Perps 2013 Chronicles Reading List - The Reviews

[Perpetual Man]

As I have mentioned elsewhere this year my opening reading salvo (and probably for the entire year) will be based around books written by members of the Chronicles, whether they are still active, or be they big publishers or self published.

I'll just explain how I'm going to do things: The books will be chosen at random, when I finish one I'll randomly select the next. Up until now, for the most part of the year I've been reading comic books, trying and failing to catch up with the never decreasing backlog.

The 8th of January sees the release of A Memory of Light, the final book in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. As it's been so long since this series started I'm treating myself to this little (or not so little) novel to tie up all loose ends before starting the Chronicles novels.

The Chronicles books will be joined by several publications by small press publisher Spectral Press. These are mostly short stories/novellas and I'm falling behind on them, so I'll be including them in the random reading pile, and just for the hell of it, there will be one book from my main to be read pile, probably one of my favourite authors in the first instance Robin Hobb, and the odd graphic novel...

I'll publish the full list of books to be read here just before I start and if anyone has slipped under the Chronicles radar and wants to add their own to it just let me know.

There is little more to say other than I'm really looking forward to this...

 

[Perpetual Man]

Actually just looking at this and I realised that I had the title wrong, it should be 2013 not 2012, so if there are any Mods looking at this is it possible to change it?

Chalk it up to the idiot Perp missing the change of year...

 

[Perpetual Man]

Right I've finished A Memory of Light and put the Wheel of Time to rest, (you can read the review here: A Memory of Light)

And I'm now starting the Chronicles reading list - books written specifically be Chrons members, whether traditionally or self published. The following list makes up the list. If I have missed anyone who wants a book added please let me know. But everyone on this list (with the final exceptions) is or has been an active member of Chrons:

In no order:
Urbis Morpheos by Stephen Palmer
Dragon's Tongue by Laura J Underwood
Brass Man by Neal Asher
The War Gate by Chris Stevenson
Undercurrents by Thomas S Grimes
Bane of Souls Thaddeus White
The Hidden Stars by Madeline Howard (Teresa Edgerton)
The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Imperial Assassin by Mark Robson
The Noise Within by Ian Whates
Echoes of War by Steven Poore
The Source by William G. Gee
City of Masks by Mary Hoffman
Simon and the Wardrobe of Destiny by Ellis Jackson
Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost
The Empress Graves by E J Tett

In addition to these there will be one book added from my regular reading pile, just so I feel I'm not neglecting it (!). In this instance it will be Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb

And I will be adding books/novella/Chapbooks from smallpress publisher Spectral Press, who have been mentioned on Chrons, and I'm way behind with the reading.
First up from here will be What Get's left Behind by Mark West.

In the case of my regular book pile and Spectral press, once a book has been chosen another will be added.

The way it is going to work is when I finish one book I will randomly choose another (the use of neglected Roleplaying die will be the agent of choice)

And when I finish each book I will be posting a review on Goodreads and here (and possibly other places). As with my challenge reviews I will be looking at positives, but the reviews will be fair.

 

[Perpetual Man]

First up is Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost

 

[Perpetual Man]

First one finished and what an enjoyable read: **** (out of five):

Where do you begin to review a book like this? It's so much more than it appears!

On the most basic level it is a rip-roaring Science Fiction adventure that set a small crew on a rather small space ship against invading alien armies and evil human factions. But as I say that is the most basic level.

Not that I am overly familiar with the genre, but I would add the term steampunk to the mix. The descriptions of the workings of the spaceship give me that old world feel, and the whole thing, despite being set in the 26th Century seems to have an early Victorian feel.

But perhaps the most important thing, the most obvious thing about Space Captain Smith is that it is funny. In fact, not just funny but FUNNY. This is a book that knows what it wants to do and does not hold back. It hits you around the jowls with a laughing stick and does not let up until you finish. It's not something you read for a few pages and wait for the next laugh to come, the next laugh is backing into the one before, causing a pile-up of humour that is an unexpected delight.

And it is not just one type of humour, I cannot even quantify the different types used, but it ranges from subtle sly comments that make you nod knowingly, a subtle wink, followed by a comment that can only lead to a belly laugh. There are smutty references, innuendos, in your face, subtle, satire, pastiche - there is a running plot lifted from Blade Runner that could be called a highlight of the book, only the whole novel is a highlight.

This future where Earth has spread into space, diversified into different sub-types of humanity is reminiscent of Gordon R Dickson's Dorsai novels; but taken in different directions. Whatever wars and events have happened that have caused this seem to have either reset the British back to the time of Empire, or an alternative reality where it never fell. Whatever it might be it is a minefield for nonstop laughs.

And don't even get me started on the Aliens the Ghast - just another brilliant creation that works...

In with all this there is some nice observations too. There is a moment when aliens we see as barbaric discuss humanity and we see things from the opposite angle. It is only a line or two but an eye opener.

I could go on and on about how entertaining Frost's debut is, but the fact that I read it in under a week should be all you need to know - especially when you study my recent reading pace.

Go on, read it. If you need a distraction, if you want a laugh, this one should do it for you.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Next: The War Gate by Chris Stevenson

 

[Perpetual Man]

There is another book to add to the above list in the form of Fade to Black by Francis Knight It's published on 26th February by Orbit

 

[Perpetual Man]

I finished it a few days ago, but illness has kept me from moving on with the reading:

*** (Three stars)

This is a good novel.

But it is a hard one to review. Why? Well at the start of the year I set myself a different challenge with my reading, deciding that every book in my current TO READ pile (with one or two exceptions), were all going to be novels by writers that frequent or frequented a certain site/forum of which I am a member. Now this meant that a lot of the books were going to be traditionally published, but some were going to be self published in the various ways available.

This is the first of the latter.

The story is quite straightforward and I'd even say simple, but trying to describe it is not as easy as it seems. A War Gate is something that can be opened and used by certain individuals, by using portals in our world as access points, they can pass into a kind of warp space, travelling through the medium if interconnecting doors to other places and with practice time. The War Gate though is a particular case that is a means through which justice might be served.

Right our main protagonist Avy is one such individual. She has been brought up by her uncle and aunt after her mother is executed for the death of her husband (Not Avy's father incidentally).

But was her mother guilty? If not who was? Can Avy learn not just about her ability with the gates, but about her own past, restore balance for a great injustice and discover just who the mysterious priest was that in visiting her mother seemed to set all the events in motion?

The story itself works well, it is original and is a mixture of things - partly mystery, partly romance, partly mythological and held together with a nice bit of Science Fantasy. The central idea is strong, the characters work well and are likeable and risible depending on their role in proceedings. The author is no scared to kill off characters and change the status quo, all which is in good standing to the story. One really enjoyable example is when the main characters Avy and Sebastian buy a mass of new furniture for their home only to lose it all when the thing burns down 12 hours later. It makes you think what was the point of all thta buying - but then that is real life. People go ahead and buy things, they've got no idea what is going to happen just around the corner!.

I worked the whodunnit part of the story out about halfway through, but it might have been just one of those blips where a given person just clicks, because it is not that obvious and the character of The Wax Man is worth a mention simply because he is a brilliantly grotesque creation.
So it is a story worth reading, but the actual production of the book - you can tell it is not traditionally published. It could have done with a few more proof readings as there were a number of basic mistakes that I noticed (that being said traditional publishing makes their fair share); and the whole thing felt to me as though it needed a little more polishing.

As it stands the book is a good book, and I'd read more by the same author.

But with a bit more polishing it could have been a great book.

For a first time attempt though it shows promise and talent.

 

[Perpetual Man]

And next:

 

[Perpetual Man]

A run of family related illnesses has cut my reading down to a minimum, and that combined with work getting far too busy has slowed me right down, so apologies to Thaddeus for taking time to get through the book. That might make it look as though I did not enjoy it, but I did, very much (I read most of it in the last five days, so that should tell you a lot!)

**** (Four Stars)



This is another self-published book so it requires a slightly different mindset when it comes to reviewing it.


Right, firstly the actual formatting of the book. As this seems to be a genuine issue with self published work it is something that needs addressing with each individual case. Whether it comes down to lack of professional editing or just bad luck. In this instance Bane of Souls is remarkable well put together. It works nicely in the Kindle format and is easy to read. I noticed a few grammatical errors and the like in the first chapter, but after that they seemed to vanish – whether this is down to me being so grabbed by the story that I just flew by them or they actually disappeared I do not know.


The story: The town of Highford suffers a string of nasty murders, including some of it's most important or powerful members. But when it becomes apparent who or what is responsible, the stakes are raised and the question seems to be whether the town can survive.


This book thoroughly entertained me, it was well written, with a good story idea and a lot of interesting characters. The main thrust of the story was a gripping one and once I found the time to read I flew through it. If there is as a problem it is in the fact that the author intoroduces too many plot strands, and in order to serve them well the book could have been a little longer.


That being said the world is incredibly well constructed. By keeping it confined to one city White is able to give us a good feel of the town, but because of the mix of other nationals present, we also get a good feel for the wider and country, and indeed the world beyond.


There is a system of magic in place and White uses it wisely, if slightly differently. His is a feel of a world where magic is extremely powerful, with hints that it could be nigh on unstoppable if used against normal folks, but the way in which it isn't is understated and believable. One of the biggest reasons being that the mages are just too human.


White is very brave with his characters, prepared to kill even the seemingly most central ones with a casual disregard which is both shocking and upsetting – a testament to his creativity.


The story seems to have ended on a number of occasions only to pick up and continue again, and when this happens you feel that he might just be trying to keep the story going for the hell of it, but as it unfolds it feels logical and natural, so it works.


As a read it is fast paced, fun and entertaining. What more could you want?

 

[Perpetual Man]

It seems as though the self publishing side of The Chrons is coming to the fore at the moment, even though they are outnumbered by the mainstream, it is those that are coming up with the random selection process. As such next up is:

 

[Perpetual Man]

My reading still seems to be on the slow at the moment, but I am still going....

*** (Three Stars)

The third book I have read that is self published and it should be noted that this one is probably the most polished and well edited of the lot. It is a Science Fiction tale that deals with a future that sees the Earth having being left behind, mankind has taken to the stars, and various Empire's and differing planetary systems have brought different societies into existence.

But there is something going on, pirates seem to becoming braver and more aggressive but just who they are and where they are from is one of the biggest question, only followed by can they stopped?

The book is exceptionally well written, with a wealth of futuristic technologies and worlds on display. It is perhaps one of the best things about the book that Poore does not dwell too much on the details of these things, he gives you what you need to know without dragging down without the nitty-gritty.

This adds to the feeling of reading a bigger book because by the time you get to the end you think there is so much there, more than could have been squeezed into it.

I did not find myself connecting with any of the characters, so the feel of them being under threat was diminished, but that could have been just me.

So, with that being said, the book got better as it went on and all the different factions began to settle down in my head.

The rating reflects that this type of novel is not my normal preference, so in many ways it was not going to appeal to me on the larger scale. That being said, the last few pages really drew me in and by the end I did actually want to know more. (Not to mention the fact that upon reflection I started to recognise more and more brilliant ideas within the text.) With that said I'd consider reading more once my current reading experiment is at an end!

 

[chopper]

well thank ee very muchly Perp! i'm honoured! no, seriously, that's the best compliment i think i could receive. (& reminds me: ED4 is still stuck in orbit somewhere... once HKV is finally out of the way, i think i'll be making a concerted effort to carry on the Dance.)

 

[Perpetual Man]

It seems that against all the odds that despite the fact there are a majority of traditionally published books it seems the self published ones keep coming up, so next I have The Source Book 1 by William G Gee

 

[Perpetual Man]

well thank ee very muchly Perp! i'm honoured! no, seriously, that's the best compliment i think i could receive. (& reminds me: ED4 is still stuck in orbit somewhere... once HKV is finally out of the way, i think i'll be making a concerted effort to carry on the Dance.)

That's good, because I feel it is something that is well worth reading. In addition to the reviews I'll probably have a few things to say about what I have read at the end (All nice) but I'm sure you will be pleased!

 

[Perpetual Man]

I'll state the following here and in the other thread, just to make sure it is out there:

The reviews are going to stop appearing in the main forum section of the Chrons and should, all being well start appearing on the front page.

I will however be posting here what book is up next, and I will provide links to the reviews as they become available.

I hope that makes sense.

Any comments on the reviews may be made there or here.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I've just finished reading The Source by William G. Gee (Billhafan)

The review should be up soon, next up:

The King of Thorns
by Mark Lawrence

 

[Perpetual Man]

And the link to the review of The Source is:

The Source

 

[Perpetual Man]

Finished King of Thorns, which I really enjoyed, review should be here soon.

Next (Chosen at random as always):

 

[Perpetual Man]

And thanks to Brian, the review is now up:

King of Thorns