Fevre Dream

Imagine if Mark Twain had written a vampire novel, and you've got Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin. The novel follows the story of Captain Abner Marsh and his dream of having the grandest steamboat on the mighty Mississippi. Unfortunately his dream has been shatter thanks to a hard winter destroying his fleet. Captain Marsh is thrown a lifeline, however, when a mysterious and eccentric benefactor named Joshua York offers to build him the ship of his dreams.

Marsh of course accepts and they begin their maiden voyage. But once on the river York's eccentricities begin to rouse suspicions. Why does he only appear at night? What is up with his equally odd friends. Why does he leave the ship for days at a time, only to return with blood stains on his hands.

Martin deftly weaves a tale that grows more engrossing the further I read. Not all is as it appears to be, and the amalgam he has created, between Life on the Mississippi, and Dracula was certainly interesting. He leads you to what you think is the climax of the story several times, before finally wrapping the story very satisfactorily.

I liked the book, and Martin is my favorite author. I'm a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, and I'm slowing getting around to reading his earlier works. While not up to the level of the other Martin novels I've read, Fevre Dream is definitely worth picking up.

7.5 out of 10

New Scott Lynch Message Board

The inesteemable OsRavan has started a message board dedicated to Author Scott Lynch.

Check it out HERE.

Books and Food

I read the following post on Steven Brust's LJ. I found it to be a pretty good metaphor.

"I spent a delightful morning hanging out with Niel Gaiman, and, as usual, we talked about Stuff. If the following makes you go, "Splendid! Brilliant! Insightful!" then Niel gets the credit, because it was his metaphor. On the other hand, if it makes you go, "Lame! Stupid! Strained!" then blame me, because I stretched it to the breaking point.

Books can be broken down into four classes: popcorn, steak, caviar, and celery.

Popcorn is pretty obvious. Anyone here enjoy The Destroyer novels by Sapir and Murphy as much as me? gobble gobble gobble Steak is the stuff you can bite into, chew, swallow, and gain sustenance from. Some of us use spices on our steak, or do interesting things with it by stir-frying it, adding ginger and various vegetables, and so on. In my case, paprika. But at the end of the day, it is steak. Niel writes particularly good steak--range fed, the spicing is different every time, always delectable, and some of it obviously comes from places where cattle are not indigenous, making you go, "Wow. How did they ever think of doing that?" as you go for the next bite.

Gene Wolfe and John M. "Mike" Ford write caviar. It is a lot of work to get to. You have to open the can, you have to make sure the refrigeration is exactly perfect. You have to have the right atmosphere, and you have to approach it with the proper reverence if you're going to get anything out of the experience. But if you do, my god, is it worth it!

Celery is that stuff you have to chew and chew and chew and, by the time you're done, you've gotten even less nutritional value from than the popcorn. I won't name any names.

Some turn up their noses at popcorn. Well, that's okay. Just don't bring 'em to a ball game. Most of us like steak, in one form or another. Some object to caviar because they have just never got into the glories of eating--into food that is worth the work. For them, the payoff just isn't there.

The interesting thing, to me, is that there really are people out there who like the celery because it is so hard to chew, and the fact that there's nothing of substance there doesn't bother them.

Okay, so, probably not as deep as I'm making it sound. But fun to think about."

Magic for Beginners

Short Fiction is something I've not read much of. For most of my life the majority of what I read was Epic fantasy, big heavy multi-volume works. As a result, I've missed out on a whole lot of great writing. While good epic fantasy is still my favorite, I've been trying to expand my horizons, and I thought a great place to start would be with Kelly Link. The fact that she will be appearing at Dreamhaven on Thursday probably lead me to pull her book of the shelf ahead of other worthy canidates, like Jeff Ford or Ted Chaing. I will get to them eventually though.

Magic for Beginners, is a collection of 9 stories. Having never read Link I went in not knowing what to expect. The first story, The Faery Handbag, was a winner for me. Odd and quirky are the first two words that spring to mind when I try and describe this story, and come to find out the rest of the stories make this one seem pretty normal. In this story a young woman searches for her grandmother's magical handbag, that contains a realm in which time runs at a fraction of the speed of our world.

The Hortlak, details the goings on of a 24 hour convenience store. Its sort of reminded me of Clerks meets Shawn of the Dead.

The Cannon, was the shortest story and I didn't care for it. Link has a very stream of consciousness style of writing. Sometimes its brilliant, other times, its just too disjointed and out there for my taste.

Stone Animals, had a very horror feel to me. While not a scary story really, I felt very disturbed at times while reading this.

Catskin, was like a Grim Brothers' fairy tail on acid. While reading many of the stories, I found myself baffled as to how someone thinks of stuff like this.

Some Zombie Contingency Plans, was my favorite story, not only does it have an awesome title, but it was the most realistic of the stories. I felt more connection to Soap than to anyone else in these stories.

The Great Divorce, is a story about a man and his dead wife. She was dead when they were married. People occasionally marry ghosts. This of course can be problematic.

Magic for Beginners, seems to be a favorite to take the Hugo for Novella this year. I can see why. This was a great story. How Link manages to craft a world within a world in such a short amount of space is amazing. The story centers around a group of teens and their love of the cult show The Library. The ideas she presents here are mesmerizing. I marvel at how her mind works.

Lull, was a bit anticlimactic after the wonderful title story. This story was again rather meta. Stories within stories.

As a whole I like the collection. Odd, weird, strange, and beautiful. I fully intend to read more by Link , and read more short fiction.

8 out of 10

On Ratings

Its probably about time I gave a brief explanation of my rating systems.
I give ratings on a scale from 0 to 10 including half integers.

0 : would be something I'd have to have an awfully compelling reason to finish. I'm stubborn but not that stubborn. Zero is something I probably wouldn't even want to wipe my ass with for fear of contamination.

1 : is about as bad as it gets, for example: Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind I'd rate a 1

2 : very bad

3 : is a bad book, but it probably has some redeeming qualities, a cool character or a impressive concept that was just poorly executed.

4: below average

5 : an average book. I probably enjoyed parts of it, but its probably nothing I'd ever pick up again or recommend to anyone.

6 : a bit better than average, has several positive qualities.

7 : a good book one I would recommend to people and that I might re read given time.

8 : a very good book something that any serious fan of the genre should put on their to be read list. Must be exceptionally well written, be incredibly enjoyable, or be in some way a ground breaking work.

9 : a great book. One that people should read as soon as possible

10 : As good as it gets. I don't give out 10 to many books. The only 10 that I can think of that I've read would be A Storm of Swords.

These ratings of course are subjective, but I do try and insert some objectivity into them. I realize that not everything is going to be my cup of tea. If something is well written or groundbreaking, but I just don't care for it that much, I will not downgrade it substantially. For example Neuromancer. A groundbreaking seminal sci -fi work, I just didn't care for it that much. Not a style I prefer, but I still recognize its significance so it still gets a very good rating.

Some may notice that to this point I haven't given any bad grades. Well I don't grade on a curve. Many of the books I've read this year have won major literary awards, or they have come heavily recommended. I haven't been reading a lot of run of the mill books lately. When I get caught up with some long over due classics and books I've been waiting for, I may get into some more mediocre works.

What has come before.

I'm not a super fast reader. Plus I have that stupid thing called a job, which cuts into my reading time, I like TV and have a handful of shows I watch every week. So when the year began I wanted to set a realistic goal to hit this year. I figured I could at least read two books a month. Three might be pushing it. So I set a goal of 30 books. With a good summer, I'm ahead of pace.

Here is what I've read so far this year, along with the rating I gave them, and the link to my review if I did a full one.

The Warrior-Prophet by R.Scott Bakker 9.5

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson 6.5

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold 8.0

The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 9.0

The Thousandfold Thought by R.Scott Bakker 9.0

Dune by Frank Herbert 8.5

Supreme Power HC Graphic Novel by J.M.S. 9.0

Shadow Twin by Dozios, Martin, & Abraham 7.0

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham 7.5

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 9.0

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny 8.5

Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin 8.0

The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross 7.5

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick 9.0

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 9.5

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold 7.0

Neuromancer by William Gibson 8.0

Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff by Christopher Moore 9.0

River of Gods by Ian MacDonald 8.5

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch 9.5

The Lies of Locke Lamora

"Richer and cleverer than everyone else!"

That's the cry of the Gentleman Bastards, in The Lies of Locke Lamora by debut author Scott Lynch.

Lies is the first volume in a planned seven book series called the Gentleman Bastards.

Set in the canal city of Camorr, Lies is part Oliver Twist, part heist movie and is as fun of a romp as you could want to read. The prologue starts with our young protagonist, Locke, being sold from one gang of thieves into another where he is trained into adulthood where most of the story takes place. Scott uses interludes between the present day chapters to tell more of the backstory of the Gentlemen Bastards. Its a toll he uses very well, at least for the first 3/4 of the book. The flashbacks set up action in the present with a wonderful sense of timing and flair. However, the last few interludes, are not flashbacks, but more history lessons, and while they were informative, they felt a bit out of place to me.

While some of the plot elements are fairly standard, the way they are executed keeps them from seeming cliche. In fact and exciting as the plot was, I don't think its the best part of the book. Its the dialogue that I fell in love with, the witty banter that brings to mind some of the best I've ever read, like GRRM's Tyrion Lannister. The thief with the heart of gold would be all to easy of a trap for Lynch to fall into, but he manages to avoid all pitfalls, and deliver a book that should be heralded as a classic of the genre twenty years down the road.

I loved this book, it has all I could want, action, drama, suspense, plot twist, fun characters, witty dialogue. Do me a favor, do yourself a favor, read this book. Buy it now. If you cant buy it, beg borrow or steal it. The Crooked Warden will reward you. :p

9.5 out of 10

River of Gods

Ian McDonald earned a Hugo nomination last year for this novel set in near future India. The year is 2047 and the Hamilton Acts have restricted the development of all AI beyond Gen 2. India has shattered into smaller warring nations. A drought has nearly dried up the Holy Ganges. This is the backdrop for a complex and beautiful story.

McDonald uses a Point of View chapter style to weave his plot. Nine separate characters start the story and they are eventually intertwined and woven into a rich tapestry. Mr. Nanhda, the Krishna cop, His wife Parvati. Professor Lull and his protege Lisa. Shiv, the gangster. Vishram, the family blacksheep, Tal the Nute, Najia the reporter, and Khan the political advisor.

The vision of the future presented is exciting and scary. Its relatable enough to seem well within reach.

Overall I really liked this book, It was a complex tale and not one to be lightly read. I found myself getting lost a few times, but in the end it was well worth the investment put into the read.

8.5 out of 10

Signed Lies

The flash kinda muted out the actual signature.

Scott Lynch

I attended a reading and signing by breakout author Scott Lynch at Dreamhaven last night. Snacks and fizzy drinks were served. There was a nice turnout of probably 25 -30 people, many of whom seemed to be friends of the author. Scott was very friendly and outgoing, and was cracking me up all night, starting with him addressing the crowd just prior to staring and cracking "What are you looking at? I don't have to be nice until 6:30." Much witty banter with the crowd ensued, most especially with his lovely fiance who was seated in the front row.

Let me interject the fact that regrettably, I haven't had the chance to read the book yet. I had ordered a copy from Neil at Clarkesworld. But Neil going the extra mile sent the books off to be signed, resulting in a slight delay. Being the book addict I am, I of course purchased an additional copy last night to get personally signed.

The reading consisted of the entire prologue, which is available for download here. If you haven't read this books yet, and aren't sure you want to, read this, and it will convince you. I've attended a number of readings over the past year or so, and some authors are certainly more enthusiastic than others. You could tell that Scott really enjoys his book, because he certainly seemed to be having fun reading it. He delivered all the punch lines with proper flair.

After the reading, Scott answered questions for quite awhile. The first question was about his career as a fireman. Scott then regaled us with several amusing anecdotes regarding folks of questionable intelligence, running the gambit from fireworks, or smoking in bed, to intoxicated 20 somethings, dry ice, and superfluous nipples. He also discussed the providence of landing not only a 2 book deal from a 45 page prologue, but it evolving into a 6 book deal, and optioning book 1 off into a movie.

Finally it was time for signing. Scott nixed the singing as he was worried about liability due to brains bleeding if he attempted to sing the book. He was once again extremely nice, and took the time to write some nice personal inscriptions. Once I get mine scanned or photo'd I will put it up here.