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Indexing: Reflections, Episode 4: Split Ends by Seanan McGuire

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On September 24, 2015

In Authors, Fiction, Indexing, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

Indexing: ReflectionsIndexing: Reflections, Episode Four: Split Ends

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #2.4
Kindle Edition
47North, 2015
Read: September 23, 2015

This is one is hard to think about as an individual episode. There’s some plot advancement, yes. But mostly this is about the team getting some new intel, evaluating it, and then coming up with a plan to get more information — there are some unorthodox moves required to obtain this more, but if they’re going to get anywhere towards capturing Elise before more lives are lost, they’re going to have to make them.

The new information they are given is huge. It’s not unexpected for the reader, and you could make the case that Henry should’ve been expecting it. But it’s more than believable that she wouldn’t have.

Yes, this installment is mostly about investigation, and not busting heads, or messing with narrative incursions, or anything. So it’s hard to discuss — but it is really well executed, what the reader and Henry learn is interesting and thought-provoking. Not only about the case they’re working on, but we get a better understanding (or at least the beginning of a better understanding) of how the whole Fairy Tale narrative functions.

There’s suspense, there’s Sloane being Sloane, there’s a cliffhanger ending. Not easy to write about, but easy enough to read and start waiting on the next chapter — maybe more urgently than I’m used to.

—–

3 Stars

Yes, My Accent Is Real by Kunal Nayyar

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On September 24, 2015

In (Auto)Biography, Humor, Non-Fiction

Yes, My Accent Is RealYes, My Accent Is Real: and Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You

by Kunal Nayyar
Hardcover, 242 pg.

Atria Books, 2015

Read: September 23 – 24, 2015


This book was all sorts of okay. Occasionally more, rarely less.

It’s a series of (primarily) autobiographical essays about his childhood in India, his family, his time in Portland during college, training as an actor, and his break on a little show you may have heard of, The Big Bang Theory. He closed the book by talking about meeting, courting and marrying his wife — probably the book’s emotional highpoint (the portions about his father are a close second).

Some are a page or two in length, some are longer. Nayyar doesn’t always come across looking good, he’s quick to point out his own shortcomings and how he’s trying to be a better person following that. Overall, he’s a decent guy, and that comes across pretty clearly.

As a fan of Raj, like (I’m assuming) 98.75% of the readers of this book, I enjoyed what little time he spent talking about the character and playing him. I particularly appreciated what he said about Raj’s selective mutism, the choices he made to depict that, and the audience’s reaction to that.

Some of these stories, I’d heard Nayyar tell before — like on Aisha Tyler’s podcast — in written form, with new (or fewer) details was nice, and unlike some, having previous exposure didn’t hurt the book.

Pleasant enough, funny, charming, even touching. It was a nice read. If you enjoy his acting, you’ll likely enjoy it. Yes, My Accent Is Real isn’t a must read, but it’s worth your time.

—–

3 Stars

Changeless by Gail Carriger

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On September 23, 2015

In Fiction, Steampunk

ChangelessChangeless

by Gail Carriger
Series: The Parasol Protectorate, #2

Mass Market Paperback, 374 pg.
Orbit, 2010
Read: September 16 – 17, 2015
I had two options to start this post with:

Ivy waved the wet handkerchief, as much as to say, words cannot possibly articulate my profound distress. Then, because Ivy never settled for meaningful gestures when verbal embellishments could compound the effect, she said, “Words cannot possibly articulate my profound distress.”

or

“I did so want to see the Highlands,” said Miss Hisselpenny. As though there would be some sort of line, drawn on the ground, that indicated transition from one part of Scotland to the next. Miss Hisselpenny had already commented that Scotland looked a lot like England, in a tone of voice that suggested this a grave error on the landscape’s part.

As long as Carriger gives me a paragraph or two like that every dozen pages or so, I’m in. She’s just so fun to read. Even when not picking on poor Ivy Hisselpenny.

Almost every review I’ve read for this book has included/started with this warning, and I might as well follow along — DO NOT read anything, including the back cover copy, about the third volume in this series — Blameless — until you’ve read the last page of this book. Even if you’ve not read any of the first book, and are just considering the series. Don’t. Just don’t.

That public service out of the way, let’s focus on this one: Alexia and Conall have been married for a few months now, and things are going pretty well, settling into a pattern, if nothing else. Then a couple of unusual things happen — a good number of werewolf regiments are recalled from India to have a short leave before being redeployed to Africa. Around the same time, a good number of the supernatural set in London is suddenly, briefly, and inexplicably normal.

Naturally, this gets the attention of Queen Victoria and her soulless advisor — as well as Alexia’s werewolf husband and his agency, her vampire friend and his entourage — and well, pretty much everyone. How did this happen? What made it stop? Some want to be able to duplicate the effect and make it widespread and permanent. Others want to make sure it never happens again.

The investigation takes Alexia, her annoying sister, her flighty friend Miss Hisselpenny, and a new French acquaintance (with a reckless proclivity for wearing pants of all things) to Scotland. Where the run into Conall on a similar mission. Seeing Conall in his native land guarantees that we get a good chunk of his backstory, what led him to London and to a new pack. Surprisingly enough, Alexia learns more about her father than she ever expected to on this trip, too.

Honestly, the solution to the central problem of the novel was pretty easy and obvious — but the explanation of it was pretty out of left field (but makes so much sense). This is clearly not one of those books that you read for the head-scratching mystery, but for the delightful way that the narrative gets you to the solution.

The steampunk element is much stronger in this book (to my recollection, anyway) and the mix of Steampunk and Urban Fantasy elements is just great — I could read these by the handful. Speaking of the UF, authors like Patricia Briggs and Carrie Vaughn have tried to explain just how traumatic the change from human to werewolf can be, I’m not sure they’ve ever been as effective as Carriger was here (while being perfectly charming):

The change comprised a good deal of biological rearranging. This, like rearranging ones parlor furniture for a party, involve the transition from tidy to very messy to tidy once more. And, as with any redecoration, there was a moment in the middle where it seemed impossible that everything could possibly go back together harmoniously. In the case of werewolves, this moment involved hair retreating to become fur, bones fracturing and mending into new configurations, and flesh and muscles sliding about on top of or underneath the two.

The ending was a bit too soap opera-y for my tastes. The explanation for __________ is pretty self-evident, especially given the central question that these people had spent the last 350 pages or so dealing with. But I get that it fits in with some of the genres that Carriger is drawing from, and if she hadn’t done something like that, it’d have been easier for things to get duller or predictable. So I can put up with all the sands through the hour-glass and whatnot.

An okay story, told in a charmingly witty manner, with characters that are just fun to read. Sure, they obsess a bit too much over hats, fashion, and the rest, but okay. As I said, I’m not crazy about the way that it ended, but it definitely gives the series some place to go from here that’s not just a repeat of the last books. Changeless is a fun way to spend some time, which is one of the best reasons to pick up a book. Recommended.

—–

3.5 Stars

The Drafter by Kim Harrison

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On September 22, 2015

In F-J, Fiction, Kim Harrison, Science Fiction, The Peri Reed Chronicles

The DrafterThe Drafter

by Kim Harrison
Series: The Peri Reed Chronicles, #1
Hardcover, 422 pg.

Gallery Books, 2015

Read: September 17 – 21, 2015

Okay, I haven’t read the second or third Madison Avery book, and I haven’t found the time to read the last Rachel Morgan book (don’t ask, I can’t explain it either), so I might have to revise this a bit later — but I’m betting I won’t — this is the best book Kim Harrison has written to date. Hands down.

So Peri Reed is a Drafter. A covert agent for the U. S. Government in the near future (future enough that there’s all sorts of gear and tech that we have to imagine, near enough that we can relate). She (and 1 in 100,000 or so others) have this handy ability, when things go wrong, she can rewind time a bit and try it again. This is especially handy when mortally wounded. The downside? Doing that erases part of her memory — weeks’ or even months’ worth of it at a time. So each Drafter works with an Anchor. An expert in the Drafter’s personal history to help them put the pieces back together in a manner the Drafter can understand and move forward from.

Things are going well enough, when in the midst of her normal duties Peri finds some evidence that she’s been doing things she shouldn’t be, that she’s a renegade, a corrupt agent. This doesn’t sit easy with her, so she starts to investigate what’s really going on — and as long as she can remember what she’s doing and why, what she finds may shake up more than just her life.

It is almost impossible to track the plotlines of this book — you can experience it, but retell it? No — not without copious notes. One fellow blogger is demanding diagrams just to keep track of everything. And he’s not wrong. Peri keeps getting her memory re-written — memories that the reader is aware of, and others. There’s a mare’s nest of factions, agents, double agents, and possible triple agents; crosses, double crosses, triple and — I lost count of how many crosses a couple of characters were involved in. Plus time resetting itself. Mix in years of backstory that Harrison doles out in drips and drops. The result is that the reader is as disoriented as Peri — when she’s tripped up, we generally are. When she’s surprised by X doing something, we’re not sure what’s going on in X’s mind, either.

It’s hard to render an opinion on most of the characters. Because what we think we know about them may be Peri’s perception, may be reality, may be a cover, or . . . you get the idea? Peri at one point assures one woman that she remembers she likes her — doesn’t know anything about her, but remembers emotions. Which is pretty much all we have to go with as well. There’s a couple of people I know I like — a couple I know I don’t (even if some of them are supposed to be “good” guys) — but as far as how well drawn the characters are, it’s tough to say. Even Peri’s such a work in progress, it’s hard to get a good handle on her as a character.

Nevertheless, this is a book I highly recommend. It starts slow — very slow (I seem to be saying that a lot lately, I’m not sure when I became so impatient), but once all the dominoes are set (somewhere around the 100 page mark), Harrison starts the falling, and wow. It’ll suck you in, it’ll get you wrapped up in the web of deceit and efforts to unravel the deceit. More than anything, it’ll leave you wanting more.

—–

5 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 9/19/2015

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On September 19, 2015

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:

  • Hexomancy by Michael R. Underwood — the fourth Ree Ree adventure, and the end of her first story arc. Should be good geeky fun!
  • The Scam by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg — Fox and O’Hare are back. ’nuff said.
  • Yes, My Accent Is Real And Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You by Kunal Nayyar — a collection of autobiographical essays by the actor.

Thanks to Benedict Jacka for the shout-out.

Image credit: Grammarly

Time Salvager by Wesley Chu

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On September 18, 2015

In Authors, Fiction, Science Fiction, Wesley Chu

Time SalvagerTime Salvager

by Wesley Chu
Series: Time Salvager, #1
Hardcover, 380 pg.

Tor Books, 2015

Read: September 12 – 15, 2015


Guess I should start with this: there’s nothing in these pages that’ll remind you of Chu’s Tao books. They could be written by completely different authors. Which is a combination of good news and bad news. The good news is that the reader doesn’t get a deja vu feeling reading, Chu’s ability as a writer and worldbuilder is displayed, and we get to see that he’s not a one-trick pony. The bad news is, the Tao books were better.

Not that this is bad, it’s just not Tao.

Chu is really smart about the way that he introduces us to the world, to the concept of Time Laws, and ChronoCom and all the rest of the things that you can read about in the jacket copy (or at the link above). Maybe it shows that I read too much bad SF as a kid, but I’m still really impressed by SF writers who are able to blend things into dialogue and story rather than just resorting to info dumps.

This is a Time Travel story where the Time Travel’s not really all that important. It’s just a tool. Like a cell phone — something that people use, but don’t really understand. No one (well, one person) here understands how it works, but they can use it. Ditto for all the nifty future-gadgets. So it makes it easy for us to not worry about it, too, and just go with the flow.

When you clear away all the bells and whistles this is a pretty straight-forward story about corporate greed, ecological/societal collapse, and a few people trying to do the right thing with the cards stacked against them (even if that pits them against each other). The bells and whistles turn this into a SF/Time Travel/Dystopian Love Story.

Not the best thing I’ve ever read by Chu, but interesting enough to make me glad I read it, and I’ll be back for #2. Maybe with is he can do something to make the series something I can get excited about.

—–

3 Stars

Last Words by Michael Koryta

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On September 16, 2015

In Fiction, K-O, Michael Koryta, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Last WordsLast Words

by Michael Koryta
Series: Mark Novak, #1

Hardcover, 420 pg.

Little, Brown and Company, 2015

Read: September 7 – 8, 2015


There’s part of me that still hasn’t gotten over the fact that Koryta stopped writing Lincoln Perry novels, enough so, that I’ve only read 2 of his stand-alones. But I was intrigued by the idea that he was starting another series featuring a P. I. It took about 3 seconds of reading the Publisher’s Description to see that this was going to be pretty different than any other P. I. series around.

This book centers on two men haunted by their pasts and a pair of deaths that happened on the same date, a few years apart — coincidence? That depends who you ask.

Our P. I. is Mark Novak, who works for a group of lawyers trying to clear men on death row. Before she was killed, his wife worked for them, too. She was killed during an investigation, after a fight with Mark. No one has come close to catching her killer. It’s understating things to say that before Mark met Lauren, his life was a mess, and she helped him get things together. Without her, things are starting to fall apart for him.

Ridley Barnes never really fit in anywhere or with anyone in the small Indiana town of Garrison, except the caves nearby. Something about the caves calmed him, centered him, gave him a purpose — he knew those caves better than anyone alive. So when a teenage girl gets lost in them, he’s the perfect candidate to lead the search. And then, when he recovers her body, but can’t account for his time during the search, or really remember where he found her, or where he’d been at all — he suddenly becomes the top suspect in her murder. There wasn’t enough evidence to convict or even arrest him, but for some small towns that kind of thing is just a formality. He was convicted almost immediately in the court of public opinion, and has been even more ostracized than before. More than a decade later, Ridley just wants to know what happened — if he killed the girl, he’s willing to do the time. If he didn’t, he’d like to have his name cleared.

This is not the type of thing that Innocence, Inc. does. They take on convicted murderers clients, not suspects. Especially not suspects in very cold cases that will never go to trial. But Mark’s boss sends him to do a preliminary investigation anyway, mostly to keep him busy. Mark isn’t exactly welcomed to Garrison with open arms, people just assuming he’s there to clear Ridley, and not quite believing him when he says that he isn’t.

Mark commits a few missteps right out of the gate, which turn public opinion against him even more. But something has flipped a switch in his brain and he’s not going to let go until he gets some resolution for the girl, clears his name from the problems he’s caused, and demonstrated to his boss that he can be trusted still/again. Not necessarily in that order.

That’s a very sketchy overview of the set up. I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like that before. If you were to draw the plot as a map, it’d look like some deranged roller coaster — tight corners, backtracks, loops, big dives into darkness. Unlike an actual roller coaster, I was able to get through this without losing everything I’d eaten since February.

Koryta tells this story with his typical skill, you can tell that he’s built Mark Novak to last a few novels. There’s more of his story that needs to be told than is here, and the character can be used in different settings. Unlike just about everyone in last years’ Those Who Wish Me Dead — which I thought was great — I don’t think there was a single character in that novel that I could see being interested in for another novel. Ridley is almost as complex, and you want him to get the answers he needs just to get a little peace (most of the time — there’s a time or two where you don’t mind him suffering).

Garrison, IN is pretty much every small town in mystery/thriller fiction, and its citizens are pretty much stock characters. On the whole, neither the town nor the people feel that way. Which is entirely due to Koryta’s skill and Mark’s voice.

And then there’s the cave, or caverns — I’m not familiar enough with the geology to nail the distinctives between the two. There’s a strong sense of place, of foreboding, of danger to it. Especially in Ridley’s mind, the cave is almost a Byronic character — dark, mysterious, dangerous, yet attractive. Yes, there was a time or two I was glad to be reading about the cave in a very wide and open room.

Oh, sure, and it’s a real handy metaphor for the depths of the human mind, psyche, soul, etc.

This is a very well constructed mystery novel, the writing is excellent, the characters are keepers, you can almost feel the winter air — really, there’s very little to not rave about with this. It’s pretty clear what book 2 holds, but I’m really not at all sure what a third would bring. But I’m eager to find out.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Covenant’s End by Ari Marmell

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On September 15, 2015

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Covenant's EndCovenant’s End

by Ari Marmell
Series: Widdershins Adventures, #4
Hardcover, 265 pg.

Pyr, 2015

Read: September 10, 2015

So Ari Marmell has decided to bring our time with Widdershins to a close. On the one hand, I understand the choice. On the other hand, I enjoy these too much to let go willingly.

It turns out that the great and nasty demon that she pushed herself and her friends to — and past — the limit to defeat back in False Covenant had friends — or at least family. And thanks to Widdershins old foe Lisette, they are getting closer and closer to setting up camp in Davillon (and probably the whole world, really).

Widdershins has to call on all her allies — old, new, unwanted and not terribly wiling — and friends, play every trick in the book (and invent a few), and be prepared to sacrifice everything just to have a fighting chance here.

Emotionally, spiritually, physically — whatever she’s gone through before is nothing compared to this. While it is very much a team effort, let’s not get confused — her name is in the series title, and she’s the only one on the cover. It’s Widdershins story, and the weight of this falls on her. Yet, she faces the danger with humor, aplomb and panache (and the help the deity living in her head).

For a book as dark, foreboding, bloody and so . . . final; I sure spent a lot of time smiling and chuckling. It’s a quick, exciting read that checks off every tick box you might have for a finale.

—–

4 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 9/12/15

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On September 12, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

A little skimpier than usual — just one of those weeks, I guess. Here are the 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:

  • Robert B. Parker’s The Devil Wins by Reed Farrel Coleman I just finished this last night. Almost as good as last year’s Blind Spot. Coleman does some really good stuff here — I probably spent more time guessing here than I usually do with a Stone novel. Love what Coleman does with Molly and Suit…I need to shut up before this becomes my blog entry on the book. It’s good, people
  • Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell — I blogged about this a couple of days ago. It’s short, but does the work of a novel twice its size.
  • Make Me by Lee Child — If the links above, didn’t give it away, there’s a new Reacher novel. A case of mistaken identity leads to a cross-country investigation, and, I bet, a lot of violence.
  • All In by Joel Goldman and Lisa Klink — Looks like there’s sort of a Leverage-y, Fox & O’Hare feel to this. Looks fun.
  • A Guide To Being A Dog, by Seamus Wheaton by Wil Wheaton — Yeah, it’s a little spendy, but the tweets that form the basis of it are a hoot, and it’s for a good cause…


The Fraud by Brad Parks

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On September 11, 2015

In Authors, Brad Parks, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U

The FraudThe Fraud

by Brad Parks

Series: Carter Ross, #6

Hardcover, 342 pg.
Minotaur Books, 2015
Read: September 9, 2015

The ethical dilemma posited aside, I hated the first chapter. If I’d never read a Brad Parks book before, it might have caused me to move on to the next thing on my reading list. The cheap “in 43 hours, X, Y, and Z are going to happen…” ploy irritates me. Just get me invested with setting, plot, or character. Present one or all of these in an interesting manner and I’ll get invested. Don’t force the investment. Don’t jam it down my throat. Also, there was a perfect point 300 or so pages later that it would’ve fit.

Thankfully, Chapter 2 was much better, as was the rest of the book. This was the typical Parks mix of darkness and light, grim stories told with a light touch. A newspaper reporter trying to live up to the tradition of the great investigative journalists of the past in the midst of an industry that’s dying and doesn’t care about that tradition.

Carter seems to be off his game a little here, making a couple of blunders that seem out of character — but given that he spends the whole novel waiting for That Call from his pregnant girlfriend, it’s understandable. It also helps move the novel along nicely, so, it’s easier to swallow (especially while reading).

There’s a string of carjackings in Newark, and a couple have proved deadly. Naturally, the one that makes people pay attention is a well-off middle-aged white man. Carter just can’t write about him though, he seeks out another carjacking that resulted in a murder, this time of a less well-off black man. It doesn’t take long before Carter’s sure it was the same carjackers, and that there’s something else going on besides Grand Theft Auto.

There’s not much (beyond the strange relationship between Carter and Tina) that really seems to be the same from novel to novel in this series. The cases don’t overlap really, which is refreshing. Carter can’t rely on the same sources of information all the time — which doesn’t preclude some returning supporting characters, but also keeps things fresh on that front. The corner bodega shop owner in The Fraud was entertaining, and I hope we see him again down the line. Other characters here — friends and family of the victims, sources of information, and so on — were well-drawn and engaging as usual.

Easily one of the more entertaining aspects of the Carter Ross books are the interns — from savvy to naive, hapless to ruthlessly efficient, these characters make you fear for the state of journalism (or give you great hope). This books’ intern, Chillax, annoyed me greatly in the first couple of pages we spent with him. He clearly rubbed Carter the wrong way, too. Which did provide a grin or three. Case in point, we first meet him like this:

“Hey, what’s up, brah?”

I am unsure what youthful genius decided that the word “bro”–which is already an effective truncation of the word “brother” – – needed to be further morphed so it was pronounced like a woman’s undergarment. But it was my hope this linguistic pioneer developed some affliction that was similarly annoying. Like a permanent hangnail.

In the end, Chillax proved to be a little bit more than comic relief, but when we see past interns in this book, we see how little.

The comedic elements, as always, separate this from the pack, they season, but don’t overwhelm the mystery. There was one big joke moment (maybe two, actually) that any reader is going to see coming 5 miles off — but Parks is such a pro that even they work. The more elaborate of them (you’ll know when you read it) is cringe-worthy, totally expected and totally chuckle inducing. The Fletch joke was nice. This summer we’ve had jokes about the movie from Parks and Kuhn, one more and we’ve got a trend.

Parks threw a couple of curve balls that I whiffed on. There’s one shadowy figure that I had pegged to be character type X. Not only was he not X, Y or Z, he was more like D. I was that far off. I also did not see the ending coming (well, the solution to the criminals’ identities I saw because I knew more than Carter), but the rest? Didn’t expect that from a Carter Ross book.

There’s one thing that doesn’t make any sense to me, one character’s motivation and actions that made sense with one interpretation of the facts, are just irrational when looked at in the light of the way Carter finally puts the pieces together. The way that Parks wrapped up the action and provided glimpses into what happened with the major players didn’t allow for him to get into details about the red herrings he chased, but this one was big enough that an explanation would’ve helped.

Good characters, entertaining plot; actually, the mystery itself might be pretty weak, the more I think about it, but it was fun watching Carter figure it out, which is the point. The Fraud, solidifies the Carter Ross series as a reliable mystery series.

—–

3.5 Stars

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