BOOKS I READ IN 2020 – PART 2
Charlie Jane Anders: The City in the Middle of the Night
I was impressed by and greatly enjoyed Anders’ first novel, All the Birds in the Sky, so I was interested to see whether she could repeat that quality. She did.
City is pure SF, set on a planet that has a burning hot day side always facing its sun, and a night side that is correspondingly cold. Humans live in a city along the boundary between the two, the only place they can survive. The book follows several characters, with variations in gender identities, as one might expect from Anders. There’s also a native alien species and characters that learn to interact with and live amongst them, though it means becoming something other than human.
A great read, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
RECOMMENDATION: heartfelt yes
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J. Michael Straczynski: Becoming Superman
Taking a detour into non-fiction, this is Straczynski’s autobiography. I’ve known Joe for decades, having written for three series he creatively controlled (and in the case of B5, created): Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Twilight Zone, and Babylon 5.
And yet, there was a ton of shocking material here that I knew nothing about concerning his very fucked family. There’s nothing quite like discovering your father was, literally, a closet Nazi. Joe is not only tremendously talented, he’s profoundly ethical and principled. To say he clashed with his abusive father is a huge understatement.
The book covers both the family stuff and the development of his career, his struggles financially and creatively, and the influence of Superman on his life, hence the title.
You don’t need to know who he is or be a fan of his work to appreciate the stories he has to tell.
RECOMMENDATION: super yes
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Joe Abercrombie: Half a King
I recall that this was fantasy and that the main character was a prince, Yarvi, with a crippled hand. He was scorned for being unable to become a warrior, so he had to rely on his wits. He never expected to rule, but unexpectedly find himself on the throne, then betrayed, then sold into slavery and through a series of events eventually has the chance for revenge on the new king. There are other twists at the end and Yarvi ends up doing something for which he’s better suited than ruling.
I was left with a lukewarm feeling and no interest in reading more of the series. It wasn’t terrible, it simply didn’t excite me.
RECOMMENDATION: lukewarm yeah
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John Bellairs: The Face in the Frost:
A pair of wizards, Prospero and Roger Bacon, set out to find the source of a terrible evil that naturally does everything it can to stop them. It’s fantasy, but set in an alternate world version of England. Elizabethan era, I think.
It’s a fairly straightforward good vs evil fantasy. I don’t recall being wildly impressed by it, but mildly enjoyed it.
RECOMMENDATION: mild yes
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Kate Elliot: First, the Spiritwalker series
· Cold Fire
· Cold Magic
· Cold Steel
I have loved everything I’ve read by Kate Elliott and loved this trilogy. It’s fantasy with a touch of steampunk and Regency feeling.
Cat and her best friend and cousin, Bee, are young women in a magic- and male-dominated society. Cat is forced to marry Andevai, a cold mage of considerable power, cold in this case referring to the element he controls as well as his personality type. Miserable in this situation, Cat escapes, endures danger, makes discoveries about herself, has to deal with magical enemies, and gradually her relationship with Andevai alters into something other than antagonism. There are many magical and political complications. Both Cat and Bee develop special abilities. There’s a wonderful mix of characters, and as with all of Kate’s writing, their struggles are set in a world of depth and complexity and fascinating interwoven threads.
RECOMMENDATION: hot yes
Unconquerable Sun
The first of a trilogy, it’s science fiction set are in the future with a galaxy-spanning civilization teeming with political and military intrigue. There are no aliens, though some very strange humans are virtually alien.
Eliott deliberately set out to write a gender-swapped Alexander the Great. The Sun in this novel is Princess Sun, coming of age and winning her first military victory, only to find herself mired in deep political intrigue and being pursued by an assassin. Sun relies on a tight-knit group of friends around her, but ultimately must rely on herself.
As much as I love Kate’s work, I wasn’t entirely taken with this character or the setting. I haven’t gotten around to reading the rest of the trilogy. But if you like sf with a strong female lead and deep worldbuilding, it’s good for that.
RECOMMENDATION: unconquerable yes
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Kelley Armstrong: The Cainesville series
· Omens
· Visions
· Deceptions
· Betrayals
· Rituals
Loosely within the urban fantasy genre. It centers on a young woman named Olivia who is struggling to come to terms with being the daughter of parents that are convicted serial killers. She ends up in a small, rather Gothic town, of Cainesville where nothing and no one is quite what they seem to be. There’s a supernatural love triangle that springs from past lives, and it gets nicely sexy here and there. The three central characters, Olivia, Gabriel, and Ricky, drive the series along nicely, and the mysteries unfold across the five books leading to final confrontation with Olivia’s enemy.
I find Armstrong to be an okay writer. Her prose is professional, if not exceptional. I enjoyed this series, but other things I’ve read by her haven’t turned me into a fan. I liked this series the best from what I’ve sampled.
RECOMMENDATION: moderate yes
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