Quick compelling reads by Jim Butcher (of Dresden Files fame). I polished them off during our travels to and from Italy– there was a lot of time in plane and airports. Jennifer started reading them as I finished them, and also seems to be enjoying them so far.
Category: Books
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Law of Survival
Law of Survival is the third book in Kristine Smith’s Jani Killian series. It’s early, but I’m enjoying it much more than Code of Conduct so far. [As ever, more later.]
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The Timeships and Eagle
I recently completed a pair of excellent books: The Time Ships by Steven Baxter and Eagle: The making of an Asian American president, volumes 1-5 by Kaiji Kawaguchi.
Time Ships was a fun read, with interesting takes on time travel and parallel universes. It was recommended by forester on CVGamers.
The two books are Blocking the Courthouse Door by Stephanie Mencimer, and The SFWA European Hall of Fame, edited by James and Katherine Morrow.
Blocking the Courthouse Door is a solid book; if you’re interested in the civil court system at all, you’ll learn something new in this book. The book is strongest when it’s talking about cases and industry organizations. While its critiques of the Republican machine and its adoption of tort reform are solid, the obvious stridency can get in the way of the well illustrated assault on non-corporation suits.
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Code of Conduct and Rules of Conflict
Code of Conduct and Rules of Conflict are Kristine Smith’s first two books about Jani Kilian.
The worlds revealed in the book are interesting– a strong earth trying to keep its colonies held tight, with a fascinating alien race, the Idomeni. The book builds a feeling of claustrophobia, with the characters confined by Chicago’s winter.
There is a lot of small technology– particularly in relation to paper, which is high tech/confidential encrypted, etc. The bigger technology stays largely off screen; shooters function mostly as pistols, ships don’t get described in much detail. It’s a good setting for an investigative mystery, with a lot less tech description and obsession than is common in SF.
Voices is Ursula LeGuin’s sequel to Gifts. It’s an excellent sequel, set many years later. She does a great job of building a convincing occupied city, filled with resentments and unease. The characters all ring true; Memer and Galamand and the oracle house are detailed additions to the world, as is the whole city of Ansul. Gry and Orrec have matured and changed since the last book, but remain at their core the same people.
If you liked Gifts, read Voices.
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Viligant, Men of Iron, and Gifts
Vigilant, by James Alan Gardner, is a solid book in the Expendables universe. While it’s not the strongest book, it does have enjoyable mysteries and plotting, and a solid viewpoint character (Faye).
Men of Iron, by Howard Pyle is about a fictional struggle in early 15th century England. The book does a good job of hewing to the viewpoints of the era; unlike most of today’s fantasy, the characters have viewpoints appropriate to the era. Despite stilted speech and some interesting authorial choices as to which parts of the story he’d tell, it was a good read. (Discussion about it will start up soon in CVGamer’s bookcase.)
Ursula LeGuin’s Gifts is a good book, and a strong start on a series. It’s in the Young Adult section, but is as interesting and complex as most of her stories. The tale of Orrec and Gry growing up as landholder’s children in a fantastic Scotland analogue is light on action and long on solid, believable thought.
A More Perfect Constitution, by Larry J. Sabato, is an interesting look at the constitution. He suggests that our reverence for the founding fathers has delayed much needed upkeep to the constitution. He has several proposals (23 or so) to address various issues, like the permanent campaign, Iowa and New Hampshire’s outsized role in the primaries, etc. The issues are good ones; almost everything he mentions does seem to be a problem, though I don’t agree with all of his solutions. His website related to the idea of calling a second constitutional convention, is amoreperfectconstitution.com.
Swords of Riverside by Ellen Kushner is an omnibus with two previous books and a few related short stories collected. The first book, Swordspoint, reveals an interesting culture. The relationship between Alec and St Viter is the heart of the first book; they each reveal themselves with interesting edges as the book progresses. Alec’s “secret family” is adequately telegraphed and works fine for the story. The intrigue among the nobles is properly off camera most of the time. The minor view points are less grabby but still work.
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World War Z and Radio Freefall
World War Z, by Max Brooks, was a solid take on the zombie uprising. Creative and sweeping, he does a good job of looking around the world for his stories. It’s a little USA-centric, but I certainly forgive him that. While there are extra movers and shakers, he does a good job of looking for a wide variety of viewpoints, which really helps it feel like a world wide epidemic.
He does a good job of pointing out flaws in modern society, especially our desire to be seen “doing something” instead of accurately forecasting threats and responding appropriately. It’s a good read, and he wanders down all kinds of interesting side roads. The societies that emerge from the Zombie War feel real, and he never looses track of the horrors of war… not of the changes those who survived have undergone.
Radio Freefall by Matthew Jarpe, is a cool future society. There’s a lot of apathy and a sense that the world doesn’t allow space for the next generation, but the music scene is still plugging away. The world he builds, with nationalist parties and the unification, and technology that feels authentic– a few things that are surprising, like a dedicated space presence, and a lot of things that feel like logical extrapolations of today.
I’m surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did; I’m not normally a fan of celebrity or rockstardom, but Riff is a cool guy who gets into interesting trouble. Things occasionally come together a little too exactly, but it all works in the moment.
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The Smiles of Rome
A guidebook that focuses on excerpting famous authors and writers, and briefly updating the locations so you can find them today. I’ve only begun reading it– this is subject to edits along the way.