Saturday, June 28, 2008

June '08

THE RUNELORDS: THE SUM OF ALL MEN
-D. Farland-fantasy
-613-a universe where endowments [brawn, wit, beauty, etc] can be taken and given. One Wolf Lord is trying to take over. A prince becomes a legendary king, the Earth King. Humanity has a common enemy called Reavers, some sort of huge insect like race. It was an ok story, but I wasn't wow'ed or really impressed.

RETIEF!
-K. Laumer-scifi
-589-a bunch of short stories about a diplomat named Jame Retief. He works in the CDT, a galaxy spanning Corp that is about as helpful as the Circumlocution Office in a Dickens' novel. He actually gets things done. Light and amusing. I like Laumer's stuff.

TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLES #17
-Clamp-manga
-182

RECLUCE: COLORS OF CHAOS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-798-continues the story of Cerryl. This is a counter-story to Dorrin's tales. Really interesting to see how a True White is committed to protecting the weak and seeing that all play fair. I thought that the two books involving Cerryl were some of the best in the Recluce Saga.

FIFTH ELEPHANT
-Terry Pratchett-fantasy
-494-Vimes goes to Uberwald as a diplomat. Lots of things happen and Ankh Morpork gets good deals with the dwarves. It seems that Pratchett has replaced Rincewind [and other wizards] and the witches with Vimes. I am not sure how I feel about this. Vimes is a good protagonist but I really enjoyed the hapless terror that was the daily deal for Rincewind.

RECLUCE: MAGI'I OF CYADOR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-560-deals with Cyador. Near the end of its reign. The white power that the magi'i use is definitely on a different level than what the future white wizards use. Lorn is a magi who doesn't quite cut it so is sent to become a Lancer. He is constantly the center of plots to get rid of him. He has his own plots to take over Cyador. Deals a LOT with the Forest, that is restrained.

PROPHET
-F. Peretti-religious fiction
-461-A forties something news anchor must deal with God. His father is a prophet, who is killed. He is given the mantle and must confront the current governor about lies about abortion and the death of the governor's oldest daughter. A bit fluffy. The thing I really didn't like was how characters were thrown together without any apparent intro. I had to reread parts several times to make sure I hadn't missed something. I'd buy it hardover if I could find it cheap.

MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN: GARDENS OF THE MOON
-S. Erikson-fantasy
-488- An empire of humans is trying to take over the world, the Malazan Empire. There are also a plethora of gods, old and new, several additional races [all of which seem to be old and dying out] and various types of magics. Complicated. The Empress, who ousted the Emperor 15-20 years before the book starts, seems bent on taking over all that she can while also wiping out those in the army who still respect the Emperor. Follows one company who is set for destruction, called the Bridgeburners. Some High Magical Lord of an Elder race who must face a resurrected Tyrant who ruled for close to 3 Millenia back in the day. Gods playing around with fate and it is all tied together, even if not directly. Complicated, confusing and very indepth. I still don't feel like I have a grasp on everything that happened. I know that I missed stuff when I skimmed, but there was SO much that I couldn't help but skim. Definitely looking forward to reading more though.