Sunday, October 26, 2008

October '08


GREEN RIDER: THE HIGH KING'S TOMB
-K. Britain-fantasy
-679-well, this is turning into a series. A VERY good series to! This deals with King Zachary and more remnants of the Second Empire. An old woman, a necromancer awakened by Mornhavon's awakening, plans the kidnapping of Estoria, Zachary's bride to be. This is simply a diversion to allow the Second Empire to use black magic to take down the Deyer Wall. This book focuses on the wall. Alton plays a big part. Find out the history of the land and what happened after Mornhavon's defeat. I really am looking forward to the rest of this series.

FORWARD THE FOUNDATION
-I. Asimov-scifi
-480-the immediate prequel to the Foundation Trilogy [which I shall now have to reread]. Seldon is on Trantor and trying to get psychohistory ready in time. This book covers about 30+ years. Not really interesting unless one was a big Foundation buff, which I am not. Founds the first Foundation and uses his granddaughter as the nucleus for the Second Foundation.

HARD TIMES
-C. Dickens-257
-classic-a story set in a small town. A man raises his children with regard for nothing but "Facts!" One marries a much older man because she doesn't care about anything and it will help her brother and the brother becomes a selfish idiot. Brother robs a bank and through it all the family realizes that there is much MORE than just "facts!" to life.

THE HOLLY-TREE
-C. Dickens-32
-classic-a short story. A man believes his beloved is in love with his friend, so he determines to leave for America and forget his troubles. A snowstorm strands him at an inn, the Holly-Tree, and he thinks about all the inns he's been in. After the snowstorm his friend rides up with his new bride, who turns out to be the main character's beloved's cousin. So the main character goes back to his love and marries her. Just a short little narrative that is filled with Dicken's way of describing everything, very evocative.

STAR WARS: REPUBLIC COMMANDO: ORDER 66
-K. Traviss-432
-scifi-the final Republic Commando novel, supposedly. We will see though, since she left several "openings" for later stories. Basically, everything comes to a head and the RC's under Skirata disappear and go to Mandalore to start their new lives. Etain, the jedi who had a baby with a clone, is killed as they are trying to leave Coruscant. I really enjoyed this story, much more story than the previous. I really hope the bookclub carries this and the previous as a combo.

SHANNARA: GENESIS OF SHANNARA: THE GYPSY MORPH
-T. Brooks-402
-fantasy- a typical Brooks novel. Hawk, the gypsy morph, gathers a group and goes to a safe place. Elves all go into the Lodenstone and are also taken to the Safehaven. Findo Gask is supposedly destroyed by a combination of the Elfstone magic and Tom Logan's Knight of the Word magic. I don't believe it. I think he is the Warlock/Morgawr. Ends with Hawk going into a magical sleep and placing a protective mist around the new enclave and some insane soldier firing off all the remaining nukes that America has. Really doesn't say how our world "changed" into Shannara, just shows the end of ours. I was really hoping for more. I bet he writes another trilogy taking place one generation after this one though. Milk that cash cow ;-)

THE OCTAGONAL RAVEN
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-432
-scifi- this is comparable to Gravity Dreams, but not quite so sickeningly preachy. I didn't enjoy it at all though. In the future, humans are augmented by nanites, but the well off get more, etc, etc. A class of augments wants to become the ruling elite and attempts to use the media to do it. A younger son of one of the Big Three in the media ends up opposing them and winning. It was SO boring. I shall stick to his Corean Chronicles and Recluce stuff from now on.

DUNE: PAUL OF DUNE
-B. Herbert & K. Anderson-scifi
-512- Two stories about Paul Atreides. One is set between Dune and Dune Messiah. Tells of the beginning of the Jihad and the starting of the Empire of Maud'dib. The other is from Paul's childhood. Both are interesting but it felt like they were put together in one book because neither had enough substance on its own. Enjoyable if one is a Dune fan, but I couldn't really recommend it to anyone else.

TEMERAIRE: VICTORY OF EAGLES
-N. Novik-fantasy
-329- Now this was a good story. Napolean has landed in England and the English are in shambles. Lots of politic'ing and Laurence and Temeraire are allowed to do what they need to. Fighting and dragons making their own tactics, quite interesting. Ends with Napolean's army being smashed and Britain liberated. Laurence is exiled to Australia and Temeraire too, since the House of Lords don't want a rogue dragon around. Hopefully Novik's next book will follow in the action vein of this one.