The Dragons Of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell

1.5 / 5

The Dragons Of Dorcastle on Goodreads

I was disappointed in this book.  At times, it had approached mediocrity, and may have worked as a quick escape read, but it fell short of this mark.

It takes place in a fantasy world that we are told little about, other then the fact that there are two guilds.  These two guilds, the Mages and the Mechanics hate each other.  These two noble houses, alike in dignity, are constantly at odds with each other.  No problem, I  can dig that.  The author seems to lay it on a bit thick however.

My problem is with the stories inability to suspend my disbelief.  The Mages and Mechanics end up in contact with each other, but have no idea of the capabilities of their opponents.  Even basic abilities.  They definitely fail the Sun Tzu test of knowing your opponent, and it is to the point of absurdity.  It is almost as if when ever a Mage was confronted with a mechanical device, or a Mechanic witnesses a spell, they closed their eyes, plugged their ears, and sang out ‘La La La, I am not listening.’ with all the skill a 10 year old can put into it.

The plot seems weak, and I could just not develop interest in it.  The action sequences we entertaining, and one of the better parts of the story.  At these times, I felt this book could have had 3 stars.

The love story.  It is a literary truth that you can not have 2 opposing factions with out a pair of star-crossed lovers.  This story has them, and this would have been fine, if not for the fact the the characters were very two dimensional.  I could not develop a relationship with these characters, so I did not care if they had a relationship either.

This book was first released as an Audible title,  and I would not recommend anyone using a credit on it.  I received my copy as an ebook from Netgalley in exchange for a review, and I can say I am glad I did not purchase it.  I have had a friend recommend The Lost Fleet to me by Jack Campbell, and I may read it.  He may be better at Military SciFi then Fantasy, but I will be entering into it with trepidation.

The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath by Ishbelle Bee

The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath on Goodreads

4/5

This was a fun little tale of urban dark fantasy.

What Dark Fantasy is fun?  Well, for me it is, but I like weird and strange things.  What was that, you do too?  Then, I have a story for you.

At the beginning of this story we encounter the titular characters.  Mirror, a girl found in a clock after her grandfathers murderous rampage, and Goliath, a shape-shifting cop, who was not a skin changer before meeting Mirror.  Then, we meet some more people that can only be referred to a curious.  There is Loveheart, a killer with charm, impulse control problems, and a love of cake.  The ominous and shadowy Mister Fingers, a rouges gallery of decadent miscreants, and two London police officers that are trying to solve a child killing when drawn into this world.  The characters have and otherworldly quality to them, which is fitting with this magical tale.

The plot is simple, and has a fairy tale quality to it, and that fits perfectly.  Forces are at work to catch, and devour, Mirror, who we are not surprised to find out is more then she seems.  She will not go down easily though, and she has ancient powers of her own to draw on.

This is a very quick read, being a novella in length, and I think that suits well.  Normally, when I read books like this, they weigh in at close to 800 pages (Perdido Street Station, I am looking at you.)  A lot is dedicated to world building.  This story, which is set in late 1800's london, can do away with that.  We can all picture London's gas light streets, with images of a blend of Dickens and Jack The Ripper, who also makes an appearance here.  We can get to the tale.

In summary, this short, dark tale is a treat.  It is a fun blend of historical and urban fantasy, and succeeds in keeping our interest throughout the story.  I recommend it, and will be reading other stories by Ishbelle Bee

A Crown For Cold Silver by Alex Marshall

A Crown For Cold Silver on Goodreads

4.5 / 5

Those who know me, know that I have a love for epic fantasy, especially gritty epic fantasy.  I have been reading "grimdark'" since before I even knew there was a name for the genre.  Fantasy is better for me when it has more Glen Cook and less fairy tale to it.

A Crown for Cold Silver delivers everything I love.  Machiavellian plots, brutal combat, and dark magic blend into a heady brew that I drank deep and eagerly of.  The world building is top notch here, and has a constant feel to it.  The characters are complex and fascinating.  While they may seem as fantasy stereotypes at first, we are quickly disabused of this notion, and for the better.  There development and motivations are well crafted. 

I mentioned Glen Cook earlier, and there is a reason for it.  Those of you who read the books of The Black Company will find a lot to enjoy here.  The world is familiar, but different, presented in a voice that is the authors alone.

The plot of the story is top notch, dealing with politics and warfare on a vast scale.  Our protagonist, thinking she left this world behind her 20 years ago, is dragged back into it with one brutal act.  As we are given more information, we are told of the dark forces that may have led to this event.  The wheels are in motion now though, and the inevitability of a disaster of cataclysmic proportions confronts us.  This book, book one in a series, ends with the unleashing of this horrifying event, and I now find myself eager for book two.

In summary, this is a great book.  It has bloodshed, darkness, betrayal, sorcery, sacrifice, demons, and sunken empires.  It also has a fair presentation of love and romance, and I would say love is a central theme of this book, but fitting with the nature of this story, it is love that comes with a cost, sometimes leading to the destruction of everything we hold dear.  I would highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy.  You will not be disappointed.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Three-Body Problem on Good Reads

3.5/5

What if all we knew about the nature of the universe was wrong.  That it was based on the false interpretation of data.  This idea makes the physics minded of us cringe, and this is exactly the feeling this book is trying to induce early on.  We are in a world that is as we expect it, and different at the same time.

This story evolves from this start, and we are treated to a tale that draws on elements of history and the near future and melds them into a fine work of SciFi.  This story starts as a form of sf thriller, becomes a historical fiction story, then hard science fiction, then back to a thriller.  This really works for The Three-Body Problem, and it never feels disjointed.

I will not give away the twists in this story, but they are well done.  Each peace of information that is revealed makes sense, and drives our desire for further discoveries.  The characters were ok, but not overly complex.  The situations are the driving force here, and they were well crafted and presented well.  The science was presented in a believable way.

One of the things I liked about this translation was the use of footnotes to explain things that may not be common knowledge to westerners.  Notes about China's Cultural Revolution I found particularly helpful.  On the other side, and I feel this about a lot of translated books, it seems to have lost flow of language during the translation.  Not to take await from the sheer effort that is required to translate novels, and kudos to Ken Liu for the work here, that fact that is is translated is apparent to the reader.

In summary, this a a good work of science fiction that will appeal to fans of the genre.  It is worth reading, and I think I will continue on with others in the series.  This is is mostly because of the cliffhanger ending, a real distant cliff.  Those of you who have read the book, will understand what I am saying. I was not blown out of the water by this book, which a lot of the hype lead me to belief I would be, but not disappointed either. I would also read other books by Liu, and from what I here other works will be translated into English.

The Waterborne Blade by Susan Murray

The Waterborne Blade

The Waterborneblade on Goodreads

This thrilling tale of sword and sorcery thrusts us right into the action.  When we meet the protagonists, we are given no background on them, or on the situation they find themselves in.  We are told they need to flee, now, and we follow.

This works for this story, which has the pacing and feel of a adventure thriller.  As information is revealed to us of the greater world, and of what is at stake, it never takes away from the face pacing of this story.  It is a little light on background and world building, but that is mitigated by the action and sense of urgency.

The book does slow down a bit at the halfway point, but this is also used as an opportunity to fill us in.  I prefer this as opposed to an info dump at the beginning of the story.  This continues for the rest of the story, but it does keep introducing bursts of action to keep interest.

I love a good political intrigue in my stories, and this one has some back room dealings.  However, it falls a bit short.  At the end of the first book, I am left wondering at the motivations of the players involved.  As this book is to be part of a series, this may be resolved later.

In summary, this book is a well crafted sword and sorcery tale, with elements of political intrigue and romance added for spice.  The characters, although they behave logically for the most part, come across as a bit 2 dimensional at times.  This can be forgiven because this is a plot driven story.  As to the plot, I found it entertaining enough to keep my interest.  The challenges are interesting, and they propel the story forward.

 I would recommend it to fans of fantasy fiction, and I plan on reading the other books in this series as they come out.

3.5 / 5

Update

Review pending for 

Check back next week for the review.

On Deck 

I have started The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Translated by Ken Liu) and I am really enjoying it.

Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds

Slow Bullets on Goodreads

4.5/5

It may just be my reading history, but I always thought of Space Opera as 'light'.  Light in the sense that good triumphs over evil. That, although there are major challenges, in the end, if we work hard and come together, it will be all right.

Reynolds has removed this idea for me. As surely as GRR Martin removes the illusions of Tolkienesque fantasy tropes, Reynolds presents a dark, bleak view of the future.

I must say, I like it.

In Slow Bullets, we are introduced to what will look like a space opera with military scifi elements.  Not to spoil the story, this quickly metamorphoses into a tale of survival, of adaptation against almost hopeless odds.  It is all well presented, and the writing never makes it feel disjointed.  In fact, this tale, being a novella, flows very quickly.  It is interesting that this story is a novella.  One one hand, it makes for a very tight, fast moving story.  On the other, I want to explore some of the ideas and concepts presented in this story with greater depth, and we are left yearning for more.  All in all, I think it worked, even if it looks slim sitting beside Peter Hamilton's works.

The characters are very well done, and fully complex.  The cast that is detailed is limited, but this is to be expected with the word count of this novella.  We are also introduced to the characters by watching their actions, not be being told about them.  This is very important in a streamlined story such as this.  The characters act in believable ways, and the times we are surprised by them, it is never 'out of character'

In summary, this is a very nice piece of scifi fiction, sure to please fans of hard scifi and space opera.  The writing is tight, the characters are well developed, and the story itself moves along at a cracking pace.  The challenges that are met by the cast of characters are interesting, and how they adapt to them is inventive and believable.  The social critique aspects of the story thought provoking and dealt with within the framework of the story.

This is the second work by Reynolds I have read, and I will not hesitate to read, or recommend, more.