions around the world as Conan the barbarian.

Witness, then, Howard at his finest, and Conan at his most savage, in the latest volume featuring the collected works of Robert E. Howard, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Greg Manchess. Prepared directly from the earliest known versions–often Howard’s own manuscripts–are such sword-and-sorcery classics as “The Servants of Bit-Yakin� (formerly published as “Jewels of Gwahlur�), “Beyond the Black River,� “The Black Stranger,� “Man-Eaters of Zamboula� (formerly published as “Shadows in Zamboula�), and, perhaps his most famous adventure of all, “Red Nails.�

The Conquering Sword of Conan includes never-before-published outlines, notes, and story drafts, plus a new introduction, personal correspondence, and the revealing essay “Hyborian Genesis”–which chronicles the history of the creation of the Conan series. Truly, this is heroic fantasy at its finest.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 416 Robert E. Howard 0345486056 Joseph 5
And with that unpleasantness out of the way ...

This is the third & final of the Del Rey volumes collecting pretty much everything Robert E. Howard ever wrote about Conan, in order of composition as best it can be determined. In this case, we get five completed stories, four of which did appear in Weird Tales during (or very shortly after) Howard's lifetime, and one which Howard had completed but which didn't appear in its original form until its publication in Karl Edward Wagner's anthology Echoes of Valor. (Sidebar: If you ever see any of the three Echoes of Valor books on the shelf, do yourself a favor and grab them.)

Two of them -- Servants of Bit-Yakin and Man-Eaters of Zamboula -- are pretty middling-to-minor stories in which Conan rides into town, has an Adventure, and rides off into the sunset with some combination of pretty girl and pouch of jewels. For good measure, Man-Eaters takes place in or near the Hyborian equivalent of Africa and, well, see opening disclaimer.

The other three stories, however are absolute gold.

Beyond the Black River, although atypical in any number of ways, might be my favorite Conan story. This time, instead of opulent, decadent palaces and cities, the setting is essentially an analogue of the American frontier, with settlers building farms and cabins and encroaching on the forests of the indigenous Picts, who are Not Happy with such incursions. And one of their shamans, Zogar Sag, has been gathering the tribes so they can do something about it.

Also, much of the story is told not from Conan's point of view, but from the POV of one Balthus, one of those settlers.

The Black Stranger is as much as anything a pirate story that again takes place far from decadent palaces and cities -- it's set on the largely unpopulated western coast of the Hyborian continent, where Valenso, a Zingaran count, has settled in self-exile. (Well, "unpopulated" except for all of those Pictish tribes who are, again, Not Happy about the incursion.) Into the mix come sailing two different bands of brigands, both of whom are convinced Valenso came seeking a legendary pirate's treasure (he has no idea what they're talking about); and out of the Pictish wilderness comes striding a certain Cimmerian, newly-clad in archaic piratical finery, and if you think this won't end in blood and fire, you're probably reading the wrong book.

This is the story, as mentioned, that had never appeared in its complete form until 1987. A version of it appeared in the Lancer/Ace Conan paperbacks edited by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, but heavily edited; and Howard himself had rewritten it as a non-Conan historical adventure under the title Black Vulmea's Vengeance, but even that version didn't see print until the 1970s.

Red Nails, the final Conan story Howard wrote, has all of the decadence and opulence missing from the previous two stories -- Conan and Valeria, having recently deserted from an army guard post, find a seemingly-abandoned city in the wilderness; which city, once they enter it, is of course less abandoned than it first appeared. And naturally they get pulled into the generations-long feud between the few surviving members of two factions of inhabitants, and things get messy from there.

Rounding out the book, as expected, is an assortment of Howard's drafts and synopses and some other miscellanea, and again it's fascinating to see how the sausage was being made (or, in the case of the abandoned drafts, not made).

All around, it's great stuff, and yes I'm giving the book five stars mostly on the strengths of the three very good stories; although if you're entirely unfamiliar with Howard's Conan, I might suggest starting with either of the two preceding volumes (The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian or The Bloody Crown of Conan) as being more accessible jumping-on points.]]> 4.32 2005 The Conquering Sword of Conan (Conan the Cimmerian, #3)
author: Robert E. Howard
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/28
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves:
review:
At risk of repeating myself, please take as read the standard disclaimer regarding 1930s adventure fiction and its portrayal of women and people of color.

And with that unpleasantness out of the way ...

This is the third & final of the Del Rey volumes collecting pretty much everything Robert E. Howard ever wrote about Conan, in order of composition as best it can be determined. In this case, we get five completed stories, four of which did appear in Weird Tales during (or very shortly after) Howard's lifetime, and one which Howard had completed but which didn't appear in its original form until its publication in Karl Edward Wagner's anthology Echoes of Valor. (Sidebar: If you ever see any of the three Echoes of Valor books on the shelf, do yourself a favor and grab them.)

Two of them -- Servants of Bit-Yakin and Man-Eaters of Zamboula -- are pretty middling-to-minor stories in which Conan rides into town, has an Adventure, and rides off into the sunset with some combination of pretty girl and pouch of jewels. For good measure, Man-Eaters takes place in or near the Hyborian equivalent of Africa and, well, see opening disclaimer.

The other three stories, however are absolute gold.

Beyond the Black River, although atypical in any number of ways, might be my favorite Conan story. This time, instead of opulent, decadent palaces and cities, the setting is essentially an analogue of the American frontier, with settlers building farms and cabins and encroaching on the forests of the indigenous Picts, who are Not Happy with such incursions. And one of their shamans, Zogar Sag, has been gathering the tribes so they can do something about it.

Also, much of the story is told not from Conan's point of view, but from the POV of one Balthus, one of those settlers.

The Black Stranger is as much as anything a pirate story that again takes place far from decadent palaces and cities -- it's set on the largely unpopulated western coast of the Hyborian continent, where Valenso, a Zingaran count, has settled in self-exile. (Well, "unpopulated" except for all of those Pictish tribes who are, again, Not Happy about the incursion.) Into the mix come sailing two different bands of brigands, both of whom are convinced Valenso came seeking a legendary pirate's treasure (he has no idea what they're talking about); and out of the Pictish wilderness comes striding a certain Cimmerian, newly-clad in archaic piratical finery, and if you think this won't end in blood and fire, you're probably reading the wrong book.

This is the story, as mentioned, that had never appeared in its complete form until 1987. A version of it appeared in the Lancer/Ace Conan paperbacks edited by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, but heavily edited; and Howard himself had rewritten it as a non-Conan historical adventure under the title Black Vulmea's Vengeance, but even that version didn't see print until the 1970s.

Red Nails, the final Conan story Howard wrote, has all of the decadence and opulence missing from the previous two stories -- Conan and Valeria, having recently deserted from an army guard post, find a seemingly-abandoned city in the wilderness; which city, once they enter it, is of course less abandoned than it first appeared. And naturally they get pulled into the generations-long feud between the few surviving members of two factions of inhabitants, and things get messy from there.

Rounding out the book, as expected, is an assortment of Howard's drafts and synopses and some other miscellanea, and again it's fascinating to see how the sausage was being made (or, in the case of the abandoned drafts, not made).

All around, it's great stuff, and yes I'm giving the book five stars mostly on the strengths of the three very good stories; although if you're entirely unfamiliar with Howard's Conan, I might suggest starting with either of the two preceding volumes (The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian or The Bloody Crown of Conan) as being more accessible jumping-on points.
]]> <![CDATA[The City of Marble and Blood (The Chronicles of Hanuvar #2)]]> 136328145 “This wonderful work put me in mind of the stories I read when I was editing Baen’s Robert E. Howard library.� —David Drake, best-selling author of the Hammer’s Slammers series, Redliners , and the RCN series. “Howard Andrew Jones is the leading Sword & Sorcery author of the 21st Century . . . His Lord of a Shattered Land is his best work yet, a heroic fantasy retelling of one of the great tales of antiquity, the fall of Carthage and its legendary general Hannibal . . . It’s a magnificent achievement, destined to become a modern classic.� —John O’Neill, World Fantasy Award-winning publisher “The book is a riveting portrait of a hero trying to keep his civilization alive in the wake of a devastating military defeat; it’s a series of ripping yarns that collectively add up to a greater story with a deeper impact than any of its parts; it’s another triumph for Howard Andrew Jones, premier wielder of the new edge in sword-and-sorcery.� —James Enge, World Fantasy Award-nominated author Praise for Howard Andrew
“Howard Jones writes not-to-be-missed epic fantasy with immersive world building and the highest stakes for the characters, fighting for personal survival and the survival of their world.� —Martha Wells, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning author “Howard Andrew Jones is a scholar and a gentleman, a deft multi-genre wordsmith . . . a living link between the tight action-adventure narratives of old and the sprawling epic fantasies of today.� —Scott Lynch, author of The Republic of Thieves series Howard Andrew Jones lives in a lonely tower by the Sea of Monsters with a wicked and beautiful enchantress. He’s the author of the Ring-Sworn heroic fantasy trilogy from St. Martin’s, starting with For the Killing of Kings , the critically acclaimed Arabian historical fantasy series starring Dabir and Asim (beginning with The Desert of Souls ), and four Pathfinder novels. When he’s not editing Tales From the Magician’s Skull or hunched over his laptop mumbling about flashing swords and doom-haunted towers, you might find him lurking on his website, where he blogs about writing craft, gaming, fantasy and adventure fiction, and assorted nerdery.]]> 670 Howard Andrew Jones 1625799349 Joseph 4 Lord of a Shattered Land). As with the first book, this is structured like a classic sword & sorcery fix-up novel -- a bunch of shorter stories, each of which can stand on its own, but which together progress the larger arc of the series, with interstitial linking materials. Unlike with the first book, I don't think any of these were published individually prior to the release of this book, although I might be mistaken.

Again, we're following Hanuvar on his quest to save the few surviving remnants of his people, the Volani, who were for the most part enslaved by the Dervan Empire after those nasty Dervans razed Hanuvar's home city of Volanus. For the most part, Hanuvar is dividing his time between freeing (by one means or another) enslaved Volani and making arrangements to ship the entire surviving population off to a distant land beyond the Dervans' reach. But, Hanuvar being Hanuvar, there are always complications, and he'll find himself drawn into Dervan imperial intrigues before all is said and done (and along the way encounter some ever-so-slightly sympathetic Dervans, and at least one or two less-than-sympathetic Volani).

One thing I appreciated about the book is that the stories were a mix of types ranging from straightforward adventure to something more horror-tinged to a straight-up heist story; all delivered through Jones' extremely readable prose.

The third book (Shadow of the Smoking Mountain) can't come soon enough for my tastes.]]> 4.42 2023 The City of Marble and Blood (The Chronicles of Hanuvar #2)
author: Howard Andrew Jones
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2024/04/19
shelves:
review:
An even better sequel to a fine first book in the series (Lord of a Shattered Land). As with the first book, this is structured like a classic sword & sorcery fix-up novel -- a bunch of shorter stories, each of which can stand on its own, but which together progress the larger arc of the series, with interstitial linking materials. Unlike with the first book, I don't think any of these were published individually prior to the release of this book, although I might be mistaken.

Again, we're following Hanuvar on his quest to save the few surviving remnants of his people, the Volani, who were for the most part enslaved by the Dervan Empire after those nasty Dervans razed Hanuvar's home city of Volanus. For the most part, Hanuvar is dividing his time between freeing (by one means or another) enslaved Volani and making arrangements to ship the entire surviving population off to a distant land beyond the Dervans' reach. But, Hanuvar being Hanuvar, there are always complications, and he'll find himself drawn into Dervan imperial intrigues before all is said and done (and along the way encounter some ever-so-slightly sympathetic Dervans, and at least one or two less-than-sympathetic Volani).

One thing I appreciated about the book is that the stories were a mix of types ranging from straightforward adventure to something more horror-tinged to a straight-up heist story; all delivered through Jones' extremely readable prose.

The third book (Shadow of the Smoking Mountain) can't come soon enough for my tastes.
]]> <![CDATA[FEAR and Other Stories from the Pulps]]> 1700257 228 Achmed Abdullah 1592242375 Joseph 3 3.62 2005 FEAR and Other Stories from the Pulps
author: Achmed Abdullah
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The White Serpent (Novels of Vis, #3)]]> 35614349 A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror.

The White Serpent returns to the world of Vis nearly a century after the reign of Raldnor, the legendary Storm Lord who brought peace to Dorthar. Despite his efforts, the people are once again divided by conflict, and the goddess Anackire must choose new champions if the realm is to have any hope of preservation....

As a child, Rehger was sold into slavery, torn from his home and family. As a young man, he has proved his martial prowess as a lauded gladiator, fighting in the grand city of Saardsimney. But in the midst of his rise to fame, he meets Aztira, an intriguing woman who wields devastating power. With her magic and knowledge, she could be the person who transforms his life of subservience and leads him to his destiny.

But before he can fully uncover the truth of their connection, a powerful earthquake strikes, devastating the city and forcing Rehger to flee. Haunted by visions of Aztira long after their first encounter, Rehger embarks on a quest to seek out her people, the legendary Amanackire, in a city shrouded in mystery and myth....]]> 365 Tanith Lee 0698404513 Joseph 4
(And, since I've posted the covers I remember from the previous books, this one had a lovely Sanjulian cover. Apparently, they also rereleased the first two books with matching new covers.)

description

The setting this time is about a hundred years after the events of Anackire; and unlike in the first two books, the events it covers aren't earth-shaking. (Well, in a couple of cases, they literally are earth-shaking -- Vis is apparently a very tectonically-active planet, and conveniently (or inconveniently) timed earthquakes &c. have played roles in the past books.)

Our protagonist this time around is one Regher, whose mother is from a remote, primitive village in Iscah, and whose father is ... not. And he's also not actually Regher's mother's husband; long story. As a result of which, at the first opportunity, Regher's uncle sells Regher into slavery.

Fast-forward 20-ish years and Regher, still a slave, has made a name for himself in the Alisaarian city of Saardsinmay, as both a gladiator and chariot racer; and we follow him along on what I regard as one of the best chariot races ever put to prose. (As it happens, another great chariot race was also written by Tanith Lee, in her earlier, unrelated novel The Birthgrave.)

And then Things start happening and Regher (much like the protagonists of the previous books) ends up journeying to distant lands, but this time it's not so much concerned with the fate of kingdoms as it is a journey of self-discovery. Which isn't to say there's not plenty of adventure along the way! (And also plenty of sexytimes, which are, happily, generally more consensual than some of what we'd seen in the earlier books.)

And I'm not sure I can call this the conclusion of the Vis books, just because it's really more of a standalone set in the same world, but it leaves things in as good a stopping place as one might hope for.
]]> 4.50 1988 The White Serpent (Novels of Vis, #3)
author: Tanith Lee
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/10
date added: 2024/04/12
shelves:
review:
One final visit to Tanith Lee's world of Vis. This one came out in 1988, but I didn't discover it until some years later.

(And, since I've posted the covers I remember from the previous books, this one had a lovely Sanjulian cover. Apparently, they also rereleased the first two books with matching new covers.)

description

The setting this time is about a hundred years after the events of Anackire; and unlike in the first two books, the events it covers aren't earth-shaking. (Well, in a couple of cases, they literally are earth-shaking -- Vis is apparently a very tectonically-active planet, and conveniently (or inconveniently) timed earthquakes &c. have played roles in the past books.)

Our protagonist this time around is one Regher, whose mother is from a remote, primitive village in Iscah, and whose father is ... not. And he's also not actually Regher's mother's husband; long story. As a result of which, at the first opportunity, Regher's uncle sells Regher into slavery.

Fast-forward 20-ish years and Regher, still a slave, has made a name for himself in the Alisaarian city of Saardsinmay, as both a gladiator and chariot racer; and we follow him along on what I regard as one of the best chariot races ever put to prose. (As it happens, another great chariot race was also written by Tanith Lee, in her earlier, unrelated novel The Birthgrave.)

And then Things start happening and Regher (much like the protagonists of the previous books) ends up journeying to distant lands, but this time it's not so much concerned with the fate of kingdoms as it is a journey of self-discovery. Which isn't to say there's not plenty of adventure along the way! (And also plenty of sexytimes, which are, happily, generally more consensual than some of what we'd seen in the earlier books.)

And I'm not sure I can call this the conclusion of the Vis books, just because it's really more of a standalone set in the same world, but it leaves things in as good a stopping place as one might hope for.

]]> Anackire (Novels of Vis, #2) 35614348 A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror.

Raldnor, Storm Lord and chosen hero of the goddess Anackire, has passed into legend after bringing peace to the land of Dorthar. But after twenty years, that tenuous peace is threatening to dissolve. Contentious forces are brewing, working through subterfuge and overt war to see the new Storm Lord displaced.
Kesarh, prince of Istris, has grand ambitions. Though he is only a lesser noble of Karmiss, his shrewdness and cunning ensure him a stake in the tumultuous fight for sovereignty. If he succeeds, he may yet win the power he craves—and an empire to rule.
But his plans are not infallible—a daughter, conceived from a forbidden union, could prove to be his downfall. Ashni is a child not quite human, altered by the strange...]]> 459 Tanith Lee 0698404599 Joseph 4 judge it by its cover, but I was certainly drawn to it by the cover.

It was the mid-1980s and I was in the campus bookstore in my small midwestern college in a small midwestern town and in the extremely small SF section they had two paperbacks by Tanith Lee (who I'm pretty sure I knew her name, but hadn't actually read anything of hers yet):

The Storm Lord
description

and Anackire
description

And while the Storm Lord cover was extremely generic 1970s barbarian fantasy looking, that cover on Anackire (by the inestimable Michael Whelan) reached out and grabbed me and when I saw that it was a sequel to the other book, well, obviously both of them were going to come back to my dorm room with me.

(n.b. The Storm Lord cover was by Gino D'Achille, who also painted a set of covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books that I really liked. So maybe this was just an off day?)

So, on to the part about the words contained beneath that gorgeous cover: As with The Storm Lord, here there be dragons of a very specific 1970s consent/sexual assault sort (although it does feel dialed back from the first book), so take that as needed.

This book is set about a generation after the events of The Storm Lord, when Raldnor overthrew the Dortharian hegemony and put the Lowlanders (and their fellows from the Sister Continent across the sea) in charge of things. Our protagonist is one Rem/Rarmon (who is, although he doesn't discover it until some ways into the book, one of Raldnor's by-blows), currently in service to one Kesarh of Karmiss, an extremely ... ambitious ... member of the king's court. And I don't think I'm going to bother to try to summarize the series of intrigues and betrayals and battles and lengthy journeys that make up the bulk of the book except to say that I very much enjoyed them (due in no small part to Lee's evocative prose); and of course the shadow of the serpent-goddess Amanackire looms always on the horizon.

Highly recommended and honestly you probably don't have to have read The Storm Lord before diving into this one.]]> 4.00 1983 Anackire (Novels of Vis, #2)
author: Tanith Lee
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/03
date added: 2024/04/09
shelves:
review:
This is a book that absolutely I ... well, I didn't judge it by its cover, but I was certainly drawn to it by the cover.

It was the mid-1980s and I was in the campus bookstore in my small midwestern college in a small midwestern town and in the extremely small SF section they had two paperbacks by Tanith Lee (who I'm pretty sure I knew her name, but hadn't actually read anything of hers yet):

The Storm Lord
description

and Anackire
description

And while the Storm Lord cover was extremely generic 1970s barbarian fantasy looking, that cover on Anackire (by the inestimable Michael Whelan) reached out and grabbed me and when I saw that it was a sequel to the other book, well, obviously both of them were going to come back to my dorm room with me.

(n.b. The Storm Lord cover was by Gino D'Achille, who also painted a set of covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books that I really liked. So maybe this was just an off day?)

So, on to the part about the words contained beneath that gorgeous cover: As with The Storm Lord, here there be dragons of a very specific 1970s consent/sexual assault sort (although it does feel dialed back from the first book), so take that as needed.

This book is set about a generation after the events of The Storm Lord, when Raldnor overthrew the Dortharian hegemony and put the Lowlanders (and their fellows from the Sister Continent across the sea) in charge of things. Our protagonist is one Rem/Rarmon (who is, although he doesn't discover it until some ways into the book, one of Raldnor's by-blows), currently in service to one Kesarh of Karmiss, an extremely ... ambitious ... member of the king's court. And I don't think I'm going to bother to try to summarize the series of intrigues and betrayals and battles and lengthy journeys that make up the bulk of the book except to say that I very much enjoyed them (due in no small part to Lee's evocative prose); and of course the shadow of the serpent-goddess Amanackire looms always on the horizon.

Highly recommended and honestly you probably don't have to have read The Storm Lord before diving into this one.
]]> <![CDATA[Darkwalker on Moonshae (The Moonshae Trilogy #1)]]> 11785230 The very first Forgotten Realms novel ever published—and an exciting introduction to the kingdom of Corwell in the Moonshae IslesĚýThe evil beast Kazgaroth wages war against the peaceful balance of the Earthmother, goddess of the Isles of Moonshae. The beast’s relentless army of giant Firbolgs, dread Bloodriders, and other vicious creatures are a force to be reckoned with—and only young Tristan Kendrick, heir to the legacy of the High Kings, can stand in their way.ĚýHowever, Tristan is more interested in hunting, drinking, and revelry than heroism, and the realms are in grave danger. Can Tristan rise to the mantel of his legacy to unite forces of good and to save his home from evil?]]> 376 Douglas Niles 0786959584 Joseph 3 Quag Keep, if you want to include that). Set on the Moonshae Isles, an archipelago off the west coast of the Forgotten Realms' main continent. The Moonshaes have a distinctly Celtic feel to them -- lots of druids and an Earth Goddess and bards and suchlike.

The basic story won't be anything too shocking -- Kazgoroth, the Beast, has corrupted one of the Moonwells and is influencing an army of Vikings Northmen to sail to, and invade, Caer Corwell on the island of Gwynneth; and just to keep things interesting, there's also an army of Firbolgs (deformed giants) to contend with, and the Beast is also doing his best to take the Lady's champions out of contention.

In opposition: Tristan, the somewhat callow heir to the throne, Robyn, raised as a ward of the crown, a particularly memorable mastiff, a faerie dragon, and a not-unexpected assortment of halflings, elves and dwarves, all given a pleasantly Celtic flavor.

The actual writing is nothing award-winning, but it's certainly less cringe-worthy than other D&D novels I've read -- all in all, a pleasant, nostalgic way to spend an afternoon or two. (And yes, I'll be reading the other two books in the trilogy.)]]> 3.93 1987 Darkwalker on Moonshae (The Moonshae Trilogy #1)
author: Douglas Niles
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2018/07/30
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves:
review:
The first Forgotten Realms novel published by TSR (although the tenth or eleventh D&D novel, following the first two Dragonlance trilogies and some Greyhawk books; and Quag Keep, if you want to include that). Set on the Moonshae Isles, an archipelago off the west coast of the Forgotten Realms' main continent. The Moonshaes have a distinctly Celtic feel to them -- lots of druids and an Earth Goddess and bards and suchlike.

The basic story won't be anything too shocking -- Kazgoroth, the Beast, has corrupted one of the Moonwells and is influencing an army of Vikings Northmen to sail to, and invade, Caer Corwell on the island of Gwynneth; and just to keep things interesting, there's also an army of Firbolgs (deformed giants) to contend with, and the Beast is also doing his best to take the Lady's champions out of contention.

In opposition: Tristan, the somewhat callow heir to the throne, Robyn, raised as a ward of the crown, a particularly memorable mastiff, a faerie dragon, and a not-unexpected assortment of halflings, elves and dwarves, all given a pleasantly Celtic flavor.

The actual writing is nothing award-winning, but it's certainly less cringe-worthy than other D&D novels I've read -- all in all, a pleasant, nostalgic way to spend an afternoon or two. (And yes, I'll be reading the other two books in the trilogy.)
]]> <![CDATA[Lord of a Shattered Land (The Chronicles of Hanuvar #1)]]> 124009295 615 Howard Andrew Jones Joseph 4 Howard Andrew Jones I think since first encountering one of his Asim and Dabir stories in Black Gate Magazine longer ago than I care to think about. (Quick plug: If you haven't read The Desert of Souls and The Bones of the Old Ones, do so at your earliest opportunity.) And I'm inestimably grateful for his work in collecting and editing Harold Lamb's magnificent adventure fiction for Bison Press.

And while what he's written before has been very good, Lord of a Shattered Land is the best book of his that I've read, and the start of what I hope will be a long-running series. (The second book, The City of Marble and Blood is already scheduled for an October release.)

In classic sword & sorcery style, this is a fix-up novel: Most or all of the individual chapters had previously appeared as short stories in Tales from the Magician's Skull and suchlike venues, and they've now been assembled, lightly edited & polished, and given a bit of connective tissue so that they lead one into the other, although by its nature it remains more of an episodic book rather than a single narrative.

Hanuvar, our hero (loosely modeled on Hannibal (the elephants-across-the-Alps guy, not the fava-beans-and-a-nice-chianti guy)), was once general of the city of Volanus, which, before the beginning of this story, has been utterly destroyed, its people mostly killed, the few survivors captured and sold into slavery by the victorious Dervan [not-Roman] Empire. While everybody thought Hanuvar had died during the destruction of the city (unsurprising as he went over the side of a galley into the water), he did, in fact, survive, and is now a fugitive on twin, intertwined quests to get vengeance for his people and, more importantly, to free the few surviving Volani slaves and help them get out of the reach of the Dervan Empire so that they can begin building a new Volanus. Oh, and also to discover the final fate of his daughter, who might not be quite as dead as he had assumed her to be.

In the courses of his wanderings, he'll encounter all manner of monsters, revenants, gods and vengeful Dervans (especially once word starts to get out that Hanuvar might not be quite as dead they assumed him to be). But he'll also make friends and acquire allies, including but not limited to a traveling circus that happens to include an elephant of his acquaintance, other Volani refugees, and Antires of Sosilos, who will become his traveling companion and amanuensis.

Stirring adventure, carefully crafted -- highly recommended, this one.]]> 4.46 2023 Lord of a Shattered Land (The Chronicles of Hanuvar #1)
author: Howard Andrew Jones
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/07
date added: 2024/03/29
shelves:
review:
I've been a fan of Howard Andrew Jones I think since first encountering one of his Asim and Dabir stories in Black Gate Magazine longer ago than I care to think about. (Quick plug: If you haven't read The Desert of Souls and The Bones of the Old Ones, do so at your earliest opportunity.) And I'm inestimably grateful for his work in collecting and editing Harold Lamb's magnificent adventure fiction for Bison Press.

And while what he's written before has been very good, Lord of a Shattered Land is the best book of his that I've read, and the start of what I hope will be a long-running series. (The second book, The City of Marble and Blood is already scheduled for an October release.)

In classic sword & sorcery style, this is a fix-up novel: Most or all of the individual chapters had previously appeared as short stories in Tales from the Magician's Skull and suchlike venues, and they've now been assembled, lightly edited & polished, and given a bit of connective tissue so that they lead one into the other, although by its nature it remains more of an episodic book rather than a single narrative.

Hanuvar, our hero (loosely modeled on Hannibal (the elephants-across-the-Alps guy, not the fava-beans-and-a-nice-chianti guy)), was once general of the city of Volanus, which, before the beginning of this story, has been utterly destroyed, its people mostly killed, the few survivors captured and sold into slavery by the victorious Dervan [not-Roman] Empire. While everybody thought Hanuvar had died during the destruction of the city (unsurprising as he went over the side of a galley into the water), he did, in fact, survive, and is now a fugitive on twin, intertwined quests to get vengeance for his people and, more importantly, to free the few surviving Volani slaves and help them get out of the reach of the Dervan Empire so that they can begin building a new Volanus. Oh, and also to discover the final fate of his daughter, who might not be quite as dead as he had assumed her to be.

In the courses of his wanderings, he'll encounter all manner of monsters, revenants, gods and vengeful Dervans (especially once word starts to get out that Hanuvar might not be quite as dead they assumed him to be). But he'll also make friends and acquire allies, including but not limited to a traveling circus that happens to include an elephant of his acquaintance, other Volani refugees, and Antires of Sosilos, who will become his traveling companion and amanuensis.

Stirring adventure, carefully crafted -- highly recommended, this one.
]]> <![CDATA[The Earth is Flat: Tales from the Flat Earth and Elsewhere]]> 123247814
In the 1970s and �80s, Tanith Lee composed five books� worth of tales of the Flat Earth, a fantasy series compared to both Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique and The Arabian Nights. In later years she would return to the setting for five more stories. All five are included here, along with many others that showcase Lee’s talent for crafting spellbinding tales of heroic warriors, enigmatic magicians, and strange deities.

Stories
"The Origin of Snow"
"The Man Who Stole the Moon"
"The Snake"
"The Pain of Glass"
"I Bring You Forever"
"Foolish, Clever, Wicked and Kind"
"Blue Vase of Ghosts"
"After I Killed Her"
"Cold Spell"
"Beauty is the Beast"
"Into Gold"
"The Truce"
"The God Orkrem"
"The Kingdoms of the Air"]]> 366 Tanith Lee Joseph 5 far too early. And entirely too much of her short fiction has remained uncollected since its original appearance, so it's very nice to see another collection of her stories that in most cases haven't been reprinted since their original appearance in various anthologies and magazines.

And even better (as per the title), this collection includes almost all of the stories Lee wrote in her Tales of the Flat Earth series that had come out after the final Flat Earth book (Night's Sorceries) many years ago, including one story that had only ever been published on her website. It was a (darkly brooding) joy to revisit the Flat Earth, presumably for the last time and luxuriate in Lee's sensual and decadent prose. (And bittersweet to know that she had planned at least one more full-length book, but alas!, such was not to be.)

The Flat Earth stories comprise approximately the first third of the book. The remainder is other stories that are kind of a thematic match -- in one case (Foolish, Clever, Wicked and Kind), a story written for Arabesques: More Tales of the Arabian Nights and in other cases stories with the same kind of mythic/Arabian Nights vibe to them, many of which had not been in print in many years, or had only appeared in obscure small-press collections. (Well, sigh, to be sure, this volume is itself a bit of an obscure small-press collection; but at least it's new and in print.)

If you're already familiar with Tanith Lee and most especially with the Flat Earth books, you know you have to read this; if you're not already familiar, I envy you making that initial acquaintance.]]> 4.21 The Earth is Flat: Tales from the Flat Earth and Elsewhere
author: Tanith Lee
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/18
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves:
review:
At risk of stating the obvious, we lost Tanith Lee far too early. And entirely too much of her short fiction has remained uncollected since its original appearance, so it's very nice to see another collection of her stories that in most cases haven't been reprinted since their original appearance in various anthologies and magazines.

And even better (as per the title), this collection includes almost all of the stories Lee wrote in her Tales of the Flat Earth series that had come out after the final Flat Earth book (Night's Sorceries) many years ago, including one story that had only ever been published on her website. It was a (darkly brooding) joy to revisit the Flat Earth, presumably for the last time and luxuriate in Lee's sensual and decadent prose. (And bittersweet to know that she had planned at least one more full-length book, but alas!, such was not to be.)

The Flat Earth stories comprise approximately the first third of the book. The remainder is other stories that are kind of a thematic match -- in one case (Foolish, Clever, Wicked and Kind), a story written for Arabesques: More Tales of the Arabian Nights and in other cases stories with the same kind of mythic/Arabian Nights vibe to them, many of which had not been in print in many years, or had only appeared in obscure small-press collections. (Well, sigh, to be sure, this volume is itself a bit of an obscure small-press collection; but at least it's new and in print.)

If you're already familiar with Tanith Lee and most especially with the Flat Earth books, you know you have to read this; if you're not already familiar, I envy you making that initial acquaintance.
]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer (Ile-Rien, #1-2)]]> 126918782 Collecting Martha Wells' Element of Fire and Death of the Necromancer for the first time in one place, in a new and revised edition!

The Element of Fire

The kingdom of Ile-Rien lies in peril, menaced by sorcerous threats and devious intrigue, when Kade, bastard sister of King Roland, appears unexpectedly at court. The illegitimate daughter of the old king and the Queen of Air and Darkness herself, Kade's true desires are cloaked in mystery.

It falls to Thomas Boniface, Captain of the Queen's Guard, to keep the kingdom from harm. But is one man's steel enough to counter all the magic of fayre?

The Death of the Necromancer

Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman and the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien. On the gaslight streets of the city, Nicholas assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for a long-pursued vengeance.

But Nicholas's murderous mission is being interrupted by a series of eerie, unexplainable, and fatal events. A dark magic opposes him, and traces of a necromantic power that hasn't been used for centuries abound. Nicholas and his compatriots find themselves battling an ancient evil.

And if they lose? Death would be preferable to the fate that awaits them....

Both novels included in this volume have been revised and updated. These are the author’s preferred texts.]]> 768 Martha Wells 1250326672 Joseph 4
First up, The Element of Fire. This is a fantasy with various kinds of magic and a Fayre Court lurking off on the debatable borders of things, but also with wheellock pistols -- I get a distinctly The Three Musketeers vibe from the setting, but with added Magick.

Our hero is Thomas Boniface, captain of the Queen's Guard (the Queen in question being, in this case, Ravenna, Dowager Queen, mother to the somewhat feckless King Roland, not Roland's wife, Queen Falaise), doing his best to keep the kingdom safe from threats both external (the less-than-friendly neighboring nation of Bisra) and internal (politicking by Denzel, Duke of Alsene and Roland's cousin). Plus there's the King's half-sister Kade Carrion, whose mother was, in fact, the Fayre Queen of Air and Darkness, who's decided to come pay a visit after many years away from home ...

Second up, The Death of the Necromancer, which I believe was Martha Wells' third novel, and the first to make a real splash. The timeline has advanced a century or so, and this time around the technology feels more distinctly Victorian, with mention of telegraphs and railroads and actual pistols or revolvers. Our hero(?) this time around is one Nicholas Valiarde (who has some family connections to one of the characters in Element of Fire; but he's not moving in noble circles). Nicholas is, in fact, operating in the criminal underworld as a famous and anonymous thief (part of a long-standing scheme of personal revenge) when in one of his jobs he and his gang get enmeshed in the schemes of a necromancer who's clearly up to no good and, well, complications ensue.

Both are very good books and I'm glad to see them becoming more widely available, and I highly recommend them to any fans of Murderbot who want to see what Martha Wells was up to back in the early days; or just to anyone who wants to read a couple of very well-written, fast paced fantasy novels.]]> 4.30 2024 The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer (Ile-Rien, #1-2)
author: Martha Wells
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/13
date added: 2024/03/18
shelves:
review:
A welcome collection of two of Martha Wells' earliest novels (which first came into print about 30 years ago, and what even is time?), both set, unsurprisingly, in her secondary world that contains the country of Ile-Rien.

First up, The Element of Fire. This is a fantasy with various kinds of magic and a Fayre Court lurking off on the debatable borders of things, but also with wheellock pistols -- I get a distinctly The Three Musketeers vibe from the setting, but with added Magick.

Our hero is Thomas Boniface, captain of the Queen's Guard (the Queen in question being, in this case, Ravenna, Dowager Queen, mother to the somewhat feckless King Roland, not Roland's wife, Queen Falaise), doing his best to keep the kingdom safe from threats both external (the less-than-friendly neighboring nation of Bisra) and internal (politicking by Denzel, Duke of Alsene and Roland's cousin). Plus there's the King's half-sister Kade Carrion, whose mother was, in fact, the Fayre Queen of Air and Darkness, who's decided to come pay a visit after many years away from home ...

Second up, The Death of the Necromancer, which I believe was Martha Wells' third novel, and the first to make a real splash. The timeline has advanced a century or so, and this time around the technology feels more distinctly Victorian, with mention of telegraphs and railroads and actual pistols or revolvers. Our hero(?) this time around is one Nicholas Valiarde (who has some family connections to one of the characters in Element of Fire; but he's not moving in noble circles). Nicholas is, in fact, operating in the criminal underworld as a famous and anonymous thief (part of a long-standing scheme of personal revenge) when in one of his jobs he and his gang get enmeshed in the schemes of a necromancer who's clearly up to no good and, well, complications ensue.

Both are very good books and I'm glad to see them becoming more widely available, and I highly recommend them to any fans of Murderbot who want to see what Martha Wells was up to back in the early days; or just to anyone who wants to read a couple of very well-written, fast paced fantasy novels.
]]> <![CDATA[Pearl-Maiden: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem]]> 12331290 348 H. Rider Haggard 1404355243 Joseph 4
As per the title, this is one of Haggard's historicals, in this case set in Jerusalem and nearby areas in the first century A.D. We begin with one Rachel, a Jewess[sic], imprisoned with a number of other Jews (well, sort of), including her body servant Nehushta, and about to be fed to the lions in the arena in Caesarea.

The plot thickens because a) many of these Jews are, in fact, followers of a new, much disfavored sect called "Christians" and because b) Rachel is a pregnant widow, her husband having previously met his end in the arena.

Happily, before the whole lion plan can be implemented, Agrippa clutches his chest and keels over and the prisoners in the arena manage to escape in the confusion, so that Rachel can give birth to a daughter, Miriam (the eponymous Pearl-Maiden and the actual main character of the book) before herself snuffing it.

We then follow Miriam as she's raised by a sect of Essenes on the Dead Sea and, when she approaches adulthood, attracts the attentions of both a Jewish zealot (Caleb) and a Roman officer (Marcus), neither of whom are entirely suitable marriage prospects, not least because Miriam's mother left strict instructions that Miriam should only marry another Christian.

And then comes a whole bunch of the course of true love never running smooth, and various adventures and escapades culminating ultimately in the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans, before (spoiler for a 120 year old book) one of those would-be suitors sees the light and converts, thus allowing for a happy ending.

And it's Haggard so the historical scenes are reasonably well-drawn (if somewhat out of date based on contemporary scholarship) and the adventures are suitably exciting, but where the situation starts to become complicated is his ... less than flattering portrayal of those Jews who did not happen to convert to this minor, heretical sect established in the name of an executed would-be prophet and revolutionary. And it's nothing really horrible necessarily, but it does make the book harder to recommend than it might be otherwise, despite the relatively high rating.
]]> 4.03 1903 Pearl-Maiden: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem
author: H. Rider Haggard
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1903
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/28
date added: 2024/03/18
shelves:
review:
OK, this one is ... tricky.

As per the title, this is one of Haggard's historicals, in this case set in Jerusalem and nearby areas in the first century A.D. We begin with one Rachel, a Jewess[sic], imprisoned with a number of other Jews (well, sort of), including her body servant Nehushta, and about to be fed to the lions in the arena in Caesarea.

The plot thickens because a) many of these Jews are, in fact, followers of a new, much disfavored sect called "Christians" and because b) Rachel is a pregnant widow, her husband having previously met his end in the arena.

Happily, before the whole lion plan can be implemented, Agrippa clutches his chest and keels over and the prisoners in the arena manage to escape in the confusion, so that Rachel can give birth to a daughter, Miriam (the eponymous Pearl-Maiden and the actual main character of the book) before herself snuffing it.

We then follow Miriam as she's raised by a sect of Essenes on the Dead Sea and, when she approaches adulthood, attracts the attentions of both a Jewish zealot (Caleb) and a Roman officer (Marcus), neither of whom are entirely suitable marriage prospects, not least because Miriam's mother left strict instructions that Miriam should only marry another Christian.

And then comes a whole bunch of the course of true love never running smooth, and various adventures and escapades culminating ultimately in the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans, before (spoiler for a 120 year old book) one of those would-be suitors sees the light and converts, thus allowing for a happy ending.

And it's Haggard so the historical scenes are reasonably well-drawn (if somewhat out of date based on contemporary scholarship) and the adventures are suitably exciting, but where the situation starts to become complicated is his ... less than flattering portrayal of those Jews who did not happen to convert to this minor, heretical sect established in the name of an executed would-be prophet and revolutionary. And it's nothing really horrible necessarily, but it does make the book harder to recommend than it might be otherwise, despite the relatively high rating.

]]> <![CDATA[Seeker's Bane (Kencyrath, #3-4)]]> 6058757 "Seeker's Mask: " After an epic adventure that will become the stuff of legend, Jame has been reunited with her older brother Torisen and with her people, the Kencyrath. But when she is placed in the Women's Halls and expected to become a normal, quiet Kencyr lady, normal and quiet are not what the Women's Halls are going to get. Shadow Guild Assassins, ghosts, and other strange beings are soon after her, sprung not only from her own adventurous past but from the tragic, mysterious events that nearly annihilated her family in her father's time.

"To Ride a Rathorn: "Jame's adventures continue as she arrives at the randon military college Tentir to face cut-throat competition and find even more buried, poisonous family secrets. The Kencyr have a phrase, "to ride a rathorn," referring to a task too dangerous either to accomplish or to give up. This is true for Jame both figuratively, given her military career in a college which no Highborn girl has ever attended before, and literally, in that she is being stalked by one of these murderous, ivory-clad creatures whose mother she killed and who is now after her blood. All in all, Jame's school days are shaping up to be anything but golden.]]> 896 P.C. Hodgell 1439132976 Joseph 4
In the early 1980s, P.C. Hodgell published two pretty great fantasy novels about (well, mostly) one Jame of the Kencyrath -- God Stalk, in which Jame found herself in the god-haunted city of Tai-Tastigon, and Dark of the Moon, in which Jame left the city and went looking for her twin brother Tori, and we started to see more of the larger picture. And that one did end on, well, not a cliffhanger per se, but clearly with more story to come.

And then ... nothing.

Myself, I didn't discover the books until I found used copies at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore (Minneapolis, MN) sometime in the early to mid-1990s. And I read them and thought they were great, and was lamenting to the clerk (on a subsequent visit) about there not being any more, and he told me, "Oh, yes, there's a third book."

Wait, WHAT?!?!?

Come to find out, in 1994, a small press (Hypatia Press) had published a third book in the series, Seeker's Mask.

(And it was a lovely, jacketless hardcover:

Seeker's Mask (Kencyrath, #3) by P.C. Hodgell

And then Hypatia Press went out of business, and rights to the series were picked up by Meisha Merlin, who republished the first three novels and published a fourth novel, To Ride a Rathorn

To Ride a Rathorn (Kencyrath, #4) by P.C. Hodgell

(also with a nice cover)). And then Meisha Merlin also went belly-up. Sigh.

But as it happens, this is a story that has a happy ending, because after Meisha Merlin folded, Baen picked up the rights to the series, republished the existing four books (as two two-volume omnibi), and has now put out a further five books (bringing the total to nine).

Anyhoo, so this review is Seeker's Bane, an omnibus of the third & fourth books. In book 3 (Seeker's Mask), Jame, having been reunited with her long-lost twin brother Tori (well, technically, she's the long-lost one -- he's been the high lord of the Kencyrath while she's been gallivanting around; he's also (for Reasons that have to do with her lostness) now about ten years older than she is), is dumped unceremoniously into the highborn women's quarters; this is a � poor fit for her, for one thing because she's been off learning to be a knife fighter and a thief; and for another thing, the sorts of poisonous intrigues one finds in the women's quarter are not what she's used to, and she does tend to take a bull-in-a-china-shop approach to things.

In book 4 (To Ride a Rathorn), having been booted from the women's quarters, she's now sent to a sort of military training academy for young noble types; and the intrigues here are different, but no less poisonous.

And looming over everything, the shadow of Perimal Darkling, against whom the Kencyrath have fought a worlds-spanning, kind of losing battle for the past 30,000 years.

Two more great books in the series, with plots and adventures and magic and the occasional note of whimsy.]]> 4.43 2009 Seeker's Bane (Kencyrath, #3-4)
author: P.C. Hodgell
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2020/01/10
date added: 2024/03/16
shelves:
review:
First, a bit of historical context.

In the early 1980s, P.C. Hodgell published two pretty great fantasy novels about (well, mostly) one Jame of the Kencyrath -- God Stalk, in which Jame found herself in the god-haunted city of Tai-Tastigon, and Dark of the Moon, in which Jame left the city and went looking for her twin brother Tori, and we started to see more of the larger picture. And that one did end on, well, not a cliffhanger per se, but clearly with more story to come.

And then ... nothing.

Myself, I didn't discover the books until I found used copies at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore (Minneapolis, MN) sometime in the early to mid-1990s. And I read them and thought they were great, and was lamenting to the clerk (on a subsequent visit) about there not being any more, and he told me, "Oh, yes, there's a third book."

Wait, WHAT?!?!?

Come to find out, in 1994, a small press (Hypatia Press) had published a third book in the series, Seeker's Mask.

(And it was a lovely, jacketless hardcover:

Seeker's Mask (Kencyrath, #3) by P.C. Hodgell

And then Hypatia Press went out of business, and rights to the series were picked up by Meisha Merlin, who republished the first three novels and published a fourth novel, To Ride a Rathorn

To Ride a Rathorn (Kencyrath, #4) by P.C. Hodgell

(also with a nice cover)). And then Meisha Merlin also went belly-up. Sigh.

But as it happens, this is a story that has a happy ending, because after Meisha Merlin folded, Baen picked up the rights to the series, republished the existing four books (as two two-volume omnibi), and has now put out a further five books (bringing the total to nine).

Anyhoo, so this review is Seeker's Bane, an omnibus of the third & fourth books. In book 3 (Seeker's Mask), Jame, having been reunited with her long-lost twin brother Tori (well, technically, she's the long-lost one -- he's been the high lord of the Kencyrath while she's been gallivanting around; he's also (for Reasons that have to do with her lostness) now about ten years older than she is), is dumped unceremoniously into the highborn women's quarters; this is a � poor fit for her, for one thing because she's been off learning to be a knife fighter and a thief; and for another thing, the sorts of poisonous intrigues one finds in the women's quarter are not what she's used to, and she does tend to take a bull-in-a-china-shop approach to things.

In book 4 (To Ride a Rathorn), having been booted from the women's quarters, she's now sent to a sort of military training academy for young noble types; and the intrigues here are different, but no less poisonous.

And looming over everything, the shadow of Perimal Darkling, against whom the Kencyrath have fought a worlds-spanning, kind of losing battle for the past 30,000 years.

Two more great books in the series, with plots and adventures and magic and the occasional note of whimsy.
]]> Lysbeth A Tale Of The Dutch 1129977 460 H. Rider Haggard 1930367961 Joseph 4 about her.)

To expound (and with some spoilers for a book first published in 1901): The story opens in Leyden in the year 1544. Because I am ignorant of much history, I didn't realize that at the time the Netherlands was firmly under the Spanish thumb, with Spanish soldiers and inquisitors wandering around looking for Lutherans to set on fire in the name of protecting Catholicism; and the Netherlanders were getting increasingly restless with the whole situation.

Young, attractive and eponymous Lysbeth is out ice skating during some kind of local festival and encounters, in fairly rapid succession (and not necessarily in this order) young Dirk van Goorl (her would-be suitor; and the feelings are, in fact, reciprocated); Martha the Mare, a woman whose husband & child were executed by the Spaniards (as per the previous discussion regarding Lutheranism) and Martha herself was disfigured in the dungeons of the Inquisition; and now, she's something of a local crazy old lady and outspoken in her beliefs; and Count Don Juan de Montalvo, the Spanish grandee who's the primary villain of the entire piece. To very rapidly summarize the events of the first third of the book, Lysbeth finds herself, much against her will, forced to marry Montalvo (who finds Lysbeth herself, but also most especially her financial assets, most attractive) in order to save the life of Martha, who has been accused of heresy with Lysbeth the witness on whose word Martha will live or die.

Then it's revealed that Montalvo was not, in fact, free to marry -- he still had a wife & children back home in Spain. So he gets sentenced to the galleys in disgrace while Lysbeth gives birth to Montalvo's son, Adrian.

Then fast forward 20-ish years; Lysbeth is now married happily enough to Dirk, they have a son of their own, Foy (who's really the chief protagonist of the book) and his giant, red-bearded Frisian servant Martin, and Adrian who has grown up to be kind of bratty and petulant, presumably on account of his Hot Latin Blood(tm).

And the situation over the intervening decades has only gotten worse for the Dutch, presumably on account of some of that history of which I'm so ignorant, and onto the scene in fairly short order come one Elsa (a very attractive young girl, daughter of one of Dirk's childhood friends and, not coincidentally, heir to her father's astonishing fortune, which needs to be spirited away from the aforementioned Spaniards) and one Ramiro, a one-eyed agent of the Inquisition who seems strangely familiar.

And since that's where the story really starts in earnest, I don't think I'll say too much more the details. But this is Haggard writing a more action-packed story, so there are sword fights, narrow escapes from the Inquisition, deadly maritime chases through the isles and channels surrounding Leyden, and plenty of true love's course not running at all smoothly.

And since this is Haggard, you have absolutely no doubt where his sympathies lie (HINT: Not with the Spanish and the Catholics), and I can't speak to how accurately he portrays the larger swirl of history through which our heroes are moving, but I did thoroughly enjoy the book moreso than I have with some of the preceding novels of his that I've read in recent years.]]> 3.95 1901 Lysbeth A Tale Of The Dutch
author: H. Rider Haggard
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1901
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/26
shelves:
review:
Another one of Haggard's historicals, this time with a slightly misleading title. (It is, in fact, a tale of the Dutch, taking place in the 16th Century mostly in and around Leyden[sic] in the Netherlands; but while Lysbeth van Hout plays an important role in the story, I'm not sure that I'd say it's about her.)

To expound (and with some spoilers for a book first published in 1901): The story opens in Leyden in the year 1544. Because I am ignorant of much history, I didn't realize that at the time the Netherlands was firmly under the Spanish thumb, with Spanish soldiers and inquisitors wandering around looking for Lutherans to set on fire in the name of protecting Catholicism; and the Netherlanders were getting increasingly restless with the whole situation.

Young, attractive and eponymous Lysbeth is out ice skating during some kind of local festival and encounters, in fairly rapid succession (and not necessarily in this order) young Dirk van Goorl (her would-be suitor; and the feelings are, in fact, reciprocated); Martha the Mare, a woman whose husband & child were executed by the Spaniards (as per the previous discussion regarding Lutheranism) and Martha herself was disfigured in the dungeons of the Inquisition; and now, she's something of a local crazy old lady and outspoken in her beliefs; and Count Don Juan de Montalvo, the Spanish grandee who's the primary villain of the entire piece. To very rapidly summarize the events of the first third of the book, Lysbeth finds herself, much against her will, forced to marry Montalvo (who finds Lysbeth herself, but also most especially her financial assets, most attractive) in order to save the life of Martha, who has been accused of heresy with Lysbeth the witness on whose word Martha will live or die.

Then it's revealed that Montalvo was not, in fact, free to marry -- he still had a wife & children back home in Spain. So he gets sentenced to the galleys in disgrace while Lysbeth gives birth to Montalvo's son, Adrian.

Then fast forward 20-ish years; Lysbeth is now married happily enough to Dirk, they have a son of their own, Foy (who's really the chief protagonist of the book) and his giant, red-bearded Frisian servant Martin, and Adrian who has grown up to be kind of bratty and petulant, presumably on account of his Hot Latin Blood(tm).

And the situation over the intervening decades has only gotten worse for the Dutch, presumably on account of some of that history of which I'm so ignorant, and onto the scene in fairly short order come one Elsa (a very attractive young girl, daughter of one of Dirk's childhood friends and, not coincidentally, heir to her father's astonishing fortune, which needs to be spirited away from the aforementioned Spaniards) and one Ramiro, a one-eyed agent of the Inquisition who seems strangely familiar.

And since that's where the story really starts in earnest, I don't think I'll say too much more the details. But this is Haggard writing a more action-packed story, so there are sword fights, narrow escapes from the Inquisition, deadly maritime chases through the isles and channels surrounding Leyden, and plenty of true love's course not running at all smoothly.

And since this is Haggard, you have absolutely no doubt where his sympathies lie (HINT: Not with the Spanish and the Catholics), and I can't speak to how accurately he portrays the larger swirl of history through which our heroes are moving, but I did thoroughly enjoy the book moreso than I have with some of the preceding novels of his that I've read in recent years.
]]>