Reviews

An interesting independently published ebook, The Stars Came Back is a tale of space adventure with distinct military, political and moral themes. Stylistically, it occupies an unusual dialogue-heavy space somewhere between a novel and a screenplay; the author has mentioned that he originally wrote it as a screenplay and as it grew in length the style adjusted somewhat. Though written in a manner reminiscent of a Heinlein juvenile, it is not a coming-of-age tale; almost all of the characters are adults, though they still have room to grow and change.

The Stone of Farewell suffers from the usual problems of a middle book in a trilogy; the characters are caught midway between their youth and their maturity, the plots of evil seem ascendant, and neither the beginning nor the end are entirely satisfactory. Still, this is by no means a poor example. Simon’s quest to recover the sword Thorn from beneath the Rimmer’s tree has succeeded, at the cost of some lives and much trouble.

Legend says that only three things can destroy the Secret Country: the Border Magic, the Crystal of the Earth, and the Whim of the Dragon. Only the last remains, as the five children are summoned once more to the land of their own make-believe. This time, however, it will be different. For as they fled at the end of The Hidden Land, the note they left behind will reveal them as imposters.

I was first introduced to CS Friedman’s work with the Coldfire Trilogy, an excellent exploration of the consequences of introducing humans into a world where magic is shaped by belief – and thus gives life to our worst nightmares. I quickly located her other extant works, The Madness Season (with which I was similarly delighted) and In Conquest Born… which was a story with potential, but which ultimately disappointed me.

The Wreck of the River of Stars, despite winning the Heinlein award, is a book well suited to it’s title. It bears the unfortunate stigma of a tragedy with little impact, a disaster with little meaning. It lacks impact. If one is to consider the obvious parallels, it is a failure of Titanic proportions. There are many reasons for this. The writing is extremely awkward at times; unfocused and peppered with authorial asides and pointless digressions.

Thief of Lives is an unusual combination of mythology. The traditional pseudo-medieval fantasy setting, with elves and (presumably) dwarves, contrasts sharply with the primary focus of the characters: killing vampires. Or rather, exploiting the ignorance of the people who believe in vampires, because two snake-oil salesmen can make a good living getting rid of things that don’t really exist. This book follows up on the first, which revealed to the protagonists that their mythical enemy actually existed, with an exploration of the stereotypically dark and mysterious past.

Ethan Kaille is a thieftaker, someone who is hired to find thieves and recover stolen property, in Boston during the time right before the Revolutionary War. His life is complicated by a rival thieftaker, Sephira Pryce, who is more like a female caricature of a mob boss than someone on the side of justice, and her ire at his being hired by a coveted rich client to investigate the murder of the client’s daughter.

Having rejoined Prince Josua, bearing the great sword Thorn, Simon (now knighted as Sir Seoman Snowlock) must begin to fight in earnest. King Elias has sent an army to destroy the stronghold of Prince Josua’s resistance. Only if that army can be defeated will the prince be able to make his claim credible before the realm and attract the support necessary to topple Elias from the throne. Even in defeat, however, the sword Thorn must be kept from the clutches of the Storm King, for in that great sword and its two brothers lies the power to defeat Prince Josua’s enemies… or so prophecy seems to say.

The first volume in the Chronicles of the Lensmen, Triplanetary brings a tedious 6-chapter introduction to the universe of the Lensmen before focusing on the intricacies of the story itself… the story of a time before the Lens, and humanity’s first successful encounters with the agents of Eddore. There’s a lot of science, a lot of heroic secret-agent-scientists, and a lot of interstellar conflict with impressive technobabble. Clearly, this is where space opera was born.

So there’s a new vampire movie out, and I really need a few hours to sit and take in someone else’s vision of impossibility with the hope of seeing something cool. These factors combined to put me in a theater seat watching Ultraviolet, despite having nothing more than the posters and the previews to go on. I’ll give you the short version: it’s bad. Really bad. So bad I’m surprised I sat through the whole thing (which probably had a lot to do with the fact that if I didn’t, I would have to start thinking again – something that I was trying to avoid in the few hours between work and more work that I had).