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A slew of reviews
Nov. 16th, 2012 11:34 amHey,
I've been pretty flat-out with stuff, the radio show and the LARP and I've neglected you, my devoted readership. While my reading slowed way down, I did manage to get some stuff read in the past month and a half.
First up: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. This is a fantasy novel that takes a very pragmatic approach to magic. If it's common enough, magic replaces technology and society starts looking more familiar to modern life. In particular, we're dealing with a God of Fire so steam power ahoy! Additionally, this story hits the idea of magic as a bargain really hard. And when you emphasize that aspect, it'll come as no surprise that wizards are essentially lawyers.
So the book is lawyer-as-detective. We follow Tara, a recently graduated wizard who is now on probationary employment with the firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao. Tara left under less-than-ideal circumstances, but one of the senior partners, Ms. Kevarian sees potential. The two of them have been called in by the Church of Kos, the Lord of Fire. Kos has recently died under mysterious circumstances and settling the estate of a dead god is a complicated affair. The death itself also needs some investigating and Kevarian sends Tara out with a low-level priest of Kos to see what they can dig up.
It's a pretty good book. The world-building is well thought out and the characters are all pretty strong. In particular, while Ms. Kevarian is more experienced than Tara and is mentoring her, they actually function as a team and both are competent. The mystery is fairly complex but there aren't any gotchas. It's a fun read and worth looking into.
Next we have The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks. This is another of his Culture novels and continues the uplifting trend of not ending in pointless despair. The basic gist is that Gzilt, a humanoid species who helped found the Culture, but ultimately didn't join, are about to Sublime which is essentially a high-tech rapture for advanced civilizations. There are a number of affairs to settle, including determining which of the Scavenger Races will be allowed to sweep in and pickup the crumbs. Unfortunately, a Culture warship notices some odd behavior and starts to investigate, revealing a secret that may throw off the Gzilt ascension. The Culture starts to meddle.
As always, Banks is a fun read. My only real problem is that the Gzilt are supposed to be tech-equivalent to the Culture, but they always come off worse in every single encounter. Meanwhile, one of the lower-tech civilizations manages to score an impressive victory against the Culture. Although I realize one of the underlying themes is that sufficiently advanced civilizations aren't inclined to fight, it would be nice if the Culture was really up against a challenge once in a while.
Also, I belatedly received a copy of the Summer 2012 edition of Lapham's Quarterly. The them this issue was Magic Shows. From ancient alchemy to modern stage magic and the wonder of lightning rods another buffet bar of essays and excerpts from people throughout history. The bite sized selections make it ideal high-brow bathroom reading, but I recommend the magazine for pretty much everyone.
That's what I've done recently. Hopefully my reading will pick up a bit in the near future.
later
Tom
I've been pretty flat-out with stuff, the radio show and the LARP and I've neglected you, my devoted readership. While my reading slowed way down, I did manage to get some stuff read in the past month and a half.
First up: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. This is a fantasy novel that takes a very pragmatic approach to magic. If it's common enough, magic replaces technology and society starts looking more familiar to modern life. In particular, we're dealing with a God of Fire so steam power ahoy! Additionally, this story hits the idea of magic as a bargain really hard. And when you emphasize that aspect, it'll come as no surprise that wizards are essentially lawyers.
So the book is lawyer-as-detective. We follow Tara, a recently graduated wizard who is now on probationary employment with the firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao. Tara left under less-than-ideal circumstances, but one of the senior partners, Ms. Kevarian sees potential. The two of them have been called in by the Church of Kos, the Lord of Fire. Kos has recently died under mysterious circumstances and settling the estate of a dead god is a complicated affair. The death itself also needs some investigating and Kevarian sends Tara out with a low-level priest of Kos to see what they can dig up.
It's a pretty good book. The world-building is well thought out and the characters are all pretty strong. In particular, while Ms. Kevarian is more experienced than Tara and is mentoring her, they actually function as a team and both are competent. The mystery is fairly complex but there aren't any gotchas. It's a fun read and worth looking into.
Next we have The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks. This is another of his Culture novels and continues the uplifting trend of not ending in pointless despair. The basic gist is that Gzilt, a humanoid species who helped found the Culture, but ultimately didn't join, are about to Sublime which is essentially a high-tech rapture for advanced civilizations. There are a number of affairs to settle, including determining which of the Scavenger Races will be allowed to sweep in and pickup the crumbs. Unfortunately, a Culture warship notices some odd behavior and starts to investigate, revealing a secret that may throw off the Gzilt ascension. The Culture starts to meddle.
As always, Banks is a fun read. My only real problem is that the Gzilt are supposed to be tech-equivalent to the Culture, but they always come off worse in every single encounter. Meanwhile, one of the lower-tech civilizations manages to score an impressive victory against the Culture. Although I realize one of the underlying themes is that sufficiently advanced civilizations aren't inclined to fight, it would be nice if the Culture was really up against a challenge once in a while.
Also, I belatedly received a copy of the Summer 2012 edition of Lapham's Quarterly. The them this issue was Magic Shows. From ancient alchemy to modern stage magic and the wonder of lightning rods another buffet bar of essays and excerpts from people throughout history. The bite sized selections make it ideal high-brow bathroom reading, but I recommend the magazine for pretty much everyone.
That's what I've done recently. Hopefully my reading will pick up a bit in the near future.
later
Tom
