Review of Wanderlust
Aug
31
2008

Wanderlust
by Ann Aguirre
320pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5
LibraryThing Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.34/5

Wanderlust, which just came out this past Tuesday, is the second book in Ann Aguirre’s Jax series following her debut novel Grimspace. Grimspace did have the distinction of being the most entertaining, easy to get into and most difficult to put down book I had read this year – at least until I read Wanderlust, which I liked even better. Fair warning for those who haven’t read Grimspace yet: some spoilers follow.

After exposing the corruption and deception of the Farwan Corporation, Sirantha has been sequestered from the rest of the crew and questioned for many days. Because of this, she is expecting more interrogation when she is summoned to the conference room. Instead Sirantha finds herself reunited with her telepathic boyfriend March and ship’s mechanic Dina and offered a job as an ambassador for the Conglomerate. If she accepts her first task is convincing the bug-like aliens on Ithiss-Tor to join the Conglomerate, since Sirantha is in the unique position of having befriended one of them, the bounty hunter Velith who was sent to kill her in the last book.

Although ambassador is not Sirantha’s first choice of jobs, it is difficult to refuse the money, especially after discovering her despicable husband wiped out all her funds when she was declared prematurely dead. To further complicate matters, Sirantha’s mother shows up and says someone has threatened to kill her unless her daughter takes the job. The would-be assassins consider Sirantha the only acceptable candidate; they are opposed to Ithiss-Tor joining the Conglomerate, and think Sirantha has an excellent chance of screwing up negotiations. In spite of the danger, Sirantha, March, Dina and Vel begin the journey to Ithiss-Tor with several mishaps along the way.


Wanderlust was never difficult to get into but the earliest chapters did not immerse me into the book quite as quickly as its predecessor did – mainly since there was a lot of recap interspersed with new plot in the first chapter. The viewpoint is first person from Jax’s (often humorous) point of view so when she kept interjecting thoughts that would be very obvious to her by now about March being a telepath or how Kai died, it did not seem natural. Chapter 1 is short, as all the chapters are, and this was not something I noticed much after that so this was a minor quibble, especially considering there was enough introduction to the new book in this section to keep me interested.

Once I got past the first couple of chapters, it was very difficult to put the book down. It’s very fast-paced and I always ended the chapter wanting to read the next one to find out what happened next. Sirantha’s perspective is told in present tense which just adds to the urgency when she or one of the other characters is in danger.

In spite of a lot of action and adventure, this is not a book that is all about the plot and equal time is dedicated Sirantha herself and her relationships with the other crew members. Sirantha, our mouthy, bald, and scarred heroine, has lost a lot and deals with paranoia from being the center of so many conspiracies. She’s tough and sarcastic on the outside but vulnerable to the core. Reading about interaction between the crew members is as much fun as reading about their adventures. Sirantha and Dina are constantly ragging on each other but are obviously good friends in spite of the way they sound. March and Sirantha have a complicated relationship and Vel’s attempts at learning human customs make him quite endearing.

Although the characters are not particularly deep or complex, they are interesting and very likable. Everyone seems to be fighting the demons from their past and present. March had a difficult time adjusting to his telepathic abilities and has a dark side that comes out at times, and Dina was a member of a royal family until her parents and siblings died. In addition to the humans, there are some interesting alien species and one of the more intriguing characters is the bounty hunter Vel, known as a “Slider” because he can wear human skin and slide into someone else’s life, appearing indistinguishable from the real person he’s imitating.

From start to finish, Wanderlust had me hooked with its submergence of fast-paced action, humor, and enjoyable characters. I read this book in a day, which I almost never do anymore, but I always had to read “just one more chapter.” Highly recommended to anyone looking for a light and diverting story that draws you in easily and keeps you reading.

8/10

Read the first chapter online

Reviews of other books in this series:
Grimspace (#1)

Update
Aug
29
2008

After finishing The Cipher one week ago, I’ve finished 3 more books (it helps that I’ve had the last 3 days off from work). Here are the next books I need to review and some short impressions of them:

The Cipher by Diana Pharoah Francis (of course) – This one started off somewhat good (although never that great) but by the end, I really didn’t like it very much at all. I won’t be continuing with the Crosspointe series.

Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse – This is the first in a series I definitely will be continuing with – a cyberpunk story about not just the tech but religion with an interesting female lead and a mystery. Any time I have tried reading cyberpunk I haven’t liked it because the character and story always seemed secondary to the cyberpunk aspect of it but this one didn’t have the same problems.

The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia – A lovely, well written story using the character of an intelligent automaton to explore social inequality.

Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre – I read this in one day. That is something I have not done in forever but this was very difficult to put down. I liked it better than the first book in the series, Grimspace (which I also couldn’t put down). It was very fast paced with lots of adventure yet still had focus on character interaction (this one was more about friendships than the romantic relationship although there was some of that too).

Now I’d better read some longer books while I get caught up on all these…

Iain Banks Q&A
Aug
29
2008

Part two of the Q & A with Iain Banks is up on his site. Readers emailed him questions about the books, writing quirks, video games, and what kind of tattoo based on his books he’d get.

Part one, which was put up in July, is available here. This one has more questions related to the books but if you ever wanted to know what places to visit in Scotland, this is the one to read.

Free Revised Version of Primary Inversion
Aug
28
2008

I signed up for a Catherine Asaro mailing list a while ago when I was desperately trying to find a copy of The Radiant Seas. Yesterday Catherine sent an email to the group to let us know that a revised version of her first novel Primary Inversion is now available at the Baen Free Library. Here is what she had to say about the new revisions:

This is a rewritten version of my first published book. I’m a better writer now, so I went through the entire book earlier this year, polished, streamlined, and updated it. If you’re in the music business, you could say I remastered it 😉

I am curious about the changes since I thought this was already a pretty good book. Primary Inversion was one of those books I couldn’t put down and read in about 2 days (review). Actually, it was the book that convinced me I might like space opera after all.

There are many other titles also available for free at the Baen Free Library.

Guest Review of Before They Are Hanged
Aug
27
2008

Before They Are Hanged
by Joe Abercrombie
539pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 7/10
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.24/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.34/5

Joe Abercrombie’s Before They Are Hanged is the middle book in his First Law trilogy, following The Blade Itself and preceding Last Argument of Kings (which has an official US launch date of Sept. 23, but is already available from some outlets). Much like The Blade Itself, Hanged is a book that I enjoyed reading for reasons I don’t entirely understand. When viewed separately its components all seem to be between weak and average, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts and it has left me eagerly awaiting the final book in the trilogy.

Having joined forces in the previous book, Logen (21 lvl. human berzerker), Ferro (23 lvl. fey fighter), Bayaz (30 lvl. demi-human mage NPC) and Luthar (5 lvl. human dumbass) set off on a quest to the literal end of the world. They are seeking a weapon of great power, though exactly what that weapon is only becomes clear once they are well on their way. What is known, though, is that they need the weapon to fight Khalul, a rival of Bayaz who has set himself up as a false prophet in the South and is the power behind the growing Gurkish Empire.

Sand dan Glokta, now Superior of the Royal Inquisition, finds himself on the frontlines of the battle with the Gurkish. He has been tasked with the impossible: defend an isolated city on a distant continent with no money, no reinforcements, and a possible conspiracy among the ruling council to hand the city over to the Gurkish. The reason for the lack of reinforcements is that a second a war in the North is also raging, which is where we find Major West in a different, though almost as difficult, situation. He must defend the northern borders from both barbarian invaders and the vastly incompetent crown prince Ladisla who, for better or mostly worse, has taken control of a third of the defending army.


Before They Are Hanged is a bit of a mystery for me. Without question, it was a fun read. But exactly what made it good is hard to pin down. The story is fairly standard, with no outstanding features or particularly unusual spin to distinguish it from the run-of-the-mill fantasy novel. As I implied above, the characters are also mostly stock. This does not mean that they are without depth and complexity, but even there the depth is the same sort of depth you often find in their character archetypes. I even found the twist ending to be predictable in outcome, if not the exact mechanism used to achieve that outcome.

And yet…I liked it. In fact, I read it from cover to cover in one day. The characters and relationships are well executed, particularly Glokta, who I found to have both the most compelling personality and subplot in the book. While the quest largely turns into an excuse for extended exposition on the backstory of the world and the northern war stalls for time until its conclusion in the next book, Glokta’s political, martial, and personal battles in the city of Dagoska keep the book afloat during all of the setup in the other two major subplots. It is also the closest view Abercrombie gives to the central threat overarching all of the plotlines, the violation of the rules of magic.

In Dagoska we can see the effect of Khalul’s violation of the Second Law and the great power the violation has granted his forces. Bayaz’s storytelling during his quest provides an example of what can go wrong when you violate the laws and shows why his intended violation of the First Law of Magic (which, surprisingly, is not “Don’t talk about magic”) is so dangerous, but only through Glokta’s subplot do we see why the Second Law violation is a threat when it is done correctly. Maybe this is why I see Glokta’s story as the most successful in the book; it advances the larger story through action instead of exposition and does so in a well-paced, interesting way.

Before They Are Hanged appears to be a standard middle book in an epic-fantasy trilogy, but it is well executed and entertaining to read. Though slow in places, there is enough plot progression to show glimmers that the final book, Last Argument of Kings, may break out of this mold and provide an exceptional story that is on par with the execution and writing in Hanged. I’d recommend reading Hanged on its on merits, but if Kings can follow through the series may become a must-read for fantasy fans.

7/10

Review of Use of Weapons
Aug
24
2008

Use of Weapons
by Iain M. Banks
512pp (Trade Paperback)
My Rating: 8.5/10
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.1/5
Good Reads Rating: 4.23/5

The Culture novels by Scottish science fiction writer Iain M. Banks are stand alone stories taking place within the titular universe, an egalitarian interplanetary utopia in which capitalism, disease, and (to an extent) even death no longer pose a problem to humanity. Although each book has a different storyline with a separate set of characters, it is often recommended that The Player of Games or Consider Phlebas be read before the more complex Use of Weapons. Having read the former earlier this year, it is the more accessible novel for newcomers to the series and a better introduction to the Culture since it has more examination of the society and an easy-to-follow yet intelligent storyline. (It is also my favorite of the two although I enjoyed them both.) Use of Weapons is more difficult to read with its utilization of a fractured timeline and is a more of a character study than a social study. However, Use of Weapons is a brilliant and rewarding novel and I am very glad it was recently released once again in the United States.

Diziet Sma is interrupted from her party by news from the drone Skaffen-Amtiskaw: she must leave the very next morning to retrieve Cheradenine Zakalwe for a very important mission. Zakalwe, a man of many talents who is occasionally employed by the Culture as a last-resort problem solver, had forged a peace many years ago on a distant planet. Following the premature retirement of President Tsoldrin Beychae, the power who had been holding together the strained peace that Zakalwe created, intensifying local strife is now threatening to break out into a larger regional conflict. Beychae must be pulled from his comfortable retreat if the planet is to have any hope of regaining stability, and Zakalwe is the only man who can find him and convince him that he is needed. But before Zakalwe can convince Beychae to return to the presidency, first Sma and the smart-ass drone must convince Zakalwe to return to service.


Each chapter in Use of Weapons alternates between two different storylines, one that is sequential beginning with Diziet Sma’s quest to enlist Zakalwe to the cause of the Culture once again and another that moves backwards throughout various points in Zakalwe’s life. The prologue and epilogue also deal with a separate storyline involving Zakalwe. Because of the sequence of events, this is a book that cannot be read passively but requires some attention from the reader.

There is a twist at the very end that I did not see coming at all (don’t worry, there is no way I will spoil the fun by revealing it!). It completely changes the perspective of the entire novel, meaning it would be a great book to read again once you know how it ends. I suspect everything would tie together much better during a reread between this surprise conclusion and the unordered chapter structure.

Banks creates a nice balance between conciseness and description. His writing is not dense yet his depictions of simple subjects add beauty to the story. I particularly loved this line on the very first page about the appearance of a glass held up to the sun:

The glass sparkled like a hundred tiny rainbows, and minute twists of bubbles in the slender stem glowed golden against the blue sky, spiraling about each other in a fluted double helix.

Zakalwe is a fascinating, complex character who is not at all static – a very intelligent, competent outworlder hired by the Special Circumstances division of the Culture to do their dirty work. This role also creates a rather interesting ethical dilemma about the utopia. It is against violence yet is uses Zakalwe and arms him in order to achieve certain ends on planets that are not a part of the Culture.

Use of Weapons is a clever story that slowly discloses the various pieces until the stunning final revelation that changes everything. I highly recommend it to readers looking for a thoughtful novel that will leave them pondering once they have put the book down.

8.5/10

Review of other books in this series:
The Player of Games