Book Clearout Time Again

I am having another clear-out of older books so for the record I want to record them here

Alison Sinclair: Legacies It is a long time since I read this tale of world building but I vaguely remember a central premise in which group of interstellar travellers bear the grief of their star drive possibly having destroyed their home world on their departure.

R. Scott Bakker: The Darkness that Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet and the Thousandfold Thought. This trilogy makes up the Prince of Nothing saga a heady blend of mysticism and fantasy. It is full of originality and  makes gripping reading but don't expect to cheer for the dubious main protagonist of this tale.

"The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe

This massive novel told in four volumes is set in Earth's far future. The Sun is dying and mankind has reverted to a pre-technological feudal existence. Yet traces of a star faring past still abound.

The main protagonist is a wandering torturer who earns his keep by performing mutilations and executions in the towns he passes through.

This is a weighty story that has been hailed as a masterpiece but I found it hard enough going. The main character is utterly selfish and devoid of compassion and the writing style is very confusing at times. Things improved a lot in the third and fourth volumes when Wolfe finally starts to reveal what's really going on. All the confusing bits from earlier turn out to have a purpose but then the author turns around and wraps everything up with a massive self proclaimed Deus ex machina.

This is a deep and complex novel that could probably benefit from a second reading but I not so sure I Could be bothered.

"The City at the End of Time" by Greg Bear

I think this was a good book but I am not entirely sure. You see I didn't really understand what was going on and now having finished it I am still not sure I understand. I got the main gist, I think, something about the end of time and the universe being consumed by chaos and time travelling dreamers who somehow link those end of days to the present day and books being some kind of bulwark against chaos. All very confusing but quite compelling reading I must admit. The story grabbed me in its own fashion and I was just hoping that I would figure it all out by the end. Didn't happen sadly. I must google for an explanation.

Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons is one of my favourite Science Fantasy authors so I was delighted to stumble across this, his breakthrough novel, in my local lending library. "Song of Kali" is actually horror rather than SF but it is a well written gripping horror story based on Hindu myth and legend  set in a squalid and bleakly described Calcutta. The main character is a poet  who inadvertently gets caught up in this web of human sacrifice and grotesque re-animation and his story certainly held my attention till the last page.

Good stuff although the world has shrunk since 1985 when the book was published and I am not sure he would get away with his stylised depiction of Calcutta if he were writing it today.

The Lightstone by David Zindell

This first book of a fantasy series from David Zindel leaves no fantasy cliché un-ticked: Unlikely Hero with flaw that will turn out to be his greatest strength: check. Motley Crew of adventurers coming together on epic quest:  Check. Party Contains warrior: check, beautiful female archer: check, bard: check, healer: check, hero's best friend who appears to be useless but will actually turn out to have key role in saving hero and therefore the world: check. All powerful villain, the epitome of evil who was defeated in ages gone by but who is immortal and re-appears every few centuries to try to take over everything: check. Strange telepathic link between evil villain and unlikely hero: check. Did I mention the sword? Heroic sword to be carried by our hero that has lingered since time immemorial at the bottom of a (wait for it) lake: check.

I could go on. Zero points unfortunately for originality of story or characterisation.  To give Zindell his due he has been somewhat bolder in creating a mythology in which to set his story. The inhabitants of Zindell's world trace their origins back to advanced beings who came from the stars bringing with them objects of unimaginable power. With the passage of the ages and the squabbling of men these objects have been used, abused and eventually lost but now our heroes must find the greatest of them, the titular Lightstone, in order to overcome the evil villain. This mythology is quite well crafted and but neither it nor the quality of Zindell's writing are enough to raise the book above OKness.  I won't be rushing out to buy the remainder of the series but I won't rule out reading them at some stage in the future either.

Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan

This is the first James P Hogan book I have read and it is also the first complete ebook I have read,  a free download from the Baen Free Library. It is a good read, a scientific detective story about what happens when 50,000 year old human remains are is discovered on the moon. The novel is heavy on factual detail and light on plot decoration so it can get a bit wordy at times but it kept me reading to the end on the 2 inch screen of my mobile phone. Like all good detective stories you can have fun guessing whodunnit before the denouement of the plot finally reveals all. I am of a mind to look out for more James P. Hogan.

The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams

An honest to goodness fairy story no less with pixies and pookas to boot from someone who has become one of my favourite authors. The protagonist of this tale gets whisked away to Fairie to discover all is not right in that magical realm. Fairy society has taken a wrong turn it seems and the sylvan glades of legend have been replaced with dark satanic power stations. This is a very entertaining read with genuinely unpleasant baddies that you long to see get their come-uppance. I won't give away any spoilers except to point out that it is a fairy story - draw your own conclusions.