He Who Fights With Monsters

 

This month I read a great book. It was called He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon and Travis Deverell.

I have to admit, this book was recommended to me by one of my brothers, and it took me quite a long time to start it. I was a victim of judging a book by its title. The title seemed too ‘on the nose’ and I thought the book might be a bit of the same. Consequently, it took me over a year to pick it up after it was recommended. But I had several other people recommend it also, so I thought maybe I was misjudging it without taking the time to take a look. So this month I downloaded it on audio and listened to it as I traveled to a writers’ conference. It was much greater than even the recommendations made me expect.

The main character of this novel is a man who wakes up in a new universe one morning and is forced to begin an adventure in a country that he does not understand or really even believe exists in the beginning. This beginning is not different from many other stories that I have read in the past, but the author’s humor and the character’s believability make the story engaging and believable.

This book is the beginning of a series, and I have to say, even after 29 hours of the first book, I was not ready for the first episode to end. I will definitely continue the series.

The characters are all well-developed, and the world-building is exceptional. You root for this character, even though you may not always agree with the way he goes about doing his business. Or maybe you will. Each of us has our own way of getting through life, and you can see where this character has gotten his values and why he does the things he does. The world is so well-created that you can buy into the choices that each character makes and the flow of the story.

This is another author that I will add to my list of ‘to read’.

If you get the chance to read this series, you really ought to do so. 

~Jeff

 

 

This month I read a great book. It was called Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan.

I think this is the first time that I have done two books by the same author in consecutive months but Hollow World might be the best book I have read this year.

This book is a complete change of form for this author. He usually writes fantasy books, which I have greatly enjoyed. This book, however, is a time travelling adventure. Almost a crime drama set well into the future.

As I have written crime dramas myself, this may have helped my enjoyment but the story is what carried me along.

The drama and the characters are well written, as are all of his stories but the plot is deep and intricate. It made me think and delve into my thought processes in a way that few recent books have done for me. It is a feature that many Sci-Fi books can do; by putting us into a different society, it lets us see ours in a different way and think about things in a different method and another point of view.

The characters and the world building are great in this novel as they are in all of this author’s books.

As I said earlier, this might have been my favorite book of this year. Last year I read Remnant Population, also a novel by an author I have read many books from and this year I read this book. Hopefully I will continue to find these treasures as I continue to read more books.

And then more books.

If you get the chance to read this book, you really ought to do so.

But, that is just my opinion.
 
-Jeff

Downbelow Station

 A great book I read this month...

This month I read a great book. It was called Downbelow Station, by C.J. Cherryh.

Like I have had to say many times, this is not the first time I have read this book. I read it soon after it came out in 1981 and fell in love with the whole universe she had created. This is probably the third time I have read it and I think I enjoyed it more this time than either of the others.

I believe this book was the first written in this universe but there are many books in this series and I have enjoyed all of them. This novel takes place on a space station that is caught in the middle of two interstellar empires trying to control the only station that has a habitable planet beneath it.

Earth and her forces on ebbing in power and just trying to hang on to the empire they have built, including Pell Station and Cyteen is pushing back against Earth and trying to take everything and force Earth back to their own system and nothing more. And Pell is stuck in the middle of the struggle.

The people from Earth and Cyteen both have their own cultures but the stations have also developed their own culture over the centuries as well as those who inhabit the trading ships that move between the distant stations.

The author does a magnificent job of creating these separate worlds and their individual desires and the conflicts that go with them.

There is a reason that nearly all of the books on two of the shelves in my library have the name CJ Cherryh on them.

She is the best at creating worlds and stories.

If you have the chance to read it, please do it. You will enjoy it.

 A great book I read this month...

The Jasad Heir.
This month I read another great book.
The book that I selected this month was The Jasad Heir. by Sara Hashem.

I met this author at WonderCon this year at an Author panel and was very impressed with her. As a result I went out and found her where she was signing her books next to Tricia Levenseller, who is a lifetime friend of my daughter. I talked with her for several minutes and was even more impressed with her and liked her so I bought her book and read it. 

Her main character is forceful and directed and the book is well written. I believe this is her first book, but I could be mistaken. If so, it is exceptionally well done for a beginning author. Her characters are well developed and likeable. Her world is well designed and complete and the story pulls you through the mysteries and adventures without giving too much away or adding too much confusion.

I really liked this book and will read other books by this author as I see them. Watch out for them also.

If you haven't read this book before, I would recommend it.

Marque and Reprisal- A Book You Ought to Read

 A Great Book I Read This Month...

I had the opportunity to read a great book last month.
The book is entitled 'Marque and Reprisal' by Elizabeth Moon
This book is the second of a series and I have to admit that you could start with this book but you would be better off to start with the first book in the series. Trading in Danger. There are a few details that you will pick up in the first book that are explained in the second book but you will probably understand better if you read the entire first novel.

As you might have noticed, I have read many of Elizabeth Moon's books. I recommended her Remnant Population several months ago.

As with many of this author's novel, it is a military sci-fi story and the adventure starts immediately and keeps moving throughout the book. She is great at displaying the characters and showing their strengths and flaws. This was my second time through this series and I enjoyed it just as much this time around. The main character in this book has been kicked out of her planetary naval academy and put onto a family trading ship. While there, her family shipping company has a major emergency sending all of the ships into chaos and pirates are erupting in every system to try to destroy the established systems. Through this the young captain must fight her ship and mske new decisions without help from the corperate directors or any family. She seems to jump from emergency to emergency. Making whatever decision seems right at the time, trying to hold on until order is restored, if it ever will be.

As I mentioned, I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them all.

I enjoyed reading this book. If you get the opportunity to read this novel, do it. It is worth your time.

Of Kings, Queens and Colonies.

 A great book I read this month...

I had the opportunity to read a great book a couple of months ago.
The book is entitled 'Of Kings, Queens and Colonies' by Johnny Worthen
This book is the first of a trilogy. I had the opportunity to meet the author last fall at FanX in Salt Lake and talk to him for a little bit. He was very excited about this book and I have to say that after reading the first in the series, I am excited also. The descendants of earth have landed on a series of planets that surround a sun that has devastated the planets and all shipping in the system. Their technology has degraded to where they have just enough to be able to get by, although they have managed to maintain ships that can move from planet to planet.

The interweaving politics that drive the story are much like the 16th century explorations on Earth which drove those nations to explore and conquer.  Each planet tries to conquer the others and become the dominant polity and religion in the system. 

The story continues to build from the beginning to the climactic end and leaves you waiting for more.

The author has done a great job of creating great, believable characters, with real needs and wants.

I enjoyed reading this book. If you get the opportunity to read this novel, do it. It is worth your time.

But that is just my opinion.

Conviction- Scattered Stars: Book 1

 A great book I read this month...

I had the opportunity to read a great book last month.
The book is entitled 'Conviction: Scattered Stars, Book 1' by Glynn Stewart
This book is the first of a series and I plan on reading all of the books that are available. I have read several books by Glynn Stewart and have enjoyed most of them. His Agent of Mars series has been great.

This book hooked me from the first chapter and kept me entertained and excited as the heroine worked her way through conflict after conflict.

The plot is complex and entertaining and the action is non-stop. The characters are also deep and fairly complicated and they keep developing as the story goes on.

The story begins as our heroine is trying to escape from her home planet. They have just gone through a peace treaty and unknown to her or her teammates, her government sold them out to the victors in the treaty. All of the other pilots in her group are dying, one by one, including her commander and mentor. His last instruction was to get out to the fringe and try to protect the rest of her team.

She finds that he had prepared a nest-egg for them all and she starts to set up a new home. The problem is, few of her team still survive to live there and their enemies are not done hunting them.

I really enjoyed reading this book. If you get the opportunity to read this novel, do it. It is worth your time.