Revelation Space (Revelation Space #1) ★★★★☆

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Revelation Space
Series: Revelation Space #1
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 596
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

An archeologist on the world of Resurgam is trying to prove that the extinct inhabitants of the planet had gotten to the technological standpoint of space travel. The rest of the colony just wants to terraform the world so they can live. A coup occurs and the archeologist, Dan Sylveste, is imprisoned and yet given enough freedom to perform his research. He eventually proves his theories right but still hasn't answered how the aliens went extinct.

Ana Khouri, separated from her husband in a military accident and sent to the wrong world, has become an assassin for the near immortal rich in Chasm City. She's hired by Madam to go and kill Sylveste. Khouri is hired by some Ultra's (space goths from what I could tell who love to meddle with their bodies) who are on their way to Resurgam as well. They want Sylveste as well, to heal their captain, who is being taken over by some sort of viral plague that is melding him to the ship.

The Ultras kidnap Silvestre and his wife, while Khouri must deal with a digital avatar of the Madam in her head. Also on board the ship, is a shadowy something called Sun Stealer, which drove Khouri's predecessor insanse. Sun Stealer is also the name of the being on the final monument of the aliens on Resurgam. Sylvestre also has the digital recording of his dead father in his head. Good times.

Turns out there is a dead species of aliens who lived to make sure no other species ever reached a certain technological level. They left artifacts scattered around the universe that would lead to the destruction of any species that interacted with them and that is what lead to the destruction of life on Resurgam.

The humans are all being manipulated by various alien factions to use the device so humanity will be the next target and draw away attention from them. Things don't go according to the aliens plans and the humans survive and now know about the traps.Silvestre and his wife decide to stay on the artifact as digital incarnations while Khouri and the lone surviving Ultra head back to human space.

Hopefully to warn everyone. We aren't told.

My Thoughts:

This was a VERY complex storyline, hence my rather inarticulate ramble of a synopsis. The universe that Reynolds has created reminds me a lot of Neal Asher's Polity and Asher's fascination with the Jain, long dead aliens inimical to all other lifeforms. Here Reynolds calls them the Inhibitors but it is not until nearly the end that we find out about them clearly.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Unfortunately, most of the characters were rather unlikeable so my enjoyment was tempered by disgust. Khouri was the least objectionable person but she was a pawn for almost all of the book. I would say the ideas and the storyline were able to overcome the characters. That doesn't happen very often for me.

After reading this, I feel like I have a decent grasp on modern Space Opera. Between Revelation Space, The Polity and The Culture, I can say it is something that I really like when it is done according to my tastes. I was apprehensive about starting this series, as I ended up disliking Banks' The Culture book quite a bit. Thankfully this seemed to be more in line with The Polity, a series that I'm pretty in love with.

The inclusion of techno-porn (ie, the abundant description of technologies above and beyond the call of duty) did make me skip whole paragrapsh while reading. From a layman's perspective, talking about that kind of thing does nothing for me and is just babble. So I skip it. It also tends to date your book for those who do know what you're writing about, as theories go out of style like fashion. Sometimes being a little vague is ok.

I tore through this in about 3 days. Started it on a Thursday evening and finished it up by reading all day Saturday. I'm glad I've got all 7 novels in the series lined up. I hope the others live up to this one.

★★★★☆

The Inimitable Jeeves (The Jeeves Omnibus #1.3) ★★★★☆

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Inimitable Jeeves
Series: The Jeeves Omnibus #1.3
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 237
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

A collection of stories about Jeeves and Bertie that center mainly around Bertie's friend Bingo Little and his constantly falling in love and with Bertie's two younger cousins who are identical twins.

Through it all Jeeves must put up with Bertie's poor sartorial choices.

My Thoughts:

Chronologically, and in order of publication too I believe, this was the first Jeeves & Wooster book. I found the short story format much easier to deal with than the longer novel length. Also, while Wodehouse's writing wasn't quite as polished, I enjoyed Bertie more as a person, as he wasn't always shortening things to their initials. This was Bertie in the raw and I enjoyed it.

Bertie's cousins, who's names I can't even remember, are young scaliwags who end up getting kicked out of college and sent off to South Africa to serve in the British Government there. The hopes being that responsibility will straighten them out. This is all Aunt Agatha's doing, as is much in this book. We learn, through one sentence, that Bertie's parents are dead and he is immensely independently wealthy, which makes Aunt Agatha's power over him all the more puzzling.

Then you have Bingo Little. My goodness, that man was falling in love and having problems in every story. In one story he fell in love with a communist for goodness sake! He does finally get hitched in the end. Bertie's aversion to marriage is made plain throughout these stories and along with Aunt Agatha, is a building block of the whole series.

Jeeves plays a very small part in all of this. He's simply the deux ex machina that solves things, except when Bertie refuses to listen to him in regards to style and fashion. But once Bertie relents, Jeeves simply solves everything. I'm not sure if it is amazing or just how pathetic everyone else is.

In any case, I found this very amusing and liked the short story aspect much more to my taste. I remain confused about the order of the books, as there seems to be no rhyme or reason to why they are so mixed up.

★★★★☆

• Thank you, Jeeves (Book 1.1)
• Code of the Woosters (Book 1.2)

A Shaman in Tokyo (Shaman King #1) ★★★★☆ (Manga Monday)

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: A Shaman in Tokyo
Series: Shaman King #1
Author: Hiroyuki Takei
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Copy

Synopsis:

Manta Oyamada, shrimpy little cram school student, has been delayed and if he wants to get home in time to watch his favorite tv show, must take a shortcut through a cemetary in Tokyo. There, he meets a mysterious young man and what appears to be a whole bunch of ghosts.

The next day at cram school, Manta tells everyone what happened to him and nobody believes him.A new student is introduced and his name is Yoh Asakura, he also happens to be the boy Manta saw the night before.Turns out Yoh is a shaman in training and Tokyo is filled with ghosts who can help in that regard.

Manta somehow becomes Yoh's friend and they confront a group of bullies led by Ryu, king of the punks of Pompadour. Yoh becomes friends with a ghost named Amidamaru, an ancient samurai. They strike up a partnership and Manta starts becoming privvy to the secrets of being a Shaman. Yoh, with the help of Amidamaru, confronts a young man who has lost his boxing teacher, saves a group of kids from a fire and exorcises a vengeful spirit.

Manta is taking a shortcut through the Cemetary AGAIN when he meets an arrogant young man named Ren who controls a chinese warlord named Bason. Ren challenges Yoh and claims he'll take control of Amidamaru for the Shaman King contest.

Yoh and Amidamaru must become as one to successfully combat the powerhouse that is Ren and Bason.

My Thoughts:

Man, after Oh My Goddess and the latest Superman comic I read, I just wasn't sure that I was going to be able to even read any more manga. I was a bit worried. Thankfully, such worry was needless.

This was the epitome of Shonen manga. With that being the case, the first volume had a lot of setting to do. Who's the plucky, talented main character? Who's the comic sidekick? Who's the badboy who will eventually turn good with a heart of gold? Who's the villain who is only a leadup? What amazing powers will be revealed? What long term goal is shown that will propel the plot onward for 30+ volumes? Yes, this book has a LOT on its shoulders.

What's great is that Ren starts talking about how he can integrate 100% with Bason and how he can beat Yoh hands down because Yoh can only integrate at 10% with Amidamaru. You KNOW that suddenly Yoh will begin “practicing” and not only will he integrate at 100% but he'll suddenly integrate at 200% (!!!!) and then find someone else who will keep him on the upward climb.

One good thing about Shonen Fighting manga is the complete and utter predictability of the plot. While some individual plotlines might surprise me, the overall direction is already pre-determined. That is rather comforting to be honest.

One thing I am prepared for, as it has been shown already, is that Takei is a big environmentalist. Ren goes on and on about how humans are polluting the world and he wants to kill them all when he becomes the Shaman King. Yeah....

★★★★☆

• Shaman King 1-6 (2007 Review)

Best Friends for Life ★★★★☆

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Best Friends for Life
Series: ----------
Author: Michael & Judy Phillips
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback 

Synopsis:

The Phillips tell 4 different true stories (with particulars changed for anonymity's sake) about young couples they knew and how they proceeded through their dating, into marriage and how those marriages turned out.

The Phillips are convinced that “dating” has such an abysmal track record when it comes to marriages that last after dating that they want to explore other avenues. Their suggestion? Marry your best friend. Basically, make being friends with the opposite gender a higher priority than romance and really know what you want in a spouse instead of letting it all hang on hormones and feelings.

What does God, through the Bible, say about what is important in a marriage? The Phillips use very few specific Bible verses but count on their audience already having a decent grasp of Scripture. They are writing for someone who already wants what is best according to God's will and is searching that out.

My Thoughts:

I read this originally back in 2000. At the time, I had graduated from Bibleschool. Mrs B was still in highschool and we hadn't a glimmer of the others' existence. I was mad to marry and was reading all the advice books I could get my hands on. I wasn't going to be an “old” man like my dad when he got married. For the record, he was married at 28. I was 30. Ironic isn't it? So I figured if I could get all that advice then Mrs Right would fall into my lap and whammo, we'd have the perfect married life because obviously we'd have BOTH read all kinds of these books and know exactly what to do and what things to NOT do.

So the funny thing is, I actually was friends with Mrs B long before we ever were romantically involved. I met her on Xanga, a blogging site (not sure how much traction it still has any more). She'd written a post about going to a medieval wedding and ended her post with “Have a good Sabbath”. I asked her what she meant by “Sabbath” as I was a Saturday Sabbath keeper and it turned out she was a 7^th Day Adventist so she kept Saturday as well. We were friends for a couple of years online but figured we'd never meet. She was in California, I was on the East Coast. I didn't like to travel and she had nothing to draw her to the East. But then a friend of mine, who I'd gone to Bibleschool with, decided he was going to get married. In California. He was in the Navy and would soon be shipping out in a Sub (subbing out?) and I didn't know when I'd see him next so a group of us all went to California. I informed Miss Librarian and invited her as my plus one. Her brother, Sir Grumpsalot, came with her to chaperone and my friends were at the wedding, so it was safe all around. After the wedding that night, I asked her if I could court her. I called her mother that week and a year later we were engaged and 6 months after that we were married. Now, 10 years later, we're STILL happily married.

Now, when I read this book back in 2000, I couldn't have predicted this set of circumstances. In fact, I didn't WANT those set of circumstances. I wanted somebody else. She has since gotten married to a wonderful christian man, has a family and is a bedrock of Faith for her family. But she wouldn't have been right for me nor me for her. It took God to bring the correct Mrs Right into my life. That is what this book is about more than anything. It isn't a hard and fast set of rules that the Phillips promise will bring you the right spouse. But they give solid advice about involving your parents, your friends, and most of all, not letting your hormones and feelings be in control. They are right.

They also give several examples of how people have changed what they've suggested to work for their particular set of circumstances. Some of the things they suggest simply weren't viable for Mrs B and I, such as having family time with each other's families while we were courting. The Phillips are very open that what they are suggesting isn't the end and be all but they do strongly advise young people and their parents to put much more effort into the whole process than just “Oh, we're in love”.

Reading this again, for our 10^th Wedding Anniversary, it is uncanny how much God drew us both down this path in our relationship with each other. I for one am thankful for that. Our marriage is strong, we are happy and content with each other and while our lives together haven't been what we've expected (Mrs B was diagnosed with crohn's disease in '10), our foundation of friendship has taken us through the times of hospitalization, lack of work, etc.

The book is a bit dated in regards to things they call out in American Culture, ie, what they considered a cliff is only a mere step compared to the moral cliff America has chosen to step off of now. It was eye opening and a good indicator of just how fast our country has gone down the path of immorality.

But ultimately, God Himself is in charge. He has taken responsibility through Jesus Christ and one day He will return and make it right again. I want to be ready for that and I hope you will be too.

★★★★☆

• Best Friends for Life (2000 Review)

Love's Labour's Lost ★★☆☆☆

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Love's Labour's Lost
Series: ----------
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Play, Comedy
Pages: 98
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

King Ferdinand, 3 of his lords and a Spaniard, all take a vow to study, fast and avoid women for 3 years. Of course, King Ferdinand forgets that he's supposed to be welcoming a French Princess into his court. She and her ladies arrive, are forced to decamp outside of the city and all the men fall instantly in love with the ladies.

They write love letters, lie to each other, all catch each other out, unsuccessfully woo the ladies as Russians (I kid you not) and then, just when they are about to successfully win the ladies as themselves, the Princess's father dies and the ladies all retire for a year.

Throw in some mouthy servants and smart ass pages and bob's your uncle.

My Thoughts:

A lot of the humor of this play was based on the reparte between the men amongst themselves, the ladies amongst themselves and then amongst them all as a group. They cut, they swipe, they're snide and pompous. It didn't work for me at all.

The servants should have been whipped to death for their insolence or at least muzzled. The men were idiots for taking such an oath in the first place and then to watch them each perjure themselves was just disgraceful. The women were cold and playing it all as a game when they should have been much more serious.

All in all, if a dragon had walked on stage and eaten every character, I would have stood up, cheered my head off and then run off as fast as I could before the dragon ate me. I am beginning to suspect that I don't like Shakespeare's style or sense of humor.

★★☆☆☆

• Previous Shakespeare Reviews

Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) ☆☆☆☆½ DNF@22%

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Ghostly Echoes
Series: Jackaby #3
Author: William Ritter
Rating: 0.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 353/DNF@22%
Format: Digital Edition

My Thoughts:

[Miss Rook] “Miss Lee was really a boy, wasn't she? Underneath”
He slowed and then came to a stop and looked me square in the eyes, “That's up to her to decide,”

~page 56 

Yep, I'm done with this author now. Ritter's going to push the SJW line about gender and cross dressing down my throat, forget it. As much as I enjoyed the previous 2 books, no amount of enjoyment is worth listening to lies for.

By the by, cross dressing is a moral deviancy that indicates some real brokenness inside. It isn't normal and it shouldn't be treated as such. It's an indicator and Christian professional help should be sought. Just like you wouldn't tell a man with a broken leg that he's ok. Even if you can't fix it, you can tell him to go to a doctors. But denying that there is anything wrong is the height of foolishness.

Man, this is NOT the way I wanted to start out a new month...

☆☆☆☆½

• Jackaby (Book 1)
• Beastly Bones (Book 2)

Path of Doom (Superman Action Comics #1) ★★★★☆

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Path of Doom
Series: Superman Action Comics #1
Author: Dan Jurgens

Artist: Patch Zircher, et al
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 144
Format: Paper Edition

Synopsis:

Some dummkopfs are holding some people hostage and Lex Luther, wearing an armored suit emblazoned with an “S” comes to the rescue. He is then confronted by the real Superman, father of Jon and husband of Lois. The REAL Superman. They begin to duke it out when suddenly Doomsday appears from a container and begins his rampage from almost 30 years ago all over again. Lex and Superman team up and manage to get Doomsday out of Metropolis. Lex is left behind to help the citizenry in need and Wonder Woman shows up to help.

Superman has learned from his last fight to the death with Doomsday, at least so he says. But basically it turns into yet another slugfest. Jon is watching on tv and gives a super shout that alerts Doomsday to another Kryptonian and Doomsday sets off to hunt down Jon. Supes convinces Wonder Woman to take Lois and Jon to Watch Tower, the JLA space fortress while he has a plan to deal with Doomsday.

Before he can enact his plan though, a group of humans with some sort of super tech appear, open a gate and begin using energy weapons to push Doomsday through the gate. They almost succeed but then Doomsday simply rips through them all like tissue paper.

With some timely intervention by Wonder Woman, Supes manages to get Doomsday into the path of a Phantom Zone Projector and the world is safe. Or so everyone thinks.

During all of this, a mysterious narrator has been watching everything on screens and at the end, he intercepts the Phantom Zone Projector and captures Doomsday for himself. Who he is, what he wants and pretty much everything about him is a mystery.

My Thoughts:

Well, I'd like to first thank Bookwraiths for reviewing this book this last year. Gave me some hope that maybe DC hadn't totally destroyed Superman. Superman: Doomed was truly an epic fail in the saga of Superman and left me reeling.

This was a return to the Superman who was and always should have been. This was the Superman who fought Doomsday to a standstill and gave his life for those he loved. This is the Superman who clawed his way back from death and kicked the ass of every single other Pretender. This was a Superman who was facing death again and yet would NOT turn away. I have to admit, I almost cried.

So while I loved this return to form for Superman and I had no problems whatsoever believing he and Lois now have a son, the rest of the DC comic world has moved on and made some huge changes and I just can't accept those changes and enjoy them. This whole multiverse thing? That was supposed to have been dealt with back in the 80's with Crisis on Infinite Earths. The fact that DC has hashed things up so badly that they have just as convoluted a multiverse AGAIN doesn't tell me anything good about the state of the plan for storytelling.

The second thing is that I am used to getting a completed story arc in a graphic novel. If you can't tell a complete story arc in one book, then you have no business telling that story at all. It's DC's new business model of selling a whole years worth of comics and all associated comics to get a complete story. I won't buy into that practice.

I think this is going to be my last comic for the foreseeable future. It used to be that comics were in our world and if you knew the origin of the Hero you could pretty much slot into whereever you started reading. Not any more. With things like Flashpoint, New52, Rebirth, things are so complicated that you can't just jump on board.

I enjoyed this particular set of comics a LOT and feel like it is an almost circle in regards to Superman and Doomsday. But with everything else I stated, I can't and won't be continuing.

Adios Kal. You've always been the example of True Manhood to me throughout the years and I'm glad to see you being returned to that state. The world nowadays needs real heroes and I hope you can survive our worlds current penchant for destroying heroes with a sneer and glib mockery.

★★★★☆

• The Death of Superman
• World Without a Superman
• The Return of Superman
• Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey
• Superman: Doomed

The Fortress in Orion (Dead Enders #1) ★★★☆☆

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Fortress in Orion
Series: Dead Enders #1
Author: Mike Resnick
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 306
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Nathan Pretorias, a secret agent for the Democracy, has returned from yet another impossible mission. Well, parts of him returned. Now he has been tagged to carry out a truly impossible mission:

replace the war chief Michtag, the universal dictator of the aliens fighting humanity with a clone raised by humans and trained

Nathan assembles his own team of specialists, all misfits in one way or another. They make their way to the super secret fortress on the super secret planet deep in the Coalition. They kidnap and replace General Michtag and successfully make their way back to the Democracy.

Where Nathan's superior presents yet another impossible mission, a mission only the Dead Ender's can take on.

My Thoughts:

While I absolutely loved Santiago and the Widowmaker series, this reminded much more of the Starship series. Space Opera at its most mediocre. There simply wasn't any tension. While Resnick excels at telling a myth style story set in the future, he's not so good at just telling a character story.

For an impossible fortress and impossible mission, everything went off without a hitch. No matter how good your team is, something is going to go wrong and everything is going to be flubbed up. That just didn't happen here and so like I said, there was zero tension. If there had been a lot of action or something else, even that could be gotten past, but there really wasn't much else.

Resnick seems to be very hit or miss for me and I have a feeling this Dead Enders trilogy is going to be a miss. I hope I am proved wrong, but I'm very much getting the same vibe from this book that I got from the middle Starship book. That does not bode well. I'm still giving this 3stars for the newness of the story but if the second book is just as blasé, I'll be dropping the rating accordingly.

★★★☆☆

Rites of Azathoth ★★☆☆½

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Rites of Azathoth
Series: ----------
Author: Frank Cavallo
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Horror
Pages: 420
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Diana Mancuso, FBI agent, is carrying on an affair with her boss, one of the Assistant-Directors of the FBI. She is assigned to a high profile murder case of a potential vice-presidential candidate. The profile indicates a man who up until 24hrs ago, was 1000 miles away in a maximum security prison. He has mysteriously disappeared. It turns out that the VP candidate has ties to all the previous victims, who were ritualistically murdered.

Doctor Carter, former protege of Gamaliel a discredited historian who dwelt on Elder gods as the true history of mankind, has been invited to join a mysterious group headed by a reclusive billionaire. Carter has been recruited to translate an elder language that he was taught by Gamaliel.

The ritualistic murderer is acting as supernatural conduit for Azathoth, who the billionaire is attempting to awaken. Said awakening will grant all knowledge to those involved but might destroy all of creation as well. Luther Vayne is acting on Azathoth's will to prevent this awakening.

Everything comes together, a gateway is opened by Carter, Mancuso and Vayne prevent Azathoth from awakening, the occultic group is destroyed and Carter is taken into the realm of Chaos and he thinks how wonderful it all is.

My Thoughts:

I feel like I am being rather generous in giving this 2 ½ stars. Mancuso was a very unpleasant character. She's just a jerk to everyone, even her so-called friend. This friend covers for her, breaks the law for her, lies to FBI agents for her and said friend tosses it off as “Oh well, that's what friends do”. And Mancuso takes it as her due instead of as the huge thing it is. Then comes her affair with her boss. He's married and trying to fix his marriage AND keep Mancuso on the side. She's pissed off that she's the side woman and is always put out that he won't toss his rich, beautiful, young wife for her. She's the very definition of an angry bitch. It was NOT amusing or enjoyable.

Carter was an arrogant ass who was divorced and failing at pretty much everything, including being a dad. He stays arrogant, assuming and overbearing during the whole book and his little “Oh, how wonderful the other side is” comment at the end was completely out of character and had NO place in a horror story about eldrich horrors beyond mortal ken.

The horror side of things worked pretty well. Demon children adopted by a cabal of women, hunted down by a supernatural blind killer, a half demon billionaire who sacrifices the blood of virgins to his own mother, it was fantastic. It was what you'd expect from an HP Lovecraft themed story. So the whole thing about Azathoth using Vayne to prevent the end of everything didn't fit. Elder gods don't care. And Carter saying how beautiful the chaos of the other realm was? That was complete bollux. The other realm drives men mad, period.

So unlikeable characters and an ending that didn't fit with the theme made for a rather bleh read. There was also a lot of profanity.

★★☆☆½

War Master's Gate (Shadows of the Apt #9) ★★★★★

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 & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: War Master's Gate
Series: Shadows of the Apt #9
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 737
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

The 8^th Imperial Army marches on Sarn, the last surviving Ant City. With the help of knowledge from previous encounters, the military leaders of Sarn have a ghost of a chance of surviving.

Collegium is facing the 2^nd Imperial Army, “The Gears”. Having fought off the Gears twice before, the citizens are certain they can do so again. After the decimation of the Imperial Air Force in the previous book, Collegium now rules the air and that might be their chance to survive.

General Tynan,general of the Gears, now allied with the Spiders, must overcome Collegium and gain access to its library, which holds texts that Empress Seda has commanded him to take. But without an airforce, with “allies” known for betrayal and facing technology from the brains of Collegium.

Seda has found a wellspring of power, the tomb of Argastos. Argastos was a moth sorceror-warrior from the Age of the Inapt, the War Leader of the Host of all the Inapt. They all came together to fight against the Worm kinden but were unable to truly defeat them. So their sorcerors all came together and sealed the Worm away. They also sealed away Argastos and his war-horde, as “guardians” of the Seal.

Che is chasing down Seda to prevent her from getting her hands on this power of Argastos. In the world of the Apt, a sorceror-Empress would be something the world wouldn't know how to deal with. Che must prevent Seda from becoming all powerful.

In the end, Che and Seda both gain Argasto's power but in the struggle break the Seal of the Worm, a kinden that want to to make every kinden into their own kind. The Gears capture Collegium and all those who resisted are either killed or in hiding. Sarn drives off the 8^th Army but the Empire and the Spiders have a falling out that prohibits any further advances by the Imperial forces.

My Thoughts:

Hmmm, where to begin? Well, knowing that there is only 1 more book after this one, unlike last time, I could appreciate this particular story arc a bit more. I wasn't constantly thinking about “what was next” but could focus on the here and now.

The other thing was that I had forgotten it took this long in the series for Collegium to finally be conquered. For some reason I thought it happened earlier in the series, even though I'm reading this series all over again. Just goes to show why I need to re-read things!

The end of the Felylal, the mantis kinden taking shelter in Collegium, that was heart breaking. What is left of a whole nation, men, women, children, grands, all throwing themselves against the Gears and dying. It really hit me hard this time around and honestly, I'm not even sure I noticed it last time. Kids. I actually put off writing this review for quite a few days just to deal with that.

On a “magic” note, Che and Seda's journey was just as interesting, if not more so than the fight between the armies and cities. Last time I kind of just skimmed it. This time, I considered it to be the main part of the book. We see how much Che has changed through the eyes of those who are now in her entourage. Instead of being dragged around, or sent off, or somewhere on someone else's behest, she is here because of her own will. Seda on the other hand is shown to be more afraid than ever, even while having more power than almost any other woman in the history of the world.

This is the kind of series that is complex enough that new things will emerge upon every re-read. I bumped it up a full star from last time because I enjoyed it even more than last time and have no doubt that when I get around to re-reading this series yet again that I'll enjoy it just as much then.

★★★★★

• War Master's Gate (2014 Review)
• Previous Shadows of the Apt Reviews