Author: HCNewton Page 553 of 625

Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn

By

On July 21, 2015

In Authors, Carrie Vaughn, Fiction, Kitty Norville

Kitty Saves the WorldKitty Saves the World

by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, #14

ARC, 325 pg.
Tor Books, 2015
Read: July 14 – 15, 2015
4 1/2 Stars
Easy title to live up to, no?

About the same time that I posted my review of the previous book, Low Midnight, where I talked about “future Kitty novels,” Carrie Vaughn announced that this one would be the end. So much for my predictive ability. Now, at the end, I see that Low Midnight was well-placed in the series, and I have a better understanding of the role it played in setting up this book. Which is not to say that I wouldn’t have preferred a few more books in this series, but if Vaughn had to end it now, I’m glad she did it like this.

This couldn’t be less obvious a last novel. Kitty name checks and/or visits everybody we’ve met along the way, it’s like the last few minutes of “The End of Time” before The Doctor regenerates into Matt Smith. But Vaughn does it so smoothly, it’s only when you stop and think about who’s shown up that you even notice what she’s done.

I don’t really have much to say about this — it’s the 14th and final novel in a series. Don’t let this be the first one you read — do let this be the last. Start with one of the first few (if not the first, Kitty and the Midnight Hour).

This is different than the rest of the series, not just because it’s the end. There’s plenty of action to be found — not a lot of time for character development, growth, relationships, new characters (well, maybe a couple) — it’s all about Regina Luporum and her allies versus Dux Bellorum, anything else is a distraction (however pleasant a distraction). Which isn’t to say that the characters are unimportant — it’s Carrie Vaughn, characters are the core. But they’re very busy here, and don’t have a lot of time to chat, reflect, or anything like that — they have a world to save.

The final showdown with Roman didn’t go as expected, but better. The scenes following that were great, and the ending was everything a fan could hope for.

One criticism — and, now that I think about it, this applies to the series as a whole — Kitty tells us time after time that her pack is what’s important, it drives her restaurant/bar New Moon, it keeps her in Denver, it’s what motivates her, blah, blah, blah. But really, outside of the occasional chat while picking up an order with Shaun and references to the group hunting on the Full Moon, we don’t see them. The pack that Kitty cares about is the other one — Ben, Cormac, Amelia, Alette, Odysseus Grant, Tina, Rick, Matt, and the others that fill her life and align themselves with her against the Long Game. I’d be fine with it if Kitty were just a little bit more honest with herself/us about it.

I’m going to miss Kitty, Ben, Cormac and the rest, and the next year is going to feel a little strange not getting any new adventures from them. But this was a great way to say goodbye.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 7/18/15

By

On July 18, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

This is one of those weeks where I’ve been working a lot here — and frustratingly enough, you can’t see it. I’ll try to finish a few things next week. Reading so many good things lately, I want to share them with you.

In the meantime, 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:

  • Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee — maybe you’ve heard of it
  • Armada by Ernest Cline — Loved it — you should buy it (and read my take on it)
  • Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn — Just finished this — so, so good. Chet and Bernie are at their best here.
  • Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn — I frankly didn’t see the need for a sequel to The Intern’s Handbook, but man I’m looking forward to it.
  • Last First Snow by Max Gladstone — The looks just as good and unconventional as the rest of this sequence.
  • Cold Iron by Stina Leicht — wasn’t that interested (not disinterested, mind you) until I read her Big Idea over at Whatever, and now it’s on my short list.
  • Alive by Scott Sigler — Book One of the Generations Trilogy. Looks interesting, I know at least one of my kids is going to be wanting this
  • Once Upon a Crime: by P. J. Brackston — Gretel (of Hans and…) is a P.I. Huh.
  • Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor — this First Contact tale looks a little…different.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Michelle Kim for following the blog this week, and to The Reader Who Lives a Thousand Lives for following the ugly BookLikes version.

Murder Boy by Bryon Quertermous

By

On July 15, 2015

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Murder BoyMurder Boy

by Bryon Quertermous
Series: Dominick Price, #1

Kindle Edition, 256 pg.

Polis Books, 2015

Read: July 11 – 14, 2015File this one under “There’s no accounting for taste.” And by that, I mean mine. By all accounts, this is one that should’ve appealed to me. The premise promises something like The Wonder Boys meets Fargo and Koryta’s endorsement (among others) makes it seem like that promise is fulfilled.

But nope. Just didn’t do anything for me at all. Didn’t find it funny. Didn’t buy any of the characters. I wanted the protagonist/narrator to get smacked around and dumped in the trunk of the car for everything after chapter 4 (and I wouldn’t have been incredibly concerned with the state of his health while in the trunk). Really, nothing about it (apart from the premise) appealed to me.

Quertermous mingles in some thoughts (maybe insights?) about narrative — both what we read and what we construct for ourselves. There’s actually a lot of metanarrative fodder for thought sprinkled throughout. And if I liked this book — even a little — I think I’d have found it insightful and entertaining. But as things were, it just came across as pretentious and annoying.

I might — might — give this another shot when the sequel comes out. Or I just might try the sequel, to see if it was my mood, the kind of books I’m reading at the moment, or something else that shows my problem with the book was internal. But right now? Just humbug.

—–

1 Star

Dusted Off: Kitty’s Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn

By

On July 15, 2015

In Carrie Vaughn, Fiction, Kitty Norville

While starting the post for Kitty Saves the World, I noticed I’d reviewed only two other books in this series here. Unthinkable. It was one of the first UF series I ever tried and it’s one of my favorites to this day. Turns out, that somehow I’ve only written one other post on the series. I’m still having trouble coming to grips with that. So, I figured I’d better throw this up before I forgot.
—

Kitty's Big TroubleKitty’s Big Trouble

by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, #9

Mass Market Paperback, 307 pg.

Tor Books, 2011

Read: July 3 – 4, 2011
It’s been far too long since we’ve had a new Kitty Norville adventure, and Carrie Vaughn didn’t disappoint with this one.

We begin with Kitty’s most recent hobby–trying to out historical figures as weres or vampires or whatever. Which is a lot of fun, and is a well Vaughn hopefully returns to.

But the main action focuses on the Long Game between various vampire factions that we’ve seen a few peaks into lately. Kitty’s ally Anastasia is racing against Roman for possession of a magical artifact that could turn the tide in this competition forever.

Honestly, I don’t think this was the strongest entry in the series plotwise–this seems more about setting the stage for bigger things down the road. But while setting the stage, we get to spend some good quality time with some great characters, learn more about Cormac’s situation, and meet a few new characters (a couple of which I hope to see again, soon).

Should add that it took me far too long to get the title, and when I finally did I wondered where my head had been for a couple hundred pages.

Can’t wait to see what trouble Kitty gets into next.

—–

4 Stars

Armada by Ernest Cline

By

On July 14, 2015

In Fiction

ArmadaArmada

by Ernest Cline

Hardcover, 349 pg.
Crown Publishing, 2015
Read: July 10 – 11, 2015This was fun, loads of fun. Not as good as Ready Player One — not sure it could’ve been, so let’s just take that off the table. But, it taps into the same vein of pop culture, gaming, and a desire for something that’s missing — family, father, social acceptance, etc. You take these elements, add a sense of humor and an adventure-driven plot and you get a winning read.

Now, Zack Lightman isn’t Wade Watts — he has friends, he has a great Mom (good grandparents, too, it seems), and some sort of a future. Okay, his life is a lot better than Wade’s. But, it’s not perfect. Especially when he — and he alone –sees a space ship from a video game outside the window of his High School. He figures he’s losing his marbles. And, you have to admit, the evidence is pretty convincing.

Until the next day, when another spaceship from the game lands at school — and others see it. It’s from the Earth Defense Alliance, and they’ve come for Zack. Not just Zack — all over the globe, they’re recruiting the best players of a couple of games (one flight combat-based, one ground-war based) to join a global force to defend the planet from an immanent alien invasion.

On the one hand, this is a dream come true for a die-hard gamer, SF nut, and daydreamer — a chance for glory, a chance to save the world, a chance to…meet a hot programmer-slash-gamer. On the other hand, did I mention the immanent alien invasion and near-certain death of all humanity (including Zack)?

Cline doesn’t give us anything new here – he takes every movie/novel/game about battles in space, alien invasions, First Contact, and so on that he’s seen/read/played (and actually tells you in the narrative which are the major influences); mixes them up and gives us one, big, gooey SF mishmash. I could read that all day long. Actually, I did. And I’d gladly do it again.

Ready Player One had a very limited cast — but Cline doesn’t repeat that. Zack has a couple of friends in high school, an ex-girlfriend, an old enemy, a mom, a boss. And then there’s everyone in the EDA that he meets — some higher ranking officers, his teammates and a new love interest. There are common bonds between all of them, but they’re not all just variations on Zack (like RPO‘s Wade and co.). I liked every character — even the less noble ones. These folks had heart, they had style — each one of them made me smile in a different way.

It’s easy to write-off Cline’s stuff as a litany of pop culture references with a thin veneer of plot. But that’s a mistake. His strength is the soul he puts into these characters. It’s in the interpersonal relationships, emotions, stakes — that’s where he shines. Even when you know something’s going to happen, even when you can see it coming 10 miles away, Cline still nails it. The ability to get to the emotional core — what some might call the emotional truth — of a scene, of a connection between characters? That covers up for a lot of shortcomings.

The worst thing about this book? I’ve read every Cline novel in existence. So the wait begins for whatever’s next.

I won my copy of this from the nice folks over at Read It Forward, if you’re not checking into that site on a regular basis, you’re missing something.

—–

5 Stars

Pre-Release Thoughts on Go Set a Watchman

By

On July 13, 2015

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

Go Set a WatchmanDoing my weekly grocery shopping today, I noticed that some eager-beaver stockperson had put out Go Set a Watchman already. Now, I don’t normally buy food and books at the same place — but, c’mon! A day early, a few bucks off, how could I not?

Well, pretty easily, it turns out. The sales system wouldn’t let me purchase the book. It kept saying, “Do Not Sell.” The clerk tried every trick she knew, the manager who was innocently passing by only to get roped into helping her did, too. I asked, “Is it maybe because the book is being released tomorrow?” Light bulbs went off over their heads — yeah, that was it. Probably. It was as good a guess as any.

So, I thanked them for their efforts and went away with just the food I was supposed to get.

Still, having it in my cart — in my hot little hands got me thinking for a minute. More than a minute, actually. I don’t remember the last time I thought that much about a book before I actually, you know, read it. This was the literary equivalent to being a ticket holder to The Phantom Menace pre-release showing (yup, I had one, and I missed the show — don’t ask, it’s a long, embarrassing story with the punchline of me buying two sets of tickets to that letdown). As formative as the book was for me (and many), there’s just as many ways this could go wrong as…well, The Phantom Menace. Except, this time we’re all braced for it not being that good.

Right? I mean, no one expects another To Kill a Mockingbird, do they? It’s mostly a question of how big a let down is this going to be. Are we going to end up wishing that Lee had been dead for a few decades before this saw the light of day, so she wouldn’t have to witness the backlash? Or is it just going to be mildly disappointing? A “close, but no cigar” kind of thing.

But with it there in my shopping cart, I started to wonder. . . Dare I hope? Is there a chance that it’s actually good? After all of us wishing for decades that she’d put out a body of work as good/almost as good as Mockingbird, but resigned to reality — are we now going to be lamenting anew her small literary output?

I know reviews are starting to come in — I’ve managed to avoid them all so far (but it’s getting harder). I never bother with preview chapters of anything — they’re never enough. So all of this may be moot — I don’t know, and probably won’t until sometime Wednesday at this rate. But, I gotta tell ya, I’m nervous — with just a hint of eager anticipation.

What about you? Are you going to read it? Are you going to jump on it, or take a wait and see approach? Do you expect a big disappointment?

Saturday Miscellany – 7/11/15

By

On July 11, 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:

    A good crop of New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon — but next week’s list is gonna be a killer (literally, if I was able to get my hands on everything I want next Tues.):

  • Splintered by Jamie Schultz — the really strong second volume of the Arcane Underground series. I got wordy about it here.
  • The Fraud by Brad Parks — the 6th Carter Ross mystery looks to be a great read — Parks has become one of those authors I just grab automatically — don’t care what the book is about, I’m reading it if he wrote it.
  • Time Salvager by Wesley Chu — I have little patience for time travel stories (with a couple of notable exceptions), but Chu’s setup is one that really appeals to me. Will be diving into this one ASAP. Check out his Big Idea from Whatever.
  • Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine — love the premise. Am eager to see if the book can live up to it.
  • Letters to Zell by Camille Griep — this alternative take on fairy tales looks promising.
  • The Six by Mark Alpert — there looks to be a hard-SF bent to this YA SF about terminally ill teens piloting combat robots.
  • Bum Rap by Paul Levine — I was a huge fan of Levine’s Solomon vs. Lord series, but was never inclined to check out the Jake Lassiter books. This crossover between the two just might give me the excuse.
  • Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer — looks to be as inventive and fun as his Magic 2.0 series.


Reread Project: The Snapper by Roddy Doyle

By

On July 10, 2015

In Authors, Blog Series, Fiction, Reread Project, Roddy Doyle

The SnapperThe Snapper

by Roddy Doyle
Series: The Barrytown Trilogy, #2

Paperback, 212 pg.

Penguin, 1992

Read: May 20 – 21, 2015Naturally, after one of the best rock band novels ever — one fully of music, laughs, and style — Doyle follows it up with a heartfelt story of a young woman who gets pregnant after a one-night stand. Who wouldn’t?

Now, Sharon (the young woman in question) is the sister of Jimmy Rabbitte — The Commitments’ manager. So there is a tie — and we saw a little of their father and the rest of the family last time. Still, this feels so different, it’s hard to conceive of them being part of a trilogy. Oh well — it works — so who cares?. Carried along by Doyle’s inimitable style, this story — which could easily have been maudlin, overly sentimental, or sappy; comes across as genuine and heartfelt instead.
Where The Commitments was full of laughs, raunch, and style; The Snapper is full of laughs, family and heart. It’s not just about one member of the family this time — it’s all of them. The focus is on Sharon and her father, Jimmy, Sr.

Sharon finds herself “up the pole,” much to her distress. She knows who the father is, a one-night stand (something far less meaningful, actually) she wishes had never happened. Unwilling to let anyone know the father’s real identity, she makes one up (which also relieves her of the need to let the real guy have anything to do with the kid). Initially, she’s in sort of a denial — she knows the baby will change everything. But that’s months away — right now, she and her friends can still hit the pub after she gets off working at the supermarket and pretend that everything’s just like it was a couple of weeks ago. Eventually, she starts to make the changes necessary, but only when she has to. There’s personal growth here for Sharon, when she has no choice. But honestly — other than questionable taste in men, and an utter lack of awareness about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome — she seems like she’s got her head screwed on right already.

Jimmy, Sr. seems like the kind of guy you’d like to hang out in a pub with occasionally — I think he (and his friends) would get old quickly if you hung out with them all the time. Generous, funny, and gregarious. Maybe not the most responsible guy around — but he’s making ends meet (mostly), and doing (almost) his best for his kids. Eventually, he seems to get his act together for Sharon — or at least he tries. Which just makes you like him more — even as (because?) he just doesn’t make it some times.

While these two are on the forefront of Doyle’s attention, we do get some time with Sharon’s siblings (even Jimmy, Jr. — a little bit — who’s still trying to make it in the music business) and long-suffering mother. We watch the family stumble along through financial woes, various school clubs, a bicycle club or two, and being the subject of neighborhood gossip. These all might not be as well-rounded as Sharon and her father are, but they’re close enough that you think you know them.

Back in college, I read The Commitments a lot — but I think I read The Snapper more. It’s not as fun as its predecessor, but it’s a better novel — populated with actual people, actual growth, and something that looks a lot like actual life for many people. The Rabbites could be your neighbors, and you’d be happy to have them, which makes getting to spend time with them between the covers of a book just that pleasant.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Stay by Victor Gischler

By

On July 9, 2015

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

StayStay

by Victor Gischler


Hardcover, 295 pg.
Thomas Dunne Books, 2015
Read: July 4, 2015
I must say that it sort of bugs me that everything I read about this book mentions the deal with CBS for the rights — I’m happy for Gischler, but that doesn’t make me want to read it more (or less). Still, Stay can at times seem like a really thorough pitch for a movie deal.

Beyond that — I was a little disappointed. Gischler takes so many suspense novel mainstays — the special ops guy with a troubled past forced into violence to protect his family, the paranoid old service buddy who’s an expert hacker and willing to drop everything to help his pal, the foreign mobsters who will stop at nothing . . . yada yada yada. There was virtually nothing new here. Now just because you have so many genre tropes, doesn’t mean the book has to be hacky (I’m not saying this was, but you could see hacky from the front porch) — take Finder’s Nick Heller books. Almost entirely the same tropes, but Finder pulls it off. Gischler doesn’t.

The dialogue was mediocre, the characters were thin, the sex was a touch too detailed, the violence was about right (maybe a less detailed than expected a few times). One thing I don’t need is the same narrator justifying the use of a head-butt twice in the same novel — and almost in identical terms.

Ultimately, I wanted more. More surprise, more details, more originality to the characters, more depth to David and Amy (and heck, the bad guys as well). There wasn’t enough grit, enough horror, enough….anything. I guess you could say that I think this was a good start — but not a good final draft. Entertaining enough to keep me turning the page. But could’ve been so much more.

—–

2 1/2 Stars

Corsair by James L. Cambias

By

On July 8, 2015

In Fiction

CorsairCorsair

by James L. Cambias

Hardcover, 336 pg.

Tor Books, 2015
Read: May 27 – 30, 2015A rollicking good SF adventure story set in the very near future.

When I saw that this involved Space Piracy, I had visions of space battles, landing teams shooting things out with scrappy defenders, and so on. But, pardon the pun, this is more grounded. On earth, a team of hackers and engineers take over satellites. While not as intrinsically exciting, it’s a lot easier to wrap your head around (and a little less standard fare).

Instead, the action comes from two fronts: 1. on Earth, with guns, etc. and 2. where it counts — with people. It’s watching Schwartz squirm under the thumb of his employers, try to weasel out of repercussions of his actions; or seeing Santiago try to deal with the new realities of her career, or her efforts to find a way to capture Schwartz while keeping said career. It’s also the explosions, guns, knives and hand-to-hand combat that surround these two.

Cambias keeps things light and steady moving. His style is engaging, he makes you care about both the good guys and the bad — well, most of the bad. Not the really bad guys. There’s some good action, decent characters, the requisite amount of twists and turns — a splash or two of suspense. Corsair‘s technical enough to believe that it’s feasible, but not enough that anyone would confuse it with realistic — or a Clancy novel.

It’s a good, solid, entertaining read — not the best SF I’ve read this year — or even in the last month — but it did its job, and I was satisfied with it. I’ll keep an eye out of more from Cambias.

—–

3 Stars

Page 553 of 625

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén