Normally, I’d complain about winter and cold, but it’s been unseasonably mild. The same can be said for much of this month’s reading, particularly some of the “weird fiction” efforts which turned out a bit on the underdone side.
This update will also feature use of the point system I mentioned here. The last update was already half-written when I pushed that out, and I lacked the will to go back and update my ratings.
Finished
The Murders of Molly Southbourne and The Survival of Molly Southbourne, Tade Thompson. Two-thirds of a trilogy, with the third volume, The Legacy of Molly Southbourne, due out in May 2022.
Far From The Light of Heaven, Tade Thompson. A stand-alone, relatively “hard” SF novel with broad overtones. (Sneak peak at review: Wowza! Good stuff!)
I want to do a stand-alone review on Thompson when I’ve finished Making Wolf, which is one book from the front of the queue on my Kindle. Stand by.
Old Man’s War, John Scalzi. I got the idea of reading this from a From The Green Notebook podcast episode on the value of science fiction. (Find it here if you’re interested.) Turned out to be an excellent investment of time and effort. A couple of the basic premises in play here are that humanity has moved on from Earth--in a couple of senses--but the squabbling goes on down there; the universe is crowded and dangerous; and the best way to get into the military (and off Earth) is to volunteer once you’re over 75. The book starts a bit slowly--it’s like Scalzi was pacing himself for what turned into a lengthy series--but delivers on multiple fronts.
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points.
Immersion factor: Shallow (very slow start): 1 point.
Writing quality, character/plot development, interest/innovation: all high: 2 points x 3 = 6 pts.
Total: 9/10
Fallen (Allies and Enemies #1), Amy J. Murphy. Sela Tyron does not handle nuances well, particularly emotional ones. She’ll have to learn though, as she confronts secrets, betrayal, various forbidden types of love and a vast galaxy-spanning conspiracy! Book 1 in a four-part series, this was well-done. The pacing is good, dramatic (and other...) tension builds well, the characters are credible as people, while the plot is original enough to keep my increasingly jaded interest. Murphy is clearly a talented writer. While I still want to read the rest of the series, going from this she manages to miss some of the mistakes common to the genre. Good stuff!
Smirk index: All clear minus/acceptable-plus: 1.5 points (Just a tad too many of them.)
Immersion factor: Full-body minus: 1.5 points. (Almost there.)
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 points.
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 points.
Interest/innovation: Average: 1 point.
Total: 7/10
The Bear’s Claws: A Novel of World War III, Andrew Knighton and Russell Phillips. I am not 100% sure how I got to this. Once started, it was a treat--and measured up very well compared to a lot of the mass-produced military SFF/space opera I plow though. The book is mostly written from the point of view of V. I. Rakovich, a Soviet Army warrant officer (praporshchik) in a mechanized infantry unit in East Germany. It’s the summer of 1982, and we follow Rakovich as he and his steadily-shrinking platoon storm west through and over successive NATO units. Along the way, Rakovich begins to lose his own beliefs in what he’s fighting for--although in the end it does him no good. There is no easy redemption here. A side plot to this is the growing alienation of Rakovich’s sister, back home in Leningrad. The book ends with them reunited after a possibly pyrric victory, facing an uncertain future, their hero’s journey cut short. The point of view is a unique one, and does a good job of humanizing the other side--who are good soldiers but suffer from no shortage of problems. More importantly, the book balances the human side of things with the adventure of war in a way many SFF authors could profit from studying. A strangely satisfying read.
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points
Immersion factor: Shallow 1 point. (Interesting but not compelling.)
Writing quality: Average: 1 point.
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 points.
Interest/innovation: Good: 2 points.
Total: 7.5/10
Shockwave (Star Kingdom Book 1), Lindsay Buroker. Casimir Dubrowski’s genes hold a secret that’s worth killing him over. An unexpected assault by robotic assassins sends him running--into the arms of a notorious star criminal, with whom he may have something odd in common. (Various spoilers deleted.) So this was pretty good. Not literature, but unlike the bottom tier in this review, it enticed me into finishing it. And I’d ungrudgingly read the rest--although at $38.92 for the other eight e-books that isn’t going to happen this month. But it was solid entertainment with a reasonably interesting cast of characters and a basic but enjoyable plot.
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points (5 smirks, used appropriately)
Immersion factor: Shallow: 1 point. (Interesting but not compelling.)
Writing quality: Average: 1 point.
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 points.
Interest/innovation: Plus qu’average: 1.5 points.
Total: 7/10
It’s a series!
Earth Alone (Earthrise Book 1), Daniel Arenson. I want to say first that I admire Arenson’s sheer ability to produce. This is book 1 of 15 and there’s a pair of spinoff series: Children of Earthrise and Soldiers of Earthrise--I guess the kids grow up and get drafted?--bringing 12 more. (All available on Kindle for, uh, just under $90...) That’s a lot of reading for the money. Critical question, though: Did quality suffer along the way to pounding out 27 volumes over the five years from 2016-21? Yes, actually. At least a little bit. Arenson seems like a decent writer but doesn’t give himself a chance.
But wait, there’s more! A lot more!
Earth Alone suffers from what I assume is the relentless production schedule. I found the beginning of the book to be potentially compelling stuff--kids in the alien-ravaged ruins of Earth, loss, trauma, dreams of revenge--subtle promise of character development! And then everyone grew up, got drafted, and wound up in the Human Defense Force and it got more standard-issue, almost cardboard story telling. The HDF I thought was a little like Warhammer’s Imperial Guard, although less grim and dark. (But only slightly.) And extra points because Arenson writes with a sense of humor, which leavens things a little bit. Still, it was a shame because a giant series that’s ok could have been a shorter series that’s fantastic.
Smirk index: Overdone: 0 points. (16 smirks in 366 pages is pure shortcut-taking)
Immersion factor: Shallow: 1 point. (Interesting but not compelling.)
Writing quality: Average: 1 point. (Humor + cardboard = uneven.)
Character/plot development: Average: 1 points. (Started strong, but it was only kidding.)
Interest/innovation: Average: 1 point.
Total: 4/10
The Junior Officers’ Reading Club, Patrick Hennessey. This is a classic coming of age memoir, tracing the author’s path from student to officer cadet to hardened, disaffected warrior. The parts of the book dealing with Hennessey’s time at officer candidate school could be slow, but his recounting of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan was vivid and gripping. This was particularly true of his time in Helmand, a classic crucible experience. Hennessey alternates narrative with excerpts from emails, weaving an effective and interesting story of how he became an officer, grew into his role, and ultimately left active service.
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points. (1 smirk, which added color)
Immersion factor: Full-body-minus: 1.5 points. (Compelling.)
Writing quality: Average-plus: 1.5 points.
Character/plot development: Average: 1 points. (Uneven.)
Interest/innovation: Above average: 2 points.
Total: 8/10
The Primal Screamer, Nick Blinko. This book opens with a medical intervention which saves the suicidal Nathaniel. This starts his troubling and tumultuous relationship with the doctor who saves him. Not so much a novella as an extended, semi-autobiographical meditation on music and mental illness. Not being a fan of anarcho-punk (“crust punk?”) music, I missed the author’s connection to it and am afraid a lot of Blinko’s carefully-crafted tribute to the dark side went a bit over my head. Light on the horror--although in real life, Blinko’s band did do a Lovecraft tribute album--and heavy on the music, I had trouble appreciating this.
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points. (No smirks given here.)
Immersion factor: Shallow-minus: 0.5 point. (Mildly interesting, I found myself skipping a lot.)
Writing quality: Average: 1.0 points.
Character/plot development: Average: 1 points. (Uneven.)
Interest/innovation: Low: 0 points.
Total: 4.5/10
Spiritus Ex Machina, LC von Hessen. My money is on “von Hessen” being a pseudonym. Whichever, this is a collection of five stories, produced courtesy of Storybundle for one of their bundles. My favorite was probably The Medium And The Message, a send-up of a fine arts masters thesis about an painting, the Red Canvas, which has...unfortunate...effects on those who spend too much time looking at it. Herr Scheintod was a festival of the macabre, although a but over the top for me. The others were solid. Overall, a fun set of meditations on the Lovecraftian world.
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points. (No smirks given here.)
Immersion factor: Shallow: 1 point (Interesting but not compelling.)
Writing quality: Average: 1 point.
Character/plot development: Average: 1 points. (Uneven.)
Interest/innovation: Above average: 1.5 points.
Total: 6.5/10
Suspended
Vicarious, Rhett C. Bruno. This is an interesting one. The main character lives a life of automated privilege in a literal walled compound surrounded by a literal sea of poverty and disaster. He makes a “living” as a sort of volunteer director on a very ethically-dubious live reality show, until something goes very wrong and he’s cast out. I was actually pretty good with this--the book, that is. It’s not inspired, but it was solidly okay, with lots of serious human condition stuff going--until that plot turn. I’m having a bit of trouble mustering enthusiasm for what I assume will be an inevitable struggle against incredible odds to gain redemption. (19%)
Smirk index: Bordering on overdone: 0.5 points (16 smirks is 10-12 too many)
Immersion factor: Not quite bone dry: 0.5 points.
Writing quality and interest/innovation: Average: 1 x 2 = 2 points.
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 points.
Total: 4.5/10
A History of What Comes Next, Sylvain Neuvel. I don’t quite know what to make of this. A mysterious woman is helping Werner von Braun escape from the collapsing Nazi regime--and running from an inexorable dark force which threatens to take her life, as it has for generations before her. I’m debating whether the sense that this is dragging is just because it’s starting up and Neuvel is peeling the onion on a larger plot, or if it’s just not my thing. (22%)
Smirk index: All clear: 2 points (Zero smirks. Also, has a PhD but doesn’t write like it--fortunately.)
Immersion factor: Not quite bone dry: 0.5 points.
Writing quality and interest/innovation: Average: 1 x 2 = 2 points.
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 points.
Total: 6/10
Abandoned
The Natural Dissolution of Fleeting-Improvised-Men: The Last Letter of H. P. Lovecraft, Gabriel Blackwell. This came from a weird fiction bundle, and is among the last books from it that I started. It’s written as Lovecraft’s last letter, found in a hospital basement. One twist: it’s apparently one giant paragraph of raving, paranoia and horror. By “giant”, I mean the letter, which is the bulk of the 194 page book, is one paragraph--this is in line with its increasingly sinister, ranty tone.
The first couple sentences give an idea:
“Dear Mr. Blackwell, Given a last spur of energy by the bile the memory of your accursed letter has set off, I am writing to return the awful blight that it has visited upon me. I knew not whom you were when that mad thing appeared on my desk a month ago, but if I had known what was enclosed, I would have destroyed it without even unsealing the envelope. You end you inquiry with a wish for my continued health; I wish in this reply my haunted oblivion returned to sender.”
And thus on and on for, presumably, another 170-ish pages. (Just ghost the guy already…) The lack of respite from this when reading the text is presumably the point, and despite everything I found myself admiring the effort which had gone into it.
Despite that it never caught on for me, although it garnered a small (but hard core) fan club on Goodreads. There is apparently something more to this, but I’m not sufficiently literate on Lovecraft to see what it was. Sacrificed at 24%.
Smirk index: All clear-minus: 1.5 pts. (Actually well written, paragraph thing aside.)
Immersion factor: Bone dry: 0 points.
Writing quality: High: 2 pts.
Interest/innovation: Average: 1 pt. (Interesting premise, format wore me down)
Character/plot development: 0.5 pts (Seemed promising at first)
Total: 5/10