Slight spoilers as usual. Highlights this month is Mike Brotherton's
Spider Star and the two Verne books.
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
After 20,000 Leagues and Mysterious Island I was looking forward to my
first reading of this Verne classic. I didn't realize how satirical
it was; the Baltimore Gun Club is not a scientific society, but one
that is merely interested in artillery. This annotated version has a
lot of background, which I enjoyed also. It's actually a small novel,
and a quick read. I definitely place it below both of the my previous
Verne reads
Pelecanos, George
Hard Revolution
Pelecanos goes back in time and covers the early years of his Derek
Strange private detective, covering Strange's initial years in the DC
police department. Set around the time of the MLK assignation,
Strange tries to juggle his conscious (as a black policeman) with his
love for his brother (a small time junkie back from Vietnam). This is
a pretty powerful novel of a time period and place I don't know a lot
about.
McCullough, Colleen
Antony and Cleopatra
After apparently fini****ng her Masters of Rome series with the death
of Cesar (and the immediate aftermath) in The October Horse,
McCullough returns to tell the story of the struggle between Octavian
and Mark Antony. I had thought myself worn out by the time I read The
October Horse, but she does an excellent job presenting the
continuation of the story. While this is a story of the struggle for
control of Rome, it eventually becomes a love story and that part is
handled quite well.
Barnes, Jonathan
The Somnambulist
I picked this up after seeing a handful of reviews (without much
detail of plot), and found myself disappointed. Once the toast of
English society, the conjurer Edward Moon is considered passe, though
he continues his to perform his show with his partner, the silent,
hairless, giant (the Somnambulist of the title) who does not bleed
when stabbed. Baffled by murders they can't solve, the police turn
once again to Moon. This is a fantasy mystery, and while set in
Victorian England it becomes just too fantastic. Barnes has a smooth
style, making the book an easy read, but there's not enough grounding
for me to truly enjoy it.
Varley, John
Rolling Thunder
Varley's third book in his series which emulates (honors?) Heinlein's
juveniles. This book finds the focus on a member of the third
generation of the Garcia family, Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne
Strickland-Garcia-Redmond, known as Poddy. A lieutenant in the
Martian navy, with a talent for singing, she is doing a performance
tour of Jupiter's moons as a member of the Music, Arts and Drama
Division, when the strange aliens that live on Europa take action
which threatens the Earth. Varley is clearly still working through
his anger at the current state of the US, though the book itself is a
well done YA book in the Heinlein tradition, though with a Varley
touch. If I had a major problem with the book, it was with the
eventual romance between Poddy and another character that we have
known throughout the series. It felt a bit "icky". There's
apparently going to be at least one more book in the series.
Stirling, S. M. ed
Drakas
I read this in an e-book version. After reading Stirling's Draka
novels when they were published, I missed this collection of stories
written by other writers playing in his universe. If you enjoyed the
novels, then this is worth a read. I didn't think there were any true
standouts.
Ferrigno, Robert
Sins of the Assassin
Sequel to the author's Prayers for the Assassin set in the 2040s when
America has splintered into two main countries (a moderate Islamic
republic centered in Seattle and the Christian bible belt captialed in
Atlanta) along with several smaller free states (Nevada, the Mormon
territories, Nuevo Florida). This book finds our hero Rakkim Epps, a
retired shadow warrior, sent by the Islamic president to infiltrate
the Bible Belt and either steal or destroy a super weapon hidden in
the Appalachians. The weapon is being searched for by the Colonel, a
Bible Belt warlord. This book, like the first novel, is way over the
top in the political situation; it's just way too farfetched to see
how the US could fracture as shown; there's also is what appears to be
too high a level of technology being kept alive, given the political/
social situation. The action scenes are well done though, and Epps is
an interesting character. The novel ends with an assassination in the
Republic, triggered by the "Old Man" villain left alive from the first
book. It's an easy enough read that I will probably finish the
trilogy when Ferrigno published the third book.
Brotherton, Mike
Spider Star
Second novel by Brotherton, following up his Star Dragon (which I
liked well enough, with some reservations). This seems like a big
step up, showing welcomed growth in his skills as a writer. An
archaeology team working on a moon of the planet Argo, in the Pollux
system, triggers an ancient weapon which threatens the colony. The
weapon appears to have been created by a race of traders for the
ancient Argonauts; hints at the origin of the weapon are given in a
translated story that every human child on Argo knows, telling of the
"Spider Star", which is not a star, but a place. A mission is
dispatched with a group of explorers that were training for a mission
of exploration to another star system; assigned to the group is also
the most famous human explorer, who has some history dealing with
aliens. This book did a good job hitting some of my sweet spots:
there's a cool BDO, interesting aliens, and decent characterizations.
This seems like a big jump in execution over Star Dragon, and I hope
that Brotheron keeps writing in this mode.
Shepherd, Joel
Breakaway
Second book in the Cassandra Kresnov series, about an artificial
person's attempt to become a member of a society where the technology
to create her is outlawed. After the events of the first book, she
has somewhat settled in as a team member of an elite SWAT team, but is
asked to help a troubleshooter in the secret service and finds new
trouble. There's a delegation from the League (her original home) so
she fears an attempt to take her back. There's also political
maneuvering as the world of Cally considers breaking away from the
Federation. This is a nice continuation of the story begun in the
first book. Cassandra, with her struggle to determine if she's human
or not, makes an interesting character (and of course it helps that
she kicks butt). If there's a drawback, it's that this book ends on
an almost cliffhanger, whereas the first book had bit more definite
ending. Still, the third book is now in my to-read pile
Verne, Jules
The Meteor Hunt
The next Verne book which I tackled. This story was first published
after Verne's death, with additions and modifications by his son
Michael . This translation from 2006 is the first English translation
of Verne's original manuscript. The story concerns two amateur
astronomers (one a doctor) in Virginia who discover a meteor at the
same time. Their rivalry threatens the marriage of the doctor's
daughter to the other's nephew. After it's determined that the meteor
is made of gold, and will eventually come down, the novel expands into
a story of the political maneuvering of which country will own the
gold, along with an eventual trip to Greenland. So far, I've found
that the Verne books can be placed in two camps; Leagues and
Mysterious Island I view as "travel" books, with the emphasis on some
exotic, new place. From the Earth to the Moon and The Meteor Hunt are
more satirical looks at humanity (particularly the US). I have liked
the travel books a bit more, but am enjoying all of them so far.
Nelson, Arvid et al
Rex Mundi: The Lost Kings
The third graphic novel, continuing the story of Doctor Sauniere
investigation into the theft of a medieval scroll. His search brings
him to the doorstep of the powerful Duck of Lorraine, who appears to
want a massive, globe spanning war beginning with France taking on the
Emirate of Cordova (the Spain in this alternative history). More
becomes clear as Sauniere discovers more "hidden history" concerning
Jesus Christ and his betrayer Judas. Never having read Dan Brown, I'm
not sure how much common ground this book covers, but I assume some (I
think this was begun earlier). While I like the alternate history of
this setup, I'm not sure the story interests me enough to continue
following it.
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