Thursday, July 24, 2025

Review of Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God by Steven Erikson

As they were conceived as a single volume, I will review Dust of Dreams (2009) and The Crippled God (2011) as a single volume, despite they were published as two separate books. No spoilers.

Fairly or unfairly, epic fantasy series are often judged by their closing volume. Throughout a series, things have been building, ramping up, and are ready to explode by the end—to provide readers the catharsis via fireworks they have been lead to believe will occur. The Malazan series has been a little different, however. Each of the eight books leading to the closing volume has been insular, closed off. Overarching threads of story and certain characters, bind the series together, but the concerns of a given volume remain inherent to to themes and characters to that volume. Which is what makes Erikson's decision to do what he did in Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God so... interesting? To explain.

All of the Malazan Book of the Fallen books to date have been massive. Each features ~1000 pages. Each features dozens and dozens and dozens, if not more than a hundred characters. Each features multiple, multiple storylines and settings. The reader has had to max their mental RAM keeping all of these pieces straight—who is who, where they are, and what they're trying to do. Add to this magic, warrens, gods, and characters who can shapeshift and it's a smorgasbord extremely few readers have any chance of digesting their first one or two times through the series. You almost have to take notes.

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Review of The End & the Death: Volume III by Dan Abnett

This is it. The arrowhead striking home. The mushroom cloud rising. The supernova erupting from the Horus Heresy series. Sixty-four books into one of the most epic tales ever told, and we've reached the end. The third end. The absolute end. The End and the Death: Volume III by Dan Abnett (2024).

In reality, the expectations for the final-final-final volume of the Horus Heresy are even higher than that. The book must not only deliver the explosive showdown between Horus and the Emperor, it must also propel the reader into the 40th millennium. It needs to resolve the demi-gods' conflict and set the stage for the thousands of stories that have been told, are being told, and will be told. It must answer the questions why the Emperor sits on the throne, burning through souls like cigarettes, rather than kicking ass around the galaxy. It needs to provide the impetus for the Astra Militarum, Sisters of Silence, Plague Marines, et al, et al. And it needs to ____(fill in your Warhammer jam here)____. The natural question is: does Volume III deliver on these expectations?

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Review of The Ceres Solution by Bob Shaw

Utopia/dystopia is a popular science fiction theme. It would be hyperbole to say 'innumerable' books have been written on the subject. It's not as ubiquitous as other common sf themes like exploration, colonialism, xenomorphology, etc. But there is a healthy amount of books in the area. Nerdy Master's and PhD students do not lack for source material. One potential reference is Bob Shaw's The Ceres Solution (1981).

The Ceres Solution is a story of world's (metaphorically) colliding*, as told through the eyes of two unlikely people. One world is Mollan, a former Earth colony, now evolved into a quasi-utopian society. World peace exists, people live for hundreds and hundreds of years, technology like magic exists, and the individual is free to pursue their interests. This includes Gretana, a young woman who goes to Earth to act as an observer for Mollan society. And the other world is indeed, Earth. An unevolved version of our Earth, crime, depravity, and vice run rampant. Hargate is a bitter young man who grows up in these conditions, exacerbated by the fact he is confined to a wheelchair. But upon completing his education, he receives the opportunity of a lifetime—to go into space, a place where his lack of legs means significantly less. Eventually, Gretana and Hargate meet, and that is where The Ceres Solution attempts to come to terms with its utopian/dystopian dichotomy.

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Review of Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

Gardens of the Moon, first book in the Malazan series, was centered around Darujhistan. A city featuring an Arabian vibe, its streets glowed with blue ether fire, politicians built cabals behind wooden doors, and assassins had secret wars on dusty rooftops. But the series never returned to the setting. Until now. Toll the Hounds (2008), eighth book in the series, goes back to the exotic city to see how things have fared since a Jaghut tyrant nearly razed it to the ground.

In Darujhistan, several retired Bridgeburners have found a new home. But when assassination attempts start targeting them, they can't relax, and begin fighting back. Separated from Icarium, Mappo has heard rumors his old friend has tried to kill the unkillable Tiste Edur ruler in Letheras, and sets out on the long journey with the help of the Trygalle Trade Guild. Since defeating the Seerdommin in Memories of Ice, Anomander Rake has destroyed his massive, airborne island and taken up residence in the city of Black Coral. But the cult of the Seerdommin remains, and a new secret hand has been found trying to manipulate it. And in perhaps the most interesting setting of all, Anomander Rake's sword Dragnipur, the great wagon being hauled by the souls the sword has slain begins to slow. Losing power, the god Draconus tries to prevent the realm from losing all its power.

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Review of Grendel by John Gardner

As a teen, I would amuse myself with the classic thought experiment of observing life on Earth through the eyes of fictional aliens. Undoubtedly this lead to my agnostic “beliefs”, but it likewise lead to a lifelong appreciation of viewpoints which examine life from abstract angles. Perhaps this is the attraction to John Gardner's Beowulf-inspired Grendel (1971).

Grendel is Beowulf through the eyes of the eponymous monster. It tells the tale in first-person, tracking the hairy beast's observations, feedings, and musings on the villages and tribes he terrorizes. His encounters with dragons and priests likewise come under the story's lens, all before the monster meets his known fate.

But the script is flipped in more ways than one. Rather than a paean to heroism, Grendel is an evisceration of human behavior, mundane to ethereal. Gardner takes the piss out of our social hierarchies, religions, and methods for blowing off steam—aka sex, murder, drunkenness, etc. It's an expose—a yin to Beowulf's yang, that not all is glory and honor and legacy.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Review of The End & the Death: Volume II by Dan Abnett

Volume I of Dan Abnett's The End & the Death was largely about setting tone and yes, getting the two Bigs off their idle asses. It was the quiet before the culmination of Horus' grand storm. In Volume II, drops start falling and lightning begins to flicker.

Indeed, in Volume II the pace picks up, tension ratchets up (somehow), and worlds begin to twist. Certain characters find themselves far out of their element as Chaos blurs the line between reality and dreams. The narrative rotates through a large fistful of characters—Malcador, Loken, Sigismund, Sanguinius, Horus, Horus, Ull, John, Vulkan, and several others. The dark king emerges from the shadows, but does he go further? The Dark King, a personage who has flitted through the shadows, finally reveals itself. And the BIG Chaos evil (finally) shows his (its?) face in theatrical fashion. Abnett seeming to relish these scenes, the Hansel & Gretel breadcrumbs that have been dropped throughout the series finally amount to a path.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Review of Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay has become, like many aging writers, a one note tune. He has been churning out the same cut/paste novels for the past decade. This is fortunate and unfortunate. As the market has made clear, there is a large swathe of readers who want dependable product. But there are also readers who look to storytelling to be an art, an idea that inherently requires innovation, evolution, and experimentation. Does Kay's latest, Written on the Dark (2025), buck his own trend?

Written on the Dark is the fictional biography of one Thierry Villar, a tavern poet. More episodic than overarching, the book picks and chooses the events of the poet's life relevant to how it shapes his fate. Skipping Villar's childhood, the book opens in his youth in the alleys and waterholes of the city of Orange (a clear medieval French analog). Villar is a talent recognized by the city's aristocracy, but he reserves his most subtle barbs for critiquing their feudal rule. That is, until broader events in the city drag him into court politics.

Console Corner: Review of Citizen Sleeper

In case you missed it, 100% it bears repeating. We are living in a golden age of culture. Each media form is producing so much content it's impossible for one person to consume everything in their area of interest. And so many pockets, niches, and layers have evolved within each. The layer of video gaming which has most strongly evolved the past 5-10 years is indie games, i.e. technology has simplified to the point producers and directors can drum up enough cash for a few people to design and program legitimate gaming experiences. They cannot compete with the big AAA developers for size and scope, but at the same time their bite-sized offerings are precisely what many players are looking for. Maybe Citizen Sleeper (2022), a story-based rpg, is for players like you?

Citizen Sleeper might be called cozy cyberpunk. But there are enough hard decisions that the word 'cozy' only partially applies. Players take on the role of a 'sleeper': an android body occupied by a transferred human sentience. At the beginning of the game, you arrive on a lonely space station. Having escaped corporate overlords, you're looking for a new life. And so you start picking up odd jobs to earn credits. Your body also needs food and maintenance, and getting these quickly takes you into the underbelly of the station. It's there you discover the anarchists, the engineers, the yakuza, the nurses, the optimists, and everybody else making the station a colorful sphere of humanity. Whether or not it will become your permanent home is up to you to discover and choose.

Monday, June 23, 2025

Review of The Will of the Many by James Islington

Here we go again, into the ocean of contemporary mainstream fantasy where finding a piece of solid ground isn't easy. Most novels seem content sticking to float away. Does James Islington's The Will of the Many (2023) offer a foothold?

The Will of the Many is a few story types rolled into one. It is a revenge story; An orphaned teen attempts to punish the unjust execution of his regal parents. A deeply held secret those around him do not know about, he bides his time. It is also a mystery; Shady things are happening at the highest levels of Senate, and our orphan seems to continually find himself in the right place at the wrong time—or perhaps right time—to learn more. And he may just become part of the mystery. And perhaps most predominantly, it is a boarding school drama; The orphan attempts to navigate the waters of teen drama in a school for potential magic wielders. Cue the emo.

Friday, June 13, 2025

Review of The End & the Death: Volume 1 by Dan Abnett

We've done it. 60+ books. Dozens upon dozens of short stories and novellas. Hundreds of characters. Uncountable battles in space and on land. Three sides have defined their stake in the game—Loyalists, Traitors, and Chaos. And now we've reached the end—at least Volume 1 of the end. And the death (sorry). Everything comes together in the Horus Heresy and Siege of Terra with The End & the Death (2023) by Dan Abnett. This is the review of the first of its three volumes.

The End & the Death opens on a classic Warhammer scene—perhaps the quintessential Warhammer scene: a battlefield in ruins. A breeze tugs at abandoned banners. Space marines lie in awkward repose. Debris and wreckage scatter smoking ruins. Sightless eyes... With this imagery Abnett signals that the Siege of Terra is moving to a new phase, the end phase. No longer are Traitor forces endlessly assaulting the Palace's walls. The Loyalists have locked themselves inside and now need to be pried out. The End & the Death is the can opener.