Eye on New Releases for May 26, 2015

 (B&N, Amazon)

Synopsis:

"The American Southwest has been decimated by drought. Nevada and Arizona skirmish over dwindling shares of the Colorado River, while California watches, deciding if it should just take the whole river all for itself. Into the fray steps Las Vegas water knife Angel Velasquez. Detective, assassin, and spy, Angel “cuts” water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and its boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious arcology developments can bloom in the desert and that anyone who challenges her is left in the gutted-suburban dust.

When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in Phoenix, Angel is sent to investigate. With a wallet full of identities and a tricked-out Tesla, Angel arrows south, hunting for answers that seem to evaporate as the heat index soars and the landscape becomes more and more oppressive. There, Angel encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist, who knows far more about Phoenix’s water secrets than she admits, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas migrant, who dreams of escaping north to those places where water still falls from the sky.

As bodies begin to pile up and bullets start flying, the three find themselves pawns in a game far bigger, more corrupt, and dirtier than any of them could have imagined. With Phoenix teetering on the verge of collapse and time running out for Angel, Lucy, and Maria, their only hope for survival rests in one another’s hands.  But when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink."

(B&N, Amazon)

Synopsis:
"One hundred years ago, Sand’s ancestors made the long, one-way trip to the Fifth World, ready to work ceaselessly to terraform the planet. Descendants of native peoples like the Hopi and Zuni, they wanted to return to the way of life of their forebears, who honored the Kachina spirits.

Now, though, many of the planet’s inhabitants have begun to resent their grandparents’ decision to strand them in this harsh and forbidding place, and some have turned away from the customs of the Well-Behaved People. Sand has her doubts, but she longs to believe that the Kachina live on beyond the stars and have been readying a new domain for her people.

She may be right. Humans have discovered nine habitable worlds, all with life that shares a genetic code entirely alien to any on Earth. Someone has been seeding planets, bringing life to them. But no other sign of the ancient farmers has ever been discovered—until one day they return to the Fifth World. They do not like what they find."

Eye on New Releases for May 19, 2015

 (B&N, Amazon)

 Synopsis:
"Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose."

 (B&N, Amazon)

 Synopsis:

"A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remains . . .  Five thousand years later, their progeny—seven distinct races now three billion strong—embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown . . . to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth."

Eye on New Releases for May 12, 2015

 (B&N, Amazon)

Synopsis:
"Civilization has come to the alien, sunless planet its inhabitants call Eden.

Just a few generations ago, the planet’s five hundred inhabitants huddled together in the light and warmth of the Forest’s lantern trees, afraid to venture out into the cold darkness around them.

Now, humanity has spread across Eden, and two kingdoms have emerged. Both are sustained by violence and dominated by men – and both claim to be the favored children of Gela, the woman who came to Eden long ago on a boat that could cross the stars, and became the mother of them all.
When young Starlight Brooking meets a handsome and powerful man from across Worldpool, she believes he will offer an outlet for her ambition and energy. But she has no inkling that she will become a stand-in for Gela herself, and wear Gela’s fabled ring on her own finger—or that in this role, powerful and powerless all at once, she will try to change the course of Eden’s history."

 (B&N, Amazon)

Synopsis:

"Aristophanes is inconsolable—his rival playwrights are hogging all the local attention, a pesky young wannabe poet won’t leave him alone, his actors can’t remember their lines, and his own festival sponsor seems to be conspiring against him, withholding direly needed funds for set design and, most importantly, giant phallus props. O woe, how can his latest comedy convince Athenian citizens to vote down another ten years of war against Sparta if they’re too busy scoffing at the diminutive phalluses? And why does everyone in the city-state seem to be losing their minds?

Wallowing in one inconvenience after another, Aristophanes is unaware that the Spartan and Athenian generals have unleashed Laet, the spirit of foolishness and bad decisions, to inspire chaos and war-mongering in Athens. To counteract Laet’s influence, Athena sends Bremusa, an Amazon warrior, and Metris, an endearingly airheaded nymph (their first choice was her mother Metricia, but she grew tired of all the fighting and changed back into a river)."

(B&N, Amazon)

Synopsis:

"Inside the firewall the city is alive. Buildings breathe, cars attack, angels patrol, and hyperintelligent pets run wild in the streets. 

With unbridled invention and breakneck adventure, Hannu Rajaniemi is on the cutting-edge of science fiction. His postapocalyptic, postcyberpunk, and posthuman tales are full of exhilarating energy and unpredictable optimism.

How will human nature react when the only limit to desire is creativity? When the distinction between humans and gods is as small as nanomachines—or as large as the universe? Whether the next big step in technology is 3D printing, genetic alteration, or unlimited space travel, Rajaniemi writes about what happens after."

 

Review: mini-reviews for Dark Eden, The Crimon Campaign, and The Autumn Republic

Dark Eden is set on a world with no sun, a rogue planet.  Over a century ago, an exploration team left two people, a man and a woman behind, and now their descendants still await a rescue team from Earth, living among the warmth and light of the native trees until one boy dares to strike out into the unknown.

This is a very bold novel, with a ton of ideas and an incredibly unique setting.  I wish more current authors would take risks like this working out the mechanics of the biology and the society of such a place.  The writing style takes a little getting used to.  Plus, I had a problem with the characterization, though I can't put my finger on why. 

Rating: 8/10.

This is the sequel to 2013's Promise of Blood.  I gave that book a 7.5 rating because while it started off strong, it got bogged down in stereotypical fantasy battle-stuff by the end.  This book gets the same rating though for a different reason. 

The plotting and tone are much smoother and better handled this time.  Tamas' sequence of retreat through enemy country is particularly well done.  The negative part is in the characterization, or more accurately, the character interactions.  Characters seem to butt heads merely for dramatic and plot purposes than for genuine reasons.  Still, it was a fun and gripping read.

Rating: 7.5/10.

I rarely read sequels back to back, but this I decided to read The Autumn Republic right after The Crimson Campaign.  The big problem this time was plotting as it felt like part of this book should have been merged with a condensed version of the second book and then the plot in Adopest expanded.  There is a lot that could have been done just with the elections and the character of Claremonte.  Plus, as someone else said there is the feeling that weaknesses you put up with in the first two books are less forgivable by this point.  It would have been nice to get a much broader look at the world than the author gives us as some things were clearly important, but were not shown.  That being said, for all their flaws these books were certainly exciting reads and Brian McClellan is most definitely an author to keep an eye on.

Rating: 7.5/10.

Eye on New Releases for May 5, 2015 and mini-review of The Gospel of Loki

 (B&N, Amazon)

Synopsis:

"This novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods—retold from the point of view of the world’s ultimate trickster, Loki. A #1 bestseller in the UK, The Gospel of Loki tells the story of Loki’s recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself.

Using her lifelong passion for the Norse myths, New York Times bestseller Joanne M. Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel that the Sunday Sun recommends “to her long-standing audience with wit, style and obvious enjoyment;” The Sunday Times claims it “lively and fun;” and The Metro adds that “Harris has enormous fun with her antihero...this mythical bad boy should beguile fans of Neil Gaiman."

I read the UK edition of this book when it came out last year.  It's a pretty interesting book with a very mythic feel and flavor, full of gods, beasts, witches, magic, feasts, and adventure.  It also has an absolutely gorgeous cover by Andreas Preis.  Like the synopsis says, the book is told from Loki's point of view so he's the hero of the story.  As you may suspect, there is some unreliable narrator going on, though not on same the level as say, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun.  Loki is also quite funny and with the good writing, this makes for a very fun read. 

I did have one major problem with the book toward the end.  Without going too much into spoilers, in his view, Loki is not treated very well by the other gods so he sets out to get revenge.  This leads him to make a decision that I felt was way out of character for Loki the Trickster.  One can argue that it's part of his character development, and perhaps I'm a little colored by the recent Marvel movies, but it didn't feel right Loki would make the decision that he did so it brought it down at least half a rating point for me. 

Rating: 7.5/10.