Month: March 2013

Book Review: Priestess of the Eggstone by Jaleta Clegg

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95fe70fa8086e43596f62506567444341587343I was a little worried when I first picked up PRIESTESS OF THE EGGSTONE because it is technically the second book in the “Fall of the Altairan Empire” series (the first is titled NEXUS POINT). This was an unfounded fear, as PRIESTESS OF THE EGGSTONE functions just fine as a stand-alone science fiction novel.

Mild plot spoilers follow.

PRIESTESS OF THE EGGSTONE begins as a classic example of the science fiction sub-genre I might term “commerce SF,” mostly about protagonists in space opera settings who work as, or want to be, freelance merchants and traders in the space lanes. Examples include many of C. J. Cherryh’s novels (the Merchanter and Chanur series in particular); Andre Norton’s Solar Queen series; and Poul Anderson’s Van Rijn series (there are many more I could mention, but those are some of the better known examples of this sub-genre). I hasten to add that – despite the emphasis on commerce rather than exploration or combat – these aren’t “mundane SF” novels. They aren’t about accounting in space, or paying all the required landing fees and dutifully obeying space regulations. They often involve encounters with pirates; misadventures in ports with thieves, customs officials, and thieving customs officers; and narrow escapes from a variety of dangers. In short, I have found that these kinds of novels typically involve exciting conflict without emphasizing the military derring-do that is all too typical of science fiction.

PRIESTESS OF THE EGGSTONE is in good company. Here, a young female pilot with a troubled past, Dace, wants nothing more than to own her own trading vessel and become an independent merchant. The universe conspires against Dace’s attempts to achieve that dream. She’s a pilot not a navigator (dammit, Jim!) and so she hires a navigator who soon gets her into a world of trouble. He has stolen the eponymous Eggstone, an object of unknown but great significance to an alien race that is willing to do whatever it takes to get the Eggstone back. They can’t simply return the Eggstone because it was already sold, so now the pair and their comrades have to locate it while dodging inimical aliens. Oh and the company that Dace works for is actually a front for a smuggling operation, so that causes further problems, plus the Star Patrol is still trying to pressure Dace to join them as an undercover agent (this was apparently the major plot of the first novel).

The tone of the novel wavers a bit; at times, it seems fairly light-hearted, yet it never fully becomes a comedy. The stakes are real (and occasionally deadly). It’s a mix of commerce SF, first contact, and space opera-ish schemes and adventures. While having read the first novel was certainly not necessary, it would have provided some additional insights about Dace’s past. Her troubled origins are occasionally referenced, but the details are not entirely clear to me. I should also make clear that the protagonist is a young, emotionally immature woman, and one of her two love interests is an equally immature young man. This naturally leads to some frustrating behavior on both parts. The both behave childishly at times, so for a grumpy middle-aged reader like myself, this characterization occasionally annoyed me, but it never became intolerable.

This wasn’t the greatest science fiction novel I’ve ever read, but it certainly wasn’t the worst either (by far). It was perfectly enjoyable. Recommended for readers interested in science fiction that’s a bit out of the mainstream, and not oriented toward military actions – I might even term PRIESTESS OF THE EGGSTONE as “space opera lite.”


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Review copyright © 2013 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: Wildside Mystery Double #2: Deadly Things: A Collection of Mysterious Tales by Darrell Schweitzer / The Judgment of the Gods and Other Verdicts of History by Robert Reginald

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Wildside Books publishes a great many short novel/novella pairs as “Doubles”; this is their second Mystery Doubles collection. It focuses on historical mystery short stories by Darrell Schweitzer and Robert Reginald. The long and short of it is that if you enjoy historical mysteries, then you’ll want to pick this collection up.

Some mild plot spoilers follow.

c42881DEADLY THINGS: A COLLECTION OF MYSTERIOUS TALES by Darrell Schweitzer: Schweitzer is one of those extraordinarily prolific authors you see everywhere in anthologies, though I had not previously read a collection of his work. This is a highly enjoyable collection of “historical” mysteries in three types. First are three mysteries set in ancient Rome, two of which feature Pliny the Younger as an investigator. Though I’m a historian by trade, the ancient world is not my area of expertise. Nevertheless, Schweitzer’s portrayal of Pliny’s world of the first century AD rings true. This is a world in which all of the characters have a profoundly pre-modern – but logically internally consistent – mindset that affects all their actions. That’s one of Schweitzer’s strengths here: all too often, authors of historical fiction portray their characters as products of the modern era, with the ahistorical mindset that that entails. No so here. Next are two Shakespearean mysteries, one involving King Henry V as an investigator and the other based on The Two Noble Kinsmen, a play that seems to be currently attributed to co-authors William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. I must confess that my knowledge and interest in Shakespeare’s work are minimal, so these didn’t resonate with me. Other readers with a greater interest in all things Shakespeare than mine would undoubtedly enjoy these two tales more than I. Schweitzer’s final three stories are all previously unknown cases involving Sherlock Holmes (as well as some appropriately low-key brushes with the supernatural). Pastiches like these can be done well or poorly; those of us who read non-Doyle Holmes stories have encountered many of each. I am pleased to report that these three Holmes stories are all very well done. Schweitzer has found a way to portray Holmes and Watson with respect and consistency without mindlessly aping Doyle’s canonical stories. Plus, they are fine stories of Victorian detection in their own right, even though some of the cases presented here remain unresolved.

51-SlvPLT+L._SS500_THE JUDGMENT OF THE GODS AND OTHER VERDICTS OF HISTORY by Robert Reginald: Reginald presents us with four historical murder mysteries: one stand-alone – the eponymous “The Judgment of the Gods” concerning the murder of the Assyrian King Sennacherib – and three involving the medieval philosopher William of Occam (you will be familiar with his “Occam’s Razor” principle). I enjoyed all four stories, though the three involving William of Occam especially appealed to me because of my greater familiarity with and interest in the Middle Ages. Since these involve the commission of the Franciscan William of Occam and his young acolyte and chronicler to serve as detectives and troubleshooters by Pope John XXII, comparisons with Umberto Eco’s excellent THE NAME OF THE ROSE are inevitable. Significantly more approachable than Eco’s postmodern work, Reginald’s stories depict William’s use of reason and insight to solve the murders of a king, a pope, clergymen, and nuns. John XXII’s disputes with the Franciscans and various other power brokers provide a great sense of verisimilitude. That sense of place and time are the real strengths of these stories, which makes them very good historical mysteries indeed.

This double collection of historical mysteries is highly recommended. All are enjoyable, quick reads, and if you’re a fan of historical whodunnits, there’s undoubtedly something here for everyone, whether you are interested in the ancient world, the Middle Ages, or Victorian England.


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Review copyright © 2013 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: Craving: The Apocalyptic Series by Kristina Meister

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1ea19d055e66f515967572f6577444341587343Novels about vampires, immortals, and the women who get caught up in their worlds are all the rage these days. But before I read CRAVING, if you had told me I’d be reading a book about Buddhist vampires, I would have laughed you out of the room. Of course, calling the antagonists of CRAVING “Buddhist vampires” isn’t strictly accurate or fair, and might even be a little dismissive, but it captures a sense of what we see here. (Though I should note that the title is a bit misleading and the sub-title makes almost no sense whatsoever.)

Some mild plot spoilers follow.

The novel begins straightforwardly enough: Lilith Pierce’s younger, free-spirited sister Eve has committed suicide and Lilith, as Eve’s only relative, is left to clean up Eve’s apartment as she tries to make sense of why Eve killed herself. The story rapidly takes a strange turn as it becomes clear that Eve was (1) involved with some strange things (and people) and (2) she may have been a victim of murder rather than suicide. Eve is aided by the sympathetic detective assigned to Eve’s case and some of Eve’s old friends, most of whom are far more than they appear. Shortly after Eve’s funeral, Lilith realizes that she is being drawn deeper into Eve’s past and the strangeness surrounding Eve’s life (and death). The matter becomes even more personal when Lilith herself begins experiencing visions and eventually starts developing some unusual abilities of her own. Of course, the whole affair is about far more than the death of a single girl who got in way over her head in the big city, with Lilith realizing that the stakes involved are far bigger than she imagined.

I hesitate to say more about the specifics of the plot, as the slow unveiling of the truth behind the situation is a big part of the fun. Characterization is reasonably good here, as long as the reader maintains a healthy suspension of disbelief. Ultimately CRAVING reminds me of a lot of the kind of supernatural horror in the 1990s (Anne Rice, Laurel Hamilton, etc.) that spawned the paranormal romance genre, with all the good and bad that that implies. The pace is, at times, slow going, and that’s CRAVING’s greatest weakness, though it is punctuated by staccato bursts of action. It meanders and the reader – along with Lilith – is sometimes left wondering what the heck is going on. But even so there’s some action and good bit of dialogue and philosophizing; it helps, I think, if Buddhism and similar Eastern philosophies intrigue you.

Recommended for those who like paranormal romance with a philosophical side. It also helps if you’re a patient reader looking for a slow build and a fairly strong climax. CRAVING’s essential premise and opening are strong, and I promise that the eventual revelations concerning CRAVING’s background and mysteries are interesting; you just have to be willing to wade through some less exciting parts of the plot to get there. If you’re not prepared for interested in a healthy dose of Eastern philosophy along the way, you might be turned off, but if you are looking for an original take on the modern-day vampire novel, CRAVING just might be the book you’re looking for.


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Review copyright © 2013 J. Andrew Byers

Book News Round-up, March 11, 2013

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Some book-related news I’ve come across since the last update:

03novelist1-articleLargeGérard de Villiers, French spy novelist: I have been hearing about de Villiers’ work for years. He’s an extraordinarily popular and prolific author of spy novels and political thrillers. He’s also a fascinating guy in his own right, with many purported connections with the French security services and others around the globe. The New York Times recently published a lengthy interview with de Villiers. By all accounts, if you like these kinds of spy thrillers (latter-day men’s adventure novels), then de Villiers is your man. Just one problem: as far as I can tell, none of his novels are available in English. Well, let me correct that and say that a few of them were translated into English in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, but these are all long out of print. maybe I’ll come across them some day. (And don’t you want that hat? Sure, at first it seems absurd, but the more you think about it the better it looks — am I right?)

ArthurConanDoyleArthur Conan Doyle’s Estate Issues: I had no idea that the literary rights to the Conan Doyle estate were so convoluted. While the original (canonical) stories are in the public domain, the character of Sherlock Holmes himself is still under copyright in the United States. (I assume because of all the derivative works based on the character that are NOT in the public domain.) In any case, I had no idea that a woman named Andrea Plunkett had been masquerading as the rightful owner of the character. Apparently Wildside Press, publisher of the Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, was even scammed by Plunkett before getting it all worked out with the real estate.

And speaking of Wildside, here are some new coupon codes for their books:
For our ebook store — www.wildsidepress.com — use coupon: ebookme (save 20%)
For our print book store — www.wildsidebooks.com — use coupon: bookme (save $5 on $20 or more)
For our print book store — www.wildsidebooks.com — use coupon: bookme2 (save $12 on $50 or more)
For our print book store — www.wildsidebooks.com — use coupon: bookme3 (save $30 on $100 or more)

Book Review: Wildside Double #17: A Llull in the Compass: A Science Fiction Novel by W.C. Bamberger / Academentia: A Future Dystopia by Robert Reginald

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Wildside’s seventeenth “double” collection – packaged just like the old Ace Doubles, with two novels back-to-back, and two front covers – includes a post-apocalyptic tale by W. C. Bamberger and a dystopian novel by Robert Reginald. The two stories couldn’t be further apart in tone, though they are thematically linked: each concerns the trials and travails of ordinary people trying to cope with, and survive, the destruction of their societies.

Mild plot spoilers follow for the two novels.

1434435105.01._SX450_SY635_SCLZZZZZZZ_A LLULL IN THE COMPASS: A Science Fiction Novel, by W. C. Bamberger: Something very strange has begun happening across the world. More and more people have been disappearing, leaving behind small puddles of goo. Unknown objects have begun appearing in the skies, but burn up before reaching the ground. A small group of people, randomly thrown together, now wander aimlessly across the American landscape. Scared that purposeful movements bring about the disappearances, they select their path by following an improvised “Llull Machine” that randomly dictates where they will travel next. They also, perhaps most importantly, are trying to figure out what is going on in order to save their own lives and halt the collapse of civilization.

As I was reading A LLULL IN THE COMPASS, I was reminded of the film Stalker, loosely based on ROADSIDE PICNIC by the Strugatsky brothers, about three men who wander around in an area once visited by aliens where the laws of physics aren’t always quite what we would expect. I have to admit that I don’t read a lot of what has been described as the “New Weird” (stories like those penned by China Miéville and Jeff VanderMeer), so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Bamberger’s novella. I also wasn’t sure what the “Llull” in the title referenced, so I had to research the interesting history of Ramon Llull and his strange machines. (Do yourself a favor and do a quick Google search on Llull.) Despite some uncertainties about plot, I enjoyed Bamberger’s novel even while I didn’t always know exactly what was going on; I think that’s probably part of the fun here.

academentiaACADEMENTIA: A Future Dystopia, by Robert Reginald: Near-future America is no longer a liberal democracy. A religious zealot named Dr. Theo Fell has instituted a new political regime that intrusively surveils the personal activities of all citizens, stifles free speech, tortures and kills dissidents, and becomes steadily more oppressive. (Sound at all familiar?) Our nameless narrator begins as a harmless academic but soon advances through the administrative hierarchy of the “California Saints University” system as his bosses are executed or dragged off to the re-education camps one by one. Life in such a dystopic state begins to take a toll on our narrator’s sanity as he struggles to not just survive but to overthrow Dr. Fell’s regime.

For me, ACADEMENTIA was made all the more enjoyable because of Reginald’s undoubtedly quasi-autobiographical elements inserted from his lengthy career as an academic. This is a dark, dark tale, and like almost all dystopias, has some important things to teach us. I should say that as grim as the story is, it is also blackly comedic at times, which makes it all the more entertaining and makes it a little easier to digest as a reader. Let’s face it: a story like 1984 (one of my favorite books of all time) is powerful, but it’s also a bit of a hard slog because of its unrelentingly bleak outlook and prospects. Reginald’s writing is excellent as always; he manages to capture just the right tone balancing the darkness with just enough whimsy and absurdity.

Despite how different in tone the two novels are, I heartily recommend this collection, especially for fans of dystopias. I thought that ACADEMENTIA was especially strong and easily worth the price of admission alone (other readers might prefer A LLULL IN THE COMPASS, though it was slightly out of my comfort zone in terms of its level of weirdness). As an academic myself, ACADEMENTIA really hit home with me for reasons it’s probably better I not go into. I hope that ACADEMENTIA garners greater attention – we can all use more warnings about the dangers of oppressive institutions and compromises to free speech.


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Review copyright © 2013 J. Andrew Byers

Book Review: The Void by Brett J. Talley

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ea070fc06c0b200596f674a6677444341587343It’s no exaggeration to say that THE VOID is one of the best horror novels I read in 2012 (yes, I’m a bit late in writing this review in February 2013). I had previously read Brett Talley’s previous novel, THAT WHICH SHOULD NOT BE, a fun contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos that ties a few other horror tropes to Lovecraft’s world in interesting ways, but it in no way prepared me for what I could expect from his latest. THE VOID is, in my experience, a rare beast: a science fiction novel that successfully blends the genre with strong horror elements.

Mild plot spoilers follow.

In the mid-twenty-second century, humanity has discovered the secret of faster-than-light travel (FTL) and has begun to colonize worlds across the galaxy. There is just one limitation to FTL travel: humans must be asleep during the voyage, and, while asleep, each traveler dreams. The dream is different for each traveler, but recurs every time that person travels through space. No one talks about their personal dreams, unsurprisingly since the dreams are closer to nightmares, and deeply resonant for each individual. Every now and then – not too often, but just often enough – the dreams drive someone mad. And sometimes people who go to sleep never wake up.

THE VOID centers on one starship voyage in which six people on a seemingly routine voyage happen upon another ship that had disappeared in the depths of space a decade previously. The crew and passengers awake prematurely during their trip, seemingly trapped in a field of black holes making navigation and escape almost impossible, and having few options but to investigate the derelict ship. Unsurprisingly, each of the travelers is more than they appear, with secrets in their pasts and hidden agendas, all of which surface on this trip. A few of the characters are more hastily sketched than others, but the characters and their pasts are interestingly interlocked, and one of THE VOID’s strengths. I won’t reveal the nature of the dreams or what the travelers find on the missing ship, lest I ruin key elements of the plot. Suffice it to say that the mysteries revealed were well done and genuinely scary.

Comparisons between THE VOID and films like Event Horizon and Solaris are probably inevitable, but also a little misleading, as THE VOID avoids the gore of Event Horizon but is less introspective and more action-oriented than Solaris. I sometimes find that stories involving dream sequences and flashbacks hard to follow or too confusing to be worth the effort, but Talley demonstrates his mastery of writing here, doing a good job of keeping the story moving forward coherently despite the eerie dreamscapes the characters experience.

THE VOID is haunting and thought-provoking. The characters, plot, and premise have all stuck with me since reading it and I can certainly see myself rereading it. Sure, parts of the plot are a little predictable, but then again, we know that this is essentially a Lovecraftian haunted house story set in space, so certain tropes and plot elements are almost expected. Highly recommended for those who like their science fiction mixed with horror.


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Review copyright © 2013 J. Andrew Byers