2018 Reads: Teckla (Vlad Taltos #3)

 

The first two Vlad Taltos books are solid standalone almost-fantasy-PI mysteries. This one cranks it up by more fully examining the characters' motivations, upending convention with how the story proceeds in the third act, and further defining this world as living, storied and unique. I'd recommend starting at the beginning*, but that's just me.


I don't feel like the Vlad Taltos books get quite the praise they deserve, both for story and craft. His fully-realized secondary world stands even or above many others, and his characters (and the narratives they're in) are strikingly different from so much other mainstream fantasy or science fantasy (I think it fair to say there's some sci-fi in the mix).


Over on Goodreads, I gave this a 4/5, and I stand by that. It might be a little over or a little under, but it sets itself apart from the two previous volumes and doesn't coast. We get revolution, assassinations, marital strife, and a deep, unpleasant examination of self.







*Brust wrote his Vlad Taltos books in the order the stories came to him, but not in their chronological, in-universe order. I always read a series in the order it was written. I don't care if book 1 is the NOW, book 2 five years ago and book 3 both in between and three weeks in the future. To me, an author's brain or subconscious birthed the stories and universe of a series in a particular order. The publication order might look off ten years down the line, but the better experience (unless you have a case where publishers interfered) is to read as the author wrote.

-E

2018 Reads: I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks

This is a short book. You can read it while in the act of sitting down to actually read the book.

But that's okay. It's such a delightful little diversion - quick, amusing, heartfelt. If you, like me, grew up loving trips to the local library - or if you're in need of some "good people" stories - consider this a must read. It'll bring back memories of the stacks, the town quietly mingling, picking books...or overhearing any of the bizarre requests made to librarians on a daily basis.

Author/editor Gina Sheridan culled these stories from her own work experience as a librarian, as well as submissions from her blog's readers. Most are short snippets of conversations, with a few lengthier anecdotes.

By and large, we meet a diverse group of wackadoos either looking for some measure of assistance, no matter how trivial or unfit a librarian is to realistically helping, or needed an outlet for their particular, eccentric opinions. The final chapter veers from the purely comical and insane to the heartwarming, letting us know that there are decent people still hiding out in the world.

Pick it up, read a chapter, let it sit until you need another giggle and the chuckleworthy inanity on display. When it's done, pop over to her website, where the magic began (and where stories are categorized by Dewey decimal system!).

4/5 on Goodreads for me.

-E

2018 Reads: Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf

An interesting spin on both the private eye novel and "post-Tolkien" fantasy kingdom tale (with a dash of steampunk), Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf (by Terry Newman) is a solid standalone whodunit, outside of the normal noir trappings.

Published in 2014, the book follows dwarf detective Nicely Strongoak as he tracks down a vanished surfer elf (no highfalooting willowy forest dweller, he!), is tied to a fresh elf murder, orc gangsters, and finds himself entangled in kingdom politicking...and perhaps a nefarious conspiracy. I don't want to mention too much, as the joy of discovery is half the fun.

I enjoyed this well enough to be a little upset that Newman hasn't put out a sequel in the last three years. That's a good thing. While the book does have a few meanders, as a first novel (by a veteran writer of stage, screen, and...stage again, but for stand-ups this time!), it's a firm success. Few firsts are absolutely perfect.

Strongoak has heavy lifting throughout beyond the norm: building this post-medieval, post-monarchist fantasy world (but it has cars, after a fashion, and some measure of tech; again, think steampunk), while maintaining the atmosphere of your Hammetts or Chandlers scene by scene. If you're used to fantasy, such as Tolkien, Jordan, Martin, Brooks, this isn't the familiar evergreen Middle Ages pastiche; it's centuries beyond that, in both appearance and make-up. Like Brust's Taltos stories, breaking free of the standard mold opens up dynamic storytelling options.

And fans of Vlad Taltos will find an entertaining diversion here - both in the mystery and the politics (because if there's one thing Steven Brust brings to the table in his Taltos books, its socio-economic commentary normally absent from this type of story).

Over on Goodreads, I rated this 4/5, but that's rounding up a touch. So to be as pedantic as possible, my actual rating is 3.75/5.

Recommended, and it's only $.99 on Kindle!. And Terry, if you stumble across this, kindly write another installment!

-E

2018 Reads: From the Borderlands (Borderlands #5)

From the Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness
Edited by Elizabeth and Thomas Monteleone


I picked this one up back when I worked at Books-A-Million (at their now-closed Hinsdale, IL store). I was on a major Stephen King kick (and, related, horror) and thought this a good intro to other others in the field.

It sat on my shelf for 12 loooong years. I finally started reading it on Halloween, 2017.

So after such a build-up, it must have been outstanding, right?

Eh. Ehhhh.

Some (few) of the 25 stories were great, but so many left me cool or just unhappy with the time spent reading them. And it certainly took me quite a while to plow thru this. I kept putting it down, lacking any driving motivation to finish or than to get it off my "currently reading" list (accomplished Jan. 1, 2018).

I think it's because many of the stories have a brand of "horror" that isn't something I like - somewhat real-world pervy "human horror" as opposed to the supernatural. In that sense, it was a great book; it helped me to further distill my preferences. After reading it, I can honestly say that there's a chunk of horror out there I just never need to try again, and authors who will remain unknown but for their story in this collection.

Given that this is the fifth volume of the Borderlands anthology series (edited by husband and wife team of Thomas & Elizabeth Monteleone), these writers and stories (and sub-genres of horror) have fans. The book holds an average rating of 4.01 on Goodreads - no mean feat!

And I did find some definite quality and new authors to check in on. Those that stood out as exceptional, aside from King's, had high concepts and/or an element beyond human understanding :

• one where your hands are magically swapped out for another person's - and this happens all over the world - every day, week, etc. - and you hope to one day get your own 
• a twisted prison "escape" 
• dealing with ghosts on the line as a profession 
• a 7-day, personal apocalypse 
• seeing inside the head a B-movie monster, with a surprising amount of empathy 

Again, eh. Largely forgettable. Not stories of terror and madness, except a few. No, these are tales of creeps and disturbing portraits of humanity.

A 2/5 for me on Goodreads, and that's rounding up some.


-E

The News About Shipping

(With apologies to Annie Proulx)

Special thanks to my sister-in-law, Jenny, for the B&N gift card that funded the purchase behind part of this week's shipment. Though my birthday was in October, I felt it important to wait for a few good buys (and coupons) to pop up. And lo, I found them:

*The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

*Countdown City by Ben H Winters

*My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

While those three arrived Monday, May 23, the week's real prize came the following day:

*The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

None of the authors, at this stage, are foreign to me.

I read THE LIBRARY AT MOUNT CHAR over the winter. It was a chance (real) library find, a case of a cover selling a book. After I and my wife tore through it, it was a foregone conclusion that we'd get our own copy soon enough. One could categorize it as science-fiction or (urban?) fantasy or horror; it sits at a crossroads, or happily exists outside of regular genres. 

Concerned with a missing "god" of sorts and his tantalizing, up-for-grabs repository of knowledge/power (the titular library), LIBRARY tells a winding story that jumps back and forth along its timeline, teasing even with its revelations, peppered with shock-and-awe action, an enigmatic, compelling lead - all under the steady control of major new novelist, Scott Hawkins. There's no doubt I'll just buy his next book (sorry, DG Library).

COUNTDOWN CITY is the second in the Last Policeman trilogy. A comet is earthbound, with nothing to be done about it - no roughnecks in the wings (not wanting to miss a thing) waiting to blow it sky high. It will hit; Earth will suffer. Humanity...probably won't be in a good place for a few dozen centuries. 

The first book followed the title character as he investigated a suicide - quite the commonplace event - that just seemed wrong to him. Whether I was just in the right place or Winters really does write that well, it ended up as one of the best mysteries I've read: tonally unique, with an earnest, atypical protagonist that could maybe only exist in this ten-minutes-to-midnight world. I have elevated expectations for the sequel.

How many authors write compelling furniture catalogs? Hendrix managed this in his breakthrough novel, Horrorstör, about a haunted Ikea-like store and the employees who, well, don't exactly do battle with the ghosts...but certainly do something, and do it humorously with mixed supernatural success.

MY BEST FRIEND'S EXORCISM is "an unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist," according to its own description. After Abby and Gretchen have a somewhat wild night, Abby realizes her best friend is not really herself. Or, she is...but she's also someone - or something - else, too. 

Bonus: it's also another great piece of production design (like Horrorstör), with yearbook-like pages, clippings and notes here and there.

There's nothing more I can add to the praise about The Passage trilogy, by Justin Cronin, than what is floating around. It's really that good, people. You'll fly through the hundreds of pages, absorbed fully in his world, desperately wanting the story to go on and on.

The epic - set before, during and centuries after a vampire-like apocalypse - concludes in THE CITY OF MIRRORS. It's on-deck for me, as it should be for you.

-Erik

HPB Trips: Goodbye, money!

Oh, what a beautiful diversion from our real errands!

Two Saturdays in a row (Nov. 1, Nov. 8) I attempted to drop the CR-V at the dealer for an oil change and a looksee at some small issues. Despite calling ahead, and being told of course we could drop in, when we got there they said, "too busy." I made an appointment for Tuesday night (spoilers: I forgot about it), and then we decided to salvage the trip with a little book-buying at Half-Price Books.

I wish I could say the four books I bought were long on my wish lists, but alas....

      

[Redacted - already had, returned]

Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman - I honestly thought Mandy might like it more than me, so maybe I'm not so evil. First in a series

Seed by Rob Ziegler - I thought this was a horror story by the same name (that one by Ania Ahlborn), was disappointed it wasn't, but then fascinated by the story anyway!

The Two-Bear Mambo by Joe R. Lansdale - love me some Hap & Leonard (coming soon to a TV station near you!); this is the third in the series.

Oh, and Mandy and Olivia might have bought some, too....

...and the following Saturday, while waiting for the oil change and actual service desired a week prior (spoilers: they said they didn't have time, schedule an appointment), I wandered across a busy LaGrange Road and wide, wind-swept parking lot to HPB yet again. After getting these five, I made the foolhardy decision to pop into PetSmart and get some cat litter. The 35 lb tub might have a handle, but it was not designed for long walks, as it whacks your leg and tries to trip you up, much like the cat waiting at home for the fresh poop gravel. I got some strange looks in the Continental Honda waiting room as I stumbled through the door, red-cheeked and breathy, clutching 35 lbs of cat litter to my chest, a plastic bag of gently used books spilling onto the floor. "No, no, I'm fine. Just practicing late life senility. Who wants to play buried treasure at the beach?"

Books legally obtained:

  

The Family Trade by Charles Stross - I've read some of his hard sci-fi, but only heard about this fantasy-ish diversion. First in a series

Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist - author of Let The Right One In, another promising horror novel from a country of disturbed novelists.

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher - I was looking for his first book, but this is a good consolation prize.

Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (bargain shelf, $1) - no matter how bonkers the show turned out, the Southern Vampire mystery books have a certain low-key charm to them.

Replay by Ken Grimwood (bargain shelf, $2) - I read a loaner copy a few years ago, but bought this for Mandy. The book is wonderful! You should all be so proud to be having a copy!

This would be why we have five substantial bookshelves in the house of unread books. We love books and encourage others to do so as well. 

-EMH

37. Sourcery by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #5)

After the gut-turning weird fiction of Laird Barron and the dark mind of Gillian Flynn, I needed a change.

DISCWORLD! Come for the tropes, stay for the casual nudity.

It took me three tries to get into Terry Pratchett's mind, but once I was there, you'd be hard-pressed to dig me out with a fork. This is the third Discworld book I've read this year (I'd link to previous reviews at this point, but we all know I'm writing these out-of-order), and they just keep getting better and better.

Sourcery is the fifth book, the story of a "sourcerer" or human well of wild magic. Long ago, other sourcerers laid convoluted waste to large swaths of the world, leading a magical detente and a non-binding agreement for wizards not to father children. For you see, wizards are the eighth son of an eighth son, and sourcerers are the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son. And, as the story opens, we find out that one was just born to an angry wizard father who creates a prophecy to cheat Death (the personification of which is not amused).

The rest of the book is the collision course between the (slightly) older boy-sourcerer and those traditionalist forces at the center for Discworld wizardry, the Unseen University. And, happily, this brings the inept wizard Rincewind back to the fore.

For those who can't remember (who can blame you?), Rincewind was the arguable main character in the two-book story that started off Pratchett's series, The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic. A failure at practical wizardry, he knows in his heart of hearts that he was meant to be a wizard. Accompanied by the Luggage (a carnivorous travel chest), the two are flung into the midst of a growing magical war that could tear the Disc apart!! Also there are barbarians, a talking hat, a well-read orangutan and the threat of the Apocralypse, the apocryhal apocalypse, an event no one is exactly sure will happen or, if it does, when that will be or what will presage it.

I enjoyed this one, quite a lot. There were a few dragging passages, but not a whole heck of a lot. These Discworld books are short, and Pratchett, while long-winded for the occasional comedic purpose, practices concise writing at all steps. He doesn't even add extra pages for chapter breaks - because there are none! More than his previous four books, he succeeded in painting the otherworldly locations and battles without flowery language. And knowledge of language is maybe Pratchett's strong suit. It allows him to twist convention and seed each page with his astounding wit.

Pratchett's humor walks a fine line between the goofy and the dry; I'd say it's the presence of satire mixed in that tempers the zanier moments. Given that this is the third book of his I've read this year, I've found myself wondering why it took so long and if, perhaps, being American is some impediment to discovering his quintessentially British work.

(Or maybe it's because of a slipshod publisher not knowing how to market these books here.)

Have you read other Discworld books before, but somehow skipped this one? If so, pick it up, and you'll enjoy it.

I would not recommend it for first-timers, however. Either of the previous two (Equal Rites, Mort) are a little more intro-friendly. Of course, since I read all series in publication order (the order intended by the author's subconscious creative self), I should just guide you to that two-part story mentioned earlier. It's really works best as one book.

I leave you with the original* wraparound paperback cover art, by the late Josh Kirby.

-EMH

*I've seen the same image a few other ways, either the background changed or slightly different coloration.