Looking for Recs: Mmm… Brains…
Posted on July 17, 2015 31 Comments
“Hello, friend,” said the Crazy Devil Child.
I’m looking for zombie book recommendations, but wait, before we start. Let’s look at my history with zombie related anything.
I’m not a fan of zombies. It’s no secret. And it’s not just the “undead” variety. I don’t like things that are zombie-like either because of a virus or chemicals in the water or because a reaper invasion turned them into a husk but I can never hate Bioware or what-the-hell-ever. I can barely be bothered with them in any type of media. Games? No. Movies? No. Television? No. Books? Hell no. Especially not in my books.
Joseph Oda. Credit The Evil Within Wiki
Now, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t watch and like some zombie media. I’m a fan of The Walking Dead television show (I don’t much care for the comics…). I don’t normally do zombie games. I do play Left 4 Dead 2 and Dead Island, but that’s only because the people I play with are hilarious. Fun co-op friends always make a game fun to play, especially when we’re laughing at how terribly wrong everything is going because we have one kamikaze in the group. I did recently play and beat The Evil Within, but it was such a joyless play through that I don’t even know why I bothered. I hated almost every second of the gameplay, but the story wasn’t too bad, even if I took grave offense to zombies I just killed getting back up if I didn’t burn them or shoot them in the head when I had like 1 match and 2 bullets left. Such bullshit and very fucking rude, but Joseph Oda’s face made it better. But I digress. We’re here to talk about books not my gamer rage problems!
When someone recommends a horror book, my first question is, “Does it have zombies?” When someone recommends something post-apocalyptic, my first question is, “Does it have zombies?” When someone says, “Hey, I read this really great book you might–” I quickly interrupt and ask, “Dammit, does it have zombies?” If the answer is “yes,” then this is my typical response:
Despite this, the zombie fiction that I have read has mostly agreed with me, but I’m certain this is only because I’m picky about the zombie fiction I read. Out of what I have read, which is still a very small amount, I’ve only hated one book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I hated that because of the main character. I thought the writing was excellent and the atmosphere terrific, but I also wanted the main character to swallow a chainsaw and we never reconciled. I’ve found that the stories I like are going to be the ones where the zombies are really just the backdrop adding tension or if there’s some interesting angle to the story that makes it unusual.
What got me started on this tangent? Well, I recently listened to a short story from Tim Waggoner’s series Nekropolis called Disarmed and Dangerous, which features a reanimated cop that now does supernatural detective work for a living. He’s self-aware, even though most zombies aren’t in that universe. He’ll even pretend to be a roaming, mindless zombie when he needs to. Living in his own body is an outer body experience. He doesn’t feel pain or pleasure. A body part is always getting lopped off and he can only regard it as a strange feeling to see one of his body parts just waiting there for him to retrieve it after a fight or whatever. I enjoyed this story, and that got me thinking, “There has to be other zombie books out there that I’d actually enjoy.” I guess you could say that I enjoy character and story over splatter, but I’m not against a good splatter story if it really has something to offer.
Here’s my small list of zombie fiction I said I’d try mainly because I want to trust the people who recommended these books, but I’m not certain they really have my best interests at heart. I STILL LOVE YOU GUYS! 😀
1. My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
2. Narrator Battle: Zombie Edition by Nicholas Ryan ft. narrators R.C. Bray and Sean Runnette
3. I, Zombie by Hugh Howey
I should mention I have read Warm Bodies and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and I do have the rest of The Walking Dead comics and The Rise of the Governor novels on my TBR pile. I’ve also added Waggoner’s series to my pile, as well. I am trying to expand my zombie horizons. Give me a few recommendations. I’m open. It can be a comic, a book, or hey, if you think there is a zombie movie or game that I need to check out because it’s your favorite, let me know… unless it’s The Last of Us. That game annoyed me way too much to finish it.
Book Review: Trailer Park Fae by Lilith Saintcrow
Posted on July 17, 2015 12 Comments
A review copy was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Trailer Park Fae by Lilith Saintcrow
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Gallow and Ragged
Publisher: Orbit (June 23, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
It’s tough admitting when a book doesn’t work for me, and in the case of Trailer Park Fae I find this even more difficult to do considering the high hopes I had for it. To complicate matters, I can’t even really fault the book itself, because the writing superb and the story has it dark charms. However, it just felt like I was sold one thing by the title, cover and description, but received something altogether different instead.
First, a bit of background about the book: one of the main characters is the half-human-half-Sidhe Jeremiah Gallow, former Armormaster and close confidante to Summer, Queen of the Seelie Court. He’s left that life behind him now though, making his living as just another construction worker in the mortal world. He also just recently lost his beloved wife Daisy, and every day he mourns her still. Enter our other main protagonist, Robin Ragged, another half-Sidhe looking for a place to lie low after narrowly escaping the agents of the Unseelie Court. When Jeremiah first lays eyes on Robin in the bar he frequents, he is shocked by how much she resembles his dead wife, prompting the protective instincts to kick in.
But aiding her also means being dragged back into the world of magic and danger, where Summer and Unwinter are in a constant war. A plague ravages the Seelie Court and the Unseelie are the main suspects for unleashing it. Robin has been tasked as the courier to deliver the cure, but she is no friend of Summer, feeling bitter towards the Seelie queen for stealing away and imprisoning Robin’s adopted child Sean. Then of course, there’s also the free Sidhe, represented by their clever yet mischievous leader, a Fae known as Puck…
Despite its eye-catching description and shades of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Trailer Park Fae is one dark book. And unfortunately, what’s on the surface does not match what’s beneath. When I first picked it up, I admit the book’s bold electrifying cover and its quirky little title led me to expect another light urban fantasy with a good dose of humor and maybe a little snark, so I was disappointed to find little to none at all. Instead, the story is a lot more somber and grave, with a little heartbreak thrown in to boot. Normally, this isn’t something I would mind, and it’s certainly not the first time I’ve ever started a book only to discover it is completely different than I thought it would be. I’ve rolled with the punches before, but switching gears in this case was a lot harder for a couple reasons.
First of all, the writing isn’t exactly light on the eyes, with scattered sections that would slip into the formal style, reflecting the courtly speak of the Sidhe-folk. As you can probably guess, this didn’t really make for an easy read, even though I credit the prose for being very well-structured and beautifully written. Second, even if I had been in the mood for a book like this, I don’t know how well it would have worked for me. Very little happened for the first hundred pages, making it a real challenge to engage with the story and characters. There were some nice twists towards the middle and the end, but regretfully, I still didn’t feel invested enough at that point to experience their full impact.
I should point out though, that there are actually lots of fantastic and very unique ideas in here. Lilith Saintcrow’s portrayal of the Fae is wonderful and complex, painting them as creatures of mischief and malice, incorporating myths about changelings at the same time. Then there’s putting the Fae in the context of trailer parks, dive bars, and greasy diners – a creative concept that hooked me as soon as I saw it. Both Jeremiah and Robin have some nifty powers at their disposal as well, with the former possessing tattoos on his arms that can transform into a weapon, and the latter with the ability to create objects with strong, lasting enchantments.
I wish I had enjoyed this book more, and not least because I feel it’s partly my fault for being misled by the tone suggested by its cover and title. Yes, I’m a mood reader, and I thought this book would be the rollicking urban fantasy I needed at the time, yet it turned out to be just the opposite. As I noted though, I had issues with this book that went deeper, so I’m not sure how I would have liked it even if I had been prepared for its much weightier tone and style. If you’re not sure that this one would be for you, I recommend reading a sample before taking the plunge.
Book Review: Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Posted on July 16, 2015 9 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Tor (July 14, 2015)
Author Information: Bio
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dark Orbit is a fascinating novel and I enjoyed it a lot, but the book description is misleading, making it sound like it is a murder mystery (it’s really not), as well as a first contact with an alien species is involved (well, only sort of). However, I was hooked by the idea of an interdisciplinary team of scientists going on a research expedition to study a strange new planet, and as an Anthropology nerd, I was especially intrigued that an “exoethnologist” would be one of the main protagonists.
Said exoethnologist is Saraswati Callicot, who is also known as a Waster – someone who spends her life traveling to study worlds that can be light-years away, using wayport technology. Even though leaping across those great distances feel almost instantaneous to her, decades could have passed by in the normal flow of time. Sara is no stranger to leaving family, friends, and homes behind, not knowing if they will still be there when she emerges on the other side.
Her latest mission takes her farther than she has ever been, 58 light-years away to a newly discovered planet surrounded by dark matter, believed to be uninhabited. Sara’s official role on the ship is to study the interactions of the science team, even though that is only a cover for her real assignment to keep an eye on a fellow crewmate, a mystic named Thora Lassiter. Once a member of the elite, Thora has since fallen from grace due to her involvement in an uprising on the planet Orem, and the experience has left her somewhat unstable. This has also made Thora a political target, which makes Sara’s protection all the more important. However, not long after their arrival at the new planet dubbed Iris, a dead body of a crew member is found brutally decapitated, and on the landing crew’s first venture onto the planet surface, Thora disappears. The scientists also discover that Iris is in fact home to a civilization of people who are unable to see but have instead developed extrasensory perceptions to help them adapt perfectly to their lightless environment.
Nothing is as it seems in this story about facing an uncanny new world and being presented with the bizarre and unexplained. Dark Orbit explores important questions about human reactions to never-before-seen experiences, like encountering unknown alien societies and cultures. Unlike a lot of other narratives in this vein, the scientists in this book actually take a benevolent and holistic approach to the task, combining knowledge from their respective areas of expertise to solve the mystery of Iris while trying (as best they can) to follow all the interplanetary rules of establishing first contact. I found all this rather unique. I also think Anthropology enthusiasts will get a kick out of ideas presented in this novel which combines a variety of concepts from the study of humankind, and at the center of everything are the issues of cultural relativism and cultural preservation.
Newly discovered cultures are treated as a valuable resource, a font of information to learn from. Even an experienced and well-traveled exoethnologist like Sara starts to see things differently when she comes in contact with the blind society of Iris. Of all our senses, sight is perhaps the one we most take for granted, and this book definitely puts it in a whole new light. Carolyn Ives Gilman shows how important context is when looking at the way traditions develop, presenting it as a process that involves biological and environmental factors. In a less direct manner, the story also provides fascinating commentary into the nature of disability and the idea that it is relative, both physically and culturally. For instance, Thora is as helpless as a baby in the caverns of Torobe where the darkness is absolute, and multiple attempts to “teach” a local girl Moth how to see are met with failure because it was never an adaptation she needed in the first place.
Though I found Dark Orbit utterly engrossing, it’s also probably safe to say I enjoyed the book’s ideas more than the actual story. The plot itself is somewhat disjointed and hard to make sense of, and I did not much care for Thora’s point-of-view being told through the format of a transcribed audio diary, or her character herself that matter. In sum, this reads more like a philosophical piece than a mystery or a traditional tale of first contact, very different from the kind of story indicated by the novel’s blurb.
However, I was won over by Gilman’s deft handling of subjects that I have a deep interest in, even though this normally wouldn’t be my type of book. If you enjoy thought-provoking science-fiction, this might just work well for you too.
Audiobook Review: Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Posted on July 16, 2015 15 Comments
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Series: The Malazan Book of the Fallen #1
Publisher: Tor Books (April 1999), Brilliance Audio
Author Info: malazanempire.com
Narrator: Ralph Lister
Wendy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars
“I have no idea what the hell is going on in this story.”
I picked up this audiobook because it was on sale and it looked interesting. I’m always up for a good dark fantasy read, so why not, right? Little did I know what I was truly getting into. And the truth is, I still don’t know what I’ve gotten into, and yet, I am still here, tentatively wanting more. Normally, when I’m listening to audiobooks, I’m doing other stuff at the same time. Sure there are things that I might miss from time to time, but generally, I can pick up the gist of the story in those moments. Not so with Gardens of the Moon. Pressing play for this book felt a lot like this:
Unlike most epic fantasies, this series does not gently let the reader ease into the cold pool. It shoves you right into the middle of battles and kidnappings and assassinations and political scheming and mage hunts and prophecies and various other stuff, with a myriad of characters popping up in every chapter, each playing a key role in a story that …does… stuff…
After about nine hours, I decided that maybe this book wasn’t for me. I figured my brain was just not in the right place to handle everything that was going on. That’s not unusual, and while I dislike not finishing a book, I just don’t have enough time on my hands to justify pursuing something I’m not enjoying. And yet, that’s just it. I was enjoying it. Ralph Lister’s narration was amazing (well, except for his breathy and indistinguishable female characters) and certainly helped alleviate some of my confusion. And the writing really is superb. The battle scenes–especially ones featuring mage battles–are incredibly detailed, and yet so fluid and fast-paced. There are dragon and killer puppets and sword fights and then all these gods turn out to be involved…
And all these characters seem like they should be awesome and I’m sure they totally are but hol’ up.
I still don’t know what’s going on.
Like I said, I almost gave up after nine hours, but after a chat with Tiara and a look over the other reviews, I see that my concerns are not unique. Many of the reviews express concern over the way Erikson drops the reader into the middle of a vast world of rich lore that he does not spell out for us. I’m not a fan of info dumps and show don’t tell is great, but this is definitely a huge risk for an author to take in a first book.
The other reviews and fans of the series agree that the first book is troublesome for this. There is a suggested reading order, but ultimately, the recommendation is to read it as the author intended, which is the publication order. I decided to continue, taking it on faith that everything would fall into place. But every time I thought I was hitting an epiphany moment, I was denied.
And yet, I am still going to give this book five stars because dude, I not only listened to all of it, in spite of my continued ignorance over what the hell is happening and who is doing what for whom and why, I have full intention of continuing the series because surely it will all make sense to me by the next book, right? Right?
Tough Traveling: Extreme Climates
Posted on July 16, 2015 31 Comments
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan ofReview Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in (and inspired by) The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information.
This week’s tour topic is: Extreme Climates
Perhaps the hansom prince lives in a castle surrounded by green countryside and sunny days. The rest of the land is forced to deal with freezing cold, searing heat, and every other extreme climate mother nature can throw at you.
Tiara’s Picks:
Various Planets (Mass Effect by BioWare)
Hey, I get to use Mass Effect twice in a row! Much of Mass Effect involves exploring new planets. Many of these planets are hazardous because they’re either too cold, too hot, or contain too many biological toxins (such as gasses or pollen that may cause extreme allergic reactions). Also, I am very much in favor of voting these things into being extreme climate conditions because fuck that shit, all of it:
Mithgar (The Eye of the Hunter by Dennis L. McKiernan)
When I originally read this way back when, I didn’t realize it was part of a larger series, but I do remember some elf-hobbits chasing an evil dude across the country while the weather went completely crazy. One minute they were in a desert that should’ve made roast out of them and then the next they were basically in frozen hell. I don’t know man, but I remember thinking it sure was a crazy fun book.
Chariot (The Element of Fire by Martha Wells)
Kade, the half-fay/half-human daughter of the Queen of Air and Darkness, contemplates leaving her home for another of her mother’s enchanted castles called called Chariot. The castle is protected by an enchanted mountain that steadily rises and becomes too rugged for humans to traverse. The land around Chariot itself has extremely long summers and springs, which is probably one of the better extreme climates to have to deal with.
Helliconia (The Helliconia Trilogy by Brian W. Aldiss)
The books are called Helliconia Spring, Helliconia Summer, and Helliconia Winter. I’m still extremely early in this trilogy, so I think I’ll quote Wikipedia here: “The Helliconia Trilogy is a series of science fiction books by British writer Brian W. Aldiss, set on the Earth-like planet Helliconia. It is an epic chronicling the rise and fall of a civilisation over more than a thousand years as the planet progresses through its incredibly long seasons, which last for centuries.”
The Burning Land by Victoria Strauss
One of the really cool things about college was that I had some very interesting teachers who often used unorthodox methods in teaching. This book was used in one of my sociology/ethics type classes because it paralleled the Tibet/China situation in many ways. I’ve included it on this list because the “burning land” parallels the theological themes as well as the environmental themes in this this book.
Westeros (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin)
I know this is probably going to be on about a million lists, but I couldn’t help myself at all. GRRM’s series isn’t stranger to extremely long summers and winters that can be very brutal. At the beginning of this series, the characters are preparing for a long and brutal winter as the kingdom starts to fall apart.
Wendy’s Picks
Moth Saga by Daniel Arenson
Not exactly a different climate, per se, but one half of this world lives in day, while the other lives in night, and each thinks the inhabitants of the other are freaky, deadly demons
Starcraft II: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg
James Raynor knows Sarah Kerrigan is still alive out there somewhere because his dreams are telling him so. They are also inconveniently telling him that she is on a volcanic planet called Char, where the weather isn’t exactly great for a picnic. Unless you are the Zerg.
Darrow is known as a Helldiver. He mines the fiery depths of Mars, the planet along with his fellow Reds in preparation for the rest of humanity to migrate from Earth. But little do they know that the horrible environment below is nothing like what’s above.
Uncanny X-Men
While Jean and Beast were struggling through the freezing blizzards of Antarctica like this:
A the centre of Antarctica in the crater of a meteor, Storm and the rest of the X-Men be like:
Sure, there are also viscous dinosaurs and a half-man half-human dinosaur that feeds on energy in the Savageland, but if I had to choose, I know which one I want to hang out in.
Book Review: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (featuring Manu Bennett)
Posted on July 15, 2015 4 Comments
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Original Shannara Trilogy
Publisher: Orbit (1977)
Author Info: terrybrooks.net
Wendy’s Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Everyone keeps saying that this is just a rip off of Lord of the Rings. I strongly disagree with this assessment. First of all, in Lord of the Rings, the crew is taking a magical talisman *to* the bad guy’s evil lair. Here, they are picking up a magical sword *from* the realm of badness. Also, LOTR supposedly is our history, while Shannara is post-apocalypse. See? Totally different.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I will spend the rest of this review just posting images of Manu Bennett, who will be playing the role of hot notGandalf in the upcoming MTV series. Or, you may wish to check out Tiara’s review, which includes very important GIFs.
Waiting on Wednesday 07/15/15
Posted on July 15, 2015 5 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
Midnight Taxi Tango by Daniel José Older: January 5, 2016 (Roc)
Last year I read Half-Resurrection Blues and was delighted by Older’s rich portrayal of a New York City inhabited by a diverse population of both the living and dead alike. It was also his writing that charmed me, a style infused with fierce, primal rhythms that brought to mind a very intense and powerful dance. The Bone Street Rumba series is quite aptly named, to say the least, and book number two seems to be following the same tradition. Gotta love that title.
“The author of Half-Resurrection Blues returns in a new Bone Street Rumba Novel—a knife-edge, noir-shaded urban fantasy of crime after death.
The streets of New York are hungry tonight…
Carlos Delacruz straddles the line between the living and the not-so alive. As an agent for the Council of the Dead, he eliminates New York’s ghostlier problems. This time it’s a string of gruesome paranormal accidents in Brooklyn’s Von King Park that has already taken the lives of several locals—and is bound to take more.
The incidents in the park have put Kia on edge. When she first met Carlos, he was the weird guy who came to Baba Eddie’s botánica, where she worked. But the closer they’ve gotten, the more she’s seeing the world from Carlos’s point of view. In fact, she’s starting to see ghosts. And the situation is far more sinister than that—because whatever is bringing out the dead, it’s only just getting started.”
Tiara’s Pick:
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson: September 1, 2015 (Tor)
I just read an excerpt of this book like right this second on Tor’s website. I knew I had to have it. I’m a sucker for demigods, gods, mythology, and all that.
Since leaving his homeland, the earthbound demigod Demane has been labeled a sorcerer. With his ancestors’ artifacts in hand, the Sorcerer follows the Captain, a beautiful man with song for a voice and hair that drinks the sunlight.
The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive. The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive.
Critically acclaimed author Kai Ashante Wilson makes his commercial debut with The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, a striking, wondrous tale of gods and mortals, magic and steel, and life and death that will reshape how you look at sword and sorcery.
Book Review: Armada by Ernest Cline
Posted on July 14, 2015 22 Comments
A review copy was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Crown (July 14, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
For fans of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, I don’t think there’s any other book coming out this year as highly anticipated as his second novel Armada. The new book is again a novel with pop culture references galore, but whereas Ready Player One was like a love letter to the 80s set in not-too-distant future, Armada takes place in present day with a shift in focus to all things sci-fi and gaming.
Needless to say, as an avid gamer with particular penchant towards massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, I must shamelessly confess to having a natural inclination to stories of this type; more than once, reading Armada made me wish that Eve Online and Dust 514 played like the games described in the book, or that Star Citizen was released already. And I think if you enjoyed Ready Player One, you might enjoy this one too. In many ways the two books are different, but in many ways they are similar as well — both are stories about average young men in the position to save the world, thanks to their super awesome Powers of the Geek!
We begin the story with an introduction to our protagonist Zack Lightman, worrying that he might be losing his mind. Staring outside the window during one his boring senior math classes, Zack spies a flying saucer in the sky, and not just any kind of flying saucer. The spaceship looks exactly like an enemy Glaive fighter in Armada, his favorite first-person space combat flight sim MMO. In the game, players from all over take the role of drone pilots, controlling Earth Defense Alliance ships to do battle with alien invaders. Zack’s been playing the game so much, he’s starting to think he’s hallucinating it in his real life as well.
Turns out, the good news is that Zack’s not crazy. The enemy fighter he glimpsed was as real as it could be. The bad news is, so is the Earth Defense Alliance and the war against the aliens. Governments around the world have known about this imminent attack for decades, and all the science fiction films and video games since the 70s have been preparing humanity for this very moment. Since their inception, online games like Armada and its companion ground-based first-person shooter Terra Firma have been training and honing the skills of potential recruits for the coming battle, right under everyone’s noses. As one of the highest ranked players in Armada, Zack is enlisted with other skilled gamers into the EDA’s forces.
It should have been a dream come true. In fact, the entire book reads like a wish fulfillment fantasy for any gamer who has ever wanted their favorite video game to be real, and to be the big damn hero of their own epic adventure. But still, Zack can’t shake the feeling that there’s something wrong. For example, if this real, why then are the aliens acting exactly like the way they would in his games and in all the science-fiction movies he grew up with? Zach realizes that life is imitating art when it really shouldn’t be – and it’s this concept that erodes the idea that Armada is just another version of The Last Starfighter but Ernest Cline style. Yes, the author has adapted that theme for his book, but at the same time he’s also subverted it, so that certain sections almost read like a tongue-in-cheek, satirical look at what audiences today expect to see out of an alien invasion story.
The story of Armada is thus actually quite clever, despite it being undeniably cheesy. We reach a saturation point with many of its ideas – some of which border on the totally ridiculous – that frequently call for a good deal of suspension of disbelief on the reader’s part (and not least because entrusting the fate of the entire human race to a bunch of regular civilian gamers is a dubious idea; if you even spend three minutes exposed to the general chat of any popular MMO, you can kind of infer why). And yet, the book is also undeniably fun. Simply put, the cheese works. It worked the same way it worked for a film like Galaxy Quest which parodied a lot of well-known Star Trek and sci-fi tropes, but somehow in the end still managed to function incredibly well as its own action-adventure stand alone. The result is that it’s still possible for someone not familiar with gamer culture or references to sci-fi movies like Star Wars (of which there are many) to enjoy Armada. However, writing as an addict to online gaming and all things Star Wars, I think that in many ways Armada can also be seen as lovely tribute to fans.
It does seem, though, that Ernest Cline has chosen his target audience and defined his niche, pressing the same hot buttons that brought him success with Ready Player One. He employs similar gimmicks in Armada, appealing to the reader’s sense of nostalgia while loading the book with lots of movie quotes and injecting a similar style of humor. A lot would depend on the individual reader, of course, but whether audiences will embrace this shtick again or demand something different, I think only time will tell. We’re also focusing less on general 80s this time around, so I think the appeal will also be much narrower, and it’s possible that those who really liked Ready Player One might not find the same enjoyment in Armada.
All told, my own stance is simple: if you’re just looking for a fun read, you’ll get it in spades. While the plot and characters in Armada aren’t particularly deep, the book certainly isn’t aiming to be a literary masterpiece. Instead, it goes for broke, not caring how far it goes in its quest to provide the maximum entertainment value for your time. As a result, Armada ends up being pure, unadulterated escapism. I loved the book, devouring it as soon as I got my hands on it and I sure don’t regret doing so at all. I can think of no other science fiction novel coming out this summer that would make a better beach read.
Book Review: The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold by Peter V. Brett
Posted on July 13, 2015 8 Comments
The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold by Peter V. Brett
Genre: Fantasy, Short Stories
Series: Book 1.5-1.6 of The Demon Cycle
Publisher: Tachyon (July 7, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars
Every fan of Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle series should check out this collection. I promise you won’t regret it! Not only does The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold contain two excellent short stories, it also features fun little extras like “outtakes” from earlier versions of The Warded Man and a ward grimoire complete with illustrations of the wards themselves. While longtime readers of the series will likely be the ones to get the most out of this volume, I believe it can also serve as a great introduction and the perfect jumping-on point for newcomers to the Demon Cycle.
Not usually being one to pick up short stories outside of main novels, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It probably helped that both The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold take place during my favorite period of Arlen Bales’ life; that is, back when he was still a humble messenger traveling the world and going on his adventures, and before he was corrupted by demon’s flesh (and Renna Tanner – hey, I’m only being honest here) to become the Warded Man and the Deliverer.
While this one certainly isn’t required reading, the story Brayan’s Gold alone probably makes this book worth picking up. Read on for a more in-depth analysis of this book’s contents.
Brayan’s Gold – 
Arlen Bales, now 17, is an apprentice Messenger preparing for his first big assignment. But instead of a simple overnight trip, he and his companion are tasked to carry a dangerous cargo of thundersticks to Count Brayan’s gold mine, situated high up in the frozen mountains. The journey through the ice and snow will be treacherous, not to mention the threat of bandits on the road. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the giant rock demon known as One Arm still stalks Arlen every night, hungry for its revenge.
What can I say, but this version of Arlen is the character I first fell in love with: inexperienced, but determined; idealistic, but full of spirit; brave, but just a little touch insane. Best of all, it is Arlen’s story all his own, and it is amazing how much substance Brett was able to pack here in about 70 pages. For a short story, the plot is surprisingly rich with plenty of action and suspense, drama of human relationships, and of course, a heart-stopping showdown with a never-before-seen type of demon.
Its short length notwithstanding, Brayan’s Gold has become one of my favorite pieces of Demon Cycle-related fiction to date, and I can’t believe it took me this long to check it out. Loved it.
The Great Bazaar – 
In the main series, Arlen finds the ruins of Anoch Sun, the ancient Krasian city in which he unearths the tomb of Kaji and retrieves the legendary warded spear. This great discovery, however, was actually preceded by a complex chain of events. The Great Bazaar tells how Arlen first managed to acquire the map to the ruins, a story that involves Abban, our favorite khaffit.
From the sound of things, Brett first wrote this story around 2009 or 2010, right around the time before The Desert Spear came out (and the story itself takes place somewhere between Chapters 16 and 17 in The Warded Man), so this was still relatively early in his writing career. It showed in the writing, which was laden in places with awkward exposition. This is also around the time when Arlen’s character started to become aggravating, when his obsession for wards began to take over his life, resulting in unnecessary risks.
The story was pretty decent though, with a very satisfying ending. It’s mostly filler, but I can’t deny that it was entertaining.
Deleted Scene: Arlen
Peter V. Brett made the right decision when he cut this following his editor’s advice. It would have felt out of place in the novel, though I appreciated Brett sharing the story about how his entire Demon Cycle series was born from the seed of this introductory scene. I can certainly understand the personal and emotional attachment to a piece like this, so even though it has no place in The Warded Man, it was still a fascinating little bonus.
Deleted Scene: Brianne Beaten
Brett explains that this was one of his favorite scenes, but since it added nothing to the narrative (it was supposed to show how badass Leesha had become, but it was already clear that Leesha was badass enough) he decided to cut it. It’s probably the right decision, though I wonder why he didn’t do the same for the latest installment of the series The Skull Throne, which I thought had its fair share of superfluous village scenes like this one too.
Brianne Beaten could have been a mini-story on its own, and it read like a classic deleted scene. A village woman who feels animosity towards Leesha finally swallows her pride and lets the young herb gatherer help her. Leesha ends up saving the day and shows just how hardcore she has become. Yeah, leaving this scene in probably would have been overkill. But again, this was a fascinating look behind-the-scenes at Brett’s writing process.
Krasian Dictionary and Ward Grimoire
The final sections of this book are mostly for reference. Readers already familiar with the series will know a lot of this information already, but the real treat are the illustrations of some the most common wards mentioned in the novels. The grimoire also kind of doubles up as a bestiary, useful if you need to brush up on your demons.
Final Thoughts: This edition of The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold is a wonderful contribution to the world of the Demon Cycle, packed with bonus content-like material that enhanced my experience with the setting and characters. Filled with goodies for fans of the series and yet still accessible enough for new readers, this volume both thrilled and fascinated me. Highly recommended.
The BiblioSanctum 