Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

The Hatching (The Hatching #1) ☆☆☆☆½ DNF@20%

Title: The Hatching
Series: The Hatching #1
Author: Ezekiel Boone
Rating: 0.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Horror
Pages: 353/ DNF@20%
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

DNF'd at roughly 20%

My Thoughts:

I dnf'd this for the usual reason of the inclusion of homosexuality. That being said, before that I was “this” close to pulling the trigger and dnf'ing it anyway. This was laced with profanity, the majority of the characters were either having affairs, had affairs or were considering affairs and generally speaking, everyone involved was a scumbag. If killer spiders were about to consume the entire world, I wouldn't shed a tear for a single one of these people.

It got me thinking though. I am tired of dnf'ing books because of objectionable content as it simply wears down my soul and I feel tired and worn out from just trying to simply believe what is true. Books like this degrade that and I've come to realize that it is not enough to simply dnf a book or avoid an author that espouses perversions as normal.

Reading non-fiction has always been one of the hardest things for me. But to combat the constant degradation of my spirit I will be starting to rotate in non-fiction into my regular reading schedule. It probably means that the months I read a non-fiction book my overall book numbers will go down as I won't be racing through them. Which will mean less overall posts. I doubt that these non-fiction books will appeal to the majority of those who follow me, which is why I'm giving you all the heads up.

Right now I've got several books by Ellen White (the un-official founder of 7^th Day Adventism), C.S. Lewis (a lay, ie, non-ordained, theologian) and the Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn, in 3 parts. These three authors will be a test run for the next 2 years to see if I can handle a steady diet of non-fiction every couple of months.

I realize this “review” has pretty much turned into more of an announcement post and I thank you for your time and understanding.

☆☆☆☆½

Monday, April 15, 2019

The Silmarillion (The Lord of the Rings Prequel) ★★★☆☆

Title: The Silmarillion
Series: The Lord of the Rings Prequel
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy History
Pages: 367
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

A book that outlines, briefly, the world of Middle Earth from before its inception up until the conclusion of Return of the King.

Iluvatar made the Valar but one, Morgoth, decided to do his own thing. This set him in defiance of Iluvatar and against the other Valar. Iluvatar made the world and the Valar and Morgoth had their way with it. Iluvatar created the Elves and Morgoth tried to become king of the world. Iluvatar made Men and the rest of the Valar chained Morgoth forever. Sauron, one of Morgoth's most powerful underlyings, himself a lesser Valar, took up the cause of becoming King of the World in defiance of Iluvatar. He is destroyed by the last alliance of men, elves, dwarves and others and thus the history part of the book end.

There is another 60-70 pages of indexing where every name of every place and person mentioned is listed.

My Thoughts:

To be blunt, while I gave this 3stars, it was boring as all get out. It took me a bleeding week to power through this.

I gave it 3 stars because it is well written and gives the context for the story we know of as the Hobbit and then the trilogy named The Lord of the Rings. However, when I say it is well written, that is within the confines of it being a history book and nothing more.

I did not like this book. Being boring was its most egregious sin but I have to balance that statement with that this book was supposed to be this way. It is an oral history written down. If that kind of thing floats your boat, then dive on in and enjoy. Everyone else, don't bother.

I did not like this book because it was nothing but a chronicle of failure and despair. Great men and women (applying to all races here) rose up and were either broken, destroyed or backstabbed. When they did, rarely, succeed, we are then given a timeline of how their descendants descended into destruction. No hope from Tolkien. Everything turns bad.

I was hoping that the end of the world would be described, to show Iluvatar triumphing and restoring all but no such luck.

I read this back in highschool before I knew better. Now that I've read it as a mature adult, never again. I don't recommend this to the casual movie fan of the Lord of the Rings but only to diehard fans of Tolkien himself.

BORING

★★★☆☆

Friday, April 12, 2019

In the Forests of Serre ★★★★★

Title: In the Forests of Serre
Series: ----------
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 316
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Prince Ronan, the son of the heartless and one-eyed King Ferus, had his wife and child die several months ago. Now his father has arranged a marriage for him with Princess Sidonie, from a small neighboring kingdom known for its magic. Before Ronan hears of this news though, he accidentally kills a white chicken belonging to the witch Brume, who goes about the forests of Serre in walking house of bones. She curses Ronan and he becomes enamoured of the firebird. He begins to hunt the firebird down only to become as wild as an animal.

Sidonie meets Ronan on her way to the castle only she doesn't know it is him. She is with a wizard named Gyre who has been sent as a guardian by the powerful wizard Unciel, who fought a battle in The North and barely survived. Once at the castle Sidonie is pretty much held captive under threat of invasion of her home until Ferus can find his son. Gyre pretends to be Ronan but his magical disguise is seen through and Ferus attacks him and drives him into the forests, leaving Sidonie alone.

Gyre runs into Ronan and helps him pay back Brume. Ronan has to give Brume his heart and since it is already broken, he gladly gives it up and returns to the castle. Sidonie realizes something is wrong with Ronan and sneaks out of the castle to find Brume and bargain with her for the return of Ronan's heart. At the same time Gyre is roaming the forest looking for Brume for the heart of power that makes Serre so mysterious.

While all of this is going on, a nameless, faceless monster appears and begins terrorizing Serre. It would appear that the threat Unciel the great Wizard defeated is not truly defeated.

Turns out that Gyre stole the dead monsters heart and so it doesn't know it is dead. Sidonie gets Ronan's heart back, Ronan falls in love with Sidonie and Brume, the firebird and Gyre all figure out what is going on and destroy the monster's heart, which was Gyre's heart which merely needed to transform from a jewel into a real human heart.

I think.

My Thoughts:

This was confusing and weird and perfectly delicious. It was definitely one of the most fairytale'ish and straight forward of McKillip's tales, as there was NO misapprehension with what was going on with Brume or Ronan or Sidonie. Where things were confusing was all with Gyre, Unciel and the nameless terror. I think the firebird's egg was involved somehow, but I really didn't catch it all. I was too busy enjoying the parts I could easily understand.

It has been almost 14 years exactly since I last read this and I have to say, it has only gotten better. Despite my not understanding the nameless terror, or maybe because of it really, I am going to be adding the “Best Book of the Year” tag and put this in the running for the end of the year. Something in this book just resonated with me and while not making me jump up and down with glee, so thoroughly satisfied me that I felt like a fat little buddha statue full of literary satiation.

So far, my re-reads of McKillip have only enhanced my enjoyment of her storytelling and of her writing skill. It saddens me that more people don't love these books as much as I do and at the same time I realize that I'm not exactly a focal point for what is hot. I do hope that McKillip's books stand the test of time and survive where other fantasies simply dissolve back into the morass from which they came.

The cover is once again an amazing one by Kinuko Craft. I'll be including the full size piece of art in clickable linkiness so you can peruse as you wish. I can already tell you that this cover is probably going to win April's Cover Love hands down at the end of the month.

★★★★★

In the Forests of Serre (2005 Review)

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Return to Oz (Falken Chronicles #3) ★★★☆☆

Title: Return to Oz
Series: Falken Chronicles #3
Author: Piers Platt
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 270
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Having survived Olympus and meeting Sef Weaver's daughter, Syrio needs to know what has happened to Sef. He gets back on board the ship that houses the virtual world and makes his case to the Committee to allow him to go back into Oz and to convince Sef to take responsibility for the murder he committed. Syrio is denied his request but the commander of the ship allows him to go back anyway.

At the same time Sef's daughter begins digging around the cold case back on Earth to see if she can find anything to help exonerate her father. The more she digs, the more things don't make sense. Eventually it is revealed that her grandfather was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and the murder that was pinned on Sef.

While the investigation is going on, Syrio finds Sef but Sef won't admit he committed the murder and Oz won't let Sef go until he shows remorse for the murder he was convicted for. Syrio reveals the secret of Oz to Sef which shuts the program down. Both men are then sentenced to the real prison planet. With the revelations by Sef's daughter their sentences are reversed. Sef is returned to his family and Syrio becomes the new head of Oz.

My Thoughts:

This was a return to the first book. No dinosaurs, no people getting eaten, nothing exciting. The whole “mystery” solving aspect was very different from the previous 2 books but it wasn't very interesting. When a rookie like Sef's daughter can figure things out and the police are made to look like incompetents, well, that tells me more about the author than anything. Plus the whole “reform prisoners through hardwork and education” is just so much bullshit. When someone commits premeditated murder, the State needs to kill them for the safety of the rest of the citizens. Now, Platt confuses things even more by making Syrio having committed a crime of passion and Sef being innocent. It was just a very muddled message and that made it even more unpalatableto me than it already was.

Glad to get the end of the story and not a waste of time. I do have another couple of books by Platt that I'm still willing to try. However, if the Rath books are as pathetically “messaged” as this one, I'll be done. Oh, they also need to ramp up the action. If you're going to write a Science Fiction series, then having your characters be on spaceships around Earth isn't enough. The 2^nd book was exactly what this series SHOULD have been like. Considering that Platt has failed to truly catch my attention with 2 books, I'm not really hopeful about the Rath ones. Bummer.

★★★☆☆

Monday, April 08, 2019

[Manga Monday] The Mask Restored (Shaman King #18) ★★★☆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: The Mask Restored
Series: Shaman King #18
Author: Hiroyuki Takei
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Format: Digital Copy

Synopsis:

Yoh saves Team Ren from being annihilated by the minions Hao. The corrupt Patch officiant orders the rest of the minions to attack but they refuse when Ryu and Faust show up. Ren appears to be so far gone that not even Faust can save him. Yoh foresaw this possibility and dispatched Manta to get Lady Jean of the X-Laws. Unfortunately, while willing to help Ren, Lady Jean's terms are that Yoh must withdraw from the fight.

At the same time Anna and Co are confronted by a trio of shaman fighters. Anna tells Jun Tao to deal the trio and Bailong shows the fruits of his training. Tricks ensue on both sides. Anna leaves the fight to escort 2 young shamans to their fight. Turns out their dad was killed on Christmas Eve 3 years ago for the presents he was taking home. That means it was Jocco who did it. Drama is definitely going to ensue.

While Anna is escorting the 2 young shamans, Tamao and Jun face the Witch trio and are overwhelmed. Only the timely appearance of Mikihisa (Yoh's dad) saves the day and he explains the power of the young shamans and how terrible it is.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this more than the previous volume. This had a good bit more fighting and while there was still a LOT of exposition, it was mixed into the fights instead of the characters standing around.

It would appear that Yoh accepts Lady Jean's terms to save Ren and that pisses off Horohoro for some reason. He and Jocco stomp off and it is pretty obvious they're going to have fight the young shamans Anna is shepherding at some point.

The end of the volume with Mikihisa lecturing all the girls and pretending to be their dad made me grin. He gives them little slaps while dispensing “dad” advice. Of course, the Witch trio don't listen to him and attack him. Too bad for them!

★★★☆½

Friday, April 05, 2019

Hard Times ★★★★½

Title: Hard Times
Series: ----------
Author: Charles Dickens
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 368
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Louisa and her younger brother Tom have been raised by their father to think only of “facts”. If it can't be quantified and tabulated on a report, then in the School of Mr Gradgrind, it simply doesn't exist. A circus girl, Cecilia, comes to their school and her father abandons her. Cecilia is taken on by Mr and Mrs Gradgrind, first as a student and then a servingmaid.

Louisa has turned all of her stunted feelings towards helping her brother, who has been employed by a friend of his father, a Josiah Bounderby. Bounderby is a self-made man who dragged himself up from the gutters after his mother abandoned him and has become one of the most successful businessmen in the town. He also is the kind of man who is always telling everyone how he dragged himself up by his bootstraps. He has watched Louisa grow up and likes the idea of a wife who is only concerned with facts. He proposes marriage and her father asks her. She realizes it will help her brother and so says “why not”.

We also meet a working man by the name of Stephen Blackpool. He married unwisely years ago and his wife has destroyed their life with her drinking. She now wanders the countryside prostituting herself out for money for more drink. Stephen asks Bounderby, who owns the company that he works for, if there is any way he could get a divorce, since he has heard of such things happening for rich folk. Bounderby replies in his usual bombastic tone and tells the man to get out of his sight. The men of the company are trying to unionize and Blackpool doesn't agree with it. As such, he is kicked out of the social sphere and ostracized. Between that and the antipathy of his employer, he is forced to leave the town and seek work elsewhere. Right before he leaves though, he is accosted by Tom Gradgrind who asks him to hang around the bank where Tom works each evening, just in case Tom wants to send some messages. No messages are sent and Blackpool leaves the town.

Tom has been living beyond his means and gambling away what he has earned, as once he was released from his father's school of thought he went in the exact opposite direction. He comes into contact with James Harthouse, a rich younger son who is “trying out” being a businessman. James meets Louisa and begins trying to seduce her, just for a lark and because he hates Bounderby. He also leads on Tom in his extravagant lifestyle. This leads Tom to robbing the bank he works for and that Bounderby runs. He implicates Stephen Blackpool who isn't around to clear his name.

Eventually Harthouse asks Louisa to have an affair with him and meet him. She agrees but only to get rid of him, as her husband Bounderby pretty much leaves her to her own devices, and runs off to her father for protection. Mr Gradgrind is stunned by the news and by Louisa's revelation that she wants love as much as “facts”. On top of this news Stephen Blackpool is found dying in a pit and he reveals that Tom Gradgrind asked him to visit the bank before Stephen left town. Tom hoofs it with Cecilia's help and takes cover at the circus she used to work for. Mr Gradgrind and Louisa meet Cecilia there and plan to smuggle Tom to the Continent (Africa) or South America so he can escape justice. He is found out but the circus people help out the Gradgrinds because they took Cecilia in. Tom escapes, Louisa lives with her father and mother until her death, Bounderby is revealed as a fraud when his mother comes forth and shows she is the sweetest and most loving woman alive and only Cecilia lives happily ever after.

My Thoughts:

This was one of Dicken's shorter books and as such his characters and situations weren't quite as fleshed out as I'm used to but I still found this eminently enjoyable. The only downside was Stephen Blackpool when he talked. Dickens used some sort of “working man slang” that made it almost impossible to figure out what he was actually saying. That is the only bad thing I can say about this book.

It is very obvious that Dickens is writing a “message” book here, what with the over the top “Just the fact's, ma'am” school by Mr Gradgrind and how it ruins Louisa's life. In many ways it reminded me of those Uncle Arthur Bedtime Stories, which are Christian morality stories at their most stark. By the by, Arthur Maxwell was a 7^th Day Adventist. Fun fact for the day. Anyway. Thankfully, Dickens makes it clear where he falls on the “Just the Facts” debates but it never felt like he was preaching to me like a pigheaded Social Justice Warrior. That is because Dickens had class, talent, skill and he was willing to create something, not just tear something else down.

This is my 3^rd time reading this and I really debated about giving it 5 stars. In many ways it deserves 5stars, as not only have I now read it 3 times but I already plan on re-reading it again in the future when I read all of Dicken's stuff again. Not only has it stood the test of time, it has stood the test of Bookstooge. Dickens can rest easy, as there will be no grave desecration and “Unholy” water in his future. However, the dialect of Blackpool was a real stumbling block to me and I skipped almost all of his dying speech. So that is why I really like this book but can't give it 5stars.

★★★★½

Wednesday, April 03, 2019

Ride the Dark Trail (Sacketts #16) ★★★☆½

Title: Ride the Dark Trail
Series: Sacketts #16
Author: Louis L'Amour
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 167
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Logan Sackett is on the run from a posse and in possession of a stolen horse. He takes a rest in a small town and is trying to eat a meal in peace. A young woman enters the bar looking for work, as the man she had been working for is trying to force her to marry him since her father is dead. Logan gets involved, comes across the man running the town and learns that an Emily Talon is needing some help. He takes the young woman out to Emily's ranch and finds out she is a Sackett and under siege.

He doesn't like the boss man in town, a relative needs help and a pretty young girl has already relied on him. It's a no brainer that Logan sticks around. He sends out some feelers for Emily's two sons and begins doing what a Sackett does best, ie, stand their ground.

Logan and Emily take on a whole gang and when Em's two sons do return, Logan is wounded, left on a mountain and then has to go rescue Emily who has been taken captive by the Boss. Showdown ensues, bad guys die and Logan thinks about moving on to California.

My Thoughts:

An enjoyable read that kept me entertained for a day. None of these Sackett books truly depend on each other. Change the names of the characters and you could have any standalone western that you wished. I guess that could be viewed as a weakness and in the right (or wrong perhaps?) mood I could definitely go that way. But these are just tales of adventure showcasing the Spirit of America.

L'Amour obviously loved America and thought that the men and women who bled and died during its growing up period deserved to be thought of as heroes. Not superheroes or impossible icons, but heroes in the fact that they did the right thing and just wouldn't give up.

This checked off most of the boxes I expect from a Sackett book: the hint of romance with the girl, rugged individualism, a mountain, a rain storm, tricky and brutal badguys, relatives saving the day.

I would say this is a typical L'Amour book and you'll either enjoy it or not depending on if you like him as an author or not.

★★★☆½

All My "Sacketts" Reviews

Friday, March 29, 2019

The Engineer Reconditioned (Polity #13) ★★★★☆

Title: The Engineer Reconditioned
Series: Polity #13
Author: Neal Asher
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 260
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

A collection of short stories from Asher's Polity Universe, his Owner universe and some general SF shorts.

My Thoughts:

Really, my previous review still stands. Asher just unloads several times on anything “religious” and even in one of his intro's to a story admits that's exactly what he is doing. Makes me wonder why the vitriol. His wife hadn't died yet, so it wasn't like he was blaming God for that. In fact, now that his wife has passed on, I've noticed LESS bashing of religion in his books. Thankfully, I knew this was an element in this book so it didn't shock me like it did the first time around. Scyenze is Asher's god, he just won't admit it.

I enjoyed the Owner stories a lot this time around as I now had the Owner trilogy under my literary belt. Did make me want to add them to my tbr. Once I finish up my Polity re-read, I'll probably re-read the Owner books to tide me over until Asher's Jain trilogy wraps up.

There was a story about the Hive (turns out Wasps are sentient creatures) and I have to admit I would like a trilogy about them at some point. I doubt it will happen and I'd be ok with just some more short stories, but since I'm wishing, a trilogy is what I want.

★★★★☆

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Vampire of the Mists (Ravenloft #1) ★★★☆☆

Title: Vampire of the Mists
Series: Ravenloft #1
Author: Christie Golden
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 320
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Jander Sunstar was a gold elf that was turned into a vampire 500 years ago. He's been at the city of Waterdeep living off the insane asylums to slake his blood thirst. He meets a woman named Ana there and tries to make her life better. Something is off though as she doesn't age in 100 years. Somehow she dies and Jander goes nuts and kills everyone in the asylum. He wanders away moaning and bitching like only a vampire elf could and goes through a mysterious fog bank and ends up in the land of Barovia.

Barovia is a land enshrouded by deadly mist that kills humans who try to wander through it. It is ruled by a Baron Strahd who is also a vampire. Jander has dreams of Ana urging him on to revenge her death and begins his search for her with the Baron's help. Time passes, Jander gets nowhere and the Baron learns lots and lots from Jander.

Eventually a human gets sick of the vampires running around and with the help of Jander tries to destroy them all, including the Baron. Jander ends up dying, the human fails and Strahd continues his reign in the strangely removed Land of Barovia where the normal rules don't seem to apply. Strahd is seriously hurt though and is out of commission for years, if not hundreds of years.

My Thoughts:

Even though I stopped reading the Forgotten Realms book last year, I had a relapse and figured I'd try this Ravenloft sub-series. It's all gothic'y horroresque at the level of FR and not Lovecraft or Stoker. A decent time filler that I could poke a boat through the holes in it if I felt like. But I'm feeling rather magnanimous at the moment so I gave it a whole 3 stars. Now no one can ever say Bookstooge wasn't generous, benevolent and merciful.

I believe that Strahd is a recurring character throughout this series and I thought he was going to be the main character. He is a main character but more of a villain than anything. He is a relatively young vampire and as such doesn't have the wisdom to make the most of the situation he's in. Nor does he seem overly concerned about Barovia ever returning to whereever it came from.

Jander Sunstar is also a vampire, but an elven vampire. I was expecting him to either be totally corrupted by his 500 years of being a vampire or to just get more and more bad ass and kick Strahd's butt. I mean come on, a Vampire Elf? That just sounds cool. Sadly, Jander is a whiner and really isn't much of a man. He just bends before Strahd like a reed in the wind until he learns that his Ana was a woman Strahd had sought in Barovia and destroyed. Then he gets all angry and whatnot but it doesn't ring true. And Jander fails. I have a feeling most of these books are going to be adventures about various people/groups who go up against Strahd, and fail. Guess I need to psyche myself up for that.

This was Christie's first book. However, from what I've read of her other stuff, in Star Wars, she hasn't significantly changer her style or anything, from this one. A solid B-list author who writes well enough for Franchise books.

★★★☆☆

Friday, March 22, 2019

Absolution Gap (Revelation Space #4) ★★★☆½

Title: Absolution Gap
Series: Revelation Space #4
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 704
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Quaiche is sent out to find sellable things for his Ultra masters and as it is his last chance, he'd better find something good. He finds a bridge on the moon Hela with an extinct species on it. He also finds a planet, Haldora, that randomly blinks out of existence. With his lover dying during this exploration, and a religious virus in his brain, Quaiche goes full on cult and starts a new religion based upon the planet's disappearance.

Rashmika Els has grown up on the moon Hela and she is convinced that the extinct species, the Scuttlers, were not wiped out by the Inhibitors but by something else. Her brother had gone into the religious machine setup by Quaiche and Rashmika is determined to find him and prove her ideas. She gets embroiled in some plots Quaiche has going and it becomes evident that Rashmika has a lot of secrets of her own.

Scorpio the pig has been running things on the planet Ararat while Clavain has been off whining, sulking, do whatever the phracking loser has been sitting on his ass doing in the hinterlands. Unfortunately, when a one person craft comes to Ararat and disgorges Ana Khouri, things start to get complicated. Skade and the Conjoiners have been fighting Remontaine and his group of people. The Inhibitors are now involved and things are bad. Ana has a super baby (mentally) that Skade kidnaps. Skade crashes on Ararat, bringing the baby and the Inhibitors. The group on Ararat rescue Aura, the baby and then a group takes the spaceship and escapes into space. Aura tells them to go to Hela but Scorpio ignores her and heads back to Chasm City, only to see the whole system being infested and destroyed by the Inhibitors.

The Inhibitors are now making a push to wipe out humanity as a whole and Aura claims that only at Hela can Humanity's salvation have a chance.

Everything comes together at Hela. Rashmika is actually Aura with her memories blocked and the disappearing planet Haldora is actually a machine for communicating with an alternate universe. The beings in the alternate universe claim they can destroy the Inhibitors if humanity will open the door for them. Everyone wants to let the Shadows through except Aura realizes it is a test by a third party. Humanity doesn't let the shadows through and passes. They get help from this mysterious party and humanity begins to win the war against the Inhibitors.

The book ends 400 years after these events where Humanity is once again on the run from the Green Plague, a plague that turns all star systems into green globes and allows humanity to survive, but at the cost of any outward expansion. Very bleak.

My Thoughts:

Something about this book just didn't grab me. Part of it is that the whole time frame thing really throws me off, even while making perfect sense. Without a FTL means of travel, events happen at greatly disparate times until they all come together. I think part of my issue is that Reynolds starts his threads so far apart that I feel like I'm reading 3 different novels at once and it's not until the last 25% or so that they get tied together. I also don't like the Conjoiners as specific characters, ie, Clavain, Skade, Remontaine, Aura, etc. As a group I find them fascinating but as individuals I almost universally hate them all.

For this book I found the ideas are what carried me along. However, at over 700 pages that is a lot of “idea” to drag along.

Overall, I just don't have a lot to say. I am enjoying this Revelation Space but not nearly as much as Neal Asher's Polity books. I am enjoying it much more than Banks' wretched The Culture series though. I consider Asher, Reynolds and Banks the triumvirate of British SF for some reason and they're ranked as I listed them. I have to admit, I was hoping that I'd enjoy them all equally but since they all write rather differently, that isn't to be the case. At least I'm enjoying Reynolds enough to keep on reading his stuff.

★★★☆½