Book Review: Theatre of the Gods, by M. Suddain

It’s been a busy time here at the ol’ radio ranch. Between my continuing job search, working on another writing project  (think crack whores with trust funds…) and learning to play the guitar, I’ve been pressed for time.

And then there’s the barely contained craziness that is M. Suddain’s Theatre of the Gods. If you’ve read my previous post, you’ll remember that my initial impressions were of a book written by the dream team of Douglas Adams, William S. Burroughs, and Jules Verne.  This book is that kind of weird, with a steampunk tinged magic realism fantasy thing, where starships resemble nothing less than huge sailing men-of-war and populations live on the inside of giant Dyson Spheres.

Enter the book’s primary protagonist, M. Franscisco Fabrigas, “philosopher, heretical physicist, and perhaps the greatest human explorer of all ages.” He is charged by his Queen to undertake a voyage of discovery to the universe next door. At this point in his life, this mission is something of a reprieve and a chance for vindication for Fabrigas, who has both been discredited and considered insane because he believes that he comes from a parallel universe that looks exactly like the one he currently occupies. Mix in a cast of characters that include a mysterious green girl, a plucky botanist, a teenaged ship’s captain, a stalwart bosun, and a crew of children, and you have memorable read.  Our heroes naturally face their share of villains, including the Queen’s scheming sisters, beings from beyond, killer plants, varying assassins, and vicious bounty hunters, just to name a few.

There’s a lot of fast and furious stuff going on here. But it’s much to the author’s credit that he effortlessly keeps the story moving along.   Theatre of the Gods is by turns well-written and inventive stuff.  It’s funny and occasionally eye-popping. If you like your science fiction literate with an extra dash of loopiness, then this book is for you.

Following up…

You’ll remember in my last post where I reviewed the latest installment in Charles Stross’s excellent Laundry Files, The Rhesus Chart that I somberly advised you that vampires don’t exist.

Well, I could be wrong. According to a recent report in the online Guardian, scientists are now looking at injecting of the blood plasma of young people into the bodies of the elderly as a possible way to reverse the aging process. But wait: isn’t that the whole raison d'être behind vampires? Said vampires using fresh blood to keep themselves perpetually young?  Vamprism aside, the implications of a society, where in the not too distant future, there is a class of the ultra-wealthy who maintain private blood banks to keep themselves young, are more than a little disturbing.

Through this all, we can be assured of one thing, of course: vampires don’t exist. Yet.

Meanwhile, you can help out a poor unemployed writer by purchasing Elvis Saves JFK! for just 99 cents and War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History, for $2.99 and now The Key to My Heart, also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.   Thanks.

Book Review: The Rhesus Chart, by Charles Stross

Everyone knows that vampires don’t exist, right?

So what happens when you’re Bob Howard, who is a middle manager at the Laundry, the so-secret-it’s-ultraviolet British agency dedicated against defending the masses against Things that go Bump in the Night and find you find that vampires actually do exist?

Of course, our hero Bob is more than just a middle manager; he is also a specialist in Applied Computational Demonology, and an Apprentice Eater of Souls, both of which come in handy over the course of his career, which has been chronicled in Stross’s earlier Laundry Files novels. 

Interesting things always seem to happen to Bob. For example, the start of The Rhesus Chart finds him working through a paper exercise, which accidentally exposes a clan of vampires working in a major bank. Things get even more interesting when he finds out that one of the vampires happens to be an ex-girlfriend (which complicates things with his wife Mo). But by the time is happening, the plot is already unfolding at a breakneck pace to its shattering conclusion.

It’s definitely worthwhile reading.  If you’re not familiar with the Laundry Files series, this is a good place to start and work back. Stross writes with his customary deft mix of Lovecraftian eldritch horror-meets-Len-Dieghton’s Harry Palmer with a dose of dark humour thrown in.  It’s very readable stuff.  

And over the course of the series, and the especially in The Rhesus Chart, Stross has continued the development of his already well fleshed-out characters, most specifically Bob, who is still stinging from the events of the previous novel, The Apocalypse Codex (reviewed earlier in this blog), which in-series, occurred only the month pervious.

Think of this book as a small diversion from the main Laundry Files narrative, the ongoing cold war against the extradimensional horrors who, when the stars are right, will emerge through the walls of our reality to suck on our brains. However, as I just said, it is a small diversion: In this book we get the bad news that the Grand Alignment has begun and the stars have at last become right, setting the stage for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, which is the final extinction-level showdown.

Hang on to your brains.

What’s next?
I’m just starting to read Theatre of the Gods, by M. Suddain.  I like it so far. Already I can tell you it comes off as a crazy mash-up of Douglas Adams-meets-William-S. -Burroughs-meets-Jules-Verne.  I hope to have it reviewed for you next month.

Meanwhile, you can help out a poor unemployed writer by purchasing Elvis Saves JFK! for just 99 cents and War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History, for $2.99 and now The Key to My Heart, also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.   (And don't forget me on Twitter @mcnudde!) Thanks. 

Book Review: The Long Mars, by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

What can I say: I enjoyed this book. 

Should you read The Long Mars?  Yes. Resoundingly yes.

Once again, Messrs Pratchett and Baxter have woven a worthy addition to the series that began with The Long Earth.  In case you’re a late arrival to the series,  the titular book that started it all dealt with the discovery of a linked series of parallel long earths that run “east” and “west” of our own “datum” earth and could only be reached by “stepping.”

A few people – like the series’ chief protagonists, Joshua Valente and Sally Lindsay are “natural” steppers, while the rest of humanity must rely upon stepper boxes that are powered by – this must be an example of Terry Pratchett’s whimsy at work here – the lowly potato.

I won't say much more, except to say during the intervening years between The Long Earth, its sequel, The Long War, and now, The Long Mars, there have been some serious doings afoot. Drawn by her father with an agenda of his own, Sally is off to explore Mars – which has its own chain of long worlds. Meanwhile, Joshua is also just as much drawn in by a mysterious young man who may be much, much, more than he seems.

So that’s it for The Long Mars. Suffice it to say, you should read it.

Call the Grammar Police!

Now I want to get to something that’s been bugging me since I wrote last month’s review of Taylor Anderson’s Deadly Shores. You know how much I love his Destroyermen series.  And I did like Deadly Shores. So I’m puzzling over what I found repeatedly in his book, such as this admittedly small example:

“But what about me?” Keje demanded. “What of Salissa?” Matt looked at Keje and couldn’t stop a grin from forming. “You, Admiral, will stay the hell out of range of anything they can throw at you from shore and keep your planes in the air.”

Get it?  This is what I saw throughout the novel. I’m no grammar guy, and I know it may seem like a small thing, but each line of dialogue is its own thought as expressed by the character, and needs be treated as its own paragraph.  The exchange should’ve gone like so, with each line of dialogue starting on its own sentence:

“But what about me?” Keje demanded. “What of Salissa?”

Matt looked at Keje and couldn’t stop a grin from forming. “You, Admiral, will stay the hell out of range of anything they can throw at you from shore and keep your planes in the air.”

I write this with the greatest respect for Anderson, who has put together a riveting ten-book series that has so far held my admittedly short attention span.  Was he trying to simulate the give-and-take of an argument? If so, it didn’t work. It merely forced me to re-read the dialogue, which for me slows down the action.

It bugs the hell out of me.

Meanwhile, you can help out a poor unemployed writer by purchasing Elvis Saves JFK! for just 99 cents and War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History, for $2.99 and now The Key to My Heart, also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.   Thanks.