Sorry, I'm going back

I'm going back to my old blog. I moved here because of better G+ integration, but I just couldn't get used to Blogger. You may thin I'm indecisive, but I'm only choosing the platform I like more at the end of the day. Please do come over to see what I'm up to. I continue to post reviews and I plan to share my thoughts on books and writing from a readers' point of view.

Empty Places by Martin Roy Hill

Empty Places by Martin Roy Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I start with the title: it has two meanings. In the beginning of the book Robin Anderson is killed in a deserted place, alone. The other empty places aren't that obvious, they are hidden in the souls. Inside Peter, the ex-husband, who has seen brutal things leaving marks on him figuratively and literally. And inside men, who sold their humanity for money and power.

I like the voice of the author, his style is smooth, I enjoyed reading the story.

The characters are well drawn, not only the hero, but the smaller ones too. Some of them showed really interesting traits, for example Laurie, who... wait, I don't want to spoil it, better if you read it yourself.

Unfortunately I could guess the main villain, even if the author made an attempt to divert me from it. Besides that there were quite a few surprises, for example the identity of the killer. And did I tell you what Laurie did? You won't believe it. There was even a turn after I thought it was over, the killer got what he deserved.

If you want a good read, Empty Places is the right choice.

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Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This one is an irregular review.

I'll be short.

Listening to the audiobook I couldn't really believe that the crazy genetic experience happened. (No government is that stupid.)

Then the author killed the protagonist.

I could not decide if it was crazy or brilliant.

But at the end I was shaking my head, which sums up my total impression.

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Blue into the Rip by Kev Heritage

Blue Into The Rip by Kev Heritage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I went back in time and read this book through the eyes of the teenager myself.

I found the story quite interesting. I love time travel, it's awesome, it's a paradox itself. This time the Blue, the hero travels into the future. I appreciate the novelty in the method of the time travel, it's not the cliché of time machine or shimmering portal, but a brutal force through time and space: the Rip.

In the story the future is similar to other distopian futures: the climate is warmed, the most part of the Earth became desert, the fauna and flora is distorted, new, dangerous species emerged. But. Unlike other books, this one offers several alternatives: underground habitats, space colonies, new worlds discovered through the Rip. The distopian books are on the rise, and I'm starting to be fed up with the dark, ugly picture of the possible future. Blue into the Rip offers a fresh take on the subject. And some hope.

The Crater, the underground cave with artificial sun and rich vegetation is awesome.

The story is full of action. Blue gets into more and more trouble, as he finds out secrets of the future and try to solve puzzles which seems to go beyond his comprehension. And not only the mysterious organisation called SEARCH has secrets, but his superiors and his mates at the Academy. He finds out strange things even about himself as the events unfold. The middle of the story slows down a little as we follow Blue through the military training, but the special tasks the cadets have to perform still grabs the attention of the reader. At the end of the book you have to hang on, because the action really speeds up.

The plot has a big arc, and this book raises further questions making the base for sequels.

good characters

There was one thing which distracted me time after time: the author often used sentences without verbs. This type of writing can be considered as the voice of the writer, however it should be used with care, only sparingly. To make it clear, here is an example: "A warning siren and the porthole closed". I was confused, because the it says that both a warning siren and the porthole were closed. Should be: "A warning siren sounded and the porthole was closed."

The Blue into the Rip is a decent read, I enjoyed it.

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The Human Division by John Scalzi

The Human Division by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When reading a book I often was wondering what happened to the secondary characters. What they did when not helping the hero? What kind of life they lived? Now I had the possibility to get to know more about some of them.

In The Human Division I met Harry Wilson of the Old Farts. If you haven't read the Old Man's War, you may not know who the hell I'm talking about. I can tell to you: you missed a great story, so you better go and read it. If you did, probably you remember the group of old people who signed up for the Colonial Defence Force, got a new enhanced body and became green in the process. Yes, they were the good Old Farts. They went in different ways in the CDF, Wilson became a Lieutenant in the technical service. Lately he got assigned to assist diplomats, who - well, to put it mildly - were the B Team. But don't get it wrong, in this dangerous universe even the B Team saves the ass of the Colonial Union once or twice. You may think that the most dangerous in diplomacy could be that you die of boredom during endless speeches in meetings. But rest assured: even diplomats get shot at or sucked out into vacuum from the space lock of the ship. And the assisting personnel may be beaten up by half size aliens and they may have to perform skydiving while the space station they just left is blown up. Yo know, the usual space stuff.

The book consists of 13 seemingly separate stories, but by the end a grandiose conspiracy plot takes shape against the Colonial Union. Or the Conclave. Or both. It's not really clear who is behind the scenes, and what is their purpose exactly. This is why I can hardly wait for the next book of the Old Man's War universe.

I really enjoyed Scalzi's sarcastic humour, it is one of the reasons he became one of my favourite authors.

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Ballistic by Mark Greaney

Ballistic by Mark Greaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was hooked on Mark Greany's books right from the first one. He writes just the type of stories I like: fast paced action spiced with special human relations.

In Ballistic Greaney takes us to Mexico, and shows the dark shadows of los amigos. I live in Europe, so the setting was exotic for me. The Ballistic is a work of fiction, and I'm pretty sure Greaney made up the Mafia characters, but based on the news sometimes I hear there must be some truth in the Mexican gang wars. It adds to the reliability of the story.

The Grey man is a strange hero: he is an assassin, but he takes on only bad guys and criminals. Which makes him the good guy in the reader's eye. He isn't James Bond, sometimes he is betrayed and deceived, which makes his character more believable. In this book he has a love affair. I liked the way it was written, the Grey man remained totally in his character, with his past and fears.

The story of Ballistic is compelling: the Grey Man finds himself between two Mafia groups trying to save the family of his respected but dead friend. Can a loner win against two armies of bad guys? Can he be smart enough to outwit them? Is the loyalty and friendship more important than his own life? Well, you can guess the answers, I suppose, I don't need to tell you.

The book has elements of torture and inhuman treatment, so read it only if you don't mind some hard story parts. And it has a lot of shooting, fortunately most often it is the bad guys who fall.

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Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm slightly above the young adult age (around twenty five years plus), so consider my opinion taking that into account. You may ask why I read YA books then. Why not? I'm curious.

I enjoyed Insurgent. And I didn't.

The setting is quite compelling, the basic idea is really interesting. How could a society work if people are divided into factions based on their mental attitude? And I arrived to the first point I have problem with. I'm not a sociologist nor psychologist, but I'm sure it cannot work. Humans are not black and white. Humans are not of four clear colour, they cannot be put into boxes. It just doesn't work like that. The idea of creating a society based on this is born dead. But it still could be interesting to see how things can develop in a scenario like this, so I suspended my disbelief and I wanted to know, you know, "what if". It reminded me of religious cults suppressing general truths worshipping only one (often false one). I continued listening (to the audio version) as it was an experiment on one possible way to solve the society's serious issues. I put my doubts aside and flowed with the story, and I did enjoy it more. By the end of the book I learned that this environment didn't evolve, but it was established artificially. That helps a little to believe the scenario. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

In the factions individuals start to pup up as divergents, (of course they do, if they didn't the story wouldn't exist), and this society cannot handle them. They blend in pretending having one aptitude or get hunted because they cannot fit in the system. That creates a lot of tension, and gives the floor for the action.

The action moved the story forward, and kept me listening. I really liked the action scenes, those were the best parts of the book. Unfortunately in between there were scenes when the heroin agonized over exaggerated dilemmas. Maybe I've a very simple personality, maybe it was too long time ago when I was teenager, maybe being a man I cannot understand the girls (who can? :) ). Maybe Tris had mental issues. But some of the whining should have been cut out.

I would have enjoyed more world-building. There were some explanations about the supporting equipment like power supply, but I missed some technicalities how they could sustain the supporting services. It was a closed environment after all.

By the way, can somebody tell me who drove the train? People died, factions fought each other, but that damn train still run no matter what.

As I mentioned I'm not in YA age anymore, that may explain my disbelief concerning the hands off love between Four and Tris. At the age of 16-19 teenagers are much more interested in the hands on stuff of sex. It was annoying how the circumstances (or their fears or anger) "accidentally" stopped Four and Tris to get into it more deeply. I don't say there should be explicit sex scenes, not at all. But their love would have been more believable if there were scenes like "Four pulled Tris' shirt off, kissed her on the mouth and... Cut.... Tris smiled at Four and nested herself in his arms with satisfaction". Like in an old movie ;)

The character of Tris is well drawn, we get to know her deepest secrets and fears. She had a special power, she could resist the simulation. Awesome. She is mentally off balance in my opinion, but I gather that was the author's intention. But it didn't help to like her that she made stupid decisions. I mean stupid. For example when she joined Marcus. She loved Four, she knew that Four hates Marcus, she didn't trust Marcus, and didn't have evidence that it was true what he was saying, but she went with him instead of being and fighting on Four's side.

I'm sure my daughter enjoyed the book more, because she already told me she hardly can wait for the third one to come out. She is at the right age, I suppose.

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Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard

Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book I read from Elmore Leonard. I heard that he is one of the finest writers. With all respect, this book didn't impress me that much. The story wasn't that interesting to make me turn the pages with excitement. The plot was Ok, but the story was more about situations and desires of the characters and the conflicts they gotten into.

What kept me reading was Leonard's style, which is awesome. Reading this book was like sitting in a comfy chair with a drink in my hand listening to a storyteller with amazingly natural abilities to make stories alive. The way he writes reminds me of an old grandpa telling tales you cannot stop listening.

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Writing project

They say one of the ways to fight procrastination is to make your project public. So here I am, shouting into the internet crowd: I'm writing a novella.

I'm studying the craft of writing for a few years now, and it's time to take it to the next level. I have written several short stories, some of them got nice feedbacks. I have written two novels, which stay in my drawer until I decide if they're worth the effort to edit and polish them. (There is a chance that hey will remain in the drawer for good.)

Now I'm concentrating my creativity and knowledge to craft a publishable story. So far I created the plot and the main characters. The story takes place in Brussels, Belgium, which I hope will be somewhat exotic for the readers.

And the big thing is: I'm writing a romance.

I'm an introvert by nature, and according to my wife I'm not the most romantic person in the world. Usually I read sci-fi, fantasy and thriller, but occasionally I venture into other territories such as romance and paranormal. Until now I wrote sci-fi and thriller stories, these are the genres I'm comfortable with. But I struggle with the romantic scenes. (Even sci-fi and thriller stories have romance in them, right?) I decided that I have to improve, and what is the best way to do that? Yep, jumping right into the deep water. So I bought a few how-to books on writing romance, and asked my wife to suggest some of the books she liked. And I plunged into them. At this point I cannot say if it's a good idea, but there is one way to know it: I finish this story, and ask a few beta readers for their opinions. Then I will see what will I do with the manuscript. Shred it or send it out.

I will give updates time after time on the Current Project page, I even placed a word count bar in the side column on the right.

Fingers crossed, I'm back to writing.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have bought this book for my daughter, she is in the right age for a YA novel. But then I thought, what the hell, the book is out in public for anyone to read, so I read it. Actually I listened to it, since I picked up the Audible version. I try to write my review as if I were a few years younger :)

The story is interesting. The idea of the hidden magic world below a real town is not that original, but still compelling. There is still much can be said or written about it. I thought I was familiar with the story of the first book in the series since I saw the movie, but listening I gathered that the book was different. Anyway, I learned enough backstory to enjoy this volume. The creatures and the magic system was awesome. I could hardly wait to see them in work. Unfortunately the authors didn't expand the full potential these creatures were capable of. I expected more use of magic and more direct conflict and fight. More about this later.

There were some really good characters, I liked Link and Liv the best. Oh, and the old ladies. Unfortunately they were not the main characters. I found Ethan - who supposed to be the hero - a weak, girlish kid. He did nothing else but think of Lena. He didn't play computer games, he didn't play soccer, he didn't hang out with his friends. He did nothing what a guy at his age would do. Actually I didn't understand why he insisted on belonging to Lena. There was no future for them, because they couldn't be together as mortal and immortal. OK, I could accept this because of the power of love overcomes every barrier. But the girl consequently refused him and sent him away, she was impossible go get on with. If was Ethan I would have left Lena and picked up Liv. I just couldn't believe that Ethan was able to love Lena with such an intensity. I'm not too romantic, I suppose.

As I said I would love to see more fight. Some may say that this is a YA book for fifteen to eighteen years old kids, and we must be careful writing about violence. Come on. These kids already played through Call of Duty Black Ops II. Twice. They watched ol' Skywalker get burned and turned dark in Star Wars. They watched the ork battle in The Lord of The Rings. I don't say that the book should contain extreme violence, but if my thirteen year old son would read it he would fall asleep bored.

It's same with the sex. I support that there shouldn't be forthright sex scenes. But again: come on. Most of our kids had their first sexual experience before the age of eighteen. A seventeen year old boy spends most of his day thinking about cars and computers games and girls. And when they think about girls they don't stop at holding hands and innocent kissing. I didn't, and I was a quite average guy. "YA books shouldn't have sex in them" is a myth, which should be busted. YA books shouldn't have steamy sex scenes, I agree. But guys put your hands on your heart and say: "when kissing, I strictly forbade my hands trying to explore my girl's touchy spots". You cannot, because you would lie. But in this book that wouldn't even be possible, because when it gets hot, the mortal one of the couple gets burned for real.

I had one other problem with the book: it was too long. It was too long, because of the repetition of the same thing over and over again. It could have been compressed into half length. Making it shorter would have increased the tension and quicken the pace. Also it could have helped to avoid having long discussions before or during actions. It was annoying how the characters explained the evident while I was eager to know what was really happening. Our kids are growing in a very intense environment and got to used to fast image video clips and action movies, not explanations stretching until becoming boring.

I have to mention that I loved the narration, and the southern accent. I also liked the style the book was written, it flowed smoothly.

I wonder what my daughter will have to say about the book.

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The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly

The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I discovered Michael Connelly last year reading one of his Mickey Haller novels. I liked his style immediately, and read a Harry Bosch novel. Then I decided that I must read all of his books. So I started with his first one, and I'm slowly going through.

I find The Last Coyote the best one of Connelly's first four books. I got to know Bosch more deeply than in the previous books, I especially liked the sessions with his therapist.

Bosch is not a superhero, he makes stupid mistakes and makes bad decisions. It makes him and the story more real.

I like how Connelly plays with the emotions of his characters bringing tension and conflict in the story.

I listened to the audiobook, Dick Hill did an excellent job narrating it. In writing classes they teach you not to write the filler words like "uhm" or "er", but in the audio version they come through really well when expressing confusion or embarrassment.

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The last copy

Butcher went into the bookstore and stopped. He looked around, taking in the picture he have seen thousand times. The place had all the features you can expect from a bookstore. It had shelves full of books, sorted by genres which were written with brown letters on big beige tags. There were thrillers and horror books, comedy and science-fiction stories, romance volumes and all other kinds of books people may want to buy. Or may not. On the side there were magazines and newspapers, and even a small corner with tea biscuits in case someone wanted to chew on something while reading. On the other side, close to the door was the cash register with a display, inside there were bookmarkers and key rings featuring miniature books.
Not the best bookstore. Nor the worst.
Behind the desk stood a guy, reading a thick volume, probably fantasy, considering the cover image. He looked up, and said hello. Butcher nodded and then went inside.
He breathed in the characteristic smell of a place full of books. Old memories came to him. He remembered sitting in the armchair in another bookstore as a child, reading without noticing the outside world, the story sucking him in until it was more real than anything. Felt like it was ages ago.
He walked between the shelves checking this book and that, reading first sentences and back cover blurbs. He smiled at some of them. They were old friends from long ago. Finally he got to the thriller section and found the name of the author, then found the title. There was only one copy left. Empty space indicated those which already found their readers. He picked it up and started to read the back cover. He smiled again. Yes, it would make an excellent present for Jenny. She loved Lee Child, she had all his books neatly arranged on a separate shelf in her room. Butcher suspected that Jenny was in love with the main character, Jack Reacher. He could understand it, the guy was tall and muscular and mysterious. He would be a good buddy to have if he was real.
The bell at the door chimed and Butcher looked up. A woman came in and went to the desk guy. She was tall and slim and blond. She was wearing jeans and brown leather jacket. She said something to the desk guy and then they came towards Butcher. He stopped watching them and went back to read the back cover. He didn't go far, because the woman and the guy stopped next to him checking the book titles.
"Sorry madam, there is no copy left" said the desk guy. He seemed honest saying sorry, maybe he thought he should have ordered more copies. For more profit.
"Shit" said the women and sighed.
The guy spread his arms. "Lee Child is really popular, and Never Go Back is his latest title."
Butcher looked up. "Uhm, sorry, I think this is the last one" he said.
The women and the guy looked at him then at the book he was holding.
The woman bit her lip. She had blue eyes with a hint of eye shadow. They reminded Butcher of the blue sky he was watching as a child, laying on his back, hands under his nape. A lock of her hair hung apart, almost covering her left eye. She shook her head absentmindedly and the lock went back to its place. Butcher couldn't stop staring at her.
The guy said excuse me and went back to his desk. To his book.
"Are you taking that?" asked the woman pointing at the book in Butcher's hand.
"I'm planning to."
"Shit" the woman said. "Sorry, I didn't want to... I mean... are you sure you're buying it?"
"I think so. Child is my niece's favourite author, I want this book for her as a present" Butcher said.
A shadow settled on her face. Butcher didn't like it. But he still couldn't stop staring at her.
"This book must be hell of a good one. This is the third store I'm checking. No copies" she said in a resigned voice.
"You can order it online."
"Would take too much time. I need it for this evening."
"I'm sorry" said Butcher. Another time and for another person he wouldn't be sorry, he got his copy, and who cared if it was the last one. But now he really was sorry.
The woman looked at her watch. "Shops are closing, no chance to find another one in time."
"This book seems important for you" Butcher said.
"Not for me. I mean it's important, but I want it for somebody else."
"Your husband must be a Lee Child fan too" Butcher said, and watched her face.
The woman made a dismissive grimace.
"Oh, no. I'm not married. The book would be for my friend. She is in hospital." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Usually I'm not pushy, but would you mind if I took this copy? I don't want to cause any inconvenience, but my friend doesn't have much time left, and I just want to see her to be happy before…"
She covered her mouth with her hand, and Butcher could see she was fighting with tears. It took a while for her to get over it. Butcher knew he was giving the book to her, but she was too beautiful to let her just walk away.
"I double the price" she said finally looking into Butcher's eyes.
"That's not necessary. I give it you."
"Oh, thank you, it's really kind of you."
"Now, you need to understand that I promised Jenny to buy her this book. She will be dissatisfied, and I will have some explanation to give. So I would like to have a little compensation. But not money."
The woman’s eyebrows went up.
"What kind of compensation?"
"A few minutes of your time with a cup of coffee. I know a place nearby, nice coffee shop."
Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled.
"That I can do. To 'compensate' for your trouble" she said.
"By the way, I'm Julien."
"Aileen."
They shook hands, Butcher gave her the book and they went to the desk to pay.
The coffee shop was in a three minute walk, and was almost full. They found a small table and ordered two caramel cappuccinos.
"Tell me about the book" she said.
"You never read Child?"
She shook her head.
Butcher talked about Jack Reacher, the tough guy, who is smart and his principle is to hit first and hard.
"In this story he goes back to his old unit to meet a woman, who is in the same job he was before he quit the army. But he walks into a trap. It turns out the woman he came to meet is in prison. He is accused of murder, and he is told he has a daughter he never knew of."
"Wow, sounds interesting."
"Yeah. But of course nothing is what it seems. He has to go against the system and find out what really happened."
Butcher wanted to tell her about the story, but before he started to talk she asked him:
"Does he meet the woman?"
Butcher watched Aileen sipping from his coffee, the small lock of hair loose again.
"Yes" he said. "He does." Then Butcher didn't want to talk about the book anymore. He wanted to know more about her.

Never Go Back by Lee Child

Never Go Back by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lee Child is one of my favourite authors, so I always look forward to read his next book. In Never Go Back Reacher finally meets Susan Turner, the nice voice from the phone. But it doesn't go as planned. Of course it doesn't, this is why we read Child don't we?
I liked the character of Susan Turner. She is a capable woman, in her own way she is like Reacher. She doesn't whine, she picks up Reacher's pace and becomes a real partner.
I would have read more fighting scenes. Reacher is a big, strong guy, and his principle is to hit first and hit hard. But he dealt with his opponents too easily. I liked the books more when he got hit too.
Child is a master of dropping as much information as needed to keep the tension and the suspense, so we keep reading. In this book the final twist was a little bit less satisfying then in the other Reacher stories. Considering Reacher's capabilities he would have guessed it earlier.
Never Go back may not be the best of the series, but still a damn good read.


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Learn to edit with the book by Don McNair

Editor-Proof Your Writing: 21 Steps to the Clear Prose Publishers and Agents Crave by Don McNair
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a newbie writer trying to learn the craft. Editing is my weak point, so I purchased this book to learn wisdom from an established editor. It was exactly what I needed and expected.

There is a vast amount of information available on the internet about editing. If you follow writers' blogs you can gather everything you need about editing your manuscript. The problem is it takes a lot of time and a lot of reading. This book is a real time saver, because you can have what you need without wasting time searching and waiting for someone to drop the piece of information you just need.

The book is straightforward and full of advices what to do to tighten your prose and to weed out the words making your writing amateurish.


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One Day in Budapes by J. F. Penn

One Day In Budapest by Joanna Penn (J.F. Penn)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I saw the title I knew I had to read this story. I'm Hungarian by origin, and you can understand that a title like this catches my eyes. The novella connected on different levels.
It was nice to read a story in English playing out on the streets of Budapest, which I know well. But I wouldn't give more stars only because of it, there was something else. It worked well on emotional level. The story touched a real problem: rise of the right-wing nationalism. I never understood why people hate their fellow citizens just because of their origins. I never understood how it escalated to a war involving the whole world. I mean, I can understand the political reasons behind, but I cannot imagine I could be on the killing side. So when I read the scene - spoiler warning - about the murder at the Danube mimicking the executions of Jewish people at the end of WW II, my heart was racing.
The secret altar in the tunnels below the Castle is a compelling element, also the historical importance of the Holy Right.
Besides the emotional aspects I like the story because it is fast paced. I like the character of Morgan Sierra. She is the key to stop the madness of the misguided mob, but I appreciate that the author let the Hungarian guy have an important role stopping the bad guys.
One Day in Budapest is a nice read.


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Rip-Off!

Rip-Off! by John Scalzi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The idea of "ripping off" famous stories by taking their first sentences seemed interesting, so I bought Rip-Off! I finished the book with mixed feelings. There are some great stories in it. Scalzi hits the high bar as he usually does, I liked The Muse of Fire the most. I had some good time with The Red Menace (by Lavie Tidhar) and The Big Whale (by Allen M. Steele). There were OK stories with nice twist at the end, like Writers' Block (by Nancy Kress), and there were OK stories, which were pleasant to listen to without having big endings, like The Lady Astronaut of Mars (by Mary Robinette Kowal). Then other stories were waste of time, I gave up on some of them after five minutes, for example Karin Coxswain or Death as She Is Truly Lived (by Paul Di Filippo).
So, do I suggest this book? Yes, if you have fair tolerance towards books with good stories mixed with ones going nowhere.

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House of Suns

"Uncle. Uncle!"

I look up. I realize Jenny is calling me for some time. She's standing in front of me, frowning, hands on her hips. She wears jeans and a red T-shirt "Brain rulez" written across her tits. It completely ruins her attempt to look serious. 

"Yes?" I grin at her.

"I hate to repeat myself" she says.

"Sorry Dear, I was reading."

She sighs. She knows well how deeply I can immerse in a book. I call it deep concentration, she calls it "men cannot focus on more than one thing". Women can multitask, but the male brain just doesn't work like that. When I'm reading, the outside world cease to exist. I submerge into the imaginary world of the story, I breath with it, I live in it.

Jenny crosses her arms. "And where were you this time?"

Where were I? Millions of miles and millions of years away, in another galaxy. I'm reading the House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds. It takes me far away from the everyday troubles, and makes my daily problems ridiculously subtle. This is why I love to read Reynolds. But how could I explain it to my niece? She would roll her eyes and call me a hopeless dreamer. 

I try to do it, anyway. I talk her about Campion and Purslane, the two shatterlings who travel across the universe through hundreds of thousands of years, in deep sleep, waking to fly into adventures. They witness the rise and fall of human empires. It puts the mind on test just to imagine the scale of the distance and time they travel. I know Jenny is a practical gal, so I tell her about the trouble the protagonists get into, the danger they face and the adventure they are part of. When I mention that their enemies almost kill them, trying to eliminate their whole genetic line, and I talk about the spaceship chase and the monumental ending, her eyes sparkle with interest.

"Must be hell of a story" she says.

"It is, indeed" I say. I don't mention the things I don't like in the book: it is too long in some places, and all the characters talk exactly in the same punctual, high class way. These doesn't seem important to mention to Jenny.

"Well, since you are listening to me now, could you please give me a hand to bring in the groceries from my car?" she asks.

I supress a sigh, and put my book down. I resist to have a longing look at it, instead I put my arm around Jenny's shoulder, and I ask her while we're walking toward the door:

"What was your day like?"

She smiles at me, and I feel like being the kind uncle she can count on. The House of Suns will patiently wait for my return.

The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

FYI: Usually I don't repeat what you can read on the back cover, instead I add my two cents.

The Gray Man. The ultimate living weapon. When someone is closing on him he disappears. Nobody can find him if he doesn't want to be found. If he is after you, you are a dead man.

The Gray Man is a fast paced novel with lot of action. Several groups of professional killers want to hunt down the Gray Man, they chase him through Europe, always on his heels. He has to use all his experience and talent to be able to get rid of them. I wasn't bored for a second, it's a real page-turner.

I was thinking about the main character. I was wondering how the human mind works. The Gray Man is a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, he is trained to take lives with such ease as I cut the veggies for dinner. In spite of it we root for him, and our adrenalin level rises high when he is in danger. How can we like a murderer like him? He says he is after the bad guys, who deserve to be dealt with. But still he is a killer.

Before the final battle I thought the story was going to be just like the Expendables. You know, when the hero shoots a whole army without receiving even a scratch. This scenario has its charm, but it would have messed up this novel. Fortunately Greany didn't fell into this trap. The Gray Man was injured, and he was barely making it. The bad guys started to shoot at each other in a competition to get to him first. The whole situation was well constructed.

There was one thing I found too much: the bragging about how professional the Grey Man was. It was OK that his enemies showed respect because of his reputation, but it wasn't necessary to talk about him as a superman. His actions showed that he knew what he was doing.

The new Star Trek movie delivers

Photo: collider.com

On Saturday with my sons I went to see the new Star Trek movie. This is a film you want to see on big screen. We were packed with popcorn, chips and M&M's and with a Coca Cola "Share a Coke with Alice" written on it. (We haven't met any Alice, so drunk all the coke.)

The new Star Trek is a typical Hollywood film. I don't mean it as criticism. It's full wit action and exciting scenes and spectacular space ships. But since I have seen so many of this kind, I could guess many of the twists. Though they were some which got me surprised. Let me explain.

The film is fast paced, there is hardly a minute without action, conflict or foreshadowing. It starts with an old formula: the crew is in a middle of trouble, which establishes the platform to show that they are tough and capable guys, even if sometimes they make stupid decisions. (I try not to spoil the story, but no promises.) Of course they hardly get out of it. Now our adrenalin level is set, we are prepared for the further complications.

Because there are complications on several levels. First there is a bad guy on the loose, who blasts or kills everyone who wants to stop him. By the way, I liked the part before he persuades an officer to blow up an operation base concealed as a library. The officer's family life is ruined by the illness of his daughter. There is hardly any dialogue, but the emotions come through nicely. Khan offers him to save his daughter. This is the only thing being said, but we know that the officer has to pay the price.

The characters are well done, if you ask me. I especially liked the development of Spock, he IS the second protagonist next to Kirk. Actually he is the one - with some help, though - who defeats Khan. I think it made the story better that he busted Khan than if Kirk would have done it. The figure of Khan is a compelling connection to the first series. I haven't seen all episodes, but I seem to remember one, when Khan was waken up from a cyrogenic sleep. Then he went berserk. At the end of this movie he is put into cyrogenic sleep. (Oops, sorry, I forgot about not giving spoilers.) Another connection to the series that now the young Spock asks advice from the old himself how to defeat Khan. Nice touch. At the beginning of the movie Khan was the dark, bad guy, but later when he revealed his motivation I completely understood his reasons. He was betrayed and at the end general Marcus who used Khan for his own purposes was bigger, badder guy than Khan. An interesting take on villains. By the way, it was really predictable that Khan was going to betray Kirk - one of those elements I guessed right beforehand. The other thing which was predictable - now, spoilers again - was the revival of Kirk. Not only the fact that he cannot stay dead, because then how could he save the world later, but the I knew how it could be done before he actually died. One character I couldn't place was the general's daughter, I couldn't figure out her importance.

There was lasergun shooting, of course, and space battle too, it wouldn't be Star Trek without them. Supported by the modern computer technology it was really enjoyable. And there was it: a bigger and more powerful spaceship than the Enterprise, coming after our heroes with full warp thrust. As you can guess it was defeated by the Enterprise crew's bravery. And some nasty tricks, but this is what the bad guy gets when he messes up with the heroes.

There were some errors I spotted, for example the little furry thing the doc experimented with. The Enterprise was free falling and bouncing and turning around itself, but the little fella stayed right on the table. But in the heat of the final battle, I quickly got over it.

The Star Trek into Darkness delivers in several levels. It's full with action, so you never get bored. It's full with emotions, which drives the story. And it's a spaceship movie, man. Go and watch it.

Just bought: Prophecy by J. F. Penn

I just bought this book on the right. It's amazing how easy it is these days to buy a book on-line.
I have read the first book in the Arkane series, and I'm curious what the second one is like. According to the reviews it's even better.
I follow Joanna's podcast, and I hope that her book will be a success. She deserves it. By the way, have a look at her blog if you don't know her yet.