Tuesday, June 24, 2008 
Judge
Title: Judge
Author: Karen Traviss
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Eos
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 391
Keywords: SF
Reading period: 18–21 June, 2008

Judge is the sixth and final book in the Wess'har Series, and the sequel to Ally.

For the first time, focus shifts to 25th-century Earth, as the ecologically radical Eqbas arrive to clean up the mess. Once again, the central themes are ethics and environmentalism, and the moral quandaries posed by the existence of c'naatat, a parasite that confers immortality upon its host. The series draws to a close, resolving the fates of the central characters: the ruthlessly principled former cop, Shan Frankland; her two husbands, the gentle marine, Ade Bennett, and the alien war criminal, Aras; and Eddie Michallat, the journalist.

It's an impressive series of novels: strong characters, an interesting plot, aliens with fundamentally non-human ethics, moral dilemmas, and conflict galore.

posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 6:30:13 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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In Dublin's Fair City
Title: In Dublin's Fair City
Author: Rhys Bowen
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 282
Keywords: mystery, historical
Reading period: 15–18 June, 2008

Molly Murphy, an early twentieth-century private detective, returns from New York to her native Ireland, in order to track down her client's long-lost sister. Along the way, she encounters a dead body in her cabin, revolutionaries in Dublin, and (briefly) James Joyce.

Molly is engaging and quick-witted, with a contrarian streak that gets her into trouble. Bowen evokes the early 20th century from bustling New York to the social stratifications of a liner, to British-occupied Dublin.

The book is marred by some elementary geographical errors: the River Liffey, not Liffy; Dublin is on the Irish Sea; the North Sea is on Britain's eastern coast.

posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 6:29:18 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Sunday, June 15, 2008 
Passage
Title: Passage
Author: Connie Willis
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Bantam
Copyright: 2001
Pages: 780
Keywords: science fiction
Reading period: 8-15 June, 2008

Two scientists are researching Near-Death Experiences, to learn what causes them and what happens during them. This is partly a detective story, partly a story about doing science. The two main characters are likeable and there's a memorable cast of supporting characters: the garrulous WWII veteran; the manipulative but charming nine-year-old girl; the horrible psychic fraud; the hardboiled ER nurse; the former English teacher with Alzheimer's; and his caretaker niece.

Entertaining, but too long.

posted on Monday, June 16, 2008 4:42:45 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Sunday, June 08, 2008 
Iron Kissed
Title: Iron Kissed
Author: Patricia Briggs
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Ace
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 287
Keywords: urban fantasy
Reading period: 6-8 June, 2008

Mercy Thompson, coyote shape shifter, mechanic, and heroine of Blood Bound and Moon Called, is asked to investigate the murder of some fae. The fae (faery) are creatures from the old tales, barely assimilated into modern society, and far more dangerous than Disney tales suggest. One of their own, Mercy's mentor, is falsely accused of the murder. Most of the fae would rather see him go down so that the whole thing will blow over quickly. Mercy is determined to get him off, and that doesn't sit well with the fae. Not to mention, she's juggling two suitors, both alpha werewolves.

An entertaining, fast-paced read.

posted on Monday, June 09, 2008 6:34:03 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Saturday, June 07, 2008 
Blood and Honey
Title: Blood and Honey
Author: Graham Hurley
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Orion
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 512
Keywords: fiction, police procedural
Reading period: 2-5 June, 2008

Two separate police investigations take place in Portsmouth at the same time. DI Joe Faraday is called over to the Isle of Wight to investigate the headless body found washed up at the base of a cliff. Suspicion falls on an ex-soldier who runs a nursing home, a man with a dangerous reputation.

DC Paul Winter becomes involved with a callgirl who has ties to a prominent businessman, who won't take no for an answer. Winter's poor judgement may be due to the crippling headaches he's developed of late.

Hurley has written a police procedural that is both well-plotted and character-driven. Joe Faraday is believably solid and competent with interesting quirks. Paul Winter has sailed too close to the wind for years and is coming apart.

posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008 8:09:59 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Sunday, June 01, 2008 
Nine Layers of Sky
Title: Nine Layers of Sky
Author: Liz Williams
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Bantam Spectra
Copyright: 2003
Pages: 427
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 29 May–1 June, 2008

Ilya Muromyets, a figure of Russian legend for 800 years, still lives, albeit mostly in a haze of narcotic self-pity. He is recruited to track down a mysterious artifact found by a former cosmologist, Elena Irinonova, in Kazahkstan. Others also seek the artifact, which can open a gate to a parallel world where humans and other races live.

That world, Byelovodye, quite literally is the sum of human dreams and fears, and the disillusionment in the post-Soviet republics is destabilizing it.

A very unusual, well-written take on the fantasy quest.

posted on Monday, June 02, 2008 4:09:14 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008 
Agents of Light and Darkness
Title: Agents of Light and Darkness
Author: Simon R. Green
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Ace
Copyright: 2003
Pages: 233
Keywords: fantasy, noir
Reading period: 26–28 May, 2008

Next book after Something From the Nightside.

The Unholy Grail has come to the Nightside, and the angels of both Heaven and Hell want it. The Fallen and the Elect are deadly and implacable and wholly careless of casualties.

John Taylor, the man who can find anything, must lay hands on it first and keep it from either side.

A fantasy noir with a heavy dose of black humor. Moderately entertaining.

posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 6:13:09 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Monday, May 26, 2008 
A Princess of Roumania
Title: A Princess of Roumania
Author: Paul Park
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Tor
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 460
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 21–26 May, 2008

In a parallel world, Roumania is a great European power and America is a barely settled wilderness. Miranda was sent to our world by her aunt, Princess Aegypta, when she was a small child, for her own safety. Now Aegypta and the Baroness each want to retrieve her, for their own reasons.

The book revolves around Miranda and her two friends, lost and confused in the primeval forests of New England, and the Baroness in Bucharest, The latter is the more interesting character: an impulsive former actress who climbed into high society and is now falling downwards, struggling as her plans go awry.

posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 11:59:45 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008 
Un Lun Dun
Title: Un Lun Dun
Author: China Miéville
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Del Rey
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 471
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 18-21 May, 2008

Deeba and Zanna, both twelve-year-old London girls, find their way into Un Lun Dun (UnLondon). Magic works in the abcity: there's feral rubbish, the ghosts of Wraithtown, words made flesh. Most of all, there's the Smog, an enormous cloud of pollution that's become sentient and wants to consume everything.

This book is aimed at a younger audience than his Bas-Lag novels, such as Iron Council. Supporting characters do die and Deeba must undergo trials, but this book is not grim. Indeed, in places, it's positively whimsical, and Miéville owes a clear debt to earlier English fantasists, like Mervyn Peake and Lewis Carroll.

Recommended.

posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 6:14:37 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Monday, May 19, 2008 
The Wee Free Men
Title: The Wee Free Men
Author: Terry Pratchett
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: HarperTeen
Copyright: 2003
Pages: 272
Keywords: humor, fantasy
Reading period: 13-18 May, 2008

Tiffany Aching is a nine-year-old dairymaid with the First Sight and the Second Thoughts. She sees more than others do. She sees the tiny Nac Mac Feegle, the little thieving fighting pictsies, who speak with a Scottish brogue and have nae time for laird nor queen.

When the Queen of the Fairies attempts to invade the Discworld by stealing children and their dreams, it is up to Tiffany to stop them.

Ostensibly aimed at children, any adult fan of Pratchett's Discworld novels should enjoy this book too.

posted on Monday, May 19, 2008 7:05:27 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008 
Garnethill
Title: Garnethill
Author: Denise Mina
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Copyright: 1998
Pages: 402
Keywords: mystery, tartan noir
Reading period: 10-13 May, 2008

Maureen O'Donnell wakes up in her Glasgow flat after passing out drunk and finds her lover tied to a chair, his throat cut. Douglas was a therapist, married to another woman. The police think she's guilty but can't prove it: she has a history of mental illness, her mother's an alcoholic, and her twin brother's a drug dealer.

Mauri is feisty but flawed, coping fairly realistically. She manages to find the real murderer and uncover a nasty case of sexual abuse, against a backdrop of domestic violence, alcoholism, and poverty. Her friend Leslie is a treat; her mother is a horror.

The notes at the back of the book say that Denise Mina got sidetracked from writing her PhD thesis on mental illness and female offenders. This novel is far more readable than the thesis would have been.

posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 7:05:17 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 

What the Dead Know

 Title: What the Dead Know
 Author: Laura Lippman
 Rating: 4 stars out of 5
 Publisher: Harper
 Copyright: 2007
 ISBN: 0061128864
 Pages: 369
 Keywords: mystery
 Reading period: 4-9 May, 2008

Thirty years ago, Heather and Sunny Bethany, 12 and 15, disappeared without trace from a Baltimore mall. A cold case, long forgotten by almost everyone. Now a woman, arrested after fleeing from the scene of an accident, blurts out that she's Heather Bethany.

Is she Heather? Or someone else? She knows so much about the case, yet there's something off about her and the police don't trust her. Where's she been? Where's Sunny? And why did she never come forward before?

We learn the truth by the end of the novel, of course. The game of cat and mouse between Heather and the police draws to a satisfying resolution, which makes psychological sense.

posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:02:43 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Sunday, May 04, 2008 
The Unknown Terrorist
Title: The Unknown Terrorist
Author: Richard Flanagan
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Grove Press
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 325
Keywords: fiction
Reading period: 29 April-4 May, 2008

A Sydney pole dancer known as ‘the Doll’ has a one-night stand with a Muslim. The next day she's the subject of a massive witchhunt as a suspected terrorist. After 9/11, the Bali bombings, and the Iraq war, Australians are ripe for the fearmongering of the media. An escalating cycle of hype and fear and ever more lurid headlines plunges the Doll into a waking nightmare from which she cannot escape.

This novel indicts everyone: the ordinary people who unthinkingly condone events; the security forces with their own agenda; and most of all, the media who seize on a good story without caring about the truth. It's all too plausible, alas.

posted on Monday, May 05, 2008 6:32:40 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Friday, May 02, 2008 

Rebel Fay

 Title: Rebel Fay
 Author: Barb & J.C. Hendee
 Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
 Publisher: Roc
 Copyright: 2007
 ISBN: 0451461436
 Pages: 416
 Keywords: fantasy
 Reading period: 27-29 April, 2008

A half-vampire vampire hunter, her half-elf partner, a human sage, and a very unusual dog travel deep into elven territory, to rescue his imprisoned elf mother. None of the (part) humans are welcome.

This is the fifth book in a series, which I didn't notice when I picked it up. I should have started with the first in the series, but I was able to follow along well enough.

A high fantasy epic leavened with vampire lore. Certain of the elves are concerned with an ancient enemy, which seems to be the creator of the vampires. Cultural clashes, hidden agendas, and betrayals abound.

posted on Friday, May 02, 2008 7:37:36 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Monday, April 28, 2008 
Roma
Title: Roma
Author: Steven Saylor
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 592
Keywords: historical fiction
Reading period: 16-26 April, 2008

Steven Saylor is best known for his Roma Sub Rosa series of detective novels about Gordianus the Finder, set in ancient Rome.

Roma is a Micheneresque saga, spanning 1000BC to 1BC, in a dozen vignettes following the holders of an ancient amulet. Starting with a crossroads frequented by traders, it shows the evolution of Rome from a village to the great power of the Mediterranean, led by Augustus Caesar, the first of the emperors. It's an easy introduction to much of Roman history, but the episodic nature of the story means that we see only fragments of that history. Each of the characters introduced necessarily gets cursory treatment, leading to a disjointed set of short stories.

posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 5:34:13 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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The Reverse of the Medal
Title: The Reverse of the Medal
Author: Patrick O'Brian
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Copyright: 1986
Pages: 286
Keywords: historical fiction
Reading period: 20-25 April, 2008

This novel continues not long after The Far Side of the World left off. The Surprise stops off in Barbados, then chases an American privateer almost to England. Jack Aubrey, astute at sea, but a naïf on land, is hoodwinked into causing a run on the stock market, and brought to trial. Stephen Maturin finds that his wife has left him and that his former superior in Naval Intelligence has been sidelined.

O'Brian moves effortlessly from a naval chase to the rural pleasures of Aubrey's cottage to Regency politics, all written in a convincing eighteenth-century style. Aubrey and Maturin are emotionally true. Jack is the bluff English patriot whose unshakeable faith in English justice will be severely tested. Stephen, the complex scientist, is beleagured by betrayals both personal and professional.

Highly recommended.

posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 5:33:10 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Saturday, April 19, 2008 
Orange Crush
Title: Orange Crush
Author: Tim Dorsey
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Publisher: Harper Collins
Copyright: 2001
Pages: 354
Keywords: crime, humor
Reading period: 14-16 April, 2008

A loose sequel to Hammerhead Ranch Motel. The likable serial killer, Serge A. Storms, is suffering from amnesia and has found himself a job as the Press Secretary to the Governor of Florida, Marlon Conrad.

Conrad, formerly an airheaded child of privilege, has undergone an epiphany and has begun caring about the little people. He's running for re-election and he's on a road trip through Florida in an RV. This isn't to everyone's liking and several people are gunning for him.

Dorsey is slightly more in control of his plot than in earlier books, but it still veers clumsily all over the place. Quite funny in places.

posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008 8:55:47 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Boundary
Title: Boundary
Author: Eric Flint, Ryk E. Spoor
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Baen
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 598
Keywords: science fiction
Reading period: 13-14 April, 2008

A paleontologist finds a 65-million-year-old alien fossil. A few years later, some of her NASA engineer friends send a probe to the Martian moon Phobos and find the mummies of more of those aliens in an ancient station. They all form part of the crew on the first manned mission to Mars, to investigate the alien artifacts.

This is a moderately entertaining hard science fiction novel, with an interesting premise and moderately plausible characters. I was irritated by the vast amounts of exposition. The book has a bad case of as you know, Bob. The authors are bound and determined to explain all the cool stuff they brainstormed.

posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008 8:54:50 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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White Night
Title: White Night
Author: Jim Butcher
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Roc
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 452
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 13 April, 2008

White Night is the latest paperback in the Dresden Files, continuing on from Proven Guilty.

Harry Dresden is a wizard and private investigator in Chicago. Minor practitioners of magic are being killed and the evidence points to his half-brother, Thomas. Harry can't accept that, even if Thomas is a vampire. Meanwhile, there's a war going on between the wizards and certain factions of vampires.

Harry is slowly starting to mature, now that he's got responsibilities. He has an apprentice and two junior Wardens were killed on his watch. He's just a little less likely to mouth off and think, but he still has a remarkable talent for pissing people off.

Entertaining, with a relentlessly fast-paced plot. Recommended.

posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008 8:54:01 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Alliance Space
Title: Alliance Space
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Daw
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 602
Keywords: science fiction
Reading period: 7-12 April, 2008

This is an omnibus edition containing C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter's Luck (1982) and 40,000 in Gehanna (1983): two very different novels set in the same universe.

In Merchanter's Luck, Sandor Kreja is the last survivor of a family that hauls freight across interstellar distances. He lives on the fringes, under a series of false identities, trying to avoid official notice. After a one-night stand with Allison Reilly of the enormous Dublin Again, she and three of her Reilly cousins sign on as his crew. The military hire them to ship a dangerous cargo.

Cherryh's two protagonists are complex people with motives that are often unclear to themselves, let alone each other. They are prickly and difficult, but appealing characters even so.

And, of course, how could I not like a book with a couple of thousand Reillys, be they on- or off-stage?

40,000 in Gehanna follows the evolution of a lost colony over two centuries. Most of the initial colonists are lab-born clones, biddable, unquestioning, and hard-working, unlike their descendants. Within decades, the society degenerates into near savagery.

The humans are not the only sentient beings on the planet. The calibans are a lizard-like race, who the early colonists cannot understand at all. Later generations develop a rapport that mystifies the observers who rediscover the planet.

An interesting book, but not one that I enjoyed as much as the other. I found the calibans too alien and opaque.

posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008 8:52:58 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Sunday, April 06, 2008 

Lords of the North

 Title: Lords of the North
 Author: Bernard Cornwell
 Rating: 4 stars out of 5
 Publisher: Harper
 Copyright: 2007
 ISBN: 0061149047
 Pages: 317
 Keywords: historical, fiction
 Reading period: 5-6 April, 2008

Uhtred, a Saxon warrior raised by Danes and the right-hand man of King Alfred the Great, returns home to Northumbria to settle old scores. Settle those scores he eventually does, but not before he is betrayed by a man he trusts and sold into slavery.

Cornwell is best known for his long-running series about Richard Sharpe, an officer promoted from the ranks in the Napoleonic Wars, and for his battle scenes. Here he proves that he can write about 9th century swordsmen as well as he can write about 19th century riflemen. All of his heroes tend to resemble Sharpe: grim-faced loners with their own sense of honor, who are deadly when crossed.

posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 6:36:15 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Saturday, April 05, 2008 
The Unquiet
Title: The Unquiet
Author: John Connolly
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 515
Keywords: crime, horror
Reading period: 3-5 April, 2008

Maine PI Charlie Parker is asked to warn off Merrick, a father looking for answers, from harassing his client. The case leads him to uncover a decades-old project of sexually abusing children who've fallen through the cracks.

Atmospheric and disturbing, as Connolly's novels tend to be.

posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 5:01:11 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Monday, March 31, 2008 
Hammerhead Ranch Motel
Title: Hammerhead Ranch Motel
Author: Tim Dorsey
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Publisher: Harper Collins
Copyright: 2000
Pages: 354
Keywords: crime, humor
Reading period: 28-29 March, 2008

The sequel to Florida Roadkill. The hyperactive serial killer, Serge A. Storms, is still in pursuit of $5 million, as are a new cast of goons.

The action centers around the eponymous Hammerhead Ranch Motel, which houses a wholly improbable set of sleazeballs.

Moderately enjoyable.

posted on Tuesday, April 01, 2008 5:34:43 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Dreams from my Father
Title: Dreams from my Father
Author: Barack Obama
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 457
Keywords: autobiography
Reading period: 8-26 March, 2008

This book was originally published, to little acclaim, in 1995 before Obama first ran for public office. His primary claim to fame at that point was that he had been the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. It was reissued in 2004 after his celebrated keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention placed him on the national stage.

Obama is articulate and thoughtful. This excellent memoir tells of his childhood in Hawai'i and Indonesia, his experiences as a community organizer in Chicago, and a formative trip to Kenya.

He was raised by his white mother and her parents. He hardly knew his Kenyan father, a village boy turned Harvard-trained economist. Obama met his father only once when he was ten, after his parents separated when he was two. His ill-formed impressions of his father were significantly changed by his trip to Kenya, where he learned far more from his half-siblings and extended family.

Obama's intelligence and capacity for self-examination shine through. He is frank about his mistakes and his undirected wandering in his high school and undergraduate years. He talks of his struggle to find an identity, part black, part white, feeling an outsider in both worlds.

The contrast with Emperor C-Minus Augustus could hardly be more stark.

Highly recommended.

posted on Tuesday, April 01, 2008 5:33:32 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00) 
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Friday, March 07, 2008 

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Title: The Sparrow
Author: Mary Doria Russell
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Ballantine
Copyright: 1996
ISBN: 0449912558
Pages: 408
Keywords: science fiction
Reading period: 25 February-7 March, 2008

Father Emilio Sandoz, S.J., is the sole survivor of the first expedition to an alien planet, an experience that has left him physically maimed, traumatized, and reviled. He doesn't want to talk about it, but the Jesuit order who sponsored the expedition require answers.

Russell's narrative weaves two tales together: the expedition itself and the inquiry afterwards. This is a first contact for which the expedition crew, Jesuits and lay people alike, are not adequately prepared. The two alien races are more alien than they seem at first, operating from fundamentally different axioms. With the best of intentions, the humans' ignorance leads to great tragedy.

This is an astonishing first novel. Accomplished, nuanced, and moving, it deals in deep issues, examining what it is to be human, and the crisis of faith of a priest who believes himself abandoned by God. Bittersweet, yet often very funny. The characters are memorable and complex.

Unreservedly recommended, this is only the second book to which I am awarding 5 stars.

posted on Saturday, March 08, 2008 7:38:48 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Sunday, February 24, 2008 

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Title: Cursor's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Ace
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 0441015476
Pages: 544
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 23-24 February, 2008

Cursor's Fury is the third book in Jim Butcher's fantasy series, Codex Alera, and the sequel to Academ's Fury.

Tavi is now a cursor, a special agent of the First Lord. Planted undercover in a newly-formed legion, Tavi suddenly becomes its leader when all the other officers are assassinated, just as an invading force of Canim have landed nearby. Meanwhile, his aunt Isana, is trapped in a besieged city, when one of the High Lords, Kalare, attempts a coup. Isana's brother Bernard and his wife Amara lead an attack against Kalare.

Exciting and entertaining, with almost every chapter ending in a cliffhanger for one of the principals.

posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 7:58:06 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Title: 1634: The Bavarian Crisis
Author: Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Baen
Copyright: 2007
ISBN: 1416542531
Pages: 690
Keywords: alternate history
Reading period: 13-23 February, 2008

Another book from the 1632 series. This one largely develops a new plot. The archduchess Maria Anna of Austria is sent to Bavaria to marry the newly widowed Duke Maximilian, and finds that she'd rather not. She flees Munich in the company of two Grantville women, triggering a major crisis.

The book is entertaining but it's marred by obsessively detailing the enormously complicated realpolitik of Mitteleuropa. Still, it's one of the good books in the 1632 series.

posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 7:57:15 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Sunday, February 17, 2008 

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Title: Domino
Author: Ross King
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Publisher: Penguin
Copyright: 1995
ISBN: 0142003360
Pages: 436
Keywords: fiction, historical
Reading period: 15 January-12 February, 2008

George Cautley, a young gentleman of indifferent background, comes to London in 1770 and attempts to enter society, hoping to make his way as a painter. He becomes obsessed with Lady Beauclair, who sits for her portrait and spins him a tale of a castrato opera singer, who fifty years earlier fled Italy for London.

Lady Beauclair is not what she seems. Indeed, nothing is what it seems in this novel. Everything is a mask. Or a masquerade. Arch whispers. Veiled glances. Layers of face paint hiding blemishes. New portraits daubed on top of old. Deception. Intrigue.

posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 6:49:08 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Sunday, January 13, 2008 

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Title: For a Few Demons More
Author: Kim Harrison
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Eos Books
Copyright: 2007
ISBN: 0061149810
Pages: 546
Keywords: urban fantasy
Reading period: 12-13 January, 2008

Another urban fantasy featuring the witch, Rachel Morgan, who runs an investigation agency with a vampire, in a world where ordinary humans were decimated by a virus and vampires, Weres, witches, pixies, and more live openly.

Morgan is reckless and addicted to living on the edge, and her friends will pay a heavy price before the end of the book. You'd want Rachel on your side in a fight, but you'd probably be exasperated with her the rest of the time. She battles demons, both metaphorical and literal, before bringing the book to a bittersweet conclusion.

This is the fifth book in an ongoing series. The books are heavily linked together and best read in order.

Enjoyable and fast-paced.

posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 5:36:58 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Title: Coronado
Author: Dennis Lehane
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 0061139718
Pages: 232
Keywords: fiction
Reading period: 12 January, 2008

A collection of short stories and a play, all characteristically dark. Tales of fucked-up lives, tales of people with shitty pasts and no futures, tales of revenge.

Lehane writes brilliantly. His spare description, his dialogue brings the characters to life on the page.

The play, "Coronado", is adapted from an earlier short story, "Until Gwen" — also part of this collection. The repetition does not feel redundant. The play fleshes out the short story, telling it in a different manner.

Recommended, but depressing.

posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 5:36:09 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Title: The Assassin's Cloak
Author: Irene and Alan Taylor (editors)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Canongate Books
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 1841951722
Pages: 686
Keywords: autobiography
Reading period: 1 January, 2007 — 12 January, 2008

This anthology of diaries contains several entries for every day of the year, drawn from 170 contributors across three-and-a-half centuries. Everyone from Pepys to Goebbels, from Che Guevara to Alec Guinness.

I spent all of last year reading this book, trying to read each day's entries as they occurred. I often failed and would have to read a week or more's entries to catch up. I fell behind towards the end, not finishing my daily devotions until yesterday.

The book was drawn from several years of entries in two Scottish newspapers, and most of the diairists are British. The 20th century is well represented, particularly the two World Wars. Some of the entries from a particular diairist tell a story; others are unrelated snapshots of their lives. Some entries tell of momentous events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, or victory in war. Others are banal records of an ordinary day, noteworthy only because they give us an insight into a lifestyle that no longer exists. Many of the diarists were famous, at least in their own lifetimes; some live quiet, unremarked, but not unobserved lives.

I wonder how many diaries are written now, in the age of blogging. Will a future anthology have to dig into the Wayback Machine and Google's cache to mine entries from blogs?

Recommended.

posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 5:35:26 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Title: Dancing with the Virgins
Author: Stephen Booth
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Pocket
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 0743431006
Pages: 528
Keywords: mystery
Reading period: 6-11 January, 2008

One woman has been mutilated and another murdered on the bleak moors of Derbyshire. Detective Constable Ben Cooper and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry investigate.

The novel is at least as much about the tense relationship between Cooper and Fry as it is about the mystery itself. This is the second in a series of Cooper-Fry books. Cooper is a local boy, deeply rooted in the rural community, pleasant and trusting. Fry is a bitter loner, who transferred in from a distant city. Quickly promoted over Cooper, she can't understand his easygoing nature.

The mystery is effective, with enough twists to keep you guessing. The characters feel real and human, not authorial puppets.

posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 5:34:42 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Wednesday, January 09, 2008 

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Title: Defensive Design for the Web
Author: 37 Signals
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: New Riders
Copyright: 2004
ISBN: 073571410X
Pages: 246
Keywords: programming, web
Reading period: 23 December, 2007 - 9 January, 2008

This book contains 40 usability guidelines for websites, ranging from Eliminate the Reset button and disable the Submit button after it's clicked to Give an error message that's noticeable at a glance to Be upfront about item unavailabiity. The topics include error messages, clear instructions, friendly forms, overcoming missing pages, helpful help, obstacles to conversion, and search.

When I state them that baldly, they sound obvious. But they're not. The 37 Signals guys have amply illustrated each guideline with examples of sites that violated the guideline, and sites that exemplify the guideline. The examples are well chosen and bolster their points.

The book feels padded, however. They could easily have reduced the page count by two-thirds. Indeed, an earlier version of this book is available as a 17-page whitepaper. It was certainly worth the $6 that I paid for it at Half-Price Books, but I think I'd feel cheated if I had spent $25 on it.

The book refers to a companion website, DesignNotFound.com. This site is no longer available, which I find unforgivable. It's such a complete contradiction of the principles they advocate. The Wayback Machine reveals the original site.

posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:59:22 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Sunday, January 06, 2008 

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Title: Iron Council
Author: China Miéville
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Del Rey
Copyright: 2004
ISBN: 0345464028
Pages: 564
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 23 December, 2007 - 5 January, 2008

Iron Council is Miéville's third novel set in the world of Bas-Lag, where thaumaturgy (magic) works along with steampunk technology and humans live alongside other sentient species.

Two decades ago, the city-state of New Crobuzon started building a railroad across an enormous desert. The workers are humans, cactacae (cactus people), and Remade (criminals grotesquely modified by thaumaturgy, with animal or mechanical parts grafted on). Eventually, they rebel against the heavy-handed overseers, and flee far into the badlands. Known as the Iron Council, their legend lives on in New Crobuzon.

By now, New Crobuzon is at war with the distant state of Tesh, but also wants to punish the Iron Council. Judah Low, a golemetrist who was part of the Iron Council, sets out from New Crobuzon to warn the Council. He is followed by his occasional lover, Cutter. Back in the city, Ori is a young radical fed up with endless talk who joins a revolutionary group that assassinates the city's ruler.

Miéville writes a very different kind of fantasy from the Tolkien-derived swords-and-sorcery that constitutes so much of the genre. His is a grim world where oppressive oligarchies use militias and sadistic thaumaturges to keep the masses under control. They live in Dickensian squalor in a city that sounds a little like London, with locations such as Dog Fenn, Kelltree, Brock Marsh, Sobex Croix, Petty Coil, Griss Twist, and Lich Sitting Station. Miéville is a Marxist and it shows. His writing is also marvelously evocative.

Recommended.

posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 4:52:57 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Saturday, January 05, 2008