Under My Skin has some excellent stories and short novels previously published that I read and reviewed at the time like the top-notch Mightier than tUnder My Skin has some excellent stories and short novels previously published that I read and reviewed at the time like the top-notch Mightier than the Sword (empire short novel) and the excellent My Beautiful Life (empire short novel) among others, but the new short novel (110+ pages) Relics (empire short novel) with which the collection ends is the piece of resistance and is an epistolary narration in the style of Purple and Black between a duke, leader of a small nation at the crossroads of powerful imperial states and his former college chum who is now buying relics for the duke, with of course a few interludes that explain what is really going on; just superb stuff and among the best of
Also the shorter All Love Excelling and Stronger are original to this one, one a sort of Christ parable in the KJ parker style and another a Minotaur one also in the author's interpretation, so one can expect dark irony, twists, and all that made the author such a favorite of mine; and both are fairly good.
Additionally, there are other earlier stories and short novels like The Big Score (Saloninus short novel), Prosper's Demon (demons and priests short novel), The Best Man Wins, The Thought that Counts, Many mansions, Portrait of the Artist which are all very good, with only a couple of stories that didn't really tell me that much
This is probably the strongest KJ Parker story collection I've read and I highly recommend it...more
Starts quite interesting, but at some point it kind of jumps the shark so to speak and it becomes a fairly banal save the universe kind of story that Starts quite interesting, but at some point it kind of jumps the shark so to speak and it becomes a fairly banal save the universe kind of story that I generally lack interest in...more
Sounded interesting and definitely has lots of energy and the pages turn by themselves, but there is something a bit off about the historical setting,Sounded interesting and definitely has lots of energy and the pages turn by themselves, but there is something a bit off about the historical setting, while the main characters seem more like contemporary celebrities than historical...more
Sounded interesting and the first few pages made me kept reading, but soon it turned into farce and the only thing that kept me reading is to see if cSounded interesting and the first few pages made me kept reading, but soon it turned into farce and the only thing that kept me reading is to see if can get worse; and it did......more
I started both this and the Kassini Division at the same time, but I decided to first read the collection which gives a good introduction to both the I started both this and the Kassini Division at the same time, but I decided to first read the collection which gives a good introduction to both the universe of the novel and the writing style of the author; takes a little to get used to both, but then I appreciated the stories quite a lot with a few that were both interesting and entertaining (most notably the first story, the title story, the uplifted dog one and the one about Captain Krieger) and the rest enjoyable
Hope the novel will also fulfill the early promise, while this volume is definitely recomended...more
An intriguing novel and first in a trilogy to be released in monthly intervals starting in December. Set some decades after a world-changing cataclysmAn intriguing novel and first in a trilogy to be released in monthly intervals starting in December. Set some decades after a world-changing cataclysm which is described in many vignettes at the beginning of each chapter from various perspectives, the book is set in the city-state of Caldera, one of the powers of the changed world. There is a looming conflict between various powers, including the government, the local underworld guild named The Black Hand, a new religious order and the mages of the Spire who are under new management.
The universe is quite intriguing (due to the varied effects of magic in the world, various races of humans diverged across history) and the characters are interesting - former mage Asher (Calderan and generic human) who together with his partner Deishiro of a warrior race which is assumed destroyed in the Cataclysm with only few survivors descended from those away from their homeland like Deishiro's grandparents at the time, are the topmost independent Guild operatives and are offered a huge contract they cannot refuse. One guild official has big ambitions and Asher's former mentor at the Spire, now marginalized by the current leadership, has discovered something unexpected, while a new messianic religion is taking hold of Caldera to the dismay of both the Guild and the council of advisors who lead the country in the name of the mentally challenged king and queen. And so it goes in a fast-moving and energetic storyline. The writing is a bit stilted and occasionally dampens the energy of the plot, but it gets better as the pages go on.
Ending at a good tbc point, I definitely plan to get the second novel asap...more
Used to be a big fan of the 163* series but it has been diluted so badly that I gave up on it around the 1635 novels about the Eastern war; however, gUsed to be a big fan of the 163* series but it has been diluted so badly that I gave up on it around the 1635 novels about the Eastern war; however, given the topic of this one, I decided to give it a try and it was ok but not more; the magic has gone from the series long ago and now it's kind of repetitive and fairly by the numbers; as for the actual storyline and the representation of Transylvania, it was ok'ish, nothing really outlandish and the authors have done their homework, but nothing really special either; mostly a book for the remaining fans of the series and nothing here to bring me back......more
From the past and present, secrets and lies etc subgenre, but well done with characters that you care about, intriguing setting and moving fast and wiFrom the past and present, secrets and lies etc subgenre, but well done with characters that you care about, intriguing setting and moving fast and with energy; recommended and plan to check up the author's upcoming novel when published ...more
Non stop sf adventure that pulls you in from the first page when Kris, a wealthy surgenmod (modified surgically) human slumming in the walled part of Non stop sf adventure that pulls you in from the first page when Kris, a wealthy surgenmod (modified surgically) human slumming in the walled part of Cincinatti (where the poor, the sick and the hopeless live and nobody cares what happens with them as long as they do not come out and bother people living in the outer suburbs), wanders upon an ambush where 6 local hoods are preparing to rape and presumably kill a young woman; using her better physical and augmented senses and her zapgun, Kris manages to save Sofia and takes her to the apartment of Carlos, Kris' local friend and occasional lover. However, it turns out that Sofia is a strange ecomod (genetically modified humans who now populate various hostile environments like the undersea, Mars, Venus etc) with no memories and of a line that seems to have disappeared long ago.
Gravely injured, hunted by a sadistic killer with many resources, Sofia seems to be a major liability, but Kris sticks by her and with the help of various other characters (including a troll-like human - another ecomod of a line modified for higher gravities but now close to extinction due to the SunWall - a defrocked priest with dark secrets and his merwoman lover and ally with secrets of her own) and they manage to stay just a step ahead...
In the larger scheme of things, humanity seems to be confined to within 3 AU of Earth as when in the past ships tried to traverse an imaginary sphere at that precise distance from Earth -later dubbed the SunWall- everyone on board (and pets etc, so all higher biological life) just dies, though nothing happens to the ship's systems; now of course, nobody tries anymore. Also, another important past event was the creation of ecomod spacehips where humans (or ecomods) with grave disabilities were fused with a spaceship and became their brain; unfortunately 2 such went mad and killed themselves, spectacularly crashing into two major Earth cities, most of the rest were tricked by the Uberboard (the corporate government of Earth) to come in for a check up only to be mercilessly murdered, while two, smarter than the rest escaped beyond the SunWall though nobody knows if their minds survived the passage...
And there was Oceanus, a mer sentient spaceship built on the sea floor that the merpeople claimed they dismantled, but actually secretly lives under their tenuous protection
And when Donovan, the priest (and an expert in highly illegal psychosomatic substances) tries to treat Sofia for her memory loss (artificially induced by one such dangerous drug), some of the whys of Sofia's tale start making sense as she claims her people know how to go through the SunWall, but keep it secret, while she was part of a youthful movement that wanted the rest of humanity to know about this, the movement was repressed, her comrades killed, while she escaped to Earth but was chased down by her sadistic cousin Illian, who took her memories but then wanted to fully enjoy her painful public death after being raped by those hoods, so giving Kris the opportunity to intervene...
And so it goes...
Energetic and inventive, and the only complaint is that most characters are a bit too one sided, with the villains especially very villainous by and large...
Highly recommended for an edge of your seat sf with a good ending that solves most of the storyline, though of course there is scope for more in the interesting universe of the ecomods created by the author...more
While somewhat earlier in the timeline than The Godel operation, the first novel set in the fascinating Tenth Millenium Billion Worlds universe of theWhile somewhat earlier in the timeline than The Godel operation, the first novel set in the fascinating Tenth Millenium Billion Worlds universe of the author (hopefully with many novels to come as there is vast scope here), The Scarab Mission is not a prequel or really connected to that one except that Daslakh the interesting spider drone AI (and a person of many facets and mysteries) appears though more as a secondary cast member here, so it definitely can be read independently, though of course reading the larger scale Godel operation first brings a better appreciation of the milieu.
In many ways, this is a typically exploration/treasure quest/mystery/adventure sf novel narrower in focus, but with a lot of immediate suspense. Some 16 years before, Safdaghar, a run-of-the-mill Jovian habitat goes dark in a disaster and after lots of legal wrangling, ownership of the derelict is finally assigned by the courts, so it is sold for scrap to some consortium in the far away Kuiper Belt. Yanai, a spaceship making a living in the salvage business, wins the bid to stabilize its orbit and using Jupiter's gravity field as a sling, send Safdaghar on its 40-year course through space to its new owners who would use its mass and elements.
Usually, Yanai has only two associates/crew, Solana, a young woman with a neurological problem as she cannot bear the sight of human faces, so tries to stay away from other humans and wears googles rendering faces to bland ovals when she must meet them, and Atmin, her corvid partner (un uplifted large raven traveling in a diamond spherical oval), but for this mission, two more crew members are enlisted, Pera a mercenary raptor dino with solid knowledge of weaponry and Utsuro a (cy) borg who has been recovered almost dead and with no memories - and definitely with an unfixable human body, hence his personality now residing in a purely mechanical body (worth the equivalent of 6000$ in the gigajoules currency of the time as we find out in an amusing aside at some point) - in a shuttle whose trajectory has been traced back to Safdaghar.
Since the habitat has been spinning wildly in the past 16 years, nobody could go and try and salvage stuff until Yanai stabilizes it, so Solana and Atmin hope to find enough stuff to get a good bonus share with Solana hoping to finally be able to undergo the (expensive) treatment for her neurological problem and live a reasonably normal life. Pera is mostly for the ride to Jupiter, but wouldn't mind some extra cash and of course, Utsuro wants to find out who he was as human etc.
Once they gain access to the habitat, it becomes clear that it was a scene of mass murder, and in fact of a devastating attack that killed its citizenry despite their valiant attempts to fight back; this is somewhat of a puzzle because on one hand there have been no report of a ship around it when the disaster happened and on the other because of the why of the attack; the only real claim to fame of the habitat was the rumor that it was the last hidden refuge of Pasquin Tiu, a famous Martian poet who refused to submit to Deimos (the major Solar System power residing in an orbital ring around Mars and determinant influence - sometimes as an outright occupier, sometimes as an ally of the planet and its many political configurations during the ages) and lampooned famously its citizenry and rulers and eventually had to flee for his life, as Deimos (once upon the time the one surviving major biological power that fought to a standstill the Inner Ring's AI war faction genocidal attempt to eliminate all living beings from the Solar System - see the Godel operation for echoes of that) still a power, but now, 6000 years after the Great War, only one of many such, as biological civilization has recovered and has been thriving in the Solar System and beyond, cannot afford to be seen as weak....
So despite various mishaps and dangers, Utsuro wants to find out what happened and to at least publicize the tragedy of Safdaghar even if he cannot bring its murderers to justice, so he insists on continuing the exploration of the habitat rather than taking some easy early pickings and useful elements and engines from where Yanai docked. Unfortunately with the habitat stabilized now and heading towards the highly populated space around Jupiter for the required sling maneuver, others can easily reach it and they may have more nefarious intentions as well as more firepower...
And so it goes with nonstop action, tragedy and heroism, and lots of vignettes about various moments in various characters' histories - most notably Solana's tragic past and the reason for her aversion to faces which brings new depth to the billion worlds milieu as well, the story of a habitat fallen from an oligarchy to (an idealistic revolution soon transformed into) a totalitarian communist state led by one Osiv Cizmar (!!) and a decadent engagement party among many other superb such.
Overall excellent, fast non stop action with superb characters in a very fascinating milieu, and while darker and on a smaller scale that The Godel operation, quite a few other facets of the Billion Worlds universe are explored through the backstories. Highly recommended and I definitely want more novels in this universe...more
One of the weaker Honorverse anthologies in the sense that there is little new and while enjoyable, most stories feel like filler to a large extent.
InOne of the weaker Honorverse anthologies in the sense that there is little new and while enjoyable, most stories feel like filler to a large extent.
In (sort of) chronological order we have:
the story of Tamerlane and how he goes bad in the Andermanni empire (sort of without really meaning it so to speak); ok but we know how it ends, so no real drama
a story of Stephanie and Karl (the ancestor couple of the Harringtons who features heavily in the young adult series with treecats); a nice enjoyable mystery with a bit of peril for the couple (to be - here they are still in the YA phase) but of course treecats to the rescue
a story of the Silesian annexation and dealing with pirates - this was the best of the anthology by far, but still a typical Honorverse storyline with not that much new
a continuation of the (mis) adventures of the Bedlam clan in the Burdette steading from the previous anthology; not really fitting that much with the rest of the stories and kind of boring frankly
finally, the D Weber piece which continues the story of Honor's parents, but sadly lacks much of anything (as opposed to the one in Beginnings which was really exciting and fresh); pretty much a mother and daughter at odds for years storyline with some Franz Illescue is still a dork (we already knew this from a few other stories anyway) and a bit of space action in between; frankly not sure why this one needed to be written in this much detail
Overall one pretty good story, two decent ones but without much of interest, and two that could have easily not been written, or at least not in this much detail, so definitely a book for Honorverse completists like myself, but not really for anyone else...more
Found this one by chance but really liked the first few pages so got it and read it fairly fast. The novel is based on the story of Pelagius, the firsFound this one by chance but really liked the first few pages so got it and read it fairly fast. The novel is based on the story of Pelagius, the first Christian king of Spain after the Arab conquest and whose resistance in the north started the Reconquista that would take almost 800 years to wrestle back what was lost in a few years by a disunited and treacherous nobility, all of this being commemorated on his tomb and in various near contemporary chronicles. A very good story that moves along with lots of energy and the only complaint is that the book seemed too short for the many events crammed into it. ...more
Covering the impact of the Mongol Empire in the Middle East from the early 1200's to the mid 1300's the book is a pleasure to read and very informativCovering the impact of the Mongol Empire in the Middle East from the early 1200's to the mid 1300's the book is a pleasure to read and very informative. Empires and kingdoms fell and others rose in their stead while the Mongols came like a storm and were seen as invincible until the usual dynastic in-fighting stopped them, so by the end of our period the Mamluk empire and the rising Ottoman state were the inheritors, the Crusaders a memory and Byzantium while it recovered from the Crusader sack and almost 60 year of occupation partly due to the Mongol Storm, was a shell of itself and destined to last only another century or so
By the end of our period and seemingly the big winners of all, the Italian maritime powers Venice and Genoa were in what they thought to be secure and remunerative positions as enablers of the East-West commerce the Mongols facilitated, but the untold riches of the East and the vast territories revealed by enterprising Europeans, whether merchants like Marco Polo or missionaries only whetted the appetite of the West for them and the technology that made its way from China to Europe during this time, most notably the guns which will be developed in the endless wars between European powers of the 14th and 15th centuries will lead, well we know how it went...
Excellent series debut which kept me reading from page 1 till the end. A fairly standard fantasy story, but with a cool setting and great characters, Excellent series debut which kept me reading from page 1 till the end. A fairly standard fantasy story, but with a cool setting and great characters, while there are a few twists here and there. The author has undeniably the ability to write energetic stories that keep one turning the pages, but usually the content gets diluted in interminable series like the Empire Corps of which i read quite a few books until getting sort of tired as the universe of the series didn't really support that many volumes.
With this hopefully we will get a shorter series (seems to be a trilogy at least to start with) so the characters and storyline remain fresh
Highly recommended and a top 10 of the year for me...more
It seems that something about shady billionaires wanting to live forever and colonize space for their own benefit is one of the themes du jour in contIt seems that something about shady billionaires wanting to live forever and colonize space for their own benefit is one of the themes du jour in contemporary sf as this is the second recent novel with this thematic after the similarly entertaining Trouble Walked In by M Kupari.
While it has some twists and turns, the gist of the plot is clearly seen at some point, but the novel moves well and with a lot of energy, the main characters are interesting and the alien world where a lot of the action takes place is fascinating, so Wormhole is a very entertaining sf mystery adventure with a touch of first contact that I definitely recommend for all sf lovers
Very very good interpretation of the usual story; both giving a true historical but also mythical feel, a great love story, an emotional tale and of cVery very good interpretation of the usual story; both giving a true historical but also mythical feel, a great love story, an emotional tale and of course battles, intrigue. Highly recommended ...more
Short, dark and almost cynical though with sprinkles of idealism and written in a way that reflects its times, this 2022 translation of Irene NemirovsShort, dark and almost cynical though with sprinkles of idealism and written in a way that reflects its times, this 2022 translation of Irene Nemirovsky's 1939 novel is quite interesting and stands well the test of time as well as being fairly relevant to current socio-political issues.
The main thing I liked - probably due to the perspective of the author, born into relative privilege (well off Jewish family in Tsarist Russia so not quite belonging there) lost at a fairly young age, regained with hard work in French exile and then very tragically lost when despite trying to fit in by converting to Catholicism, moving away from Paris in 1940 to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere and relative safety only to still be deported and murdered at Auschwitz - was the lack of illusions about success and wealth. Even the more idealistic characters, Clara the long-suffering wife of Dario is well aware of what goes on, both in how he is getting the money that enables their current extravagant life and how he spends them on multiple trophy European women to "revenge" himself for the contempt he received for so long from the westerners despite his being a naturalized French doctor, and Daniel his son who may start despising his father when growing up figures out the above and more, but won't refuse the large wealth that comes from that...
Powerful narrative energy, no illusions (and one of those books about "the beautiful people" that is really worth reading as it shows the ugliness behind the public facade of wealth and smiles) and quite highly recommended...more
Very interesting with a powerful narrative drive; mostly first person interspersed with a few external third person interludes that complement the narVery interesting with a powerful narrative drive; mostly first person interspersed with a few external third person interludes that complement the narration by Proctor Bennett who is an important person in the hierarchy of Prospera, both for his position (director of operations for the agency that deals with the removal of failing Prosperans - mostly by old age meaning over 120 or even more but occasionally for other reasons both physical and societal - to be "reiterated", and colloquially known as a Ferryman since the reiteration happens on an island connected to Prospera by a self-piloting ferry) and for his social contacts (he is in the 8th year of a 15 year marriage contract with Elise the daughter of Calliste Baird, Prospera's CEO of the board of directors, so technically the leader of the country).
While outwardly Proctor's marriage and position seem settled, there are cracks, most notably Elise's refusal to become a mother (on Prospera the population is sterile so couples become parents by adopting Nursery wards, so teenage reiterated versions of previous Prosperans with no memories beyond a few survival skills - the reiteration always brings the body to around 16 while wiping out all memories) and the appearance in his life of young rebellious Caeli, the reappearance in tragic circumstances of his "father" Malcolm and then of a young and pretty art dealer and secret revolutionary Thea...
Because Prospera's wealth and idyllic life stand on the backs of the hard and little rewarded work of the Annex inhabitants who do the grunt work and live "normal" lives (age normally, have children, get sick, die etc), there are of course malcontents, mostly on the Annex, but some Prosperans too, especially some of those who work for the feared security service and see the harsh reality (bullets, batons, occasionally torture and summary executions, continuous surveillance) behind the Annex' submission to Prosperan needs
And so it goes, with of course the reality or unreality of Prospera, the truth behind it, and so on being the central thread of the storyline and Proctor's explorations. While for an experienced sff reader, there will be enough clues about what's really going on, the novel still has a few surprises and twists, though the main reason to read it is of course for its characters and prose and especially for the energy that drives it till the fitting and excellent ending which is another major plus, since sometimes this type of books (setting up an intriguing and seemingly impossible/contradictory universe only to be let down by a mundane and banal revelation/ending) are hard to wrap up as satisfactory as here
Fairly short and not as coherent as the book about Nae Ionescu; this of course may be due to the fact that I read M Sebastian's journal (both in EngliFairly short and not as coherent as the book about Nae Ionescu; this of course may be due to the fact that I read M Sebastian's journal (both in English and then later in Romanian) and his novels (and at least one novel that is partly about him), so I knew much more than in the case of his mentor. The book is short and easy to read but frankly I expected more....more
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