The Good, The Bad and The Very, Very Delayed, Pt. 2: Kindle
Part 1 of this update dealt with physical books. This one will dive into more or less recently finished Kindle books.
Wetware: Drabbles, Black Hare Press. Not to be confused with “Wetware” from the same publisher. It’s teaser for it featuring a page or so from a selection of the actual stories. I went back and repurchased the actual anthology--which was, actually, also free. We’ll talk about it when it’s done.
Read again factor: I want my three minutes back.
A Dead Djinn In Cairo, P. Djeli Clark. Nifty and too-short novella set in an alternate-reality/Steampunk Cairo. Fatma el-Sha-arawi is a pioneering female investigator from Egypt’s Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. The discovery of a dead djinn, drained of all its blood, thrusts her into a fast-moving and entertaining bid to save the world.
Read again factor: Very high. Makes me want to read more by Clark.
A Billion Earths: A Seeders Universe Collection, Dean Wesley Smith. Five short stories set in the universe of the same...yeah, you get the idea. Some interesting and promising elements are on display, like what happens when you get to really, really empty space. But for each one there was a cheesy plot or unconvincing character twist.
Read again factor: Nope, thanks. $32.92 on Amazon for 9 novels seems too high.
The Wild Space Boxed Set, C.S. Ferguson. I really liked this, and was mildly surprised that I really liked it. It was well-written, had standard plot elements which were arranged in a different and fun way, and had characters who actually had depth and evolved through the relatively short series. This made up for the occasional small plot holes.
Read again factor: If it survives the coming civilization-ending EMP storm, then surely.
Realm City, Ron Collins. Collins does an enjoyable, deft job handling a storyline which--except for its exotic setting near a black hole--could easily be cliched or flat. I’m not saying this is going to replace The Odyssey in the canon, but I got through it without any second thoughts. It’s not Jefferson Smith’s treadmill, but as close as I come to it!
Read again factor: I’d be trapped in a blizzard with this.
In The Midst of Wolves, Kurt Ellis. South African crime fiction. Nick Creed is a tortured soul who’s doing very little constructive to help himself--but he’s a brilliant detective and gifted profiler. When not tottering on the brink of self-destruction, he works awful crimes on the margins of post-Apartheid South Africa. A solid read from an under appreciated author , the story also sheds some light on the complexities of race and class under and after Apartheid.
Read again factor: Another trapped-in-a-blizzard read.
The Shadow Order - Books 1-8, Michael Robertson. This was a problem. I liked the concept of this series better than the execution. It started off well--I read the “120 Seconds” short story which provides some backstory for one of the protagonists and enjoyed it. Robertson’s writing features some annoying ‘ticks’. Perhaps because of editing. (For example.) This is a good case study in why many authors would benefit from writing less, writing more slowly, and engaging in deliberate practice. Just saying.
Read again factor: No, I’m trying to practice self-compassion.
Darkish, Paul Arvidson. This is a story collection that runs in the universe of the “Dark” and “Darker”. See a theme there? It’s set on what sounds like a ruined colony world of some sort--it’s hard to tell exactly, which is part of the charm in a weird way. It also features one of the odder characters I’ve read about lately a “scent detective” named Teller Mas, who may be a dog? I can’t tell.
Read again factor: Maybe after the ‘real’ novels, to patch up whatever I’ve missed.
The Reverie, Peter Fehervari. Fehervari rules! I can’t do justice to this book, which is another amazingly layered and carefully crafted story set in his Dark Coil series. For Black Library literati, I’d recommend two very long but excellent reviews on Goodreads: Rostislav Markelov’s and Tim Van Lipzig’s. There is action, but it’s subordinate to the psychological and ethical rot--which gradually unleash more traditional horror when they get out of control. I was constantly drawing parallels between Kanvolis (what Van Lipzig calls the “chapter fortress/art gallery” in which much of the story is set) and America of 2020.
Read again factor: Just hoping it’s an allegory and not a prophecy.
Edit: 12/19 — Saw this excellent “Track of Words” review (contains spoilers)
The most un-Warhammer cover art ever.
No Good Men, Various Authors. Warhammer Crime! Another good one--this has seven short stories set in Varangantua, a sprawling city cut through with violence, lies and very human evil. This was tightly-selected, and all of the stories contribute something to the overall effort. Uplifting it’s not, but if you’re looking for that you’re reading the wrong stuff.
Read again factor: I’d steal my own copy from the underhive to read it again.
Xenos, Dan Abnett. Need a little bit of light weekend reading to help you feel better about whatever it is that you do at work? Abnett brings us an ancient book of evil called the “Necroteuch”, traitors to humanity, foul aliens, conspiracies within conspiracies. All in a day’s miserable and frightening work for a hardy group of Inquistors. So quit whining about that TPS Report cover sheet, and be glad you’re not a character in this book.
Read again factor: Only a heretic wouldn’t give the Inquisition as much time as they want. And you’re not a heretic, are you? Are you?
Anathemas, Various Authors. More Warhammer Horror. This features a wider array of writers than No Good Men, with more stories--14 of them. The result is a mix of things from authors I don’t know well but would love to read more form--Runner by Alan Bao and These Hands, These Wings by Lora Gray come to mind--as well as some predictably-good writing from stalwarts like David Annandale. Well worth the $9.99.
Read again factor: Tending towards a solid definite maybe.
The Reservist (Order of the Centurion #5), Handley, Anspach, Cole. Sigh. Once again, down the rabbit hole of another endless sci-fi/military space opera series. On the bright side, very high “production values” here. The story is tight, the psychology is realistic, there’s character development in more than one dimension, the physics and dynamics are reasonably reality-bound, writing’s good, and it was edited by someone who’d done it before. (I believe that’s one half of the ‘J. R. Handley’ pseudonym.) The dark side is that, once again, it’s a series and I dutifully clicked on the button to buy them all. That, however, is my bad and not the authors. Good stuff!
Read again factor: After the others in the “Order of the Centurion” series? Sure, maybe...
The Wicked and the Damned, Various Authors. Another Warhammer Horror anthology. This would be a good one for someone with minimal knowledge of the incredibly detailed back story and ‘lore’ of the universe. It’s not really a stand-alone, though, and if you’re new to Warhammer or looking for Love(craft) you may be disappointed.
Read again factor: The third and first novellas (in that order) before the second.
The Alcatraz Coup (Red Dog Conspiracy Book 0)
The Queen of Diamonds(Red Dog Conspiracy Book 2)
The Ace of Clubs(Red Dog Conspiracy Book 3)
The King of Hearts(Red Dog Conspiracy Book 4)
The Five of Diamonds (Red Dog Conspiracy Book 5)
All by Patricia Loofbourrow. Besides having one of the harder surnames for me to spell (I get it wrong every. damn. time...) this was one of the harder series I’ve read. The good: intricately-crafted story with a realistically-working society--the characters strike me as people who act like people actually act. The bad: it would have worked just as well with a little less intricacy. At times it drags as we wade through the minutiae of daily life in a dystopian, vaguely alt-history world. I’m not suggesting it should be Fast and the Furious X Jane Austen, but come on. The ugly: the main character is admirable, but wowza--I kept wondering how someone that naive wasn’t dead already. Unfortunately, that distracted a bit from enjoying the series. Overall, though, a reasonably well-done set with plenty of room for another 5-10 volumes... Also, pro-tip: read book zero after the other five.
Read again factor: On the whole, probably not. I would watch a TV series based on it, at least once.