Holiday Gift Guide: Books

Welcome to our annual Holiday Gift Guide where the flock takes a break from talking about all the awesome and not so awesome things to, well, talk about some more of the awesome things that you might want to consider for your Holiday shopping this year. Today we'll talk about books and comics, but throughout the week you'll have any number of things to consider (games, apps, movies, and more). 


Joe: For the epic fantasy reader in your life

 
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
The Obelisk Gate, by N.K. Jemisin
The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin

Okay, so this one is a little bit of a cheat because I'm listing three books instead of just one in this slot, but listen. I've been raving about Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy since The Fifth Season (my review) was published and each volume has not just been among the best of science fiction and fantasy published that year, it has been THE best speculative fiction published that year. Spoilers for my Best of 2017 list coming next month, but The Stone Sky (my review) is going to top that list, too.

The Stone Sky caps off a stunning epic fantasy trilogy, one which began with the threaded narrative of three orogenes and concludes with the story of a woman and daughter finally coming back together. The Broken Earth is a monumental achievement in fantasy fiction. The Stone Sky is the culmination of the best fantasy trilogy written today and that might be an understatement.



Brian: For the sci-fi horror fan in your life

Dark Intelligence, by Neal Asher
War Factory, by Neal Asher
Infinity Engine, by Neal Asher

2017 saw the conclusion of Neal Asher's Transformation trilogy, the latest in his line of Polity books. Following a war between AI-empowered humans and the violent crab-like Prador, members of each species find themselves as pawns in a rogue AI's strange mission of atonement. It's a romp through an established galaxy of post-humans, aliens, and technology that approaches magic, with a dash of some David Cronenberg-esque body horror.



Tia: For the Harry Potter fan in your life.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Illustrated Edition, by J.K. Rowling

Each year Bloomsbury and Scholastic release a stunning, fully illustrated (by Jim Kay) edition of the Harry Potter series. These books make the perfect gift for the current (or aspiring) Harry Potter fan on your list, and because it’s only the third year and they are reasonably priced for what you get (about 30 USD or less) it’s not too late to start a great gift giving tradition. I’ve recommended these books for the last three years and they never fail to dissapoint.

Zhaoyun: For the reader living in a dystopian reality in your life

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale--because it's sounding more and more horrifyingly prescient with every day that goes by! Plus, all that doom and gloom makes for a very entertaining story (and you can even get the recipient either the feature film and/or the new(ish) TV series, as well!).

Vance: For the Twin Peaks fan in your life

Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier, by Mark Frost

I'm sure there's an appropriate, Black Lodgian analogy for what Mark Frost is to David Lynch in the story of unfolding the Twin Peaks saga, but I'll just be literal: David Lynch is widely hailed as *the* creative force behind Twin Peaks, while series co-creator and co-writer Mark Frost's influence is largely unsung. It's weird. Maybe Frost doesn't like giving interviews as much, but who knows? Throughout his filmography, Lynch has been famously ambivalent about whether or not audiences "get it" in a conscious, academic sense, and more concerned if people are moved by his work on an emotional level. I went on the ride for Twin Peaks: The Return, and I thought it was great. That said, yes, it totally would've been nice to have actually known what was up with Audrey Horne. Or what happened to Becky. Or...well, lots of stuff. I mean, there are loose ends. Lots. Admittedly. Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier doesn't promise to tie them all up, but it does promise to answer questions! Some questions, definitely get answered. And that's good enough for me. This feels like a must for the Twin Peaks fan in your life.

Mike: For the horror fan in your life:

Strange Weather, by Joe Hill

 

Featuring four short novels, Joe Hill delivers some truly shocking stories that will be sure to delight the horror/supernatural fan in your life. My personal favorite was Snapshot, which made me nostalgic for Locke and Key due to the Polaroid-esque camera forged from whispering iron. Each story is unique, with Loaded hitting a little too close to home and by far the most disturbing of the group. 

POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Writer / Editor of the mostly defunct Adventures in Reading since 2004. Minnesotan.

Microreview [book]: Infinity Engine by Neal Asher

To Infinity and Beyond

 Reviewer's Note: This is part 3 of the Transformation series, preceded by Dark Intelligence and War Factory. This review will not be mindful of spoilers from those books. The spoiler-free review is that this novel could almost stand on its own as it's fairly contained within its own starfaring story for being the third chapter in a trilogy. 9/10. 

Following immediately after the events of the showdown at Room 101, Infinity Engine still follows Penny Royal's pawns as it moves towards its end game. While Penny Royal has neutralized most threats to its existence, and manipulated others to its own ends, it cannot account for The Brockle, an insane AI who's recently escaped its own prison. With the Polity and the Prador kingdom still concerned with what the end goal is, and The Brockle as the wild card, all of the spinning plates have to land somewhere, and they sure do make a mess, in a good way.

Here's the struggle with writing a trilogy, or any book series; it has to go somewhere. I can safely say that the conclusion of the Transformation trilogy is satisfying. That's some of the highest praise I can give any novel, as, if you've read my reviews you might know, so many books botch the endings. Asher's experience at spinning long-tailed stories is obvious here. This isn't his first book series, and each novel in this trilogy has a conclusion that supports the individual novel as well as the overall story. If you've read Dark Intelligence, I'm happy to report that it's worth seeing the series to the end.

As with the previous two novels, Infinity Engine has largely the same characters you met at the start, but it still somehow expands the universe. Stuff that gets pointed to in the first novel receives more attention and becomes more important here, which connects the story in an effective way. The novel is still sort of magical in that Asher can more or less make anything happen and wave his hands with technology beyond our grasp, but it's a fun read.

I have to take a little bit from it though for cheating. The reason the end goal seems so elusive in the first two novels is that it's not even present until the third. I may be mistaken because this series has been spread across three years and some small details may have escaped my notice, but the very first chapter of this novel introduces something very important either was completely absent from the first two novels, or wasn't given a second glance. Of course an AI with seeming omniscience can seem inscrutable when the reader isn't given the full picture. We can't connect the dots when the last couple dots aren't even on the page. In these circumstances, someone could almost pick up Infinity Engine, read the cast of characters from the start of the novel, and still get an exciting story without ever reading the previous two novels without being particularly left behind.

Way back in my review of Dark Intelligence, I called that novel "solid sci-fi combined with excellent universe building". That description could be applied to all three novels in this series. Infinity Engine reaches a well-built crescendo that makes the whole trilogy greater than the sum of its parts. Even though you could take Infinity Engine separately from the rest of the trilogy, you shouldn't. It's good, but the supporting novels make it great.

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 continues to expand an already well defined universe, +1 sticks the landing on both the novel and the trilogy

Penalties: -1 cheats the trilogy ending a little by revealing a crucial element at the very start of this novel that wasn't present in the previous two

Nerd Coefficient: 9/10 (very high quality/standout in its category)

***

POSTED BY: brian, sci-fi/fantasy/video game dork and contributor since 2014

Reference: Asher, Neal. Infinity Engine. [Night Shade Books, 2017] 

Microreview [book]: War Factory by Neal Asher

Rebuilding Weapons

Reviewer's Note: This is part 2 of the Transformation series, preceded by Dark Intelligence. This review will not be mindful of spoilers from that book. The spoiler-free review is that this novel is a good read as a big, ambitious space opera but might leave you scratching your head even if you did read the previous book. 8/10. 

Picking up shortly after the events of Dark Intelligence, Penny Royal's pawns find themselves spread across the galaxy. Spear and Riss are back on the hunt for the rogue AI. Blite and his crew find themselves in the hands of a Polity forensic AI with a vicious streak and an obsession with Penny Royal. Meanwhile, Sverl emerges from the depths of Rock Pool to confront both Penny Royal and his nemesis, Cvorn. Penny Royal itself is putting pieces in motion, and all of the players in this game seem to move on its command.

Like Dark Intelligence, War Factory is a fairly wild and complex space opera. With so many characters, Asher excellently balances the focus between them to the point that I never got tired of hearing from any one perspective, but he also keeps the constantly changing perspective from feeling jarring. The bulk of the novel is concerned with Sverl and the Prador, with Spear taking a backseat as far as the narrative goes, but no particular character is forgotten for long. What it does best is convey that there is a lot going on in this big universe, and where the focus is is on the important stuff. It also convincingly portrays Penny Royal as intelligence and capability beyond the world it inhabits, with inscrutable plans that sometimes feel like not even Asher knows where it's going.  The third book in this series will tell whether or not we've been moving toward a satisfying conclusion, but I'm absolutely on board for more.

However, this comprises my biggest gripe with War Factory. As the middle chapter, I'm not sure I'm seeing the arch of the trilogy plot beyond "Penny Royal is changing this universe, maybe for the better, maybe not". Penny Royal's motives are still largely unknown to me, even if this novel points to its origin and the actions its made may tell me more than I know. The plot of this novel is sufficient to read alone, but, like Dark Intelligence, it's difficult to tell if I'm not picking up on some of the overarching plot elements because they're not there, or I'm not picking up on them because this is the 14th book in this universe, and I've only read the most recent two. 

Regardless, War Factory is full of weird science and space, lots of complex characters, and healthy amounts of body horror. Don't expect to get every question answered but enjoy the ride and we'll see where we end up with the concluding chapter. War Factory is an exercise in trusting the author, and I'm sufficiently impressed enough to continue to do so.
 

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 manages to make an inscrutable AI with believably unknowable plans.

Penalties: -1 maybe those plans are unknowable because it has no plans and it's hard to tell if this is going somewhere that will make the whole better than the sum of the already good parts.

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10 (well worth your time and attention)

***

POSTED BY: brian, sci-fi/fantasy/video game dork and contributor since 2014

Reference: Asher, Neal. War Factory [Night Shade Books, 2016] 

brian's Summer Reading (and Gaming) List 2016

Summer for me is usually where I get to catch up on a lot of the mid-year video game releases, but this year I'm looking ahead. I've got The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine to hold me off for a while, but then I'll need fresh material, and they've all got a lot to live up to after Doom.

On the reading front, I'm still (slowly) trudging my way through Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and mixing it up with some new books to keep up.

Books

1. Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

God knows it took me all of last year and some of this year to finish Reaper's Gale but I'm continuing on with this series. It's not so much that they're hard to read, because I love them, but they're very long, I'm a slow reader, and I do take breaks to read more current stuff. Still, excited to get this one started after how Reaper's Gale ended!

2. War Factory by Neal Asher

Thoroughly impressed by Dark Intelligence, really excited to see where the story continues.

3. Behind the Throne by K. B. Wagers

It's not summer if I don't try something new, so I'm giving Behind the Throne a shot. I'm hoping a new author starting a new series will give me something else to read for more summers to come.






Video Games:

1. Overwatch

Overwatch is going to be my summer fill-in-the-time game. It's pretty much a refresh of Team Fortress 2, which is almost infinitely replayable. It's got a ton of character, and I've barely scratched the surface of it. 

2. House of the Dying Sun

I've been following the development of this game rather closely since the sole developer is a member of a gaming community that I've been part of for a very long time. The game looks incredible and I've been very excited to get my hands on it.

3. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

 I'm a huge fan of the Deus Ex series and I will absolutely be lining up to play Mankind Divided. Human Revolution was an incredible game and I've been pretty pleased with what's been shown of this sequel. Including the composer from NeoTokyo is a brilliant move too.

***

POSTED BY: brian, sci-fi/fantasy/video game dork and contributor since 2014

Microreview [book]: Dark Intelligence by Neal Asher

Darkly Entertaining

I'm no stranger to long running book series, even if the longest I've read is most of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. However, I don't think I've ever come into a book series from anywhere but the start, until Dark Intelligence. It's the first book in a series within an multi-series known as the Polity universe. And it's good, I liked it, but there are parts that made me question whether I'm missing something because I'm walking in on a movie part-way through, or because it's the first in a series that will continue beyond the bounds of the novel.

Dark Intelligence is about Penny Royal. Penny Royal is a "black AI", an artificial intelligence that turned against the Polity, committing crimes against its citizens and worse. Penny Royal, it's told, touched a lot of lives in the century since he (AI have genders in Dark Intelligence) went black. The story follows some of those lives as they find themselves either hunting Penny Royal, or being manipulated by him, or both.

The main character, whose chapters are written in the first-person perspective while all others are written in the third, is Thorvald Spear. Spear's got a a grudge against Penny Royal ever since the black AI turned against his unit during the war against the Prador (a race of giant crabs) and killed him a century ago. Through the magic of technology, he finds himself resurrected post-war, and goes out to find and destroy Penny Royal. With similar motives, the AI is also sought out by a crime lord, a Prador captain, and an assassin drone.

As I said earlier, this might be the first time I've come into a book universe without starting from the beginning, so it was odd to me that Spear was immediately set upon by a cat-like woman, seduced by her, and then the woman disappears for the rest of the novel without much explanation for the encounter at all. In fact, having been resurrected a century after your death and having sex with the first woman that approaches you at the bar sounds like a particularly bad idea! Maybe she was a bigger figure in previous novels. Maybe not and this scene was written to set some future plots in motion. Another sex scene occurs near the end of the novel, and I can't help but shake the feeling that they were included just to make sure this already mature novel earned a solid R rating in its movie adaptation (that's a metaphor, I don't know if there's a movie coming). It's not that they're poorly written, but that they seem sudden and out of place with the rest of the novel.

But beyond those seemingly out of place scenes, Dark Intelligence was a real enjoyable read. There are other characters and locations that speak to a universe larger than what I read, and what I read makes me want to go back through those previous novels. Dark Intelligence had a lot of things I like in my sci-fi: planet hopping, space ships, evil AI, inscrutable aliens, war-like aliens, human augmentation, biological warfare, and some body horror. It's got a touch of cyberpunk and a touch of biopunk. There are enough blurred lines that I spent most of the story questioning whether or not Penny Royal was the monster that everyone else in the story made him out to be. It's a story that kept me guessing at the AI's motives, even if the rest of his pursuers were seemingly more clear cut.

Dark Intelligence is the first of the Transformation series within the Polity universe, and I'm officially looking forward to the next book. It's solid sci-fi combined with excellent universe building kept me interested from the start.

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 excellently employed sci-fi tropes

Penalties: -1 sex scenes that don't really contribute much to the story

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10 (Well worth your time and attention)

***

POSTED BY: brian, sci-fi/fantasy/video game dork and contributor since 2014

Reference: Asher, Neal. Dark Intelligence [Night Shade Books, 2015]