The Martian - Andy Weir

The Blurb: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

This book appeared on my radar when I saw on twitter that it's been optioned for a movie. This got me interested. seeing as it's a pretty new book to me at least and I've never heard of it before. So off to Amazon I went and after a few dollars it arrived at my kindle, ready for my enjoyment.

Digging a bit further, I realised Weir self-published the book firstly in serial format on his website, then as an amazon ebook and after it sold spectacularly well a publisher picked it up for lots and lots of money. Good on Weir!

The book is mostly written in journal format by Mark Watney, detailing his trials and tribulations of trying not to die on Mars after a freak accident left him stranded there. Weir has a very fun writing style, interspersing the science with loads of jokes and cursewords to make the prose easy and fun to read. I read the whole book in two days, showing it's a gripping tale.

Weir did a lot of research, and apparently smarter people than me say that most of the science behind it is pretty damn accurate. His fixes to the problems he faces certainly are funny and it just makes it so much better to know that they could actually happen. 

The pacing is very well done, and managed with the journal entries in a good way. Some stretches where everything is going well Watney rambles a bit, reminisces about his situation and the people on earth and basically relaxes, writing like someone who doesn't have anything better to do at that precise moment. It's not boring, I promise you. When the shit hits the fan however, the astronaut Watney steps out, and the entries are a lot more professional and goal-oriented, as it should be.

The book made me laugh out loud, root for the poor Watney and it kept my attention throughout. It's certainly the most fun I've had reading in quite a long while. A brilliant book.

9/10

Broken Monsters - Lauren Beukes

The Blurb: IN A BROKEN CITY, A DISTURBED KILLER IS TRYING TO REMAKE THE WORLD IN HIS IMAGE.

Detective Gabriella Versado has seen a lot of bodies. But this one is unique even by Detroit’s standards: half-boy, half-deer, somehow fused together. And it’s only the first.

As winter closes in on Detroit, strange and disturbing corpses start turning up in unusual places, pulling several lives into the killer’s orbit.

Gabi has to juggle the most harrowing case of her career with being a single mom to her troubled teen daughter Layla.

Layla, egged on by her best friend Cas, is playing a dangerous game with an online predator.

Broken Monsters is a dark and gripping thriller about the death of the American Dream, online fame, creativity, compromise and the undercurrents of the world we live in right now.

First off, hot damn what an awesome cover. It really jumps out at you and stands out pretty nicely on a bookshelf. Really stunning work by the stupendously talented Joey Hi-Fi.

Bliksem, this really is a damn good book. Really really good. If something interrupted my reading time, I got pretty cross because I wanted to find out what happened next. This rarely happens, but this book really grabbed my attention and had my imagination going into overdrive. Some real brilliant storytelling.

The book is set in Detroit in all it's decaying glory. I think the setting really mattered to the story, seeing as the crumbling city trying to get back on it's feet, trying to get a new identity, really set the tone for the characters. 

This is a multiple POV story, and each has it's own distinct voice and character. TK, the ex con just trying to help people. Jonno, the asshat wannabe journalist looking for some direction in his life, Clayton the misunderstood artist who devolves beautifully during the story and Detective Versado and her daughter, Layla.

This book has quite a bit about the plodding side of policework present, which is pretty refreshing to read. How they plan, assign tasks and start chipping away at the problem in front of them.  How normal police work and procedure helps to insulate the poor bastards that needs to deal with the horrific on a daily basis. 

Gabi is a single parent to a teenager, Layla. Layla is a theatre nerd, in love with the stage and thus awkward as hell. Her relationship with her best friend Cas is one of the few light and uplifting pieces of the book, and really well placed between all the darkness and problems. Gabi just want to keep her daughter and her city safe. She's hard, uncompromising and brilliant.

Jonno really is a whiney bastard. It's easy not to like the little turd. He feels the world owes him for some hardships he's suffered in his life, and he latches onto anybody that can help him. Easily my least liked character in to book, but I think that's what was needed from the clown.

TK and Clayton are broken men. TK trying to do the best he can with the shitty hand he's been dealt by life, and Clay getting crazier and crazier as the book progresses. They are both awesome. 

Some freaky shit happens in this book.  Supernatural magic freaky. And it's the sudden shock of it introduced into the real world that makes it great and makes it stand out. It's violent and shocking and it gave me chills in a good way.

I think it's the ability of Beukes to give each character such a distinct personality on the page that really makes her a brilliant writer. It doesn't matter if it's a  teenage girl or the killer himself, they stand apart and distinct. It makes the reading part much easier and a boatload of fun.

This book is brilliant. I rate this as her best work yet. Stunning.

9/10

Moon's Artifice - Tom Lloyd

The Blurb: In a quiet corner of the Imperial City, Investigator Narin discovers the result of his first potentially lethal mistake. Minutes later he makes a second.

After an unremarkable career Narin finally has the chance of promotion to the hallowed ranks of the Lawbringers – guardians of the Emperor’s laws and bastions for justice in a world of brutal expediency. Joining that honoured body would be the culmination of a lifelong dream, but it couldn’t possibly have come at a worse time. A chance encounter drags Narin into a plot of gods and monsters, spies and assassins, accompanied by a grief-stricken young woman, an old man haunted by the ghosts of his past and an assassin with no past.

On the cusp of an industrial age that threatens the warrior caste’s rule, the Empire of a Hundred Houses awaits civil war between noble factions. Centuries of conquest has made the empire a brittle and bloated monster; constrained by tradition and crying out for change. To save his own life and those of untold thousands Narin must understand the key to it all – Moon’s Artifice, the poison that could destroy an empire.

This is the first book in the second series by Tom Lloyd, author of the stunning Twilight Reign series. Moon’s Artifice is certainly different than Lloyd’s previous work. While Twilight Reign was firmly based in the epic fantasy category, Moon’s Artifice is a bit harder to define. Sword and sorcery? Almost. Epic fantasy? Has that feel to it. Detective crime novel? Yes, kind of. It’s a good mixture of quite a few genres, and as someone who doesn’t honestly care about strict subgenre definitions it suits me fine.

Central to the world is the caste and House system the Empire lives by. The Imperial City is ruled by the house of the Emperor, House Sun. Each of the big houses in the Empire has their own district, in which their lesser houses are welcome. The population is also divided into the nobles and the peasants, and with civilization living tightly within this system and people being tattooed by law with their caste and house marks, escaping to a higher station seems impossible.

Narin is an Investigator, born to the lower caste and working to become a Lawbringer, the enforcers the Empire’s law on the populace. He does have a few secrets, the biggest one being an affair with a noblewoman, which is potentially life threatening to Narin, seeing as sleeping with someone elses wife is really not that a good idea, especially if said someone is noble born. You’d think Narin has enough to worry about, then the gods drop a huge problem at his feet, and it has Empire shattering consequences.

The Gods. The biggest secret that the Emperor’s family has is ascension. Mortals can become gods, if they are perfect in one part of their life. Lord Shield, Lawbringer, Pity, Duellist etc has proven their worth and been ascended to godhood. The fun thing about this pantheon is that they like to get their noses stuck into mortal affairs every now and then. And when a god notices you, it’s too late to run away. Along with the gods there are also demons who has influence on the world. I get the feeling that the gods and demons story has quite a lot more depth to it, and that should be fun exploring in later novels.

At least Narin isn’t alone in his struggles. His best friend, Enchei, supports him throughout the book. Enchei is not just there as support of filler, he has his own secret history and dark past. His immediate superior is Lawbringer Rhe, the most respected of his order with a strict sense of the law and right or wrong. I loved Rhe for his unblinking and uncompromising service to the law and empire he’s sworn to. It almost cost him his life, but he was willing to take that sacrifice to preserve the integrity of the Lawbringers, and that is heroic. Irato is a dark horse character, seeing as his actions influences the majority of the early parts in this book. He is a product of the poison, and shows clearly the dangers it poses to humanity and to the empire. Kesh is my favourite though. A girl who started out terrified, then mad, bent on revenge and at last she develops into a major player in the book. She is a damn great character, doing what she feels she must do to reach their goals. She is tenacious, bold and always ready for a brawl, even if the odds are stacked against her.

The world Lloyd built is intricate and brilliant. He has the ability to drag the gods and demons into the story, not as omnipotent beings, but more as troublemakers trying to get a head start on their fellows. Since the gods are ascended humans, seeing this human trait of selfishness in them makes them quite a lot more interesting than if they were a beard in the sky or hurling lightning at humanity.

Narin is always one step behind the conspiracy. He’s trying to catch up to a group of people who’ve had decades to plot and set things into motion. There is a sense of desperation throughout the novel as they try to unravel the mystery, and it’s mainly through hard work that they manage to get the breaks they need to bother the conspirators. No real lucky breaks are to be had to help them along, which I liked as realistic.

I loved this book. It’s fast paced, mysterious, interesting and the characters are brilliant. It’s an amazing start to a brilliant new series.

9/10

Drakenfeld - Mark Charan Newton

The Blurb: “I am Lucan Drakenfeld, second son of Calludian, Officer of the Sun Chamber and peace keeper. Although sometimes it seems I am the only person who wishes to keep it …”

The monarchies of the Royal Vispasian Union have been bound together for two hundred years by laws maintained and enforced by the powerful Sun Chamber. As a result, nations have flourished but corruption, deprivation and murder will always find a way to thrive.

Receiving news of his father’s death Sun Chamber Officer Lucan Drakenfeld is recalled home to the ancient city of Tryum and rapidly embroiled in a mystifying case. The King’s sister has been found brutally murdered – her beaten and bloody body discovered in a locked temple. With rumours of dark spirits and political assassination, Drakenfeld has his work cut out for him trying to separate superstition from certainty. His determination to find the killer quickly makes him a target as the underworld gangs of Tryum focus on this new threat to their power.

Embarking on the biggest and most complex investigation of his career, Drakenfeld soon realises the evidence is leading him towards a motive that could ultimately bring darkness to the whole continent. The fate of the nations is in his hands.

I was honored to receive an ARC of Drakenfield from Mr. Newton, and with the publication date around the corner here are my thoughts on it.

First off I really like the cover. It's bold, colourful and will surely stand out on the shelves between all the hooded men and daggers populating the shelves. According to Mr. Newton himself, the cover is the banner of Detrata, the nation in which the story plays out. The plan is that the following books covers' will also depict the nation's flag in which the story takes place. That's a pretty smart idea and should make for a real striking collection of books.

The main character, Lucan Drakenfeld -who has possibly the coolest name ever in fantasy- , is a detective. As an Officer of the Sun Chamber it's his job to keep the peace and find those that disturb it. The first time that we are introduced to Drakenfeld he is busy overseeing the sentencing of someone who broke the law. It's not pretty, but shows that Drakenfeld is damn good at his job, fair and that the Sun Chamber is not to be messed with.

Lucan is summoned home on the death of his father, who was a highly placed member of the Sun Chamber. The travel home reveals quite a bit of the world we find ourselves in, and sets the first blocks for the rest of the woldbuilding that is necessary to the story. His struggle fitting back into society in the capital also helps the reader get the lay of the land and to figure out who some of the power players are early on,  which makes for fascinating reading.

The interaction between Lucan and his assistant, Leana, is well done throughout the book. Leana comes from a neighboring kingdom and the outside view she brings to proceedings is quite a nifty way to slip a few facts about the world into the story, fleshing out the world at large as well.

This book is light on the magic, seeing as it's honestly a detective novel. There aren't priests running around with godly powers, no wizard tower that rule the skyline and no flashing lights. Well, at least not yet. Some hints are made, but mostly as rumour and quickly dismissed by the involved parties. It makes for a refreshing change, seeing as we are spared the explanation of how the magical system works which can bog down a book for chapters at a time. This is a character driven story and I love it for that.

The main plotline of solving the impossible murder of the King's sister is well thought out and a real whodunnit headscratcher. False trails are laid bare and obstacles galore are placed in Drakenfeld's path. Drakenfeld also comes to realise that his father's death wasn't as clean cut as he was lead to believe and this personal case works well to add a lot of depth to the character.

There are more than enough twists throughout the novel to keep the pages turning at a brisk pace, and the conclusion of the case of the murdered princess is quite a doozy. Looking back on the book there were enough hints to figure out who was ultimately responsible, but how they accomplished the murder was brilliant.

I really like Mr. Newton's writing style, and it makes his prose a joy to read. I've not read that many murder mystery novels, but I'm surely going to be following this series very closely. This is a very fun book that made me think back on it, well after I've read it. Now that is what I look for in a story.

9/10

Apocalypse Now Now - Charlie Human

The Blurb: I LOVE THE SMELL OF PARALLEL DIMENSIONS IN THE MORNING

Baxter Zevcenko's life is pretty sweet. As the 16-year-old kingpin of the Spider, his smut-peddling schoolyard syndicate, he's making a name for himself as an up-and-coming entrepreneur. Profits are on the rise, the other gangs are staying out of his business, and he's going out with Esme, the girl of his dreams.

But when Esme gets kidnapped, and all the clues point towards strange forces at work, things start to get seriously weird. The only man drunk enough to help is a bearded, booze-soaked, supernatural bounty hunter that goes by the name of Jackson 'Jackie' Ronin.

Plunged into the increasingly bizarre landscape of Cape Town's supernatural underworld, Baxter and Ronin team up to save Esme. On a journey that takes them through the realms of impossibility, they must face every conceivable nightmare to get her back, including the odd brush with the Apocalypse.

The covers are stupendously pretty. I've included both the RSA -right- and UK -left- covers for the first time, since this is one of the few books where I like both. On most books the UK cover is miles better than the US cover, but Joey Hi-Fi did his usual thing and knocked it out of the park. I love the RSA one on the right a little bit more, but that's just me. I was under the impression that the left one was for the USA, sorry about that.

This is Mr. Human's début novel and it was well worth the wait. It's one the few books based mostly in South Africa I've read, which is a damn shame since I enjoyed knowing the lay of the land so to speak. Baxter's South Africa definitely isn't the normal South Africa. Cape Town, the mountain and some of the history is present and seems quite similar. Then Mr. Human's insane brain rips the carpet that you think you know from underneath you, rolls you up in it and transports you into a strange, twisted world.

Baxter is a 16 year old high school student. No, this novel isn't YA, promise. His school has competing gangs who peddle drugs and guns, which is a bit weird. Baxter has assembled his own crew, The Spider, who carved out a niche for themselves supplying the youth of suburban Cape Town with porn in all it's forms. Baxter plays the bigger gangs off each other to keep the peace, or at least he tries to. A little slice of a big cake is a lot better for everybody than no cake at all. Baxter has his booming business, his girl and things are looking rosy for the little crime lord. At least for a little while.

Baxter is one screwed up kid. This is apparent quite quickly in the novel, since he is the main POV throughout. A scheming little bastard that uses everybody around him to further his own goals. When his girlfriend, Esme, is kidnapped, he's faced with something strange. It seemed there is a possibility he really loves her and he wants to rescue her. 

So is this book a straight up urban fantasy where the hero is faced with the dilemma of having to rescue someone he loves? No, not even close. Baxter is too strange for that to be the main issue.

The world Mr. Human has created is insane. In every way. He's taken San Bushman and African gods, parallel dimensions , pop culture, some standard fantasy creatures and Afrikaner mythology, blended them together in who knows what and used the resulting mixture as paint to construct a scary, dark absolutely addicting world for his characters to play in. 

The story goes along at a breakneck pace, especially when the wheels start to come off for Baxter and he's exposed to the real world he never even imagined existed. It's stupendous. One of my favourite parts in the middle of the novel is a stutter step in the pacing, done so damn well I still smile thinking of it. 
The supporting cast is written well, with the important players given enough back story and hints of motives to flesh them out.

Honestly, read this book. As Mr. Human's first, it's written beautifully. I can't wait to read his next.

9/10

Range of Ghosts - Elizabeth Bear

The Blurb: Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

This book has been on my wish list for quite a while, and thanks to the good people of the David Gemmel Legend Award I got a chance to read it.

I love the cover. No hooded man here, just Temur on his horse with a striking background. It's quite striking and well done.

The book kicks of with Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, crawling out of a battlefield with a wound that should have killed him. The war to rule has taken a bad turn for his brother, and Temur knows he is alone. Exile is his only option. The setting is the steppe, quite like Mongolia with nomads and horses, with one big difference. The sky is filled with moons which represent the surviving members of the Great Khan's family, each one disappearing as the person it represents dies. 

The second main character is Samarkar, princess of Rassan who gave up her claim to become a wizard. What's good about the magic system used thus far in the story is that there is a definite price paid for the power, and I appreciated it. No Will and Word or one in a thousand type of choosing done here. It's a concious decision that one takes and there isn't a guarantee that the sacrifice will lead to power, just the chance.

Both main characters are done astoundingly well, with depth, growth, insecurities and their own quirks. It was really refreshing to read some well rounded characters. The supporting cast gets more than enough fleshing out to make them interesting and is done with such skill that I even love Temur's horse. Now if you can give a damn horse enough personality to make him interesting without it becoming silly you know you are damn good at it.

The world Ms Bear created is awesome. Mongolia and surrounds with extra magic, different gods for different people, different skies and all in all damn interesting to read. Each land is quite different and the peoples described well. The evil guy is smart and ruthless with a definite long term plan he's working towards. He doesn't make many mistakes which in it self is refreshing. He won't be beaten by anything else than someone honestly better than him.

Magic is definitely important in this world, but not absolute. Power is gained slowly and costs a lot in effort and pain. You get the feeling that a well trained warrior stands a real chance against a wizard and that it would be a real good fight.

I do not have any real gripes with this book. It took a few chapters to get into it, but since this is the first time I've read any of Ms. Bear's work that's more than understandable. As soon as I got used to her rhythm and style I was sucked in. A few more light-hearted and funny moments wouldn't have hurt, but this isn't a light-hearted story so no real issue there. I'm nitpicking here. 

For an opening novel in a trilogy this was amazing. I can't wait for the next instalment in The Eternal Sky trilogy.

9/10

Caliban's War - James S.A. Corey

The Blurb: The alien protomolecule is clear evidence of an intelligence beyond human reckoning. No one knows what exactly is being built on Venus, but whatever it is, it is vast, powerful, and terrifying.

When a creature of unknown origin and seemingly impossible physiology attacks soldiers on Ganymede, the fragile balance of power in the Solar System shatters. Now, the race is on to discover if the protomolecule has escaped Venus, or if someone is building an army of super-soldiers.

Jim Holden is the center of it all. In spite of everything, he’s still the best man for the job to find out what happened on Ganymede. Either way, the protomolecule is loose and Holden must find a way to stop it before war engulfs the entire system.

This is the second novel in Corey's Expanse series, the first being Leviathan Wakes. James S.A. Corey is the pen name for the collaboration of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, and if they wrote this the same way they wrote Leviathan Wakes, each concentrated on the one of the main POV's, in this case Captain James Holden, Captain of the Rocinante  and Chrisjen Avasarala, a powerhouse of an UN politician. Both wants to save the universe.

The blending of two voices and styles was done much better than the first book, as it reads seamlessly between the different POV's. Chrisjen, who serves as the Undersecretary of Executive Administration, is a stand out character in this book. I feel this must have been heavily influenced by Abraham, seeing as it reminded me of his astounding Long Price Quartet with the political machinations done in an interesting way. She plays the Game brilliantly, but she has a single driving force. To keep people safe and the universe out of an all out war. 

Some new characters who also plays a huge role are also present. Gunnery Sergeant Bobbie Draper is a huge Martian Marine that lives through the slaughter of her whole platoon and has to struggle through the loss and keep her feelings of revenge in check. Praxidike Meng, a botanist from the breadbasket Ganymede, daughter gets kidnapped just before the unleashing of a new Protomolecule monster by some idiots, is the flame that lit the fuse in this novel. His single minded drive to find his daughter is done well, and I've felt his pain jumping off the page.

The depth of Corey's writing makes this book shine. There are no cardboard characters. Family ties are there and explained and the motivations are fleshed out, not just thrown in to move the story forward. I love the idea of humanity's drive to expand done in such a dirty, desperate way. It feels as if the space travel is real, and just beyond our current reach. No Warp Drives or Black Holes. Distance is a bitch in space and used as such. Oxygen and water is a problem that keeps everyone in check. Space Pirates that board ships and steal everything, including the air, makes all kinds of sense.

Now to the alien protomolecule that crashed on Venus in the previous novel. It's hinted at and talked about throughout the book, and the threat of something totally unknown a utterly alien hangs over everyone's heads. That is the crux of this novel. Humanity trying to prepare for an external threat, and loads of people with guns who are  twitchy is always bad. 

As soon as I finished this book I realised it's almost a prologue for the next one in the series.  The problems they faced here is going to be as nothing during what is to come. Important events happened and events unfolded that's going to be critical in the future. It's not a problem, but damn I can't wait for the next one.

9/10

Mockingbird - Chuck Wendig

The Blurb: Miriam is trying. Really, she is.

But this whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis–who’s on the road half the time in his truck–is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.

It just isn’t going well. Still, she’s keeping her psychic ability–to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them–in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she’s keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.

Then comes one bad day that turns it all on her ear.

This is the second Miriam Black novel, the first being Blackbirds - you can find my review of it here. If you haven't read it yet, for shame! Go and buy it. Read it, I'll wait...

First things first, the cover is awesomely unique. Joey Hi-Fi really outdid himself, but that happens quite regularly with all his covers. The guy is really good.

The book picks up a few months after the stunning ending of Blackbirds. Miriam is trying to live a normal life and it's not going well. Poor old suffering Louis is trying his best to provide stability to her life and she really hates it. She hates her job, the trailer she lives in and basically everyone around her. She is living an almost normal life, and Miriam does not seem to like anything normal.

She screws it up as she usually does and absolute chaos erupts. Miriam is really one damn disturbed woman. Totally batshit insane. She cannot connect in any normal way to the people who care about her. As soon as something goes a little right in her world, she sabotages it and runs. It makes for some compelling reading, but it'll be damn frustrating to live like this in the real world.

Miriam is on a mission to thwart fate once again. Not for money, but because she decided it's the right thing to do. This is the biggest difference between the first and second books in my opinion. Miriam tries to use her gift to do good. She saves those that she can, especially the helpless and hopeless. Fate does not like this meddling, and the hints are there that Miriam is being noticed by something or somethings that you really do not want to notice you.

The language and violence used in the book might disturb those with gentle constitutions, but you have been warned. Miriam curses more and better than a sailor, but as she sees death everywhere, she gets a free pass on that. 

Some may feel that the story is too much like Blackbirds, but they are quite wrong. There are real character growth and development throughout the story, personal conflicts gets resolved and some real damn big issues are hinted at that's coming in the near future. I see Mockingbird as the second chapter in the Miriam Black story. 

The writing and pacing is done well and really sucks you in. I destroyed this book in two days, and wished that the next one was out as well. The pages flew past without the story feeling frantic. That is pacing I enjoy.

The story is bleak, dark and gory. Despair and death seems to be everywhere. It's amazing.

9/10

The Hammer and the Blade - Paul S. Kemp

The Blurb: A Tale of Egil and Nix

A fast paced adventure redolent with the best of classic sword and sorcery tales…

Kill the demon.

Steal the treasure.

Retire to a life of luxury.

Sounds easy when you put it like that.

Unfortunately for Egil and Nix, when the demon they kill has friends in high places, retirement is not an option.

Ah, now this was fun. Some good old fashioned sword and sorcery, hack and slash adventure. It was like a good brain scrub, reminding me of my childhood. The one thing I do not like is the cover. It seems too mcuh ye olde fantasy book to me. I have it on my Kindle, so that is a minor point.

Not that this book is a YA or child friendly. There's cursewords and blood and guts galore, with even a little whoring thrown in for good measure.

The stars of this book are Egil and Nix. Two friends, companions and grave robbers. There seemed to be a previous civilization who buried their royalty with loads of loot. Egil and Nix feel that leaving it there seems a waste, so they go take it at great personal risk to themselves.

There are fights, drinking, magic mayhem, damsels in distress, demons and humour galore. The thing that made this book so damn fun was that it hinted at a deeper back story. The history of the main characters are hinted at, but never really explained. The fallen empire whose graves are being robbed seems well thought out, with only hints about their customs and who they were. There are loads of room in this world for further exploration, and that will certainly make me come back for more.

The supporting cast is well fleshed out, each being granted some real personality for the most part. There were a few generic guards that were slaughtered along the way, but that's wat they were there for. You cannot individualise each and every person to their full extent, otherwise you'd be stuck with a 2000 book on character development.

This book came as a real surprise to me, and I'd recommend it to any fantasy fan. If you like sword and sorcery, you'll love this. If you enjoy a well crafted story and a good book, you'll like it just at much. That makes it special.

9/10

The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi

The Blurb: Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s calorie representative in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, he combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs long thought to be extinct. There he meets the windup girl – the beautiful and enigmatic Emiko – now abandoned to the slums. She is one of the New People, bred to suit the whims of the rich. Engineered as slaves, soldiers and toys, they are the new underclass in a chilling near future where oil has run out, calorie companies dominate nations and bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. And as Lake becomes increasingly obsessed with Emiko, conspiracies breed in the heat and political tensions threaten to spiral out of control. Businessmen and ministry officials, wealthy foreigners and landless refugees all have their own agendas. But no one anticipates the devastating influence of the Windup Girl.


Now I know that I said I'll be reviewing Sophia McDougall's Romanitas, but it's still being read. You see, my Kindle decided to go flat the day we left for a weekend away, so I had to grab something off my TBR shelf. Yes, I still buy books, even though I own a Kindle. Nothing wrong with that. And The Windup Girl is well known, so I thougt it a good choice.

Bacigalupi's future sucks. The world's oil is finished, meaning the Global Village is dead. International travel is all but gone and electricity does not really exist any more. People are landlocked for the most part and stuck in their immediate surroundings. 

Then the smart nutrition companies thought it a good idea to start ecological warfare. They designed viruses that attacked plants, and then produced the only virus-resistant grains to be sold to the highest bidder. This makes them more powerful than any government. Too bad they also suck at their jobs and things got out of hand. New plagues sweep the world and life is mostly miserable. Any resistant food is worth more than gold.

Thailand is one of the last "free" lands on earth. They are keeping their heads above water is some interesting ways, and it was really fun to read about a different culture for a change.

None of the main characters are real heroic. They are mostly bastards, but at least they are bastards for a reason and the reasons are there. The book isn't a nice easy read, but it is damn riveting. I have heard that people complain that all the plot threads does not get resolved, but if you activate your brain and think about the repercussions of the choices made in the book, it all makes sense. It's masterfully done, and a great read if you are looking for something a bit dirty and not straight forward,

There's murder, rape and even a little pillaging, and it all fits into the bleak world that we read about. 

I demolished this book in two days, and when I was done I wished there was more to read.

9/10.

Blackbirds - Chuck Wendig

The Blurb: Miriam Black knows how you are going to die.

She’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, and suicides. She merely needs to touch you — skin to skin contact — and she knows how and when you’ll die.

But when Miriam hitches a ride with Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be murdered while he calls her name. Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim.

No matter what she does she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try

I’ve been following Chuck Wendig’s blog and twitter feed for some time now. He’s good on both, and his writing advice he regulary offers up on his blog is worth more than it’s weight in gold.  And he’s a funny bastard, which is one of the things that I like to see in an author. When he published Blackbirds, I grabbed it as soon as it was monetary possible for me.

First off, look at that cover. It’s beautiful, attention grabbing and unique. Just like a good cover should be.

As the blurb states, the main character is Miriam Black. She can see anyone’s time and method of death as soon as she touches them. This is a damn bleak idea to base a story on, but I must say, it makes for some real gripping reading and a real interesting story.  It would really suck as a superpower though.

Miriam has a real fatalistic outlook on life, which is understandable and done really well. If you had to see death on a daily basis, it would drive most of us totally insane. Miriam does what she has to do to cope with all this insanity, and that of course includes loads of alcohol and cigarettes. If I was in her shoes, my liver would have exploded years ago.  Since most of the book is from her viewpoint it stood a real chance to spiral deep into depression and self-loathing territory, but her sarcasm and some funny moments in the story made up for this and kept me turning the pages.  

The book does contain loads of swearing and violence, but come on; if you are shocked or bothered by this after reading the blurb then you are an idiot. It all adds to the story, keeping the tension and fear levels right up there.  Any character who can go through this story and not curse isn’t real enough, if that makes sense to  you.

Wendig keeps you in the story. I felt connected to the main characters, felt their pain and hope. I felt invested in the story, and that makes a damn good book in my world. Flashbacks are used liberally throughout the book, but these just reinforce the main storyline, adding extra motivation to actions and extra layers to the characters. It didn’t distract from the story at all.

Is this a book I’ll recommend to anyone? Not really. It’s too dark and murderous for some. Would I recommend it to my friends? I already did. It’s brilliant.

A super solid 9/10.

The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch

The Burb: They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumour. And they are wrong on every count. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards. Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city. But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming. A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora...


Now I know that the book has been out for quite some time. 2007 if I remember correctly. And I have read it quite a while ago. At the end of last year, Mr. Lynch sold some of his personal copies of his work on his blog and I was lucky enough to pick pne up. He was even nice enough to sell it to me for $1. The shipping was $17, so it worked out brilliantly since I only had $18 in my Paypal account. He's a good guy. 
When it arrived, I had to read it again. You cannot not read a book when you have it. That's just wrong.


Boy am I glad that I think like that.


Locke and his band of Gentleman Bastards - that's their gang name, and a cool damn name at that - are very, very good thieves. Amazingly good. They are so good that even the Capa does not know about their thefts. They rob the nobility blind with schemes in stead of robberies, and the schemes are always so elaborate and brilliant that the poor nobles take quite a while to realize what the hell has happened to their money.


There is magic in the world, but the bondsmages are the only practitioners, they are jealous, arrogant and insanely expensive to hire. They say it's safer to kill yourself than kill a bondsmage, since the whole order hunts you down as well as all those you care for and all you've made when you do. I find this a nice change of magic use than the normal wizards ruling over people or not being respected. They are basically mercenaries who can burn the world. 


The world itself seems to have been inhabited by an ancient race who has since disappeared out of memory. They left behind Elderglass structures which cannot be broken or melted. That is the extent of the influence of the ancient race in this book. No artefacts, no prophecy. Just awesome glowing buildings that make Camorr a little bit more interesting.


So, the magic is there but quite untouchable. No freaky prophecy to complete. No artefact to hunt. Just dishonest thieves trying to rob the nobility blind and try to survive. It sounds strange if you put it like that, but it's brilliant.


Most of the book is spent with Locke as the POV, but he's one interesting bastard, that's for sure. There is quite a few curse words present in the book, but it fits in well with the world they move in and the culture thats present. If dragons eating Knights and wizards boiling soldiers in their armour is acceptable, a few f-bombs should really not put anyone off. 


The story has many a twist and turn. Not all of them done perfectly. One big scene in the book could have been done better. Some interesting characters  crying out for some extra development or back story does not get it, but since this was his first novel, it will be forgiven. The rest of the book is awesome.

The gods are interesting and out of the way, the character interaction and development is slick, the world seems well thought out enough for 10 more books.


The whole thief thing has been done before this book and since, but this one is on the top of the pile for  me.  


9/10.