Greenings Thirders
It is the winter of your discontent. Unless you are in the southern hemisphere of your globe in which case it is the summer of your increasing climate change. Sure, it’s climate changing in the northern hemisphere as well but let’s face it, while there are a few of you who have 94 different words for snow, the majority of you just say it’s cold so long as the temps are anywhere between 0 and -22 Absolute. These would be the same people who have a thousand different ways to describe humidity along with anything higher than 75. So, it’s a matter of perspective. And we’ve always been suspicious of those who straddle an equator. Make up your minds. And, yes, we know, it’s happened before, but, trust us, the large lizards who were around last time were not the ones bringing the sky down on their own heads.
Ballistic Kiss by Richard Kadrey, published by Harper, $28.99, 349 pages.
We love this guy, although we are pretty sure they do not really exist. But that’s okay, so long as this stuff keeps coming out. Once again, we are following Sandman Slim, that happy go lucky fellow who once ruled in hell but now wanders the streets of Los Angeles in a hopeless fashion and one can wonder which might be worse. This time he ends up in LAs Little Cairo, trying to figure out why ghosts have suddenly taken over the neighborhood. Sure, there’s more than that going on and Slim has his usual mix of dysfunction when it comes to relationships, but the ghosts are the main thing, or it could be the dysfunction. It can be hard to tell with him and both are interesting in their own light. We highly recommend this. We have done so with each one so far and this one is a fine addition. Klaarg loved it. Get your own now.
Finder by Suzanne Palmer, published by Daw, $7.99, 392 pages.
We find Finder hard to describe. It really just follows one Fergus Ferguson as he tries to repossess a spaceship. However, things go wrong, and Fergus ends up finding nothing but trouble, along with an adolescent woman who, we think, has set her sights on providing Fergus with nothing but aggravation. Before you can say civil war, Fergus is in one, and trying to work the whole thing to his advantage so he can get his hands on that spaceship and fulfill his contract. Of course, Fegrus is not the only smart cookie in the jar and those around him figure they can use him to their own advantage as he works to get the ship he is after. It does get a bit complicated in some sections but not in a confusing way. And it all works out in the end. Or does it? We know and you need to find out. This one was enjoyable, and we’d be willing to consume more adventures.
Unnatural Magic by C. M. Waggoner, published by Ace, $16.00, 390 pages.
Is there natural magic? What about supernatural magic? What about just plain magic? We think you are just playing with language again to make it seem like what you happen to have right now is authentic and best. Romulan Ale indeed. We like this one, although we are not quite typically bent in this direction. It’s about a young woman of talent who is denied opportunity because of gender. And gender, race and personalism all play key parts in this. The young woman, Onna, ends up traveling after being denied her dream education, and secures a position as the assistant to the highest wizard there is. She also gets involved with some trolls and a few other unusual characters, all of whom end up trying to work out why trolls are being murdered. It’s a pretty straightforward path from beginning to end with a couple of surprises thrown in as well as a few implausible situations that come to pass more because it seems they are needed to advance things than otherwise, but who can say for sure about that. We enjoyed the journey and believe that if you enjoy coming of age stories involving plucky lasses who refuse to be cowed then you will enjoy this one. Klaarg liked it a lot although he was concerned that the Trolls might be robots in disguise.
Kellanved’s Reach by Ian C. Esslemont, published by Tor, $29.99, 331 pages.
This is more material about the Malazan Empire and the individuals who seem to circle it in ways both personal and political. We have to admit that we do enjoy these, pretty much every one of them. It informs us greatly as to the motivations behind your political systems—without forgoing the blood and destruction that is so often part of that process. This time the chronicler is delving into the motivation behind Kellanved’s early movements to secure the empire and follows those who are so often swept along on the journey. This is complicated stuff and we would not recommend that you just jump in here unless you have some familiarity with the previous writings. And, to be honest, you would not want to do that anyway. This needs to be started at the beginning, although as more of these are produced it becomes a bit unclear exactly where the beginning is. Very enjoyable in ways we can not even annotate. If you have enjoyed previous offerings then you will enjoy this one and if you have been wondering whether you should just jump in, we suggest you go back to the first and start there, knowing you have a long, complicated but entirely pleasurable experience ahead of you. All we have to say is, “make more!”
Klaarg reminds us that it is time to replace the plasma in our ship and since you have a convenient star full of plasma we gonna get us sum. Sure, it’s going to decrease the life of your star but you won’t even get close to that event horizon. Besides, as one of your noble philosophers states, “we’re all just dead men walking.” We’re not sure what happens to the children or women or animals but it seems like an appropriate sentiment given the times. Which, by the way, is another sentiment that seems to fit your species regardless as it seems, for you, it is always “the times.” We’re off. To the Sun (We’d call it by its proper name but it does not have one. You never got around to it.) Well, we have to terminate now but we’ll be back. Eyes to the skies.
Posted by damnaliens 
going on, the White House is pretty much frozen in place for fear of making the wrong move and creating a public opinion nightmare. The local governments are overwhelmed and can’t adequately respond, your far-right movements are becoming more agitated and active, and religion seems to be leaning toward an act of God. Yes, yes, yes, we understand that this would never, ever happen to you in reality but just for a moment let’s pretend it might. This is very well put together and while it is a bit light on the specifics and perhaps a bit too reliant on the Deus ex machina (literally), we still found it very enjoyable. We think you will as well. Hypochondriacs should avoid, everyone else jump in and enjoy.
appears to be instantaneous. Yet when they arrive it is to find another ship in orbit and the planet colonized. Actually, a great deal of time has passed, much to the consternation of some of the scientists on the ship who had intended to try to keep the planet pristine and free from human contamination. As all this is happening, Talina Perez flees the settlement because her Quetzal infection is getting worse. She manages to find Kylee, the child who had bonded with the Quetzal Rocket and the two of them set up camp at an abandoned site in the wilderness. The arrival of the new ship makes everything worse (you humans are very, very good at this) Plus, there is a corporate assassin on the arriving ship who sees the settlement as an ideal place to set up a kingdom. You can imagine how that goes. Wait, you don’t have to imagine. Someone has already done that for you. And we know how much you humans enjoy that as well. We like this as much as we liked the first pair. Our only issue is another well known human trait, that being the inability to end anything appropriately. So, more to come evidently. We recommend it. What more do you need?
t is being lied about but used to generate the premise of an event that has been, apparently, foretold by any number of your religious fanatics. This is set in Israel and involves all of the major players you would expect. We say players although none of them plays very well with any of the others. Add in American television and you can see where things might get a little tense. The whole idea is that ancient prophecy concerning the end of days is coming true. Much of the action is centered on the Temple Mount. It is very well done as you would expect and if you are not very familiar with any of the above, not to worry, since it is all explained. Well, enough is explained so your comprehension will be sufficient for you to follow along at your own pace. We liked it. We think you will like it too. But know it is different than what you might have expected.
who has been a super soldier, now more down on his luck and trying to stay alive, albeit not making great choices about how that happens. Anywho, this time Takeshi finds himself re-sleeved into a damaged body while fighting in a civil war sponsored by the Protectorate, although in a hands-off kind of way. Things are going badly for both sides although, in the end, it seems the Protectorate will have their way. Just not this week. Takeshi wakes on a hospital ship and learns about an artifact that could be significant. He joins a team of mercenaries and archeologists and sets off to claim the prize. In all things involving large sums of money, potential military hardware and many secrets, there is treachery, half information, and damaged individuals. To make it all worse, Takeshi is being tracked down by someone out for revenge, who may or may not also be part of the deal. Not that any of this matters since it is all there just to churn the pot within which Takeshi swims. We liked it. We liked it a lot. We liked the first one. We have the third one. We expect to like it as well. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Go out and buy. We already did with no regrets.
disagree, they don’t take us where we want to go. But in this case, we really agree. We almost always say that as well. But that is neither here nor there, just like when your pilot thinks you are disagreeing with them. We actually enjoyed this one a lot. Once we got past the title. It’s about redemption, deceit, loyalty, killing, a world clawing its way back from a near extinction event, and diversity. Maseo is the main person here, the one with secrets and a dark past, who believes that by getting into the military he can make up for past mistakes. Problem is they don’t want him so he volunteers to be a cry pilot, the only way he can get in. The rest is pretty basic stuff as he manages to cheat his way into the system and into basic training with a group of others who are from all levels of society. We liked this so much we would read more. And, evidently, we will get the chance since there is a sequel coming. But let’s not put the cart before the barn, gets the horses too excited. Get this one and go in peace.
a way out. In this case, the place is ditchtown and the way out is by becoming an expert gamer. Ashley Akachi is one of the best, if not the best, able to lead her team to victory against the greatest of odds. But things are deteriorating, and corporate war seems just around the corner and, as it turns out, Ashley and her friends have not only been playing a game but being prepared for combat. We liked this one. We found it interesting for the construct of fantasy and reality and the interface between the two. We’re not sure we buy the gaming to reality shift but, hey, doubts and benefits, yes? Go out and get a copy and see for yourself.
are also trying to track down a way to get rid of the pulse, which has rendered all technology more or less useless, but only on planets. Klaarg was very interested in this as he likes to keep his end tips on the pulse of things but it turns out there is a robot priest here so he was out. This continues the chase across the universe and ends up in a place of impossibilities designed by an elder race but currently used by the Cyn as they prepare for galactic domination. There’s a lot going on here so the best thing would be for you to grab a copy and find out for yourself. We enjoyed it, although, like many other things you do, there is not really an end. We find this a human failing, putting much energy into starting things but then not putting much into ending them. Still we recommend and you should get all three as this is not the kind of thing you are going to want to walk into on the third act.
someone who had an interesting outlook. What better to take our minds off of your self-destruction? And so we dove in. We must say right off that the title is very descriptive. The entire study is about this Odd Thomas, who can see and communicate with dead people; many of whom have been wronged and need some retribution. This is kind of an open secret within the community that Thomas lives in. So, it is no surprise when Odd becomes involved with a mysterious man who comes to town. The man is a big eater and has a closet full of information about serial killers. This fellow is also being followed by a pack of horrific shadows. The only clue Odd has is that things are going to go bad on the 15th. Since it’s the 14th Odd has little time to figure this all out. So, with the ghost of Elvis as an occasional companion as well as his beautiful girlfriend, whom he loves more than anything, Odd sets out to save everything. Well, we have to admit that this was not the cheery interlude we had been hoping for. But we liked it none-the-less. We believe you will as well. Assuming you enjoy death, serial killers, spirits, dead Elvis, and a lot of mayhem. Oh, go ahead, you know you do. Based solely on your species history of course.
ts her grandmother and whom the little girl them eviscerates with an ax. We will save our thoughts about the tales you tell your children for another time. This is a different version of that although many things are the same. It is tomorrow and you have pretty much offed yourselves, or just about. Red, and her brother, are on their way to their grandmother’s house after a near apocalypse has taken out most of the world. Her brother dies early on and red, who is an amputee, is on her own. She runs into some outlaws, some soldiers who might be okay and might not be okay, and a few folks just trying to survive like she is. She has some rules. She mostly follows here rules. And she has a sharp ax. We liked it more or less and we think you will too, more or less. It is well put together although not quite as horrifying as the original.
who choose to not toe the line are allowed to head off into the desert where they can barely scrape together a living. Some take this option. Unbelievably enough, a band of these misfortunates manage to put a plan together and hijack a space shuttle with the purpose of ransoming the passengers to get the government to allow them, and the 300 or so others who are in another ship they somehow got their hands on, to populate a generation ship that has been parked in orbit. We know, there are a few items in there that almost demand deeper scrutiny but for now just pretend. The reason this large ship is parked in orbit is that it contains a space virus, maybe the Romulan Pox which you would get from drinking Romulan Ale in a Romulan pub with a Romulan who has the pox. In any case, this virus killed the crew and is apparently still active. You can fill in the dots from here. Or don’t and get the book to find out for sure. Either way you will probably like the way this one comes together.
is she can do. There are limits to this power as the ship has been sectioned off into parts with different factions controlling different areas. There is her group, the ship masters, the ship itself and ship constructs. To make things worse, the ship masters evidently have masters themselves and they are on their way to the Fyrantha. On Nicole’s side is a growing number of other beings who would like their servitude ended. At stake is the survival of humanity, and others. We enjoyed it although, in typical human fashion, it does not really end. We’re sure more is coming although we would have really liked to see an ending. Get yourself all of these since starting with this one is going to put you behind the 8 ball. Not that you aren’t used to that position already but just once, make things easier for yourself.
abilities with weapons and hand to hand combat. What she does is find people, and this is about the person that she found, then lost, then found again, then lost again, then got into a huge amount of trouble for trying to find again. We mean like FBI and CIA trouble, as well as any number of cartel goons and international assassins. The math stuff works fine for her, at least until she runs into a telepath who can make people believe things they have not done and unbelieve things they have. Imagine your own confusion with not being able to trust what you think you know to maybe be real. We enjoyed this, at least to the extent that we can tune out the reasons why it could not be real. This is fine. That’s the whole point of this. To exercise your mind into seeing an alternative reality. Your species is adept at this. That was not a compliment. You will like this and there is another volume coming or already out. We’re not sure. Galactic travel plays havoc with your time sense. Just get a copy. Or get both if they are both out there.
male contact, but which had also had any mention of women or girls erased from it? And, if you then challenged this group, both physically and mentally, could you expect great things from them? But how would you build and then enforce such a thing? And that’s the basic idea here. We need to say that there are a few holes in the thinking process where logic seems to have taken a bender, but you can keep shoving that aspect to the back of your mind as you follow along. It will come bite you at the end but, hey, many positive things come with a sting. The other thing we enjoyed about this is that it is not just laid out in front of you but presented as a reality that you join in with, so you discover as you go along. This makes the journey much more interesting. We liked it, except for maybe the ending which seemed a bit too constructed for us given the pieces that had already been played.
journey even begins. And then found by his best friend who was coming to join but got there just a few minutes too late. Of course, the protag is not really absent since his friend is tasked with bringing his head to the king who commanded the quest be done as proof of his death so revisions to the quest can be made. And death may be too light a word since the protag seems to be communicating with his friend as they journey. It’s still a strange device–and a misleading one to say the least given how these things are structured—reluctant hero and all that. And it turns out the now dead protag is the absolute only one who can save the world, or land, or wherever this is taking place. Even though there are powerful wizards apparently everywhere. All that being written, we did enjoy the way it unfolded and the way the group that is going to undertake the hero’s journey comes together and, of course, this is just the beginning of the story and not the complete story so there’s a lot more to come. But, as a beginning it’s pretty good. We liked it. You might too.
order to thwart the second coming of a group of humans known as the Sturm. See, even when you are fighting other aliens it turns out that they are you. The Sturm are kind of like the Borg but just in terms of philosophy and without all the robot parts. Only the Sturm are worth going on, evolutionarily speaking, and this means you either become a Sturm or they take you out. Those who have no wish to be Sturm (the Sturm are not really a happy folk) and who also would prefer not to be taken out, must fight back. Which is fine until you consider the size of the galaxy and even solar systems and how hard it actually is to get the right things to the right places at the right time for them to be useful. If only for that, we really liked this book and Klaarg felt especially empathic towards that aspect, as well as the lack of robots, although they did have AI which somehow, he is not bothered by. We like the whole thing. You will too if you would like to know more about true interstellar combat and logistics. We realize that does not make this sound like a page turner, but it is. Find out for yourself.
are depressing and dark for that seems the way of your species. Not all, of course, for there are always a few who don’t get the program. It is a delicate thing to write about a future that is one step ahead without falling into inadvertent parody. Trust us on this one. It is also hard to base your future on things that exist today but might be gone tomorrow. Such is the nature of involving politics in, well, anything. Consider these as thought exercises rather than thought out exercises and you will be fine. You’ll enjoy if political extrapolation is your cup of tea and, if you are a coffee drinker, then not so much. For us? After spending this much time with you we are hitting the bourbon.
driverless cars as it is about being trapped in one. An individual has managed to hack the programming on a number of driverless vehicles which have passengers in them. The are trapped and being moved, from different points, to a single, convergent, place. At relatively high speed. Need we even say that those inside these vehicles are less than happy about that. Of course, they are even less so when the hacker starts whacking them off. Audience to all of this is the group that had been gathered to make determinations around who was at fault regarding accidents involving driverless cars. Now, they are being asked to make choices that have immediate and lethal consequences. And to make it worse, the hacker is posting the whole thing live to the internet. The interplay is between the two groups—the diverse decision-making group and the diverse set of passengers and the way that the hacker manipulates the entire situation using social media and the parsing of information. We think it’s horrifying enough to be trapped in a vehicle that you have no control over and even more so to think that your most intimate failings are going to be put on your facebook. We found the entire exercise interesting. If you want to be terrified of getting into a driverless car then you should definitely pick this one up. Klaarg reminds you that there are no good robots.
mentally. The central sister is once again Bluebell, the ferocious warrior who dutifully serves as heir to the kingdom. Sister Rose has been cast out by her husband and is in exile with her aunt. Sister Ash wanders the moors looking for dragons while sister Ivy now rules, somewhat badly, over a seaport. Sister Willow is not quite right in her thinking and is making pacts with bad actors to get revenge. All the sisters end up in the same place along with the dragon, a bunch of raiders, a niece with unusual powers (we kind of left this part out but it’s in there, along with the forest people), a bunch of unhappy villagers, and the king. It’s an interesting story with a lot of moving parts that works very well. We liked it and we look forward to the next offering as we are sure there will be more as this story is not yet complete. Klaarg points out that there are no good robots involved. We remind Klaarg that there are no robots involved at all.
matter. Wait, she has not written since the beginning but has written about since the beginning. And, we are happy to note, this is not done in an academic style which, we think, makes it something for everyone and not the occasional scholar. Also, because of the nature of this, one post a year, it is possible to watch the change over time since this volume covers 47 years. It’s a commentary that is as much about your changing and shifting culture as it is about the works themselves and the writers who have put them together. And, to make the whole thing much better, it includes reactions and responses to the posts that were posted. Often the posts are as interesting as the initial commentary. To quote a friend of ours, “fascinating.” One of the more fun things for us was to just see how many really good things there have been to read over this time period. We greatly enjoyed this and will be citing it no doubt. You should too. Enjoy, not cite, although feel free to do both. Buy your own. Or buy two. Why not? Klaarg has to warn you that there is more than one or two discussions involved robots, good and bad, within. He’s right, although we’re not sure how he knows such things since he refuses to have anything to do with robots.
best known for, all while having time for a career in space although some of this one is set on the moon and not in space, and not on the dark side, thank goodness. This is one of your alternating histories, and it is indeed a bit depressing to think that women, who make up a bit more than half of your species, are still considered not the better half, even though the evidence is clearly there for all to see. We’re just going to leave it at that since we don’t want to rile too many of you up as this leads to war, environmental pollution and the burning of forests, and there is far too much of all of that going on anyway. We did enjoy this just like we enjoyed the first one and we believe you will enjoy this too, unless you are one of those who think that women are best seen and not heard, in which case you will hate it. Klaarg liked it too. You probably already know why.
the stars, return, fight, and finally make a peaceful gesture. It’s not quite that simple of course. It never is when giant robots are involved. In between the discovery and the peace there’s a lot of journeying and more than a little figuring out. There’s also an entirely alien planet involved. And a lot of discomfort on the part of the main people involved. As well, your society manages to revert to a near barbaric state pretty much on it’s own. And here’s the odd thing that we did not really notice until the second book. There is no exposition here. The entire story is told in dialogue, reports, diaries, and other forms of communication. A fascinating device that does not get in the way of the story but makes the tale more unique for the process. We recommend it. But not to Klaarg.
ans have been doing since the Inca used them for soccer. It’s also about moving human presence into autoforms, or, as Klaarg likes to say: ROBOTS!!! This is a bit of a mashup with bits and pieces jumbled together to make up a more or less coherent whole. There’s also a lot of unusual words that are used so you have to get used to things being named differently. At it’s heart it’s a detective story with future trappings. Somewhat juvenile although we are sure that fans of previous work will fall all over this one. We did get to the end and we found ourselves mildly satisfied so there is that. We expected and wanted more but got what we got.
writing in Russia but have not tried it so cannot say with any certainty one way or the other. This is a continuation of the first while, at the same time, being a set up for the third. Once again it is winter in Russia. Perhaps it is always winter in Russia. Hard for us to say. Vasya, who has fled her village, shows up in Moscow, being chased by raiders while carrying a group of children to safety. She is pretending to be a young man, which creates some moments of confusion for her brother, the priest, when she runs into him. It creates more difficulty for her sister who is married to a man who is oddly absent for the entire story, but whom is a high ranking personage in the Moscow Prince’s court. It creates even more confusion and consternation when it is found out that she is a woman pretending to be a man, even though as a woman disguised as a man she proves herself more formidable than many of the men around. As last time, she has a horse that understands her, a snow guy who is kind of in a confused relationship with her, and a demon who just wants her gone, or married to him, he kind of goes back and forth. That’s a lot of stuff going on and it’s an interesting read because of it. If you read the first like we did then you will like this as we did. If you have not read the first then you should before this one. Recommended.
with promises even though most of the promises were lies. Your species tends to think this of the other. Really, why would a more advanced species feel the need to lie to you? Anycase, this one is set on the planet inhabited by the aliens who visited and the Earthers are in for a shock because, ba da bum, the aliens lied. Pretty much about everything. They live in a perfect society with regulated population, no unemployment, no poverty, no war, no bad stuff at all. As soon as the Earthers land they decide they must go about fixing this. At the same time the spore cloud is approaching and there is no cure and not much immunity. To top it off the Russians have followed the Earthers to the planet, destroyed some stuff and then, apparently, just left, never to be seen again. None of this will make sense unless you have fully encompassed the first one in this series. Which you should because it is an interesting premise even if there are some holes here and there. The writing almost makes you forget them though and so we end up thinking we should recommend this one.
The event destroys the family and Ben ends up needing to get work and the only place he can find work is in the very grocery story where Eric vanished. So, this story is about Ben working in a grocery store while continuing to search for Eric amidst the rather strange collection of people who also work in the store. Unfortunately, this story meanders between the aisles bouncing from weird thing to weird thing but without any real cohesiveness. We struggled to get to the end and now we are not sure why we did so.
But things have not gotten better. Her people have been split up, institutionalized, and Ky herself is under scrutiny as an illegal alien. To make matters worse, all the documentation related to the previous episode has gone missing. When the pieces all start to come together, Ky discovers that the conspiracy against her family is bigger and deeper than imagined and still operating. She pulls together her friends and comrades and begins planning the best ways to get her people free, keep her family alive, and survive the experience. We liked this although we are always concerned when everything revolves around a single character and they are capable of not only figuring it out but taking all the actions. We knew Captain Kirk, and you, sir, are no Captain Kirk. Still, it is an enjoyable journey from one end to the other. Do you need to have all the information from the previous telling? We would say yes to that. We would also say yes to going out and getting yourself a copy of this one.
are thirteen stories in this collection and they are all unusual and interesting. We would describe them but the problem with short stories is that in describing them you often give them away. So we will not do that but we will do this. Now that we have done that we can say that we think you should track this one down if you enjoy the short form of chronicling. There is something here for everyone and while the Swedish to English transfer is fine, particularly as it is done by the author herself, there is an atmosphere left that lends an extra sense of odd to everything. Buy it with Krona to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate.
stratified society with disposable workers and an elite class, although even the elites throw each other out the airlock on occasion. This is the story of Oichi, survivor of the other generation ship (the one that blew up, or was blown up) and the advantage she has thanks to her parents (okay this is one of the weak points but lets ignore it) and a Medusa unit which wraps around her as she is blown out an airlock. Oichi survives to exact not only revenge but to be force of change on the last remaining ship. And there’s a lot more going on: rebellion, betrayal, murder, assassination, mysteries to unfold, a place to come from that was most likely imaginary and a place to go which is like right there. We’ve heard of generation ships and while we have never run across one of these (we understand the inbreeding gets things going downhill pretty quickly which leads to repairs not being made which leads to a generation ship becoming a cemetery ship, but that’s a whole different reality) we understand the concepts. We enjoyed this one. We liked it from beginning to end. And it did end. We think. Go out and get copies for yourself and your friends.
The Damnaliens Speak (to you) 
Thirteefiiv
February 21, 2021Greenings Thirders
This is the big one. The giant one. Huge on top of huge. That would be either huge squared or zero depending on your math prowess and since you can’t spot the largest of objects hurtling towards you we already know which way you will go. Anycases, big things are happening. Yes, yes, we understand that you also think big things are happening for you but that is because you have no sense of where you fit in the universe. Honestly, if you were dust the universe would not sneeze. But by all means go on believing that your news is bigger than anything else. You can believe this right until the moment the Oort cloud gets its revenge for that thing you did to Pluto, its favorite planet. In the meantime, we have big things to speak of.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini, published by Tor, $29.99, 880 pages.
This is a huge work. Big. This person evidently went from talking about dragons to talking about aliens. (It’s possible they know nothing of either but hard to say.) This is about a young woman who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes infested with an alien presence. You can imagine how this goes over with the military industrial complex which has sent her out to the place she got infested to begin with. Turns out the alien infestation is a weapons system designed to off a particular species. Humans are not aware of this species at the time of the infestation and that should tell you what happens next. That’s right, galactic war on a big stage. Things go back and forth, up and down, left and right, and that other direction you are not yet familiar with. Space battles occur, politics occur, there is some reminiscing, and a fun time is had by all. This is, as Klaarg likes to say, a door buster. It’s almost 900 pages and this is not big text either. Of course, there is a bit of meandering and we could knock out 200 to 300 pages and no one would notice but we figure the producers probably were unsure about the dragon thing and decided to not take any chances. We liked it, even while wading through the parts that ended up not being very useful. While it does end we think there is plenty of room for another or four. We give it a tenstacles up. You should too. But get you one and read it first.
How to Rule and Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker, published by Orbit, $16.99, 354 pages.
This is a follow up to how to Defend a Walled City. If you read that then you know how this one works as well. An unassuming person, seemingly unsuited for a job, ends up with that job, and using the skills that made them appear unsuited, excels at said job. Much hilarity ensues. Well, except for those who end up dead or tortured. Not a lot of hilarity there. Unless you like torture and death Which, looking at your history….. But besides that, hilarity. This is much like your Shakespeare done sideways. Or maybe diagonally. We must say that this is very well put together and pretty masterfully presented. We enjoyed it, much as we enjoyed the first, very much. Even Klaarg could not stop raving about it, although the focus was more on the entire lack of robots than anything else. Our enjoyment has led us to go out and probe humans we think might have other works by this creator (because Orbit refuses to send us any) in the hopes that we can just grab some in the process. Maybe we should skip the middle human and just find someone from Orbit to probe. Excellent idea. Okay, we have our plan and your plan should be to go out and get your copy some other way. You’ll be glad you did.
Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds, published by Orbit, $16.99, 603 pages.
Yes, another Orbit product that we had to go out and get on our own. We tell you this will stop pretty darn quick as we are students and if you remember your student days, credits were difficult to manage. This is another bigger. It is the third in the series and, we think, a third larger than the last, or first, or maybe the two combined. Sometimes we yearn for the days when Ace would put not one but two full length works back to back and upside down in the same package. No, we have not been around that long but we can do things with time that you can not even imagine. But, we meander. This is the continuing story of the Ness sisters, who ran away, hitched a ride on a space ship, got boarded by pirates, got split apart, got tortured and infected, came back together, became pirates and captains themselves, all while trying to figure out why the universe seems to cycle over and over. That’s a lot for two sisters who, if not still teenagers, are very close to that. But, they have great adventures and it’s great to be on their adventures with them. We have liked all of these efforts and we would probably like the next one if there is one. These are fun indeed. If you like space pirates, then these are the sisters you want to hang out with. Recommended. Highly.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, published by Tor, $25.99, 448 pages.
We approached this with some hesitancy. It appeared, to us, to be almost too strange. But then we remembered where we were and all hesitancy fled. This truly is a strange one. Set on planets we have never heard of within a hegemony that is unknown to us, involving galaxy spanning empires that have been around for a while, one would think that we’d have an inkling as to who they are. But no, this is all new, and wonderful, and quirky, we must say. We enjoyed the set up and the characters and the entire underlying necromancy thing. There’s a lot left unsaid but just enough actually said to make it very interesting. This is good stuff, no doubt about it. We can’t wait to follow along for more to see how all the machinations which occurred here play out. It’s a twisty path that is taken, full of betrayal and unknown motives with a grand prize at the end. And skeletons. Lots, and lots of skeletons. And, Klaarg would like to note, not a robot in sight, although the skeletons could be an autonomic metaphor to be sure. Recommended
When we say big, we mean big, almost 2,400 pages were consumed for this session. Klaarg points out that it was more like 2,100 for him since he does not count pages touched by robots. We’d like to mention, as one of our mentors always points out, quantity is not equitable with quality, as is proven by your numerous buffet establishments. Eat more enjoy less, unless consumption is your goal which is one of our working theories for what drives your species, how else to explain what you are doing to your planet. You know, the planet you are dependent upon for your existence? In any case, we are sure you will leave numerous memorials to your consumption. As one of your wise men was overheard to say on this very subject, “It’s all in the wrist.” But only if you have them. And once again we must bid adieu or let us just say au revoir, or, until we probe again. You can take your pick. Eyes to the skies. But only if you hope to get a running start