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Jul. 10th, 2011
Leviathan of the Steppe Reviews
Jul. 10th, 2011 06:25 pmHey,
So I have been reading stuff despite the time I've been devoting to getting my little saxon guys painted up. I've finished up two fairly meaty books so let me tell you what I thought of them.
First up: Warriors of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures Vol. 2 by Harold Lamb. As you might guess this is the second volume in a collection of adventure stories written by Harold Lamb for various pulp magazines. What makes Mr. Lamb's stories so interesting (besides the fact that they're well-written) is the immense amount of scholarship that went into the stories. Mr. Lamb made a detailed study of Central Asia and put those details to work in making his stories more vivid without being a snotty info-dump. Frankly, his knowledge of the various peoples and cultures in the region was deep enough that it put the various other he-man adventure stories in the magazines to shame.
The central figure in most of these stories is Khlit the Cossack, a wandering adventurer who bums around getting into trouble. Unlike most of these types of heroes, Khlit is an older man who still had a decent sword arm but who relies more and more on his cunning and quick wits to pull out of scrapes. The book also details the adventures of Khlit's Afghan comrade Abdul Dost and Dost's adventures in India with Sir Ralph Weyland. Frankly, I enjoy the Khlit stories a bit more and Abdul is a bit dense. Still, the writing is crisp and evocative and it was an enjoyable read.
Following up on that, I tore through Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. This book really scratches a lot of my itches -- a near future setting where man has seriously colonized the solar system, fairly hard science (a very efficient fusion reaction drive is the most fantastic item, but it's within parameters), a looming conflict between the inner and outer planets -- all stuff I like and the book handles it all well.
The book follows two protagonists -- one is Miller, a detective working in Ceres who's been assigned an unusual off-the-books assignment to track down and forcibly return a young woman from Luna who's run away to the belt. The other protagonist is Holden, the XO of an ice hauling ship who is investigating a distress call.
Each chapter shifts from one viewpoint to the other and it's about halfway through the book before the two cross paths. In the process, the events they witness spark inter-system war and they have to hurry to get to the bottom of things before the madness of war engulfs the system.
Again, bearing in mind it's pretty much catering to me, I liked the book a lot. I think it really delved into what it must be like for people living in fragile bubbles out in space and the moral grey areas that such a life engenders. The central mystery? Bit of a cliche, I'm afraid, but a well-embroidered cliche so you can sit back and enjoy it.
Additionally -- if you purchase the Kindle edition of Leviathan Wakes, you also get, free of charge, a copy of The Dragon's Path a fantasy novel by the one-half the the team that wrote Leviathan Wakes. I haven't read that yet (and may wait a bit before doing so), but you basically get two books for the price of one. So, bonus there.
later
Tom
So I have been reading stuff despite the time I've been devoting to getting my little saxon guys painted up. I've finished up two fairly meaty books so let me tell you what I thought of them.
First up: Warriors of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures Vol. 2 by Harold Lamb. As you might guess this is the second volume in a collection of adventure stories written by Harold Lamb for various pulp magazines. What makes Mr. Lamb's stories so interesting (besides the fact that they're well-written) is the immense amount of scholarship that went into the stories. Mr. Lamb made a detailed study of Central Asia and put those details to work in making his stories more vivid without being a snotty info-dump. Frankly, his knowledge of the various peoples and cultures in the region was deep enough that it put the various other he-man adventure stories in the magazines to shame.
The central figure in most of these stories is Khlit the Cossack, a wandering adventurer who bums around getting into trouble. Unlike most of these types of heroes, Khlit is an older man who still had a decent sword arm but who relies more and more on his cunning and quick wits to pull out of scrapes. The book also details the adventures of Khlit's Afghan comrade Abdul Dost and Dost's adventures in India with Sir Ralph Weyland. Frankly, I enjoy the Khlit stories a bit more and Abdul is a bit dense. Still, the writing is crisp and evocative and it was an enjoyable read.
Following up on that, I tore through Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. This book really scratches a lot of my itches -- a near future setting where man has seriously colonized the solar system, fairly hard science (a very efficient fusion reaction drive is the most fantastic item, but it's within parameters), a looming conflict between the inner and outer planets -- all stuff I like and the book handles it all well.
The book follows two protagonists -- one is Miller, a detective working in Ceres who's been assigned an unusual off-the-books assignment to track down and forcibly return a young woman from Luna who's run away to the belt. The other protagonist is Holden, the XO of an ice hauling ship who is investigating a distress call.
Each chapter shifts from one viewpoint to the other and it's about halfway through the book before the two cross paths. In the process, the events they witness spark inter-system war and they have to hurry to get to the bottom of things before the madness of war engulfs the system.
Again, bearing in mind it's pretty much catering to me, I liked the book a lot. I think it really delved into what it must be like for people living in fragile bubbles out in space and the moral grey areas that such a life engenders. The central mystery? Bit of a cliche, I'm afraid, but a well-embroidered cliche so you can sit back and enjoy it.
Additionally -- if you purchase the Kindle edition of Leviathan Wakes, you also get, free of charge, a copy of The Dragon's Path a fantasy novel by the one-half the the team that wrote Leviathan Wakes. I haven't read that yet (and may wait a bit before doing so), but you basically get two books for the price of one. So, bonus there.
later
Tom
Leviathan of the Steppe Reviews
Jul. 10th, 2011 06:25 pmHey,
So I have been reading stuff despite the time I've been devoting to getting my little saxon guys painted up. I've finished up two fairly meaty books so let me tell you what I thought of them.
First up: Warriors of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures Vol. 2 by Harold Lamb. As you might guess this is the second volume in a collection of adventure stories written by Harold Lamb for various pulp magazines. What makes Mr. Lamb's stories so interesting (besides the fact that they're well-written) is the immense amount of scholarship that went into the stories. Mr. Lamb made a detailed study of Central Asia and put those details to work in making his stories more vivid without being a snotty info-dump. Frankly, his knowledge of the various peoples and cultures in the region was deep enough that it put the various other he-man adventure stories in the magazines to shame.
The central figure in most of these stories is Khlit the Cossack, a wandering adventurer who bums around getting into trouble. Unlike most of these types of heroes, Khlit is an older man who still had a decent sword arm but who relies more and more on his cunning and quick wits to pull out of scrapes. The book also details the adventures of Khlit's Afghan comrade Abdul Dost and Dost's adventures in India with Sir Ralph Weyland. Frankly, I enjoy the Khlit stories a bit more and Abdul is a bit dense. Still, the writing is crisp and evocative and it was an enjoyable read.
Following up on that, I tore through Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. This book really scratches a lot of my itches -- a near future setting where man has seriously colonized the solar system, fairly hard science (a very efficient fusion reaction drive is the most fantastic item, but it's within parameters), a looming conflict between the inner and outer planets -- all stuff I like and the book handles it all well.
The book follows two protagonists -- one is Miller, a detective working in Ceres who's been assigned an unusual off-the-books assignment to track down and forcibly return a young woman from Luna who's run away to the belt. The other protagonist is Holden, the XO of an ice hauling ship who is investigating a distress call.
Each chapter shifts from one viewpoint to the other and it's about halfway through the book before the two cross paths. In the process, the events they witness spark inter-system war and they have to hurry to get to the bottom of things before the madness of war engulfs the system.
Again, bearing in mind it's pretty much catering to me, I liked the book a lot. I think it really delved into what it must be like for people living in fragile bubbles out in space and the moral grey areas that such a life engenders. The central mystery? Bit of a cliche, I'm afraid, but a well-embroidered cliche so you can sit back and enjoy it.
Additionally -- if you purchase the Kindle edition of Leviathan Wakes, you also get, free of charge, a copy of The Dragon's Path a fantasy novel by the one-half the the team that wrote Leviathan Wakes. I haven't read that yet (and may wait a bit before doing so), but you basically get two books for the price of one. So, bonus there.
later
Tom
So I have been reading stuff despite the time I've been devoting to getting my little saxon guys painted up. I've finished up two fairly meaty books so let me tell you what I thought of them.
First up: Warriors of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures Vol. 2 by Harold Lamb. As you might guess this is the second volume in a collection of adventure stories written by Harold Lamb for various pulp magazines. What makes Mr. Lamb's stories so interesting (besides the fact that they're well-written) is the immense amount of scholarship that went into the stories. Mr. Lamb made a detailed study of Central Asia and put those details to work in making his stories more vivid without being a snotty info-dump. Frankly, his knowledge of the various peoples and cultures in the region was deep enough that it put the various other he-man adventure stories in the magazines to shame.
The central figure in most of these stories is Khlit the Cossack, a wandering adventurer who bums around getting into trouble. Unlike most of these types of heroes, Khlit is an older man who still had a decent sword arm but who relies more and more on his cunning and quick wits to pull out of scrapes. The book also details the adventures of Khlit's Afghan comrade Abdul Dost and Dost's adventures in India with Sir Ralph Weyland. Frankly, I enjoy the Khlit stories a bit more and Abdul is a bit dense. Still, the writing is crisp and evocative and it was an enjoyable read.
Following up on that, I tore through Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. This book really scratches a lot of my itches -- a near future setting where man has seriously colonized the solar system, fairly hard science (a very efficient fusion reaction drive is the most fantastic item, but it's within parameters), a looming conflict between the inner and outer planets -- all stuff I like and the book handles it all well.
The book follows two protagonists -- one is Miller, a detective working in Ceres who's been assigned an unusual off-the-books assignment to track down and forcibly return a young woman from Luna who's run away to the belt. The other protagonist is Holden, the XO of an ice hauling ship who is investigating a distress call.
Each chapter shifts from one viewpoint to the other and it's about halfway through the book before the two cross paths. In the process, the events they witness spark inter-system war and they have to hurry to get to the bottom of things before the madness of war engulfs the system.
Again, bearing in mind it's pretty much catering to me, I liked the book a lot. I think it really delved into what it must be like for people living in fragile bubbles out in space and the moral grey areas that such a life engenders. The central mystery? Bit of a cliche, I'm afraid, but a well-embroidered cliche so you can sit back and enjoy it.
Additionally -- if you purchase the Kindle edition of Leviathan Wakes, you also get, free of charge, a copy of The Dragon's Path a fantasy novel by the one-half the the team that wrote Leviathan Wakes. I haven't read that yet (and may wait a bit before doing so), but you basically get two books for the price of one. So, bonus there.
later
Tom