Lamb

"The fist time I saw the man who would save the world he was sitting near the central well in Nazareth with a lizard hanging out of his mouth. Just the tail end and the hind legs were visible on the outside; the head and forelegs were halfway down the hatch. He was six, like me, and his beard had not come in fully, so he didn't look much like the pictures you've seen of him."

Lamb, The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore is the most enjoyable book I've read in years. I suppose you'd have to say its irreverent, but unless you are pretty uptight, I think anyone would be hard pressed to claim that its disrespectful.

The premise of the book is pretty much spelled out in the extended title. Moore endeavors to fill in the blanks in the life of Christ from his birth until his ministry. He uses humor as his vehicle, telling about the life of Christ from the perspective of his best friend, Levi, who is known as Biff.

Jesus, or Joshua as he is named in the book, (Joshua is the English version of the Hebrew Yeshua. Jesus is the Greek translation. Christ is Greek for messiah. The H., well Biff never asked what that stood for.) and Biff grow up together in Nazareth. They have their childhoods, which were not quite normal, but hey one of the is the son of God, how normal could he be? The whole son of God part is where the crux of the story gets underway. Josh doesn't know how to be the messiah, so he and Biff embark on a journey to find and to learn from the three Magi who witnessed Christ's birth.

I loved this book. I laughed out loud countless times while reading it. The story was fun and it was a nice relaxing read. I haven't read a book this amusing since the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy. If you have never read Moore, and you have any sense of humor make sure you pick this one up.

9 out of 10

Neuromancer

"Cyberspace. A consentual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation."

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

Neuromancer by William Gibson was a groundbreaking sci-fi novel, and was awarded the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Philip K. Dick awards in 1984. It effectively introduced "cyberpunk" as a sub genre of science fiction. Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" and envisioned the internet and virtual reality well before either existed.

The book follows Case, a former cyber cowboy, who jacks in and surfs cyberspace for his employers. But he went to far and now has been severed from the matrix. A mysterious power offers to fix him, in return for going along on one last, dangerous mission. Case is joined by Molly, and lovely yet deadly bodyguard, and the ex military man Armitage.

Neuromancer is a relatively short book clocking in at just over 250 pages in my trade edition. The influence this book has had on the genre is undeniable. Movies like the Matrix seem derived almost completely from this work. The world Gibson unfolds for us is remarkable. Like Verne before him he predicts where technology will go uncanily.

However, personally I found it rather hard to follow it points. The story never totally grabbed me. Conceptually I was hooked, but I just couldn't like it as much as I wanted to. I don't think this style is really my cup of tea.

8 out of 10

Paladin of Souls

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold is the second book in her Chalion series. It won the Hugo award for best novel in 2004. While I enjoyed the book, I think there were probably some better choices out there.

The story takes up where the Curse of Chalion left off. If you havent read the first book and don't want to be spoiled skip to the end of the review.

The curse of the golden general has been lifted, and Cazand Iselle have settled in to their new roles as Queen andChancelor. For Dowager Royina Ista though, things have changed. With the curse lifted so has her madness, or so she hopes. In order to gain some freedom she sets off on a pilgrimage with some old friends and some new.

Along her journey she discovers that there are demons loose in the land. Not only that but there are new tensions along the border of Jokarna. More troubling yet, are her dreams. Is her madness truly gone?

The book clocks in at just under 500 pages. It probably could have been been shrunk to two thirds that side without much trouble. I felt there was too much exposition, and that too much of it was repeated. I read the first book. I know the story of Lord dy Lutez. I can deal with hearing it retold once, but two or three times, is too much. There wasnt anything groundbreaking in this book, but it was still a good story worth the read.

7 out of 10

Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb is a prolific writer probably best known for her Farseer trilogy. She has also written the Live Ships trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy set in the same world. She is currently working on the Soldier's Son series. She also wrtes contemporary fantasy under the name of Meagan Lindholm.

I got the chance to meet Ms. Hobb last year during a reading at Dreamhaven books. She was very nice and engaging. To this point I've only had the chance to read the Farseer books, but the other Hobb books are in my collection, and I'm looking forward to getting a chance to get to them finally.

The Forever War

"Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman won both the Hugo an Nebula Awards for Best novel, and its easy to see why. It is truly a masterpiece of hard Sci-Fi. Written as an allegory to the author's own experience in the Vietnam War, the book follows the story of one young conscript and his time served in the never ending war with the Taurans.

Private William Mandella was drafted due to his unique skill set, and trained to fight in the far reaches of space. However due to relativity each mission while taking mere months subjectively can take years or even centuries back on Earth. Haldeman uses this to explore radical social and economic possibilities in our future.

I absolutely loved this book. The Science is hard enough to dazzle you, but not so hard as to leave you scratching your head in confusion. The story is wonderful. The author uses his experiences well to demonstrate not only the dangers a soldier faces in combat, but those he faces off duty, and while trying to reassimilate into the public. If you haven't read this book, and you at all enjoy Sci-Fi pick it up now.

9.5 out of 10

The Man in the High Castle

"It is 1962 and the Second World War has been over for seventeen years: people have now had a chance to adjust to the new order. But it's not been easy. The Mediterranean has been drained to make farmland, the population of Africa has virtually been wiped out and America has been divided between the Nazis and the Japanese. In the neutral buffer zone that divides the two superpowers lives the man in the high castle, the author of an underground bestseller, a work of fiction that offers an alternative theory of world history in which the Axis powers didn't win the war."

The Man in the High Castle won the Hugo award in 1963. This alternative history story is an amazing vision of what if. But its much more than that. It's a story of a book with in a book. One of the cornerstones of the story is a book titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy by Hawthorne Abendsen, who is the Man in the High Castle. Grasshopper is itself an alternate history book in which Germany and Japan did not win WW2.

Dick is a master of the esoteric in this book. He weaves a tale worthy of the title "Masterwork". For a work over 40 years old it does not feel dated. Characterizations are well developed for a book if this modest length. I found myself re-evaluating my opinions of the protagonists, most especially Juliana, several times as I read. This is a must read for any fan of speculative fiction.

9 out of 10

The Clan Corporate

I'm a big fan of Charles Stross's the Merchant Princes series, and I've been eagerly anticipating the release of The Clan Corporate, the third book in the series. For those of you not familiar with the series I will give you a brief plot overview.

Minor spoilers.

The premise is that there are multiple worlds. and that certain people have the genetic ability to move between them by concentrated on a particular pattern associated with a particular world. One of the world is ours. This is the world our protagonist Miriam Beckstein was brought up in. But our Earth is not the world she was born into. She is a scion of the Clan, the familial alliance of genetic world walkers, who have used their ability to cross to modern Earth to amass great fortune and great power in their medieval world. Miriam reintegration into that world has caused them a number of headaches however.
That is where the third book picks up.

Stross writes another page turner. The book is a fun and easy read. I previously called this series two parts Zelazny's Amber and one part Puzo's The Godfather. This book adds in what feels like a forth part Tom Clancy. The introduction of the pov of a DEA agent is part of the fall out of book two's climax. Stoss also gives us a number of interludes consisting of transcripts of conversations between minor or supporting characters. They felt a bit odd and out of place. Miriam also seems changed. Where up to this point she has adapted and overcome all the challenges presented to her, in this book she seems much more helpless.

Overall, the book seemed to have a different feel to it than the opening installments. While I still enjoyed The Clan Corporate immensely, I don't think this volume was as good as the first two.

7.5 out of 10

Dying of the Light

"A whisperjewel summoned him to Worlorn, and a love he thought he'd lost. But Worlorn isn't the world Dirk ta'Larien imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight, forever falling toward night."

Dying of the Light is George R.R. Martin's first novel. For a debut its tremendous. While technically this is a sci-fi story at its core its its a love story. The characterization that is the bread and butter of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, is abundantly evident here.

Worlorn is a rogue planet which is temporarily passing through a star system, and as a result will be able to support life for awhile. The planets of the outer fringe decide to each build a city on Worlorn, and hold a festival to show the inner planets their glory. Now the festival has passed. Worlorn is passing beyond the warmth of the suns and is slowly dying, a little more each day.

The book is well paced, and has a number of plot twists that have you reevaluating your views of the characters. No one seems to play with my views like Martin does. I'm a bit more torn about the ending. I just finished it, and I don't know if I like what he did or not. At the very least it was a bold way to finish of his first novel. Over all it was at very good book, and I'm eager to read more of George's early works.

8 out of 10

Lord of Light

"They called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He himself preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be."

Lord of Light was Roger Zelazny's third novel and it won him the Hugo award for Best Novel in 1968.

The story on the surface seems like diefied fantasy, based around the Hindu pantheon. Deeper in however clues are revealed as to what is truly going on. The book starts out with the introduction of Sam, or Buddha, or Siddhartha, or any of the half dozen other names he is known by. Each of the subsequent 5 chapters are flashbacks telling the story of Sam's fight against "Heaven", with the seventh and final chapter occurring chronologically after the first.

Many consider this to be Zelazny's finest work. I still prefer the first Chronicles of Amber, but I can certainly see why other chose this. Once I got a grasp on how the story was being told, and began to pick up clues as to what the gods truly were the story made a lot more sense. This is a book that really makes you work.

8.5 out of 10

What is yet to come.

Books I'm looking forward to.

The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross : Book 3 of the Family Trade

The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes : Book 3 of the Kingdom of Thorn and Bone

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

A Sword from Red Ice by J.V. Jones : Book 3 of A Sword of Shadows

Farther down the road

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin : Book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan : Book 12 of the Wheel of Time

The Aspect-Emporer by R. Scott Bakker