Fantasy Opinion

This is Water.

2013-05-09T09:13:00.001+02:00

This is a damn good point to keep in mind.

Gods and Monsters: Unclean Spirits - Chuck Wendig

2013-05-09T08:47:00.002+02:00

The Blurb: Five years ago, it all went wrong for Cason Cole. He lost his wife and son, lost everything, and was bound into service to a man who chews up human lives and spits them out, a predator who holds nothing dear and respects no law. Now, as the man he both loves and hates lies dying at his feet, the sounds of the explosion still ringing in his ears, Cason is finally free. The gods and goddesses are real. A polytheistic pantheon—a tangle of divine hierarchies—once kept the world at an arm’s length, warring with one another for mankind’s belief and devotion. It was a grim and bloody balance, but a balance just the same. When one god triumphed, driving all other gods out of Heaven, it was back to the bad old days: cults and sycophants, and the terrible retribution the gods visit on those who spite them. None of which is going to stop Cason from getting back what’s his...

I am a huge fan of Chuck Wendig's, having devoured his Miriam Black books with relish. I'm also a faithful follower of his blog and the writing advice he dishes out on there are entertaining and quite brilliant in it's own right. I must admit my Urban Fantasy reading shelf leaves a lot to be desired, consisting mostly of Dresden running around doing what he does best. This book proves that there are some damn good ones out there that I miss and I'll work to rectify this.

Onto Unclean Spirits. The main character here is Cason Cole, a retired MMA fighter who faced an easy choice. Serve a monster in order to save his family. It was a no brainer and of course he accepted. You save those you love and screw the strings attached. There were some bastard strings attached to this deal, but at least his family was safe.

Cason gets a lucky break when someone blows up his boss, which he thinks allows him to go back to his family. He thought that the deal was done, the strings cut. Far from it for the poor man, his torture was only starting.

The gods has been evicted from their respective pantheons and are living with us normal people on earth. Some of them just get on with life as it were, while others manipulate humans to their own ends. I'd like to think that humanity has rubbed off on them after their time here, since the petty squabbles and mistakes they make are quite human at the end of the day. They aren't omni-cognisant or omnipresent, but they are still the scariest thing you'll ever meet by a country mile. A pissed off god is not to be trifled with.

Unclean Spirits is definitely not for the YA crowd, seeing as language use is quite, shall we say spicy? The violence present in the novel is also pretty graphic, but done in typical Wendig style. It's dirty, desperate and hilarious in equal measure. It fits in with the story damn well, seeing if this ever happened to me I would be running around cursing, screaming and peeing myself for the majority of the story. And whimpering. Lots of curling into a ball and whimpering.

Most of the gods are bastards, manipulating events and Cason to their own ends. Many a time he thinks he's doing the right thing, only to realise later on that he was being lead around by the nose. Cason isn't a quitter and he bulldozes his way through most of the problems he faces. He takes some hits along the way and as the plot around him becomes clearer, he's still his own man. For someone who has been put through the meat grinder by damn gods, this is admirable and you cannot help but cheer the man on.

Is this book the same as Gaiman's American Gods? No. The premise is the same with gods running around all over the place, but that's about it. Wendig's gods are foul mouthed, meaner and petty for the most part. Infected with humanity if it makes sense. It makes them more fun to read seeing as they scheme to cheat each other more than they try cheating humanity.

Unclean Spirits was a fun novel to read. The pacing is fast and never lets up. The action is wall to wall awesome and there were enough humorous parts to lighten it up and lift the story. As a quick jaunt into urban fantasy filled with gods and drama, this was awesome.

8/10

Pacific Rim Trailer

2013-04-30T15:41:00.001+02:00

No joke, this looks like one hell of a good movie. Huge monsters vs. huge robots? What's not to like? I can't wait for it!

We have a Public Holiday tomorrow - Workers day, which seems kind of funny getting a day off work for working - and we're going to a wine tasting, so not much reading will be done. Lots of wine will be sampled though, and that is good.

New Thor Trailer.

2013-04-23T11:24:00.001+02:00

Looks awesome. Can't wait.

The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes

2013-04-18T07:54:00.000+02:00

The Blurb: Chicago, 1931. A strange house gives serial-killer Harper the power to travel through time; to hunt and kill his ‘shining girls’. They’re bright young women full of spark – until he cuts it out of them, leaving clues from different times behind to taunt fate. Kirby, the 90s girl, survives his attack and turns the hunt around. Tracing Harper’s bloody trail of victims – from a glowing dancer in the 30s to a tough welder in the 40s and a bombshell architect in the 50s – Kirby is running out of time trying to solve an impossible mystery. And Harper is heading towards her once again.

This is the first time that I've included the book trailer, since it's a doozy and damn well done.

To the book!

First off, Joey Hi-Fi is a damn magician when it comes to book covers. The black one up there is the limited edition hardback of which only 1,000 was printed. I was lucky enough to receive number 541. I also attended the book launch in Johannesburg, but was too much of a fanboy to ask anything of worth. I apologise for this and will do better next time.

The premise of the book is helluva interesting. A time travelling serial killer kills his Shining Girls. He feels drawn to them, drawn to something they possess. He visits them throughout their lives and then, when he cannot contain himself any longer, kills them. And not quickly. The killer is Harper, a 1920's degenerate who stumbles upon a time travelling house which allows him to travel up to 1993 and back.

The story is based in Chicago, and the amount of research that has gone into the historical city is purely perfect. There's no infodump, just an interesting observation now and then about the technology, fashions or state of the city in the different eras to make them stand out beautifully.

Harper is a sick bastard of a human being. He is clearly insane and getting worse throughout the book. He takes a deserved pummelling from the world in general and from his victims, and I must say it felt good reading how his ass gets handed to him. He's a monster of the worst order as all serial killers surely are. He possesses no redeeming quality, but then if their was any he'd have been a much shallower character. I'm not sure if I believe in pure evil, but his insanity makes him come pretty close.

Kirby is the only victim who survived the attack, and her story primarily happens in 1993. She is most definitely not one to sit back and accept her fate or swallow the hurt and move on. She dedicates her life to finding her attacker and to stop him from hurting anyone else. She enrols to study journalism for the sole reason to get to Dan, a burnt out homicide Journalist who is currently covering sports,to get him to help her in her investigations. She is driven, foul mouthed and distrustful of most people. Hell, she's fun to read. The relationship between Dan and Kirby is really uplifting in the book, as it introduces a nice touch of humanity into a pretty dark story.

One of the interesting things about this book is the chapters. Since it's a novel that involves time travelling, they aren't close to chronological. Harper is all over the place and it made reading interesting, seeing as it made me look at the chapter header for possibly the first time in my life. It adds a touch of chaos to the novel, and it works well.

Time travel is well known for the paradoxes it can create, and those are skilfully handled. The more I think about it the more impressed I am. Harper screws up quite a bit as you'd expect him to, and all these are brought into the story without a hitch. I do not want to spoil anything, so I won't elaborate.

The ending is elegant. I can't think of a better word to describe it. It was surprising and pure perfection.

So, if you would like to read a dark, twisted, beautiful, damn close to perfect novel, read this one.

10/10

Full Superman Trailer

2013-04-17T08:35:00.000+02:00

No joke, this looks as if it's going to be awesome.

Elysium

2013-04-10T11:20:00.000+02:00

This looks too good not to share. Seems like Blomkamp has another major hit on his hands here!

First Law Comic!

2013-04-10T09:34:00.002+02:00

Well, this is good news. Joe Abercrombie, in conjunction with Andie Tong, Chuck Dixon, Pete Pantazis and Bill Tortolini seems to be have hard at work to get this project off the ground.

And the best thing of all? It's free.

I'm so glad they have decided to launch the comic as a webcomic, with three weekly updates to keep us going, The first twelve pages are available right now over at www.firstlawcomic.com. The first issue is also available from Comixology if you can't wait for the updates. It looks damn amazing.

Go look, enjoy and support this brilliant project.

The Blinding Knife - Brent Weeks

2013-03-28T09:45:00.001+02:00

This is the second book in Mr. Weeks' Lightbringer series. I've read his first Trilogy, The Night Angel Trilogy as well as the first book in this series, The Black Prism. Since I read them before the blog was really up and running, I've decided not to do fuzzy reviews about half remembered facts.

This makes the review a bit tricky since I do not want to spoil the first book too much, but I'll muddle through. It's also the reason I've left the blurb out.

Mr. Weeks is damn good at worldbuilding and magical systems. This is an indisputable fact. He spends quite a bit of time on the setting and the mechanics of his world, but he does this really well and it does not feel like some huge info dump. The countries, cities and overall world is well defined so that it's quite easy to keep up with what is happening where. I feel that being good at naming the places and countries is a massive help here.

The magical system is one of the stars of this series. There are certain people who are known as Drafters that can absorb certain colours, and then manifest this colours as magic. Each colour has it's own strengths and weaknesses of course, and the colour and usage of said colour is shown in the drafter's eyes. The more they use, the more their iris' fills up with their colour. Breaking the Halo leads to some unfortunate side effects, so there's a payment to the usage of power which always seems quite fair.

Then there's the Prism. He can Draft all colours and he's responsible for the balance of magic on the earth. Enter Gavin Guile, the current badass Prism. He's powerful enough to move mountains, but all in all he's a nice guy. He's witty and powerful, but he has his own demons he's struggling with. He's an easy character to like and quite fun to read.

The Prism has a bastard, seeing as it seems that powerful people always comes with one for some reason. Kip is a chubby smartmouth little bugger and he irritated the hell out of me in Black Prism. He's a bit better in The Blinding Knife, and I'm sure Mr. Weeks did this on purpose to show character growth and accepting of responsibility, but hell he can complain. Self doubt is all well and good, but when he starts kicking some serious ass one would expect most of it to be replaced by some confidence and bravado. Kip is still quite young in the story, about 17 I think, and at that age most guys feel indestructible. Performing some heroic feat as he did should have honestly given him a massive ego boost that just does not show up.

The supporting cast is well written and fleshed out, and some of their stories seems very interesting. There are quite a bit of spadework done for the next book which is fine and expected.

The one major issue I had with this book, except for Kip complaining about everything, was the pacing. The story would go along at a good clip and then at some points it seems to derail or wobble a bit, which made it a chore to finish. The fight scenes could have been done better, but were pretty solid throughout the novel. The evil guys are quite proper evil, so that irked me. There were some attempts at giving them redeeming characteristics, but not really enough. They are bad men doing bad things, and as such it was quite one dimensional.

It was a fun book, but not really my cup of tea. Things just really did not gel for me. There are some quite dumb decisions made just to advance the plot that left me wondering why the smart people in the story are so thick. The world and magic is wonderful, but the characters were just too irritating for me to like this book very much.

6/10

I interrupt the usual proceedings

2013-03-18T13:25:00.003+02:00

Phew what a weekend! I attended a fun bachelors and went flying off my motorcycle. This necessitated a visit to the hospital, where I was poked and scanned for a while and then I received the news that I fractured my sternum. It hurts quite bad, but with no bruised organs or chips of bone to worry about I see myself as quite lucky. I'm also as stiff as a damn plank and starting to go blue in some places. That means I'm healing.

The motorcycle is a bit crocked, with the handlebars a mess and quite a few scrapes. Hopefully it can get fixed with the minimum of fuss and money.

This, and two weddings I have to attend this week, will lead to some quiet time on the blog. Everything should be back to normal next week if all goes well.

Emperor of Thorns Map

2013-03-15T11:24:00.002+02:00

This is the pretty colour map for the Emperor of Thorns, Mark Lawrence's third book in the Broken Empire series. If it looks familiar, it's because Mr. Lawrence uses Europe as a base map and then drowns quite a bit of it. Blame the ice caps melting. All I know is that it's pretty and done damn well. This was stolen directly from Mr. Lawrence's blog, which can be found here.

Republic of Thieves publication date announced

2013-03-14T15:18:00.001+02:00

After five long years, we finally have a publication date. Just announced on Gollianz's blog here:

"The Orion Publishing Group (UK & Commonwealth) and the Random House Publishing Group (US) are thrilled to announce the publication of the third instalment in Scott Lynch’s popular fantasy series that began with The Lies of Locke Lamora. THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES will release on October 10, 2013 in the UK and Commonwealth and October 8, 2013 in the US."

This is the best new's I've heard all year. The Gentleman Bastard series is one of the most original and well written out there. I love these books. Lynch's struggles with depression and anxiety is well documented, which explains the long wait for the third instalment of the series. I'm glad that a date has been set and that Mr. Lynch finished the final draft of what will be a damn good book. Well done and holy hell I can't wait for this!

Caliban's War - James S.A. Corey

2013-03-11T08:42:00.000+02:00

The Blurb: The alien protomolecule is clear evidence of an intelligence beyond human reckoning. No one knows what exactly is being built on Venus, but whatever it is, it is vast, powerful, and terrifying.

When a creature of unknown origin and seemingly impossible physiology attacks soldiers on Ganymede, the fragile balance of power in the Solar System shatters. Now, the race is on to discover if the protomolecule has escaped Venus, or if someone is building an army of super-soldiers.

Jim Holden is the center of it all. In spite of everything, he’s still the best man for the job to find out what happened on Ganymede. Either way, the protomolecule is loose and Holden must find a way to stop it before war engulfs the entire system.

This is the second novel in Corey's Expanse series, the first being Leviathan Wakes. James S.A. Corey is the pen name for the collaboration of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, and if they wrote this the same way they wrote Leviathan Wakes, each concentrated on the one of the main POV's, in this case Captain James Holden, Captain of the Rocinante and Chrisjen Avasarala, a powerhouse of an UN politician. Both wants to save the universe.

The blending of two voices and styles was done much better than the first book, as it reads seamlessly between the different POV's. Chrisjen, who serves as the Undersecretary of Executive Administration, is a stand out character in this book. I feel this must have been heavily influenced by Abraham, seeing as it reminded me of his astounding Long Price Quartet with the political machinations done in an interesting way. She plays the Game brilliantly, but she has a single driving force. To keep people safe and the universe out of an all out war.

Some new characters who also plays a huge role are also present. Gunnery Sergeant Bobbie Draper is a huge Martian Marine that lives through the slaughter of her whole platoon and has to struggle through the loss and keep her feelings of revenge in check. Praxidike Meng, a botanist from the breadbasket Ganymede, daughter gets kidnapped just before the unleashing of a new Protomolecule monster by some idiots, is the flame that lit the fuse in this novel. His single minded drive to find his daughter is done well, and I've felt his pain jumping off the page.

The depth of Corey's writing makes this book shine. There are no cardboard characters. Family ties are there and explained and the motivations are fleshed out, not just thrown in to move the story forward. I love the idea of humanity's drive to expand done in such a dirty, desperate way. It feels as if the space travel is real, and just beyond our current reach. No Warp Drives or Black Holes. Distance is a bitch in space and used as such. Oxygen and water is a problem that keeps everyone in check. Space Pirates that board ships and steal everything, including the air, makes all kinds of sense.

Now to the alien protomolecule that crashed on Venus in the previous novel. It's hinted at and talked about throughout the book, and the threat of something totally unknown a utterly alien hangs over everyone's heads. That is the crux of this novel. Humanity trying to prepare for an external threat, and loads of people with guns who are twitchy is always bad.

As soon as I finished this book I realised it's almost a prologue for the next one in the series. The problems they faced here is going to be as nothing during what is to come. Important events happened and events unfolded that's going to be critical in the future. It's not a problem, but damn I can't wait for the next one.

9/10

The Daylight War - Peter V Brett

2013-03-05T12:54:00.000+02:00

The Blurb: Continuing the impressive debut fantasy series from author Peter V. Brett, The DAYLIGHT WAR is book three of the Demon Cycle, pulling the reader into a world of demons, darkness and heroes.

On the night of a new moon all shadows deepen.

Humanity has thirty days to prepare for the next demon attack, but one month is scarcely enough time to train a village to defend themselves, let alone an entire continent caught in the throes of civil war.

Arlen Bales understands the coreling threat better than anyone. Born ordinary, the demon plague has shaped him into a weapon so powerful he has been given the unwanted title of saviour, and attracted the attention of deadly enemies both above and below ground.

Unlike Arlen, Ahmann Jardir embraces the title of Deliverer. His strength resides not only in the legendary relics he carries, but also in the magic wielded by his first wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose allegiance even Jardir cannot be certain of.

Once Arlen and Jardir were like brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies prepare, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all: those that lurk in the human heart.

The Daylight War is the third instalment of The Demon Cycle, Peter V Brett's current line of work. I've been awaiting this with bated breath, seeing as the first two, The Painted Man and The Desert Spear, were both damn good.

The main characters are all well represented and each given enough space to shine in this book. The Painted Man was mostly Arlen's story and The Desert Spear was Jardir's, but The Daylight war focuses a lot on the women in the story. Renna, Leesha and Inevera each shines in this book.

I like the way how Brett seamlessly goes back in time to tell the story from a different viewpoint. It fleshes out the driving force for the characters and makes the overall story well rounded and fleshed out. Since Inevera has a huge impact on Jardir, it was good to see her motivations and machinations throughout Jardir's life.

There are irritations. Leesha is one big one. She's a community leader but she can act selfishly as well. I suppose not all the characters can be nice, but I'm not the biggest fan of her. Renna is hardheaded throughout, but her motivations remain pure, and her willingness to offer herself to protect and help others are laudable.

We do get a big serving of Jardir and Arlen, and since they are the main protagonists in the story this is well and good. Arlen is much more human thanks to Renna, even though he is halfway demonspawn himself in this book. His rallying of Cutters Hollow was brilliant and his burgeoning power was a joy to behold.

Jardir shows some softer bits of himself and he's turning into a real leader of his people. Most of his decisions are based around the safety of his people and he's not as deuchy as I first suspected of him. I quite liked him in the end.

One thing that Brett get's right is the melding of the different cultures in the book. You can feel the people gaining respect for each other, even though there are major differences in their cultures. No one people is close to evil, they are just different, and this point comes through well. It was also entertaining to learn a bit more about the demons in the book, and I'm getting a sneaky feeling about them. I could be wrong, but some dots are getting connected in my head and I love that.

When I reached the ending, I immediately thought "Damn, that was cool." Having had it stew a bit, I'm feeling it could have been done a little bit better. Brett does not write the best fight scenes in the world. Don't get me wrong, the action is all there, but I couldn't help feeling as if I was watching a show or performance in stead of feeling in the thick of it. It's still done well and entertaining, but it could be better. Might just be me. The explanations about why events unfolded as they did was also a bit murky, but I'm sure this was intentional to keep the suspense high for the next book.

All in all, a damn entertaining read. Not without fault, but the pacing is nice and the dialogue flows well.

8/10

Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook

2013-02-07T10:14:00.001+02:00

The Blurb: Darkness wars with darkness as the hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must. They bury their doubts with their dead.

Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more…

This omnibus edition comprises The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose—the first three novels in Glen Cook's bestselling fantasy series.

I'm ashamed that it took me this long to read Glen Cook's work. I mean the first Black Company novel was published in 1984! In my defence, I haven't really seen any of his books on South African shelves for some reason. The other day I was browsing Amazon and came upon this; The Chronicles of the Black Company, consisting of the first three Black Company books namely The Black Company, Shadows Linger and the White Rose. I bought it and dove right in.

The whole story is told from the Point of View of Croaker, the Company's main physician and Annalist. It's his duty to note down battles and achievements so that following generations of the company knows of their deeds and their names. The Black Company is the Last of the Free Companies of Khatovar, and it's the Annalist's job to take the Annals back should the company ever be destroyed, even though none currently in the company knows if it still exists.

I found it hard going at first, seeing as we are just thrown into the story. The company is stuck in a contract. They can't just leave, seeing as their reputation would suffer. And as a mercenary company, reputation is everything. The solution to their problem comes because of some deft out of the box thinking.

They are signed on to go North, and here the story really kicks off and gets going. There's the Dominator - super bad guy, his wife - just as bad, and their lackeys, Those Who Were Taken. It all sounds kind of like Erikson's Malazan books and Jordan's Wheel of Time books made love and this is their awesome offspring, but the opposite is of course true. The Black company was published in 1984, Eye of the World in 1990 and Gardens of the Moon in 1999.

So Cook is the daddy in my book. I know there are most probably earlier works that is in the same vein, but I do not know of them at the moment.

I'm not joking. The Malazan books and Wheel of Time books are definitely right up there in my favourites of all time. I know they aren't perfect, but I love them to bits. And the Black Company is right up there as well.

I must say that as soon as they sailed for the north, the story really took off. Since it's a purely single POV book, you get to know Croaker and his buddies well. He's not one of the main decision makers in the company, so he sees all. The friendly running battle between One-Eye and Goblin is especially well told throughout these books. There are battles, growth and difficult decisions along the way. This is a story of a mercenary company, so some rough stuff does happen but Croaker glosses over them, rather showing the good side of his comrades, as a friend should

What it boils down to is this. If you like Erikson and Jordan you'll love this book. It's on the same level as Gemmel's Legend for importance in their respective genres. A monster of a tale, and well done at that.

10/10

Exclusive Books Red Trolley Dash

2013-02-04T12:54:00.002+02:00

So I was lucky enough to win a Trolley Dash at the Exclusive Books sale last Friday, and I must say it was really quite fun! We went early to browse the available titles and work out a strategy. I understand some people grabbed close to 50 books, but all these that I picked will be read. And the Scrabble will be played.
All in all, I picked 29 books and one game. I paid nothing, but the till slip ended up at just over R 3,200

Not a bad way to start the weekend!

Emperor of Thorns Map

2013-02-01T11:30:00.001+02:00

I saw that Mark Lawrence published this on his blog. So his teasing over the new book is starting early. I can't wait for this.

This is amazing

2013-01-31T16:25:00.000+02:00

This Disney short is just beautiful.

Daylight War trailer - Peter V Brett

2013-01-31T15:25:00.000+02:00

Just saw this. I do not really understand why book trailers exist, since I do not think they can be successful. That's just my opinion. The previous two books in this series was damn good, so I'm sure to get my hands on this one as soon aspossible.

Redshirts - John Scalzi

2013-01-25T08:41:00.000+02:00

The Blurb: Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

This was my first Scalzi book ever. I've been reading his blog, whatever since well, forever and twitterstalking him for a good few years as well. He's a funny guy and his blog is probably the best one out there.

I do not know why it took me this long to pick up a Scalzi book. I really should have done so sooner. I've been keeping my eye on Redshirts since I've heard about it and I've read good and bad reviews for it. The worst thing people seem to have to say about it all is that it's badly written Star Trek Fan Fiction. I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

Yes, the book is heavily influenced by Star Trek. Well, mainly influenced by it. By the poor, nameless Redshirts who gets mauled and killed so that Kirk and Spock and the rest can escape. By the shaky science and huge gaping plotholes that are present. Those poor bastards no one ever really thought about or mourned. They are the focus of this book.

Scalzi is one hell of a writer. The comedy he can inject into his scenes are sublime. The brilliant turn of phrase, the startled response and quick wit are all there to be read and enjoyed by the bucketful. I do not want to spoil the book for anyone, so go and read it. I will say it's not straight up sci-fi, it's more than that. The book isn't perfect and that's ok. Some parts drag a bit and are a bit vague. The solutions to some impossible problems are hilariously handled and it makes me laugh even now thinking about the Box.

If you liked Star Trek, please read this. If you like a laugh, read it as well. It's that good. You'll laugh at least ten times through this book and that alone makes it worth the price.

8/10

The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter

2013-01-15T13:56:00.000+02:00

The Blurb: 1916: the Western Front, France. Private Percy Blakeney wakes up. He is lying on fresh spring grass. He can hear birdsong, and the wind in the leaves in the trees. Where has the mud, blood and blasted landscape of No man's Land gone?

2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson has returned to the burned-out home of one Willis Linsay, a reclusive and some said mad, others dangerous, scientist. It was arson but, as is often the way, the firemen seem to have caused more damage than the fire itself. Stepping through the wreck of a house, there's no sign of any human remains but on the mantelpiece Monica finds a curious gadget - a box, containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a...potato. It is the prototype of an invention that Linsay called a 'stepper'. An invention he put up on the web for all the world to see, and use, an invention that would to change the way mankind viewed his world Earth for ever. And that's an understatement if ever there was one...

...because the stepper allowed the person using it to step sideways into another America, another Earth, and if you kept on stepping, you kept on entering even more Earths...this is the Long Earth. It's not our Earth but one of chain of parallel worlds, lying side by side each differing from its neighbour by really very little (or actually quite a lot). It's an infinite chain, offering 'steppers' an infinite landscape of infinite possibilities. And the further away you travel, the stranger - and sometimes more dangerous - the Earths get. The sun and moon always shine, the basic laws of physics are the same. However, the chance events which have shaped our particular Earth, such as the dinosaur-killer asteroid impact, might not have happened and things may well have turned out rather differently.

But, until Willis Linsay invented his stepper, only our Earth hosted mankind...or so we thought. Because it turns out there are some people who are natural 'steppers', who don't need his invention and now the great migration has begun..

So, a new Pratchett collaboration. I'm a self confessed Discworld nut, so of course I wanted to read it. I've never read Mr. Baxter's work, but I've heard good things about his work.

First off the bat. This isn't Discworld. Nor was it aiming to be. The multiverse suddenly opens up and we have infinte worlds to play with. The possibilities are almost endless. Humans can step sideways, onto new, virgin copies of earth. I say almost, seeing as you need a stepper box that you constructed yourself, a potato, you can't take any metal across worlds and you throw up violently after each step. So there are some real boundaries attached to the stepping. To most people.

Joshua Valiente isn't most people. He can step without a box and without getting sick, so he can explore further and deeper than normal. He's an interesting guy. Josjua attracts the wrong kind of attention and then he meets Lobsang, a brilliant AI computer who swears to help Joshua if he agrees to accompany Lobsang into the Long earth.

Up to here the book was pretty good. An interesting premise has been created, there are main characters that's been introduced and who have grown, the AI is a cool touch. Then nothing much of anything happens.

They explore the earth. Slowly, disjointedly, confusingly. The book really starts to splutter along from here.There are too many improbabilities and weird decisions made to really make sense other than to drive the plot. I understand that the book was written as a collaboration over quite a long time, but it should have been polished better. I know this isn't Discworld, but Pratchett's touch seemed mostly absent from the book. The sharp wit and pregnant pause that made his work amazing is sadly missing from The Long Earth.

It was a real promising premise that failed to engage me, and that makes me quite depressed.

5/10

The Whitefire Crossing - Courtney Schafer

2013-01-08T11:06:00.003+02:00

The Blurb: Dev is a smuggler with the perfect cover. He's in high demand as a guide for the caravans that carry legitimate goods from the city of Ninavel into the country of Alathia. The route through the Whitefire Mountains is treacherous, and Dev is one of the few climbers who knows how to cross them safely. With his skill and connections, it's easy enough to slip contraband charms from Ninavel - where any magic is fair game, no matter how dark - into Alathia, where most magic is outlawed.

But smuggling a few charms is one thing; smuggling a person through the warded Alathian border is near suicidal. Having made a promise to a dying friend, Dev is forced to take on a singularly dangerous cargo: Kiran. A young apprentice on the run from one of the most powerful mages in Ninavel, Kiran is desperate enough to pay a fortune to sneak into a country where discovery means certain execution - and he'll do whatever it takes to prevent Dev from finding out the terrible truth behind his getaway.

Yet Kiran isn't the only one harboring a deadly secret. Caught up in a web of subterfuge and dark magic, Dev and Kiran must find a way to trust each other - or face not only their own destruction, but that of the entire city of Ninavel.

I know this book was published in 2011 and generated quite a bit of buzz at the time. It was more an accidental Amazon purchase more than anything else to be honest.

First off, Ms. Schafer knows what she's doing. Her sentences are beautiful and flowing, sucking you into the story. Dialogue is effortless and the worldbuilding that went into the book brilliant.

The two books that I read before this was a struggle to get through. I just could not get into the flow of them at all. The first few chapters of this book was a joy to read. Ninavel is beautifully constructed. The city is bustling, characters and cast varied, and it sounds like it's rich in history. The whole book could have been based in the city and it would have been good.

The thing is, Dev is a smuggler and outrider, both quite extramural careers. So of to the mountains we go! It becomes clear that Ms Schafer is a mountain climber, since it's a big part of the story. Dev scrambles up everywhere. It's not my cup of tea, but it was introduced in a smart way, so I'll take it. The journey over the Whitefires are a huge chunk of the story, but there are enough conflict to get me by.

The magic system isn't fully explained in the book, which I like. There are enough explanation and hints of how everything fits, and it's quite unique and done well. I wish magic was used more. Kiran, an apprentice mage, is quite a wet blanket for most of the story. He rolls over easily in most situations. I understand that it's because he has been shielded from the outside world for his whole life by his master, but I expected him to get some more backbone as the story progressed. I know he is a mage being hunted by his master, but some personal strength shining through would have been welcomed.

There are a few twists and turns and some weird decisions made along the way to force the story in a certain direction. The bad guys are solidly bad, not grey as most are these days. Murder, torture, power hungry. All the classics.

All in all it was an enjoyable holiday read If you like magic and mountain climbing, it's a definite must read.

7/10

Happy 2013

2013-01-07T08:33:00.000+02:00

Well, it seems I've survived 2012, but only by the skin of my teeth. My wife and I had a wonderful holiday with great friends, then Christmas with the family was fun. I got some nice presents and drank some awesome wines.

My car got stolen from inside my yard on Boxing day, and that put quite a damper on the festivities. Bastards. New Years was a blast as always.

So, I'm not going to do a best books of 2012 or most awaited books of 2013, seeing as I'm lazy at the moment. I will share some of my plans for 2013. I do not call them resolutions, seeing as resolutions gets broken in no time flat.

1. Buy a new car as soon as the insurance people sort their stuff out. Bastard thieves.
2. Lose 15kg. Needs to be done
3. Only read good books. Nothing depresses me more than a bad story. Not sure how I'm going to pull this one off, but here's to hoping!
4. Blog more
5. Write more. That is the big one for this year.
6. Take my little motorcycle on a weekend trip.

I'm not going to say drink less and exersize more, seeing as lying to ones self seems stupid.

I managed to finish three books on holiday. The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer, The Long Earth by Pratchett & Baxter and Redshirts by John Scalzi. Reviews are in the pipeline.

Here is to hoping that 2013 is better than 2012.

Oblivion Trailer

2012-12-11T11:11:00.000+02:00

I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but this looks like it could be good.

Storyboard Episode 5. Rothfuss, Wheaton, Scalzi and Lawson!

2012-12-05T09:12:00.000+02:00

Watch, learn, enjoy. I'm in a bit of a funk right now, real life and work is kicking my ass a bit, so there are no real reading going on at present. It's almost holidays, so should be back and rearing to go later in December.