Something Completely Different

Cholla skeleton, SE Arizona

Review: The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley

The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) is a significant departure from the epic fantasy trilogy that brought Ruckley to the attention of fantasy fans. Set in 1828 Edinburgh, a historic detective tale morphs into something darker and more sinister as Ruckley brings 19^th Century Edinburgh alive in his best work to date.

Adam Quire is a war-hardened veteran and an officer for the newly-formed Edinburgh police. A particularly gruesome death doesn’t add up and Quire’s investigation leads him into puzzling and dangerous ground that points to the pillars of Edinburgh society. And then it gets personal and Quire releases the talent he keeps at bay – a talent for survival and extreme violence.

The Edinburgh Dead is the first book by Ruckley that I’ve read since his debut Winterbirth (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound). I found Winterbirth to be on the mediocre side and haven’t been inspired to finish the trilogy (though I do plan to eventually). In The Edinburgh Dead I immediately noticed that Ruckley’s writing has improved significantly. His descriptions are powerful and set the mood well – early 19^th Century Edinburgh comes alive through his words. We see the intellectual powerhouse that Edinburgh has become – we also see the dark underpinnings that props up that distinction. There is privilege and there is everyone else. Lives are hard and dangerous – and there is the ever present need for more bodies to dissect on the cities medical stages.

The Edinburgh Dead is a true blend of many genres into one coherent and very well told story. It’s historic fiction, it’s a hardboiled mystery bordering on noir, it’s gothic horror, and it’s an urban fantasy supernatural thriller. Often when such cross-over happens, one still dominates or the combination doesn’t quite fit as well as it should – with The Edinburgh Dead it’s seamless – a natural blend.

The real strength of The Edinburgh Dead is the setting and the way in which Ruckley draws the reader into the dark and dangerous streets of Old Town. Edinburgh comes to life through the broken, beaten and resourceful Quire, a sinister life beneath the glamour of enlightenment. The relatively slow and steady pace continually builds towards the end – a perfect balance that resists the urge to rush. The only real fault is that Ruckley at time over-indulges with his descriptions, particularly in the latter half of the book where the mood has already been set.

The Edinburgh Dead is told mostly from the point of view of Quire and his personality dominates the book. This both good and bad – Quire is a powerful personality and vividly reflective of Ruckley’s 19^th Century Edinburgh, however there are a few minor characters who could have been brought out more. If the book had been told entirely from Quire’s point of view, this flaw would have been less noticeable, but increasingly as the novel moves forward we see bits and pieces from other points of view to fill in the blanks of the evolving mystery.

All in all The Edinburgh Dead was refreshing change of pace from Ruckley and a very good historical gothic mystery horror urban supernatural thriller. I hope that Ruckley continues in this direction with more surprises to come.

Something Completely Different + an Update

I know that anyone who still bothers to read this blog (and thank you for doing so loyal readers) another update on how real content is slow in coming is not what you want to read - but the sad truth is that this is the new normal for me. For the foreseeable future I simply won't have the time to read and write reviews at the same pace as I have in the past. I suspect that it'll be just one or two a month. Once I get closer to an equilibrium I'll hopefully fill in the space with a few more interesting  posts, but that's still a work in progress.

I've actually got a draft (that still needs quite a bit of work) review for The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound), so hopefully that will go up in the next couple of days. I've also got a review of The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) partially written in my head, though I'll hold back on that one until the end of the month. And I'm hoping for a nice bit of good, high-profile content along the way, but I'll wait a bit before saying any details.

Anyway, on to something completely different - and in honor of my forthcoming review of The Edinburgh Dead I figured this is appropriate.

View of New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland

Winner of The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham

With the help of Random.org, I picked a winner for my extra copy of The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound). The winner is:

Zoe from Carterton, UK

Congrats Zoe!

Giveaway: The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham

Sometimes when a publisher sends me books they never arrive – and sometimes when a publisher sends me books I get double. Thanks to the latter, I have an extra copy of The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound). This book finishes up the Acacia Trilogy in great fashion (read my full review) and I highly recommend this largely underrated series (my reviews of book 1 and book 2).

With the first two books in the Acacia Trilogy, Acacia and The Other Lands, David Anthony Durham has created a vast and engrossing canvas of a world in turmoil, where the surviving children of a royal dynasty are on a quest to realize their fates—and perhaps right ancient wrongs once and for all. As The Sacred Band begins, one of them, Queen Corinn, bestrides the world as a result of her mastery of spells found in the ancient Book of Elenet. Her younger brother, Dariel, has been sent on a perilous mis­sion to the Other Lands, while her sister, Mena, travels to the far north to confront an invasion of the feared race of the Auldek. Their separate trajectories will converge in a series of world-shaping, earth-shattering battles, all ren­dered with vividly imagined detail and in heroic scale.

David Anthony Durham concludes his tale of kingdoms in collision in an exciting fashion. His fictional world is at once realistic and fantastic, informed with an eloquent and dis­tinctively Shakespearean sensibility. (Read Chapter 1)

So, the giveaway is simple. Just send an email to nethspace ‘at’ gmail ‘dot’ com. Remove and replace the ‘at’ and ‘dot’ with the appropriate symbols or use the email link in the sidebar. Use the subject of ‘SACRED’. Include you're name and mailing address. The deadline is Friday, October 7^th. Only one entry please and this is open to all. Good luck!

Books Received: September 17 - 27

Books Received: September 17 - 27, 2011

A Room With a View, an Update and a Bonus

Well, I'm back from Alaska and an very fun but very exhausting conference. I did actually see some Alaska, but mostly I was confined to a hotel in Anchorage. The red-eye back almost killed me (it didn't leave until about 2am). I did do some reading, but not much. I finished up The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound), which I really enjoyed. I'll probably start up The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) next, though I still haven't decided for sure. So hopefully I'll get some nice content up soon - and stay tuned, I think I've decided to do a giveaway with a book or two that I've received multiple copies of.

So, here is the view from my room in Anchorage, Alaska.

And for a bonus (not really), here is my view from a hotel room in Green Valley, Arizona from a trip just before the Alaska trip.

Books Received: September 2 - 16

Books Received: September 2 - 16, 2011

PHD the Movie

I know I pretty well keep this a to book-focused blog, but then it is my blog and I do post about whatever interests me at the time. So, I'm excited that PHD (Piled High & Deeper), the popular webcomic about life graduate school, is going to be a full-length movie starring a few grad students from Caltec. Back when the comic first started I read it every day because I was essentially married to Celia (at least my wife repeated told me that she was Celia). Thankfully she graduated, finished up the post-doc, and has moved on to a non-academic research institution. And since that move I've stopped keeping up with the comic - but it remains a very insightful (and hilarious) view of the trials of graduate school. Anyway, the trailer is below and more info is available here and  here.

PHD Movie Trailer from PHD Comics on Vimeo.

Something Completely Different

Well, on Sunday I leave for Alaska, so don't expect any real content next week (perhaps a room with a view post, but probably not much more than that). So, in honor of my northern excursion...

Sponge, Bonaire, Netherland Antilles



Review: The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham

The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) is the third and final book of the Acacia Trilogy. Durham’s ambitious trilogy takes the largely conservative genre of epic fantasy in a new direction of rather progressive thought and action and builds things up to a very fitting and satisfying conclusion.

As always with the third book in a series, any sort of description of plot is difficult as it would spoil any events in the earlier books and feel largely out of context to those not familiar with the books. So, I’ll just say that events in the second book are continued forward, destinies are realized, battles fought, mistakes atoned for, and poetic justice found as Durham neatly ends the trilogy.

Ultimately epic fantasy is traditionally a conservative genre, in spite of the recent trends to spice up the genre with grit and subversion. Generally, monarchies or other essentially authoritarian governments rule and even the good guys fight for such institutions. Good and evil is typically laid out in recognizable form (in spite of the shades of gray so often used). But I feel what makes epic fantasy most conservative is that it is typically infused with some form of nostalgia that looks backward in time rather than forward. It’s that nostalgic, backward look that brings the comfort to so many readers that generally seeking an entertaining escape. And I’m not condemning that, as it’s more or less the same goal I have in my own reading.

Durham blends his form of epic fantasy with the nostalgic backward look but infuses the societies of his world with our own world’s current and past issues in a much more realistic and applicable form than seen in typical epic fantasy. Nationalism, racism, drug addiction, slavery, corrupt government, outside interests controlling government affairs, the rich and elite immune to the troubles of the common person, etc. In Durham’s world the Acacia Kingdom (though really it’s more of an empire) rules by addicting its population to drugs to keep it pacified as children are sold into distant slavery. This leads its leaders into various ways of dealing with their guilt – drug addiction of their own, inspired yet unrealistic idealism, or corrupt certainty that they are only doing bad things because it’s what’s best for the people whether they know it or not.

The battles fought contain the full range of human motivation – greed, power, freedom, survival, etc. Yet it’s always clear who the good guys are and leaders actually learn from their mistakes and become better for it. True sacrifices are made. Justice is found. Inspired solutions reached. Peace found with understanding if not forgiveness. The ending is idealistic – the good guys win, though not necessarily survive. Hope for the future is real. Systemic societal problems actually seem to be solved. I think many may complain that the ending is too neat and pretty, too unrealistic. But I think this is the point – Durham wants to show what a progressive message in epic fantasy can look like. Not the conservative, nostalgic end so common and not a cynical response to that conservatism. He presents a truly progressive move forward rather than backward or a simple reestablishment of a status quo. A vision of hope that could translate into our own lives and society, though obviously the series is still limited to ultimately less complicated depictions that don’t show details on how things actually move forward.

Durham’s writing style initially took some getting used to in the first book, but in The Sacred Band seems to flow freely – either his writing has gotten a bit more accessible through time, I have adjusted to his style, or most likely, a bit of both. One strategy Durham employs is to end seemingly every chapter on a bit of a cliffhanger. I find this both frustrating and rewarding. It gets a bit annoying that nearly every chapter ends with a cliffhanger only to move onto a completely different part of the world. However it also keeps the tension high throughout the book and invited me to be even more invested in the book.

Durham walks a very delicate balance with the number of points-of-view he presents. He verges on having too many and loosing the necessary focus of the book. Yet he has enough that a wide variety of events are seen and experienced by the reader. The balance he achieves is probably about as good as one could expect.

All in all, The Sacred Band and the Acacia Trilogy as a whole is a wonderful breath of fresh air. It has all the cool sense of wonder that great fantasy can have – unique and weird animals, dragons (of a sort), magic, mad sorcerers, a corrupt powerful queen, an idealistic prince, a warrior princess, and a dashing brigand. Each deals with their place in realistic ways that serve to transcend the cliché. And the action and setting are just what fantasy fans look for. It’s a really well put together work and a satisfying conclusion to an often underrated trilogy.

Durham’s foray into fantasy ends successfully. And it leaves me craving for more. Durham has said that for now he wants to move on to the next thing in writing – back to historic fiction and perhaps some more literary fiction. I can only hope he comes back to the SFF world again with another breath of fresh air.

Room With A View - San Diego

So, I'm in San Diego for a conference. It's a nice hotel right on the waterfront. All the rooms have balconies. I had high expectations of lovely view of the bay and nice balcony to enjoy it from. This is what I have...

I suppose the garden is better than the parking lot it's blocking out, but still - first floor? The lobby is even higher than this. And do you see the manhole? Yep, that's for the sewer. When the air is still I get a lovely odor of sewer gas while sitting on the porch. I guess that's what you get with the relatively cheap conference room rate I have. Oh, and there isn't any decent food nearby for a reasonable price.

Ok, enough complaining. Hopefully some real content soon. I've been reading good stuff lately.

Something Completely Different

hmmm....no comment...

Hoodoo in Arches National Park

Books Received and an Update

Update first - actual interesting content will continue to be sparse around here for quite a while. Life has me as busy as ever and with the AZ Diamondbacks in a penant race, my reading time is as short as ever. I'll also be travelling for half the month of September (4 days in San Diego and 9 days in Alaska). So, be patient and I'll see if I can come up with anything of actual interest. Anyway, now to the books received since August 12th.

Books Received: August 13 - September 1, 2011

Tor and NASA in Collaboration

I generally avoid posting press releases and such on this blog because that just isn't my style or desire. But, I am a scientist who cringes at the state of science education these days and the relative lack of science inspiration in our society today. I'm also married to a PhD planetary geophysicist who does a lot of work for NASA and I imagine that some of my friends and acquaintances from grad school will be directly participating in this collaboration. So in this case, I'm happy to spread the news.

Tor/Forge Books and NASA Jointly Announce Publishing Collaboration  NEW YORK, NY (August 23, 2011) – In an effort to educate and encourage math and science education Tor/Forge Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, and NASA have embarked on a collaboration to publish a series of science based, commercial fiction books, referred to as "NASA inspired Works of Fiction" around concepts pertinent to the current and future work of NASA.  NASA will allow existing and new Tor/Forge authors to team up with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Subject Matter Experts (SME) to create scientifically accurate and entertaining novels in a distinctly unique way.

Tor/Forge and NASA hope that pairing scientists and engineers with the imprints’ award-winning roster of writers will raise awareness and inspire the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), in line with the President’s Technology Agenda.  They also hope to contribute towards the goal of attracting and retaining students in the above fields, thereby strengthening NASA and the nation's future workforce in a compelling manner. 

“When I was a boy, books by Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and their colleagues excited me, inspiring a lifelong fascination with space and the science and technology that would get us there,” said Tom Doherty. “From Fulton and his steamboat, through Alexander Graham Bell and Edison, to Silicon Valley and the advent of the internet, innovative Americans have built a future in which we lead the world.”                                                                          

GSFC’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) Office will host a select group of Tor/Forge authors – some of whom already write science based fiction – to learn more about science and space exploration. Authors will visit GSFC for a two day workshop in November consisting of presentations, facility tours and one-on-one sessions with SMEs. NASA contributions to the project will also provide access to their data, facilities, and educational design and evaluation experts."Ultimately this agreement will benefit taxpayers as we look for innovative ways to train students for the science challenges of the future," said Nona Cheeks, Chief of GSFC's IPP Office, which is managing the project's implementation.

The enormous popularity of science fiction is a key element in this collaboration to make these NASA inspired Works of Fiction a gateway to reach the general public and to generate awareness of the significant role NASA plays in everyday lives. Many people who work in the fields of science and technology credit science fiction as a significant inspiration for their career choice.

“It is my hope that in working with NASA in the creation of new stories of science and discovery we will inspire the next generation of explorers and inventors, because it all starts with the imagination – with stories and dreams of better things to come,” said Doherty.

For more information about NASA and this project contact Enidia Santiago-Arce at 301.286.8497, Enidia.Santiago-Arce@nasa.gov