Author: HCNewton Page 596 of 625

When you stop and think of the effort Lynch has had to put into creating the world these Gentleman Bastards, you’ve got to tip your hat to him. It’s truly mind-boggling. Even if you aren’t charmed by Locke Lamora, if you don’t cheer for Jean Tannen, if you don’t want to see them triumph over all their marks, if you don’t find their games — long and short — amusing, ingenious, daring, clever, and occasionally nail-biting, you still have to acknowledge the sheer brilliance of this man’s work — it’s so intricate, so well-developed, so detailed, it’s breathtaking. Oh, and you’re wrong to not fall in love with this series. Utterly wrong.

Red Seas picks up a couple of years after the events of The Lies of Locke Lamora, with Jean and Locke still dealing with the fallout — with some flashbacks to the days immediately following it, where the psychological and physical damage is a lot more evident. There’s a lot for these guys to recover from, and the best way they know to do that is to get back on the horse and try to pull off a job, and not just any job — where’s the fun in doing anything less than the impossible?

Because, like The Lies of Locke Lamora, this book’s plot involves several con jobs, a lot of back-stabbing, double-dealing, and other forms of lying and duplicity, it’s very difficult to write much about the plot without spoiling something. So let me just say, in the midst of the multiple layers of twists and turns here, you get a casino, assassins, enough aliases to really confuse a guy, a corrupt military mastermind, a twisted variation on gladiatorial games, poisons, blackmail, counterfeit antique furniture, love, extortion, and pirates!

I’m simply in awe of the way Lynch does all that he does with these books. Do yourself a favor, and start reading.

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5 Stars

Worth Dying For by Lee Child

By HCNewton

On September 24, 2013

In Fiction, Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Worth Dying For by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, #15

At the end of a harrying week, there’s not much better than settling down to read about Jack Reacher kicking whatever, taking names, and meting out justice.

The last couple of novels have been a little more on the cerebral side for Reacher (not that they haven’t had plenty of violence), which is fine — Reacher’s more than just brawn, he’s got a brain. But by page 43 of this book when the first fight (well, the first real) starts you can tell this us going to be a lot different than the last couple of books, there’s going to be a good deal of violence, and the reader’s blood is going to be pumping a lot. And wow, is there a lot of fighting going on — I haven’t kept notes or anything, but I don’t remember as much hand-to-hand fighting in a Reacher book in ages — if ever. Well-exectued by both Child and Reacher, I should add.

There is a misunderstanding involving one representative of the for parties that Reacher is up against here. The kind of misunderstanding that would make classic sit-com fodder, but here serves to ratchet up the paranoia and mutual suspicions between the parties. I had a lot of fun watching how one chance encounter and a million to one happening unravels something that really could’ve taken Reacher down, particularly in his weakened condition.

That weakened condition is one of the best things about this book — there’s a strong link between Worth Dying For and 61 Hours, the strongest since Tripwire and Running Blind — 11 books back — and, from what I’ve learned from a couple of TV interviews, this link continues in his latest, Never Go Back (further incentive, not that I need it, to catch up with this series). His body is still recovering from the trauma endured, and his mind is set on the officer who’s taken his old position. I really appreciated that, it’s good to see that these aren’t just random adventures, but there’s some continuity at work here, even if the novels are completely stand-alone in nature.

The villains at the center of this mess are probably the vilest that Child has yet cooked up — and that’s saying something. Once everything about their criminal activities is revealed, you’re more than ready for Reacher to do his thing. Which he — naturally — does with aplomb and efficiency.

Take your blood pressure meds, get in your comfy chair and kick back for a heck of a read.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

By HCNewton

On September 23, 2013

In Fiction

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Oo-de-lally, what is there to say about this that hasn’t been said 3 million times already? Epic, sweeping, yet deeply focused on the individual. Rich characters–with a depth that Tolkein wouldn’t bother with (not a slight on Tolkein, btw).

The fantasy series for those who aren’t into fantasy–this book has a lot of villains, but no real heroes. There’s a lot of black, a little white, and a whole lotta gray to the events, morals and characters here.

A great, great read…easy to see why this series has so many devoted fans, and will for years to come.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

By HCNewton

On September 23, 2013

In Fiction

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Volume two of a fantasy trilogy is the volume where everything goes bad. The First Law trilogy is no exception. Of course, what most fantasy authors consider disastrous, Joe Abercrombie considers minor plot complications. Things get really, really, really bad in Before They are Hanged. But given Abercrombie’s skill and the voices employed in narrating various characters, it’s still very, very fun to read about all the various dooms that are impending on this world.

If you’ve read The Blade Itself, what are you waiting for? Get to reading! If you haven’t–this isn’t the place to start, but it’s a great place to carry on.

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

By HCNewton

On September 21, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Janet Evanovich, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Stephanie Plum

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #17

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the best Stephanie Plum novel in quite a while. Yes, absolutely, the mystery was a piece of cake to figure out — the herring wasn’t red, it was crimson. But you know what? It worked for me. People looking for clever, twisty mysteries that leave the reader stumped shouldn’t be reading Plum novels. You read these because when Evanovich is on her game, there’s a lot of fun to be had.

Vincent’s office being run out of Mooney’s RV is good, great comedy fodder. As is having Connie moving around between temporary work spaces. Most importantly to the success of a Plum novel: Grandma Mazur and Lula weren’t too crazy.

I’m not crazy about the state of the Joe-Stephanie-Ranger triangle, but what else is new? Time for something interesting to happen to at least one of the guys, if not a permanent resolution to this.

The bad guy this time was creepy as all get out, yet he fit very well into this sit-com world.

Not a lot to say about it, I guess, but it entertained me.

Saturday Miscellany – 9/21

By HCNewton

On September 21, 2013

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:

Don’t Ban Books Like Eleanor and Park, Teens Need Them — While I’m anti-book banning on principle, I can understand the reasoning* some institutions have for some books. But Eleanor and Park? Really? No. Not a chance. Reprehensible with a capital R-E-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-B-L-E.
Writing in Your Books: An Act of Engagement or Blasphemy? — A decent survey of the question. But ultimately, Goldberg’s position is wrong.
The 20 stages of reading — Lynda Barry does a pretty good job of capturing the life cycle of the reader, thankfully, I’m ahead of the curve
Hemingway estate’s Vanity Fair grudge — I can only imagine that Hemingway would endorse his heirs’ actions regarding Vanity Fair
5 Ways to Make Football More Appealing to Book Nerds — B&N’s Paul Goat Allen gives some snicker-worthy suggestions

Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff — Book 2 of The Lotus War. I loved Book 1 of this Japanese Steampunk series and have been eagerly awaiting this. Such a rich world, realized and depicted so skillfully and wonderfully.

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* Please note, I said understand, didn’t say agree with

A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins

By HCNewton

On September 20, 2013

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars

What is there to say about this disappointing mess? Well, I guess there’s that. Hutchins had aspirations, clearly, there was a lot of ambition behind the various storylines surrounding Neill Bassett here, and I really don’t think he lived up to them.

To really get into my problems with the book would take 1. Spoilers, and I really hate giving those kind of reviews. 2. Effort, and I simply cannot bring myself to care enough to put in the effort.

I couldn’t care about any of these characters — they just weren’t that interesting, developed or sympathetic. There were a couple I was tempted to care about, but he just didn’t give anyone enough depth to be invested in. A lot of plot issues could’ve been overcome with a couple of characters I could give a rip about.

The family storyline had the most promise, and fell the furthest short — well, at least the mother storyline. I don’t believe his mother, and everything seemed too pat at the end of the book regarding her story.

None of the romance stories worked for me — even the resolution Neill came to at the end seemed more like something imposed on the character by the author than anything that came naturally from the novel. The only evidence we really have to support any feelings Neill has for any of the women here comes from his narration — and doesn’t ring true. The evidence isn’t to be found in the story, or his action.

The A.I. test story is the most interesting — for the “father”-son interaction. Not for any of the philosophical questions it tries to raise about the nature of humanity, or love, etc. But it’s not enough to save this novel.

Not funny, not moving, not terribly interesting. Spare yourself, you have better things to do with your time.

The Great Way Kickstarter

By HCNewton

On September 19, 2013

In Authors, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, News/Misc.

Harry Connolly, writer of the criminally underselling UF series The Twenty Palaces, has moved on to Epic Fantasy. This project sounds great — watch the video, read the Kickstarter page, toss some money at the guy.

Robert B. Parker’s Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman

By HCNewton

On September 19, 2013

In Fiction, Jesse Stone, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker’s Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman
Series: Jesse Stone, #12

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

At least half of one of those stars is due to loyalty to the fine men and woman (pretty sure there’s just one) of the Paradise Police Department.

Brandman knows Stone. He knows Suitcase (though you’d have a hard time proving it based on the evidence here) and Molly. He has a decent handle on the city, and the supporting characters.

What he doesn’t know is how to write a mystery. Or a police procedural. Possibly not a novel — maybe he should stick to scripts.

There are two cases that Jesse’s working on in this book — one he stumbles onto when helping a friend, he develops a hunch about conditions in a local retirement home. He talks to two citizens about it — both of whom serve mostly as exposition dumps and confirm his hunch. Jesse proceeds to harass and bully his way through bringing the retirement home in line. There’s no challenge for him here, there’s no struggle, there’s no effort, really. It does allow Brandman a chance to talk about some real problems, cite some statistics about a social ill and move on.

There’s a murder mystery also — he detects a little here. Mostly he susses out one clue, and the rest is delivered to him by Gino Fish and Vinnie Morris. Always nice for a small town cop to have a mobster and a shooter to call on for answers.

If this took me any time at all to read, I’d probably be more upset. The Stone novels for years were the best things that Parker produced. Towards the end, there was a resurgence in the quality of the Spenser novels which seemed to result in lesser Stone novels. But we’d still occasionally get one worth reading. Brandman has consistently fallen far short of even Parker’s worst. It’s really sad to see such a good franchise ruined like this.

Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On September 18, 2013

In Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye

Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #7

My rating: 4.75 of 5 stars

Seanan McGuire is a writing monster — she’s pumping books out like crazy — she’s got the Toby Daye books, the InCryptid books, the Indexing serial, other short fiction — plus the stuff she puts out under the name Mira Grant. And they’re all really good (well, I assume the Grant ones are — not my taste — but based on reviews/awards, etc. they’re just as good). It’s really not fair. But I’m not complaining. As much as I’m enjoying Indexing and the InCryptid books are just plain fun, neither are in the same league as the Toby Daye books — and somehow, I forget just how good that series is between novels. I’ve been hooked since, maybe Chapter 3 of Rosemary and Rue and the addiction just grows each time.

Chimes starts off with Toby looking into the Goblin Fruit trade, seeing what she can do about it. It turns out that the situation is worse than she thought it was, and so she decides she needs to take it to the Queen. Which makes sense, unless you think about how well things go between those two, but Toby does her duty — and things go from bad to horrible (skipping right over “worse”) in a New York minute.

The series grows by a few new characters, most of whom I fully expect to see returning often, if not in every book from now on — all interesting, powerful, and I want to know more about. The stakes are higher than normal here, which is saying something, because they’re usually pretty high — and the long-term ramifications of the possible (and actual) plot developments are significant. You can feel the significance of the choices Toby’s making on almost every page, she’s pushed to new limits and deals with them in her own inimitable way.

A couple of highlights for me: I swear at one point at the end of Chapter 5, Toby channels Leverage‘s Nathan Ford, which was a lot of fun to read, and says a lot about the improbability of what Toby’s trying to pull off. Also, we’re introduced to a new Sidhe — the Cu Sidhe (the canine equivalent of Tybalt’s Cait Sidhe) — and it might be my favorite thing ever that Maguire’s created. Sure, I’m a sucker for well written dog characters, and the way she introduces and uses this particular character? Magic.

The only quibble I have here is how quickly things are resolved — to get the ending that we do, I’d expect another 70+ pages of action, maybe even another book before we get to the conclusion we have here. I don’t want to say that McGuire rushes or hurries through things here, because I see (I think) how and why she did what she did. It just seems to be that it’d have been better to spend more time on it. Then again, considering the tension I felt during the last 100 pages or so, maybe it’s better that things went they way they did.

McGuire calls this this start of the second stage of Toby’s adventures, and in retrospect, I can see an element of closure in Ashes of Honor. Based on the shake up in royalty, the deals Toby has to make to get things done and save those she cares about, and the revelations about one particular character — there’s plenty of fodder for a great second stage, even without whatever new ideas she has in store.

I cannot wait.