Prismatica is the other of Elizabeth Barrette’s poetry collections I’ve read this year, and of the two, this is the one I prefer. Since I’m not a regular reader of poetry, this collection’s being SF-themed made it quite a bit more accessible to me than the other collection, From Nature’s Patient Hands.
As with the other collection, I found in general that Ms. Barrette had a lovely way with a word. Several of the poems in this collection stood out for me as examples of what I always want a poem to do–i.e., take a concept and coalesce it into a few short lines of verse. Moreover, the concepts in question were excellent SF-themed ones.
There are too many poems here for me to talk about them all, but some of my favorites included:
“One Ship Tall” – The opening poem in the collection, about FTL flight
“Star Orphan” – About the finding of a single young survivor on the ruin of an alien planet
“Resolutions” – About the path of a woman’s lifelong determination to reach the stars
“lush rain” – About a rainstorm not quite what you might expect
“From ‘Aliens’ to ‘Zooming'” – An alphabetical exploration of a clever alien emissary to Earth
“Crib Notes” – A pithy little suggestion about why, exactly, we haven’t had any confirmed alien visits to Earth yet
So all in all, not my normal reading, but nice to have explored nonetheless. If you like SF-themed poetry, you should check this out. Four stars.
Poetry is not normally something I go out of my way to read, but when I was given an opportunity by the author, I was quite happy to take a look at Elizabeth Barrette’s poetry collection From Nature’s Patient Hands. I’m enough of a word geek to appreciate the various forms of verse, whether rhymed or free, and Barrette shows her grasp of many forms of verse in her work.
I actually prefered her other collection, the SF-themed Prismatica, but there’s some lovely imagery in this one as well. There are too many individual poems in this collection for me to address them all in this review, but I did like the opening “Spring’s Air Force”, as well as “Inconsiderate Drivers”, “Thunderfist” (I quite liked the line ‘the sky holds a fistful of light’), “Waterlight”, “Ecological Dyslexia” (and especially the lines ‘This land is not illiterate / We simply cannot read’), and more.
So if you like poetry, and nature-themed poetry in particular, you should check this out. Four stars.
As a regular reader of tor.com, I’ve seen quite a few book reviews posted by author Jo Walton. Walton has a penchant for picking out books that have been out for some time–and which, consequently, are currently rather hard to find. Such is the case with John M. Ford’s The Last Hot Time.
I previously knew of Ford only as the author of the comedic Star Trek novel How Much For Just the Planet?, and so was quite intrigued by the prospect of reading something entirely different by him. Originally published in 2000, The Last Hot Time is an urban fantasy from just before “urban fantasy” really came into vogue as a subgenre in its own right. Familiar hallmarks are certainly here, though: an ostensibly real-world setting impacted by the rise of magic, fey creatures of various stripes, crimes that have to be solved, humans living in a city occupying a borderland between the real world and the magical, a gritty overall atmosphere, and more.
In this particular case, the setting in question is Chicago–a Chicago profoundly changed by magic and by the re-emergence of Elves into human society. Our protagonist is Danny, who saves the life of the victim of a drive-by shooting, and winds up in the favor of the mysterious Mr. Patrise, who holds power in the part of this changed Chicago that sits between the human world and the magical. Danny, now called “Doc Hollownight” by Mr. Patrise and his other employees, soon learns of the Elf sorceror Whisper Who Dares, who’s on the loose in the city–and that he’s going to have to help stop him.
There’s a lot that’s familiar here if you’re a longstanding reader of the genre, to be sure. What pulled me in, though, was the juxtaposition of elves and gangster-style characters, which gives this almost more of a feel of a story set in the 30’s rather than a more contemporary time frame. What kept me was Ford’s excellent prose, and his way of naming elf characters. The aforementioned Whisper Who Dares is an example, and that’s even just the short form of that character’s name; the full form is Whisper Who Dares the Word of Words in Darkness. I also very much liked the character Cloudhunter Who Keeps His Sisters’ Counsel, a.k.a. Cloudhunter, a.k.a. Cloud. Ford’s version of elves in general read for me exactly how I like elves to read in any fantasy, urban or otherwise: i.e., elegant, otherworldly, and with a noble lyricism about them that can be either bright or profoundly dark.
It’s a great loss to the genre in general that Ford’s passed away, but fortunately, he’s left behind some excellent books. This one is well worth hunting down if you can find it; I checked it out from our local library, and am hoping to track down a copy of my own. Five stars.
Side Jobs is perhaps not absolutely critical reading for a fan of Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files. Most of the stories herein are ones which were previously published in various other anthologies, with the shining exception of Aftermath, the novella that takes place immediately after the novel Changes–and which was the first thing I’d ever seen Mr. Butcher write from a female point of view, at least in the Dresden Files. For that alone, and for an opportunity to see Murphy react to the way that novel ended, I was myself quite happy to snap this one up.
Fortunately, I hadn’t actually read most of these stories before, so the collection was primarily new to me. And there’s definitely some good stuff in here, taking place over quite a wide range of the Dresden timeline. Aside from Aftermath, my favorites were “Last Call” and “Love Hurts”, just because of fun mileage with McAnally’s, and again with Murphy. I certainly squeed quite a bit for the “Love Hurts” story in particular. I’d already read Warrior from the Mean Streets anthology, but that one’s a good solid story as well. And if you want to go way, way back in Harry’s timeline, “Restoration of Faith” takes place before Storm Front; that one’s available to read for free on Jim’s site, but it was good to see it here, too, and good to see the collection ranging from very early Harry to (as of the time of this collection’s release) current Harry.
Critical? No. But definitely fun, and if you’re like me–a big fan of Jim’s work but not one who normally reads anthologies or collections–you should go ahead and pick this up. But for the love of all that’s holy, do not read Aftermath unless you’ve already read Changes. Because oh my yes the spoilers. Four stars.
To my satisfaction, Death Echo is one of the stronger Elizabeth Lowell thrillers I’ve read in a while. It’s #4 of her St. Kilda Consulting series, and of the set of those, this one so far has been my favorite. I’m pleased in particular that our heroine, Emma Cross, is the St. Kilda agent, while hero Mackenzie Durand is the freelance boat captain she has to work with; this does much to put these two on a more equal footing than I’ve seen in many Lowell novels.
Death Echo‘s conflict is driven by Emma’s mission to track down a yacht called the Blackbird, and discover what its intended cargo will be–for there’s a threat to a major American city at stake. Mac’s part in the plot is to provide her boat transport, and, familiar as I am with Lowell’s older novels, this called back hard to Amber Beach. But I enjoyed this book much more than that earlier novel, in no small part because of that equal footing I mentioned. There’s a great tense sequence through the climax where Emma has to take over the boat she and Mac are on, thanks to what happens to poor Mac. And if you’re at all familiar with this kind of romantic suspense novel, you can probably easily fill in that blank.
As always with Lowell, there’s angst-filled pasts galore for hero and heroine alike, and still nothing here that’s terribly new for her. Still, though, this felt like a maturer work than many of hers, and it was a good solid read. Three stars.
If you would like to get into the Bethancourt-Gibbons mysteries by Cassandra Chan–an activity I’d highly recommend–then Book 4, A Spider on the Stairs, is probably not the place to do it. On the one hand, Chan does a good job of making each story self-contained, and it’s not a huge detriment if you come in at this point of the series. But on the other hand, events in the earlier books do influence the ones in this one, and I certainly found my ability to enjoy this story enhanced by knowing what had come before.
In this particular installment of the series, “what had come before” is Jack Gibbons’ getting shot in Book 3. A Spider on the Stairs is the first we see of him after he’s returned to active duty, trying to nail down whether a particular recent murder is the work of a serial killer at large. Meanwhile, Bethancourt has to deal with a trial of his own: his family over the Christmas holidays. Fortunately for these lucky boys, a new case quickly distracts them both: whether a bookshop employee found strangled on Christmas morning is the work of that same killer.
Overall I liked this one quite a bit. The bookshop murder is (for reasons that ought to be obvious) strongly Relevant to My Interests, but just as fun is getting to see Bethancourt having to deal with his family. On a somewhat more serious note, it’s also good strong character development to see both Bethancourt and Gibbons needing to regain their footing now that the latter is back on active duty. As with previous books in the series, there are several nicely portrayed side characters to populate the list of suspects–and of course, this being a mystery novel, the employees of the bookshop have far more drama in their backstories than meets the immediate eye. So yeah, good fun. Four stars.
I read Ghost Ship, Book 2 of P.J. Alderman’s Port Chatham series, right on the heels of Book 1. And was delighted that I did, because while both are standalone stories, the continuation of the relationship between lead characters Jordan and Jase flows beautifully right out of Book 1. It is, hands down, my favorite thing about the second book.
But that said, everything else about Ghost Ship is also a fun followup to Haunting Jordan. Jordan is once again called upon by Port Chatham’s deceased residents to investigate one of their own murders, setting up another dual plotline that bounces back and forth between the past and the current timelines. This time the ghostly victim is Michael, the former rival for the affections of Jordan’s ghostly roommate Hattie–and Michael’s much more aggressive about having been killed. The modern murder is of Michael’s own descendant. Naturally, Jordan has to solve both at once!
We get some fun development of what all Jordan’s capable of seeing in this book, as well as some further explanation of what the ghosts of Port Chatham are themselves able to do. There’s advancement of Jordan’s friendship with Darcy, the (refreshingly) female sheriff of the town, as well as the aforementioned romantic advancement. On the strength of the image in my reader’s eye given me by the very last page alone, I almost liked this one even more than the first, and am greatly looking forward to what Alderman will be writing next. Five stars.
I’m delighted to report that Haunting Jordan by P.J. Alderman was one of the most charming cozy mysteries I’ve read in some time. (And, happily, its Book 2 was equally engaging–but more on that in that book’s review.)
The Jordan of the title is our heroine Jordan Marsh, a therapist who’s fled L.A. to avoid the storm of controversy surrounding her philandering husband’s murder. She’s been a suspect, and indeed is still considered a suspect by a particularly determined detective even though she’s been cleared of any wrongdoing. Now she’s resettling in the Pacific Northwest, hoping to start a new life. Problem is, that quaint old house she’s hoping to renovate is already occupied. By two ghosts who want her to solve one of their own murders. And much to Jordan’s deep chagrin, her ability to see and interact with not only these ghosts but every other ghost in the town makes her an instant figure of color to everyone else in Port Chatham, especially Jase Cunningham, her handsome neighbor.
Thus begins a dual plotline, one with Jordan delving deep into researching the town’s history to try to figure out what happened to the deceased Hattie, and the other with the murder of Jordan’s husband and the fallout around it chasing her to Port Chatham. You have to suspend your disbelief a bit in regards to the historical plotline, and go with the flow that apparently every prominent ghost in the town had their lives so well and thoroughly documented that letters and journals and newspapers of the time are conveniently around for Jordan to read through–but even given that, the exploration of those characters’ fates is fun.
So is the current-day plot. It takes a bit to set up who the actual killer of Jordan’s husband was, given that the history plot gets so much camera time; astute readers will, also, probably figure out faster than I did who did it. But I didn’t really care, since I was having such fun with Alderman’s prose.
In particular, I had great fun with the developing relationship between Jordan and Jase. Alderman hit all the best ways to make a male lead character attractive to me, starting off with sentences that still stick out for me even as I write this review: “Caffeinated beverages notwithstanding, though, he looked… interesting. Broad shoulders, and a confident, ground-eating stride.” And, “Up close, his face was rugged and lived-in… and appealing.” This is pretty much all the physical cues that the author needed to give me about Jase’s attractiveness, as well as Jordan’s reaction to it. Throughout the rest of the book, Jase’s appeal is demonstrated through his actions and his participation in the plot, and through his overall laid-back nature–up until he’s called up to not be laid-back anymore, at which point he demonstrates his ability to ramp up his focus impressively. In other words, the hero is sexy not because he’s mind-bogglingly gorgeous, but because he’s awesome.
And I love that. Compared with the more blatant descriptions of so-called sexy heroes that I run into all over paranormal romance and much urban fantasy, not to mention the overtly physical descriptions of how heroines react to them, this was the best possible way to get me invested in the book’s budding romance. Combined with the town’s overall quirky reaction to Jordan’s ghost-seeing ability–i.e., not a single person in the town is surprised that the ghosts exists, and many of them envy her the ability to see them–I found this fun from start to finish.
It’s not perfect. Like I said, one does need to suspend a bit of disbelief when it comes to how well the former lives of the ghost characters are documented, and some readers may find the complexity of the plot lacking. But I loved Alderman’s prose and characters so much that I didn’t care about either of these things, and it is a measure of how much I adored this book and its successor that after I bought the ebooks, I went right back out and bought them in paperback as well so that I’d have offline copies. Alderman has definitely joined my list of authors I want to keep around in print. Five stars.
The Silent Army, book 2 of James Knapp’s “Revivors” series, picks up pretty much where the first one leaves off. In this installment we continue with the same viewpoint characters as State of Decay: Nico, Faye, Calliope, and Zoe, and everyone’s personal plotlines are advanced significantly. Be warned that Faye’s status in particular changes hugely, and provides a whole new level of focus to Nico’s mission to expose the conspiracy surrounding the use of revivors as secret weapons.
I found this book every bit as gripping as the first one, but really can’t say much more about the plot for fear of spoilers. Instead I’ll just add that Knapp’s prose continued to be very tight, and I burned through this almost even more than I did the first book. As of this one, I was much more comfortable with our lead characters and therefore more invested in how their individual parts of the overall story progressed–as well as how they all interacted with each other.
Book 3 of the series is out and I look forward to reading that as well. For this one, four stars.
Note: I originally read this book back in 2006, and read it again in 2011. My opinion of the book hasn’t changed in the interval, though it’s worth noting that I did enjoy it well enough to come back and read it again. Accordingly, I am re-posting my original review.
I can generally rely upon Elizabeth Lowell to give me a fluffily suspenseful but enjoyable read. She’s formulaic, sure, but it’s a formula I happen to like: beautiful, spunky woman plus broody and sexy man plus people trying to kill them, generally for reasons involving fabulously expensive l00t, dirty secrets, or both. The man is generally broody over a troubled past, and chances are high that the woman has had issues involving men in her own background. Chances are even higher than they will resist being attracted to one another, and they may well get cranky at one another if one thinks the other has done something particularly stupid, though if that happens, you know that by the end they’ll clue in and live Happily Ever After(TM). Also, by way of demonstrating what a butch guy he is and how he’ll lay it on the line for his girl, the hero will get wounded at a suitably dramatic juncture in the narrative, but always in one of the Approved Hero Fashions, and it will never prevent him from handily dispatching the villain even if he has to keel over afterwards (even if it takes him several chapters to pull it off).
Always Time to Die is a fine example of her formula. Nothing terribly new or unusual here, unless you count a remarkable lack of angst on the part of the heroine Carly, which I quite appreciated. She was spunky and funny, and although she did have the obligatory Trouble With Men in her background, it wasn’t something she had any issues with, and it certainly didn’t get in the way of her realizing that Dan, Hero Du Jour, was the hottest thing to ever hot out of Hot Town.
The genealogy aspect of the plot was also new and kind of fun for Lowell. Some reviewers on Amazon.com were complaining about this bogging down the story for them, but I found it entertaining and certainly quite pertinent to the ongoing story; it felt well-balanced against the current brouhahas, and past and present came together in a suitably suspenseful fashion at the end. All in all an entertaining way to blow a few hours.
