Category: Reviewed

The Frost on Jade Buds — Aliette de Bodard

By 5t4n5

The Frost on Jade Buds -- Aliette de BodardWhen i first read all the Xuya stories i didn’t have a copy of this one because i refused to be ridiculed by some luddite (whoever dictates the pricing for the Solaris Rising anthologies) with their ridiculous pricing tactics, so, sadly, i just had to skip over it in the timeline.   But i never stopped hoping that one day Aliette would take back control and release this in a more reasonably priced, ebook, alternative, and she did: thank you Aliette!

You can find this in the collection The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun and Other Stories, and hopefully like me you’ll just stop whatever it is that you’re doing and dive straight back into the Xuya-verse and get some reading done.   This has been a long time coming.

My other thought was that i really needed to reacquaint myself with the series before beginning this story, so i jumped back one story to A Slow Unfurling of Truth and re-read that to settle back in.   And i have to say, i’m really glad i did.

While the Xuya stories jump around the galaxy quite a lot, you do occasionally get two or three books that run in a sort of mini-series, and The Frost on Jade Buds certainly follows on wonderfully from A Slow Unfurling of Truth.

What struck me this time with A Slow Unfurling of Truth that i didn’t pick up on last time is how much of these stories are influenced by Aliette’s heritage.   One can see so many similarities between Earth’s Western countries and the Galactics lining up against Earth’s Eastern countries being represented by the Scattered Pearls Belt: a daughter with one parent from each caught between.   Both books are brilliantly written and a must read as a pair.

All i can hope for now is some more Xuya books to fill the later years of my life: such a great universe.   Meanwhile, i’m definitely planning to begin reading the rest of Aliette’s other stories once i’ve finished reading all of P. Djèlí Clark’s books (only three of those to go).

Aliette’s Page

#scifi #aliettedebodard

Lily, the Immortal — Kylie Lee Baker

By 5t4n5

Lily, the Immortal -- Kylie Lee BakerA rather good, thought provoking story concerning internet celebrities and what may happen to them after they die.

Imagine if some big corporation somehow obtained the rights to the social media channel, used all those hundreds of hours of footage to produce a deep fake, and then continued to use that celebrity for their own marketing purposes in whatever way they chose.   And what about the loved ones left behind?

Best of all, you can read it for free over at Uncanny Magazine.   There’s a podcast version but it doesn’t really work as the lesbian narrator of the story is being read by a man.   It’s like getting a white cis-gender heterosexual to play a black transgender lesbian in a film.

Kylie’s Page

#kylieleebaker

Everlasting — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Everlasting -- Alastair ReynoldsYou’ll find this in the collection, Zima Blue and Other Stories.

This is one of those “many-worlds interpretation” stories.   To be honest, i place this sort of nonsense firmly in the same box as flat earth twaddle and god grovelling.

I take from this story that Alastair also thinks “many-worlds interpretation” is a load of nonsense as well and if you truly believe in it then get a gun and keep playing Russian roulette, because obviously one of you keeps surviving so you can’t really die.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

The Paladin of Golota — P. Djèlí Clark

By 5t4n5

The Paladin of Golota -- P. Djèlí ClarkOnce again, Djèlí writes the perfect short story, this one about zealots going to the battle fields of Golota to kill and die for their respective gods.

On the floor dying, is Zahrea, one of the zealots, and waiting to pick her body clean of valuables is Teffe, a picker, one of the local orphans who survive by combing the fields after each battle for anything worth selling.   Teffe doesn’t believe in gods but while he waits for Zahrea to die he has no choice but to listen to everything she has to say about that.

Super good.

This is available in the periodical, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly — Issue 37.

Next up on Djèlí’s timeline, from 2019, is The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington

P. Djèlí Clark’s Page

#fantasy #pdjeliclark

The Real Story — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

The Real Story -- Alastair ReynoldsIt’s the real story about the first person to land on Mars.

A reporter gets a message from Mars that she believes can only have come from the person that were first to land there, the person who has been missing ever since.   So off she goes to meet them to get the story of the decade.

Super good writing with a really well done take on Dissociative Identity Disorder, and a wonderful base jumping experience that’s not to be missed out on.

After Fresco, which i felt was well below par for Alastair, this was definitely back to his usual high standards of sci-fi.

If ya wanna read you’ll find this in the collection, Zima Blue and Other Stories.

Next up in Alastair’s bibliography is Century Rain from 2004: his very first super length novel.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

The Angel of Khan el-Khalili — P. Djèlí Clark

By 5t4n5

The Angel of Khan el-Khalili -- P. Djèlí ClarkThe second story from the Dead Djinn Universe, which i only just got hold of with it having been quite some time since i finished the other three books (silly me thought it was a trilogy).   But not to worry, while it would have been better to have read it before The Haunting of Tram Car 015, it was very much worth reading still and doesn’t detract from anything i’ve already read in this series.

Once again, all the super good writing we’ve come to enjoy from Djèlí, my only question would be is will there be any more Cairo books?   I do so hope so, this is a fantastic world Djèlí has created that begs to be explored a lot more.   And i totally recommend this whole series for everyone, even if you’re not already into steampunk flavoured fantasy with a North African twist you soon will be.

This is available in the anthologies, Clockwork Cairo and Swift the Chase, and also can be read for free over at Tor.com.

P. Djèlí Clark’s Page

#steampunk #fantasy #pdjeliclark

Fresco — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Fresco -- Alastair ReynoldsYou’ll find this in the collection, Deep Navigation.

A rather brief short story about an observatory near Jupiter that listens to broadcasts from other galaxies.

I get the idea that this should be a prequel to something: not sure what the point is being on its own.   Ho hum.

Next in the timeline from Alastair, it’s The Real Story from 2002.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World — K. J. Parker

By 5t4n5

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World -- K. J. ParkerThe third instalment in The Siege.   The first two thirds of the trilogy were excellent, this book has a lot to live up to.

As soon as i got a copy of this book i dropped everything else i was reading and jumped straight in: that’s how much i enjoyed the first two books of the trilogy.

Once more, great writing with great characters being forced into corners and having to do whatever it takes just to survive another hour or so, because you only need another hour or so to figure out how you can find a way to survive the next hour or so.   Fortunately for us avid readers our protagonists in these stories always find a way to keep surviving all those next hours or sos and thus the story keeps on rolling along with calamities and shenanigans abounding.

To be honest, i was sold on K. J. Parker’s writing after the first book, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, the second book, How To Rule An Empire and Get Away With It, just confirmed that i wasn’t mistaken in my assessment, and this book now makes me realise that i’ve been missing out on some great writing for over 20 years, but hey, now i can go back and read the complete K. J. Parker back catalogue and really enjoy myself.

So yeah, if you’re looking for a good fun read then do give The Siege trilogy a go, i’m sure most people with even just a tiniest smattering of a sense of humour will enjoy these books.

K. J. Parker’s Page Tom Holt’s Page

#fantasy #kjparker

The Power of Chowa — Akemi Tanaka

By 5t4n5

The Power of Chowa -- Akemi TanakaA quite enjoyable Japanese wisdom book with a rather different perspective, that of a Japanese woman who at times comes across as the outsider, shunned in some ways by conservative Japanese society for standing up — and standing out — as an independent woman, while at the same time Akemi is very clearly a traditionalist in all the ways that truly matter.   At least that’s the view i get on Akemi from these pages.

And why shouldn’t strong-minded, independent women take the very best of tradition and leave the worse of it behind?   Surely that’s the point of evolution, to take what is the best, that which benefits the most and to leave behind and slough off those very things that hinder, bind and stifle all of us ultimately; and in doing so build stronger and more resilient societies for the future.   Of course, there will always be tension between which side of this coin things fall on, the ultra conservative who blindly want to maintain everything, regardless of worth and value, while on the other side those who want to cast of everything they see as old and done.   Or maybe there’s a middle way, a way of Chowa?

It’s from these two different perspectives that Akemi takes us on this journey to discover Chowa, that balance and harmony within and without that we could all use a good dose of in our crazy modern lives.

Definitely another one of those books that i feel everyone who reads it with an open mind can find some small nugget to take away to help improve themselves, their lives and their environments.   I certainly feel it was worth the read and feel others will do so as well.

Akemi’s Page

#japan #akemitanaka

Briarpatch — Ross Thomas

By 5t4n5

Briarpatch -- Ross ThomasI got this book because i totally loved the TV show.   I don’t normally watch TV shows before i read the book but i got totally hooked on it because it was just so frigging awesome:

YouTube

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But having had a brief start at reading this book, it just isn’t as good as the TV show.   Pick is a guy in the book whereas in the TV show it’s Rosario Dawson and i just can’t get my head around Pick being a man.

So i’ve decided to put this away for quite a few years when i hopefully may have forgotten all about the TV show and then i’ll come back and give it a read.   Probably not though.   Me thinks it’s just one of those books that will get relegated to “The Boneyard” forever.

Ross’ Page

#rossthomas