So I understand this year the dog days are July 3rd - August 11th, representing something about Sirius and the Sun, as well as astronomically hot days here. But it’s been good hammock weather in the evenings.
Happily Finished
Rupture: Nine Science Fiction Short Stories, H. W. Taylor. I’d be curious to know when Taylor wrote these relative to his emergence as a writer. This was solid; not great, not awful--and hopefully writing series (serii?) has polished Taylor’s craft. My favorites were probably Ice Soul and Discount Baby, both of which bring a sliver of reconnecting to our sense of humanity and hope in otherwise dystopian worlds. No particular least favorite, although Grey Lady left me least satisfied. Read-again factor: Moderate to Low.
Friends In Low Places, K.C. Sivils. Entertaining novella sketching out the backstory to what I infer is a character in a longer series. Strictly pulp, only incidentally sci-fi. Still, entertaining and well-told, strong writing, but no shocking plot twists. Read-again factor: I’d like to explore more from this author.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Joe Kassabian. Of two minds about this. The first part is a solidly done mildly futuristic spin on 1984. All good. The latter part (like 2/3s) alternates between reading like an early draft of a Warhammer 40K crossed with something from the Warhammer fantasy franchise, minus the gods and supernatural stuff. The plot’s got some good twists, and there is a hint (just a hint...) of actual character development. Like everything these days, it apparently has to be a series. Read-again factor: Probably will do more actual Dan Abnett instead.
Embedded, Dan Abnett. Speaking of Abnett, this is a reread of a standalone hard military sci-fi novel. Loved it. A fully professional writer (in more than one sense) Abnett spins out plot twists, interesting people--I really wish he’d write more featuring Lex Falk, a just-this-side-of-washed up interstellar foreign correspondent. Great stuff. Read-again factor: I just did!
BOHICA Savage Brawl, multiple authors. Not a book per se, this is two sets released together. The BOHICA Chronicles follows a group of aspiring mercenaries working the Zoo, an alien enclave in the Sahara Desert. (It sort of makes more sense as you get into it.) Team Savage follows an ex-special operator who makes an unexpected career transition into a corporate jungle that’s just as deadly as the alien version everyone is trying to exploit. Not literature for the ages, but solid and entertaining--and mercifully it’s been both proofread and edited! The fact I keep noting that maybe should be a signal I need to read better books? I dunno. Read again factor: maybe more from the same universe.
This is the classic “Survey Ship”…
An Assassin’s Accord: McFadden and Banks #1, Michael Anderle. I said right above here that maybe I’d read more from the same universe? This is the first of an eight book series, so through the miracle of some algorhythm, this is what I delivered to read next. Plenty of room to grow. Anderle is a very proficient writer, so many of my normal complaints and observations don’t apply here. My major beef with this, such as it is, is that it’s not very tight. There was a ton of scene-setting which I would guess reappears in subsequent volumes, but it weighted down the start and left progress on the actual plot a big sludgy until right at the end. Read again factor: not this one, maybe the series?!?!
…this one wants to be a classic, if it can.
Survey Ship, Andrew Beery. Admiral Dare is an unlicensed xenoarcheologist who skirts the law seeking alien technology. After a deal on a horrendous jungle world turns into a dead end, she finds “clients” and winds up at the end of the universe and in charge of a ship with...six million people on board. An entirely decent tale; it has skillful narration, plot twists, and (shock!) character development. Read again factor: 50% chance I get the rest of the series.
Champion of Mars, Guy Haley. Fascinating book, although it took a little bit to figure out what was going on. Haley spins a complicated tale that chains together the worst-named champion ever, struggling to save humanity in the far-distant future, and a scientist in the near-future, struggling to save himself. (Doubt me on the name thing? Try saying “Yoechakanon Val Mora” three times fast. See? Anyway.) I’d read that this was in the Richards & Klein universe, which it technically was--if you don’t mind timelines stretched to the potential end of humanity. Well-written, of course, although this is relatively early Haley (2011). Read again factor: Yeah, I’ll probably do the whole series if it’ll help me get upgraded to a better pimsim.
Deep Sighs, Eye-Rolling and A Touch of Regret
I shall turn this webpage into…a pillar of book covers!!!
Frostworld Part 1: Ice&Blood , Blake Arthur Peel. I truly don’t get the litRPG “thing.” For what it’s worth, not being the intended audience and all, I find it hard to concentrate on the story in light of things like this: “He checked his stats. Full health. Max durability on his armor.” It’s a festival of self-aware NPCs? Failed a 2D20 roll for extra endurance 1% into the quest.
Pillars of Fire And Light, Ken Britz. This was X-Files meets...Obscure Sports Quarterly? The main character in book 1 is a disgraced Olympic fencer, brought into a DARPA project. After a couple of hours, most of what I know about her is that she’s very angry. And there are bad people. And psychic blades. I think. Shattered my epee 6% of the way into the tournament, with Kindle estimating 22 hours 42 minutes left to go.
“I swear I left my legacy right here…I sure hope it didn’t go far…”
Baldwin’s Legacy, Nathan Hystad. Last summer I read the Resistance series by Hystad and liked it, while round-filing the third volume of another set which I’d started by accident. So I started this one with mixed expectations. This failed the Jefferson Smith treadmill test three ways. One, there’s a weird thing about the rank “commander” which seems to actually mean second in command. It’s confusing because when we meet the person who keep referring to themselves as “commander” we’ve already established there’s an actual commander on board (as in one who is in command) and who is both the captain (job) and a captain (rank). Second, although said vessel with the confusing chain of command appears to be a naval vessel of some sort, Hystad has characters refer to it as a “cruise ship.” Maybe the ruling Concord stretches the defense budget by also hauling tourists? I think this is a garble maybe of “cruiser” which is a type of warship. Third, the bad guy doing bad guy stuff is just transparent. While the general outlines of the plot aren’t hard to tell, it would have added significantly if bad things about to happen deep in space hadn’t been telegraphed quite so openly. Reluctantly accepted this wasn’t meant to be at 5%, with estimated 21 hours and 26 minutes left.
The Colossus Collection Box Set: A Space Opera Steam Punk Collection (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material), Nicole Grotepas. Ugh. I really wanted to like this one, which breaks out of several nearly-universal conventions in space opera. Strong female characters, interesting xenos, and a really interesting start. Gortepas is in good company on this, but once again volume has overcome the ability to write interesting, crisp narrative text. That complaint made, there were more good strands than usual and I made it further through this than average. Took the shuttle back to planetside 13% through, with an estimated (and slightly staggering) 18 hours and 59 minutes left in the book.
Maybe Yes, Maybe No, I Don’t Know
Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders. This was a direct-from-Tor special, originally published this past spring. I didn’t realize it’s YA at the time, decided to give it a try anyway. Work very much in progress. We’ll have to see.
“That was some fine self-published SFF action, Cotton.”