The first published book in The Culture series was also my first read in the Culture Series.  It did not disappoint.  I loved the backdrop of war between these two super civilizations. I really enjoyed how our protagonist, Horza, was not particularly fond of either civilization but fought with the Idirans. In his great exchange with Balveda at the beginning of the book Horza explains that despite all the civilizations the Idirans have either throttled or destroyed because of their religion he is fighting for them because “they are on the side of life… boring, old-fashioned, biological life; small, fallible and short-sighted, God knows, but REAL life.” He described the Culture as “an evolutionary dead end”.

At once we see Banks anticipating the hostility that a reader could feel for a civilization run by machines…one where people are happy, they live great lives, there is no crime, no poverty, everyone is safe, but that is run by machines. I could easily emphasize with that viewpoint and yet it is easy to hate the Idirans. The story then is almost morally ambiguous at times, which is an interesting entry point for the Culture series. I thought this was a perfect way to introduce the idea of the culture to the reader.

Consider Phelbas had its flaws.  Some scenes dragged and the resolution wasn’t particularly satisfying (which was kind of the point).  However, at its core this novel was just plain fun. The escape flight through the Giant Orbital was one of the most exciting, well written sequences I have ever read in science fiction. Just brilliant visuals. I could see it in my mind like it was on the big screen.  This is a perfect entrance into the work of my all-time favorite author, in an all-time great series. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

The second book, in a trilogy we’ve been waiting to conclude for going on two decades.  Rothfuss takes his time, but when he writes he delivers. There are some clear faults in The Wise Man’s Fear, but the writing is so wonderful, and the characters so brilliantly realized that it is easy to look past them.

The biggest fault is that 2/3rds of the way through The Kingkiller Chronicles there is still no indication of the overall plot.  At best, we get the impression the story is about the rise and demise of a hero who became a legend at a very young age. Most of his “heroic” feats happen in a series of seemingly random events. Kvothe (our hero) moves throughout Rothfuss’s world from University, to the house of a major political power, to the woods, and to the school of a group of warrior people. His adventures are always interesting, and the characters/places are well realized. The 950+ pages move at an incredibly quick pace.

Yet, we still leave with a general lack of understanding of where the story is exactly heading. Oh, we know where will be ultimately get, but the overall direction of the story and how Kvothe’s actions affect the larger world are still largely a mystery despite being 2 books into a 3 book series. I think The Wise Man’s Fear is every bit as good as The Name of the Wind at least in terms of how easily it reads, the characters it builds and the world he creates. That said the faults of The Name of the Wind become more glaring in this story largely because it seems we are running out of time. Despite its faults I continue to be a big fan of the series. I know it will likely be a few years before the series concludes but I will be first in line to get the book when it happens. And really that is a good sign for an excellent book.

See…more Scalzi…and this time the highest ranking Scalzi novel on my list.  This was probably the most unique book Scalzi has put out.  It was initially serialized and is really 13 short stories in the Old Man’s War universe that tell a reasonably coherent story.  I didn’t expect that much, despite enjoying everything I’ve read from Scalzi. 

I was wrong.  This was great.  Harry Wilson is probably my favorite character in the Old Man’s War universe, and he really gets to shine.  I also particularly appreciated the complicated moral dynamics of the Colonial Union, the Conclave and alien relations in the universe.  Scalzi really developed the entire dynamics of his universe in a compelling way, taking the series far beyond the entertaining military science fiction this series began as. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

The Scar is more accessible and easier to get into from the beginning than Miéville’s Perdido Street Station. Once again Miéville delivers a book full of vivid, descriptive, and engaging pros. He shows us several more creative races and creatures. The Cray, the Grindylow, the Anophelii are all fascinating in their own way. The idea of possibility mining and the ridiculously awesome Uther Doul all added immensely to this story. 

While I really enjoyed The Scar, I still think Perdido is a more unique, superior work for a number of reasons. For one, I think the tension was not as earned here as it was in Perdido. In Perdido, you understood the threat…it was freaky…it was fascinating.  In the Scar you never really got a sense of what the tension was about. The battles were cool, the idea of the Scar itself was great, but it never resonated at the same level with me.

I also did not find the city of Armada as engaging as New Crobuzon (which is an impossible standard because I have yet to find a city in fantasy/science fiction that is) and there certainly was no entity to match The Weaver.  The Scar is a fabulous novel and worthy successor to Perdido Street Station. However, for me Perdido Street Station is still Miéville’s best work. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

This is my second favorite book in the Red Rising Saga (and the most recent one, so much of this review deals with references to characters you’ll only know from reading the prior novels).  It’s probably because while I enjoy nearly all of Brown’s characters to varying degrees, Mustang is the one I look forward to the most. She’s not even a huge part of this novel, but when she is on the page, she is great.

There is some early Darrow/Lysander stuff that felt like you were just thrown into a ton of action sequences (that are really fun, but I was waiting to see where we were heading). Once we joined with the other characters things really started to work for me. The great thing about this series is that it is relentless.  The plot never slows down, something new is always happening.  Sometimes early I wanted a little more time to breathe, but as the story started to really form, the breakneck pace just makes you want to keep going. Few books have that kind of momentum. The only real disappointment is waiting for the next one.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

For me, this is the first of two big leaps that get us into what I view as the truly elite Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels on my list.  Gardens of the Moon was a great start to Malazan Book of the Fallen and threw readers into the series with no handholding, forcing readers to trust Erikson to get them somewhere special.  It was entertaining and a worthy start but didn’t make my top 100.  Deadhouse Gates is where Erikson’s greatness starts to become undeniable.   

It’s a sequel, but it could be frustrating in that he leaves the continent and most of the characters of Gardens of the Moon behind.  Instead, he takes us to an entirely new setting, with seven cities on the brink of war, awaiting a prophesized uprising called “The Whirlwind”.  Against this backdrop, a great military leader must lead a group of refugees across the continent, protecting them the entire way.  This group, known as the Chain of Dogs, and their journey create one of the most unique stories in fantasy literature.  I can’t say enough about this novel and from here on this series continues to leap off the page in new and exciting ways. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

Speaking of Fellowship, the opening Lord of the Rings novel comes in just above the concluding one.  This is a quintessential start the journey/quest novel that for decades nearly every fantasy novel tried to emulate.  I love the symmetry with The Hobbit, starting with a party (this time an expected one).  Almost immediately, we know this will be much different than The Hobbit.  The tone much more serious, the stakes much higher. 

The journey parts of these quest fantasies are usually my least favorite, but Tolkein handles it deftly, though with some digressions I could do without (I’m talking about you Tom Bombadil).  And once we enter the Mines of Moria the novel takes off to an incredible conclusion that had me needing to immediately start The Two Towers (which you probably guessed by now is my favorite of the trilogy).  

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

The conclusion to Tolkein’s epic trilogy that is the foundation of modern fantasy, The Return of the King brings all the plot threads to an epic conclusion.  The corrupting power of the ring looms over the entire story as Frodo tries to finish his quest.  To do so he gets the help of his companions who draw attention away from Mt. Doom and Sam who remains by his side throughout.  The payoff with Gollum is perfect and there is plenty of great action the reader gets to enjoy.  I have this third among the LotR novels mainly because the Scouring of the Shire feels like a separate novella, creating a second climax that is unnecessary.  Though I like much of the book more than Fellowship which started a bit slower. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

This was the first fantasy novel I read after finishing Erikson’s Malazan series and it was a really nice change of pace from the sheer size and scope of the Malazan. There is a lot in this novel that is formulaic (person finds out about special abilities, is uniquely good at them, has to save the day) but it’s just so done well and so damn interesting that the familiar tropes don’t matter. Sanderson outlines a complex but well thought out system of magic that the reader picks up fairly easily.

The characters are well developed, and the story comes together perfectly, with plenty of surprises along the way. The book is self-contained, but hints at bigger things to come.  I appreciated the unique twists on the typical hero’s journey trope Sanderson managed to throw into this story.  It’s the first Mistborn novel and for me it’s still the best.