Book Review: Children of Memory

Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.

Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology—and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.

Re-reading the blurb after finishing the story, my reaction is that it's terribly misleading.

The novel opens with the crew of the ark ship Enkidu arriving at a world called Imir. It's in rough shape, basically being held together with duct tape and baling wire. Scans reveal that the terraformers weren't able to finish their work, not by a longshot. The crew and still-in-cryosleep colonists had to accept that their prospects looked bleak and full of hardship, but the alternative was certain death in space.

We then fast forward decades later. The settlement on Imir is just getting by. Most people are farmers and there's a smattering of education, but only during the winter. Machines are breaking down, and the fabricators that make parts for the machines are breaking down. The last shuttle, cobbled together from parts cannibalized from other craft, sits idle, a ruined relic. There's no going back to the Enkidu, still in orbit over Imir, to find either tools or spare parts.

Our first narrator is Liff, a young girl of thirteen. She claims to have seen her grandfather, Captain Holt, but she's told he's been dead for years. She's intrigued by her teacher, Miranda, a woman who's ventured into the settlement from one of the far off farms as her family can no longer till the land.

Miranda is, in fact, a member of the crew of the Skipper from the Human collective of humans, spiders, squid, and interlocutors from Children of Ruin—with each of the non-humans being in human form. Miranda, an interlocutor, is our second narrator.

Our third narrators are Gethli and Gothi, a pair of corvids (crows) from Rourke, another planet the terraformers started working on but ultimately came up short of their goals. The corvids reminded me of Heckle and Jeckle (same family as crows, but technically magpies) rather than the two crows from Rick & Morty, but with a greater degree of intelligence. We learn about them through a flashback.

The story proceeds fairly well to about the 35% mark when events on the settlement reach what should be a dramatic turning point. But that's when Tchaikovsky sends us to a flashback to learn about the origins of Gethli and Gothi. That's fine; authors do that. But when the flashback is done we start rehashing the main story as if the dramatic event hadn't happened. It didn't make sense. Was this in the past? Was this later and Tchaikovsky is going to make us wait to explain what happened? It went on and on. I realized that not only was Liff an unreliable narrator but so was Miranda! The crows, who only commented on people and events they'd observed in their cryptic fashion, were the only semi-reliable narrators.

It wasn't until 80% that the big reveal cleared up why Liff and Miranda were unreliable narrators. It wasn't satisfying, but it did explain things. And then there was another big reveal after that which made the story even less satisfying.

At this point, it stops being a story and more of a self-indulgent debate on the nature of sentience. He doesn't even present it as clever sub-text; the characters are having this debate out in the open. It's the sort of thing you can get away with when you're a successful author with dozens of novels under your belt. It's a thing that I've seen a fair amount of in publishing. Once you become a cash cow, you're free to do whatever you want because the name on the cover is more important than the story within.

2 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review: The Infinite and the Divine

My son got me this book. It's part of the multitude of Warhammer 40,000 novels that were inspired by the games of the same name. If you're unfamiliar with Warhammer 40K, it started out as a tabletop miniatures wargame set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. From there, it's branched out into TTRPGs and video games. My experience with it is limited to one videogame on the PS2, which I enjoyed until I got stuck.

Honestly, I have no idea where this book fits in the game's timeline, and as it takes place over several millenia—and I'm sure that I'm lowballing that guess—I don't know if that even matters.

Two immortal beings, Trazyn the Infinite and Orikan the Divine, are rivals seeking out an artifact that could... [sigh] Does it matter? It's just a MacGuffin that the two of them spend forever fighting over.

I think you have to be a fan of the game to appreciate this book.

A good deal of the novel is spent with these two ridiculously powerful beings battling one another or others getting in their way. These battles read like a MadLib™ of combat where you fill in the blanks of some weapon name and what it does while the other puts up a defense to counter said attack. Meanwhile, lesser beings serve as cannon fodder, willingly or not. To be honest, I found these battles boring because both characters are just so seriously overpowered that they're never in any serious danger. When you're lead to believe one of them might actually be seriously wounded or slain...Psych! They just transfer their consciousness into a prefab clone or whatever.

And for a pair of immortals who have lived far too long, they display the emotional maturity of two kids fighting over who gets to play with the dump truck in the sandbox.

Now this book does have its moments, and Robert Rath knows how to write them. You can see it when the two lead characters set aside their differences from time to time to work together or when he does a deep dive into the lore of the Warhammer 40K universe. But I also think that Rath is boxed in by the Warhammer 40K parameters that there must be X amount of battle scenes featuring Z amount of carnage. I wouldn't mind seeing what he can do on his own. But considering how successful he is in this sandbox, why would he bother?

2.5 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review: Eversion

In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.

Nataliya describes the way this novel begins so well that I'm just going to quote her:

This starts more like if “Moby Dick” had a literary baby with “Groundhog Day” while cheating on Jules Verne...

Who knew that the astrophysicist author best known for high tech sci-fi could dive deep into such mundane earthly matters as 19th century nautical fiction?

This is a difficult book to review, for I don't wish to spoil it for anyone. As you can glean from the blurb and Nataliya's quote, Dr. Silas Coade is the ship's physician on ill-fated expeditions across time. Through his exchanges with the crew and passengers aboard these ships, a host of clues are presented, but Silas is oblivious to them at first. As they come together, Silas is forced to confront the truth, but his reluctance to do so will doom him and the others to disaster.

That's all I can say about the plot.

I enjoyed each expedition across time as Reynolds varied the details and the unfolding of events. The interaction between the characters rang true to their time period with Ada being a bit of fresh air each time. Figuring out some of the clues wasn't too difficult as the narrative moved from one timeline to the next, but the big reveal caught me by surprise. And once revealed, the story still had enough mileage to stay glued to it.

Overall, an entertaining sci-fi mystery adventure. Would make for a good movie.

4.5 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review: Fearless Writing

Find the courage to create your best writing life. Whether you're a fledgling writer or a veteran with years of experience, fearlessness—that elusive blend of self-acceptance, confidence, and curiosity—is the defining quality of those who find fulfillment and success. Truly fearless authors banish writer's blocks with ease, receive critiques gracefully, and infuse their passion for the craft into every word they write. Filled with insightful wisdom and practical advice, Fearless Writing teaches you how to thrive as a writer, no matter your genre or career path. You'll learn how to:

• Find and enter a Flow state in which writing is a natural, deeply satisfying process.
• Quiet both internal and external critics and embrace the inherent value in your work.
• Use love, emotional engagement, and curiosity as the guiding principles for what you write and how you share it with others.
• Overcome rejection, procrastination, and other obstacles that stifle your creativity.

From the blank page to the first draft, and from querying to marketing, the writing life is filled with challenges, roadblocks, and new experiences. With Fearless Writing, you'll find the inner strength to embark on a bold journey—and build a lifelong career in the process.

I took a class based on this book a few years ago through Writers Digest University. It was handled remotely with assignments that went along with the lessons. The assignments were there to reinforce the lessons. And Mr. Kenower provided feedback on the assignments.

I loved it. It provided the spark I needed to finish my second novel, Gateway to Empire. I knew that I needed to have a copy with me on my desk at all times.

The book blurb does a great job outlining what's in this book, so I won't rehash it. I will point out that each chapter addresses some aspect of the writing or publishing process. Kenower always provides an anecdote that fits the chapter's subject which reinforces his overall argument. I'll admit that I wasn't necessarily 100% convinced by every chapter's example in and of itself, but Kenower was at least consistent with his argument, and it made the argument presented in the book as a whole more solid.

I found myself reading it this year because I'm back in that dark place that I was before. That shouldn't be interpreted as a condemnation of the effectiveness of this book. The problem is all mine. I've suffered from recurring bouts of low self-esteem and depression my entire life, and my experiences with publishing haven't helped in the least. In fact, they've contributed to a feedback loop that constantly inhibits my ability to sit down and write. "Why do I bother?" is a constant refrain in my head.

But in Fearless Writing, Kenower offers the right pep talk to break me out of that vicious cycle. And I'm good for a while, but something invariably comes along to mess me up. So I will be reading this book again and again until it becomes second nature. I don't know if I'll ever succeed in defeating my personal demons, but I know I won't if I don't try.

\_/
DED

Book Review: Ancillary Sword

Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship. Once a weapon of conquest controlling thousands of minds, now she only has a single body and serves the emperor she swore to destroy.

Given a new ship and a troublesome crew, Breq is ordered to the only place in the galaxy she will agree to go: Athoek station, to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew – a lieutenant she murdered in cold blood.

So I read the first book, Ancillary Justice, nine years ago, which was four years after it came out. This book came out a year after the first, but I'm just getting to it now. Why? Well, Goodreads friends of mine had mixed feelings about it and warned it was even more soaked in tea than the first book. But also, by then I'd discovered Murderbot and that's been a far more enjoyable series. In fact, I was wondering if I should re-read Ancillary Justice to see if my opinion of it (five stars) held up.

Not wishing it to collect any more dust on my nightstand, I read it. I'm glad I did, but I didn't love it. Yes, everyone is having tea, and they're having it all the time. It's right there on the very first page.

So the Radch, the name of the empire, comes across as Victorian era Great Britain: The non-stop tea drinking, priceless tea sets, tea plantations, indentured servitude, self-righteous attitudes towards the "uncivilized heathens", fussiness about manners, and aristocratic nobility getting anything they want because of who they are. I didn't get that in the first book, but here it's in our face. With Breq being granted a ship and the rank of Fleet Admiral, we're thrust onto the high seas with Athoek Station as port-of-call. I'm picturing Victorian navy uniforms, all epaulets and big hats.

I found myself more annoyed by usage of the feminine pronouns than in the first book (The Radch doesn't acknowledge gender, so the default is "she") for two reasons. The first is that the indentured people on the planet do acknowledge gender so Breq is forced to be respectful and use their proper pronouns and titles like "grandfather." She struggles to get it right (Wait a second, did I?). The second is that in the Radch navy, everyone uses "sir" to address officers. So everyone is addressed by the feminine all the time in the Radch, except in the navy when they're also addressed by the masculine. The switching back and forth from she to sir and back again was silly. And with more characters to deal with, I had to look for behavioral clues to figure it out. Why was that important? Well, as a reader, I'm always trying to concoct a picture of the character in my head, and Leckie's not making that easy for me. I think I got it right. Maybe.

Anyway, back to the story. The galactic intrigue is put on the backburner. There's a murder that could've been something, but it wound up being nothing other than an excuse for Breq to go down to the planet to observe a mourning ritual. Once there, the whole story turned into the whole Victorian British Empire tea plantation indentured-servitude-is-bad thing, which is fine, but not what I tuned into this series to read about.

Again, it was a fine read, but not what I was hoping for. And with the meh reviews of the third book in the series from my Goodreads friends, I don't know if I want to bother continuing with this series. I mean, there are only so many tea parties I can read about, particularly since my daughter is too old to have them with her stuffed animals.

3 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review: The End of All Things

Humans expanded into space and found a universe populated with multiple alien species bent on their destruction. Thus was the Colonial Union formed, to help protect us from a hostile universe. The Colonial Union used the Earth and its excess population for colonists and soldiers. It was a good arrangement...for the Colonial Union. Then the Earth said: no more.

Now the Colonial Union is living on borrowed time—a couple of decades at most, before the ranks of the Colonial Defense Forces are depleted and the struggling human colonies are vulnerable to the alien species who have been waiting for the first sign of weakness, to drive humanity to ruin. And there's another problem: A group, lurking in the darkness of space, playing human and alien against each other—and against their own kind—for their own unknown reasons.

In this collapsing universe, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson and the Colonial Union diplomats he works with race against the clock to discover who is behind attacks on the Union and on alien races, to seek peace with a suspicious, angry Earth, and keep humanity’s union intact...or else risk oblivion, and extinction—and the end of all things.

In the previous entry of this series, The Human Division, the book was a collection of a serialized stories bundled together with an overarching storyline. It didn't work for some people, but it worked for me. This entry gets to the bottom of the matter: Who's trying to sabotage the Colonial Union? The story is told over four novellas which offer varying viewpoints as to what's going on in different places and at different levels of society in Scalzi's Old Man's War universe.

The opening story is "The Life of the Mind" in which we see where all of the missing ships went. It's told from the viewpoint of Rafe Daquin, a computer programmer turned starship pilot who's just looking for work. He signs up for third string pilot aboard the Chandler and gets more than he ever bargained for. The ship is captured and he's forced to pilot the ship for Equilibrium, the organization looking to make life hell for the Colonial Union (CU). But despite being at their mercy at the outset, he plots his revenge.

"This Hollow Union" gives us a look inside the political operations of the Enclave, a confederation of 400 species who are united in their opposition to the CU and still smarting from their comeuppance at the conclusion of The Last Colony (Book 3). It's told by Hafte Sorvalh, the de facto number two of the Enclave. The Enclave is torn over what to do about Earth. Readers of the series will know that Earth told the CU to bugger off after they learned what the CU's been doing, not to mention that they believe the CU destroyed their space station. Some want to admit the Earth into the Enclave; others hate this idea as you just can't trust Humans. There's plenty of intrigue, and I admit to being caught off guard by the big reveal at the end.

"Can Long Endure" embeds you with a team of CU Marines as they're sent from one assignment to the next. CU colonies are upset and threatening to declare their independence. The CU can not allow that, and so the Marines are sent in to remind these would-be rebels that that would be a bad idea. Lt. Heather Lee listens to her squad debate matters from the CU's troubles to what's being served for lunch in the mess hall all while trying to stay above the fray and making sure that they focus on the job at hand. It's fairly lighthearted until the last world they're sent to and then Lt. Lee has had enough.

"To Stand or Fall" picks up where "Can Long Endure" leaves off. Lt. Harry Wilson narrates this one after appearing in "This Hollow Union." He's a realist, recognizing that the CU is falling apart but also that it's humanity's best chance for survival. Thanks to some clever interrogations, he's able to figure out the Enclave's grand plan that will tear everyone apart. The hard part is figuring out how to prevent it.

It's trademark Scalzi at the top of his game. He has characters you can root for, wonderful dialogue, and a worldview that I can get behind. While all of the worldbuilding was done at the beginning of the series and the aliens are people in rubber suits, I didn't mind. It works. It's solid entertainment for this reader.

4.5 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review - Black Star Rising

When a mysterious alien spacecraft approaches the Earth and demands to speak with the President of the United States, then destroys a large Pacific island to demonstrate its strength and its seriousness, you'd expect the President to talk. Problem is, in the late twenty-first century, there is no President—not even a United States. China rules the Americas, and to most people "US" and "USSR" are just quaint abbreviations in historical dictionaries. But the aliens prove unreasonable about accepting substitutes. So one Anglo rice-cultivator from the Heavenly Grain Collective farm near Biloxi, Mississippi is forced to begin an adventure that will take him from peasant to President, from Pettyman to Spaceman.

I remember when this book came out. I was subscribed to a science fiction book club (that might've even been the name), and this was the book of the month. I was intrigued by the cover and made a mental note to check it out in the future. Decades later, I found it at one of the used book sales I frequent and picked it up.

What a disappointment.

It's easy enough to picture this as an alternate future where the US vs. USSR nuclear war has happened and the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping have never happened. It's a bit stale, but not far-fetched. The far-fetched stuff comes later, after we meet the aliens. But I won't spoil that for any would-be readers.

The story starts off as satire, devolves to farce, and then falls flat trying to deliver some sort of message at the end.

The characters exist to advance the plot. I couldn't really root for any of them. We start with Castor, a man in his early 20s who has stars in his eyes but is pretty thick-headed about women. I felt a little bad for him early on, but that soon faded. There's a Chinese police detective in her 40s named Delilah who becomes Castor's sexual partner. Her constant denial of her feeling is over-the-top. Professor Fung Bohsien, aka Manyface, who has had the brains of dying people added to his in order to save their minds. The end result is a bit like multiple personality disorder. There are some alien characters, but to divulge anything about them would be a spoiler.

Pohl infuses the story with sexism and that attitude about sex that is common for sci-fi writers in the post "free love" era of the late 60s to mid-80s. It's very male fantasy oriented as that's who the target demographic was: teenaged boys and horny old sci-fi writers men. As a teenager in the 80s, I didn't know any better, but later as an adult, I realized wasn't real at all.

The coolest part of this book is the cover and the title. I should've just stuck with that rather than read it.

1 star

\_/
DED