More Books than Time

Book Reviews - Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction - By an Adult for Adults

Love Dogs? Hounded Iron Druid Chronicles Book 1, Kevin Hearne Fantasy

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Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One, by Kevin Hearne, is the first story in a series about a Druid in contemporary America.  This first book chronicles Atticus O’Sullivan’s first bad step, taking on a pretend ancient Irish god.  This pseudo-god has nursed a grudge against our hero for 2100 years – yes 21 centuries – because he lost his favorite magical sword when Atticus picked it up on a battlefield.

It’s not clear why Atticus decided to take the offensive against the rather stupid godling, but although he wins this battle it sets him up for problems down the road.

The best parts of Hounded are Atticus’ dog Oberon and the lovely, well-thought out magic system.  This is a first book that sets up for further novels in the series so we meet many characters and establish the overall direction and theme.  (I’ll give you a hint, Oberon gets even better in the later books.  And I’m a cat person.)

You might find Hounded reminds you of the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher.  But the werewolves in Hounded  are neither friends nor allies for Atticus. They join together only for common causes, nothing esoteric like generic villain-fighting.  Another difference was the amoral motives and actions of Atticus and his vampire and werewolf lawyers.  In fact Atticus was more concerned with convenience than ethics until close to the end of the story.

Nonetheless, Hounded was good enough that I got the next two books from the library and as soon as I hit “Post” will go back to read book #3, Hammered: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book Three

3 Stars plus a bit

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Where to Find Science Fiction: The Science Fiction Book Club

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Much as I wish our local library had every science fiction book, they do not and neither does yours.  Where can we find the books we want to read?  Here is one idea:  Join a book club.

Science Fiction Book Club

 

Way back when I was a kid you could join this for a dime, get Asimov’s Foundation series and all you had to do was buy four more books over the year.  The book club has gotten easier to work with – no more unwanted books in the mail unless you completely forget to respond online or by paper – but the basic premise is the same.

You sign up, get a few books for free (or close to free), buy a few books over the next year or two.  The club sends emails or paper offers every four to six weeks.  You can buy or not as you want.  I’ve been a member for 20+ years and buy anywhere from none to a dozen or more books a year.

I found several favorite authors through the club, notably Lois McMaster Bujold and Jack McDevitt.  The main downside I’ve found to the club is they offer many books I don’t want.  They have tons of Star Wars novels and tend to offer books from the same authors like Mercedes Lackey or Anne McCaffery.  On the good side most months they add a new author or an interesting sounding book to the mix.

The club mailings can come via email or hard copy and are fun to browse.  If they offer a book I want but can’t afford, then I’ll check the library.  Or I keep the mailing until I can buy it.  Some books are full of sex or violence but the club does a reasonable job of noting these.   The mailings themselves may have indecent illustrations.

The editors are experts in writing blurbs that make you want to buy the book, sometimes to the point where you almost wonder whether they read the same lousy book you did.  Members can review books and rate them too.  I don’t take these too seriously.  You have the option to read excerpts online and I recommend this.  Reading an excerpt is a good way to check the author’s style and avoid the boring ones.

The club offers hard cover books, no E books or paperbacks  (except for some graphic novels).  The quality of the binding varies from good to mediocre.  Fonts are a good size with enough white space to make reading easy on the eyes.  Based on the dust jacket illustrations the club wants to appeal to teenaged boys.  If the jacket is obnoxious I simply remove it and read the book by itself.

 

Having a Hard Time Reading This One – Emperor Mollusk Vs. The Sinister Brain

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I love science fiction. And I enjoy silly stories sometimes. This book, Emperor Mollusk versus the Sinister Brain, by A. Lee Martinez ought to be perfect.

But I’m having a hard time staying with this one. My Science Fiction Book Club listed this and since I’m basically cheap, I got this from the Michigan E library Melcat. It’s a short book at 300 pages and plenty of white space, but so far I’ve only made it to page 60.

Sometimes books take a while to get into. You know the ones I mean, they start slow or the first few characters on stage are obnoxious and you just don’t care. Emperor Mollusk versus the Sinister Brain started out ok, with a couple fun scenes, but it’s still slow.

I’ll keep at this for at least another 30 pages or so. But if it’s still unappealing after 100 pages count me out!

 

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Interesting, Fun and a Teaser – The Hawk and His Boy by Christopher Bunn

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I love good fantasy and this first book, The Hawk and His Boy by new author Christopher Bunn has the makings of a good story.  The story could have been contrived and formulaic using familiar characters – a young thief, a set of scholars in search of a long lost book, a guardian type girl – but Christopher Bunn added unusual twists and lovely settings.

My favorite character was Levoreth, the niece of a duke and far more than she appears. The scenes with Levoreth remind me of Patricia McKillip’s novels with the same attention to setting and character which make McKillip’s novels engrossing. Levoreth’s dialogue with the beasts who acknowledge her as Mistress of Mistresses and with her aunt are excellent.

The nominal hero is the young thief boy Jute, a mystery character who is only sketched in.  Jute tells us himself he doesn’t know who he is and we don’t learn much more about him.  The Knife is well drawn as are many of the lesser characters.

It was obvious reading The Hawk and His Boy that it was setting the stage for further novels. In fact the tagline at Amazon is that The Hawk and His Boy is volume one of the Tormay Trilogy.

The book is short at 210 pages in the paperback. I bought the sequel immediately which is longer. Look for future posts on the next two books and likely more by Christopher Bunn as he develops future fantasy worlds.

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Sobering Read that Lingers in Your Mind – Messenger, Lois Lowry, The Giver Trilogy

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Messenger is book three of The Giver trilogy by Lois Lowry, but it stands on its own.  You do not need to read the other two books to enjoy this one.  The four main characters repeat from The Giver and Gathering Blue but the actions, plot and setting are unique.

I had not heard of Lois Lowry until I browsed our local library’s E book selection of science fiction and fantasy. Her books were always checked out. That intrigued me so I placed a hold and read them in the order they arrived, not the order of the plot sequence. In fact I read Messenger second.

Messenger is listed under teen or older teen but the concepts and characters resonate with adults.  The main character, Matt, has a unique talent to travel the dangerous Forest and at the beginning of the story, he finds another unique talent, the ability to heal.  Healing frightens Matt and drains him and he keeps it secret.

Matt’s small village has recently begun a new type of Trading, where people are no longer trading things for other things, but trading part of themselves.  This is not stated, but instead is obvious to the reader through Matt”s eyes.  Village, formerly open and welcoming to all, decides to close itself off from other refugees and the Forest becomes darker, more sinister and dangerous.

Messenger is the story of Matt’s last journey to the outside world, his friendship and love for Seer and Kira, and the timely intervention of Leader.  I didn’t find Messenger as unsettling as the first book, The Giver, but it has stayed in my mind and I expect I will remember this one for a long, long time.

Messenger is available from Amazon I got this from the Southwest Michigan Digital Library, a consortium of small area libraries.  You are likely to find Messenger in your local library or E library.

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Unusual Blend Science Fiction & Fantasy – The Galactic Mage by John Daulton

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This was an unusual read!  John Daulton combines science fiction, fantasy with a love story and comes out with an enjoyable, fast read.  The Galactic Mage alternates the story from the viewpoints of mage Altin and Ensign Orli of the Earth expedition to learn what happened to the people of Andalia.

Altin is a “Six” meaning a mage with six of the possible eight talents.  All previous Sixes have over-reached their magical potential and died, some spectacularly.  Altin is determined to avoid this and sets himself the goal to reach his planet’s moon Luria by teleporting rocks and enchanted Seeing Stones.  Once he reaches Luria he decides to explore the rest of his solar system, then goes toward the closest star.  This is where he encounters hostile Coconuts, which hurl rocky spears at his tower.

He fights the Coconuts off, then sees curious flashes of light.  Of course the flashes of light are from the Earth expedition’s fight with the same Coconuts, which Altin joins.  Some of the plot is a little predictable after this, yet still fun.

The Hostiles (or “Coconuts” as Altin calls them) seem determined to kill anyone they find in space. It’s never clear whether the Hostiles are alive or why they attack humanity, leaving unanswered questions for future books.

Overall this was fun, different from the usual science fiction or fantasy, meant for adults and squeaky clean.  The magic Altin uses is well thought-out, requiring hard work to master.

On the downside, when I was done reading I still had no idea who or what the Hostiles are, why Orli and Altin are so drawn to each other, whether any Earth humans also have magic, or the significance of the small weed Orli finds during the fleet’s time on Andalia.  The character of Altin is more developed than Orli.  We know little of Orli beyond that she is miserable on ship and in the military.   These are small weaknesses and didn’t bother my enjoyment of The Galactic Mage.

I read this as a Nook book. I could not find it in my library nor any of the libraries in the state of Michigan (which has a great statewide sharing system) so you may need to purchase The Galactic Mage.

4 Stars

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