Cast
·
Darrow, a Red who is remade into a Gold named "Darrow au
Andromedus" to infiltrate and destroy the Society. He is later called
"The Reaper" by his classmates, for the sickle-shaped blade he carries as his weapon.
·
Eo, Darrow's wife who’s hanging for treason ignites his desire
for revenge against the Golds.
·
Nero au Augustus, the ArchGovernor of Mars who orders Eo's
execution.
·
Virginia au Augustus, daughter of the ArchGovernor and leader of
House Minerva at the Institute. Initially not knowing her given name, Darrow
calls her "Mustang".
·
Adrius au Augustus, Virginia's vicious twin brother, leader of
House Pluto at the Institute. His nickname is "The Jackal".
·
Cassius au Bellona, Darrow's former ally and friend in House
Mars who later turns on him.
·
Jullian au Bellona, Younger brother of Cassius who is paired
with Darrow in “the passage”.
·
Roque, Darrow's friend and ally in House Mars, a self-styled
poet.
·
Sevro, Darrow's friend and ally in House Mars, a low Draft with
an antisocial attitude.
·
Antonia au Severus, a ruthless Gold in house Mars.
·
Titus au Ladros, a violent and tyrannical member of House Mars.
·
Pax au Telemanus, a massive warrior aligned with Virginia in
House Minerva.
·
Tactus au Rath, a duplicitous member of House Diana.
·
Fitchner, Proctor of Mars at the Institute, Sevro's father.
·
Narol, Darrow's paternal uncle, rescues Darrow after his
execution and sends him to the Sons of Ares.
·
Dancer, Darrow's mentor in the Sons of Ares who first reveals to
him the lies of the Golds.
·
Harmony, Partner of Dancer who helps train Darrow during his
carving
·
Mickey, a Violet carver who remakes Darrow's body and physically
transforms him into a Gold.
·
Matteo, a Pink who educates Darrow all about the society, its
history, politics and arts.
·
Octavia au Lune, the Sovereign of the Society.
Pierce Brown creates a solar system of hierarchal repression reminiscent
of The Hunger Games. The world that Pierce creates is segregated
strictly by classes designated by colors.
Yellows are the doctors, blues are the pilots, pinks are the prostitutes
and on it goes. The Golds are the
tyrannical leaders (of course). The hero
of this book (first in the Red Rising
Trilogy - Golden Son and Morningstar
come next) is Darrow (a Red), a
devil diver, who works (like all reds) far underground on Mars mining helium-3
that can be used to terraform Mars and the rest of the solar system. His wife
Eo is a frustrated anarchist and when she and Darrow are arrested for a minor
offense she sings a forbidden protest song for everyone, including Nero au
Augustus (the Gold ArchGovernor of Mars), who orders her death by hanging. Darrow then cuts down her body and buries her,
which also happens to lead to a death sentence, and he is also hanged. However, he is saved by his uncle Narel and
sent to the rebel group, Son’s of Ares.
Why? They plan to perform the
ultimate plastic surgery and turn him into a Gold with the hope of his working
his way into a position to topple the society.
Dance and Harmony are part of the Son’s of Ares and talk Darrow into
going through with the carving to become a Gold. Mickey is a violet who is a
carver who is on the sleazy side of plastic surgery in this world. He is also talented. The description of the carving of Darrow is
interesting. Virtually every bit of his
body needs to be modified to achieve the herculean stature of a Gold. Matteo is a pink who teaches Darrow all of
the social skills necessary to be a
Gold.
Following a written test, Darrow enters the institute- one of a
thousand. He is drafted into house Mars
along with 99 others. He meets many of
the people that will impact his life moving forward. Julian and Cassius, Titus, Sevro, Rogue, and
Antonia. The first night in house Mars
they are each beaten by Obsidians and taken to a room with one other
student. Finchner (proctor of house
Mars) tells them that it is a fight to the death and only one student leaves
each room. Darrow is paired with Julian
and after much angst, kills him and joins the survivors.
They are then taken to a castle to enter the project that is the
institute. That is that each house is
battling the others for supremacy. Within each house the students fight to be
the leader - Primus. I think Pierce Brown does a very good job
with this section. He describes the
miseries of having bad water or no fire and the results. Darrow becomes for all
intents the leader of house Mars with Cassius as his right hand man until
Cassius learns, through the Jackal, that Darrow killed his brother Julian in
the Passage. He, seemingly, mortally
wounds Darrow in the forest and leaves him to die. Fortunately for Darrow, Mustang is also a
refugee hiding out and nurses him back to health. Together they band the stragglers and misfits
into an army and look to defeat the rest of the houses until they meet the
Jackal who, because his father is Nero au Augustus, is getting help from all of
the proctors. Darrow takes on the proctors and defeats them and then sends
Mustang to bring back the Jackal who has just slipped away. Finchner then confides to Darrow that
Mustang is Virginia au Augustus the daughter of Nero and twin sister of the
Jackal. He needn’t have worried as she
faithfully brings the Jackal in and Darrow wins the institute. He then becomes the apprentice to Nero au
Augustus that is the set up for the following book of the trilogy - Golden Son.
Summary
If you like other such books - Hunger games, divergent series,
Ender’s Game - you will probably like this.
If you don’t then you probably won’t like Red Rising either. I liked it.
The next two books are not quite as good without the focus on the
institute. They seem to be rushing for
the end that we all know is coming.
·
Darrow, a Red remade into a Gold named "Darrow au
Andromedus" (The Reaper) Lancer of House Augustus.
·
Virginia au Augustus, nicknamed "Mustang", daughter of
Nero au Augustus and twin sister of Adrius.
·
Adrius au Augustus, Virginia's sociopathic twin brother, called
"The Jackal".
·
Nero au Augustus, the ArchGovernor of Mars and father of
Virginia and Adrius.
·
Victra au Julii, lancer of House Augustus, half sister to
Antonia au Severus.
·
Roque au Fabii, lancer of House Augustus.
·
Tactus au Rath, lancer of House Augustus.
·
Ragnar Volarus, Stained Obsidian
·
Kavax au Telemanus, father of Daxo and the late Pax.
·
Daxo au Telemanus, son of Kavax and Pax's brother.
·
Cassius au Bellona, lancer of House Bellona, brother of Karnus.
·
Karnus au Bellona, lancer of House Bellona, Brother of Cassius.
·
Octavia au Lune, the Sovereign of the Society.
·
Lysander au Lune, grandson and heir of the Sovereign and
grandson of Lorn au Arcos.
·
Aja au Grimmus, the Sovereign's Protean Knight.
·
Lorn au Arcos, the former Rage Knight.
·
Fitchner au Barca, former Proctor of Mars at the Institute,
father of Sevro.
·
Sevro au Barca, leader of the Howlers, son of Fitchner.
·
Antonia au Severus-Julii, Darrow's ruthless longtime enemy and
Victra's half sister.
·
Pliny au Velocitor, Nero's chief of staff.
·
Dancer, Red lieutenant in the Sons of Ares.
·
Harmony, Dancer's Red lieutenant.
·
Mickey, a Violet carver who remade Darrow as a Gold.
·
Evey, a Pink former slave of Mickey.
At
the end of Red Rising our hero, Darrow, becomes a Lancer for his enemy, Nero au
Augustus. At the beginning of Golden Son
we see Darrow lose a mock space battle to Karnus (Cassius’ old brother). This loss prompts Nero to tell Darrow that
he is going to put his contract up for bid at the next summit of the great
houses. Before the meeting he sees
Adrius (the Jackal) who has his own schemes. He also meets Harmony who tells
him that Dancer is dead (a lie) and tells him that Ares wants him to be a
suicide bomber at the House Summit.
Darrow is about to do this and then has another idea. He challenges Cassius to a duel. It turns out that Darrow has been training
with Lorn au Arcos (former Rage Knight) and is able to defeat Cassius and is
about to kill him when the Sovereign calls of the fight to save him. Darrow chops off Cassius’ arm in frustration
and chaos incuses.
The
Sovereign asks Darrow to join her and has a truth telling contest with him
using special scorpion-like creatures called oracles. Darrow finds out that the sovereign was
planning to destroy Augustus and give Mars to Bellona. Mustang signals Sevro and the Howlers who
rescue Darrow and take the Sovereign’s grandson Lysander as a hostage. As they are escaping Aja crushes Quinn’s
head. On the escape, Adrius (the Jackal)
pretends to operate on Quinn but actually (we find out later) kills her. Now we have war!
Darrow
attacks and takes the largest ship in the Sovereign’ s fleet. He renames the ship the Pax in honor of his
friend from the institute. Also of note
is the appearance of a stained obsidian – Ragnar Volarus. Ragnar is one of the most interesting
characters in the series. The whole
culture of the obsidians is designed to make Golds as god-like figures and
prevent the obsidians from uniting. For
if they do they would be a massive force.
Darrow, wisely, gives Ragnar his freedom. This is not an easy thing and Ragnar rejects
freedom but Darrow finally convinces him.
This, of course, makes Ragnar even more loyal to Darrow then
before. He becomes a member of Sevrus’s
howlers. I would really like to see
Pierce Brown write a book with an obsidian as it’s main character. Maybe a prehistory to this when the obsidians
fought the Golds (and lost).
Darrow
plans an “iron rain” and to take Mars from the Bellona for Nero au
Augustus. First he needs more ships and
men and seeks these with his teacher Lorn au Arcos who is forced to join Darrow
when the Sovereign’s forces turn up to kill his family and Darrow saves them. Darrow’s former friend Tactus escapes Darrows
first trap and is in position to kill Lorn’s family. Darrow convinces him to come back to
him. A very positive moment which is
very short when Lorn kills Tactus for threatening his family. Second Chances seems to be a theme for Darrow
which occasionally gets him in trouble.
I think it humanizes him and makes him a much more believable character.
With
Lorn’s forces they initiate the battle for Mars. In the fight he is rescued at one point by
Fitchner who reveals himself to be Ares.
Turns out that his wife (Sevrus’ mother) was a red who was put to
death. Sevro had already told Darrow
that he knew his secret. He tells
Mustang his secret and she considers killing him until Ragnar intercedes.
As
Sevro becomes closer to Darrow, Rogue is pulling away. He blames Quinn’s death on Darrow (as Cassius
blames him for killing Julian). So it
is not a big surprise when at a victory feast he stabs Darrow with a
tranquilizer. They present him with a
box containing Fitchner’s head (Cassius killed him) and Adrius (the Jackal) kills his father, Nero. Rogue, Cassius and Adrius are in a plot with
the Sovereign Octavia. Antonia shoots
here half-sister Victra in the back. They
know Darrow’s secret and plan to dissect him to find out how it was done - we will see what that means. Probably torture
and eventual death for Darrow (and Eo’s dream).
Why
would Rogue betray Darrow? He blames
Darrow for Quinn’s death. The sovereign ordered Aja to kill Quinn and Adrius finished
the job. Well maybe to maintain the
Gold’s way of life. But if Rogue didn’t
betray Darrow then what would be the plot of the third book? Sort of an odd plot twist that didn’t make
good sense to me. I could see Rogue
fighting against Darrow but not betraying him.
Remaining Questions:
Will
Darrow give Rogue and Cassius another chance to get on the right side?
Where
is Mustang?
Are
the Son’s of Ares gone?
How
will Ragnar and Sevrus fit in?
Where
is Darrow and how is he going to escape and lead the revolt to victory?
Next
up: Morning Star
·
Darrow of Lykos, a Red physically remade into a Gold to
infiltrate and destroy the Society, (The Reaper).
·
Virginia au Augustus, nicknamed "Mustang", daughter of
Nero, the former ArchGovernor of Mars.
·
Adrius au Augustus, Virginia's twin brother, the sociopathic
ArchGovernor of Mars, also known as "The Jackal".
·
Victra au Julii, Darrow's loyal lieutenant, half sister of
Antonia au Severus-Julii.
·
Sevro au Barca, Darrow's best friend and second-in-command,
acting leader of the Sons of Ares.
·
Cassius au Bellona, the Sovereign's Morning Knight, Darrow's
nemesis and former friend.
·
Roque au Fabii, Imperator of the Sovereign's Sword Armada,
Darrow's former ally and friend.
·
Antonia au Severus-Julii, Praetor of the Fifth and Sixth
Legions, Victra's half-sister.
·
Octavia au Lune, the Sovereign of the Society.
·
Lysander au Lune, grandson and heir of the Sovereign.
·
Aja au Grimmus, the Protean Knight and the Sovereign's
bodyguard.
·
Ragnar Volarus, Darrow's Obsidian lieutenant.
·
Sefi the Quiet, Ragnar's sister and leader of the Valkyries.
·
Holiday ti Nakamura, a Gray Legionnaire secretly working for the
Sons of Ares, and Darrow's deputy.
·
Regulus ag Sun, nicknamed "Quicksilver", a Silver and
the richest man in the Society through ownership of the helium-3 refineries on Phobos.
·
Dancer, Darrow's mentor in the Sons of Ares and later the Sons'
liaison for the Reds.
·
Mickey, a Violet carver who remade Darrow as a Gold.
·
Lilath, Gold, captain of The Jackal’s bonerider’s (personal
killers)
Morning Star begins with our hero Darrow being tortured in a
box. This has been te case for about a
year. Victra has been tortured by her
half sister Antonia. Everyone in the solar system thinks Darrow is dead because
the Sovereign stages a mock execution of some poor slob made up like
Darrow. Everyone but Sevro - who never stopped believing. He is possibly the most interesting character
in the books. Sevro sends Holiday and
Trigg ti Nakamura to rescue Darrow and they get Victra as well but Trigg is
lost in the battle – killed by Aja – She is a beast.
Mickey (the carver) is brought back to fix Darrow and
Victra. I was disappointed that Mickey’s
character was not developed more as he is the key to this whole saga. Oh well.
Once they are well they set off to kidnap Quicksilver (a rich
gray). They arrive to find Mustang,
Antonia, and Cassius in a peace conference with Quicksilver. After a battle, they capture Quicksilver and
find out that he was a co-founder (with Fitchner) of the Son’s of Ares. Next up
- Sevro and the howlers serve up a distraction
on Phobos while Darrow and Ragnar head to Ragnar’s home to try and enlist the
Obsidians in their battle. Along the way
they are met by Mustang who joins them.
Aja and Cassius follow them and both ships crash land. Darrow and Mustang caputure Cassius. Aja kills Ragnar (hard to believe) and then
escapes.
Darrow and Mustang then convince Ragnar’s sister Sefi to join
their cause. They do this by unmasking
the Gold’s in the temple who are pretending to be gods. Sefi beheads her mother, Alia Snowsparrow,
when she disagrees with Sefi. There are
a lot of themes about parent and child relationships in this series. Mostly bad ones.
Next they convince Romulus au Raa, one of the moon lords of
Jupitor, to align with them over a counter offer by Rogue representing the
Sovereign. So the big space battle
commences. Pierce Brown is no Alistair
Reynolds when it comes to space battles but this one is interesting. Darrow suckers Rogue in close thinking he has
won and then Darrow and a team of reds take clawdrills across and tear straight
to the bridge of Rogues ship (helped by Rogue’s Pink). Antonia escapes leaving Rogues fleet
exposed. Rogue sees that all is lost and
despite Darrow’s pleas for his to comeback to his side. Rogue commits suicide. Noble and poetic to the end. Victra captures Antonia. Sevro stops an
uprising of the obsidians who are hanging every Gold in sight. He does this by first hanging Cassius for
killing his father (Fitchner) and then (dramatically) hanging himself for his
various murders. Sefi cuts them both
down and unites the obsidians (once again) under Darrow. Sevro and Victra are married. Their kids will be demons.
Before the final battle Darrow suggests letting Cassius go as
someone is bound to kill him. As he and
Sevro and Mustang are doing this Cassius steals Sevro’s gun and kills him. He lets Antonia go and they steal a shuttle
and take Darrow, Mustang, and Sevro’s body (why?) to the Sovereign Octavia who
is there with her grandson and Adrius (the Jackal). Octavia orders Darrow’s right hand to be cut
off. This is done. Octavia orders Aja to
kill Antonia because she fled the battle and left Rogue outflanked. Adrius plans to kill Darrow with Sevro’s gun
(why?) and discovers that it is full of blanks.
Cassius then reveals that he is actually on Darrow’s side after all. They
fight Aja until they get in position to awaken Sevro (right Sevro is not really
dead – big surprise). Together they are
able to defeat Aja and kill the Sovereign.
Then Adrius (that Jackal) has one more curve. There are 100 nukes on Luna and he will set
them off one by one unless Darrow commits suicide and Mustang and Cassius let
him assume the throne. Lilath is the
button pusher in her space ship. Instead
of killing himself Darrow punches Adrius in the throat and rips out is tongue
(Sefi is envious) . With the help of the
Ash Lord they pummel Lilath and prevent her from setting off all of the
Nukes.
Mustang becomes the sovereign and Darrow is her consort?
Husband? Cassius takes Lysander off to
explore the solar system. Sefi is off to
unite all of the obsidians (trouble brewing).
Everything tied up very nice if you ask me - but wait.
What was Mustang doing during that year that Darrow was being tortured
in a box? Having a baby apparently. She introduces Darrow to his son – Pax. Now
everything is tied up nice and pretty. I
think Eo would be happy – Bear the Chains.
Summary:
A good book along the lines of Hunger Games. A much bigger geography with the whole solar
system. While not many space battles
there are some terrific moments such as when Darrow and the Reds take the
clawdrills into Rogues ship. A lot of
vicious politics, which is fun. Some of the situations escape belief but that
is nature of these sorts of novels. I
liked it a lot and recommend it.
Seveneves (2015) Neal Stephenson
First off there are two things you should know:
I like the writings of Neal Stephenson
This is a really long book
There is no way to give a truly detailed plot summary.
Seven “Eves”
•
Dinah MacQuarie - Roboticist working
for Arjuna expeditions (a private asteroid mining company). Her robots
specialize in asteroid iron mining. Her father is the leader of an effort to
weather the hard rain underground.
•
Ivy Xiao - Born in Los Angeles, California, Xiao graduated from the United States Naval
Academy before obtaining a PhD in applied physics from Princeton University. At
the start of Seveneves, Xiao is the Commander of the International Space
Station. She is demoted after allowing Sean Probst to utilize ISS resources,
but becomes commander again after the death of her successor, Markus Leuker.
•
Julia Bliss Flaherty - Frequently referred
to as "JBF", Flaherty is President of the United
States during the events of Part 1. In violation of an international accord,
Flaherty saves herself by fleeing to the ISS aboard a Boeing X-37, along with Pete Sterling, her science advisor. Flaherty
attempts to re-assert her leadership and persuades a large number of cloud ark
inhabitants to abandon the ISS. Disaster and internal dissent lead to her being
replaced by Aïda Ferrari. Her descendants are more attuned to and adept at
social and psychological manipulation.
• Moira Crewe - A geneticist sent aboard to ensure
humanity's heterozygosity, Crewe was raised in London and obtained degrees from
Oxford and Harvard, and had previously worked on the de-extinction of the
woolly mammoth. Due to the loss of the physical Human Genetic Archive, Crewe's
talents make her extremely valuable. Being the only person understanding the
changes Aïda requests for her descendants, she responds, through seven
failures, by giving her only surviving child the ability to undergo epigenetic shifts in order to counter all the
changes Aïda makes in her offspring.
•
Tekla Alekseyevna Ilushina - A Russian cosmonaut, Tekla was a
former Olympic heptathalete, and was sent in the initial wave of suicide
workers to retrofit the ISS for its role as the
cloud ark hub. Rescued by Dinah when her suit life support system malfunctions,
Tekla became the head of security aboard ISS. Her descendants have increased
discipline and physical ability.
• Camila - Student and activist (implied to be
from Afghanistan or Pakistan). Earlier in her life Camila survived an
assassination attempt that necessitated extensive reconstructive surgery, and
she was granted asylum in the Netherlands. Camila was chosen as an arklet as a
rebuke to conservative Muslim countries that refused to nominate women in the
Casting of Lots. While initially a close friend of former President Flaherty,
Camila grows disillusioned with her during the events of the novel, ultimately
preventing Flaherty from murdering Tekla. Camila has Moira imbue her
descendants with non-aggressive traits, in order to be better suited to living
in the close confines of space for generations.
• Aïda Ferrari - An Italian "Arkie",
Aïda first appears after having lead a revolt against Julia's control of the
arklets that rebelled against the ISS. Deciding that future humans will look
down upon her descendants due to the cannibalism she participated in while
cut-off from the ISS, she gives each of her children markedly different
qualities, to best counter the attributes selected by the other Eves.
This book
attempts to answer that age-old SF question:
What would you do if the world were going to end? The answer for most people (according to
Stephenson) is to help give a small group of people a chance to survive and
possibly continue humanity.
If you
wake up tomorrow and the moon is in 7 (soon to be 8) pieces you had better get
ready. Those pieces are going to rattle
together and chip off so many little pieces then in a couple of years they will
start to fall to Earth (Hard Rain) creating an unlivable environment for
thousands of years. You must either find
a way to survive way under the surface or get out into space above the
turmoil.
This book
focuses on the process of trying to build a sustainable space station in a
short time. All of the political and
technological barriers as well as the personalities and approaches to problem
solving. One would think that
cooperation and compromise might be the best approach but not according to
Stephenson. For instance, the actions of
Sean Probst to bring a comet to the party (dying in the process) had nothing to
do with a committee but was essential for the success of the mission. On the other hand, poor leadership decisions
by the former President of the US almost results in loss of everyone.
Most
people will (like me) admire Dinah’s guts and bold actions which saved the
whole effort. The others Eves each have
qualities that are key but Dinah was heart and soul of the group.
I am not
sure that Stephenson needed to add the Earth-based efforts to round things
out. It makes the Eves solution seem
less important and less dramatic. Also
it is hard to understand how either of those gambles would have been
successful. I do not think that they
would have been. In any event, it is a
thought provoking book - another one
from Neal Stephenson who is quickly becoming one of my favorites – Try
Cryptonomicon.
Faller (2016)
Will McIntosh
A story
that violates both physical and biologic laws cannot be all bad. Or can
it? Our hero finds himself on a floating
bit of Earth with no memory of how he got there and only a few clues (including
a toy paratrooper) to guide him. Soon he
is making his own parachute and the adventure begins. In it he finds his past and his mistakes and
gratefully forgets them again. He meets
the love of his life (multiple times) and learns the truth of his worst enemy.
A
perfectly delightful book with a surprisingly, satisfying ending.
Not
usually my piece of cake but I got it and liked it.
Is it
Science Fiction? Yes
Is it
Fantasy? Yes
Is it
Horror? Probably
Is it
religious allegory? I think so.
Is it a
love story? Maybe….
What a
wonderfully weird book. Our heroine,
Mona Bright, is terrific. She is a kick-ass, take no prisoners ex cop
who lands in a surreal little New Mexico town where a great night for a couple
is for the husband to hook up toasters to the engine of a lime-green Cadillac
while his wife stands by holding warm lemonade in high heels until her feet
bleeds.
Mona
inherits a house in Wink New Mexico from her late mother after her drunken
father dies. Her first task is to find
the town of Wink which is not on any map.
When she finally finds it the mystery deepens. On the day that her mother killed her self
the town of Wink was devastated by a lightening storm and the girl bathing in
her old mother’s house was electrocuted.
While
Mona is getting her bearings in this weird place the inhabitants are at
war. Someone is killing off the leading
(eldest) interlopers by pairing them up with a rabbit skull that somehow leads them
to a supernatural killer – the Wilding.
The love
story comes in between Mr. First and his little friend, Gracie. How is First going to try and save Gracie
from the coming abomination -
MOTHER. Oh Mother dear. The question is whose mother is it. Can this monster somehow be related to Laura
Alvarez - Mona’s mother? Mona finds that her mother was once a
brilliant scientist working in Coburn labs studying dimensional bruising. Could an entity from beyond have taken over
the body of Laura and led to her apparent schizo break and suicide? Does this malevolent beast want to use
Mona’s lost baby to transverse back to Wink and beyond? Who will help Mona fend this threat off – Mrs.
Benjamin?, Mr. Parson?, Ganymede?, Gracie?
First?, the Wilding? Or will Mona give Mother her pan-dimensional
baby as a tribute? Not a chance!
This book
reminds me of Neil Gaiman, Steven King, HP Lovecraft, C.S. Lewis but mostly the strange and lovely mind of
Madeline L’Engle. In any event enjoy!
And when you are done try Bennett’s City of Stairs for something much
different.
City of Stairs (2014) Robert Jackson Bennett
It is worth reading the first book
of Bennett’s Divine Cities Trilogy, City
of Stairs, for the character Sigrud. He is the
“assistant” for our heroine, Shara
Komayd, a Saypuri diplomat / spy who
uncovers a political and supernatural plot in the continental capital of
Bulikov. The former home to a ragtag
group of divinities who ruled most of this world in a capricious and ruthless
manner. Some unhinged people want to
bring these godlike creatures back and Shara with the help of “Norse-like”
Sigrud work to uncover and stifle this plot.
Shara and Sigrud have personal histories that we begin to see throughout
the book that are as fascinating as the main plot. Sigrud’s fight with the supernatural
river-monster is epic. Like Mona Bright
in American
Elsewhere Bennett draws terrific characters that are consistent in
their actions in ways that are at first unexpected but upon reflection make
perfect sense.
The Dispatcher (2016) John Scalzi
Alright. For the record I like reading John
Scalzi. I particularly like the Old Man’s War series. The
Dispatcher is a bit different.
Imagine a world where any death caused intentional does not stick. People come back. So if someone is about to die from natural
causes you could hire someone to intentionally kill them and they will come
back at a point where something different could be tried. This is where our hero Tony Valdez comes
in. He is just this sort of person who
intentionally kills someone to avoid their dying from natural causes. Who hires such a person? Well,
hospitals, of course, for
one. If you are a surgeon who is about
to lose someone on the table Tony can pull out his “gun” and off the person
before they die a natural death and same the hospital the explanation. Another
candidate might be a couple of college boys who decide to play at being
medieval knights for real with swords and ball and hammers. Once they have chopped off a few limbs the
dispatcher can kill them and they will reappear in one piece. You can still
kill someone if you are patient - it is
a little gruesome but ingenious. You
will need to read it to see how.
In this novella he
must figure out why his friend and dispatcher has gone missing and why his last
client did not come back as planned. It is an interesting premise that brings
up a lot of questions – some of which Scalzi tackles. Seems like an easy set up for a B-level Sci
fi movie or short run series. Wouldn’t
surprise me. It is sort of like Looper in a way but with a different
premise.
Dark Matter (2016) Blake Crouch
Ever feel like you
were your own worse enemy?
Well I bet you never
had another version of yourself pop out of the multiverse and switch places
with you swooning your lovely wife and sucking up to your 15 year old kid -
much better then you ever did. That is
how it all starts off for Jason Dessen.
A middling Physics professor at a small Chicago college who threw a way
a promising research career to support his marry a beautiful and talented
artist who was pregnant with their child.
She too sacrificed her career for the family. In another part of the multiverse, Jason 2
apparently made the other choice and invented multiverse hopping but wanted his
cake and eat it too by taking over the sweet family life the Jason 1 had
created.
It is a fast action
adventure and takes the multiverse spin in a much different direction then
Bennett’s American Elsewhere. Here the
monster is you - or almost you.
Once Jason 1 realizes
what has been done to him and that Jason 2’s universe is going to be lethal he
heads out on his own multiverse hunt eventually finding his way back home. But he is not alone in wanting what Jason 2
stole from him and that is where the adventure really begins.
Jason 1 does not make the choices
that I would make - at least up to the
end. For a genius he sure makes some
bonehead mistakes and nearly gets himself and his personal shrink – Amanda - killed.
How do you fool yourself? When each of you knows basically the same
things and minds work pretty much the same.
Except, of course, that there are varying degrees of homicidal tendencies
in all the Jason’s who have survived the labyrinth of the multiverse to arrive
in their “home” Chicago.
Which makes me wonder, what happened
to Amanda(s). Should there have been
more than one if there are so many Jason’s?
Just saying. She liked Jason so
you might think that at least one version would have tried to follow him.
Finally, what will be the key to
getting out of this world with so many Jason’s?
Ready Player One (2011) Ernest Cline
I listened to the excellent
audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton a few years ago and thought a review might be
timely since it is slated to be released as a movie in 2018 (I think that is good
thing).
It is 2044. A lot of problems in the world. People take refuge in a virtual world called
Oasis developed by James Halliday.
Halliday is now dead but has left behind clues for people to find and
eventually open an “Easter Egg” that will give the finder ownership of
Halliday’s fortune. Wade Watts (avatar –
Parzival) like many others around the world is trying to find the keys to the
puzzle. Not surprisingly, he does. Wade is a good guy and helps his friends
navigate the puzzles and it is this generous attitude that enables him to form
a group to like mined friends to eventually get to the promised land.
Cline seems to have a nack for this
sort of thing. See Armada (AKA Last Starfighter)
Armada (2015) Ernest Cline
Ever see the “Last Starfighter”? Yes?
Well there you have it. Kids
playing video games that are actually preparations for space battles. Armada has a few interesting turns but is
basically the same plot devise as that underrated movie. Don’t get me wrong - I love that plot - could read / watch it over and over. Just don’t except something else. You could read this and Ready Player One in a single weekend.
War Dogs (2014) Greg Bear
Skyrine (Marine in the sky – get
it?) Michael Venn is the here of this
series. Aliens land on Earth and give us
many new things but there is a catch.
Remember the Twilight Zone where generous aliens help us and the “Holy
Book” is called “To Serve Man” -Turns out
it is a cook book. Well this is almost
that bad. The catch here is that there
is another alien race which was thought to be hostile and have the convenient
name “Antags”. While they are fighting
on Mars, Venn and his troup find an artifact called the Drifter which leads to
interesting side effects and the next two books - Killing Titan and Take
Back the Sky.
I found the description of life in a
suit, fighting the elements as well as the Antags for their lives, well
done. Some of the plot got confusing
but I hung in there and it made sense.
You should hang in there too . It is worth the effort.
The Jesus Cow (2015) Michael Perry
What is the secret to a happy life?
Wait for it…
The answer (according to our Hero,
Harley) is:
Low Overhead.
And so it goes in the Garrison
Keillor-ist tale of Swivel Wisconsin and factory worker, volunteer fire
department member, gentleman farmer, bachelor – Harley. Who one Christmas eve is the recipient of a
calf with the likeness of Jesus Christ on its side. Big trouble he thinks. Sure enough Big Trouble ensues. As well as some much needed shaking up of the
town of Swivel. From his friend Billie
to the town bully – Clute Sorenson -
people and things change due to this ill-fated calf.
Most books - I think “why are they making these
choices? It doesn’t make sense.” Perry constructs a plot where I can see each
choice that Harley makes and why it makes sense even though it seemly leads to
more trouble. Like Keillor, Perry steers
(get it “steer”) clear of the truly tragic and of course everything turns out
in the end.
Did you doubt it?
This is must read for Lake Woebegone
fans.
Killing Titan (2015) Greg Bear
This book follows - War Dogs.
Our hero, Skyrine Michael Venn,
is back on Earth after getting exposed to Green “Ice Moon Tea” in the
ancient artifact – The Drifter on Mars.
It left some of his comrades as black ice. But not Venn and not DJ. Now Venn can hear one of the former comrades
as well as the bug Karnack - ancient
storage of bug knowledge.
As he is getting interrogated and
about to be executed for what they think he knows about the Antags, the gurus
and what this war is really all about – he is swept back to Mars and on the
Titan where he learns more. Finally he
must make a decision about who he trusts.
His fellow Skyrines and their puppet-masters – the Guru’s? Or the Antag female that he mind melds with
and who together receive tantalizing information from bug Karnack.
I like the first person narrative. It makes it more real to me. Although, a bit hard to follow some
times. Reminds me a little of of John
Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. I suspect that the next book – Take Back the Sky - is going to get even weirder – we’ll see.
Take Back the Sky (2016) Greg Bear
Weird, weirder, weirdest
War Dogs, Killing Titan, and now Take
Back the Sky…
Skyrine Michael Venn finds himself
inside Titan waiting for the his friends in the corp from Earth and Mars to
take him and his crew out and also to take out Bug Karnack and the archives of
bug knowledge found on inside Titan.
Their only hope? The Antags. His Antag connection from the Ice Moon Tea –
Venn calls her Bird Girl - has arranged
to save Venn and his crew. They are cut
out of their armor and packed away for a journey to a large strange ship.
This ship is apparently the one used
by the gurus (Antags call them “Keepers”) to travel around the solar system and
beyond to plan and stage their war-shows for some unknown audience. Turns out this ship constantly morphing in
strange ways. The Starshina – Ulyanova
- was also exposed to the ice moon tea
and was linked to a guru. As such - she is apparently qualified as a pilot /
commander of the ship. Which she
proceeds to do. Is she a friend of
humanity or is she a guru in Starshina clothing.
The book ends with an interesting
whimper and not a bang. It leaves me
with a lot of questions. What happened
to Ulyanova and the ship? Did they fly
into the sun. What is happening with Joe
and Teale’s daughter on Mars. What does
Ishida (the Winter Soldier) look
like? Seems like a set up for one more
volume of War Dogs. One can only hope.
Kill the Next One (2016) Federico Axat
This books starts off so cool. Ted McKay is about to blow his brains out
because he has an untreatable brain tumor but the Justin Lynch shows up and
offers Ted the opportunity to knock off a true bad guy – Edward Blaine – who
killed his girl friend and got away with it.
Then after that he was to kill Wendell – another poor sap who wanted to
kill himself. Then he gets to sit at
home until another poor sucker knocks him off.
Sounds like a good set up for a switcheroo.
Will this is a real switcheroo - Apparently Ted is hallucinating and has been
in a psychiatric hospital for the past 7 months. Why is he there? Dr. Laura Hall is his therapist / detective
who sorts everything out for all of us.
Who lives / who dies? Who is
really the bad guy?
Weird…. A little disturbing. Highly Recommended!
City of Blades (2015) Robert Jackson Bennett
This story begins five years after
the action in City of Stairs. Shara Komayd plays only a small, distant role in the book. Sigruid plays a significant, if somewhat
unsatisfying role. We are introduced to
his daughter. The lead character in City of Blades is General Turyin
Mulaghesh. The action takes place in the continental city of
Voortyashthan. While a harbor is being
built in the city to increase trade a new ore is found with remarkable – if not
miraculous – properties. Here we go
again… Bennett does much more than
concoct a tale about long gone Gods who still have an effect on the
present. He brings a complex character
like Mulaghesh alive through her back story and the choices she makes
throughout the plot. She is truly a much
more interesting character then one would have thought from City of Stairs.
I found it interesting that the figure of the giant monstrous
“mother” again echoes so similar to that seen in American Elsewhere. Bennett must have some sort of mother
concept. Sigruid is apparently featured in the City of Miracles climax which I am looking forward to. This book leaves him on the run.
All Our Wrong Todays (2017) Elan Mastai
Another book about the multiverse. Unlike American Elsewhere and Dark
Matter our here - Tom (John,
Victor) Barren - creates his different
realities by time travel. His first
reality in 2016 was the “World of Tomorrow” made possible by the Goettrieder
Engine invented by Lionel Goettrieder in 1965.
Not really an engine at all but a generator of unending power – like the
perpetual motion machines. Barren’s
father - himself an inventor – has
designed a time machine and the first traveler is to be Tom’s dream girl
Penelope. Unfortunately, Penelope is
ruled out as a candidate because she becomes pregnant with Tom’s child and in
remorse she kills herself. Tom’s
reaction is to send himself on the journey.
Back to 1965 to observe the demonstration of the Goettrieder
Engine. Unfortunately Tom does not just
observe but IS observed by Goettrieder himself and this results in some changes
so that when Tom returns 20 2016 it is the 2016 of our lives - not the world of tomorrow that he is used
to. The good side is that his father is
kind, his mother is alive, he now has a sister
-Greta - and the girl of his dreams – Penelope is alive and well – and
better than ever. Tom (now John) is a
world famous architect. What could go
wrong? Well Lionel Goettrieder is still
around and not too happy. He sends Tom /
John back to 1965 to correct his intervention.
Along the way (a very long journey it turns out) Tom / John discovers
Victor. Another version of Tom that
occurred when the worst case happened and the Engine exploded in 1965 creating
a 2000-mile crater and havoc worldwide. Which world does Tom /John /Victor
choose? Well read it to find out but
don’t’ expect anything too dark. This is
a funny book. It is undoubtedly the
happiest multiverse book that I have read.
Although none of them present a too positive view of multi-dimensional
living.
The Collapsing Empire (2017) John Scalzi
John Scalzi does it again.
Reels me in with great characters and plot. Not quite as interesting as the Old Man’s War
but the premise of the “Flow” and how its demise might spell the demise of the
1000 year old interdependency. The new
Empiro – Carthinia – Is up against it and she needs all the help she can get
since her best friend and confidant is killed in a bomb at her inauguration. The dead empiros are stored on computer for
her to talk to and Flow Physicist Mars Claremont comes from the last planet in
the Empire (conveniently named End) with the information that will change
everything - and lead to many more Interdependency books
for Scalzi. Oh brother -not another series!
