Dune (Dune Chronicles #1) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Dune
Series: Dune Chronicles #1
Author: Frank Herbert
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 604
Words: 206K
Publish: 1965

Technically, this is the Deluxe Edition released in 2019. I did a “Book Catch” post when I received it for Christmas the year after it was released. The reasons it is “deluxe” is because it has new (delicious!) cover art, some maps and stuff and then some blatherings by Herbert’s son Brian. Brian has blathered on in other previous editions of Dune, mainly because he’s not man enough to write something successful like Dune so he’s getting by on daddy’s coat tails. In the older editions, Brian did an “Afterwards” where he self-promoted the new Dune stuff he and that no-good lousy pathetic Kevin J Anderson co-wrote along with teasing about Dune 7, the mythical book Frank was going to write to finish up the Dune Chronicles, but died before that happened. Baby Herbert and KJ(ack)A(ss) wrote Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune and both sucked donkieballz. I compared this “new” Forward to that older Afterwards and the only difference is that Baby Herbert adds a paragraph talking about the upcoming new Dune movies (Dune: Part I and Dune: Part II) as well as various games coming (Dune Imperium I believe, which Spalanz has talked about extensively) out soon. What a fething loser, can’t even write a new Foreward, how pathetic is that?

And enough of that! Onward to the good stuff.

This is my fourth “Official” read through of Dune. Down at the end of the review, under my avatar, you’ll see links to the previous three reviews. However, like many of my favorite books here on my blog, I read and re-read this book many times before I started recording my reviews. I think I was 14 or 15 when I first read Dune. I saw a paperback at the library and it had the atrocious movie cover of the 1984 movie, but to teenager me, it looked awesome (and while I abominate that movie as a “Dune” movie, I like it well enough on its own) and when I read it, the scope just blew me away. Then when I was a bit older I found out the library had the rest of the Dune Chronicles in hardcover and I devoured them, even while not necessarily understanding all that was going on. But based on my reading habits as a teen, I suspect I read Dune three times between 1993 and 2000, which is when I began recording when I read books. So this is probably my 7^th time reading it, possibly my 8^th and I still love it and think it is a complete and utter 5star book. It doesn’t get much better than this.

This is not an action book. There is the fight scene between Paul and Jamis when Paul and his mother are escaping to the desert and the dubious safety of the Fremen, but it is no more than a couple of paragraphs. There is also the fight scene near the end of the book between Paul and his cousin Feyd-Rautha Harkonnon but once again, only a couple of paragraphs long. Any of the battle scenes between the Fremen and smugglers or the Sardakaur are only given the broad brushstroke treatment. If you read much of Herbert, you will come to discover that he doesn’t like action scenes. He prefers things to happen off page and then just state that they happened. That proclivity isn’t as apparent here, but the roots of that mindset are shown for those who are looking. I’ve noted that before, but I think it bears proclaiming because of how the damnable new movies show the stories. There is lots of action shown in those that are simply glossed over in the book. Dune is not a simple adventure story.

I hesitate to say the following, and I’ll explain why after. Dune is a thinking man’s story. I don’t like saying that because it smacks of literary snobbery and the kind of people who think absolute garbage writing is the best. I despise literary types, who wouldn’t know a good story if it grabbed them by the throat and choked them to death. To them, the story is the least important part of a book. A “good” book is one that either preaches what they are preaching, or is one that they can shoehorn in their own despicable baby killing world view and try to destroy everything good and decent. They are the kind of people who read a book and then try to tell everyone “what it really means” no matter what is patently obvious or even stated by the author himself. They are the militant vegetarians of the book world. But vegetarians have some very good points to make when it comes to health and it would behoove most Americans to listen to them more. And thus it is with Frank Herbert and Dune. The story is a good story AND Herbert brings up many different aspects of humanity and sets forth his thoughts on the issues. It’s not that he’s baldly pontificating and denigrating everyone who disagrees with him, but he’s putting forth ideas and letting the reader decide how deep they want to follow that rabbit trail he has exposed to their view. Herbert won’t be put into just one box.

He doesn’t do this through just one avenue of thought, but through a multiplicity of story ideas. You have the government of the Landsraad and the Imperial House. You have the Bene Gesserit and their breeding program for the next step of human evolution. You have the Fremen and the Sardakaur as objects of war, both secular and religious. You have prophetic visions on one hand and manipulations of the space/time continuum on the other in the Spacing Guild. Paul himself brings most of these ideas into himself and we are given little hints that he is cogitating some very deep things, things which Herbert doesn’t write about in this book.

Each time I read Dune I have to decide if I’ll continue the Chronicles or treat it as a standalone. It really changes how you view this book depending on which option you go with. When I last read this in 2017, I stated that I wanted to read Dune as a standalone from then on. I can understand why I wrote that. It is very hard to start reading the Chronicles and not finish, as the story keeps pulling you deeper and deeper into the mythos. The problem is that it leads you into the horrendous finale by Frank’s son (the aforementioned Dune 7 duology linked in the first paragraph above) and nothing is worth that, absolutely nothing. Now, Frank did write a trilogy for Dune. Dune, Dune Messiah and then Children of Dune. God Emperor of Dune is a pivot point in the series and heads the reader off into a much broader scope of a story, for good or ill is up to you to decide. This time around I’m thinking I’ll read the trilogy, as I’ve never done that before.

This book is over 600 pages, but that is because there is a glossary and several appendixes. I HIGHLY recommend reading those and not skipping them. In fact, you might want to keep your finger in the glossary section so you can look up terms, names and places when you come across them in the story and don’t understand them. Do be aware, if you do that, there will be spoilers. Reading these is a good refresher course for any Dune lover and whether this is your first time or your eighth, you can’t go wrong with reading the them.

Finally, the cover to the Deluxe Edition. I love it, period. I can already tell this is going to be the cover love choice for December. It is as inevitable as Paul Muad’dib’s jihad ;-)

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

Duke Leto Atreides of House Atreides, ruler of the ocean world Caladan, is assigned by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to serve as fief ruler of the planet Arrakis. Although Arrakis is a harsh and inhospitable desert planet, it is of enormous importance because it is the only planetary source of melange, or the "spice", a unique and incredibly valuable substance that extends human youth, vitality and lifespan. It is also through the consumption of spice that Spacing Guild Navigators are able to effect safe interstellar travel through a limited ability to see into the future. The Emperor is jealous of the Duke's rising popularity in the Landsraad, the council of Great Houses, and sees House Atreides as a potential rival and threat. He conspires with House Harkonnen, the former stewards of Arrakis and the longstanding enemies of the Atreides, to destroy Leto and his family after their arrival. Leto is aware his assignment is a trap of some kind, but is compelled to obey the Emperor's orders anyway.

Leto's concubine Lady Jessica is an acolyte of the Bene Gesserit, an exclusively female group that pursues mysterious political aims and wields seemingly superhuman physical and mental abilities, such as the ability to control their bodies down to the cellular level, and also decide the sex of their children. Though Jessica was instructed by the Bene Gesserit to bear a daughter as part of their breeding program, out of love for Leto she bore him a son, Paul. From a young age, Paul is trained in warfare by Leto's aides, the elite soldiers Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck. Thufir Hawat, the Duke's Mentat (human computers, able to store vast amounts of data and perform advanced calculations on demand), has instructed Paul in the ways of political intrigue. Jessica has also trained her son in Bene Gesserit disciplines.

Paul's prophetic dreams interest Jessica's superior, the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. She subjects Paul to a deadly test. She holds a poisoned needle, the gom jabbar, to his neck, ready to strike should he withdraw his hand from a box which creates extreme pain by nerve induction but causes no physical damage. This is to test Paul's ability to endure the pain and override his animal instincts, proving that he is, in Bene Gesserit eyes, human. Paul passes, enduring greater pain than any woman has ever been subjected to in the test.

Paul and his parents travel with their household to occupy Arrakeen, the capital on Arrakis. Leto learns of the dangers involved in harvesting the spice, which is protected by giant sandworms, and seeks to negotiate with the planet's indigenous Fremen people, seeing them as a valuable ally rather than foes. Soon after the Atreides' arrival, Harkonnen forces attack, joined by the Emperor's ferocious Sardaukar troops in disguise. Leto is betrayed by his personal physician, the Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, who delivers a drugged Leto to the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and his twisted Mentat, Piter De Vries.

Yueh, who delivered Leto under duress, arranges for Jessica and Paul to escape into the desert. Duncan is killed helping them flee, and they are subsequently presumed dead in a sandstorm by the Harkonnens. Yueh replaces one of Leto's teeth with a poison gas capsule, hoping Leto can kill Baron Harkonnen during their encounter. Piter kills Yueh, and the Baron narrowly avoids the gas (due to his defensive shield), which kills Leto, Piter, and the others in the room. The Baron forces Thufir to take over Piter's position by dosing him with a long-lasting, fatal poison and threatening to withhold the regular antidote doses. While he follows the Baron's orders, Thufir works secretly to undermine the Harkonnens.

Having fled into the desert, Paul is exposed to high concentrations of spice and has visions through which he realizes he has significant powers (as a result of the Bene Gesserit breeding scheme). He foresees potential futures in which he lives among the Fremen before leading them on a holy war across the known universe. Paul reveals that Jessica's father is Baron Harkonnen, a secret kept from her by the Bene Gesserit.

Paul and Jessica traverse the desert in search of Fremen people. After being captured by a Fremen band, Paul and Jessica agree to teach the Fremen the Bene Gesserit fighting technique known to the Fremen as the "weirding way" and are accepted into the community of Sietch Tabr. Paul proves his manhood by killing a Fremen man named Jamis in a ritualistic crysknife fight and chooses the Fremen name Muad'Dib, while Jessica opts to undergo a ritual to become a Reverend Mother by drinking and neutralizing the poisonous Water of Life. Pregnant with Leto's daughter, she inadvertently causes her unborn daughter Alia to become infused with the same powers in the womb. Paul takes a Fremen lover, Chani, who bears him a son he names Leto.

Two years pass, and Paul's powerful prescience manifests, which confirms to the Fremen that he is their prophesied "Lisan al-Gaib" messiah, a legend planted by the Bene Gesserit's Missionaria Protectiva. Paul embraces his father's belief that the Fremen could be a powerful fighting force to take back Arrakis, but also sees that if he does not control them, their jihad could consume the entire universe. Word of the new Fremen leader reaches both the Baron and the Emperor as spice production falls due to their increasingly destructive raids. The Baron encourages his brutish nephew Glossu "Beast" Rabban to rule with an iron fist, hoping the contrast with his shrewder nephew Feyd-Rautha will make the latter popular among the people of Arrakis when he eventually replaces Rabban. The Emperor, suspecting the Baron of trying to create troops more powerful than the Sardaukar to seize power, sends spies to Arrakis. Thufir uses the opportunity to sow seeds of doubt in the Baron about the Emperor's true plans, putting further strain on their alliance.

Gurney, who survived the Harkonnen coup and became a smuggler, reunites with Paul and Jessica after a Fremen raid on his harvester. Believing Jessica to be a traitor, Gurney threatens to kill her but is stopped by Paul. Paul did not foresee Gurney's attack and concludes he must increase his prescience by drinking the Water of Life, which is fatal to males. Paul falls into unconsciousness for three weeks after drinking the poison, but when he wakes, he has clairvoyance across time and space: he is the Kwisatz Haderach, the ultimate goal of the Bene Gesserit breeding program.

Paul senses the Emperor and the Baron are amassing fleets around Arrakis to quell the Fremen rebellion, and prepares the Fremen for a major offensive. The Emperor arrives with the Baron on Arrakis. The Sardaukar seize a Fremen outpost, killing many, including young Leto, while Alia is captured and taken to the Emperor. Under cover of an electric storm, which shorts out the Sardaukar's defensive shields, Paul and the Fremen, riding giant sandworms, destroy the capital's natural rock fortifications with atomics and attack, while Alia assassinates the Baron and escapes. The Fremen quickly defeat both the Harkonnen and Sardaukar troops, killing Rabban in the process. Thufir is ordered to assassinate Paul, who gives him the opportunity to take anything that Thufir wishes of him. Thufir chooses to stab himself with the poisoned needle intended for Paul.

Paul faces the Emperor, threatening to destroy spice production forever unless Shaddam abdicates the throne. Feyd-Rautha challenges Paul to a knife fight, during which he cheats and tries to kill Paul with a poison spur in his belt. Paul gains the upper hand and kills him. The Emperor reluctantly cedes the throne to Paul and promises his daughter Princess Irulan's hand in marriage. Paul takes control of the Empire, but realizes that he cannot stop the Fremen jihad, as their belief in him is too powerful to restrain.

• Dune (2011 Review)

• Dune (2016 Review)

• Dune (2017 Review)

Zenya (Dumarest #11) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Zenya
Series: Dumarest #11
Author: EC Tubb
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 182
Words: 53K
Publish: 1974

The adventures are wearing thin because Tubb can only come up with so many plausible ways for Earl to get screwed over time after time. Does Earl find a planet with a princess who loves him? Too bad. Does Earl make a killing in the market and become a space kajillionaire? Too bad!

It doesn’t matter. Tubb screws Earl Dumarest every chance he gets and I for one am getting bored. Plus, Earl can just have his memory looked at and get the coordinates of Earth, but he won’t because of the magic boojum scienze thingy “that is too dangerous for anyone to have”, except Earl of course.

I think this will be the last 3 star read and I strongly think my next Dumarest will be my last. The artificial way that the author keeps Earl from achieving his goal is becoming too great for me to overlook any more.

Also, I am getting SUPER sick and tired of the women in these stories either going insane, being insane or getting killed, to prevent them from staying with Earl. Once again, it is glaringly artificial and it really grates, like sandpaper on your forearm.

★★★☆☆

From Devilreads

Earl Dumarest is a man lost in space. Sort of. He stowed away on a ship leaving Earth when he was only ten. The old Captain, childless, had taken pity on him and let him work off his passage. Ever since he'd been moving outward into the galaxy, Though biologically only early middle age, owing to the vagaries of space ship travel, he's much older. Low passage is basically for animals, a suspended animation. People use it though because it's cheap and most use it even though dangerous: there's a fifteen percent death rate of users. Earl had used it often. High passage is for the rich, and Earl used it whenever he was flush, where metabolism is sped up and time passes much more slowly for the user.
Now he wants to go home.
Here's the problem: in this far flung future, humanity has spread throughout the Milky Way, literally millions of inhabited planets, and most have never heard of Earth. "A planet named Dirt! Ridiculous!" Those who have heard it believe it's a myth. "The idea that Humans came from one planet! Ridiculous!"
Earl knows Earth, Terra, is real. Old and war torn even when he was a child, Lord knows what it's like now. But it's home. He searches for clues in libraries on the various planets he visits, picking them up now and again, building an area of the Milky Way where it has to lie.
He's pursued every step of the way by the Cyclans, those cyborg/computer beings of Cylcon, who want the secret he didn't even know he possessed, a gift from a woman, for a long time. It was stolen from the Cyclans before they could use it, a method to control humanity, and they want it back.
Earl is just as determined that they won't get it.
Earl is on Paiyar visiting an old library when he's picked up by the beautiful Zenya who says her grandfather wants to see him. And when old Chan Parect, Aihult of the Serpent Clan, speaks, everyone jumps.
It doesn't take Earl long to get the measure of the old man. crazy as a loon, the clan is inbred and all of them are privileged and not used to the realities of life. He wants his son found, he's been off-planet since before Zenya was born. He's blackmailed into the hunt, pushed by grandson of the Aihult into a fight. As with the spoiled rich, the boy thinks he's better than Earl. But earl has fought to many battles in the arena and easily wins, sparing the boy's life. Not satisfied, the boy tries to murder him late that night, Earl supposedly drugged, and this time doesn't survive.
Earl, though, is knocked unconscious and when he comes around is given the news, Find the old man's son or a device implanted in his body will be turned on and the Cyclans given the frequency, making him a beacon easy to find anywhere in the galaxy.
Chard is the planet where the son was last seen. it's a woar-torn planet, a new war, and it's full of brightly uniformed rich boys playing at war more than anything. Earl poses as a war chieftain from a mercenary planet in order to get on planet and is soon embroiled in the battle, training the posers and trying to find out who the enemy really is. The primitives they are supposedly fighting can't really be the enemy. Earl can see that. No evidence of them is ever found in the destroyed villages. But they are blinded in their hate.
Earl must first solve that problem before he can get to his. Which he does and then the heir is murdered by his insane aunt. So much for Dumarest and Earth.

• All of My “Dumarest” Reviews

Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga #3) 1Star DNF@14%

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Ethan of Athos
Series: Vorkosigan Saga #3
Author: Lois Bujold
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars DNF@14%
Genre: SF
Pages: 183 / 25
Words: 63K / 9K
Publish: 1986

Due to the main character having a sexual relationship with his foster brother, I will not be reading any more by Bujold.

★☆☆☆☆

From Wikipedia

Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Sevarin District Reproduction Centre on Athos, is upset to find that his long-awaited shipment of ovarian tissue cultures from off-planet consists of an unusable mixture of dead and animal tissues. An all-male planetary colony, Athos relies on uterine replicator technology for reproduction, but the centuries-old cultures introduced by the original colonists have recently begun deteriorating into senescence. The Population Council of Athos sends a reluctant Ethan to the planet Jackson's Whole, where the shipment originated, in search of a fresh batch of tissue cultures and (if possible) a refund from the supplier, House Bharaputra, one of the crime syndicates which rule Jackson's Whole. This already difficult assignment is made more so because it means dealing with women, whom Athosians are taught to view as demonic and terrifying.

Ethan arrives at the interstellar hub of Kline Station and immediately encounters his first woman, Commander Elli Quinn, a rather unorthodox intelligence officer with the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet (and a subordinate of Admiral Naismith's). Though she is pleasant and even helpful, Ethan is wary of her. He is soon abducted and interrogated by military agents from Cetaganda who are seeking a fugitive named Terrence Cee, as well as their own lost tissue cultures. They refuse to believe that Ethan is not an opposing intelligence operative. Elli rescues Ethan from certain execution. They become reluctant allies; Elli explains that she has actually been hired by House Bharaputra to track the Cetagandans, and for her own reasons determine what their interest is in the tissue cultures and how it relates to a secret Cetagandan research project.

Terrence approaches Ethan with a request for asylum, revealing himself to be the last survivor of a Cetagandan genetic project to create telepaths. Although his telepathy is reliable, it has a small range and can only be triggered for a short amount of time by ingesting large doses of the amino acid tyramine. Terrance's female counterpart, Janine, had been killed in their escape, but he managed to preserve her body and transport it to Jackson's Whole, where he paid House Bharaputra to splice her genes into the ovarian cultures that were intended for Athos. Terrence had planned to also emigrate to Athos with the cultures, but had been delayed on his way to Kline Station, and is now horrified to learn that the cultures were stolen.

The Cetagandans had tracked Terrence to Jackson's Whole; arriving after his departure, they killed the Bharaputra researchers who had worked with him and destroyed their records. They then traced the tissue shipment to Kline Station, knowing Terrence would eventually come for it, though they have no knowledge of what happened to the original cultures and are desperate to reclaim them. Elli and Ethan manage to have the Cetagandans seized by Kline Station security, just as they discover that a minor official at the station had, for petty personal reasons, "thrown out" the Bharaputran tissue cultures that contained Janine's genes and replaced them with the useless biological material. Elli attempts to recruit Terrence for the Dendarii; he refuses, but gives Elli a small genetic sample. Meanwhile, Ethan asks Elli for (and receives) one of her ovaries to create a new tissue culture. After her departure, the original Bharaputran shipment unexpectedly turns up intact and usable, not destroyed. Ethan buys a new set of ovarian cultures from Beta Colony anyway as a cover, uses their packaging to relabel the cultures with Janine's genes, and returns with them and Terrence to Athos.

The Tau Empire (Warhammer 40K: Tau #5) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Tau Empire
Series: Warhammer 40K: Tau #5
Author: Braden Campbell
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 399
Words: 139K
Publish: 2016

Holy smokes, it has been TWO YEARS since I read the novella Farsight. Where does the time go? I bring this up because Farsight is the anchoring novella to this collection of stories centered around the Tau. I did decide to skip reading it again, so that definitely helped me move things along.

One thing I have appreciated about reading the Commander Farsight novels (Farsight, Crisis of Faith, Blade of Damocles, Empire of Lies) is that he is a pretty positive and upbeat character. He really believes in the Greater Good and that he and the Tau can make the universe a better place. That is very unusual in the Warhammer 40,000 literary univerise and to be honest, I kind of took it for granted. Then I read this book and realized I shouldn’t.

Most of the stories here involve other Tau besides Farsight. He is the lead for Farsight and is also featured in Fire and Ice but more as a side character. The other stories deal with other Tau who have orbited Farsight’s sphere of influence in the previously mentioned Tau books. They are much more aligned to the grim darkness of the far future in WH40K. That’s not necessarily a pleasant thing at all.

Peter Fehervari in particular seems to absolutely relish writing stories about death and decay and the collapse of the mind, will and emotions of the characters in his stories. It’s not that everyone dies (as in a Russian story) but that everyone gets broken, very broken, in some manner. It might be their body or their mind or their emotional psyche. After reading these couple of short stories by him, I think I’ll avoid his full novels and collections. I suspect they would be too much for me to handle.

The other two authors, Campbell and Smillie were decent enough but once again, the stories were grim.

I am realizing that much like my foray into Cthulhu’ic Cosmic Horror, I need to limit my reading time in the WH40K universe. I also have to be mindful of which faction I am reading about. I know I enjoy reading about the Necrons (terminator like aliens millions of years old) and to this point, the Tau. What I most enjoy though are the ordinary people in the Empire of Man which I’ve read through the likes of Commissar Gaunt & his Ghosts and Commissar Ciaphus Cain, Hero of the Imperium. I need to seek out some Astra Militarum books (that’s the fancy way of saying the plain old soldiers in WH40K speak) and hope there’s some hope in them :-D I’m not holding out much hope though. Hahahahahahaa.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

It is the manifest destiny of the Tau Empire to rule the stars. Guided by the principle of the Greater Good and driven by the orders of the mysterious ethereals, they conquer worlds, by words or force, and defend them by the might of the fire caste, noble warriors armed with advanced weaponry and powerful battlesuits. 'Shas'o' contains ten tales of the Tau Empire at war, featuring mighty battlesuits battling Imperial tanks, fire warrior snipers duelling with Space Marines and stories of some of the tau's greatest heroes, including Farsight, Shadowsun and Aun'Shi.

ToC:

Farsight – Phil Kelly

Fire and Ice – Peter Fehervari

Aun’Shi – Braden Campbell

A Sanctuary of Wyrms – Peter Fehervari

Commander Shadow – Braden Campbell

Out Caste – Peter Fehervari

Shadowsun: The Last of Kiru’s Line – Braden Campbell

The Patient Hunter – Joe Parrino

The Kauyon – Andy Smillie

The Tau’va – Andy Smillie

Tech-Priest (Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus) 1.5Stars / DNF@40%

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Tech-Priest
Series: Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus
Author: Rob Sanders
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars / DNF@40%
Genre: SF
Pages: 152 / 60
Words: 54K / 22K
Publish: 2015

I DNF’d this at 40%. I just couldn’t take any more. It was more like a novel length advertisement for various models of the Adeptus Mechanicus for the miniatures game of Warhammer 40K instead of being a real novel. Each unit type was described down to an excruciating detail, which would only interest those who are playing them.

Also, and an even bigger issue for me, was how much this played out like a gaming scenario run by two teenagers. Battles happened without any strategy or forethought or repercussions. And then the next battle would happen and nothing from the previous battle would be incorporated into it, even though it really should have. There was no indication that the Tech-Priest who was the main character of this novel had actually ever fought a real life battle before. Even though according to his history, he was a great fighter and his explorer fleet had killed lots and lots of xenos and mutants and warp creatures. Zero Indication here of any of that experience. So I just quit.

Dave had been struggling with Skitarius (the book right before this one) and Mark listened to Tech-Priest on audio and was not impressed. So I guess this buddy-read showed us that this duology was not a good one. No idea if it was the author himself or the limits placed on him, but I’ll be a lot more careful if I ever see “Rob Sanders” on another WH40K book I’m interested in. Blehhhhhhh…

I am going to include the large cover, but only because I included it for Skitarius, not because I actually care.

★✬☆☆☆

From the Publisher:

The disciples of the Machine God, the Cult Mechanicus are on the front line of the Quest for Knowledge. Tech-priests lead their forces of augmented warriors and battle-automata into battle with the Omnissiah's foes in defence of His secrets. Magos-Explorator Omnid Torquora orchestrates war against the Iron Warriors for control of a long-lost forge world. With skitarii legions and maniples of battle-servitors and robots at his command - not to mention the mighty god-machines of the Titan Legions - victory is within his grasp... until treachery threatens to end his dreams of conquest.

• Mark’s Review of Tech-Priest

Skitarius (Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus) 3Stars

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Skitarius
Series: Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus
Author: Rob Sanders
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 152
Words: 54K
Publish: 2015

Every time I read a set of novels about a new faction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, it’s like learning to swim all over again. You get tossed in and are expected to sink or swim.

Once again, I was doing a buddy read with Mark and Dave. I was asking questions and Mark made the apt remark “I think you are expecting too much for this to make sense. It is WH40K after all!” Which fits with almost every experience I’ve had with these books. You just have to accept that “things are this way because we said so” and go from there.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is a group of people who colonized Mars back in the day and became expert mechanics. Eventually, they began worshiping the Ghost in the Machine, called the Omnissiah, and their theology taught that the mechanical was better than the biological. This of course led them to turn themselves into cyborgs and the more mechanized you were, the better. They eventually allied with the Empire of Man and jiggered their theology to say that the Emperor was an Aspect of the Omnissiah. So now they go around trying to discover lost knowledge, which will allow them to get closer to the Omnissiah. And obliterating any impure mechanics throughout the universe. Blood thirsty fellows, just like everybody else in the WH40K universe, sigh.

So this story is about a skitarii by the name of Stroika (kind of like a captain in the army I gather) as he is tasked with recovering the data banks from a world that was lost to Chaos and since recovered. The guy over him is totally unprepared but sends in the forces anyway and Stroika has to do the best he can, knowing he’s been shafted from the get-go. Then, in typical WH40K manner, there is a massive twist where everything turns out to be have been a trap anyway, so poor old Stroika gets extra shafted. And he doesn’t even get to die at the end. He is captured and tortured until he is chaos broken and totally insane.

AND IT GETS BETTER!

His mentor has been in nearby space with a hidden fleet, the whole time. But lets it play out because he doesn’t like Stroika’s new boss. How’s that for a kick in the ballz? Yeah, there’s a reason I’m careful about the number of WH40K books I read in a year. Of course, I’ve got the immediate sequel, Tech Priest, scheduled for review for tomorrow. Hold on to your biologicals or they might get stolen.

This particular book was in an omnibus called “Adeptus Mechanicus” and that is the cover I’m using in the featured image. However, each book in that omnibus was also released singly and I would like to showcase that cover, much like I did in my currently reading post at the beginning of the month. Can’t have too many cool looking covers after all!

That pistol looking thing the guy on the cover is holding? That is basically an amped up taser. Sigh. Come on guys, use bullets, or at least some sort of gauss technology that destroys matter on contact.

★★★☆☆

From wh40k.lexicanum.com & Bookstooge

The skitarii are the soldiers of the Machine God, the tireless legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Holy warriors, they carry the word of the Omnissiah across the galaxy, destroying the impure machines of aliens and renegades and spearheading the Quest for Knowledge. A discovery of ancient technology sends a skitarii legion, commanded by Alpha Primus Haldron-44 Stroika, into battle on a forge world overrun by Chaos. When a cataclysm cuts him off from his tech-priest overseers, Stroika must rally his forces and battle corrupt machines and Chaos Space Marines if he is to achieve victory.

Discovery of the wreck of an ancient colony ship, the Stella-Xenithica, by Magos Explorator Omnid Torquora, thrusts Stroika and his skitarii into a pitch battle with feral Orks who have settled within the remains. Finally victorious, an STC of an ancient technology, termed the Geller Device, is found and returned to the forge world Satzica Secundus. In a live test of the prototype, the lost forge world Velchanos Magna is uncovered. In their haste to recover the forge world and defeat the Dark Mechanicum, Stroika and his forces are overextended, but, despite the odds, they are on the cusp of victory when an Iron Warriors battle group under the command of Idriss Krendl and his Obliteratii arrive. The Iron Warriors flagship, Forgebreaker, destroys the Ark Mechanicus Opus Machina, isolating Stroika and the expeditionary force, forcing him to execute a daring plan.

The plan fails, only Stroika survives, but he is kept alive to be tortured and corrupted by the Iron Warriors, Chaos Space Marines. All this happens and is witnessed by Omnid Torquora, who has been hiding in the planets shadow the entire time with his own battle group.

• Mark’s Review of Skitarius

• Dave’s Review of Skitarius

The Warrior’s Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga #2) 4.5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Warrior’s Apprentice
Series: Vorkosigan Saga #2
Author: Lois Bujold
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 284
Words: 101K
Publish: 1986

Now this was more like it!!!! After the start I had with Shards of Honor, I wasn’t sure if this series was actually going to be for me or not. Romance in my SF is not a thing I want, or countenance. Especially when it is lady romance with “oh, his eyes, oh his smile” kind of thing. But Admiral General Emperor Bookstooge is glad to report that there was none of THAT in this book. This was a proper 80’s SF adventure story.

As I was reading this, I kept checking things on my mental checklist that I enjoy.
Coming of age story, Check!
Underdog, Check!
Smart character, Check!

Adventure and Action, Check!
Unrequited Love Interest, Check! (of the teen boy variety, which I can handle)

Winning all the marbles, Check!

Badguy in the background only slowly coming to the fore, Check!

Beating the metaphorical snot out of said badguy, Check!

Yes, this book had it all. As I kept reading, I kept finding more and more things that I liked and it made this read better and better. By the end, I was ready to take over a spaceship myself and go fight some space pirates or something ;-)

The only reason this isn’t getting a 5star rating (apart from the fact that I’m as stingy as Scrooge about 5stars) is that I am not sure if my reaction to this book was bounced from my disappointed of the first book. That’ll have to wait to be determined until the inevitable re-read in a decade or two. But for a first read, a 4 ½ star rating is just about as high as a book can get from me. I am pleased as punch about this and I REALLY hope the series continues in this vein and not the first book.

Because this series is popular, it has been re-released several times and there are a multitude of covers. Most are Baen covers (Baen is the publishing house) and Baen knows who their audience is and as such does their covers accordingly. If it helps, all of Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International book covers are by Baen :-D I chose this one just because it looked cool. I don’t think it actually has anything to do with the story, but that doesn’t matter to me at the moment. A good story, a good cover and I’m happy.

★★★★✬

From Wikipedia

When Miles Vorkosigan is disqualified from joining the Barrayaran Imperial Service Academy because he breaks both his fragile legs during the physical entrance test, he sets about trying to prove himself worthy by other means, especially since he blames himself for his aged paternal grandfather's death shortly afterward. To lift Miles' spirits, his mother sends him to Beta Colony to visit his maternal grandmother. Miles has to take his lifelong bodyguard, Bothari, so he seizes the opportunity to have his mother invite Bothari's daughter, Elena, along to broaden her horizons.

At Beta Colony, Miles comes across a tense standoff: "jump pilot" Arde Mayhew refuses to let anyone seize his obsolete starship, the only one he can fly, barricading himself inside and threatening to blow it up rather than let it be scrapped. Miles defuses the situation by buying the freighter from the creditor, using ancestral family lands back on Barrayar as collateral (neglecting to inform the seller that the region is radioactive, a result of the former Cetagandan occupation). He also acquires a crewman, Barrayaran deserter Baz Jesek. To cover the credit note he used to buy the freighter, Miles masquerades as a mercenary leader (in transit) and takes a risky, but very well-paying job offered by Major Carle Daum: transporting a cargo into a war on Tau Verde IV to the losing side, Felice. Bothari and Elena go along.

The star system, however, is under a blockade maintained by a mercenary fleet commanded by Admiral Oser. When the freighter is stopped for inspection, the man in charge decides to take Elena, so Miles has no choice but to overpower him and his lax, small crew. Miles maintains the pretence of being an influential member of a shadowy mercenary outfit, which he calls the Dendarii, and convinces his prisoners to become probationary members, seeing as he has too few people to guard them safely. As time goes on, Miles uses his military genius to first capture and recruit more and more of Oser's personnel and ships, then subtly sabotage Oser's relationship with his employers. Outmaneuvered over and over again, Oser finally gives up and offers to join the Dendarii, under the command of "Admiral Miles Naismith".

However, that is not the end of Miles' troubles. First, Elena and Baz fall in love, and Baz asks for his permission, as Baz's liege lord, to marry her. Miles, after a confrontation with Elena, reluctantly gives it. Then Miles' feckless cousin Ivan Vorpatril shows up. From what Ivan can tell him, Miles deduces that his father is or will be charged with treason, arising from Miles' acquisition of a fleet; Counts and counts' heirs are permitted only a small personal guard. Miles speeds back to Barrayar just in time to extricate his father. To save himself from the same charge, Miles suggests to Emperor of Barrayar (and foster brother) Gregor Vorbarra that he secretly accept the Dendarii as his own, to be employed whenever Barrayaran forces cannot be openly utilized.

The Fifth Element (1997 Movie)

 

Synopsis from Wikipedia

In 1914, aliens known as Mondoshawans meet their contact on Earth, a priest of a secret order, at an ancient Egyptian temple. They take the only weapon capable of defeating a great evil that appears every 5000 years, promising to protect it and return it before the great evil's re-emergence. The weapon consists of the four classical elements, as four engraved stones, plus a sarcophagus containing a "fifth element".

In the 23rd century,^[b] the great evil appears in deep space as a giant living fireball. It destroys an armed Earth spaceship as it heads to Earth. The Mondoshawans' current human contact on Earth, priest Vito Cornelius, informs the president of the Federated Territories of the great evil's history and the weapon that can stop it.

On their way to Earth, a Mondoshawan spacecraft carrying the weapon is ambushed and destroyed by a crew of Mangalores, alien mercenaries hired by Earth industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, who is working for the great evil. A severed hand in metal armor from the wreckage of the spacecraft is brought to New York City. From this, the government uses biotechnology to recreate the original occupant of the sarcophagus, a humanoid woman named Leeloo, who remembers her previous life. Alarmed by the unfamiliar surroundings and high security, she escapes and jumps off a ledge, crashing into the flying taxicab of Korben Dallas, a former major in Earth's special forces.

Dallas delivers Leeloo to Cornelius and his apprentice, David, who recognizes her as the fifth element. As Leeloo recuperates, she tells Cornelius that the stones were not on board the Mondoshawan ship. Simultaneously, the Mondoshawans inform Earth's government that the stones were entrusted to an alien opera singer, the diva Plavalaguna. Zorg reneges on his deal with the Mangalores for failing to obtain the stones, and kills some of them. Earth's military sends Dallas to meet Plavalaguna; a rigged radio contest provides a cover, awarding Dallas a luxury vacation aboard a flying hotel on planet Fhloston, accompanied by flamboyant talk-show host Ruby Rhod. It includes a concert by Plavalaguna, and learning that Leeloo shares his mission, Dallas lets her accompany him. Cornelius instructs David to prepare the temple, then stows away on the luxury spaceship. The Mangalore crew, pursuing the stones for themselves, also illegally board the ship.

During the concert, the Mangalores attack, and Plavalaguna is killed. Dallas extracts the stones from her body and kills the Mangalore leader, causing the others to surrender. Zorg arrives, shoots Leeloo, and activates a time bomb. He flees with a carrying case he presumes contains the stones, but returns when he discovers it is empty. As Zorg's bomb causes the hotel's evacuation, Dallas finds Leeloo traumatized and escapes with her, Cornelius, Rhod, and the stones in Zorg's private spaceship. Zorg deactivates his bomb, but a dying Mangalore sets off his own, destroying the hotel and killing Zorg.

As the great evil approaches Earth, the four meet David at the temple. They deploy the stones, but Leeloo, having learned of humanity's history of cruelty, has given up on life. Dallas declares his love for her and kisses her. Leeloo combines the power of the stones, emitting divine light onto the great evil and defeating it. Dallas and Leeloo are hailed as heroes, and as dignitaries wait to greet them, the two passionately embrace in a recovery chamber.

This is one of the movies that I have watched over and over again. I hadn't seen it before a coworker recommended it in the mid-2000's to me and when I saw the cover to the dvd and it had a blond Bruce Willis on it. I was hooked.

I hesitate to call this a hokey movie, but it is really bordering on that. I don't mind, but others might not be able to get past that veneer and enjoy this. From the get-go with the aliens and the archeologist and the priest, there was something that was just a bit off about this. I've come to realize that it is this movie not taking itself seriously at all.

I recently bought this in blu ray, hence the cover above and was hoping for some commentary tracks. Sadly, the extras on the blu ray were pretty sparse and limited to showing some interviews with the various actors and giving a little bit of the history of how the movie was made. But no directors commentary or actors commentary. I guess it isn't a big enough hit to pay for that kind of thing. That's too bad, because I think it would have been fascinating to get some thoughts on what was going on.

Chris Tucker plays a side kick and man, the first time I saw this I hated his character. He was a pompadour sporting effeminate macho man who did a girly high scream a lot. It was a bunch of diametrically opposed ideas all coming together into one character. Tucker manages to pull it off too, which is incredible.

Willis is his usual special space forces tough guy. He did an admirable job of it too. Sadly, playing across from Jovovich, well, the chemistry wasn't there. She's supposed to be this super warrior yet lovely and vulnerable woman and while he says all the correct words, the chemistry just wasn't there. Jovovich does a great job too. She speaks a whole new language, kicks butt and falls in love with Willis and because of the power of love, saves the universe from The Bad Thing. She was fantastic as the warrior, and it was a precursor to show what she was capable of in just a few years when she dominated with the Resident Evil movies. But as a "perfect woman", well, I just wasn't feeling it. I wish they had chosen someone else. Considering that the director, Luc Besson, started an affair with Jovovich during the film, well....

The Bad Thing is the destruction of the Universe but it really doesn't play much of a part. It plays just enough to kick our characters along, but never felt like a direct threat. THAT villainous part was played by Gary Oldman, as Zorg, some sort of ultra-rich guy who sold out to The Bad Thing. He's the face of villainy in this movie and my goodness, I loved every second of his over the top silliness. It's hard to take him seriously and then bam, he pushes a button and tons of people just die and I'm like "oh yeah, he's the bad guy". He gets his just desserts and it is glorious :-D

Now that I own this on disc I feel like I'll not watch it again for who knows how long. That seems to happen to me. Once I own something, I lose desire to view it. But if I DO feel like watching it, now I can without having to jump through hoops of finding it on a streaming service :-/

While I thoroughly enjoy this movie, I don't know if I actually recommend it. If you're a big Bruce Willis or Milla Jovovitch fan or a fan of the slightly hokey, then I would recommend it to you. Otherwise, I'm ambivalent. 

Ghosts (Hell Divers #2) 2Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Ghosts
Series: Hell Divers #2
Author: Nicholas Smith
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 247
Words: 82K
Publish: 2017

Yep, I’m done. There are times when mediocrity is even worse than badness. This is paint by numbers writing. No heart, no soul, no talent. I can’t think of a more damning review except to say that Smith needs to stop writing. And those fething jackasses who keep buying his books month after month need to learn what a good book actually is.

If readers won’t have standards, neither will writers. I condemn them both! I have nothing more to say.

★★☆☆☆

From the Publisher

Ten years ago, Hell Diver Xavier “X” Rodriguez fell to Earth. Those he left behind went on without him aboard the airship he once called home.
Michael Everheart -- the boy once known as Tin -- has grown into a man and the commander of Hell Diver Raptor Team. While Michael dives to help keep the Hive in the air, Captain Leon Jordan rules with an iron fist at the helm of the ship. But unrest stirs under his strict leadership as a prophecy of hope sweeps the lower decks.
When a mysterious distress signal calls the Hell Divers to the surface, Michael and his loyal team begin to uncover long-buried truths and the secrets Captain Jordan will do anything to keep. They dive so humanity survives… but will they survive the ultimate betrayal?

Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga #1) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Shards of Honor
Series: Vorkosigan Saga #1
Author: Lois Bujold
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 222
Words: 80K
Publish: 1986

My eyes, my eyes, my manly eyes! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh……

I didn’t realize this was going to be a romance. Of course, romance fans would cry out that their delicate feelings had been manhandled by all the science fiction, so both camps should be unhappy. I HATE when authors like Bujold pull crap like this. I almost rage quit the first time “his long eye lashes” were mentioned. Even as I’m writing this review I’m getting upset.

Bloody expectations. If I had known this had female wish fulfillment elements (like Mack Bolan the Executioner is male wish fulfillment) I would have been prepared, as much as I could be anyway. I do not want to read a book where I am in a woman’s head as she’s thinking about some guy and all her feelin’z. Spare me!

The story is still decent and I do plan on reading more. BUT! I will be putting on my man armor when I go to read future books so any “romanz thoughtz” bounce off and don’t stab me in the back. And I’m bringing a gun to that knife fight.

Bookstooge's Man Armor Mark I

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

Cordelia Naismith, the captain of a Betan Astronomical Survey ship, is exploring a newly discovered planet when her base camp is attacked. While investigating, she is surprised by a soldier, hits her head on a rock, and awakens to find that, while most of her crew has escaped, she is marooned with an injured Betan ensign and Captain Lord Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar, notorious as the "Butcher of Komarr", who has been left for dead by a treacherous rival. During their five-day hike to a secret Barrayaran cache, she finds Vorkosigan not at all the monster his reputation suggests, and she is strongly attracted to him.

When the trio reaches the base camp, Vorkosigan regains command of his crew. He returns to his ship with Cordelia and her crewman as his nominal prisoners. She meets Sergeant Bothari, a career soldier with mental problems which he controls through adherence to rules and an attachment to a strong commander—in this case, Vorkosigan.

Vorkosigan informs Cordelia that upon their arrival on Barrayar, she will be free to return to Beta Colony; however, he asks her to marry him and remain on Barrayar as Lady Vorkosigan. Before she can consider his request, the crew of her ship, who have returned against her orders, join forces with Vorkosigan's rivals to "rescue" her. Cordelia helps defeat the resulting mutiny before returning with her crew to Beta Colony. During her captivity, she realizes that the Barrayarans seized the planet because the system it is in provides a way to reach Escobar. Escobar is a rich system with many "wormhole" access points and thus control over a lot of interstellar trade.

The invasion of Escobar is led by Crown Prince Serg Vorbarra, the vicious son and heir of Emperor Ezar. Now a captain in the Betan Expeditionary Force, Cordelia goes to Escobar in command of a decoy ship that distracts the Barrayaran ships on picket duty at the wormhole exit so that transport ships can deliver a devastating new Betan weapon to the defenders. She is captured by the sadistic Admiral Vorrutyer, who orders Sergeant Bothari to rape her. Bothari refuses, calling her "Admiral Vorkosigan's prisoner". Vorrutyer, Vorkosigan's embittered ex-lover, decides to do the job himself. As she fills a profound psychological need of his, Bothari kills Vorrutyer before he can do anything. Vorkosigan, having heard Vorrutyer is holding Cordelia captive, comes to kill him himself, only to find the deed already done. He hides Cordelia and Bothari in his cabin. In disgrace, he has been assigned a minor role in the invasion under the watchful eye of Imperial Security Lieutenant Simon Illyan, who has a brain implant that gives him total recall of all he sees and hears. However, he is required to report only to the Emperor, so he does nothing when Vorkosigan concocts a story that Cordelia killed Vorrutyer and escaped.

The new weapons enable the Escobarans to drive the Barrayarans back with heavy losses. Crown Prince Serg and his flagship are lost, as are all officers senior to Vorkosigan, leaving him in charge. He commands his fleet's retreat under fire. Cordelia overhears one critical fact and deduces that the entire invasion was orchestrated by the dying Emperor to remove his unstable son (via an honorable death in battle) and discredit the war party in order to avert a civil war after his death. When Vorkosigan no longer needs to hide her in his cabin, she is placed in the brig. When the ship is attacked, Cordelia is injured when the violent maneuvers toss her around her cell.

Cordelia recovers in a prison camp on the same planet where she first met Vorkosigan. The camp inmates, mostly women, have been mistreated and in some cases raped by their captors. When Vorkosigan finds out, he summarily executes the commanding officer. Cordelia assumes command of the POWs by virtue of her rank and spends much of her time dealing directly with Vorkosigan. She informs him she knows the real reason for the Escobar campaign. She again rejects his marriage proposal because she sees what Barrayaran society does to people.

When the war ends, prisoners are exchanged. Vorkosigan has to deal with some uterine replicators – artificial wombs, each containing a fetus from a prisoner raped by a Barrayaran soldier; one of the fetuses is Bothari's. The Escobarans refuse to take them, so Vorkosigan arranges for their care and later adoption on Barrayar.

On her way back to Beta Colony, Cordelia is unable to convince a psychiatrist that her injuries are not the result of being tortured by Vorkosigan, and her fervent denials only make it seem she has been psychologically tampered with; she is suspected of being an unwitting Barrayaran mole. She fears that she will be interrogated using drugs and reveal damaging information about Vorkosigan.

She escapes to Barrayar and marries Vorkosigan. She also encounters Bothari, now one of Vorkosigan's father's personal guards and somewhat saner, thanks to better medical care. Bothari's daughter Elena is cared for by a local woman.

The dying Emperor Ezar Vorbarra wants Aral to become the regent to his grandson and heir, the four-year-old Prince Gregor Vorbarra. Aral at first refuses, but Cordelia convinces him to take the job.