The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of 2007

The Gravel Pit is going in reverse, looking back at half a year blogging and reviewing. Despite failing my own “The Seven Days Countdown To New Year” Challenge, an ultimate effort to catch up on the best 2007 releases, I have still read some great books that I wanted to share with you here. In a way it is frustrating, I’ve spent my whole 2007 getting through George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (before I started blogging) and Prince of Nothing (with The Thousandfold Thought next up for 2008) as well as a few other series. I’ve sort of been playing catch-up in reading. Most of the works I have read, was not material that came out this year. Nonetheless, I narrowed this list down to books I rated 8 out of 10 or higher. Better to treat this best of list as a (possible) ’source of recommendations’ than a definite list of the sweetest ‘07 books. Enjoy.

Top Nine of 2007

1. The Warrior Prophet – R. Scott Bakker
The absolute number one this year. A mind blowing read with excellent prose, great world building and an impressing scale to go with that as well. The characterisation is rich and deep, the character really intrigue in their flawed ways. To me discovering an author like Bakker in 2007 was one of the highlights in my miserable life.

2. No Dominion – Charlie Huston
No Dominion is simply a blast. Offering a gritty noir-style with brutal pace combined with a nicely multi-layered plot. Joe Pitt ends up making some interesting choices in this second volume and I would argue that it is even better than its predecessor.

3. Altered Carbon – Richard Morgan
Altered Carbon is great and extremely enjoyable novel. It presents some interesting technological ideas, has a realized, fully fleshed-out protagonist and excellent pacing for most parts. It is gritty and realistic enough to be accessible and thus comes highly recommended to every fan of the genre. Morgan is one of the masters of SF still writing (kind of ironic that he is working on a fantasy effort now). I will be reading this year’s effort Black Man in 2008 for sure.

4. The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
The Lies of Locke Lamora is exceedingly well written, set in a colorful setting and was the biggest debut of 2006. It has nearly everything a fantasy fan craves for, it is fresh breath through fantasy-land. Guaranteed fun.

5. The Darkness That Comes Before – R. Scott Bakker
Dense writing, packing much information in just a couple of striking sentences. The mark of a truly talented author. If listing the Warrior Prophet as my best read of the year has not already convinced you, this should do. Before I picked up the Prince of Nothing series there was just darkness, now I have seen the light.

6. Red Seas Under Red Skies – Scott Lynch
Red Seas Under Red Skies is, despite some flaws, still an immensely enjoyable novel by a talented author. Scott Lynch managed to improve in some areas, namely the characterization of his protagonists and maintaining a fast pace. I have not figured which work is the better of the two, this one or the 2006 debut of the year listed above. Does it matter? No, do yourself a favor and read them.

7. Already Dead – Charlie Huston
Joe Pitt seriously kicks the asses of most other vampires that I have encountered before in this genre. Forget Anne Rice, matter of fact fuck Interview with the Vampire, Joe Pitt tears it to shreds. Enough said.

8. Twilight Falling – Paul S. Kemp
What? A Forgotten Realms novel listed here? Damn right. Forget R.A. Salvatore, in the hands of Paul S. Kemp resides the true power of the Wizard of the Coasts brand. A plot is packed full of action, more than enough to keep you interested right till the end. An unpretentious but nonetheless exceedingly fun novel. Classic Sword & Sorcery executed very well.

9. Midnight’s Mask – Paul S. Kemp
A final volume that managed to impress me? And another Forgotten Realms novel listed here? By the same author? You’d guessed it right. Midnight’s Mask presents an extremely satisfying ending to the Erevis Cale saga and that alone is worthy of praise. Other than that, it is fun, engaging and entertaining. What more can you ask for?

Other 2007 releases

- The Blade Itself – Joe Abercrombie (‘07 US release)
Strictly speaking a 2006 release (in the UK) but since Joe Abercrombie went on a trip across the pond, this novel managed to sneak into this list. One hell of a naughty novel, it is. The Blade Itself is good summer reading, as it is fairly straight forward told story with enough pace and action to keep you interested. The novel also attempts to ‘tweak’ the fantasy cliches in an interesting manner. You could do much worse than picking this up.

- Ragamuffin – Tobias S. Buckell
an enjoyable novel with memorable characters to whom I look forward meeting again in the next novel Sly Mongoose. The rapid switching from different point of views in the latter parts of the novel does result in a bit awkward pacing, but the solid characterization, the unique Caribbean flavor and the craftly executed space opera setting fully make up for this major drawback. An accomplished second novel by a clearly talented author. If you are looking for something different, well go ahead.

- Reaper’s Gale – Steven Erikson
I was not impressed as much as I hoped with this novel, nonetheless it was a good effort and managed to build up anticipation (once again) for the next one, Toll of Hounds, set in the areas known as Darujhistan and Black Coral. Although Reaper’s Gale disappointed slightly, I’d consider Erikson’s A Malazan Tale of the Fallen still as one of the best epic fantasy series of the millennium.

- Winterbirth – Brian Ruckley (‘07 US release)
Another sneaky novel! Winterbirth is very solid, decent debut by Brian Ruckley. It offers extensive worldbuilding, good characterization of the main character and an interesting view of both sides of the conflict the novel is revolving around. Added as a bonus you get couple of nice maps, a timeline and list of characters. On the flipside, it is a not entirely original piece of work, the characterization other than that of the protagonist was rather weak and the pace was quite slow. I will wait for Bloodheir; the next novel to give my definite thumbs up or down.

- The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
My last review of 2007 and sadly I could not end with a bang. The Name of the Wind was disappointing, left too many threads hanging and was too much hype. Nonetheless, I see potential. Rothfuss handled the flow of the story with the hand of a seasoned writer. He might well surprise me in 2009 when his next novel will be published.

The worst of 2007

- Spaceman Blues: A Love Song – Brian Francis Slattery
Sometimes you encounter these novels you just do not “get”. It was just impossible to discern any interesting ideas in the confusion mess the author (intentionally I presume) created. The novel fell flat on its face because it goes beyond simply telling a story. It tries to be stylistically innovative, to be surreal like a Dalí painting, to be a kaleidoscopic celebration of immigrant life, to play it loose with time and place – but ultimately forgets to simply tell the damned story. Bad.

- The Electric Church – Jeff Somers
The Electric Church is a classic example of trying too hard in terms of plotting resulting in an uneven paced story. If you are looking for action, there is plenty of it but it is hardly believable. The characterization of the characters is rather weak and neither original nor challenging. The lack of description did not manage to raise the quality of the novel to a higher bar. Guess what? I don’t want even talk about this. Worse.

- Armageddon’s Children – Terry Brooks
Aaaaaargh. I want my money back. And my hours of reading wasted on this piece of shit. Now! Lack of originality, resurrecting dogs, shit sliding downhill – going nowhere. The worst of 2007. Hitting rock-bottom with the speed of light.

Novels that I would have read if I was Father Time (but wanted to mention here nonetheless)

- Brasyl – Ian McDonald
- Before They Are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie
- Black Man – Richard Morgan
- Acacia – David Anthony Durham
- The Terror – Dan Simmons

More 2007 goodness; The Gravel Pit loves listmania!

- Adventures in Reading
- The Wertzone
- Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
- The Bodhisattva
- Grasping for the Wind
- Fantasy Book Critic
- Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
- OF blog of the Fallen
- Neth Space
- Fantasy Debut
- Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent
- Fantasy Cafe
- A Slight Apocalypse
- SciFi Chick

Now I can finally leave 2007 behind me. Bring on 2008, it will be great! Big thank you’s to the FBS establishment and folks at the board, particularly Jay for the inspiring Jay 101 reads list and Damon for putting so much effort and money on the line to make FBS bigger. I predict 2008 is going to be the year of Heliotrope! Also thanks to my fellow bloggers, you know who you are, for all the linkage and support I got during my six months of running a blog. Thanks to Ran ( for running a great message board) and the folks at westeros.org for the interesting discussions and thank you’s for everyone I’ve forgotten here (sure I missed a few)!

To another year of blogging & fun!

Cheers,

Lawrence

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Gollancz)

” I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my satanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.” (p. 52)Thus begins the first person narrative of Patrick Rothfuss’ best-selling debut The Name of the Wind. It was published by DAW books in March of this year in the US and picked up by Gollancz in the UK this fall. Since its publication it has created enormous waves of publicity. This being the time of the year as it is, the novel is also frequently mentioned in various “best-of” lists. No wonder I had to get my hands on a copy before the year was over.

The Name of the Wind is the first of The Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy. Originally the story was written as a single, huge novel but guessing that it grew out of proportions as the plot progressed, the book was split in three. No further effort has been made to make individual volumes stand-alone. It didn’t bother me too much, although it must be noted the narrative just stops mid-stride, which is slighty anti-climatic. Those who favor stand-alones might be advised to steer clear of this effort. Wise Man’s Fear, the second volume of the trilogy is scheduled for publication in 2009 in the US, so it might take Patrick Rothfuss some time to complete this trilogy.

To quickly outline the plot, The Name of the Wind recounts the tale of Kvothe, a young adolescent destined to become the most powerful Arcanist the world has ever witnessed. As you can guess from the ‘introduction’ of Kvothe, he has accomplished many great feats. The first person narrative begins with Kvothe’s childhood years, at first travelling as a member of a troupe of musicians and artists, later as an orphan trying to sustain a living on the brutal streets of Tarbean. As Kvothe matures, he manages to trade his miserable life on the streets for a place at the University, the reknown school of magical arts.

This might sound cliched to some, and damn well it is. Truth to be told, The Name of the Wind is far from being the most original novel I have read. Rather it is another ‘farmboy destined for greatness’- novel in disguise. If you’re looking for ‘grey’ characters, think twice before picking this up. The book has only good, bad, and mysterious ones to offer you. Also, unlike the writers as a Joe Abercrombie or a Scott Lynch, this author is compared to, Rothfuss makes no attempt to re-invent the wheel. Abercrombie tried to take fantasy cliches in a different direction, Lynch had that fresh breath through the fantasy genre but Rothfuss comfortably stays within the boundaries of traditional fantasy.
However what (partly) saves this novel from tumbling down the ranks, is that Rothfuss is a very gifted, natural storyteller. The prose is neither mindblowing nor stylistically inventive, but it manages to support the frame of the story exceptionally well. The novel spans a hefty 660 pages in hardcover format, thus rightfully belonging to the ‘heavy tomes’ category, but does not feel all that long. I attribute this to the ’smoothness’ of the pace, the story gives off an unusual relaxed vibe. Like a small murmuring river in a wide landscape. Rothfuss handles the flow of the story with the hand of a seasoned storyteller, allowing it to unfold at own pace. Unfortunately these are the only positive elements I can mention of this effort.

Where Rothfuss impresses with the smoothness of his pacing, he fails considerably with the characterisation of his characters. As the first person narrative is employed throughout the story, the novel is very character-driven. Kvothe recounts his own ‘coming-of-age’, but as a character himself, he is not terribly challenging nor consistent. Kvothe is almost like a skin-changer, the young Kvothe with the troupers has nothing in common with the beggar Kvothe or the wise-cracking hero Kvothe appears to be at the University. If there would be any character development to speak of, the rate of development would too fast to be realistic in any case. Neither is Kvothe challenging because his actions and moral judgement are predictable in a sort of ‘Harry Potter’-esque way. It can be very tiresome, reading about a brat who gets exactly what he wants and even predicts (for God’s sake) it himself. Not unlike the Harry Potter prodigy type of character, who gets what he wants in the end too even if he’s broken various rules and laws in order to get it. The citation below illustrates that.

“By the time I got back to the fourth floor of the Mews, rumour of my non-expulsion and admission into the Arcanum had spread ahead of me. I was greeted by a smattering of applause of my bunkmates. Hemme was not well loved. Some of my bunkmates offered awed congratulations while Basil made a special point of coming forward to shake my hand. ” (p. 270)

Apart from the characterisation of the protagonist, secondary characters, particularly the ones Kvothe meets after reaching the University, lack real depth and are completely forgettable. One of the major drawbacks of the first person narrative is that if readers tire of the protagonist, they have no supporting cast to fall back to. The protagonist has to carry the weight of the whole story and if he fails as a character then in turn fails the story.

Plotting-wise there’s something is inherently wrong with this effort too. A story needs conflict in order to interest readers, otherwise it would fall flat on its face. True to that, Kvothe is faced with all sorts of conflicts in this story, he has to overcome various obstacles. Yet it is not ‘tuned’ with the impression we got earlier on. Rather, Rothfuss throws up a lot of ‘false’ obstacles on Kvothe’s path, that he’d be able to overcome easily if he was as brilliant as he himself likes to think. The most horrific examples of that, are scenes in which Kvothe fights a herbivorous Draccus (which was ridiculous by the way, a herbivorous dragon – ever heard of that?!). The Draccus, rather than being important to the overall story-line, is just another false obstacle alongside the way. Even worse, the scenes unneccesarily dragged the pace of the story down.

There is also a lot of hype (see first citation) without much showing. Both Rothfuss and Kvothe (in dialogues with the Chronicler) have hyped him up to the level of a demi-God but he does not deliver. For example, the parts of that particular citation that Rothfuss has told us (“burned down the town of Trebon” or “written songs that make minstrels weep”), weren’t not all that impressive when I read about them. In fact, Kvothe actually quenched the fires in the town of Trebon, not ignited them. The herbivorous Draccus has that claim to fame. Nor have we heard these ’songs that make minstrels’ weep as yet, the one brilliant song Kvothe played on his lute was not even composed by himself and while he executed it, he was aided by a singing Denna. The one he did compose was a song mocking Ambrose (another highborn brat, Kvothe’s sworn enemy at the University) but it did not exactly make minstrels weep. Or maybe it did, because the song was that bad. This shows you that some of these ‘prophecies’ ring false and do not deliver. Now, I know it’s the first volume of a trilogy, but it still felt like Rothufss left too many threads hanging.

In the end, I did not really enjoy reading The Name of the Wind. Despite that Rothfuss handles the flow of the story well, he has left too many threads hanging. The characterization was sub-par and did not manage to impress me at all. There was too much hype but not much showing, the things Rothfuss did show us, did not live up to earlier expectations set by Kvothe himself. Overall, disappointing.

6/10

Spaceman Blues: A Love Song by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor)

This certainly must be one of the weirdest books I’ve read in 2007. On the back cover of this slim novel published in the US by Tor this August, Jim Knipfel (whoever he may be) describes the experience of reading this book as : “It happens only very rarely – you read a book by a new author, and all you can say is ‘wow’. ” I would like to seize this opportunity to replace that ‘wow’ with three words. What. The. Hell.
Honestly, I have rarely encountered a work before that is so confusing, so profoundly strange – that I can not make any sense of it. There’s neither rhyme nor reason to it. It is, quite frankly, beyond me. Despite everything I tried to find a way to like it, to appreciate it for what it was. I simply could not.

The synopsis of this novel is quite simple, giving you with the false impression the novel’s going to develop in a fairly interesting direction.
“When Manuel Rodrigo de Guzmán González disappears, Wendell Apogee decides to find out where he has gone and why. But in order to figure out what happened to Manuel, Wendell must contend with parties, cockfights, and chases; an underground city whose people live in houses suspended from cavern ceilings; urban weirdos and alien assassins; immigrants, the black market, flight, riots, and religious cults.” Pretty clear, huh? Well, try to understand what kind of story the author is telling when you are reading the book. As soon as you start reading, you’re left with is surreal, hyperbolic, hallucinating non-sense.

The main reason why the novel is inaccessible and falls flat on its face, is the prose. All over the internet in the reviews I’ve read on this book, Slattery is lauded for his musical, jazz-like prose*. Needless to say, I disagree. You might say it has some musicality to it, but you might just as well say that it is damn near unreadable. The prose seems to be some sort of mix of sentences that drag to long combined with too many incoherent impressions buried in it. All at once. You’re literally assaulted with words, thoughts and actions. This citation illustrates my point:

” On the highway across Broad Channel, out to the Rockaways, between the Italian neighborhoods and the closed communities that line the beaches, there is a place where the land becomes skinny, the soil dissolves into marshes, and the city gives way to weather-battered buildings and tackle shops, slanting wooden houses with windsocks nailed to the back that look over the broad expense of Jamaica Bay: flat water spotted with clumps of grass, laced with the wakes of motorboats, the sky above broken by the planes landing at Kennedy. Far away, beyond the water, the skyscrapers of Manhattan spike above the land, silver and gray, unreal.” (p. 30)

Has this guy ever heard of punctuation? I just wrote two sentences, and already this citation proving to be longer in length than the average Harriet Klausner review. Keep in mind, this is just one citation – the book’s filled with them. It was literally a struggle for me to finish this book.

Another citation from the book illustrates the assault you’re about to undergo when picking up this piece of weirdness:

” The buildings twist, their colors change, cars mumble and rock in their places the voices of the people picking through his belongings fade, their bones move, talk to each other. A wave ripples through the street, sets up a beat, long and low, a thrum that brings murmurs out of the curbs, leathery voices from sewer grates, keening calls from the streetlights that bend down and sway over cackling debris. And now the houses move and speak, the panels of the side-way stomp and clatter, and it all spreads outward, washing over the city until everything is alive in a deafening dissonance, a throng of rising cries that make Wendell reel, until Masoud grabs his arms and tells him come on, come on.” (p. 66)

You still follow me? See what I mean?

On top of that, Brian Francis Slattery attempts to portraits the immigrant society of New York by introducing various characters. Playing it loose with time and space, he further adds to the mess and confusion by switching point of views frequently. For example the character Wendell Apogee is developed into some superhero “Spaceman”. He then proceeds to shoot the Four Horsemen with arrows and saw them in sevenfold with circular circle-saws. This shows you how ridiculous some of the scenes are.

In the end, Spaceman Blues: a love song comes down to is this: It is just impossible to discern any interesting ideas in the confusion mess the author (intentionally I presume) created. And maybe if the novel was billed as a satire of brittle, modernist urban fiction I’d be kinder to it. But since it appears to be a piece of fiction that takes itself serious – I won’t. The novel falls flat on its face because it goes beyond simply telling a story. It tries to be stylistically innovative, to be surreal like a Dalí painting, to be a kaleidoscopic celebration of immigrant life, to play it loose with time and place – but ultimately forgets to simply tell the damned story. That it why I picked up the book for in the first place, not because I wanted to revel in surreal imaginary, but because I wanted to know why the hell Manuel Rodrigo de Guzmán González disappears and how Wendell is supposed to find him back. This novel does not present satisfying answers to those questions and thus fails in my opinion.

4/10

* I don’t like Jazz.

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan (Gollancz)

Just posted my review of Richard Morgan’s stunning debut Altered Carbon on FBS. Small teaser for you guys here:

In this Takeshi Kovacs casebook, he is resleeved on Earth to solve the mystery of Laurens Bancroft his death. Bancroft is the owner of an influential company on Earth, has connections with the UN Protectorate and is a Meth (someone who is wealthy enough to acquire replacement bodies on continual basis over the centuries). He apparently committed suicide and destroyed his stack in the effort. When he is resleeved from a back up, he has no memories of what happened to him so he calls in Takeshi Kovacs (who is doing some years in a digital prison). The Bay City police have already done research on the event and have confirmed that Bancroft committed suicide, but Bancroft himself does not believe that. Takeshi Kovacs has to discover the truth, but as he edges closer to the true story, things get increasingly more complicated.

Takeshi Kovacs is a great character. The plot unfolds through Kovac’s narrative and it is a good thing because he is a great realized, fully fleshed-out personality. His former teacher and fellow soldier make frequent appearances, giving us some clues on Kovacs’ past. His attitude and behavior bear some resemblances to Charlie Huston’s Joe Pitt, same tough-guy indifference, the same ability to rack up a nice body count. The same big-mouthed talk that makes me grin like a madman when reading.

‘You already are involved. You’ve abducted and tortured an Envoy. You got any idea what the Corps will do to you for that. They’ll hunt you down and feed your stacks to the EMP. All of you. Then your families, then your business associates, then their families and then anyone else who gets in the way. By the time they’ve finished you won’t even be a memory. You don’t fuck with the Corps and live to write songs about it. They’ll eradicate you.

It was colossal bluff. ‘ (p. 157)

For most of the novel, the pace was excellent as well, a brisk pace to keep you on the edge of your seat. There is plenty of action, some gratuitous sex scenes and hints are dropped here and there for you to puzzle over. Only in the latter parts of the novel, the parts in which the whole mystery is revealed, I felt that the novel started dragging a bit too much. This may be because of the fact that Morgan wanted the reader to completely understand what was going on. It left me with the impression that he was spelling it out for the reader, but in the end, it was a minor inconvenience compared to the overall quality of the novel. The prose was decent, in a stylistic sense it was not too innovative but it did its job of the supporting the story just fine.

Check out the full review HERE.

“The Seven Days Countdown To New Year” Challenge

No, ain’t going to evaluate my blog in terms of hard $$, as everybody seems to be doing these days.

Instead, I made up this thing, the Seven Days Countdown To New Year Challenge. My goal is to read a 2007 each day for the next seven days (starting Satursday) and review them at the end of the day. In the end, combined with 2007 releases I read earlier this year, I will be able to pick the book that I think was the best 2007 release. On the first of next year, I will post my best of 2007 list. I will be writing a flood of reviews in any case. The Gravel Pit is going in hypermode!

My schedule is as follows:

Saturday: Spaceman Blues: a love song – Brian Francis Slattery
Sunday: The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss (I might end up reading it monday as well, because it is one hell of a FAT tome)
Monday: Black Man – Richard Morgan
Tuesday: The Traitor – Michael Cisco
Wednesday: Acacia – David Anthony Durham
Thursday: The Last Wish – Sapkowski
Friday: The Terror – Dan Simmons (I might end up reading it saturday as well, because it is one hell of a FAT tome – again)

After that I might pick up TTT by Bakker to complete the trilogy and I might read some Paul S. Kemp or the Nathalie Mallett one. I challenge YOU to take on the challenge as well, that would be helluva lot fun! Either way, enjoy your Christmas days. I will, for sure.

Reflections on Gene Wolfe’s Shadow and Claw anthology

(disclaimer: This is not a review. Not really. I think the words ‘reflection’ covers more or less what I am going to do here, though. )

When I was looking through a list of what some consider fantasy masterworks the other day, I realised how little I had actually read of these famous books in the genre. And since one does need a sort of basic knowledge of the genre when reviewing (mostly) modern day works, I seized the chance and bought a couple of ‘classics’ (M. John Harrison’s Viroconium for instance). Among those was Gene Wolfe’s Shadow & Claw anthology, or alternatively The First Half of the Books of the New Sun (the anthology collects the first two volumes of this famous series The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator in one 400 page edition). Who could have known then that I was about to undertake a magical journey? The Book of the New Sun is widely regarded as a modern masterpiece, not just in fantasy. I think John Clute put it rather apt in ‘The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction‘ :

“Though neither the most popular nor the most influential author in the sf field, Gene Wolfe is today quite possibly the most important. The inherent stature of his work is deeply impressive and he wears the fictional worlds of sf like a coat of many colors.”

Among others, Neil Gaiman, Patrick O’Leary and Michael Swanwick have credited Wolfe for inspiration. The latter has once said in an interview:

“Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. Shakespeare was a better stylist, Melville was more important to American letters, and Charles Dickens had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning.”

The reason I am quoting these authors (and critic) is because slowly, ever slowly there has been building some thing while I read the first half of the Book of the New Sun. Some distinctive feeling that I can’t quite put my finger on, causing frustration and fascination at the same time. Frustration in my inability to fully experience the work in all its glory, fascination for the numerous layers buried in these novels. I felt like Tantalus, each time I reached for the fruit, the branches raised my intended meal from my grasp. Whenever I bent down to get a drink, the water receded before I could get any. Yet I saw the fruit clearly hanging, I could feel the water slopping around my legs. Neil Gaiman once wrote an article on ‘how to read Wolfe’ (that in itself suggests something) and his third point is in my opinion the one that really stands out. The very pillar of reading and enjoy reading Gene Wolfe:

” 3) Reread. It’s better the second time. It will be even better the third time. And anyway, the books will subtly reshape themselves while you are away from them. Peace really was a gentle Midwestern memoir the first time I read it. It only became a horror novel on the second or the third reading.”

This is actually the first novel(s) in which I experienced that phenomenon, that need to reread a book to discover yet a complete different layer. I was awed by it. The book does indeed subtly reshape itself and thus the reading experience is simultaneously rewarding and serves an eye-opening purpose many times over again. The symbolism woven through the story is one of the aspects that I find difficult to grasp the first time I read it, it requires very careful (re-)reading/analysing the text combined with a basic knowledge of myths and religious symbols, especially the Catholic branch of Christianity. That is where reading reviews (like the impressive ones Larry at OFblog is doing) really helps appreciate the story. I could have to decided to review this anthology anyway, since I did ‘get’ most of the story – but I could not shake that nagging feeling that I was still missing out on bits and pieces that would help me appreciate the books even better. I think, as a reviewer, you must be able to understand the intentions of the writer and not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt. At this point it is sufficient to say that I do not truly understand and ‘encompass’ the story of Severian and thus are unable to judge the book by its true merits. When such is the case, I think it is better to reflect on the reading experience (as I am doing now) rather than foolhardy pursuing a review nonetheless.
Regardless of that though, even if you take the different layers of the equitation, these novels are still very enjoyable to read. Severian is a very likeable character and on top that, an unreliable narrator. It is certainly fun trying to figure out in which scenes this unreliability can be found. The prose is impressive as well, Gene Wolfe’s use of many obsolete, unusual, and archaic words is masterfully woven through the narrative. He doesn’t over-do it so one has to constantly reach for a dictionary, but at the same time frequently enough to give the novels an aura of foreignness and create a rich, complex world stunning us in its beauty.

Highly recommended for every fan of fantasy who does not shun away from the more complex, thoughtful books.

999

Just noticed this in my sidebar:

I just need one more comment to reach the 1K spam comments blocked by Akismet! Muhahaha, and not one did make it to my actual blog. You hear me, bots on the other side?! Keep on spamming me, motha fucka’s! Please, one time.. one more! I can take it.

Lightning bolts off the Olympos!

edit: 1002 comments; I rock!

My 14 most anticipated titles of 2008

Listing them in no particular order, please note that publication dates could change in the meantime.

1. R. Scott Bakker – Neuropath (15 May 2008)
Although there is very little known about this book, apart from the little tidbits the couple of reviewers that got to read an early draft revealed, this nonetheless an anticipated title for me. Both The Darkness That Comes Before and The Warrior Prophet were extremely good novels, The Thousandfold Thought is still on my stack – but I am expecting this to literally blow minds. It is a thriller set in the near-future that deals with how the brain can be manipulated into changing personality, memory, actions, just about everything that makes a person an individual. This in correlation to the human life/condition theme. I know, a very vague description but both Jay and Larry (who got to read an earlier draft) confirmed it was very good – I take their on word on that.

2. Steven Erikson – Toll the Hounds (11 August 2008)
The return to Genebackis, Darujhistan and Anomander Rake – Reaper’s Gale did disappoint me a bit, but the premise of this novel rockets this book up through the ranks of anticipated titles. Also, you can say whatever the hell you want about Steven Erikson not rewriting his books but damn dude it feels great to be able to journey back to his Malazan world each year at least once. It will be like visiting old friends again, and would not want that?!

3. Ian Cameron Esslemont – Return of the Crimson Guard (11 August 2008)
Hold on – I have not even read Night of Knives and I am still listing this in my anticipated novels? Damn right! Return of the Crimson Guard will be published by PS Publishing in March 2008, and will see the daylight in its ‘normal’ edition in August 2008, simultaneously with Erikson’s Toll the Hounds making August the month I am looking forward to the most in terms of new book being published. Remember Iron Bars in Midnight Tides and the Crimson Guard fighting in the streets of Darujhistan? In both instances, the Guard kicked some serious ass so their return could not have come at a better time.

4. Paul Kearney – Monarchs of Gods (August 2008)
Another anticipated being published in August! Solaris will be republishing Paul Kearney’s magnificent fantasy series Monarchs of Gods in one, fat omnibus. Kearney has rewritten some parts of the last novel of the series and added another 40 thousand words to smooth the ending. The perfect opportunity to get familiar with Kearney’s work, I am definitely picking this up when it is released in 2008. Well worth the wait.

5. Paul Kearney – The Ten Thousand (1 September 2008)
Other than republishing Kearney’s older series, they have also contracted him to write a new novel, based loosely on the Anabasis of Xenophon. The Assurian Empire rules a world known as Kuf supreme, but is going to be shaken to its very foundations when the Ten Thousand, a legendary race, is hired to take the throne by force. One of the chief editors of the Solaris imprint was very pleased that they had signed Kearney to write this book, and so am I. This will be one of the titles to watch for in 2008.

6. Scott Lynch – The Republic of Thieves (Fall 2008)
Not much unlike reading a Steven Erikson novel, reading a Scott Lynch novel each year will hopefully start to become a habit. Very little is known about the third installment in the Gentlemen Bastards sequence, but the reputation of this talented author alone is enough reason to rank it high on my anticipated title list. I am very much looking forward to meeting Locke and Jean again.

7. Richard Morgan – A Land Fit for Heroes (21 August 2008)
The author of the critically acclaimed Altered Carbon and this year’s Black Man has decided to write his take on epic fantasy – in classic Morgan style. A lot of authors have tried toswitch between SF and fantasy, some successfully, some failing. I dearly hope Richard Morgan will fall in the first category. Check out the amazon.co.uk synopsis to get a general idea of what this novel is going to be like.

8. R. Scott Bakker – The Great Ordeal (Fall 2008)
Other than a vague mid-late 2008, we have no idea when this eagerly anticipated novel will be released. Amazon.com has not yet listed this release, Overlook Press (Bakker’s american publisher) is silent and the UK release is actually listed for January 2009. Hopefully it will see the daylight in 2008 though.
In the Great Ordeal R. Scott Bakker returns to Earwa, twenty years after the events that took place in the Prince of Nothing trilogy.

9. Scott Lynch – The Bastards and the Knives (Late 2008 (Subpress) and possibly 2009 for its “regular” release)
These two novella’s released in one omnibus will provide us with some background stories of how Locke, Jean and the other gentleman bastards acquired the Austershalin brandy that played a major role in the Lies of Locke Lamora and how they managed to avoid being killed by the elite assassins known as the Choir of Knives. It allows us to revisit the banter and antics of Caldo, Galdo and Bug as well discover how Locke and Jean forged their gang. As with The Republic of Thieves reputation alone is reason enough to put this title on my anticipated books of 2008 list.

10. George RR Martin – A Dance with Dragons (Late 2008 – early 2009)
Listed for 7 April 2008 it seems like Amazon.co.uk is outdated on this one and Ihave not got any high hopes for a mid 2008 release either. On all accounts on early 2009 looks the most probable, but I am going to list this year for my 2008 releases. Because of it does come out next year, it certainly will be one hell of serious contender for the best novel of the year spot. A Dance with Dragons marks the return to all the characters that did not feature in A Feast for Crows, including fan-favourites Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister.

11. Tobias S. Buckell – Sly Mongoose (19 August 2008)
Third in the Xenowealth series, sequel to Ragamuffin and graced with beautiful cover art, Sly Mongoose is a book I really want to get my hands on. This is the sixth book listed for August 2008, so it seems like I will have to start saving money immediately to buy all these promising, new releases.

12. Charlie Huston – Half the Blood of Brooklyn (26 December 2007; 7 February 2008 in the UK)
As you can see I am cheating a bit, because strictly speaking this is a 2007 releases, but as I will be picking up the superior Orbit cover in the UK I am still going to list this as a 2008 release. Charlie Huston is one of the author I discovered this year and I enjoyed reading the two previous Joe Pitt enormously. Joe is one of those characters who just has that bad-ass appeal, his attitude makes him one of my favourite characters.

13. Gregory Frost – Shadow Bridge (15 January 2008)
Shadowbridge recently got the nod from Jay Tomio, who predicted that this novel could be a contender for a lot awards next year. That alone could be the reason wh I should include it in my list, to see if it lives up to expectations. The 15th of January will be here in a blink of an eye and so I am definitely picking this one up.

14. Various authors (including George RR Martin)- Inside Straight (22 January 2008)
Inside Straight marks the return to the Wild Cards, a shared world series that was very popular in the early 90’s. It has been reviewed very positively virtually everywhere on the blogosphere to I have high hopes for this. Even more because George RR Martin is one of the authors in the Wild Cards series.

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That is it for my anticipated titles (I have a nagging feeling that I still forgot a few titles, guess it can’t be helped). What about you however? What are you looking forward to reading the most in 2008? Let me know!

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch (Bantam Spectra)

Red Seas Under Red Skies is the second installment of the already very popular Gentlemen Bastards sequence, with the first being the Lies of Locke Lamora (which I read in July of this year). It took me a while to get my hands on a copy (specifically the US version since it beats the UK cover hands down – love the burning ship on front), but I finally got around reading it before the end of this year. Before I will take a closer look at the synopsis of this book, I just wanted to warn that it is fairly impossible to outline the plot without giving something away with regard to the Lies of Locke Lamora. For fear of spoilers I suggest skipping the part below.

” Locke Lamora stood on the pier of Tal Verrar with the hot wind of a burning ship at his back and the cold bite of a loaded crossbow’s bolt at his neck.” (p. 1)

The novel starts with a rather explosive prologue that -typically like Scott Lynch- manages to spark my imagination immediately. As was the case with the Lies of Locke Lamora in the first chapters of this volume Lynch loosely plays with time and structure of the tale he is telling, rewinding to show the reader some of things that have been going on before in the past (in the so called ‘reminiscene’ part at the end of each chapter) and the fast-forwarding again to the present events. This gives the reader a good impression how Locke and Jean have fared since fleeing from the chaos they left behind in Camorr. We learn that Locke went through some sort of depression (actually a foreboding in tone for the rest of the novel, that particular scene) and Jean has focused his attention on doing some other ‘jobs’ that did not directly correlate with the ploys of the Gentleman Bastards. At the point that these reminiscence are wrapped up at about a third in the novel, we find our two friends in a heist to rob Requin, owner of an illustrious gamble house the Sinspire in Tal Verrar, of most of his money. The knot tightens considerably when somebody else in Tal Verrar wants the Gentlemen Bastards’ expertise and is not gentle at all in compelling Locke and Jean to devote their talents to an even more unlikely and suicidal proposition. Soon the two find themselves co-opted into an attempt to bring the pirate fleet of the notorious pirate Zamira Drakasha to justice. On top of that, old enemies of their past in Camorr show up to haunt them in the form of the powerful Bondsmagi of Karthain.

” ‘Just what? Am I special, Jean. Am I our own liability? When have I ever doubted your skills? When have I ever treated you like a child? You’re not my fucking mother, and you’re certainly not Chains. We can’t work as partners if you’re going to sit in judgement of me like this.’
The two of them stared at each other, each trying to muster an attitude of cold indignation, and each failing. The mood within the little cabin turned morose, and Jean turned to stare sullenly out of the window for a few moments while Locke dejectedly shuffled his cards.” (p. 83)

I noted above that one of the reminiscences illustrated the tone of this novel, relatively ‘darker’ than in the Lies of Locke Lamora. The first volume of the Gentleman Bastards sequence was a bit shallow at times, it was more about the heists, the adventures without caring much about consequences – generally the breath of fresh air with the lighter tone and I loved that. With Red Seas Under Red Skies one can see clearly how the events in Camorr have affected the lives of Locke and Jean (how could they not?) and that makes it all the more realistic and deeper. In a way Red Seas Under Red Skies is the more grimmer of the two and the scenes with that “fresh breath of air” to it were less frequent. Although it is still Locke and Jean doing the math and pulling off the tricks, they seem argue more (as the citation clearly illustrates) and at some point almost split up. Red Seas Under Red Skies is also a very character-driven book with Scott Lynch’ characterization of Locke and Jean as one of the main pillars holding up the foundation of this novel. One could argue that it in fact his main strength, the reason why Locke and Jean are such fascinating characters. In comparison to his previous work, the characterization is much deeper, the protagonists much more fleshed out. Moral dilemma’s surface more frequently, and psychologically the personalities of our two protagonists are further fleshed out.

The world building aspect did not play a big role in Lynch’ debut, but even less so with Red Seas Under Red Skies. With the city of Camorr the author created a lively, buzzing backdrop for an exciting adventure – at the very least the city had something unique on its own – but with Tal Verrar, Port Prodigal and other locations Lynch does not even come close to matching Camorr.

” Tal Verrar, the Rose of the Gods, at the westernmost edge of what the Therin people call the civilized world. [...]
The islands of Tal Verrar are unweathered, possibly unweatherable – they are the black glass of the Eldren, unimaginable quantities of it, endlessly tiered and shot through with passages, glazed with layers of stone and dirt from which the city of men and women springs. ” (p. 8)

After this passage Scott Lynch zooms in on the Sinspire, the illustrious gambling house in Tal Verrar and that’s about it as far as world building for Tal Verrar is concerned. He is not interested in building up a realistic, immersing world – and we should not be either as readers. Still, at times I felt that the setting could have been polished a bit more, just too make it all more interesting (although I do wonder what M. John Harrison would have had to say about all this).

“Three boats’ worth of pirates boarded from three separate directions; the ketch’s meager crew was swept into the waist by shouting, club-waving lunatics, all hollering a name that was meaningless to them, until at last they were subdued and the chief of the tormentors came aboard to exalt his victory.” (p. 475)

The pace is brisk and the five hundred fifty pages won’t put a strain on the reader. Scott Lynch does not waste any time meandering on meaningless details, he does not get sidetracked easily but instead focuses on things that truly matter. That is all for the better of it, the caper-pirate storyline works especially well with the fast pace that Lynch is maintaining. With the Lies of Locke Lamora Scott Lynch had a tendency to slow the story down in order to provide the reader with background information on the Gentleman Barstards’ past, and that affected the pace tremendously. In Red Seas Under Red Skies he improved in that area, the ‘background scenes’ are less numerous and managed to keep up – more importantly- the fast pace while still providing you with amusing interludes.

Red Seas Under Red Skies is, despite some flaws, still an immensely enjoyable novel by a talented author. Scott Lynch managed to improve in some areas, namely the characterization of his protagonists and maintaining a fast pace. It is, however, not so much the fresh breath of air through fantasy scene as the debut novel the Lies of Locke Lamora was. When you keep that in mind, I can guarantee that will find this novel extremely rewarding at heart.

8.5/10