Seveneves

by Neal Stephenson

Hardback Edition, 880 pages

Originally published 2015

“Earth looked as if some god had attacked it with a welder’s torch, slashing away at it and leaving thin trails of incandescence…”

I do enjoy a good end of the world story especially when there’s no Bruce Willis or Ben Affleck to swoop in and save the day as our planet is well and truly screwed! After the moon blows apart a science genius announces that earth has two years before a hellfire storm, which becomes known as the Hard Rain, will turn our home world into an uninhabitable world of desolation. During the final two years of our existence the world governments join forces and launch into space as many habitable ships full of resources and clever folk as the remaining time permits. As a synopsis it sounds awesome but sadly there are only mere glimpses of greatness.

Parts 1 and 2 cover the two year preparation before the mass extinction and it isn’t what I expected or wanted from an apocalypse book. Rather than focus on the reaction of civilisation the majority of the story is set on the space station that will inevitably become the new home of the few lucky survivors. There’s no insightful prose into the emotional side of the apocalypse and how people are coping. There isn’t even any rioting, which is ridiculous. Instead of mayhem we’re subjected to endless pages of science theory and space craft construction, which both go into the most painstaking detail I’ve ever read in a novel. This reads more like a government handbook on what to do if the moon blows up. There is kind of a story but mostly this is shameless self indulgence. Part 2 is way better than part 1 as there’s an actual story that develops but just I was starting to like where it was going part 2 finishes and fast forwards 5000 years. 

It only took 20 pages of part 3 before I was on Wikipedia reading a summary so I didn’t have to read 300 pages of mind numbingly boring descriptions of more sciency stuff and space crafts. Very disappointing.

My score – 1/5

Orb Sceptre Throne (Malazan Novel #4)

by Ian C. Esslemont

Paperback Edition, 850 pages

Originally published 2012

“Did we not look out together upon the dark waters of the lake and behold there the constellations of both hemispheres at once…”

The fourth I.C.E novel written in the Malazan world and i’m a little disappointed especially as i thought he’d found his rhythm with each of the last three books improving in quality. I think the main problem with Orb Sceptre Throne is the setting. After a lengthy stay in Darujhistan in Toll the Hounds we’re back there again. I thought Erikson wrote a satisfactory end to its citizens without the need to check in on them anytime soon but we revisit for another 844 pages.

Whilst exploring an old well a treasure hunter stumbles upon a room with a corpse wearing a gold mask. Even though he should probably walk away he obviously doesn’t and takes the mask. It’s cursed with the soul of an old Darujhistan tyrant who’s now unleashed on the world. The second story follows Bridgeburner legend Antsy as he makes his way to Moons Spawn in search of the infinite riches rumored to be amongst the wreckage. There’s also Kiska and Leoman continuing their search for Tayschrenn on the Shores of Creation and finally the first proper outing for the Seguleh who answer a call to return home. As with most Malazan books there is an inevitable convergence of these story lines. 

The book isn’t bad it just felt like we were covering old ground. What made Return of the Crimson Guard and Stonewielder so good was the exploration of different places but with the exception of the Seguleh, who are a pretty dull culture, there’s nothing new to get excited about. The main story of the Tyrant attempting to take over the continent isn’t that enthralling and the side plots are also substandard compared to previous books. 

I’m confident that Blood and Bone and Assail will be a return to form as they cover new continents but unfortunately Orb Sceptre Throne is only worthy of an average score.

My score – 3/5

Conversation in the Cathedral

by Mario Vargas Llosa

Paperback Edition, 602 pages

Originally published 1969

“He was like Peru, Zavalita was, he’d fucked himself up somewhere along the line. He thinks: when?”

My third book by Mario Vargas Llosa and the history lessons continue. 1950’s Peru is the focus when General Odria led a successful coup against Jose Bustamante installing his oppressive and ridiculously corrupt regime.

Two friends, who’ve lost touch over the years, encounter each other at a dog pound and decide to have a celebratory reunion drink. The first chapter is the start and end of the conversation, which lasts about 20 pages. Everything after this are the memories/flashbacks they discuss during their chat. I can only imagine they’re super-fast talkers as not much time seems to elapse between them entering and exiting the bar and yet we get two whole life stories!

The first point to mention is the writing style as they’ll be 2 or 3 conversations taking place at the same time with each sentence of dialogue alternating between the different conversations. It took me until chapter 4 to realise what was going on. I did get used to the style but it was annoying, especially as it wasn’t necessary and diminished my reading experience. This does change for part two with a more standard one section per character format being used but the craziness is re-introduced later on.

Writing style aside this is a decent novel with all of the emotional distress I’d expect from a story of a country under a Dictators rule. There’s a good spectrum of characters with the powerfully corrupt and the despairingly poor clashing with each other. Most of all this is a slice of real life during a troubling period of Peru’s history and how lives are shaped by governments.

Conversation in the Cathedral isn’t as impressive as The Feast of the Goat or War of the End of the World. At times it was addictive but for every extended period of brilliance there was a 30 page interval of annoyance, usually at the writing style but at times the story becomes scattered and confusing. If I was to read this again my rating would probably be higher as a second go would be more rewarding and the whole story would make more sense. But until that happens it’s a lower score than i anticipated.

My score – 3/5

Forge of Darkness (The Kharkanas Trilogy #1)

by Steven Erikson

Hardback Edition, 662 pages

Originally published 2012

“There will be peace…”

Despite my love of the Malazan Book of the Fallen it’s taken longer than I anticipated to get around to the Kharkanas prequel trilogy mainly because I discovered the Wheel of Time and have been reading the Ian C Esslemont related series. Although ICE’s series of books are brilliant, he’s still second fiddle to the king of complex fantasy Steven Erikson.

There was a little less enthusiasm for Forge of Darkness because I was expecting an Anomander Rake lovefest and although he’s a great character I fear a full book dedicated to the great man may have lessened his impact. This wasn’t even close to the truth as Rake barely appears and isn’t the centre of attention.

The book takes place in Kurald Galain just after the Tiste race’s victory over the Jheleck, who sound like a variation of K’Chain Che’Malle. Mother Dark sits on the Throne of Night and is cavorting with Draconus, which is proving to be an unpopular choice among the rest of the highborns. Legend of war Vatha Urusander is the preferred choice to court Mother Dark but he’s holed up in his castle slightly bitter that it’s peace time and his Legion (army) is surplus to requirements. His most loyal captains are also annoyed at the lack of action so they take it upon themselves to start a civil war. There’s also a couple of the usual ‘side quests’ you’d expect from an Erikson book.

A great many themes are tackled in Forge of Darkness including religion, genocide, class war and communism. It is heavy on philosophy and could be classed as self indulgent but Eriksons writing is so genius it doesn’t feel that way. Everything he writes is relevant to the story.

It’s slow going but it’s book 1 of the trilogy so it’s expected. Over half the book is story building and seed planting and when the meat of the story does start there still isn’t a lot happening. I can only imagine this is an intro and Fall of Light is where the real action is at. Despite the pace it’s brilliant and is as good as any of the main Malazan books. My final score was never in doubt.

My score – 5/5

The Priory of the Orange Tree

by Samantha Shannon

Hardback Edition, 830 pages

Originally published 2019

“The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey…”

Priory of the Orange Tree is plastered all over Goodreads and seems to have been heralded as the next big thing in fantasy. It’s been given the ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ label and although I should know better and stay away from anything tagged with “deserves to be as big as Game of Thrones” sometimes I’m just a sucker for hype.

In a world with tension between East and West there is also dragons. In the West Queen Sabran believes her bloodline is keeping the mother of all Dragons from returning and if she should die without giving birth to a heir then The Nameless One will rise again. In the East the greatest honour is to become a Dragonrider, protecting the realm from pirates and any other threats. They have a different opinion of what’s keeping the Nameless One from arising.

For a while this is a decent story mainly dealing with the issue of faith and lengths rulers will go to to keep their people afraid. There’s plenty of shifty politics and backstabbing, which intrigued me enough to burn through the first half of the book but the more I read the more the books flaws were exposed.

My first issue is the amount of characters and history. There’s probably more characters in this one book than in the first four Wheel of Time books, which is crazy for a single release. It’s just too tightly packed with barely anyone given ample opportunity to develop to a point where I cared. This is most prominent with the antagonists.

There’s also endless tales of the past dumped into the story so rather than developing and building momentum the plot seems to conveniently fit together. None more ridiculous than the long lost legendary sword. It’s been missing for a thousand years and then someone remembers where it might be and miraculously it’s there. It seemed a bit dumb.

My second issue is the lack of threat from the evil dragons. Although the Nameless Ones minions are stirring from their slumber they barely show up and cause trouble. There’s a great deal of preparation for their arrival but you never truly believe there’s a threat. It’s not like the Dark One from Wheel of Time who you genuinely believe will cause bloody murder when he awakes. It was just all very tame.

Lastly is the Game of Thrones references. They are worlds apart bordering on an insult toward the brilliant complex story GRRM created. I’d class Priory of the Orange Tree as young adult. Needless to say I’m disappointed.

My score – 1/5

Stonewielder (Malazan Novel #3)

by Ian C. Esslemont

Paperback Edition, 912 pages

Originally published 2010

“When you do not recognize the wrongs of the past, the future takes its revenge. -Author forgotten”

Night of Knives was poor but Return of the Crimson Guard was a vast improvement whilst still lacking in a few areas. Stonewielder, the third addition in Ian C Esslemont’s series of Malazan books, is a much more complete package than its two predecessors.

Set on the much referred to continent of Korel or Lands of the Fist as seems to be the proper title, the book continues storylines left unresolved in Return of the Crimson Guard whilst also setting up a new plot centred on the Stormwall and the imminent arrival of the demonesque Stormriders. From book two there is ex-Crimson Guard Kyle and disgraced ex-Malazan commander Greymane both trying to find a new purpose after the fallout of the Battle of the Plains. Fortunately the wait isn’t too long as they find themselves headed for Korel where destiny awaits. Kiska also returns and journeys into the Shadow Realm to find the disappeared mage Tayschrenn.

The main plot, where the inevitable convergence takes place, is in and around the legendary Stormwall; first and last proper line of defence against the Stormriders who season after season attack Korel in an attempt to reclaim the land from the Lady’s grasp. The Lady being the Goddess the people of Korel worship.

The Malazan world is my favourite fantasy creation. I just love how the whole thing is set up. From the deities to the magic system and the epic characters to the different continents it all just clicks together so well. I can forgive I.C.E for Night of Knives because it was the first release and even Gardens of the Moon was a little ragged round the edges. Thankfully he found his footing with Crimson Guard, which I consider a proper Malazan book, and now there is Stonewielder which announces its brilliance from Page 1 and doesn’t stop its literary masterclass until the last words of the epilogue. To explore the places and names only referred to in Erikson’s series is awesome and if you want to talk about shared ‘Cinematic Universes’ in books then the Malazan world is the answer.

My score – 5/5

The Constant Gardener

by John Le Carre

Hardback Edition, 508 pages

Originally published 2001

“I’m an Oswald man, Justin. Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F Kennedy. Nobody helped him do it. There comes a moment after all the fantasising when we’re reduced to accepting the obvious… “

Like most John Le Carre film adaptions I’ve seen, the Constant Gardener is a good one. In fact i don’t believe I’ve experienced a bad Ralph Fiennes or Rachel Weisz film so congrats on the casting choices.

The plot isn’t the usual cold war/international spy story like his novels of the past. The Constant Gardener is set in Kenya and follows the fall out of the murder of Tessa Quayle, the activist wife of British Diplomat, Justin Quayle. What initially appears to be a thoughtless murder soon turns into a conspiracy involving the shady dealings of a Big Pharma Corporation and corrupt Government officials. The story is told lineally but there are flash backs of Tessa before she was killed.

The research effort for this book was clearly extensive and comes through brilliantly in the writing. I’d never considered Kenya or corrupt pharmaceutical deals before but this was an eye opener and in his afterword John Le Carre describes the events in the book as childs play compared to some of the findings of his research. I will definitely be exploring this subject further.

The main focus is Justin’s investigation into Tessa’s death as he isn’t willing to accept the official government version. He acquaints himself with Tessa’s research and contacts and digs up some skulduggery that reaches beyond Kenya and England. For the majority the story is a page turner as the more Justin uncovers the more intriguing it becomes and bizarrely enough it was only toward the end when it starts to become clear what really happened that i began to lose interest. The ending is a mix of uncovering the truth and some random ‘waffle’, which he could have left out. I also didn’t get enough emotional loss out of Justin. When he’s talking about his grief to other characters i didn’t really believe him. Other than these two minor gripes it’s a good book and i’ll certainly be reading his other non-cold war novels.

My score is 3.5/5

The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time #4)

by Robert Jordan

Paperback Edition, 1031 pages

Originally published 1992

“Begone from among the living, and do not haunt us with memories of what is lost. Speak not of what the dead see…”

At 393,000 words this is the biggest chapter in the grandiosely epic Wheel of Time. I consider books 1-3 an introduction into the fantasy world Robert Jordan created. The history of the world and its environs are slowly revealed to the reader to increase the familiarity of the various cultures, feuds, politics and who’s sided with who. Everybody is searching for purpose and spends the majority of the first three parts running toward something but ultimately aren’t sure where it lies. In The Shadow Rising, the story begins to settle with the main characters split into three groups each headed for their own destiny.

Rand, Mat and Egwene head for the Aiel waste and the mythical city of Rhuidean to further explore the prophecies of the Dragon Reborn. Perrin returns to the Two Rivers to intervene in the invasion of both the Whitecloaks and Trollocs and Nynaeve and Elayne pursue the Black Ajah all the way to Tanchico.

There isn’t a great deal to say that i haven’t already written about in the three previous reviews. The story is gaining in depth and complexity and the three main protagonists continue to develop. I’m particularly liking Rand as he isn’t the sniveling ‘Chosen One’ i was expecting and is a genuine badass. Perrin is also given a good chunk of the book to do his own thing without being overshadowed by Lan or Morraine.

This felt like the biggest chapter and seemed to take an age to finish. It is too long and surely could have been reduced during the editing process and I’m thankful the proceeding books aren’t as lengthy but ultimately it was worth the hours I put in, especially as it ended on a bit of cliff hanger and made me want to read The Fires of Heaven straight away but I restrained myself; to fully appreciate these books i believe a sizable break is required in between.

My score = 4/5

Norwegian Wood

by Haruki Murakami

Paperback Edition, 389 pages

Originally published 1987

“Writing from memory like this, i often feel a pang of dread. What if I’ve forgotten the most important thing? What if somewhere inside me there is a dark limbo where all the truly important memories are heaped and slowly turning into mud…“

The narrator is a bit of a loner, who philosophises on life, death and love and during our time with him meets an array of odd characters. It’s a familiar tale in the fictional world of Murakami.

Toru is aboard a plane when he hears ‘Norwegian Wood’ by The Beatles, which stirs up memories of his 19 year old self when he was a student at University and involved with two girls at different ends of the personality spectrum. There is Naoko, who has been slowly losing her mind since the suicide of her long term boyfriend, who also happened to be Toru’s best friend. She is finding life a depressing affair and spends the majority of the book in an institution. Her complete opposite is Midori, who is overly enthusiastic about everything bordering on maniacal. Toru meets her whilst out on his own and the two strike up a bizarre friendship.

Unlike other books I’ve read by Marakami, Norwegian Wood is straight forward fiction with no elements of fantasy or the supernatural. ‘Kafka on the Shore’ and ‘Killing Commendator’ were marred by weirdness so a normal ‘slice of life’ story was a blessed relief. The main plot is the love triangle between Toru, Naoko and Midori but it is somewhat unconventional. Toru is unable to see Naoko because she had herself committed and Midori’s appearances are sparse depending on her mood, which means Toru spends a lot of time on his own, reflecting on the suicide of his friend, life and death in general and any other subject that causes sadness.

There were times when i felt i could read 100 plus pages in one sitting, which reflects how good Murakami can be. His writing is so interesting and philosophical and unlike any author I’ve read but what let this novel down was the sheer amount of graphic sex. Even though Toru is a bit of a downbeat loner he’s certainly a hit with the ladies and barely has time to put his manhood away before someone else is stroking it. I’ve come to expect sex in Murakami’s books but some of the scenes in Norwegian Wood are borderline ridiculous and after a while i was sick of reading about ‘semen’, ‘breasts’ and how ‘wet she was’. It become a bore.

Norwegian Wood is a good book but due to the sex, most of it unnecessary, i can’t go above 3 stars.

My score is 3/5

The Ten Thousand

by Paul Kearney

Paperback Edition, 465 pages

Originally published 2008

“By the sea, Rictus had been born, and it was by the sea that he would die…“

I’ve toyed with reading this before but was never fully committed until recently when i read a 10/10 review on a fantasy fiction website.

Based on a real campaign way back when just after the dinosaurs died out, The Ten Thousand is a retelling of when Cyrus the Younger attempted a coup on his brother who ruled the Persian Empire in 401BC. In the book Brother ‘A’ hires a mercenary army from across the sea to aid in his attempt to overthrow his King brother. Brother ‘B’ learns of the impending attack and takes his even bigger army to meet them half way. What follows is a brutal, bloody and dirty war. The Macht mercenaries could give Gerard Butler and his 300 a run for their money as they carve up the opposition as if they were Star Wars droids.

There is very little depth to the story. The hiring of the Macht and the invasion all happen within the first hundred-odd pages with little regard for character development, emotional interest, world building and no back story of the two brothers. I understand one wants to overthrow the other to reign supreme but a bit of family history would have been nice. So instead of a deep, intriguing plot the book is full of battles, rape and manly banter which becomes repetitive. I found The Ten Thousand a tedious read, which struggled to hold my interest. I won’t be bothering with the other two books in the series.

My score is 1.5/5