Steve's Bookshelf 2013

[Karsa Orlong]

Book #40:  The Thousand Names by Django Wexler

 

 

From Amazon:

 

In the desert colony of Khandar, a dark and mysterious magic, hidden for centuries, is about to emerge from darkness.

 

Marcus d'Ivoire, senior captain of the Vordanai Colonials, is resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost, when a rebellion leaves him in charge of a demoralised force in a broken down fortress.

Winter Ihernglass, fleeing her past and masquerading as a man, just wants to go unnoticed. Finding herself promoted to a command, she must rise to the challenge and fight impossible odds to survive.
 

Their fates rest in the hands of an enigmatic new Colonel, sent to restore order while following his own mysterious agenda into the realm of the supernatural.

 

 

Thoughts:

 

I took a chance on this book, and had reasonably high hopes for it, but my overriding feeling towards it for most of its 500+ pages was 'meh'.  It's a military fantasy, which has immediately caused people to draw comparisons to the likes of Glen Cook and Steven Erikson, which is what suckered me into buying it.  Sadly, it's closer to Brandon Sanderson in terms of its drab characterisation and totally predictable storyline.  And when I say totally predictable, I mean totally predictable.  If it had been a movie I would've been shouting at the screen because it was so obvious what was going to happen.  Even the big 'twist' is completely obvious from very early in the book.  Okay, there was one bit that took me by surprise and - unsurprisingly - it was the best part of the book.  But it didn't last long.

 

In a George R. R. Martin stylee - something which is getting old now - each chapter is told from the point of view of one character, whose name appears at the beginning of each section.  However, there are only two main characters, one of whom - Winter Ihernglass - is vaguely interesting, and the other - Marcus D'Ivoire - is so bland and boring that I found each of his chapters a trial of patience and endurance.  Winter is a woman posing as a man in the army and even though she is the more interesting character, Django doesn't do nearly enough with her situation.  In fact, he gets around all of her potential problems by having her buy her own tent so that she doesn't have to share with anyone

 

This is a military fantasy, so you expect battle scenes - and they are there, lots of them.  But they are written without any flair or sense of peril.  I never once felt thrilled or tense and, because I didn't care about the characters, I was never bothered about what happened to them.  The dialogue is horrible, usually involving one character asking another 'How are you feeling?' or, more likely, 'What shall we do now?'.  There's no zip, wit or punchiness that makes good dialogue, to my mind, and therefore the characters remain flat and stale.

 

Coming off the back of Anthony Ryan's storming debut, Blood Song, where he took standard fantasy tropes and worked absolute wonders, Wexler has taken a fairly innovative setting (desert-based with Napoleonic technology) and missed the mark by a fair way.  This Django, I'm afraid, is still chained.

 

Meh.

 

 

4/10

 

 

ETA: Oh, and I forgot to mention that this is the first book in a series, called 'The Shadow Campaign'.  I won't be coming back for the others.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Timstar]

 

This Django, I'm afraid, is still chained.

 

4/10

 

ETA: Oh, and I forgot to mention that this is the first book in a series, called 'The Shadow Campaign'.  I won't be coming back for the others.

 

 

Great line!

 

Shame it was no good, at least that's not another series to add to your pile though.

[Karsa Orlong]

Shame it was no good, at least that's not another series to add to your pile though.

 

Yeah, that's a definite plus point!  I suppose it may improve as it goes along, so I'll keep an eye on it, but it'll be a long way down the list of priorities.

 

 

In other news, Patrick Rothfuss's 'Kingkiller Chronicles' has been snapped up to be made into a tv series.  Still haven't read it, even though it's been sitting on my Kindle for nearly three years.

[Karsa Orlong]

"Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusions. I know this: if life is an illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."

 

This Conan bloke is quite the philosopher.  I'm pretty sure Arnie didn't say that many words in the entirety of both movies   

[Karsa Orlong]

Book #41:  Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden

 

 

From Amazon:

 

The ultimate Rome story

 

From the spectacle of gladiatorial combat to the intrigue of the Senate, from the foreign wars that secure the power of the empire to the betrayals that threaten to tear it apart, this is the remarkable story of the man who would become the greatest Roman of them all: Julius Caesar.

 

In the city of Rome, a titanic power struggle is about to shake the Republic to its core. Citizen will fight citizen in a bloody conflict – and Julius Caesar, cutting his teeth in battle, will be in the thick of the action.

 

The first instalment in the bestselling Emperor series.

 

 

Thoughts:

 

This was Conn Iggulden's debut novel and is the third of his books that I've read.  The others were the first two entries in his 'Conqueror' series, Wolf of the Plains (which was great) and Lords of the Bow (which I didn't like so much), about Genghis Khan.  Emperor: The Gates of Rome follows a similar pattern to the first of those books, in that it is effectively 'Julius Caesar: The Early Years'.  It picks up the life of Gaius Julius Caesar when he is 8 years old and proceeds to cover a period of about ten years or so.

 

Conn wants to be David Gemmell.  He really does.  And he has a fair stab at it here, to be fair.  I remember he wrote a lovely tribute to David, which was included at the end of Gemmell's final novel, Troy: Fall of Kings, where his admiration for the great man was evident.  I found his writing in this novel was so evocative of Gemmell's style as to be almost reading Gemmell himself.  The easy style and characters feel so similar, if not as good.  He made me care for Gaius and his friends without me really realising what he was doing until it was already done.  That's a talent, that is.

 

So it's an easy, fun, entertaining read.  The final stages are quite thrilling.  This is, however, an action/adventure story, rather than good historical fiction.  It's pretty apparent that he plays fast and loose with history, condensing timescales and such.  I can't go into too much detail without giving away the 'big reveal' right at the end of the book (although it's a pretty obvious reveal if you've been paying attention - it just doesn't fit in with my admittedly limited knowledge of the real characters).

 

I suspect anyone familiar with this period might actually loathe this book but, if you can take it for what it is and not get upset about the liberties it takes, there's a good amount of entertainment to be found here.  I'll definitely read the next book in the series at some point.

 

 

7/10 

Edited July 24, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Karsa Orlong]

The Darkness That Comes Before has arrived

 

ETA: as has my paperback of Steven Erikson's Forge of Darkness - but I've already read that on Kindle so it doesn't have to go on the TBR list  

Edited July 24, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Karsa Orlong]

Book #42:  The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend by David Gemmell

 

 

From Amazon:

 

Druss. The Legend. Saviour of Skeln Pass. Protector of Dros Delnoch. The most famous - and dreaded - of Drenai's heroes.

 

But before all men knew Druss he was a young husband, hewing tress instead of men - most of the time - and held in check by his beloved wife, Rowena. When she is stolen by slavers Druss becomes a killing machine intent on only one thing: Rowena's return.

 

David Gemmell, Britain's premier writer of heroic fantasy, has returned triumphantly to his best-known character and woven new tales of magic and honour, in a time when only one man bore the title: 'Legend'!

 

Thoughts:

 

From 'Julius Caesar: The Early Years', to 'Druss: The Early Years'

 

This is the first of two prequels to Gemmell's superb debut novel, Legend.  At the beginning of this story Druss is a 19 year-old newly-wed.  Through his youth he and his father have moved from place to place, sometimes by choice, sometimes not.  The reputation of Druss's grandfather, Bardan, as a madman follows them, and his father worries that Druss may have inherited the same traits.  He has a fearsome temper and only his wife, Rowena, seems able to calm him.  When slavers raid their town, killing the men and taking the women, Druss sets out to save his wife from their clutches.  He thinks it will be a simple matter of chasing them down, killing them, and freeing the women.  Little does he know that his search will last for years.

 

David was obviously very interested in legends of the past, and particularly those such as Troy, given his final books.  Consequently, there was one particular passage in this book that made me chuckle, because the allusion is obvious.  This is when Eskodas first meets Sieben, the Saga Master: 

 

 

'I saw you in Corteswain.  You gave a performance of The Song of Karnak.  It was very good; I particularly enjoyed the tale of Dros Purdol and the siege, though I was less impressed by the arrival of the gods of war, and the mysterious princess with the power of lightning.'

 

'Dramatic license,' said Sieben, with a tight smile.

 

'The courage of men needs no such license,' said Eskodas.  'It lessens the heroism of the defenders to suggest they had divine help.'

 

'It was not a history lesson,' Sieben pointed out, his smile fading.  'It was a poem -- a song.  The arrival of the gods was merely an artistic device to highlight that courage will sometimes bring about good fortune.'

 

Naturally, Gemmell did not include the gods in his telling of the Trojan War

 

Gemmell had a way of developing characters in such subtle ways, through words and action, showing rather than telling.  He gets them inside your head, makes you care for them.  Through them he explores the nature of heroism, what it costs, how it changes the people around them.  Druss is one of his best heroes.  Add to this Rowena, Michanek, Sieben, Eskodas and Bodasen, among others, and it is a book full of hugely likeable characters who take pride of place ahead of the set-pieces, which are written with Gemmell's trademark economy and flair.

 

I've read a couple of books recently where I've thought the authors were trying to emulate David Gemmell.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I suppose, but - although they came close (Anthony Ryan, in particular) - returning to the original is like the difference between night and day.  David was, imo, the master of the genre.  He had the ability to make you laugh one moment, and put a lump in your throat the next.  The first part of this story is quite slow but, after about a hundred pages, it blossoms and becomes one of his best that I've read so far.

 

 

9/10

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[Athena]

I have a few David Gemmell books on the shelf (though I plan to buy more of the series, I want to read them in order), glad to hear you liked this one! Nice review .

[Devi]

I have to read some Gemelll, where do you suggest I start?

[Timstar]

Really been meaning to start some Gemmell, will do soon

[Karsa Orlong]

I have to read some Gemelll, where do you suggest I start?

 

Oh Legend, definitely.  It was his first book.  Kind of rough around the edges compared to his later ones, but it's a classic.  Failing that, Waylander or Sword in the Storm. 

[Karsa Orlong]

Plan update:

 

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - finished 13/06/13

Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden - finished 24/07/13

Prophecy by S. J. Parris - finished 18/06/13

The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian - finished 14/07/13

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - finished 27/06/13

The Odyssey by Homer

Something by David Gemmell, to be decided (probably either Hero in the Shadows or The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend) - finished 26/07/13

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

The Technician by Neal Asher - finished 04/07/13

Pompeii by Robert Harris

The Silver Spike by Glen Cook - finished 22/06/13

 

The one no-one saw coming: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

[poppyshake]

The one no-one saw coming: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

      

 

Your plan is going amazingly well, well done Steve  (but .. you know .. get a wriggle on will you )

[Karsa Orlong]

      

 

Your plan is going amazingly well, well done Steve  (but .. you know .. get a wriggle on will you )

 

  Thanks, Kay, but I confess I have gone off plan again for my next read . . . 

 

 

 

Kellhus fled, sprinted over the dead structures breaking the snow.  He slipped on ice and skidded over the far side of the heights, toppled through the wicked branches of trees.  He recovered his feet and tore himself through the harsh underbrush.  Something like a thunderclap shivered through the air, and great, blinding fires rifled through the spruces behind him.  The heat washed over him, and he ran harder, until the slopes were leaps and the dark forest a rush of confusion.

 

"ANASURIMBOR!" an unearthly voice called, cracking the winter silence.

 

"RUN, ANASURIMBOR!" it boomed.  "I WILL REMEMBER!"

 

Laughter, like a storm, and the forest behind him was harrowed by more fierce lights.  They fractured the surrounding gloom, and Kellhus could see his own flickering shadow before him.

 

The cold air racked his lungs, but he ran -- far harder than the Sranc had made him run.

 

Sorcery?  Is this among the lessons I'm to learn, father?

 

Cold night fell.  Somewhere in the dark, wolves howled.  Shimeh, they seemed to say, was too far.

 

Must admit, I found that passage quite thrilling when I read it last night as it brought the second (yes, second!) prologue to an end.  It's from the start of R. Scott Bakker's The Darkness That Comes Before 

[Karsa Orlong]

My Kindle appears to have downloaded these:

 

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell

Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell

The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell

 

Also, I got The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (Robert E. Howard) through the post

[Timstar]

My Kindle appears to have downloaded these:

 

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell

Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell

The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell

 

What are the odds?

[Karsa Orlong]

What are the odds?

 

Yeah, it's all your fault

 

Did you get any of them in the end?

 

ETA: oh yeah. you got the Saxon ones, didn't you?

Edited July 30, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Timstar]

Yeah, plus a new copy of Azincourt as mine is tattered. Which means, other then his nautical thrillers, I have his complete works

[Karsa Orlong]

Nice!  I wish I had the shelf space to collect them all in paperback.  Hopefully the Kindle versions will be okay (I checked the samples before buying and the formatting looked decent).

[Timstar]

Nice!  I wish I had the shelf space to collect them all in paperback.

 

Me too!

[Athena]

Has it happened to you often that a Kindle version is wrongly formatted or has a lot of spelling errors? I try to check it before I buy a book, by reading the reviews etc. So far I've had no unsurmountable problems, but I've only had my Kindle for a few months.

 

Congrats on your new purchases, btw . If I were to start with one of his books, which one do you recommend I put on the wishlist? Or do you think they aren't books for me?

[Karsa Orlong]

Has it happened to you often that a Kindle version is wrongly formatted or has a lot of spelling errors? I try to check it before I buy a book, by reading the reviews etc. So far I've had no unsurmountable problems, but I've only had my Kindle for a few months.

 

There have only been a couple where I've thought formatting was a major problem - the prime culprit being A Dance with Dragons.  Some older books have had spelling errors, which I think is down to a deficiency in the OCR software used.  But, generally, most I've read have been good.  To be honest, I'm noticing a lot of spelling errors in paperbacks these days as well.  There was one on the back cover of The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend where they'd printed Druss's name as 'Dross'    Obviously someone at the publishers isn't a fan 

 

 

Congrats on your new purchases, btw . If I were to start with one of his books, which one do you recommend I put on the wishlist? Or do you think they aren't books for me?

 

Ooh, I'd definitely suggest his Arthurian 'Warlord Trilogy', starting with The Winter King.  Those are three of my favourite reads of the last few years

Edited July 30, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Athena]

! Wow, that's pretty terrible though. I used to notice a lot of spelling errors when I read books as a child, but these days (reading English books) I'm not seeing as many of them (and I'm normally good at spotting spelling errors). That said, maybe it depends on the books I read or something (I sometimes tend to wait a while for prices to drop, so many of my books aren't first editions).

 

Thanks ! I've put The Winter King on my wishlist.

[Karsa Orlong]

It's marvellous, I'm sure you'll enjoy it

 

I've just ordered another copy of The Shrinking Man, to replace the one I've obviously given to charity at some point   Still, it was only £3.80, including postage.  I noticed there's a new SF Masterworks edition coming out next year, too.

[Timstar]

I've just ordered another copy of The Shrinking Man, to replace the one I've obviously given to charity at some point   Still, it was only £3.80, including postage.  I noticed there's a new SF Masterworks edition coming out next year, too.

 

  Yay! Good choice

 

I'm not keen on the new SF masterworks, especially the yellow spines. I've been collecting some of the older versions.