Freedom

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4. Night Huntress by Yasmine Galenorn

Night Huntress

I just finished the fifth book in the Otherworld series. We return to Delilah's perspective.  They discover the location of the fourth spirit seal, but have to once again find it before Karvanak the Raksasa gets it.  Trillian is missing and Chase and Delilah and Chase are having problems.

Like the rest of the books, it was a light read, but enjoyable.  A little more sex than the previous ones, but not too much.  I enjoyed reading it.

-ken-

0.  The Devouring by Simon Holt
1.  Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton
2.  Dragon Wytch by Yasmine Galenorn

( Reviews... )

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31. Galaxy in Flames (Horus Heresy Book 3) by Ben Counter

( Review... )

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I'm going to try to get caught up on my book reviews.

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22. To Trade the Stars by Julie E. Czerneda
23. Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
24. Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre
25. The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
26. KOP by Warren Hammond
27. Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda
28. Horus Rising (Horus Heresy Book 1) by Dan Abnett
29. False Gods (Horus Heresy Book 2) by Graham McNeill

( Reviews... )

-ken-

I got on a SciFi kick, so I've changed to SciFi books.  I red the first two books in Julie E. Czerneda's Trade Pact Universe series. I haven't found the third one yet.

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21. A Thousand Words for Stanger by Julie E. Czerneda
22. Ties of Power by Julie E. Czerneda

( Reviews... )

-ken-

I'm getting caught up on the books I've read that I haven't posted reviews of yet, so I can have all the books I read this year in before the New Year. One such book is the Lake of the Long Sun, the second book of the Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. I posted the review of the first part, Nightside the Long Sun, a bit ago.



This book continues the story in the first one. The plot thickens as the main character starts pursuing a lead to find out what the doctor is up to, in hopes of blackmailing him. The trail leads to the lake, where Silk finds secrets that he hadn't even guessed existed. The whole nature of the Whorl is turned on it's head, and events start getting even more interesting.

In some ways I loved this one more than the first part. It's more interesting, but it's also more strange. And it left me wondering what will happen in the rest of the series.

-ken-

November is National Novel Writing Month.  Once more I am attempting it.  I'm at 1,379 words at this point.  To get through in time, I need 3,000 a day, so I should be at 9,000, so I'm already behind.  On their site, my username is kethar.  If anyone wants to be "writing buddies" on it, let me know.

My novel this your is called Leaves on Immortality and takes place in three worlds in the distant future, one somewhat Aztec, one Norse, and the World Above between them, where most of the story will take place.  The main character is a priest.

Luck in the Shadows,
-ken-

On Tuesday, after reading three books in the middle of it, I finished Changeling by Yasmine Galenorn, the sequel to Witchling. As beheld and envyious told me, it was better than the first. I'm looking forward to Darkling, the third book.

In every battle comes that moment of quiet calm. It only lasts a fraction of a second as force assesses force, estimations are made. Then the flag falls, and the journey into hell begins. And we stood poised on the brink, waiting for that indecipherable moment when the muse whispers, "Go." ~ Changeling by Yasmine Galenorn, Page 261

This book is narrated by Delilah, the shape-changing sister of Camille, the witch who narrated the first book. It takes place a few months after the first. In it, trouble finds the three sisters once more, with things getting worse and worse back on Otherworld. A shapechanging puma comes to Delilah for help, because someone is killing his pride, one by one. She takes her sisters to investigate and things start getting interesting.

This book holds together better than the first and feels much better written. I can't wait to see what Darkling is like.

-ken-

I finished Better Than Life, the sequel to Red Dwarf on Tuesday. I lived it; it was hilarious.



( Contains spoilers in relation to the first book... )

The book is as funny as the first. I greatly recommend reading both.

-ken-

I just finished two books my Robert Reed: Marrow and The Well of Stars. I read them in the wrong order, but really enjoyed both of them. I now consider Robert Reed, along with Steven Brust, Gene Wolfe, and William Gibson, on of the my favourite authors. I look forward to reading more of his books and stories in the future.



Marrow.  Imagine the infinite void our galaxy floats in.  Imagine the immense time it represents.  Now picture a ship, coming from an empty part of space, where only the signature of the most ancient galaxies remain.  Imagine a ship older than our planet, older than our galaxy.  This is the Great Ship.  This ship is round, like a planet, but immense.  Its radius is ten times that of our solar system, and it's full of living areas, enough for millions of races to live side by side, each in their own habitat, but it's empty of life.  Imagine this ship being claimed by humans, then filling with all types of life from across the galaxy.  Everything is good.  Now imagine finding out that the ship is hollow.  There is a space within.  And in this space, beneath the bright sky of one long day is a planet, a planet of heavy metals, a planet with ancient plants and animals more ancient than our galaxy.  Imagine being the first to step foot on this world within a world.  What secrets does it hold?  Why is it there?  This world is Marrow.

I read The Well of Stars first.  Part way through it, I checked Marrow out from the library to find out the first part of the story.  I'm glad I did.  Though I knew some things the reader wasn't meant to know because of reading the second book first, there were many surprises I didn't expect.  I highly recommend reading this book.



The Well of Stars.  Picture the Great Ship traveling through space.  It has avoided several catastrophes and is now pointed out of our galaxy, ending a 100,000 year detour around the Milky Way.  But it isn't into deep space yet.  Before it is a mysterious black nebula dubbed the Ink Well.  There is rumours of life in the Well, but no one knows what.  The crew of the Great Ship work hard to discover what they can about it, hoping to make it through unscathed.  But what do they really know about life?  What do they really know about Creation?  What do they really know about the Great Ship?  Where did it come from?  And who else might want it?

I read The Well of Stars first, before the first one, so there were a few things I didn't understand, but that was fine.  I saw the book for sale in Hastings used in hardback, but wanted to read something in paperback so I could more easily take it with me.  I bought it and put it in my backpack.  One day I accidentally left Changeling at home so I started it.  I couldn't put it down.  I still haven't finished Changeling.

This book was amazing.  I've never read anything like it.  It plays with both your idea of what life is, and with the nature of the universe.  If you like space novels, be ready not to want to put this book down.  But it would be best to read Marrow first.

-ken-

Earlier this week, I finished The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks. It was excellent! I can't wait until the next one comes out in paperback.



Picture a world much like our own. There is more going on than we know. We are unaware of the battle going on around us, are happy in our ignorance. We are either drones who just do what we're told and have no ambition, or we are citizens, working within the Vast Machine, not knowing what's really going on, that we are being directed. But there are others, moving in our world and we don't know it. There are the Travelers, able to pass into five other realms beyond our own and return to make a change in our world. There are the Pathfinders, who know how to help the Travelers cross over. There are the Harlequins, vicious fighters trained to disappear for the Grid, trained to fight, trained to protect the Travelers. And there are the Tabula, who call themselves the Brethren, who fight to destroy the Travelers and the Harlequins.

In the book, a young Harlequin travels to the US to protect two brothers who could be Travelers. The Tabula, however, are also seeking the brothers. Can she reach them in time?

It's half cyberpunk, half fantasy, in a way, at least by my definitions. It is fairly original and very well written. It keeps you wondering and has several plot twists. It is action packed, with some more relaxed parts. It is not a light read. If you need something light, don't read it. However, if you want something that will make you think and question the world around you, I highly recommend it.

Luck in the Shadows,
-ken-

I just finished reading Recursion by Tony Ballantyne.



It was excellent! It takes place in three different times, all in our future. Each chapter is in a different one of the times, so you change to a different time each chapter and come back to the same time after the next two chapters. It follows three people, one in each time: Eva, Constantine, and Herb. Each chapter builds on the others, so you get a more complete picture of each from the earlier times.

The book deals strongly with what it means to be human, whether it is better to let bad things happen to those in your care or to interfer and force good things on them, and whether we know what we really want. Technology-wise, it deals with Van Neumann Machines (self-replicating machines), AIs, and non-Turing machines (non-linear operations).

Anyone who likes SciFi should read this book. I'm looking forward to reading the second book by Ballantyne, Capacity, as soon as I can afford to buy it, and the third that is yet to come out, Divergence.

I'm currently reading Vellum by Hal Duncan, and starting The Magic Engineer by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Hopefully by the time I finish these, I will have Capacity to read.

Luck in the Shadows,
-ken-