Review of Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey

Through four books in Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham’s Expanse series, if anything is clear it’s that the duo are able to produce consistently quality storylines and characters that evolve in interesting, entertaining ways inherent to the pseudo-realism of the setting. I keep waiting for them to slip up, but pleasantly have had to keep waiting. Unfortunately, the wait is over.

Nemesis Games (2015) is not a cliff. Franck and Abraham have not figuratively or literally lost the plot in the fifth installment of their series. Holden still does what Holden does. The protomolecule still hovers at the edge of complete understanding. And the Earth, Mars, and the Belt still feint, bluff, and stab at one another, occasionally drawing blood. And, if pushed, I would say the book tills new ground in the fact it splits the crew of the Roccinante up, forcing them to cope with various situations as individuals, thus avoiding the chance that the series slips fully into episodic mode: what role do Holden and crew play in this week’s saving of the galaxy??? Tune in to find out…

Review of Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey

One of the things Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham’s Expanse series of novels to date have done very well is to highlight the internal human conflicts which may or may not lead to physical violence. I wanted to write the words “racial tension” instead of “internal human conflicts”, but it’s a difficult thing to say given the fact the setting is in fact one big milieu of race. Belter, Martian, Terran—geographical lines not skin color are the social lines which have foremost segregated humanity on its march toward the stars, and attempts at coming to terms with a universe in which humanity is not the only sentient life. Emphasizing these social lines in a tightly confined, inhospitable setting is the Expanse’s fourth novel, Cibola Burn (2014).

According to wikipedia, Cibola is the Spanish name of the first region conquered by Vasquez on his bloody march across the Americas in search of gold. A portentous name for a novel, indeed the plot that plays out features a small but technologically advanced group arriving on the scene of a larger group of primitives. In Expanse terms, this equates to a UN scientific expedition, complete with a small security force, arriving on one of the new planets the protomolecule ring has given humanity access to and finding a small group of Belter squatters there mining lithium. Conflict erupting quickly on Inis/New Terra, James Holden (and crew, natch) are called in to mediate the situation as diplomats. Terrorist elements among the Belters and an antagonistic security leader ensuring tensions stay at peak, Holden has his work cut out for him. But pushing matters over the edge is that alien structures on the desert planet, thought long abandoned, appear to be showing signs of life.

Review of The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

Daniel Abraham’s Long Price quartet, kicked off in 2006 by A Shadow in Summer, is a good, solid but perhaps not exceptional fantasy series that did not receive the attention it deserved. The plotting fast and loose and never quite as balanced as one would hope, Abraham nevertheless showed he had a good grip on character and character dynamics in telling the generational story of two men with differing yet common directions in life. Possessing a spin on djinns and using a unique method of communication, the series is still able to poke its nose above the herd (and remains worth a read today). But when looking where to aim his writing ship after the Long Price, it would seem Abraham looked to more familiar territory, or, as is most likely the case, unfamiliar but realistic territory. 2011’s The Dragon’s Path kicks off the quintuplet of The Dagger and the Coin series.

Reading more like historical fiction in a fictional setting than the epic fantasy one typically associates with the genre label the book possesses, The Dragon’s Path feels very realistic. If the place names were real, and the settings described as Medieval, readers could easily put themselves into an Earth scene years ago. Kings, vassals, wars, courtiers, knights, retinues, etc., the panoply (har har) of Medieval life is conveyed in representative terms—but not grimdark (i.e. excessive wallowing in the dystopia of Europe’s past).

Review of Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey

If there is anything Ty Franck and James Corey have done superbly in the Expanse series of novels to date, it is to maintain a strong sense of momentum through each of the plots. Plot devices that a lot of other writers would introduce at the beginning then string out throughout the narrative into a climax are dealt with at midway points, leaving the remainder of story to evolve in surprising ways through a new series of surprising devices and scenes. This results in stories which not only move briskly but unexpectedly, as well as entertainingly given that each subsequent revelation has been made to fit organically with the wider setting and character arcs. The series remains space opera to the core, but if anything is extremely well plotted space opera—to date. Let’s see if 2013’s Abaddon’s Gate, third novel in the series, keeps the engines burning. (Yeah, I know, bad pun. Sorry.)

Picking up events more than a year after Caliban’s War, Holden and crew traverse the system, running odd contracts. Things are going profitably for the crew when a notice arrives that the Martians want the Roccinante back. In the meantime, Julie Mao’s sister Clarissa has been plotting revenge on Holden for the losses he caused her father and family. Posing as a mechanic aboard a system ship, she spends her savings putting in place a plan that will see the tough but fair captain, dead. Bull de Baca is security officer aboard the Seung Un, formerly known as the Nauvoo. Wary of Captain Ashford’s ability to command, de Baca nevertheless goes about his business, removing the riff-raff from among the ship’s population directly—sometimes through airlocks. And lastly is Anna Volodov. A Methodist minister, she has been invited along with a host of other religious representatives aboard the Seung Un for a trip of a lifetime. It isn’t long, however, before her skills as confidante and soother of souls is needed in the face of disaster.

Review of Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

Shorter review: if you enjoyed Leviathan Wakes, you’ll definitely enjoy Caliban’s War (unless you are a space opera connoisseur, sensitive to the slightest details that affect a universe—but even then...)

Longer review: If anything, author duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck’s second entry in The Expanse series Caliban’s Wake (2012) shows the success of the first novel was not a fluke. Like Leviathan Wakes, Caliban’s War is the perfect genre beach read. Story purpose is always clear, yet often moves in organic yet unpredictable ways. The characters are on the right side of 2D, making their plight relatable. And the plotting between the character viewpoints never allows the narrative to slow, even when there isn’t any direct conflict on screen.

But Caliban’s War is not a repeat of Leviathan Wakes. It takes the characters from Leviathan (specifically Holden and crew), plucks a couple key characters from what was the background of Leviathan, puts them front and center, then evolves the wider setting to its next logical point in a story that is an equally entertaining, page-turning read.

Review of Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Space opera, oh space opera, thy lights are so delightful. Space opera, oh space opera, thy popularity so frightful. The market shines with endless sales, bestsellers that never pale… In fact, we are literally one century into the space opera phenomenon (one-tenth of a millennium giggles the nerd). And it shows no signs of slowing. The latest star atop the Christmas tree? James S.A. Corey’s (pseudonym of author combo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) Expanse series, of which the first volume is Leviathan Wakes (2011).

Readers dropped into the action and not released until the final page turns, Leviathan Wakes begins in situ with a woman’s desperate situation. Captured by what she thinks are space pirates, she can only listen from her jail cell aboard ship as her fellow crew are tortured and killed. But when all goes silent, the woman is forced to escape her makeshift cell. What she encounters is perplexing. A distress beacon drawing a nearby ice hauler, captained by James Holden, to the scene, what he discovers is even more confusing. No time to ponder the situation, an attack occurs that sees Holden having to drastically reevaluate his situation—the polite way of saying run for his life with a handful of fellow crew. And the hunt is on. Holden desperate to survive and relate to the rest of the civilized solar system what he found, the group who attacked are just as desperate to stop him to ensure their nefarious plans can go off as planned. The implications eventually discovered to run deep, will human life in the solar system survive?

Hopefully crack doesn't kill...

Due to coronavirus, and the increased time at home (read: lots of work in the garden that I probably should have done over the past several years but haven’t until now), I have been devouring the Expanse universe, more precisely works by Daniel Abraham. Four novels, three short stories, and two television seasons of The Expanse in four weeks, plus a novel in The Dagger & the Coin universe. I think it’s fair to say it’s an addiction. (I’m currently in the middle of the fifth Expanse novel…) A wonderful balance between character and plot (i.e. it’s highly entertaining without being too condescending in its treatment of dialogue, behavior, culture, internal monologue, etc.), it’s the perfect half-minded reading while trimming hedges, spreading fertilizer, turning over the compost pile, raking winter’s leftover dead leaves and twigs, staining the kids’ treehouse, making minor repairs to the shed, firing up the lawnmower, removing weeds, clipping water sprouts, getting bicycles ready for winter, priming the lawnmower, building raised garden beds, kicking birds out of the kitchen ventilator, cutting grass, tilling soil, planting vegetables…

…this is all a warning—a way of saying there are a number of reviews upcoming that are all from the mind of Daniel Abraham, and for the Expanse works, the mind of Ty Franck, also. Hopefully crack doesn’t kill. The exercise in the garden should at least give me a fighting chance.

Review of The Vagrant by Peter Newman

“Cut through the noise” is the latest metaphor I’ve heard describing authors and publishers’ attempts to get sales in this age of market saturation. And while there is no magic formula, there are certainly a few tried and tested techniques that seem reasonable: prose appropriate to the story being told, good pacing that includes high and lows at expected and (properly) unexpected plot moments, and characters we can relate to. Sharply defined or imaginative settings also help, but are not the be-all end-all. How then does Peter Newman’s debut novel The Vagrant (2015) cut through the noise—ear-splitting uproar—of fantasy on the market today?

A breach has appeared in the Earth, and demonic creatures have emerged, wreaking havoc upon the land and people who live in the future world. Humanity sent their bravest and strongest to fight, including the singing sword Malice, but were defeated. Now the land lies in ruins. People fight for scraps of food, bodies are taken over by the demons, . But through the cratered landscape walks a silent man, the Vagrant. A child carried in the crook of his arm and goat tapping along behind, he is on a mission that no know of save him. As the demonic horde learns of his journey, they attack with all their force. (How was that for cover copy? Does it help if you imagine it being read by the movie trailer narrator?)

Non-Fiction: Review of The Four Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covery, and Jim Huling

For the unaware, when I’m not wearing my super-hero blogger spandex, I work in IT (wearing IT spandex, you know…). Specifically, I work for a manufacturing company, which is a lot different than working for a company whose main business is providing IT services. Rather than being a core function that drives value and profitability, IT is yet one more gaping mouth sucking up overhead costs. The business has their own priorities, many of which are of the quick-get-it-done-now-or-the-world-will-burn-down variety that really stretches my spandex. While I do my best to avoid it, I see how many of my colleagues are sucked into this swirl of whack-a-mole firefighting. Naturally, this results in a lot of frustration. People don’t feel they are working on truly value-added projects, or believe that many things which should have more priority are getting it, let alone ideas that actually come to fruition.

I’m not here as a paid-proponent of Sean Covey, Jim Huling, and Chris McChesney’s The Four Disciples of Execution (2012) as a way of combating the situation described above. But I can say that even at a bare minimum, its ideas and main thrust should be at least a springboard for thought to anyone in business looking to get out of the swirl of a persistently reactive work environment that is full of good ideas that don’t often become reality.

Console Corner: Review of Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

I’m not sure Tomb Raider has reached the Mario-spectrum of its life—able to boast a game in nearly every type over decades, but it has covered a number of them.  From puzzler to action adventure, mobile to console to PC, old school Playstation to latest school PS4, the evolution of Lara Croft in gaming has numerous waypoints.  Zooming in on the arcade feel of an action/puzzler is 2014’s Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris from Crystal Dynamics.

Cooperative for 1-4 players (local and online), Temple of Osiris is a top-down isometric game that tries to marry the best of Tomb Raider puzzles with fast-paced, arcade style action, all set in an (extremely) pseudo-Egyptian setting.  Boiling the Tomb Raider formula down into its most fundamental ingredients, the game sees players using a basic set of moves to find and open gates, traverse moving and moveable platforms, gun down fantastical enemies, solve environmental puzzles, and defeat bosses—all linked by the thinnest of stories as Lara and her friends attempt to take down the evil god Set.  Good for drop in and drop out, the game is fast and furious shooting with brain teasers, nothing deeper in terms of story and character.