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Traitor god by Cameron Johnston
Cameron Johnston is a member of the Glasgow SF Writer’s Circle (new members always welcome) so hats off to him for getting his book Traitor God published by Angry Robot. I would like to give the book 3.5 stars out of 5, but as I can’t do that and Cameron is bigger than me (plus he apparently can wield a sword), I’ll round it up to 4. Let’s get the one and a half things I didn’t like out of the way. First, Traitor God obviously hasn’t been properly edited. Or if someone says they’ve done it they’ve done a poor job. We have things like, ‘Jane looked at John and I’ (made up sentence), and some other grammatical errors, including comma splices; there are some spelling mistakes (‘franticly’ springs to mind), and the occasional blooper that a good editor would point out (eg the hero gasping and panting while struggling to keep up with someone, but at the same time having a conversation with no apparent problem). Second, for the first approx third of the book, we launch into historical info dumping at the drop of a hat. This is my opinion; others may disagree. I felt the action was constantly being interrupted by history lessons. Third, for the last approx third of the book, I felt it went on a bit, with weirder things being piled up on top of already weird things, but our hero surviving throughout. Again, just my opinion, but I felt a couple of these layers could be cut, more attention devoted to those remaining, leaving a better focus (and perhaps less to explain). And the half? Well, the word ˜arse’ was used a lot. I’ve nothing against the word, but it became obvious that this was an author use, not a character use. All that said, I still enjoyed Traitor God, because there’s plenty to commend it. The world-building is good - maybe even too good, as quite a bit of time has to be devoted to explaining it. The uses of magic and (ugh) blood magic are well described. The horrific incident our hero endures in his younger days is well observed and suitably horrific. The tension between him and the Counvil of mages is also well observed. I was a bit puzzled that the Council seemed to know he was a ‘tyrant’ (able to manipulate other minds) when I thought he’d gone to great lengths to conceal the fact, but that’s probably just me. The final horrific creature lurching up out of the depths to destroy all life is something that will remain with me for quite a while, I suspect. It’s really well described, so it’s easy to see in your mind’s eye. And, trust me, you don’t really want to! The ending of the book is also well done. The final scenes with hero v god work; and the concluding scenes (which are bittersweet) also work well. As I said above, I wish the number of scenes before those two could be reduced. Well, you read the book and tell me if you agree. Nice one, Cameron. Looking forward to the follow-up. Get it properly edited!.
The dealer’s daughter by Granville Brown
I like to consider a book review in three sections: 1) plot, characters, locations, 2) quality of writing, especially dialogue, 3) editorial accuracy. It’s on the basis of these categories that I figure out what sort of ‘score’ to rate a novel, using the Amazon 5-star method. The Dealer’s Daughter by Granville Brown only gets two stars. Here’s why. If you extract the skeleton of the plot from the body of the text, it’s quite good. There are some holes, particularly related to police procedure, but nothing that couldn’t be ironed out. The characters are also nicely different and interact with each other well. But here’s the thing. The plot and characters are let down by the quality of writing. This focuses way too much on unimportant details and is generally unconvincing. The dialogue is stilted, and all the characters speak in pretty much the same way. This isn’t helped by the large number of errors in the text - spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. I know I’m a professional proofreader so would be the sort of person to pick these up. And of course you can find typos in almost any publication. But trust me, there are far too many in this book. I doubt it was ever properly proofread. So The Dealer’s Daughter gets a couple of stars courtesy of its plot structure and its characters, but falls down in the categories of writing quality and editorial accuracy.
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
After recently rereading the Darwath Trilogy (reviewed a week or so ago), I noticed Dragonsbane sitting on my shelf. I couldn’t remember reading it before, although I did remember certain parts as a read it again last week. It’s a truly magical book, full of solid characters, strong locations and plot. I loved it. Morkeleb, the black dragon, has to be one of SFF’s greatest creations. I don’t often quote in these reviews, but who else can write like this: ‘she was conscious also of the dark cobra shape of the dragon, glittering in the moonlight of the high court, or wheeling down from the black sky with the cold stars of winter prickling upon his spines, as if he had flown though the heart of the galaxy and come back powdered with its light.’ Dragonsbane was published in 1986 and I have no idea if it is readily available now. But if it is, get hold of a copy and read it.
The mystery of three quarters by Sophie Hannah
This is, I think, the third of Sophie H’s venture into the world of Poirot. But I didn’t realise that when I saw this book in Waterstones and bought it. I already have a couple of SH’s books, and thought they were pretty good; so this ‘new Agatha Christie’ novel intrigued me. It’s good. She has a good, strong plot, and a great sense of the times. Personally I think Poirot could be a bit more all-knowing (he seems to be stumped quitter a lot as the story zips along) and perhaps Inspector Catchpool could be a little less stupid (although she catches his moribund thought processes beautifully). I liked the way the threads of the story tied up and, as a spoiler for those who haven’t read it, the ending reminded me a little of There came both mist and snow (which many consider to be one of the best whodunnits ever written). Enough comparisons. The mystery of three quarters stands perfectly well on its own. I commend it to you.
In a house of lies by Ian Rankin
This is the latest (I think) Rebus offering. As usual, it was very readable and has a dry sense of humour throughout. I had two main thoughts about it: one good, one not so good. First, The Rebus books typically have two plots jogging along side by side, and as readers we all know they’ll connect up somehow, loose endings will be tied up, generally the goodies win and the baddies lose, unless you are Cafferty. In A House of Lies> we seem to be heading the same way, with two investigations afoot. But this time they aren’t really linked, apart from the personnel carrying them out. I have to say I preferred it that way. It seemed less artificial. But second, I really, really hope that our real police force isn’t as rife with bad practice and bent coppers as displayed in this book. I’m sure it has problems - what big organisation doesn’t? - but the problems seem overblown to me. You can’t turn around without bumping into questionable practice or bullying or police on the take. I can’t help thinking (hoping) that there’s been a bit of poetic licence taken here. But perhaps the two things that I thought sort of cancel each other out. It was still an enjoyable read.
Closed casket by Sophie Hannah
I’ve been reading these new Poirot stories in all the wrong order... but it doesn’t seem to matter. Closed Casket is another great outing for the little Belgian detective, and I enjoyed it all the more because, this time, he has that aura of knowing it all, of being able to work it all out, while lesser mortals (including the reader) floundered. The story was all the more clever because (careful: no spoilers here) the solution hinged on one incontrovertible fact - just one, when there are - or so it seems - dozens floating about. Sophie Hannah includes some of her usual dry humour, and parts at the beginning of the story border on being ‘horror’. It’s quite a tour de force, and I thoroughly recommend it.
The adulterer’s handbook by Sam Anthony
I like to consider an indie book review in three sections: 1) plot, characters, locations, 2) quality of writing, especially dialogue, 3) editorial accuracy. It’s on the basis of these categories that I figure out what sort of ‘score’ to rate a novel, using the Amazon 5-star method. The Adulterer’s Handbook by Sam Anthony gets four stars. Here’s why. Starting from the third category and working backwards... It was a pleasant change to read an indie book that is refreshingly free of grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. The professional proofreader residing in part of my brain was able to just doze off and pay no attention. The quality of the writing is good. There’s a great deal of dialogue, and it avoids pretty much all of the indie author problems that usually beset dialogue (as I’ve started to describe in my own blog). The style of both dialogue and main text is straightforward and to the point. Nothing very flowery. It works. At the start of the book, and probably for a good 50 to 70% of it, there’s a lot of humour and I found myself chuckling quite often. But in the last third or so the story descends into a very dark place indeed. The transition is, by and large, managed smoothly. It’s all believable, which after all is a good litmus test for deciding if a story works. It does work. I really have only one criticism to make. Okay, perhaps one and a bit. The bit: towards the end of the book something about the MC’s family is discovered (no spoilers here!). No problem with the actual discovery, only with its timing. It came at a very convenient point in the story. And the one criticism I have is that the final scenes all happen rather quickly. There’s been a long build-up, which works. And then a whole lot of stuff happens in about the last 20% of the book, and it feels rushed. I’d have thought it might be better either to just make the book a bit longer, or perhaps slightly adjust the balance between build-up and finale. It’s certainly one of the best indie books I’ve read recently.
The monogram murders by Sophie Hannah
I’m reading these new Poirot books out of order, but fortunately it doesn’t matter much. The Monogram Murders, summing up, is a great read. I was struck by two things. First, Poirot doesn’t seem quite as on the ball as we have come to expect him to be. But that might just be me. I certainly wasn’t thinking that as I read the book, only cogitating about it afterwards. And second, in some ways you could almost call this a horror book, not just a murder mystery. That’s because... hum, hum, how to say this without spoilers?... there’s a lot of talk about people killing themselves or killing other people, possibly with their permission... You know how if you write or read one word over and over again, it starts to become a meaningless jumble of letters? Well, all the talk of ‘killing’ sort of did the same thing... the reader becomes inured to the horror of what Sophie Hannah is writing about. I don’t know if she meant it, but it was a forceful part of the reading experience. For me., anyway. But the mystery is neat; the solution is neat; Poirot and Catchpole are beautifully drawn with a touch of dry humour. Poirot reincarnated so well? Who could wish for more?
Bren’s blessing by Pearl Tate
I like to consider an indie book review in three sections: 1) plot, characters, locations, 2) quality of writing, especially dialogue, 3) editorial accuracy. It’s on the basis of these categories that I figure out what sort of ‘score’ to rate a novel, using the Amazon 5-star method. Bren’s Blessing by Pearl Tate gets four stars. Here’s why. Actually, it might be easiest to set out why it loses one star. A small part of that is due to some editorial errors: some that spring to mind are a sentence that isn’t a sentence, ‘effect’ instead of ‘affect’, the horrendous phrase ‘one of the only’, and occasional typo (including the one Word makes worse by capitalising after dialogue - see my fourth post on writing dialogue). This might sound like a lot but in fact there weren’t many. I certainly wasn’t sitting there with my editorial antennae beeping away furiously: just every now and then I though, ‘Oops.’ Any decent editor would have picked all these up. A slightly larger part of the missing star was simply that I found bits of the plot/characterisation hard to swallow. The basic idea is rather good. I liked the notion that a female human meets up with a male alien and - unexpectedly - their point of contact turns out to be sex. It wasn’t politics, academic or a power struggle. It was sex. That said, I thought that the female protagonist, Hannah, went from being a space nerd to a woman constantly thinking about sex and relationships a bit abrupt. I thought the aliens were a little too ‘human’, too. Their emotions closely resembled those of humans. At one point one of them crosses his legs while sipping a cup of tea. Ho-hum. Enough of the moaning. The writing is good - clear and refreshingly free of awkward phrases and silly descriptions. The sex scenes are as advertised - realistic and hot. The alien creatures that Hannah has the misfortune to meet at one point are well drawn; the aliens themselves are well drawn (apart from my moan that they are perhaps too human). My only complaint about the writing is that Hannah uses ‘super’ to describe some things (eg ‘super heavy’), which doesn’t sound like a phrase an astronaut would use. Would I recommend this book? Yes - if you are up for reading explicit sex scenes. There’s nothing in the book that should put you off. (That’s one of my main worries when I pick and choose an indie book.) It’s a bit of harmless fun and I enjoyed it.
City of stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
This, a father’s day present to me from no. 1 son, has held me enthralled from the moment I picked it up. It’s a brilliant story with all sorts of world-building subplots built in. In fact, it started off at such a pace that I thought, ‘He’s going to run out of new things to write about by half way through.’ Not so. There’s something happening almost every page, some new twist to the reality so vividly portrayed in the story. The characters are great; the plot satisfyingly complex without ever being out of reach. I only have two minor peeves. Minor peeve 1: the place and people names have a...um... Russian or at least Eastern European feel to them. I’ve seen this before, in other books, and I don’t understand why authors feel the need to do this. Still, it’s not important. Minor peeve 2: something I’ve picked up in other books too... everything ties up, if anything, too neatly. Everything that gets a mention turns out to be important in one way or the other. In films this is fair enough - not enough time to equivocate - but in books that purport to show a reality, there’s no need for this. In ‘real life’ things don’t, usually, all tie up. Minor rant over. This is a great book, one of the best I’ve read for quite a while.
Mickey Spillane by Raymond Chandler
I have just finished both The Long Wait and Kiss Me Deadly by Spillane. I guess neither of them would be published in this day and age, what with dames pouring themselves into slinky outfits and swaying voluptuously around bars, intent on picking up hard guys who drive a load and smoke butts. But they paint interesting pictures of the times; there’s plenty of action; and the plots are Chandleresque. They’re good fun. Steer clear if you are upset by a time when not everything was equal, but if you enjoy a (literally) old-fashioned detective-cum-thriller yarn, you could do worse than either of these books.
City of miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
This is the third in The Divine Cities trilogy, and it’s just... great. The whole series is great. It’s a long time since I’ve been gripped by an SF book so thoroughly, and now here three come along at once. I’m not going to give any spoilers; you’ll just have to believe me when I say the characters jump off the page, the action is satisfying, thorough and often gory, the world-building is brilliant, and the plot is just complicated enough to keep all its nuggets from seeming too obvious. Get all three books and I promise you won’t regret it. (Actually, four great SF books have come along all at once. Watch this space.).
The winnowing flame trilogy by Jen Williams
This trilogy comprises The Ninth Rain, The Bitter Twins, and The Poison Song. I couldn’t quite work out if it’s intended to be a young adult story or a...um... fully grown-up story, and finally decided that it sits between the two. Son no. 1 got it for my birthday, saying that Jen Williams’ previous books weren’t highly rated, but this one had been getting good reviews. Well, I enjoyed all three books. The story is set in an interesting world; the characters are well drawn and spark off each other rather well; the descriptions of oozing evilness work well; and the overall plot is also good. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming. So, if you are banged up in the house for another twelve weeks or so, you could do better than getting hold of these three books to see you through some of the boredom.
Shibumi by Trevanian
I first read this book in 1979, when it came out, and it has stuck in my mind since then. There was a wave of this type of novel back then - the almost superhuman, martial-arts-trained, super intelligent spy/assassin, fighting against all the odds, usually in the form of some corporate threat. Not quite like Bond, because these ‘heroes’ had no organisational back-up, and were usually of a type that would make Bond look like an infant. Shibumi works quite well, and doesn’t overdo the banging on about the failings of the human race and Western society in particular. I quite re-enjoyed it. I guess it’s a good enough read if you like this type of thriller (think Lustbader), and I certainly wouldn’t try to dissuade anyone from reading it.
The chronicles of the unhewn throne by Brian Stavely
I see I reviewed the first of this trilogy, The Emperor’s Blades, some time ago. I said then that I would get the next two volumes, and clearly I must be a man of my word, because I did. I enjoyed the two subsequent books, as well. The characters are well drawn, there’s a lot happening, and it’s hard to see what’s coming (a good thing: a few successful twists always make for good reading). I will make only two critical comments. One, I felt sometimes that the writer was just making it up as he went along. ‘Who can betray who at this point? Oh - I know!’ I know the storyline hinges on times of war being chaotic, but that doesn’t mean that the book has to feel incoherent. It never did feel incoherent on a micro level, but standing back and looking at the overall plotline... hmm. I wonder. Two, I thought the ending wasn’t right. Just the last couple of pages. If I was good old Brian’s editor, I’d have suggested deleting them and finishing at a slightly earlier point. But I’m not, so I couldn’t, and as a result I think the ending lets down the rest of the book. But don’t let that put you off. It really is only a couple of pages, and everything else is a jolly good read.