Fredsti, Dana: Plague Town (Ashley Parker) (2012)

2012-12-19 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

p style=”text-align:center;”>Wonderful coverart by Amazing15.com

Mwahahah. Zoooooombies. Funny in a really gross way. Let me give you an example:

“She fell often, the lack of connective tissue around her left knee making balance a problem. Her feet were bare and the flesh was torn, but she felt no pain, not even when she landed face first in a bush and a broken branch punctured an eyeball. It snapped off with the force of her fall, leaving Maggie with a stick jutting out of her ruined eye socket, vitreous egg-white oozing from the puncture and sliding down her cheek like thickened tears.”

I am NOT a zombie person, but the descriptions in Plague Town were wonderfully zombieish. Absolutely perfect for a novel that seems to want to be tense yet kind of funny. I think authors must love it when they get to hand us gory descriptions. Dana Fredsti seems to fall into that group of authors and I love her for it. I am still not a zombie person, but Dana has made a really good case for this category.

Plague Town does have a serious side – be careful what you release into society. There are some excellent fighting scenes and a couple of hot ones between Ashley and … You’ll guess it in two seconds, but you ought to have those two seconds. Plague Town also manages to be kind of twisty – in a good way. Yeah! I think I will wholeheartedly recommend this zombie novel.

Fiction, History

Ford, Jamie: The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (2009)

2012-12-18 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Wow. Sad in a happy way this novel. I’ve read the Norwegian version of it. There are a couple of translation hiccups but the translator has done an excellent job.

People are strange and we have a dark side, a side we seldom like seen in the light of day. The treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII illustrates this dark side of humanity. Letting ourselves be ruled by our fears is incredibly tempting. I cannot count the times I have allowed my own fears to rule my decisions.

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives an excellent account of what it must have been like to be a child during this time. Henry (Chinese-American) has to watch his father be completely ruled by his old hatreds and fears of the Japanese. Seeing him forget that people who just happen to be of Japanese heritage are also Americans was difficult for Henry. Falling in love with Keiko and having to stand up to his father while 12/13 years old must have been horrifyingly difficult for a young boy. Yet Henry did.

Such courage.

The beauty of this novel lies in Ford’s touching depiction of a difficult subject. While the novel is fiction the internment was not. Panama Hotel is there and people were placed in camps with razor wire around them and soldiers pointing at the prisoners with armed weapons. This is also who we are.

Science Fiction, Thriller

Johnson, Jean: A Soldier’s Duty (2011)

2012-12-17 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

A Soldier’s Duty is my introduction to the writing of Jean Johnson, and a pleasurable acquaintance it has been. Gene Mollica is the cover artist. He captures the spirit of this novel really well.

A Soldier’s Duty is the first installment of the series Theirs Not To Reason Why. From the cover you can probably guess that the main character in this heroic tale is going to be a woman.

Is it possible to change the future? Maybe, if you are a precog like Ia. She has seen a future for the Galaxy so horrifying that she is willing to do anything to stop it. But to change the future will mean following a trail so narrow there is no room for mistakes. For Ia it will mean sacrifices beyond what she thinks she can bear. However, bear them she must.

In a sense, Ia is somewhat like Honor Harrington. She is willing to put the good of the group before her own wishes. Ia is also willing to work incredibly hard to be the best that she can be. A Soldier’s Duty was full of technical data (no idea how realistic it was). Where Honor and Ia’s likeness ends is in the style of writing that Jean has. Jean takes her writing that tiny indefinable step beyond David Weber’s. You know that step that drops you into the river of her words almost immediately.

I have come to realize that this artistic quality that separates the really good from the word-artists is so small that it is sometimes barely felt. However, it is felt. Jean manages the leap. A person has to be born with it I think.

Anyways. You get the picture.

Biography, Reblogged

December 16 1775 Jane Austen born

Link 2012-12-15 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

I remember reading Pride and Prejudice as an 18-year-old and loving it. This is almost 30 years ago. I wonder what it would be like to read it as an ancient woman? Another thing I wonder about is what Jane Austen would have thought of her own novels if she had been a practising author today.

Craig Hill

On December 16th 1775, English novelist Jane Austen was born, the seventh of eight children of a clergyman in a country village in Hampshire, England.

Jane was very close to her older sister, Cassandra, who remained her faithful editor and critic throughout her life. The girls had five years of formal schooling, then studied with their father. Jane read voraciously and began writing stories as early as age 12, completing a novella at age 14.

Austen’s quiet, happy world was disrupted when her parents suddenly decided to retire to Bath in 1801. Jane hated the resort town and found herself without the time or peace and quiet required to write. Instead, she amused herself by making close observations of ridiculous society manners. After her father’s death in 1805, Jane, her mother, and sister lived with one of her brothers until 1808, when another brother provided them a permanent…

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Fantasy, Romance, Thriller

Bonilla, Amanda: Shaedes of Gray (2011)

2012-12-13 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Shaedes of Gray seems to be Amanda Bonilla’s first novel and is a pretty good debut. There are places where the text doesn’t work completely, but Bonilla manages to hit the flow quite often.

Another plus point for the cover. Choosing Cliff Nielsen as her artist was well done. He has illustrated quite a few authors I really like and, of course, some I’ve never heard of. The way he manages to catch the mood of Shaedes of Gray is awesome.

This Seattle is a Seattle that apparently only has one supernatural living there. Darian was told this by her “maker” and has believed it for the past 100 years or so. By my “apparently” I am certain you know that supernaturals are going to be popping out of the wood-work as the novel progresses.

Let’s see. What makes Shaedes of Gray different from the rest of urban fantasy. Hmmm. For one thing, Darian is a Shaede. This means that she can travel through the shadows, yet she appears as human when she is in her corporeal form. She doesn’t know how she was made into a Shaede. Shaedes don’t really appear to be bad/good. Instead they are a kind of distilled in-between gray creature.

Not so unusual, is Darian being an assassin. She makes her living taking on hits to people of dubious morals. When she is asked to kill the resident of a certain address, Darian discovers that she was lied to by her maker. There are indeed other supernaturals living in Seattle. When she discovers just how duped she has been and who one of the dupers is, Darian feels stupid.

So. A good beginning. If what I’ve seen in this novel continues, Amanda certainly has the makings of one of the better authors out there.

Fantasy, Romance, Thriller

Carlson, Amanda: Full Blooded (2012)

2012-12-13 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Hmmm. Full Blooded falls within the paranormal romance category (I think). As such, I’m not the best person to say something about it. Having read it, I am going to anyways.

I don’t know why this category is having such a difficult time getting into my heart. With Full Blooded it had a lot to do with the fact that the text kind of hiccupped. When I get the feeling of “hang on-need some more editing here”, I feel like someone is hurting the text. I know I’ll never write a book. For one thing, my writing is simply not interesting enough for that. So I really admire the people out there who actually do write.

As a reader, though, I am top-notch. Full Blooded was average. It picked up after the first half. Some of the weeds got pulled out more and Carlson was a whole lot closer to getting her text to flow. The story itself wasn’t especially original either.

But remember my motto – just because I might not like a novel doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It just means that it needs another reader.

Fiction, Humour

Grisham, John: Skipping Christmas (2001)

2012-12-13 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

My, my, my, isn’t Christmas fun????? I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of the holidays. I find them costly and full of weird little things that are supposed to be “the right thing to do”. My head just doesn’t get what the big deal is with all of the decorations and having to buy gifts.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham is about that. Lucas is overwhelmed by all of the “things” that need to be done surrounding the so-called holidays. Sick and tired of all of the work and money that goes into Christmas celebrations, Luther Krank gets his wife to go along with his idea of dropping Christmas and instead go on a cruise.

The only thing Lucas and Nora have forgotten is that they are part of a group, and as such certain sanctions and rewards follow any decision that will affect the group. Not putting up Christmas lights and decorations is a major break from group traditions.

It is difficult to go against group decisions. Not only you, but the group you belong to, struggle with the new situation. I feel Grisham is really good at describing these effects. I’ve seen it in his mystery/thrillers and now in Skipping Christmas. Skipping Christmas is only 177 pages long and is an interesting look at values and things we do just because we have always done them. Humor, warmth and insight are excellent qualities in a novel about humanity’s strangeness.

Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Butcher, Jim: Princep’s Fury (The Codex Alera V) (2008)

2012-12-09 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Princep’s Fury is the fifth and penultimate book in The Codex Alera series. What can I say about this series now that it is almost over? One thing that is obvious is that Jim Butcher‘s writing is getting better and better. Hard work does pay. I’m hopeful that Jim benefits from this. As a reader, I certainly do. Having read books of all kinds for around 40 years, I have certainly learned to spot and appreciate which authors are serious about their craft.

Tavi has set off with his regiment to assist the Canim with the Vord in their homeland. With his usual tolerance of the Ocean, Tavi vomits his way quite a ways accross the Ocean. Thankfully he has good helpers who assist him whether he wants them to or not. Once they get to the land of the Canim, both Varg and Tavi discover that the situation is a bit more dire than Varg had thought and hoped.

Back in Alera the Alerans are finally realizing that the Vord are real and they are coming to get them. Unfortunately, that usually means that the Vord are about to take over your whole country and population. As we might have guessed by the previous books, the Vord Queen that started the ball rolling this time around is not quite as Vordish as she should have been. This might just be the factor that ends up being a saving factor for the Alerans, Malat and Canim.

Not all Alerans are able to help the First Lord as they are fighting for their lives to save their own people. Which is why Isana is sent north by the First Lord in an attempt to make historic peace between Alerans and Ice-men. Her work might very well be the feather that will tip the scales in the Aleran’s favor.

There is as much action in no. 5 as there has been in the previous four books. Political in-fighting is not quite as extreme as necessity binds people together to an extent.

My reviews of books 1 (Furies of Calderoon), 2 (Academ’s Fury), 3 (Cursor’s Fury), 4 (Captain’s Fury), and 6 (First Lord’s Fury)

Adventure, Fantasy

Bradley, M; May, J and Norton, A: Black Trillium (1996)

2012-12-09 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

“Black Trillium” is a collaboration between Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May and Andre Norton. These three women are oldies but goodies within the science fiction and fantasy genre. As such one might be tempted to think that this three-in-one package would create a work of wonder. However, three strong personalities can make for problems as well.

The end product has the three authors writing about one character each. Sadly, this is quite apparent to me in my role as reader. While the story keeps to its plot (I presume), the different writing styles makes me have to adjust again and again as I go from chapter to chapter. Sometimes the writing is very young in its audience appeal and sometimes I connect a bit more to it.

As the princesses Haramis, Kadiya and Anigel go on their separate journeys to save Ruwenda from the Labornok and its magician Orogastus they also have to face their own flaws and failings. In a typical younger audience hero-writing style, we are presented with three young women who face difficult challenges and overcome them in a manner that destroys the wicked, changes the hearts of brave people and brings the heroes back as saviors to their people.

A younger reader than myself might very well find this book a completely different journey to my own. Perhaps I have become too old and jaded in my reading experience to fully enjoy something so clearly intended for a younger audience.

Adventure, Fantasy, Humour, Science Fiction

Pratchett, Terry: A Blink of the Screen (2012)

2012-12-04 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

As all of you must know by now Terry Pratchett is one of my all time favorite authors. It turns out he started publishing his writing from the age of 13.

What A Blink Of the Screen gives us is a look at the development Pratchett has had as an author through he varied and lengthy authorship. We also get an excellent example of how some people are born with the gift of writing. Thankfully, Pratchett decided to develop that talent into what we see today.

I read Pratchett’s story from when he was 13 without much hope of entertainment. But, you know. There is a reason Pratchett is my favorite author. He simply has the gift. And that is the feeling I am left with after reading A Blink of the Screen.

A Blink of the Screen is a collection of everything from short stories to poetry and even an Ankh-Morporkian anthem.

The Anthem is the “Ankh-Morpork National Anthem“. It is properly pretentious and has a second verse worth memorising.

Pratchett does well in a great many genres. Death as a disco-lover, football cards, heroes that are resurrected, x-mas cards that draw you in, silly laws and regulations, alternate earths, evolving chickens, biographies, the Discworld: this book has it all. The art of Josh Kirby is excellent. Seeing it in such vivid colors is a delight.

Like all of Pratchett’s books, A Blink of the Screen shows the world to me as it is. Sure, you have to strip away the fantasy bits first, but the people are real in all their glory and horror. I’ve met some of these people. I am some of these people (definitely not telling who). Add this to his gift of communication and we have magic.

Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Butcher, Jim: Captain’s Fury (The Codex Alera IV) (2007)

2012-12-01 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Jim Butcher‘s series, The Codex Alera, is well worth a read. Captain’s Fury is book number four in the series. In it we meet a Tavi two years older from who he was in Cursor’s Fury.

The hard work that Butcher puts into his books shows. He himself says that being and author is about work, work, work and not giving up even if you are rejected. I guess I must have been wrong about the Muses just dropping into people’s heads and taking over their hands.

I love it when I can tell that an author has worked for my pleasure. How selfish is that? However selfish, it is true. There is just something incredibly wonderful about an author that takes hold of me and brings me into their text.

That is the kind of author Jim Butcher has become.

Tavi is yet a couple of years older. As a character, Tavi is a warm-hearted person. Somehow he feels that friendship is possible with everyone and works toward that end. Unfortunately, not everybody agrees With that point of view. Senator Arnos is one such person. His goal in life is to destroy Tavy but also to destroy the Canim with what he considers Aleran superiority. Boy is he in for a surprise.

Sadly, Tavi will be impacted (in the shape of Captain Rufus Scipio) by Arnos’ scheming and Tavi’s captaincy hangs in a thread. When Tavi discovers who he really is, his life is not made any simpler.

The First Lord is quite a schemer himself. He knows that he is more or less alone in his battles and seeks a quick resolution to the problem of Kalare. That means that Gaius will have to og undercover and absent himself from the political infighting in Alera. To assist him in his quest, the First Lord brings along his faithful Amara and her Bernard.

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My reviews of books 1 (Furies of Calderoon), 2 (Academ’s Fury), 3 (Cursor’s Fury), 5 (Princep’s Fury) and 6 (First Lord’s Fury)

Myths

Combined horseshelter/ advertisement for Jens Braun

2012-12-01 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

The truth is usually much more fun than whatever fantasies people make up about things. This case of the horseshelters above is no exception. Snopes dug into the claim that the building of the table and chairs were a reaction to the council refusing a farmer to build shelter for his horses. Snopes.com discovered that the huge table and chairs were an advertisement for their owner’s business along with being shelter for the horses.

This unusual shelter has been around at least since 2002. If you try to find anything on the net about Jens Braun, these stories pop up all over the place. 2002 is the earliest mention I find of this story. After that it pops up with and without the legend. One story even claims that Jens Braun of Döllstädt at Erfurt felt that his horses had the right to a table and some chairs, just like anyone else.

Time had the following caption:
Three horses try to hide from the rain under an oversized table and chair in a pasture near Doellstaedt, eastern Germany. The huge garden furniture was installed by a local wood merchant to promote his products. (Wednesday, June 18, 2003)

Associated Press has a set of pictures depicting the advertisement shelters. They tell us that wood dealer Jens Braun came up with this unusual idea of a combined shelter/advertisement for his business.

The horses seem to enjoy being able to hide beneath chairs and table. Very Gulliver.

Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction

Duane, Diane: Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses (2002)

2012-12-01 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Aaaargh. I’ve had to begin wearing reading glasses. Getting old.

A better cover than the original one.

Diane Duane has been in the writing business for ages. Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses is the only book of hers that I have although I have also read “So You Want to be a Wizard“.

Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses was relaunched in new clothes in 2011. Diane had felt the need to fix some issues that she had noticed over the years. My book is the original version.

Who among us is able to state honestly that we have no prejudices? I know I cannot. I try not to let those prejudices interfere with the way I treat people I encounter, but I know that at times I have let my feelings shine through. This is the great thing about fantasy and science fiction. The differences between species become blindingly obvious. In this manner the author has the chance to either preach or teach through their writing. Preaching bores me. I expect to be treated as though I am intelligent enough to catch on to the underlying message without having it spelled out for me.

Diane Duane manages to teach us about prejudice without getting on her high horse or behind a pulpit. This is quite difficult to manage I have noticed in the all-too many books I have read. Authors with this ability really need all the acknowledgement they so richly deserve.

Lee Einfeld and Gelert Reh’Mechren are Lanthomancers at Law in a parallel world where psychic abilities are more common that here. The team seeks out psychospoors at crime scenes. The evidence recorded from that is presented in court and through a sort of ceremony Justice comes into the court-room and the defendant is judged.

An Alfen murder comes their way and that murder brings the Lanthomancer team into inter-universe politics. This is a mystery mixed with techno-jargon mixed with political ploys.

Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses was a fun read. There were some hiccups along the way, but nothing major (might be because I have the older version).

Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Butcher, Jim: Cursor’s Fury (The Codex Alera III) (2007)

2012-11-25 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

Great cover-art, huh. The artist is Steve Stone.

I Guess it is about time that you saw who on Earth writes this Codex Alera series. Jim Butcher is obviously showing his more serious side in this photograph of he and his dog.

I’ll admit that this is not a recent Picture, but it is a fun one.

So, Codex Alera and Cursor’s Fury.

Tavi is getting older, and hopefully wiser in his understanding of his abilities. In The Furies of Calderon we got to know the 15-year old boy whose greatest wish was to study at the Academy in the city of Alera. Through his deeds he reaped the reward of just that. A couple of years later, we meet Tavi again. This time he is a student at the Academy and wondering if perhaps he should have wished for something else. But his presence proves vital in securing the safety of the First Lord – as it should when Tavi is the main character of the series. Academ’s Fury shows us a boy who has grown in maturity and understanding of his abilities.

In Cursor’s Fury Tavi has aged once again. His and Kitai’s relationship has deepened and both are committed to each other. Not everyone is pleased with the relationship between human and Marat. Another relationship that not all who know Tavi are pleased with, is his relationship with the Canim leader Varg. But Tavi’s thought is that friendship is a whole lot better than the shedding of blood.

The First Lord sends Tavi off to learn from one of the Academy’s more controversial teachers. The ways of the old Romans need to be explored (yes, indeed, the old Romans). Somehow it seems they managed without using Furies and it seems the First Lord deems it necessary to discover how they got by. Tavi doesn’t want to leave Kitai and his friends, but as a Cursor and subject of the First Lord he does not really want to say no either.

So, off he goes. And somehow – read and find out – he ends up being an under-cover legionare in the First Lord’s army fighting for his life and the safety of Alera.

There is plenty of action. Plenty of it, interspersed with humour and romance and intrigue. Spies and deception are part of the story and one of the greater deceptions will affect Amara and Bernhard as they tottle off to save hostages from Lord Kalare. I guess tottling might not be the appropriate term here – read and discover why.

Another brick of a book – 614 pgs brick – but a fun brick. If you are into action, this is the book to read.

Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Monk, Devon: Allie Beckstrom – Magic for a Price (2012)

2012-11-25 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

Devon Monk does it again. She has created another read-through book about the world of Allie Beckstrom. That woman simply has the gift. I do not often get to read two novels in a row where the author so clearly has the ability to bring me into the story. Lucky is what I am.

In this final novel of the Allie Beckstrom series Monk gives us a conclusion that makes sense and draws any loose threads together that might be out there. Perhaps it is Beckstrom’s willingness to pay the price for her actions that makes her so appealing. Or it could be her side-kicks Zay and Shame (and in later books Terric). These there are a wonderful complement to Allie’s character.

Leander and Isabelle are coming to Portland to close the whole magical community down. Along, she is bringing Authority from several other cities. To put it mildly, Portland is in need to a plan that might give them a chance against the Overseer. That is Allie’s job, figuring something out that will keep as many as possible alive and well.

This is where Monk shows her gift. She brings out the desperation and hope in novel in a manner that brings me as a reader into the stream of her words. I go willingly and joyfully into this tale of adventure wondering where the author is going to take me. As usual, I cheat by reading the last few pages early on. I know, annoying habit. For me, this is something that whets my appetite.

I hope you enjoy this final installment in the Allie Beckstrom adventure as much as I have.