Book Review: Ringworld by Larry Niven

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Tempted by an alien from a race of equine-like aliens known as the puppeteers, Louis Wu, Teela Brown, and a kzin named Speaker-To-Animals head out to a world known as Ringworld, an earth like planet, a planet that is 300 million times bigger than the surface of earth, that could become the future home of sentient beings. A supernova is on course to destroy the galaxy in twenty thousand years, but this new planet coupled with the puppeteers' (the name of one of the alien races) experimental form of space travel (that cuts travel time down by four-fifths) could help them successfully evacuate their planets when the time comes. However, one question remains. Who resides on the planet now?

I didn't like this book much, and that's because of the narrator. I think I would've really loved this book, but Louis just rubbed me raw. Since this story is told from his point of view, I couldn't escape him no matter how much I wanted him to swallow, choke, and die. The amount of antipathy he managed to pull from me starting from nearly the beginning of the story is pretty amazing. Louis Wu is a shallow, condescending, ridiculous human being whose sense of self importance is laughable. I'm not sure if I was meant to like him. I didn't receive the memo if I was supposed to take this man-child seriously.

However, despite my deep loathing of Louis, the aliens, the voyage, the world they landed on were all fascinating. The science behind the creation of this world and it's technology were nice to read about. I love reading about the hard engineering involved in worlds such as these. Learning the history and idiosyncrasies of these races and earth's various changes over the last few centuries really tickled and indulged the sci-fi geek inside me. Niven knows how to create a world even if I find his (human) characters lacking. I can appreciate the science of this book.

There seems to be some persisting debate about whether people should be offended by Niven's treatment of women in this and other books he's written. The era and the relative newness of feminism are used as points why people shouldn't be offended, but also seems to suggest that the author was incapable of changing gender roles in a science fiction book chock full of futuristic ideas. He can make new alien races who look vastly different from their human counterparts, but he's unable to figure out what to do with those pesky women.

Regardless, people are allowed to be offended. There's no golden rule book that outlines how and when people should be offended by something. This is a legitimate response to something that is problematic for some, and they don't have to shrug it off because supposedly the author didn't know any better. Airing grievances about something such as this asks the writer to give pause and think about the reaction of the readers to this aspect of the story. Whether the writer decides this is something that needs addressing or not is entirely up to him.

To his credit, there are moments when Teela shows that she's much more aware of what's going on around her than Louis gives her credit for, but then, such moments are quickly dismissed because she is young (even though Louis lusts after her, but then will regard her as a child that he's trying not to browbeat when she tries to assert herself, eventually giving into her because sex), has no real wants, and isn't interested in knowing anything outside her own short scope of life on earth. She's not a terribly rounded character, and I'm not sure whether to blame Niven's writing or Louis' grossly misogynistic and self-serving views of her because I want to believe that Niven intended for us to catch these glimpses of Teela being more than just some thing for Louis to enjoy.

I can't rate this book more than two stars no matter how much I enjoyed certain elements of it, and it will find new life on my DNR (do not resuscitate) pile where books I never intend to read again go. I will attempt the second book on an optimistic note and hope there is a new narrator that is far less aggravating than Louis Wu and that by some small chance Niven's female characters have achieved better status than being treated like insolent children who should be seen and not heard.

Final Verdict:

2 of 5 stars

Book Review: The Iron King by Maurice Druon

The Iron King by Maurice Druon

George R. R. Martin once wrote in a blog post that if you love his A Song of Ice and Fire series and are looking for "something like it", then you really need to check out The Iron King by Maurice Druon. In the newest edition of the book's foreword, he calls it the "original game of thrones" and credits it for being one of the great historical novels that inspired his own epic series. 

Even if I hadn't known all this, the parallels are clear; this is only the first book of The Accursed Kings series and already it has it all, just without the fantasy elements -- conspiracies, assassinations, illicit affairs, royal scandals, rivaling families, public executions, lies, sex, betrayals and torture and poisonings and death curses, oh my.

Originally written in French and published in the mid-1950s, the books in this series were long out of print and apparently quite difficult to get your hands on, until now. Fortunately, the English translation of the first book recently made it back into print (with the rest to follow, I hear), thus resulting in yours truly just about tripping over her own feet rushing to press the "buy" button for the Kindle version. Even without GRRM's glowing recommendation, I'm always up for good historical fiction, especially books involving European monarchies and the Middle Ages.

The Iron King is a fascinating take on the events which preceded and led up to arguably one of the most significant conflicts of the medieval period, The Hundred Years' War. King Philip IV of France, called "The Iron King" because of his aloof nature and severe rule, sentences the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar Jacques de Molay to burn at the stake. Upon his death, the Templar maintains his innocence and publicly curses the three men whom he feels has unjustly put him there: Pope Clement, King Philip, and Guillaume de Nogaret, Keeper of the Seals.

Meanwhile, all is not well in Philip's family. Two of his sons, Louis and Charles are being cuckolded by their wives, cousins Marguerite and Blanche of Burgundy. If that wasn't bad enough, his third son's wife, Jeanne of Burgundy, is also privy to these affairs, even if she doesn't cheat herself. When Philip's only daughter Isabella discovers what the Burgundy women are doing to her three brothers, she begins scheming to expose them, and Robert III of Artois, who harbors a deep hatred for the Burgundys, is only all too happy to help. 

The scandal is blown wide open, of course, as we know from the events of the Tour de Nesle Affair. The king and his family recall the the last words uttered by Grand Master Jacques de Molay: "Pope Clement, Chevalier Guillaume de Nogaret, King Philip, I summon you to the Tribunal of Heaven before the year is out, to receive your just punishment! Accursed! Accursed! You shall be accursed to the thirteenth generation of your lines!" Are the troubles involving the unfaithful wives part of the curse? Or is the worst yet to come?

I have to say, I liked this book a lot. The story takes quite a bit of time to get set up, but then so much of the history and the characters have to be detailed and introduced. As the reader, I felt I needed the ramp-up time to refresh myself on the historical facts and get all those "Philip"s, "Charles"s and "Louis"s sorted out anyway. As always, trying to keep names in order is a common occupational hazard when reading historical fiction about European kings and queens. However, all the people and events Druon decided to include and write about in his storytelling are there for a reason, building up and forming a cogent picture by the end of the book.

Also, fair warning: the writing can be a little hard on the eyes. As with many books translated from their original language, it's not always pretty. I'm not sure this can be helped, and I certainly don't hold that against the author or the translator; sometimes, that's just the way things are. I admit I've had better times with other translated-to-English books, but then again, I've also had worse. The experience was definitely not as rough as I expected after seeing other reviews talking about the same topic, and to me the book was still very readable and easy to get into.

Final verdict:

 4 of 5 stars

Manga Review: Deadman Wonderland, Volume 2 by Jinsei Kataoka

Deadman Wonderland, Volume 2 by Jinsei Kataoka

This manga. This is the second time in a row where this manga started a little slow for me but picked up right before I decided to read something else and come back to it later. It wasn't that I thought the beginning was boring, but I had other books that were starting to get really interesting that I was reading at the same time. And then, they introduce Crow, the Corpse Carnival, and Ganta's new friends in the G ward.

FanArt: Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve

Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve by ~jibril84

From the Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey

Riddle in Stone by Robert Evert

Riddle in Stone by Robert Evert

Riddle in Stone popped up on my radar and the blurb interested me enough to add it to my to-read pile. A polite message from the author inspired me to push it right to the top of the list and I’m glad I did.

The book promises and quickly delivers on its atypical hero, Edmund, an overweight, middle-aged stuttering librarian who wishes for adventure but clearly isn’t fit for it. Yet, when an opportunity presents itself, Edmund pulls up his breeches and steps out into the world. This impressed me because it was the first indication that Riddle in Stone was going to do its best to avoid the fantasy tropes so many story tellers rely on. Rather than the hapless atypical hero stumbling upon or being dragged into a quest to save the kingdom and the girl of his dreams, Edmund reads the king’s proclamation and decides that he, with his vast knowledge, is the right person for the job.

Not that Edmund doesn’t have self-doubt. I enjoyed the way his inner monologue argued with itself over every decision. This process could have been dragged out tediously, but Evert did a good job of writing the equivalent of the devil and angel on the shoulder in a pithy and interesting manner. I liked the way that, as with the initial decision to leave the town of Rood, Edmund’s determination and survival instincts usually wins out over his doubts and keeps the story moving forward.

Unfortunately for Edmund, he doesn’t get far on his quest before being captured by goblins. A good two thirds of the book is then spent with him dealing with their torture and trying to escape, all while trying or not trying to solve the riddle carved into the wall of a tower. He meets a few people and a loyal dog along his journey, but ultimately, Edmund is forced to rely on himself to survive and to help those he chooses to. There is no wise old guide to rescue him. No blue fairy to wish on. Just Edmund and his wits and determination and a few basic spells. I loved the way Edmund remained true to this, as well as the way he remained noble, but not stupidly so in his dealings with the other prisoners in the goblin mines. How often have I yelled at characters for making impractical decisions for the sake of nobility. Sometimes, the right thing to do just isn't, and I loved that Edmund recognizes that, even if it does hurt him to do so.

I also liked the way the book mercilessly reveals the consequences of Edmund’s desire to go off on a big adventure. It also calls into question the histories we are told by the winners of the battle, versus the reality.

Looking at the page numbers, I suspected that the book would be a bit longer than it needed to be, and found the last part, when Edmund seeks the help of the king, to drag a bit, but it was soon back on track.

Overall, a well-thought out beginning to an epic fantasy story, featuring a fairly unique character that I look forward to adventuring further with.

3.5 of 5 stars

Comic Review: East of West #1 by Jonathan Hickman

East of West #1 by Jonathan Hickman

This comic starts as an alternate retelling of US history that deviates during the Civil War.

Two new leaders rose up out of that conflict, a Native American chief who becomes chief of chiefs, gaining control of all the tribes and forming The Endless Indian Nation. A former soldier named Elijah deserts the union and becomes a prophet. Soon the war escalates with attacks from the Nation and the religious, causing the it to linger on for 20 years until a comet hits the United States. Out of that event, seven territories come into being and form peace (that's probably tenuous and rife with old hostilities if I'm to judge by later panels).

Running parallel to this is a story about the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, except there are only three. War, famine, and conquest (who has replaced pestilence, I suppose) have been reborn as children who are continuing their mission with the added goal of finding Death who was not reborn alongside them. Their mission isn't quite clear to readers yet, Some readers may know the biblical significance, but we don't know how that'll play out in this story just yet. Childish glee mixed with malicious intent makes them very unsettling. The only thing we know for sure at this point is that they must find Death.

I would be lying to you if I said this makes a ton of sense at this point. It's Jonathan Hickman. I'm sure it's not supposed to make any sense right now. Hickman has a way of leaving his readers a little boggled at first, but you can always tell he's setting you up for some incredible. Even with the slight fog, the story is engaging. Hickman has combined elements of history, sci-fi, the supernatural, and fantasy with a heavy dose of the old west, giving reads an unusual blend of ingredients that are delectable together. An innocuous motorcycle turns into a metal grasshopper, saloons that appear as they would in 1800s, end time prophecies with visions and words shared among many no matter their race or affiliations--all these things ask you to continue this journey into the strange.

You want to know more about what's going on, how this alternate United States works. Some elements are cleared up by the end of the book, but then, you're left with even more questions. I want to know more about the different territories, but I am a little apprehensive about how it might be handled, especially since one of the territories is "The Confederacy, " and that could get prickly. The art is beautifully done by Dragotta, nothing short of phenomenal to be honest. The landscapes and people are darkly gorgeous. There's nothing "stock" about the art presented. Dragotta managed to pull so much uniqueness from the story presented.

My interest is piqued. I'm not sure where this story is going at this point, but I am certain that I want to follow it.

Story:

3.5 of 5 stars

Art:

4.5 of 5 stars

Final Verdict:

4 of 5 stars

The Bibliomanical Mom: Audible to the Rescue

Since I'm a bibliophile, it stands to reason that I want to pass this love on to my children. My daughter, Ari, is four and starting to get into the swing of things with books. My son, Will, is seven and in a program for gifted readers. He spends some time each night reading to us. He's recently learned that he likes audio books. He still likes to be read to as well, so I'm not surprised that he'd love audio books. I can remember us listening to a Halloween audio book together some years back, but we hadn't listened to one together since.

About two weeks back, I had to travel out of town for work for two days. I'm not much of an audio book person, but I have an Audible account that's somewhat neglected, and I figured I'd better make good use of it. What better way to pass the time on my commute than with an audio book? Jim Butcher's Fool Moon was my book of choice. It enticed me on Audible by teasing it was read by James Marsters. I finished the audio book while out of town, but bookmarked various places that I wanted to revisit during our drive to school and work.

I didn't think he was paying attention when I started listening to snippets of Fool Moon during our rides. He didn't say much the first day I listened to bits of it, but the second day, as we neared his school, he began to ask questions about the story and said that he wanted to hear the rest of it. While most of the parts I listened to were fine for him to hear, Harry Dresden is probably not age appropriate listening. The realization that he would gladly listen to a story gave me ideas.

I could use my Audible account to purchase books that we both could enjoy. I get two credits a month. That's more than adequate to purchase one "kid friendly" book and one "mom only" book. I mulled over what should be our first listen for a while. Should it be Harry Potter since I knew he loved the movies or should it be something more along the lines of science fiction? In retrospect, I should've taken him to the site and let him browse the kids section of Audible, but I chose The Lightning Thief as our first read. I'd been reading it off and on, but I thought he might enjoy it well. He absolutely loves it.

Fellow book blogger, Wendy, suggested that maybe Will and I could do a reading/listening of the first two books and then do a viewing of the first two movies. The second movie will be released on August 16th. I think this is a very doable goal for us. And who knows--maybe I'll come to really love audio books after all.

And, of course, I'm always open to kid friendly reading/listening suggestions.

April Reads

April Reads for the Levar’s Rainbow Book Club is Agent to the Stars, by John Scalzi.

Agent to the Stars is a gleeful mash-up of science fiction and Hollywood satire from acclaimed novelist John Scalzi (Old Man's War), a film critic since 1991 and author of The Rough Guide to Science Fiction Film. It's a whole new look at alien encounters -- and a view of Tinseltown you've never seen before.

The Emperor's Knife by Mazarkis Williams

The Emperor's Knife by Mazarkis Williams

If there's one thing I can be certain of about my taste in books, it is that I can never resist a tale of dark fantasy -- especially one involving magic, assassins,  and court politics. That Mazarkis Williams does it all in such a unique way is an extra added bonus.

It's going to be a little tough to describe this book without revealing too much, but here are the basics: across the Cerani Empire, a disease is spreading throughout the populace, manifesting as geometric forms and lines that spread across the skin. The afflicted quickly worsen and lose control, becoming part of an overall "pattern" and losing themselves to will of the "Pattern Master". All those marked are believed doomed and put to death, so you can imagine the resulting freak-out when it is rumored that Emperor Beyon himself has begun exhibiting the tell-tale marks.

Only a few people at court know the truth about Beyon being marked by the pattern, amongst them the Emperor Mother Nessaket, the crafty vizier Tuvaini, and the royal assassin Eyul. Of course, the question is, are these Beyon's loyal subjects there to help him, or might they actually be harboring their own ideas on just who should take the throne?

Also, one would definitely not want to be a younger male child in this particular royal family. Following tradition, Beyon's brothers were all killed the day their father died and he took the throne; that is, all except Prince Sarmin, who was kept locked up in a tower as a secret backup -- just in case. One of the many schemes set in motion in this book involves the arranged marriage of the secret lost prince to a daughter of a Felt chieftain, a young Windreader seer named Mesema. Thus this intricate tale of court intrigue is woven together through the eyes of all these characters.

And out of all of those characters, I think I have to say I enjoyed Mesema's narrative the best. On the surface, a story about a young girl being packed off to a foreign land to marry a total stranger is nothing new, but while many other reviewers have found her characterization to be on the weaker side, I actually felt most connected to her. It was a curious development, considering the male-dominated cast, but quite honestly, a very clear personality profile of Mesema emerged for me in her dialogue and interactions, whereas I felt all the other characters felt bland in comparison, almost like they were missing something.

A similar sensation arose when I though about my feelings about the book overall. The Emperor's Knife features some gorgeous writing and superb storytelling, but once again, a part of me just wanted a little more. More action, perhaps? More excitement, more emotion, more "edge"? I know I hit upon several dry spots in the book which lost me briefly, and part of the reason for this is the frequent jumping around of points-of-view and scene changes. Rather than keeping me on my toes, my focus was instead hindered by the confusion of always trying to figure out where I was and who I was following. I'm happy to say the book finally finds its groove in its last quarter, though; from then on, the momentum was like one of an unstoppable freight train gloriously hurtling me all the way to the end.

The book's world, too, is something I want to talk about. I already mentioned that the writing was gorgeous, and this is immediately clear from the way the author can bring beauty to what is otherwise a barren desert setting. There is one particular scene involving flowers in bloom and their sweet perfume amongst the sandy dunes that I know I will always remember. The skill with which the descriptions are handled are such that I have no problems envisioning it all in my mind.

As it also turns out, one of the most impressive things about this book are its magic systems, something I did not expect at all when I first picked this up. Recently, fantasy authors have been coming up with all kinds of incredible stuff, and the "pattern concept" in The Emperor's Knife is probably one of the more unique ones I've read about in the last few years. First of all, the pattern disease itself has a sort of magical basis behind it, but there are also these mages in this book that harness their powers by sucking that energy from elemental spirits that they "imprison" within them. And it is most definitely not a symbiotic relationship, I can tell you that.

Over all, despite some issues with pacing, this was a wonderful fantasy debut from Mazarkis Williams.

Final Verdict:

3 of 5 stars

Character Appreciation Post: Anna Korlov from Anna Dressed in Blood

“… there she is, my goddess of death, her hair snaking out in a great black cloud, her teeth grinding hard enough to make living gums bleed.”
 – Cas Lowood, Anna Dressed in Blood

Before I get started, I thought I'd post a brief introduction since this is the first time that I've done one of these for this site. From time to time, I'll write a post about characters from books and comics that I love. I try to touch on the reasons why they've made an impression with me as a character. I tend to listen to music while reading, and certain songs stick out for scenes and characters when I'm reading. So, I'll also include a song that makes me think of them. And yes, if you watch Game of Thrones, you'll probably recognize the song I used in this post as the trailer song. Anyhow, I may include other things in these posts, but I'll try to stay mostly consistent with my format. On with it, then, yes?

Who Is Anna Korlov?

She is one of the heroes, and the main catalyst, in Kendare Blake’s Anna duology, which consists of Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares. She's a ghost who lives in an old Victorian house. She haunts the house wearing a white dress stained red that drips blood, the same dress she was wearing when she was murdered in 1958. She has murdered every living person who has ever entered her home except Cas Lowood, a ghost hunter.

She is snared in the fingers of a curse for reasons she doesn't quite remember, and she houses a dichotomy of feelings. She is both love and fury, anger and sorrow. She carries a heavy burden of regret and sadness. She is a ghostly goddess of death and a scared teenaged girl. She is a power not matched by many, if any–living or dead. She doesn't know if she deserves forgiveness or release, but she is tired and wants true death. Despite it all, Anna is anything but your typical ghost.

A Song I Associate with Anna



Dig up her bones, but leave the soul alone
Let her find a way to a better place
Broken dreams and silent screams
Empty churches with soulless curses
Bones by MS MR

Why I Love Her

Admittedly, the main reason I wanted to read these books was because of the covers, and while I do love Cas and his misfit group of friends, Anna Korlov, a girl relegated to an unfortunate fate, is the real hero of the story for me.The thing that really stood out for in these books is that Blake kept Anna consistent in general character and in the ghostshipping (the romance) that's presented in the book.

In so many books, once a male counterpart enters the story, the female character becomes a bit useless, especially in young adult books. Let me stop here for a moment to clarify “useless” in the sense that I mean. Anna has fears. She has desires, wants, and needs. She has feelings that run deep. She is not a shell of a person… er… ghost. I’m not saying that she shouldn’t be allowed these things and feelings. Quite the contrary.

A strong character for me doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be allowed their weaknesses or that they shouldn’t need someone to save them from time to time. I don’t mean that, sometimes, they don’t break when things overwhelm them. However, when a character loses complete sense of self and suddenly becomes nothing more than “that chick that needs saving by her oh-so-strong man all the time,” I get pissed. Vulnerability as well as strength should be shown. There needs to be a balance, and I think Blake did an excellent job with that. She also seemed to do a great job of having Anna and Cas complement each other.

In the story, Anna did not suddenly become a weepy girl ghost who needed Cas to protect her after he helps her reconcile her duality, which makes her a near unstoppable force. Anna already outpaces the average ghost with her strength and awareness (most vengeful ghosts in the story don’t realize they’re dead and are unaware that the world has changed at all). She becomes Cas’ protector in some ways. She doesn't run in always saving him. She allows Cas to be the person that he is, and she doesn't underestimate his abilities or formidability.

Cas gives her the same respect. But they both are there for the other to lend strength when needed. And there have been scenarios when they have both needed the other in extreme cases. Anna doesn’t ignore her feelings for Cas, but she tries not to mourn what she can’t have with Cas. It pains her and she quietly shows it, but she she is more willing than Cas to accept that a relationship between them is impossible. I really liked the dynamics between Cas and Anna, and I appreciate the love story didn't eclipse the rest of the story.

Anna doesn't excuse herself from what she's done. She understands that she's taken lives and she's disgusted and saddened by it. Her living companions--Cas, Thomas, and Carmel--are much more sympathetic to her and her plight than Anna is to herself even though they've seen what her fury can do firsthand. She doesn't know if she's deserving of the kindness that she's given. She doesn't know if her final rest should be peaceful because of the horror she's perpetrated over the years.

Anna is presented as a realist, and she's pragmatic about her situation and the situations surrounding her. She won't lie to herself or to any of the others just to dull an ache. She's not some over-romanticized wisp of a ghost who spends time sighing about life and the living. She seemed more practical about what was going on than her living companions. And this doesn't seem like something she only gained in death. In the brief glimpses of her life we are given, Anna was respectful and kind, but she would not be cowed.

She shows impossible courage along with the rest of the gang. Despite her fears, she stands her ground, even in one of her weakest moments, and she makes a sacrifice far greater because she knows she's the only one who can despite the fact that she may be sending herself to some unknown fate. Anna has earned her place on my list of favorite fictional characters.