Author: HCNewton Page 541 of 629

Reread Project: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

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On February 16, 2016

In A-B, Authors, Douglas Adams, Fiction, Reread Project, Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I think WordPress’ spell-check might explode if I add another sentence or two to this….
—

The Restaurant at the End of the UniverseThe Restaurant at the End of the Universe

by Douglas Adams
Series: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy, #2

Mass Market Paperback, 245 pg.
Ballantine Books, 1995

Read: February 13-15, 2016

If you’ve done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with a breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe?

I think in the past, I’ve enjoyed The Restaurant at the End of the Universe more than this time, but I’m not sure why. Which is not to say that I didn’t have a blast, I just usually have more fun. From the intricate — and death-defying — difficulty of making a good cup of tea; to the extreme lengths some people will go to for a dining experience; to perspective that a little cake can give; to considering what color a wheel should be or whether fire should be nasally-inserted — this book covers all the bases. While still episodic in nature, it seems less so than its predecessor — and far less so than its successor. It’s a stronger novel, not quite as funny, but still better than most “funny” or “light” SF than you’ll find.

[Gargravarr] had rather liked Zaphod Beeblebrox in a strange sort of way. He was clearly a man of many qualities, even if they were mostly bad ones.

Most of this book showcased the ex-President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox the First (how is great-grandfather was Zaphod the Fourth lies in one of the best lies Adams ever penned). Now Zaphod’s not my favorite character — actually, I typically dislike him as a character. As a joke-generator, a font of one-liners? He’s great. Probably most of the quotable lines in this book are his (even Arthur’s best line is immediately denigrated by him “Yeah, and don’t you wish you hadn’t?”).

We see the reason for his stealing of The Heart of Gold in the last book, we’re taken on a wild and twisty ride for him to complete his quest and then . . . it just stops. I’m sure it’s supposed to be in an absurd way or something, but it seems pointless (probably the point).

And then we’re off to Milliways. Ahhh, Milliways — this is an absolutely perfect part of the book. That this is the book’s title is absolutely fitting. There’s nothing about it I don’t like here — Max Quordlepleen’s banter (the oddly bittersweet introduction of him), Hotblack Desiato (and his tax plan), the Dish of the Day . . . I’m going to shut up before I just copy and paste the whole thing.

The rest of the book focuses on Arthur (and Ford, but, a little less), who I like, but don’t laugh at nearly as much.

“Poor Arthur, you’re not really cut out for this life are you?” [Trillian asked]
“You call this life?”

Something I’ve been thinking about this read-through is this: why Arthur? He’s one of Ford’s oldest friends on Earth — but we know he has multiple friends, he could’ve picked any of them — why Arthur? Surely, Ford would’ve had at least an inkling that Arthur would turn into the whiny Monkey-man that Zaphod can’t stand. It’s easy to see why Tricia McMillan would go off with Zapod as Phil over this wet blanket, well, towel. Trillian here has the same thought — and if we’re given a good explanation for that, I don’t remember it. Any of you have a guess (or a quotation) to justify Ford’s improbable choice?

Now, I may have sounded less that totally satisfied with this book — which is oddly true. I do think the Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B story is pretty “blah” and goes on far too long (into the next book). But it gives us gems like this:

It is a curious fact, and one to which no one knows quite how much importance to attach, that something like 85 percent of all known worlds in the Galaxy, be they primitive or highly advanced, have invented a drink called jynnan tonnyx, or gee-N-N-T’Nix, or jinond-o-nicks, or any one of a thousand or more variations on the same phonetic theme. The drinks themselves are not the same, and vary between the Sivolvian “chinanto/mnigs” which is ordinary water served at slightly above room temperature, and the Gagrakackan “tzjin-anthony-ks” which kills cows at a hundred paces; and in fact the one common factor between all of them, beyond the fact that the names sound the same, is that they were all invented and named before the worlds concerned made contact with any other worlds.

making it hard to complain too much.

There are a lot of laughs to be had here — I didn’t even mention Marvin’s contributions, which were just gold. And any time with Adams is worth it. A must-read follow-up to the classic, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

—–

4 Stars

DNF – The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley

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On February 16, 2016

In Currently Reading, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

The Relic MasterThe Relic Master

by Christopher Buckley

Hardcover, 372 pg.
Simon & Schuster, 2015
Read: February 10 – 15

I would love to know what made Christopher Buckley think, “You know what the world needs? A satire about a Christian relic dealer in 1517…” I also wonder what would drive me to grab it (other than that’s what I do every time I see his name — since the 80’s). But I did, and I gave it the old college try.

The history is pretty good. But I wonder if I’m too critical, I’ve spent so much time recently listening to lectures, reading about, the religious atmosphere of the time — that might have hurt my appreciation for his take on the period (then again, most of his satire is contemporary and I lived through that without problems). In that light, I should say that I really appreciated his characterization of Johann Tetzel. But I just couldn’t care about the characters, the story — any of it. There was none of Buckley’s wit, or his voice — nothing that made me a fan of his other work. Honestly, I’m not sure how he could’ve kept those things with a historical fiction, but the book sure needed that. Yes, it’s entirely possible, that if I’d stuck with it a bit longer, I’d have sung a different song, but life’s too short and my TBR pile is too high.

So, for the first time since January 2011, I’m abandoning a book. I might come back to it at some point, I’d like to actually read it. But not now.

(not really a review, but I felt like I should say something)

United States of Books – Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

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On February 15, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

Shoeless JoeShoeless Joe

by W.P. Kinsella

Author: Laura at 125Pages

This weeks United States of Books brings us to Iowa with Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella. Entertainment Weekly says – Not only was this novel – adapted for Field of Dreams – set in Iowa, but Kinsella also attended the state’s other claim to fame: The Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

itsiowaI went into Shoeless Joe with such hope. I have not seen Field of Dreams, but love uplifting sports movies, so I thought I would love one in book form. But this was no uplifting sports movie, it was a strange tale of a man who builds a baseball field on his failing Iowa corn farm then leaves his wife and small child to kidnap famed writer J.D. Salinger and take him on a road trip. I’m sorry what? Where is my tale of a downtrodden man who has a vision and through that builds his dream on his farm? Instead I get a wacky buddy road trip comedy, complete with carnies and diner hold ups. The action on the farm is limited to the very beginning and the very end, and that is where the heart of the story was. A struggling man trying to save his farm and his family with a dream and pure gumption. Those parts were fantastic, but the rest was just ridiculous.

The plot had its moments, but they were sadly few and far between. The family parts were great, but the whole kidnapping road trip aspect totally lost me. The world created was the same, certain select parts were crisp and vivid, then it veered into crazypants territory. The writing was fine, sentence structure wise, but the story was so over the top I couldn’t really see any fine nuances. The characters were a mashup of amazing and then not, they started strong but then went downhill the more I read. I had no emotional tie to any of the characters. Ray was dismissive of the real world and the potential harm he was bringing to his wife and child.

“…what an outfield,” he says. “What a left field.” He looks up at me and I look down at him. “This must be heaven,” he says. “No. It’s Iowa,” I reply automatically.

Shoeless Joe is considered one of the greatest sports books written. I just didn’t see it. Less a book about baseball to me, and more a book about what too much Round-Up in a field will lead to. I do understand the baseball at the heart of the story and how it linked every part together, but failed to see the amazing parts as the random hostage taking of a reclusive writer and a road trip with said writer to pick up baseball ghosts took away from that for me. As did the husband and father endangering the future of his family by leaving them as their farm is about to be foreclosed on. Now, I don’t hate baseball and I know, national sport and all, but this book just didn’t do it for me.

  • Favorite lines – Pedestrians in the East behave like lemmings rushing dispassionately to their deaths—it takes a good ten minutes to make a left turn into the blinding rush of oncoming traffic, with pedestrians thronging suicidally into the intersections.


  • Biggest cliché – If you build it, he will come.


  • Have you read Shoeless Joe, or added it to your TBR?



    • Check out all of the #USofBooks posts here.

    —–

    2 1/2 Stars

Confessions of a Clumsy Christian: Unqualified by Jennifer Wilson

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On February 14, 2016

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Confessions of a Clumsy Christian: UnqualifiedConfessions of a Clumsy Christian: Unqualified: Honest Answers to Real Questions About Being Good Enough for God

by Jennifer Wilson

E-book, 89 pg.
2016

Read:February 7, 2016

This was a tough one for me to write — in fact, I think I spent at least twice as long deciding what to write and then writing this as I did reading the book.

Jennifer Wilson had the kind of past that many of us have had — false starts with faith, personal problems, family problems, addictions, job woes, etc. — struggling from time to time with trying to be good enough to become a Christian — at some point, she realized she couldn’t and that God didn’t want someone who was good enough (who could be?), but someone “unqualified” to be a Christian. She talks about some of her problems, doubts and fears both before and after her conversion, in an effort to reassure others that “qualified Christians” just don’t exist.

Let’s get the easy stuff out of the way: Wilson writes in a charming, engaging manner — pleasant, breezy, conversational. This makes the book a quick and easy read — sometimes deceptively so, considering the topics covered. She comes across as very open and honest, very genuine.

There were plenty of typos and grammatical mistakes in the edition I read — none were too distracting, though, so you could get past it. You almost have to forgive the mistakes in the midst of an author telling you how often she has and continues to fail in various areas.

There are plenty of books I shouldn’t write — for example, novels that are supposed to go anywhere beyond the NaNoWriMo word count verification; books on care of felines; diet books — 2 of these may change in time, my fiction could improve or I could get in shape. If either happens, I’ll write those books. And at some point, Jennifer Wilson may be ready to write this book. She states, over and over again that she’s a new Christian. At one point, she describes herself as “barely an apprentice Christian.” I have to ask, why is she writing a book about it then? I’m not saying she shouldn’t ever — but maybe she should get some roots down. She wants to write about her past? Her coming to faith? Her struggles as a new Christian? Fine — more than fine, she’s helpful. But when she goes further than that, she gets herself in trouble.

John Murray once wrote, “The difference between truth and error is not a chasm but a razor’s edge.” I fear that Wilson spent so much time walking down the razor’s edge she must have really cut up her feet. For example, she advised a friend, “[God] is in pain, watching you, His precious daughter, suffer so much.” I don’t see any biblical writer speaking of God in this way. She writes, “God, my heavenly father, doesn’t want me, His daughter to suffer in pain.” Please tell that to Joseph, Job, Paul, and Jesus for starters. The Epistles are replete with instructions about suffering, about the purpose of suffering, of rejoicing in our suffering. I have to wonder, what God is she talking about?

Wilson’s clear that she doesn’t know the Bible very well — that right there should give her pause before weighing in on Biblical concerns, no?

I know she’s trying to be amusing in her writing — and she usually succeeds — but I think a little more care surrounding God, His works, and the ways He’s revealed Himself would be helpful. Self-deprecating humor, humor at the apparent vicissitudes of life, absolutely fair game. But there are some things that we ought to treat reverently even in the midst of irreverence.

There is a lot to be commended about this book — particularly when she describes her own struggles past and present. But the solutions suggested are frequently problematic, when not downright unbiblical. It’s written-well enough, I’m just pretty sure it shouldn’t have been written at this time. I wish Wilson’d waited until she was past the apprentice stage to write this. I’m not just saying that, I want to like this book — I’d like to recommend it to others, but I just can’t. Aimee Byrd (not just her, but she’s a good starting point) has been writing recently about the deplorable nature of Christian books marketed for and by women, sadly, this book is evidence that she knows what she’s talking about.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. She probably had something else in mind.

—–

2 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 2/13/16

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On February 13, 2016

In Books, News/Misc.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • Morning Star by Pierce Brown — the trilogy comes to a conclusion — and something tells me there’s a lot of death, destruction, and twists along the way. I’m hearing very good things about this.
  • Dead Is Better by Jo Perry — A ghost solving his own murder with a ghost dog by his side — okay, my paraphrase doesn’t sound nearly as good the description on Fahrenheit Press’ site, click the link and it’ll convince you.
  • Atlanta Burns: The Hunt by Chuck Wendig — Atlanta Burns’ senior year looks like it’ll be tough and violent and twisted — basically, like the rest of her life.
  • As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley — A new Flavia de Luce novel means I’m even further behind.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Fictionophile and Aidan Reid for following the blog this week. Thanks to S. C. Flynn and Jayme the Scribbler for the interaction (and the reblog!).

The Batgirl of Burnside by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart & Babs Tarr

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On February 12, 2016

In Comics, Fiction

The Batgirl of BurnsideBatgirl Vol. 1: The Batgirl of Burnside

by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart (Writers), Babs Tarr (Artist)

Hardcover, 176 pg.
DC Comics, 2015

Read: February 10, 2016


My dabbling into The New 52 continues . . .

Like everyone who has at least one social network account, I was deluged by images of the new Batgirl uniform back in 2015 — and I dug it. I liked the Cassandra Cain incarnation of the character — but had missed just about all of them post-Barbara Gordon, who didn’t do much for me (I was a big Oracle fan, in my defense). So I decided to give this a shot when I saw the collection. Oh, so glad that I did — the best of the New 52 comics I’ve read so far.

Barbara Gordon’s in some sort of tiff with Dinah Lance (I’m assuming it’s Lance, didn’t care enough to check), she’s moving out of her old digs into a very trendy, hipster part of Gotham (the part that Nolan or Burton never showed) with a roommate she met doing physical therapy while working on a Master’s/Doctorate with a predictive algorithm that will probably go on to turn Gotham into Minority Report or will be Oracle. Doesn’t take her long to need to do the Batgirl thing, so she slaps together a new costume (her old equipment was no longer available) — the purple leather coat and sneaker thing — and gets to action.

(you can really tell I’m into detailed research here in that paragraph, can’t you? Well, maybe not today)

There’s a new gaggle of friends, mostly university based, who help her tremendously. There’s a romantic interest or two, conflict with the cops, some good stuff with Dinah, a brush with celebrity culture, and a few laughs. It’s light-hearted when it can be, kick-butt when it has to be. Which pretty much sums up Barbara, too.

The art? Wow. I don’t know how to describe it, but it makes you think of an animated show, it’s fun, it’s dynamic — it absolutely wouldn’t work for a lot of titles, but this one has enough spirit, enough joie de vivre, that it works perfectly. It supports and doesn’t distract from the story, just what you want from comic art.

I really dug this, and hope that this version of her sticks around for a bit (as I write this, I’m fully aware that she’s likely morphed at least once into something more Christopher Nolan-esque) — I’ll be looking for more of this one for sure.

—–

3.5 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…Joe Klingler

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On February 11, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Books, News/Misc., Writing

I posted about Joe Klingler‘s novel, Missing Mona last week (if you didn’t read it, take a moment now — or skip what I said and go get the book). Klingler was kind enough to participate in a Q&A with me. I asked some Missing Mona-specifc questions and then a couple of generic questions. I kept it short and sweet, because I’d rather he work on his next book than take too much time with me, y’know? It could’ve been a little shorter, but he insisted on providing thoughtful answers (I really appreciated the last one)

Where there challenges in writing someone going through a “technology reallocation phase” that you didn’t expect? I’ve often thought Sue Grafton’s books would be at least 1/3 shorter if Kinsey had a cell phone — there are so many things she has to do to make a call/get messages/get information/etc.
One of the challenges was how to keep Tommy connected to a grid that he wasn’t a part of, since all of the other characters had smartphones, and used them constantly. He was already an outsider from another town, but his lack of a phone also made him an outsider in the virtual world as well. He had to constantly figure out how he was going to solve problems without technical assistance—which wasn’t always even possible. However, his interaction with paper messages, meeting times, and just showing up places unannounced provided experiences that would have never happened if he had just sent a text.

The other challenge he immediately faced was how to fill all the alone time created by not being constantly connected to the stream of text and images most people interact with all day long. This gave him time ponder and appreciate his new experiences, plan his next step, and even practice his guitar.
Seeing the references to Martin Caidin on your website warmed my heart — I was afraid I was the only one who remembered him. Describe some the influences on Missing Mona beyond the initial inspiration from Crais (whether or not you think they’re on display in Missing Mona).
Caidin’s The God Machine started me thinking long ago about the perils of power concentrated in one place (or person, or corporation), which we see in the character of LaRuche. Hammett and Chandler helped me understand how to describe experience as it happens, without much attention to the past or future. John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee is a masterwork on how to construct a long series, and build story around a single character with enough depth to carry many novels. Lee Child has his character Jack Reacher arrive in a new town on a new adventure in each book, much the way cowboys did in old westerns. His approach inspired me to have Tommy start out on a road trip with only a vague destination.

I also drew on some of my own experience riding an R75/6 BMW motorcycle along the east coast and down the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smoky Mountains, seeking only to experience different people and places (yes, I rode to Chicago on a number of occasions.)
If you’ve decided, when we next meet Tommy is he going to be on Route 66 (or en route to it), or will he have returned to Chicago? Are we going to see Marvin, Lizzie, Penny and the rest again?
Tommy will likely begin his next mystery in Chicago, right where he left off. He has made new friends, and found a place to play guitar. Will he stay? How does a traveler ever know when it is time to stop, or if it’s best to keep moving? He finally has himself in motion after years at Walmart, and will struggle with the idea of stopping. That said, his new friends might show up at any time in the future, wherever he may be.

(Phew! That’s what I wanted to hear)
Is there a genre that you particularly enjoy reading, but could never write? Or are you primarily a mystery/suspense/thriller reader?
I read widely, though I prefer writing mysteries and thrillers because they integrate the way people, events, social customs, personal decisions, and technology are all interconnected. I’m a big fan of science fiction, and would like to try it at some point. A horror novel would be very difficult for me to write; I’m not sure I could sleep at night while writing one, though I like reading them on occasion.
I’ve often heard that writers, or artists in general, will forget hundreds of positive reviews but always remember the negative — what’s the worst thing that someone’s said about one of your books, and has it altered your approach to future books?
I definitely remember the positive ones, so please keep them coming. In an interview Stephen King said that if one person says something about your book, you can usually safely ignore it, but if ten people have the same criticism, then perhaps you should look at your work and see how you might improve in that area. So, when I read reviews, I look for the same topic to come up (often in different guises). I like to tell a story from many different perspectives (which some people don’t care for), and I have to be careful with how, and how often, I change point of view. One of the reasons Missing Mona was told in the first person is because I wanted to experiment with using a single point of view.

The worst thing is hard to measure, but being misunderstood is way up there on my list. One person hated the name Qigiq because she couldn’t figure out how to pronounce it, another considered RATS not good enough for an airplane ride, and one thought there were too many floozies in Mash Up. Every reader comes to a book with their own background and set of expectations. About the only thing a writer can do is describe the book clearly in their marketing materials, get as many reviews as possible, and trust that the book will find its readers while he or she sets off to write the next book as well as they possibly can.

Another challenge is that some readers try to infer things about an author from their fiction. Stephen King also wrote to never try to figure out his beliefs from his books. Characters in fiction have their own biases and beliefs and are created to fill the needs of the story. What they think has nothing to do with what the author thinks.

Guardians Launch Day!

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On February 11, 2016

In Uncategorized

GuardiansTuesday, I blogged about the book, Guardians by Josi Russell — which I really enjoyed, and today is the release day.

The publisher, Future House Publishing, has this to say:

Buckle up for another great adventure with Josi Russell. and the sequel to her #1 best-selling Caretaker in her newest book, Guardians. While exploring Minea, Ethan and part of his crew crash-land and must navigate their way through a maze of tunnels with danger at every turn. Above ground, the others prepare for an unexpected battle. Can these self-appointed guardians bring hope of survival to Minea? Cancel your plans for this weekend, or better yet tell your friends to join you, as you fight with the guardians in the battle of Minea.

To kick-off the release, Future House has a few things you should take note of:

  1. There’s a sale on both Guardians and its predecessor, Caretaker. Just $0.99 until Feb. 17th. (I’m taking advantage of the Caretaker sale here in a minute or two.)
  2. They’re sponsoring a Goodreads giveaway for Guardians — enter by the 15th.
  3. They also have a drawing going on for an autographed copy of Guardians or the new audiobook of Caretaker. Check out details on that here.

There are more details about the book, the giveaways, and all that on the book’s Launch Page — be sure to check it out.

The Highly Capable by Jayme Beddingfield

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On February 10, 2016

In Fiction

The Highly CapableThe Highly Capable

by Jayme Beddingfield
Series: The Ruby Dawson Saga, Volume 1

ePub, 157 pg.
Booktrope Editions, 2015

Read: February 9, 2016

If Jamie Schultz’s Arcane Underworld were an HBO show, this would be the TNT or USA Network equivalent (this is a description, not a criticism) — it’s not quite a gritty, or dark — but it deals with the same kind of characters, in similar pressures. A small group of criminals, augmented with magic/powers, who suddenly find themselves in waters far deeper than they were prepared for — and the fallout from that.

Ruby Dawson is telekenetic, her drug-addled boyfriend can turn invisible, her best friend, Brody can walk through walls, one other member of the team has super-strength and another can climb walls like a certain Web-Slinger. Their boss, Madison, is pyrokenetic (and a secretive control-freak, but that’s beside the point). Ruby used to be a pick-pocket, but the team specializes in residential B & A. They’re pretty successful at it, but Madison wants more — and Ruby’s thinking it’s time to leave. Obviously, there’s a little trouble brewing there

In addition to the professional conflict (if you can call it a profession), there’s a love triangle, a couple of addicts racing toward rock-bottom, and an almost complete lack of trust amongst the team. I could tell right away that this pegs a little higher on the lovey-dovey/romantic intrigue meter than I prefer (I write that fully aware of the hypocrisy involved, as I’m currently waiting for my wife to finish a Gail Carriger Parasol Protectorate book so I can read it), but I got sucked in anyway.

The combination of problems, the mixture of the personal, professional and both make the plot steam ahead with such drive you just hang on for dear life. Ruby’s situation reminded me of Patricia Briggs’ Anna Cornick or Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville when we meet them for the first time — the way she addresses her situation is all her, though. It wasn’t just the plot that engaged me, it was the way that Ruby worked through it emotionally, the choices she made; I wanted to know what happened to Brody and her non-criminal friends, too, but on a lesser extent — and yeah, I really wanted to see Madison get her comeuppance.

All the powers here a pretty generic if you’ve read 1 X-Men issue (or virtually any other super-powered title/watched Alphas/etc.), and Beddingfield utilized them like a seasoned pro. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen her take on telekenesis before, though — the way she described it was gripping. And when Ruby’s powers start to develop in new ways, Beddingfield describes that perfectly, too — ditto for Ruby’s reactions to the changes.

On the one hand, I’d have like a little more background with the crew — to see them (in flashback) get to the point they are at the beginning of the book, to see the little cracks that got Ruby and Brody to begin to question Madison — and the choices that kept the others from joining in. At the same time, I kind of liked just being thrown in at the point we are — where everything’s just starting to unravel, the foundation cracking — having to assume that Ruby has good reason for what she’s doing. Not that it takes long for us to get plenty of evidence to justify her actions.

This is a quick read with a plot that keeps driving forward and an engaging protagonist that makes you want to keep moving. I don’t mean this the way it probably sounds, but I can’t account for how much I found myself liking this. Beddingfield wrote a good novel, don’t get me wrong, but when I stopped to think about it, my appreciation for it was greater than the sum of its parts — there’s something ineffable about this that drew me in. I was so hooked that when I was about 2/3 through, I started looking around on Beddingfield’s website for any clues as to the release of Volume 2, I’m already ready for it.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this by the author in exchange for an honest review — and I’m really glad she did that.

—–

3.5 Stars

Guardians by Josi Russell

By

On February 9, 2016

In Fiction

Be sure to watch the blog over the next day or two for more about this book as Release Day approaches — giveaways, sales, etc.!

—

GuardiansGuardians

by Josi Russell
Series: Caretaker Chronicles Book 2

Kindle Edition, 394 pg.
Future House Publishing, 2015

Read: February 4 – 9, 2016

Note: I threw MG/YA in as a category here, because while the book isn’t marketed for them — and the main characters are adults — there is absolutely nothing here that a 5th grader on up couldn’t enjoy. I’d have read this when I was that age.

I did one of those wild and crazy things with this book — throwing caution to the wind in a daredevil-like fashion — I read the second book in a series without reading the first book. Gasp!

Recklessness, no? It’s the kind of nutty thing I used to do all the time in my youth, but haven’t really done lately, so I figured I’d give it a try. Yes, there’s some history (between the characters, and actual history) that I didn’t really understand and some jargon that I didn’t get right off the bat because I hadn’t read Caretaker but with context, I got the jargon (pretty much, anyway), could piece together the history just enough to get by, so I didn’t feel like I was at a disadvantage for not having experience with the series. I can say with a degree of certainty now, though, that I’m going to get to it pretty soon.

The action takes place on the planet Minea, which on paper, is run by the United Earth Government, but really is run by four Corporations and most of the populace lives in their company towns — which, not surprisingly, act like company towns pretty much always have. What do the people who live on Minea do? Well, mostly, they mine (get it? Minea? What do you want, they’re miners, not cartographers), and then there are shopkeepers, mechanics, doctors, etc. that support the miners. What they mine is this ore called Yyinum, which is this universe’s equivalent of a Dilithium crystal — it’s what enables their fastest ships to travel the galaxy — unlike Dilithium, it seems to run out and the ships need to refuel. There’s only one place it can be found — Minea.

But things aren’t going so well, for the residents of Minea. Yyinum is getting harder and harder to find; there’s a blight on the crops they’re growing; some sort of plant is growing everywhere (like a mutant Space Kudzu or something); and a new, fatal disease is cropping up. Oh, yeah, and an unidentified alien space ship is orbiting the planet and no one knows why or what it’s intentions are.

That’s the overview, but if we zoom in for a closeup, we have a great cast to look at. We’ve got Ethan (who must’ve had a wild time in the last book), a government official (which means almost nothing in the company towns) who’s sent on a survey mission and goes missing in uncharted — and very dangerous — area, with a crew of surveyors that don’t like him. This is the heart of the book — but not the most important part. There’s Marcos Saras, the on-planet head of his father’s mining company, trying to win daddy’s approval and make a profit at all costs (the two are probably the same thing). There’s Kaia — the biggest reason I want to read Caretaker is so I can better understand her — a brilliant engineer in a losing battle with her body. Her father, the Admiral in charge of defending the planet — which is typically easier than it is once the aliens show up (natch) — we don’t spend as much time with him as you’d expect. And then there’s Aria — Ethan’s wife, who is spurred to action after his disappearance (and after Saras’ company gives up the search quickly) — she continues the search, studies the Taim (the Space Kudzu), and tries to do something about the blight and disease (and a whole bunch of other things. If any one person understands what’s going on on Minea, it’s her. I’d say pay attention to her, but it’s impossible not to. Mix in a whole lot of secondary characters (some of which could carry more than they’re given) that add color, flavor, and a dash of romance.

The ending — especially the denouement — felt a little rushed, like the author was up against a deadline and just needed to finish things — but they got the job done, and didn’t seem incomplete. To be fair, if she spent a little more time with both of them, I might be sitting her accusing her of stretching things out to make a word count.

The world-building was solid. The storylines? I’m in, because even the predictable bits are done in a way to keep them interesting. You’ve read most of these storylines before — maybe even all of them. But there are two elements that make this one stand out from others. The first is the way that Russell combines these storylines, weaves them together, and her weaving various characters through multiple storylines.

The second reason is what really makes me want to read the other book — and whatever Russell puts out next — the characters. I like these people, and even the one’s I’m not crazy about are one recognizable as people, not stock characters or anything (with an exception or two). About halfway through reading this my family and I finally got the chance to watch Ridley Scott’s adaptation of The Martian, *THE MARTIAN NOVEL SPOILERS TO FOLLOW* now the junior high school science nerd in me is ashamed of this, but there’s a lot of what Mark Watney said that I didn’t completely understand in Weir’s book. But it didn’t matter, because for a few days there, Mark Watney was one of my best friends. If things had gone a certain way in the book, I can tell you, I’d have been a wreck. *THE MARTIAN NOVEL SPOILERS OVER* Now, I followed 97% of this novel better than Weir’s book, but at the same time, it almost didn’t matter what was going on, I was into this because of the characters. The humanity with which she imbues the people, the aliens, and…well…some other things. That’s the difference between this book and any number of SF novels out there.

I knew I was hooked, not just enjoying the book but was hooked, when the thing that happened about halfway through Chapter 31 made me excited and got me smiling (even if it was a pretty obvious thing that the reader was waiting for Ethan and the rest of the humans to learn). Read the book and that’ll make sense. Probably.

I’m not sure when I realized this, far later than I should’ve — there was almost no violence (except when the aliens and human military got going — and even then it was pretty PG), there was no sex or “adult” language to speak of. Thanks for that, Josi Russell, what a pleasant change. On the other hand, I’m sure I ever needed the image of Minean cockroaches — the size of an adult hand, mind you — at all, and especially not crawling over the bodies of those killed in an accident. Shudder

A good SF tale with a lot of heart, and some characters you’ll care about. That’s a great way to spend a few hours.

Disclaimer: I received my copy of Guardians from the friendly people over at Future House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

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3.5 Stars

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