Book Review - Artemis Awakening
Labels:
artemis awakening,
book review,
jane lindskold,
science fiction
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| Cover image courtesy of Barnes and Noble. |
Author: Jane Lindskold
Publisher: Tor
Publication Date: May 27, 2014
Version I Read: Mass Market Paperback
Rating: 5/5
By now, it should be no secret that I'm a big fan of Jane Lindskold's work, so when I heard she had a new series coming out, I nabbed a copy at the earliest opportunity. Needless to say from my five star rating, it's good.
Centuries ago, a powerful empire dominated the stars. With their advanced technology, they were able to accomplish seemingly the impossible, like creating an entire pleasure planet for their elite, complete with residents. When the empire and their technology were destroyed in a war, the planet, named Artemis, was lost and left to evolve on its own. Now, young archaeologist Griffin Dane has come to the planet, hoping to make the archaeological find of the century. Too bad his shuttle crashes...
There's not a lot to talk about, really. It's just a good all around book. No one thing in particular sticks out, but that's because every element is done nicely and it all blends together to create a good story that still leaves some questions unanswered and some plot threads open.
Major spoilers!
First off, this book, unlike some others, has been edited down to necessity, making it very tightly-plotted. The allows the action and the story to move along at a clipped pace and never drag.
The villain, the Old One Who Is Young, is not a new breed by any stretch of the imagination, but he is an effective one. When describing the horrors of the Old One's experiment/breeding program, Lindskold pulls no punches, making a great case for why this man is so unbelievably horrible he deserves to be called a villain. (Long story short, he's breeding human beings for reasons that make sense in context, and abduction, rape, and removing children from their parents is a regular occurrence). This also allows the narrative to scratch the surface of showing how Stockholm Syndrome can cause victims to victimize others, and why they shouldn't be held entirely accountable for it. He is also mentioned early enough that his importance is consistent throughout the novel, and his betrayal is effective in its surprise.
I also found the romance realistic, especially in regards to Adara and Julyan. It's a spot-on description of a young woman, caught up in the throes of first love, falling for a man whose dominant personality becomes problematic (understatement) in the future. The interactions between Griffin and Adara and Terrell and Adara (and Griffin and Terrell's friendship in spite of the "competition") turn them into real people (albeit from completely different origins) and the reader, as well as Adara, can see the good points of each. Both Griffin and Adara thinking they are not good enough for the other (for different reasons) was a nice touch. They also make a very good team. Adara herself is sufficiently badass and crafty (pretending to be stupid around the Old One so she may avoid his attentions while sneaking about on her own to investigate), joining the ranks of other similar Lindskold heroines. Her connection to the planet itself is intriguing and I'm interested to see where it will go as the story continues.
Research was clearly done on pumas in order to write Sand Shadow, and Artemis itself is an organic, fascinating world that, hopefully, will only continue to be built upon in subsequent novels. While it's been done before, the discovery of this lost world is just as mysterious and intriguing as any which came before.
Centuries ago, a powerful empire dominated the stars. With their advanced technology, they were able to accomplish seemingly the impossible, like creating an entire pleasure planet for their elite, complete with residents. When the empire and their technology were destroyed in a war, the planet, named Artemis, was lost and left to evolve on its own. Now, young archaeologist Griffin Dane has come to the planet, hoping to make the archaeological find of the century. Too bad his shuttle crashes...
There's not a lot to talk about, really. It's just a good all around book. No one thing in particular sticks out, but that's because every element is done nicely and it all blends together to create a good story that still leaves some questions unanswered and some plot threads open.
Major spoilers!
First off, this book, unlike some others, has been edited down to necessity, making it very tightly-plotted. The allows the action and the story to move along at a clipped pace and never drag.
The villain, the Old One Who Is Young, is not a new breed by any stretch of the imagination, but he is an effective one. When describing the horrors of the Old One's experiment/breeding program, Lindskold pulls no punches, making a great case for why this man is so unbelievably horrible he deserves to be called a villain. (Long story short, he's breeding human beings for reasons that make sense in context, and abduction, rape, and removing children from their parents is a regular occurrence). This also allows the narrative to scratch the surface of showing how Stockholm Syndrome can cause victims to victimize others, and why they shouldn't be held entirely accountable for it. He is also mentioned early enough that his importance is consistent throughout the novel, and his betrayal is effective in its surprise.
I also found the romance realistic, especially in regards to Adara and Julyan. It's a spot-on description of a young woman, caught up in the throes of first love, falling for a man whose dominant personality becomes problematic (understatement) in the future. The interactions between Griffin and Adara and Terrell and Adara (and Griffin and Terrell's friendship in spite of the "competition") turn them into real people (albeit from completely different origins) and the reader, as well as Adara, can see the good points of each. Both Griffin and Adara thinking they are not good enough for the other (for different reasons) was a nice touch. They also make a very good team. Adara herself is sufficiently badass and crafty (pretending to be stupid around the Old One so she may avoid his attentions while sneaking about on her own to investigate), joining the ranks of other similar Lindskold heroines. Her connection to the planet itself is intriguing and I'm interested to see where it will go as the story continues.
Research was clearly done on pumas in order to write Sand Shadow, and Artemis itself is an organic, fascinating world that, hopefully, will only continue to be built upon in subsequent novels. While it's been done before, the discovery of this lost world is just as mysterious and intriguing as any which came before.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
Book Review - The Novice
Labels:
book review,
fantasy,
taran matharu,
the novice,
the summoner trilogy,
YA,
young adult
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| Cover image courtesy of Barnes and Noble. |
Author: Taran Matharu
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Version I Read: Hardcover
Rating: 4/5
Version I Read: Hardcover
Rating: 4/5
I picked this one up on a whim because it sounded interesting, and I certainly was not disappointed. Not completely wowed, but certainly not disappointed.
The Novice tells the story of Fletcher, an orphan living in a small remote mountain town in the north of the empire of Hominum. On accident, he ends up summoning a demon, proving he has the ability to summon. On the run from a "crime he didn't commit," according to the book cover, but more like a possible murder in self-defense, he finds himself enrolled at the academy that trains adept summoners where he is bound to learn more about himself and the world around him.
Some spoilers.
The two biggest strengths of this book are the world building and the magic system. The entire system for summoning and keeping a demon is amazingly logical and thought out. The politics and players in them are likewise astonishingly well-detailed for a book like this, especially the relations between the races and the interesting cultural details about each one the author manages to squeeze into the narrative (like the dwarven women's customs being so similar to Islamic ones. It was nice to see a positive portrayal.) This book also had a rather fresh approach to elves, dwarves, and possibly even the orcs (as well as the somewhat unique inclusion of firearms), which I appreciated.
The plot is also pretty decent, especially the neat twist that even the reader doesn't know if Didric actually died or not. The opening third is the best part, but the book also ends on a high note with a cliffhanger of an ending that would bother me if it hadn't been built up. Unfortunately, while it does the school sections better than most, I have never been a big fan of magical school stories for precisely that reason. The school sections tend to be boring and drag. While they weren't as bad here because the magic system was so solid and the reader was learning along with the characters, these sections still felt tedious in places.
Most of the messages of the story are generic (don't discriminate against people based on their origin or race) but a small one near the end was noteworthy enough to be mentioned here: the dwarf Othello has a more radical twin brother named Atilla whom Othello regularly impersonated in order to keep his brother from harm. But near the end of the book, after Fletcher and co have rescued Atilla, Othello admits he was wrong because his brother rarely had a sense of consequence, and so his self-destructive behavior continued. While there's nothing wrong with protecting those you love, shielding them too much can, obviously, lead to problems and it was nice to see this book point that out.
There are some other issues. Namely, the sheer hatred everyone seems to have towards commoners being battlemages. It comes off as more shallow and stupid than usual. Medieval society or not, they are desperately fighting a war on two fronts and need everyone capable they can find. This leads to the order about not testing orphans for summoning ability because they could be bastard children of nobles (the ability is usually inherited) coming off as incredibly stupid. First, the vast majority of orphans are not going to be illegitimate nobles. Second, I'm sure plenty of those kids did end up with families who pretend to be their biological ones, so how is being an orphan such a big indicator? You're going to pass on a rare and powerful resource just because some of your nobles couldn't keep it in their pants and they don't want their honor tarnished? It was their fault in the first place! The racism towards the dwarves and the elves works a lot better, in spite of the fact that it's been done to death. But can we start exploring some other issues in our fantasy, please?
The characters are mostly hits with some misses. For being as many as there are, they all do have their places and are relatively well-developed. Fletcher, Captain Lovett, Othello, Sylva, Sereph, and to a lesser extent Atilla and Arcturus are all badasses. On the flip side, most of the other students at the academy don't get to do much (I was expecting both Genevieve and Rory to have more of a front and center role, and I think it was interesting that the author decided to have Sylva, Othello, and Fletcher be the power trio instead.) The villains, however, are downright irritating in their simplicity, especially Didric and Rook. At least Isadora and Tarquin have some sort of motivation, but it doesn't make them three-dimensional characters. All of the villainous characters' lack of any sort of depth or being anything other than obnoxious bullies is quite jarring compared to the excellent thought the author put into the world, the magic system, and the rest of the characters. Hell, it even looks like the orcs might not be everything they seem.
Last but not least, the book would have greatly benefited from a character list and world map.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
Book Review - The Book of Three
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| Cover image courtesy of Barnes and Noble. |
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: March 12, 1964
Version I Read: Paperback
Rating: 5/5
I'll make no secret of it - I think The Chronicles of Prydain is one of the masterworks of the fantasy genre, children's series or no. So, bam, five star rating right there. Going into a bit more detail why:
The Book of Three is the first novel of the Chronicles of Prydain series by American author Lloyd Alexander. While not a retelling of Welsh mythology, the series heavily borrows elements and characters from the legends, while introducing new ones. Despite the title, The Book of Three and its sequel, The Black Cauldron, were mashed together to form the basis of the 1985 animated Disney film (that no one remembers) The Black Cauldron.
The Book of Three begins the story of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper of Caer Dallben. Taran, like the protagonists of most fantasy novels, dreams of being a hero but as his title implies, is stuck looking after the pig Hen Wen. Hen Wen, however, is far from ordinary: she is the only ocular pig in Prydain, with the power to show what one is asking for. When Hen Wen runs off, Taran sets off to find her, leading him to a group of odd companions and eventually to confront the dreaded Horned King himself.
Spoilers.
All of the books in the series feature a complex, uncommon moral/lesson/theme that makes them all stand out in one way or another. To illustrate this, I give you an exchange from the end of The Book of Three:
"I have no just cause for pride," Taran said, taking his usual place on the familiar bench. "It was Gwydion who destroyed the Horned King, and Hen Wen helped him do it. But Gurgi, not I, found her. Doli and Fflewddur fought gloriously while I was wounded by a sword I had no right to draw. And Eilonwy was the one who took the sword from the barrow in the first place. As for me, what I mostly did was make mistakes."
"My my," said Dallben, "those are complaints enough to dampen the merriest feast. Though what you say may be true, you have cause for a certain pride nevertheless. It was you who held the companions together and led them. You did what you set out to do, and Hen Wen is safely back with us. If you made mistakes, you recognize them. As I told you, there are times when the seeking counts more than the finding."
The writing itself is quite poetic and even beautiful in places. The pacing is good, the plot moves along logically without characters having to act stupid or random events happening, and there aren't any superfluous scenes. The world-building is simplistic - perhaps a little too simplistic, but I think it works okay in this book, at least. In fact, I think that's one of the only weaknesses of this series: that the world-building is a little confusing at times in later novels.
The characters are all quite memorable in their first appearances here and only become more so as the series goes on and they develop. Eilonwy is spunky and talkative, Fflewddur is the voice of reason in the group despite his tendency to exaggerate. And Doli, well, Doli is just a sourpuss, but his magical abilities make him extremely useful, and he genuinely grows to care about the band. Taran himself is in whiny farm boy mode for most of this book, but it serves to set up his development as a character over the course of the series and he genuinely realizes his mistakes. As the above exchange says, every character gets to do something that is important to the plot and they all have consistent and strong personalities. Gurgi in particular, I feel, is a lot less annoying in the books than in the film adaptation.
The Verdict: The Book of Three is a rousing adventure story set in an interesting fantasy world with complex and somewhat uncommon ideas about heroism and growing up. The characters are also well-developed and memorable.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
The Book of Three is the first novel of the Chronicles of Prydain series by American author Lloyd Alexander. While not a retelling of Welsh mythology, the series heavily borrows elements and characters from the legends, while introducing new ones. Despite the title, The Book of Three and its sequel, The Black Cauldron, were mashed together to form the basis of the 1985 animated Disney film (that no one remembers) The Black Cauldron.
The Book of Three begins the story of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper of Caer Dallben. Taran, like the protagonists of most fantasy novels, dreams of being a hero but as his title implies, is stuck looking after the pig Hen Wen. Hen Wen, however, is far from ordinary: she is the only ocular pig in Prydain, with the power to show what one is asking for. When Hen Wen runs off, Taran sets off to find her, leading him to a group of odd companions and eventually to confront the dreaded Horned King himself.
Spoilers.
All of the books in the series feature a complex, uncommon moral/lesson/theme that makes them all stand out in one way or another. To illustrate this, I give you an exchange from the end of The Book of Three:
"I have no just cause for pride," Taran said, taking his usual place on the familiar bench. "It was Gwydion who destroyed the Horned King, and Hen Wen helped him do it. But Gurgi, not I, found her. Doli and Fflewddur fought gloriously while I was wounded by a sword I had no right to draw. And Eilonwy was the one who took the sword from the barrow in the first place. As for me, what I mostly did was make mistakes."
"My my," said Dallben, "those are complaints enough to dampen the merriest feast. Though what you say may be true, you have cause for a certain pride nevertheless. It was you who held the companions together and led them. You did what you set out to do, and Hen Wen is safely back with us. If you made mistakes, you recognize them. As I told you, there are times when the seeking counts more than the finding."
The writing itself is quite poetic and even beautiful in places. The pacing is good, the plot moves along logically without characters having to act stupid or random events happening, and there aren't any superfluous scenes. The world-building is simplistic - perhaps a little too simplistic, but I think it works okay in this book, at least. In fact, I think that's one of the only weaknesses of this series: that the world-building is a little confusing at times in later novels.
The characters are all quite memorable in their first appearances here and only become more so as the series goes on and they develop. Eilonwy is spunky and talkative, Fflewddur is the voice of reason in the group despite his tendency to exaggerate. And Doli, well, Doli is just a sourpuss, but his magical abilities make him extremely useful, and he genuinely grows to care about the band. Taran himself is in whiny farm boy mode for most of this book, but it serves to set up his development as a character over the course of the series and he genuinely realizes his mistakes. As the above exchange says, every character gets to do something that is important to the plot and they all have consistent and strong personalities. Gurgi in particular, I feel, is a lot less annoying in the books than in the film adaptation.
The Verdict: The Book of Three is a rousing adventure story set in an interesting fantasy world with complex and somewhat uncommon ideas about heroism and growing up. The characters are also well-developed and memorable.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
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