Category: A-B Page 21 of 23

Authors A-B

Wake of the Bloody Angel by Alex Bledsoe

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On May 30, 2014

In Alex Bledsoe, Authors, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Wake of the Bloody Angel (Eddie LaCrosse, #4)Wake of the Bloody Angel

by Alex Bledsoe

Paperback, 350 pages
Tor Books, 2012
Read: May 28, 2014

I looked up at the stars. Finding one pirate after twenty years was a lot like picking one star out of this sky. Just when you thought you had it, a cloud slid by and you had to start all over when it passed.

Yet that’s just what Eddie LaCrosse sets out to do — find the unfindable, track the untrackable. For those of you who don’t know — Eddie lives in a fairly standard fantasy realm, and makes his living as a “sword jockey” — what we’d call a P.I. in our world. These books are first person narratives and read a lot like good detective novels — but with swords, horses and the occasional dragon or whatnot.

Eddie doesn’t go alone on his search for a pirate — he brings along his old friend/colleague, Jane Argo. Jane’s a former pirate turned pirate hunter turned sword jockey and is as tough as that résumé suggests. Having her come along on this adventure as the Hawk/Joe Pike figure was a great addition to a series that I didn’t think required it. But now, I want more of her — back in Eddie LaCrosse #6, or in Jane Argo #1. I could be pleased either way, as long as it’s soon.

There’s adventure, piracy, sword-play, banter, friendship, and a bit of betrayal. Enough to keep you engaged, if not turning pages as quickly as you can. Every now and then, in the middle of this fun read, Bledsoe reminds you he can do more than tell a fun action story, and drop a sentence, or phrase that shows he’s just a good writer, period. One such line that stood out to me, and I’ve tried to find excuses to use in the last couple days is:

Hawk’s been called many things over the years, but you know what captures him best, in my opinion? That he’s simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.

You get a real clear idea about this Hawk guy, the image is pretty creepy in and of itself, and yet, it looks and sounds breezy unless you think about it. I like Eddie and the rest of his world plenty — but it’s that kind of thing that keeps me coming back to Bledsoe.

Part of me is glad I read Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies before this, if I hadn’t, I’d have spent too much time comparing the pirate-y bits between the two while reading — and I think Lynch would’ve come up short. Bledsoe did a great job of nailing the life of a ship (says the guy who gets too seasick to even contemplate a day-long voyage) — both the tedium of day-to-day and the excitement of the boarding.

The last thing I can think to note, is that this book briefly features the creepiest little girl I can remember since Let the Right One In. I really can’t talk about her without ruining too much, but let me just say that absolutely loved the way that Bledsoe used her.

I couldn’t have seen the ending coming, nor the details it revealed. But it worked, it absolutely worked both as an interesting plot development, and as strong character moments. So well done. Shame on me for putting this off for so long — not a mistake I’ll make again.*

—–

* and I mean that — book 5, He Drank, and Saw the Spider came out this year, and is on my hold list at the library.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Saturday Miscellany — 5/17/14

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On May 17, 2014

In Anton Strout, Books, Jim Butcher, 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:

    Only saw one new release this week that I expect you’ll be seeing here:

  • Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell — Prohibition-era Urban Fantasy. ‘Nuff said.

 

 

4 Stars

Saturday Miscellany — 5/10/14

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On May 10, 2014

In Books, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, News/Misc., Robert B. Parker, Spenser

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

    I’m sure there were plenty of good books released this week, but I didn’t notice any of them, because for me, there’s only one:

  • Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins — Atkins’ 3rd outing at the helm of this series, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Sadly, couldn’t find time this week. Another week will not pass without that being fixed. Read a little Q&A about the book.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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On March 12, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, Pierce Brown, Red Rising, Science Fiction

Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1)Red Rising

by Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising, #1

Hardcover, 382 pg.
Del Rey, 2014
Read: Feb 26 – Mar 6, 2014

I’m having a hard time deciding what to say about this one. To really talk about it would require me spoiling every plot point that I loved (most of which I didn’t see coming). So I won’t. I’ll just say that I really, really dug this book.

I don’t want to just compare this to The Hunger Games, as much as reviews/blurbs/etc. make a guy want to. There are some surface-level similarities, yeah. And you could make the case (as I did when just starting the book) that Brown’s Mars was just the place for people who thought Collins’ Panem was a bit easy. In fact several parts of this feel like >The Hunger Games dialed up to 11. The working/living conditions for Darrow and his family are more severe, what Darrow has done to him to prepare him for what’s to come makes what Cinna et al. do to Katniss look like child dress-up, Darrow plays a deadly game on a larger scale than Katniss, and so on. But Darrow’s motivation is different than Katniss’ — she’s trying to survive, he’s trying to do far more (and much of the time, survival’s pretty low on his list) — the stakes he’s playing for are greater, and he will go to lengths that Ms. Everdeen doesn’t have to.

There are a few moments when things seem too slow, or meandering, or even redundant — but each time, I was wrong, and Brown made it all pay off. Visceral was the word that kept coming back to me as I read the book. I had almost visceral reactions to some of the horrors depicted, I could feel the grime and muck (literal and metaphorical) that Darrow crawled around in.

This shows every indication of leading to something epic in the next volume, leaving Mars behind and moving to other planets and/or the space between. As well as seeing if Darrow can retain his self and purpose — and how far will he be willing to go to carry it out.

There is a classic SF reference in Part IV that made me giggle with delight (in the middle of a pretty grim part of a fairly grim book, so I appreciated the placement). I won’t spoil it, but Pierce Brown has bought a lot of loyalty from me with two simple words.

Go grab this one.

—–

5 Stars

Dusted Off: Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby by Ace Atkins

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On January 6, 2014

In Ace Atkins, Authors, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker, Spenser

Robert B. Parker's Lullaby (Spenser, #41)Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby

by Ace Ace Atkins
Series: Spenser, #40

Hardcover, 320 pg.
Putnam Adult, 2012

I held off reviewing this last year so I could think about it some — I was afraid I’d be too influenced by the newness of Atkins’ take on Spenser, or maybe just a reflex fanboy reaction.

So I read it again this weekend in preparation for Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, and am so glad I did. Atkin’s has captured the essence of Parker’s word — he’s not quite as good as classic Spenser (Valediction and before), better than most of what followed Small Vices — he’s the next-best thing to having the man himself. The plot is a bit more intricate, the descriptions are fuller — the font is smaller! — which definitely makes it meatier than Parker’s later work.

You can tell Atkins is a fan, and there’s a hint of fanfic about this — Atkins gets to play with characters he’s been reading for years. And who could blame him? Especially as well as he does it.

So glad that Atkins has picked up this mantle, hope he carries it for a good long while.

—–

4 Stars

Dusted-Off: Lunatics by Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel

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On November 25, 2013

In Dave Barry, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

LunaticsLunatics

by Dave Barry
Hardcover, 320 pg.
Putnam Adult,2012

How does one write a book like this? First, you take a couple of characters, that while not exactly people you can meet each day, are close enough that you can buy them as characters in a novel. Then you put them in a relatable, if exaggerated, bad situation. Then you let that situation spin wildly, and hilariously, out of control and right into a worse situation–and let that one spin wildly, and hilariously, out of control and right into another–and repeat. Several times.

If you do that juuuust right, you might come close to capturing the brilliantly wacky madness that is Lunatics.

More than once, I laughed, guffawed, choked, chuckled, cracked-up, cackled, and did a spit-take. I’m sure my wife was as glad I was done with the book as I was disappointed it was over–a day and a half of my very loud reactions to this book were little more than she could tolerate.

Find yourself a nice, secluded little spot and read this. Soon. Sooner, even.

—–

4 Stars

Dusted Off: Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs

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On October 7, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Patricia Briggs

Wolfsbane (Sianim, #4 - Aralorn, #2)Wolfsbane

by Patricia Briggs
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pg.
Ace, 2010

A fun, solid read with characters you end up caring a lot about without even noticing, just a touch of action, a splash of romance, and at least one character who switches between species. In other words, it’s a Patricia Briggs novel.

Like its predecessor Masques, this was written pretty early in her career, and it shows. It’s still a heckuva story, and I’d jump right into a third adventure of Wolfe and Aralorn.

—–

3 Stars

Dusted Off: Masques by Patricia Briggs

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On October 7, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Patricia Briggs

Masques (Sianim, #1)Masques

by Patricia Briggs
Mass Market Paperback, 294 pg.
Ace, 2010

I didn’t know what to expect out of this. Between the fact that this is a different genre than I’m familiar with Briggs writing in, and the way she lowered expectations in the forward about this when it was reissued, I came into it not expecting a lot.

I should’ve known better. Not unlike her protagonist, Patricia Briggs knows how to tell a story. This was not the best fantasy I’ve read recently, but it was a very enjoyable tale.

Briggs’ strength has to be her characters, and even here in her first novel, she nailed ’em. They were people you cared about, or could easily see yourself caring about, if you got to spend some more time with ’em.

—–

4 Stars

Wisp of a Thing: A Novel of the Tufa by Alex Bledsoe

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On September 17, 2013

In Alex Bledsoe, Authors, Fantasy, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Tufa

Wisp of a Thing: A Novel of the Tufa
Wisp of a Thing: A Novel of the Tufa by Alex Bledsoe
Series: Tufa, #2
My rating: 4.75 of 5 stars

Back in 2011, I tried a new book by Alex Bledsoe with a bit of trepidation — it clearly wasn’t the same kind of thing as his Eddie LaCrosse novels that I’m a big fan of, and what I’d read about the book as a whole seemed kind of vague. But I gave it a shot, and ended up reading one of the best books I’ve read this decade (no review on my part to link to here, I couldn’t come up with anything to say that seemed to rise to the level of the book). So when I saw that Bledsoe was releasing a sequel, I was excited and filled with a new sense of trepidation, tinged with dread. I just didn’t see how he could equal The Hum and the Shiver, much less top it.

And honestly, he didn’t. But he got close — so, so, close. A Herculean feat unto itself, so I count that as a win.

In this novel, we see what happens when real outsiders come into the land of the Tufa*. There’s the honeymooning couple — the husband who finds out a bit more about his heritage than he bargained for, and his wife who has other things on her mind than genealogical research. The central figure this time is the other outsider, Rob Quillen, a reality television star trying to recover from a very public, heartbreaking tragedy. So desperate for healing, he comes in search of a song that will erase his pain — as difficult as that is to believe, he has to take the chance.

Sadly for Rob, his search puts him in the middle of a struggle that goes back centuries — if not longer. He has to risk his life, his sanity, and that of others to find his song — and then just to survive.

The characters and conflicts that shaped The Hum . . . are still there, this is just a few months later, but they’re not quite as prominent while Rob and his new friends and foes settle their business.

There’s beauty here, determination, battling against (and trying to understand) fate and destiny. And ultimately, hope. Hope tainted with real loss and real pain, but hope and healing nonetheless.

Do yourself a favor and grab this one.

—
* Don’t know what a Tufa is? That’s fine. Go put down whatever you have in your hand, get a copy of The Hum and the Shiver. Go ahead, I’ll wait. It’s about music, and magic, and community, and place, and tradition, and family, and the magic of music . . . and it’s just good.

Insane City by Dave Barry

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On August 26, 2013

In Dave Barry, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Insane CityInsane City by Dave Barry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ridiculous. Utterly Ridiculous. Which is what it was going for, so good on Barry.

I didn’t think it was as satisfying a novel as his first two solo works, bu the further I got into it, and the more out of control the plot got, the more I warmed to it and the more I laughed.

The ending’s fairly predictable, but pretty satisfying — and funny.

Lots of laughs to be had

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