Audiobook Review - Consider Phlebas (Culture #1) by Iain M. Banks

Here's my Audiobook Review for Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, book 1 in the Culture series, though it's the second book I've read from the same series. The book ... and review ... are a bit disjointed, but that was intentional to match the book ... I'll stick with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaLC1zuKypM

Please like and subscribe and feel free to watch the video even.

Audiobook Review - Off to be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 #1) by Scott Meyer, read by Luke Daniels

My review for Off to be the Wizard by Scott Meyer, read by Luke Daniels. This is book 1 of 6 (so far that I know) and I will probably be checking out more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFxtHLn8MRM

Please like, subscribe, and leave a comment about how much you would like to manipulate the world through a magic computer file...

Book Review - Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds (Revelation Space Prequel) | Youtubes

Here's another review, this one for Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds, prequel to Revelation Space. These have been fun for me, not sure if that's true for anyone else, but here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QASLr84I_jg&t=608s

As usual, please like and subscribe, comment to tell me what I can do to be not crappy! (*step 1: use better grammar)

Why Read Malazan Book of the Fallen - Youtube

Because I haven't milked this topic enough either here or elsewhere, here's a video version of my attempts at conversion ... I mean suggestion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSLAQoYMo0w&t=16s

Please like and subscribe to the channel. I'm telling ya, it's way too positive, I need some snark. Do people still say snark these days?

Audiobook Review - New Found Land: The Long Haul by Austin Grossman, Neal Stephenson, and Sean Stewart

 Pretty much everything I do is a test or something I'm having fun with. I attempt to mimic the audio and totally don't fail...right? Right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ingKJvgmE4&t=44s

Please check it out and tell me how bad that impression was. Also, please subscribe!

Youtube Review - Later by Stephen King (Hard Case Crime)

 Here's another attempt at youtubing. Still learning and playing with edits, hence the sudden image midway through the video. Watch for all the surprises!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWIGKoTwURM&t=2s

Please subscribe for more. Thanks!

Review - The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Elric of Melnibone #2) by Michael Moorcock

It's been too long since my first Elric book, Elric of Melnibone, which I read about 14 years ago. I'd been meaning to keep reading, I even own just about every iteration you can find of the series and still only based on that one book read.

I had a blast with this one though it was much weirder than I recall. At the same time, that's part of the mystery and fun of reading these books. Moorcock does not lack for imagination. 

Sailor on the Seas of Fate is essentially three adventures smashed into one book so it's technically even shorter than the already short book. Characterization of any character but Elric is minimal, but Elric is such a rich character that's largely not too much of a problem (though I wouldn't mind some more).

I like exploring the multiverse and it's fun to see that the multiverse isn't a new concept (as I tend to start to think), it's a really cool concept that's been used for years. I will try to make it less than 14 years for the Weird of the White Wolf.

4 out of 5 stars (highly recommended)

(Audiobook) Review - The Player of Games (Culture #2) by Iain M. Banks

For my first foray into Iain M. Banks' world of the Culture, The Player of Games pretty well blew me away. I'm still thinking about it weeks after finishing. I've realized I need to know more about the Culture though, so much more.

As I'm last to the party with Banks (it seems to me), I'm sure you already know, but if you don't,  Gurgeh is a professional game player. The best of the best. Better than Ninja (any gen z'ers around?). He's conscripted (I won't get into details) to play the ultimate game on an alien world and it's about to get real.

This game has it all, different levels, different amounts of players, it's so ineffable, we don't really get a description of it, but that just adds to the enigma that is Azad (also the name of the empire). 

It's such a brilliant telling of some relatively typical tropes, but it felt so fresh...even though it was first published in 1988.

I can't wait to get into more of Banks's Culture series and probably anything else he has to offer. I didn't know if starting book 2 of the series was the right choice having never read anything else, but this recommendation worked at least for me.

Narration: This was my first experience with Peter Kenny (to my knowledge) and I thought he did a wonderful job. I barely noticed his involvement, which is the best kind of narrator. Great voices, good simpering machine voices, and flowed quite well.

4.5 out of 5 stars (highly recommended)

(Audiobook) Review - Ringworld (Known Space #1) by Larry Niven

This is one of those mandatory reads for sci-fi aficionados (like myself of course) and I have to say it did not quite live up to the hype.

Funny story, I actually read one of the newer books a number of years ago, Betrayer of Worlds or something like that, since I had received BoW as a review book for my blog. Not knowing much (clearly), I jumped in and really ended up enjoying it. 

The funny part is, I didn't love Ringworld all that much. It had some very interesting concepts, but I tend to read for characters or at least some plot with great concepts, but this didn't really have much more than the concepts. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, but mostly the cardboard cutout characters kept reminding me of characters like Belgarath the Sorcerer from the Eddings books. 

They had one character and that was it. The Kzin is angry, the girl is flighty but lucky, Louis Wu had some character I guess, but it was hardly a focus.

I think what really disappointed me was the "twist" at the end which I'll address with spoiler tags:

spoiler: Then there's equating "luck" with "fate" that just didn't seem to work for me. Maybe I've watched too much Deadpool, but this felt like such a stretch as to make it deus ex machina. End spoiler

Narration: Grover Gardner was one of those old-school narrators. The reading was pretty stiff and didn't do the story I was already bailing on much justice. On the good side, I believed his female voices so that worked.

2.5 out of 5 stars (recommended with reservations)

Review - Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time #11) by Robert Jordan

Wow, what a breath of fresh air. It's like I was wearing a mask for months and it was finally taken off. (apropos of the current time?)

Not the cover mind you, that's still one of my least favorite. Perrin always comes off a bit funky in these covers amiright?

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (and not anyone else) really did feel like I was reading one of the first 6 books of the series. The first 6 are so good, good enough, at least for me, to get me through the slog that was books 7-10. Which is insane to think that there were 4 books, 600+ to 800+ pages each that you have to "get through" to get to the really good stuff. But here we are.

Now don't get me wrong. Lots of what makes KoD so good is all that 4 book set up. It's almost as if the complete lack of climax in the previous book was made up for by having like 7 climaxes in this one. 

But I didn't just feel a new energy in this book at the end of KoD, it was right off the bat as well. That could have been my previous knowledge from reviews I shouldn't have read, but I felt that energy right away ... in the prologue of all places!

And I've been complaining about these long prologues with the best of them!

Seriously, this made that all worth it. I do have to keep reminding myself of the realization I had when I first reread the first 6 books because even then I saw some issues. The fact that book 3, The Dragon Reborn, had about 7 pages of "the Dragon" was a huge sign and a frustration in my first read. But upon reread, I realized I grew to love the rest of the characters so much more. I had to remind myself of this quite often during the previous 4 books.

5 out of 5 Stars (Up there with the first 6 books, which says a lot, everything)

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(audiobook) Review - How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe

I randomly downloaded How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe as a freebie from Audible membership since I pretty much automatically download all the kid-focused ones to use on roadtrips and whatnot with my kiddos and this was better than I could have dreamed.

Now, don't get too caught up in the premise. It's essentially minecraft, Zelda, and Skyrim all bundled into a world that works like a video game and that's completely normal for the people in it. You can level up not only yourself, but your weapons, skills, etc. You can buy potions, you have mana to power your skills and spells.

Don't ask why there's a voice that tells you when you've leveled up. It works, just don't think too hard about it.

Because otherwise, somehow Andrew Rowe was able to distill the essence of what makes these video games great into book form and it's so much fun.

My 9 year old son and I had a blast. We randomly started listening on our last road trip and then stayed up late every night (until Mom caught us!) to finish it. It was such a fun time to spend with my son, even my girls started joining us after a while.

I can't say enough about this. The only real problem I had was when the narrator mispronounced "mana" as "mahna" yet the level up voice called it "mana." I'm just glad someone was aware of how to pronounce it!

TL;DR Don't think, just listen.

If you like those video games, this is the perfect book and it's kid-friendly.

5 out of 5 Stars (do it)

P.S. I also read the first book in Rowe's Arcane Ascension series and I might just be a huge fan of LitRPG because it was also fantastic.

All links are affiliate links from which this blog makes a small percentage of money.

Quoted - Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole has a quote from my review!

I don't think I'll ever become a published author (I think you have to write something first and then it probably has to be semi-decent from there) so getting a review quoted in a book is just about as close as I'll ever get. 

To pick up a book I loved in a Barnes & Noble and see my review at the front is really fun, especially since I'd stopped looking for some time (I used to look constantly!), I can only imagine what it's like as an author to see your published work there. 

Here's the quote from this review:

"[O]ne hell of a ride. Beware, if you pick it up, you may not be able to do anything until you finish. It's that good...Myke Cole is an author to watch and Shadow Ops: Control Point is possibly the best debut of the year. I know it's early yet, but I couldn't put this book down and that goes a long way for me."

Review - Stonewielder by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Malazan Empire #3)

Stonewielder (Novels of the Malazan Empire) was probably my least favorite of Esslemont's books and Esslemont's are generally lower on the totem pole than Erikson's main Malazan series, so I guess what I'm saying is this might make for my least favorite Malazan book. Luckily for this book, the Malazan series is arguably my all-time favorite series so this book still rates higher than almost all books ever.

There's a lot going on, as usual here, and Esslemont doesn't seem to be able to handle it as well as Erikson does. I like him when he's got more of a straight-forward story and a focus on characters. However, my position has always been that without Erikson, I think we would be praising Esslemont just about as highly as we do Erikson for what this series accomplishes, even here at its worst. 

I'll let you read the blurb, which is easy enough to find, but one of the things that stood out to me and, even though the comparisons with Erikson are inevitable, really made me start comparing the two, was there is a whole Chain of Dogs type campaign (see Deadhouse Gates) in this book that was adequately done, just not as brilliant as in Deadhouse. I mean, it was hard to read in the sense that I personally felt the privations, and I think that's brilliant writing to be able to pull off, but it's a shame to always have the comparison.

In the end, I think this series is in great hands with Esslemont as long as I keep in mind how utterly brilliant Erikson is when he's at the helm and that no one in the world really had a chance to keep up. This review sounds like a railing against ICE, but I swear I'm trying to defend him. ICE has got the chops for this series that is more vast than anything I've ever read.

4 out of 5 Stars (maybe 2 out of 5 compared to the Malazan series, but not compared to other books I'm not hopelessly in love with)

Review - Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (First Law #4 but standalone)

"'Things aren't what they used to be' is the rallying cry of small minds. When men say things used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young, and had all their hopes intact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave.”

I felt like this was apt for today's political climate...

“You should laugh every moment you live, for you'll find it decidedly difficult afterwards.”

There was a lot of this type of sentiment throughout Best Served Cold. Do this, for you're not doing it after. Which is definitely the theme of the book. Some hints that revenge, as cool as it is for a story (especially a Joe Abercrombie story) is kind of a waste of your life.

I know this is absolutely all over the place for a "review" but it was great getting back to Abercrombie. His work with characters is stellar, as expected, especially Shivers here. His books are endlessly quotable, especially Nicomo Cosca (I think both above are from him), and that is in BSC too.

I was highly satisfied. Expectations met and exceeded in places.

I like that this was fully contained and stand-alone, yet if you've read in the world, you'll be rewarded.

I was a little disappointed in his Shattered Sea trilogy. Loved book one, but the later two just didn't work for me. Sadly, I think that had to do with his amazing ability with characters, but I didn't like them very much in books two and three.

Best Served Cold was nice to read to get back to what I love about Abercrombie while at the same time following characters I really loved.

Steven Pacey was the audiobook narrator and he was absolutely perfect for this. Great voices for all involved, from gruff northman, to females, to ... Friendly. I forgot I was listening to a book and I was lost in the story. That's a good narrator.

BSC is also a book that works well for audio. It's straight-forward at its heart with character focus. Some books (like Reality Dysfunction recently) just don't work, there's too much that my brain needs to see to remember and keep the story straight. BSC worked.

4.5 out of 5 stars (highly recommended)

P.S. Though technically known as book 4 of the First Law world, it's not necessary to read the previous books. It's standalone. I had this experience though I barely remembered any of the reoccurring characters.

Review - The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

What got me to read The Gone-Away World (Vintage Contemporaries) was the tag line on the back saying there would be mimes and ninjas. Then I read another book by Harkaway and was blown away by his prose so this book was inevitable even though it was the first I was planning to read.

Having read it, I'm not sure how much I can tell about it other than to say it will easily be one of my favorite reads this year.

It's nuts, literally as insane as you can imagine when they're selling it with mimes and ninjas. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, at least in the current narrative portion, but I have to warn you that it's filled with flashes to the past. It's the narrative conceit here. It's not as much as Wizard and Glass (Stephen King), but it's not too far off either... You've been warned, but I think that helps knowing.

This is one of those books that you have to be along for the ride, not necessarily the plot. There are so very many tangents that you have to just enjoy it. They're all over the place and not just in the fact that you're doing yet another flashback.

While I'm acting like this is a bad thing, it's really not. I just know how much of a shock this kind of narrative can be. Wizard and Glass is my favorite in the Dark Tower series, so that's where I'm coming from.

If you like zany characters, ninjas, weirdness, and definitely mimes in an odd-ball, off-the-wall, tangent-filled, joke-filled post-apocalypse .... then you're totally going to love this.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

Audiobook Review - The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel by Erin Macdonald

I have to admit, I've always been a little curious as to what sci-fi gets right. The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travelwas a lot of fun to listen to and confirm some suspicions while learning some brand new things.

Like the fact that the universe is always expanding and accelerating and how long it would take, at a certain acceleration to reach lightspeed. Thus ... is the universe expanding at faster than light speed (FTL) at this point? The didn't address this specific point, but I'm still curious.

And that's what I really enjoyed about this, I'm still curious. It was probably good that I just listened to The Order of Time too.

She mentions quite a few science fiction books, but mostly focuses on television and movies, especially Star Trek (not a whole lot of science in Star Wars, though she does address it in the FTL section). I was impressed she referenced one of my all-time favorite shows, Community, for it's multiverse episode (which is seriously the best, please watch it).

Interestingly enough, she (and others) have actually tried to calculate what warp speed would look like and it seems to be possible, just the energy required would require pretty much all of it.

Definitely highly recommended.

4 out of 5 Stars (Recommended ... still)

Review - Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith

What an odd gem Only Forward is. It starts out as an entertaining thriller set in a unique near-future world. I was digging it immensely, especially because the main protagonist, Stark, is extremely engaging. He was a perfect mix of humor and can-do that makes for some great lines.

For instance:

"[T]he stations zipped by soundlessly, and I geared myself up for whatever it was I had to gear myself up for. I didn’t have much to go on, so I just geared up generally."

Talking about not wanting to remember a thing: "but I knew I was safe: I always lose my mental notes."

On the topic of a long wait at a restaurant: "Then finally, like some optical illusion, the art student reappeared. I found myself frankly incredulous that she didn’t now have grey hair and walk with a stoop, and decided it must be her great-granddaughter bringing my order, concluding an ancient and mystic hereditary task passed down the family line."

Also:

"Life is like a video game: when you get to a new screen, the thing to do is move as quickly as possible, before the situation gets any worse."

Then, about 50% of the way through (exactly 50% on my Kindle actually), this book gets weird. Your thriller is turned on its head and we go to dreamland...erm...Jeamland.

It almost lost me at that point if I'm being honest.

Luckily, I stuck with it, probably mostly because of the protagonist, because the weird doesn't let up, but the dreamland is really kind of a cool idea. I can see not everyone jiving with the ideas presented, but I finally grew to really like it.

Then, there are some well-done last-minute twists that sealed the deal on top of everything.

I don't want to give away too much. My recommendation, give it a go and push through the weird bit. It does put the whole story on its head, but I thought it worked.

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

Review - The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson #1) by Rick Riordan

So my 8 year old watched the movie at a friend's Percy Jackson party and immediately devoured all 5 books in the series. Literally it was faster than I've ever read anything. Yes, he did make fun of me for taking 6 months to read a Wheel of Time book, but in my defense that was book 8 in the series...

Sharing the Lightning Thief with my son is everything I've been dreaming about for the past 8 years, but with the fear of accidentally getting too excitable about this and killing any desire he would ever have to be a reader like his dad. I've bided my time and slowly given him other recommendations. At least he's felt the passion behind really being into a book series so I don't think I can take that away from him.

That doesn't mean that I still won't be careful with overly recommending things to him.

Of course his first instinct, like any booklover (especially those on this site will understand) after loving a series he immediately recommended that I should read it!

Well, I can't very well say no when I expect him to read my 4 bookshelves worth of books stacked 2 or three deep now can I?

And it's really a fun series. Well, at least book one is. I had a blast reading it though my opinion may be a bit colored by the fact that it was even more fun to geek out with my oldest about it!

There were definitely a healthy amount of contrivances and eye rolls had by me. This IS YA amiright? But overall, it's a great world Riordan's created and it's so fast-paced you not only get into it extremely quickly, it's easy to overlook some of the deus ex machina. I've seen a glimpse into why so many of my son's friends are reading this stuff.

4 out of 5 stars (highly recommended, especially to bond with your kid)

Review - Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen #3) by Steven Erikson

Memories of Ice (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 3)

This is one of those books I leave and I'm just emotionally drained and devastated, yet I consider this one of the best books ever to be written. On reread, it's even more impactful because I actually understand what's going on. It's actually quite funny thinking how much I had no clue about. There are so many instances on the reread that you know exactly who that vaguely-mentioned character is now that you've had as much experience with Erikson as I now have. *brushes off shoulder*

There's always talk about the books that are shades of gray when it comes to right and wrong and Malazan is at the top of that list for me. It's so human, so real. For instance, you have Anomander Rake, leader of the Tiste Andii, super-powered ascendant who's been fighting against the Malazans for years along side one of his only real friends, Caladan Brood. Yet, he acknowledges the Malazans have actually been good for the cities they've conquered. Former dungheeps have become thriving metropolitan areas. 

How much more could we use people who can acknowledge their own failings. There's another good example I have quote below with Lanas Tog.

There's a great quote I saw on r/fantasy on reddit:

"the most unrealistic part of fantasy books is when 18-year-old boys spend five books insisting they're not the chosen one instead of immediately saying "yeah that sounds right." Johnny McNulty

Kallor is one of these.

Holy cow, Memories of Ice is so good, but spoilers from here on out:

I think I realized why I like Gardens of the Moon so much while I was reading MoI and it's because it has so much Whiskeyjack and there are only two books that really feature him to any degree more than a passing mention, this and GotM. And you really get to know what a great guy he is in this book. He's a powerful leader, amazing swordsman apparently (could spar with Dassem Ultor and give him a hard time for a while), compassionate with Silverfox and the "little guy," and clearly a great lover too (eh Korlat...). 

Then there's Gruntle, the last person who would ever want to have anything to do with the gods getting "appointed" mortal sword. Oh and you really get to know Ganoes Paran and Quick Ben, and just the whole Bridgeburner thing. There's so much greatness to this book and a lot of that is probably because of the sheer depravity of the Pannion Domin; the Tenescowri.

And don't get me started on Itkovian and the Grey Swords. Tragedy after tragedy in this book.

Now, to add to this ridiculously jumbled review, it's quote time, from my own book and some cut and pasted from this site:

Lanas Tog (talking about Onos T'oolan's disagreement with going through the ritual):
"Hate him? No. Of course I disagreed. We all did, and so he acquiesced. It is a common belief."
Lady Envy waited, then crossed her arms and asked, "What is?"
"That truth is proved by weight of numbers. That what the many believe to be right, must be so. When I see Onos T'oolan once more, I will tell him: he was the one who was right."

“Kallor shrugged. '[...] I have walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?'

'Yes,' [said Caladan Brood.] 'You never learn.” 
― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

“I'll not deny I am impressed by your mastery of six warrens, Quick Ben. In retrospect, you should have held back on at least half of what you command." The man made to rise.
"But, Bauchelain," the wizard replied, "I did.” 
― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

5 out of 5 Stars (First in, last out)

Article: Why You Should Read Malazan

Review (really just musings) - Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen #2) by Steven Erikson

I missed so much my first time through Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson. So. Much. I always liked this book very much but it was never my favorite like I know it is for a lot of people. With my experienced Malazan eyes, this has jumped right to the top. 

One of my issues with Deadhouse, I've come to realize, is that the desert setting really got to me. The writing so clearly puts you in the desert, under these terrible conditions, that I think I was physically affected when I first read through this.

Coltaine, Mappo and Icarium, Iskaral Pust, Fiddler and Kalum, Heboric and Felisin (and the whole thing with Baudin made so much more sense!), Duiker and the chain of dogs. This was so good and so much planted for the rest of the series. 

Take Mappo and Icarium alone. This is why I love fantasy. It lets you explore philosophy like regular life doesn’t allow. What do you do when your best friend, who’s as kind as can be, commits (and has the ability to commit) genocide when he hulks out of his mind? Keep him confused? Deliver him to a higher power that will imprison him for his entire immortal life? If that power can even hold him...

Brilliant, and I haven’t even gotten to the tragedies that are rife in this book. I think they were too hard to take on my first read so it made this a book that was good but not the best but now to see how Erikson managed this magic without the visceral initial shock was pure magic. 

This series is simply the best out there. Yep I said it. 

5 out of 5 Stars

Related: Why You Should Read Malazan