Axis by Charles Wilson

I enjoyed Spin, the prequel of this book, and I was looking forward to read Axis. The story is interesting. It picks up the storyline 30 years after Spin ends, and it is about the alien race who caused Earth's spinning. Scientists try to establish a connection by altering the DNA of a child, who - according to the hopes of the scientists - would be able to "speek" with them.

While the idea is compelling, I was disappointed at the end. I felt the book unfinished. The whole purpose of the story was to pave the way to the big event of the connection with the aliens. But I never learned what happened when the superboy entered the gate and finally met the aliens.

Most of the time I enjoyed Wilson's writing, but several times I skipped paragraphs, because I found them only ranting.

The Name of the Wind

This is the first book I read from Patrick Rothfuss, and I defenitely will read more. The story is very entertaining, and well written, I could see the the whole plot unfolding in front of my eyes.

The characters are deep, well drawn, without any cliches. For me the most important about characters, that their acts are based on their emotions, thoughts, earlier experiences. So nothing sudden an unexpected happens, nor they have attributions only for the sake of the story. Rothfuss did it well.

I enjoyed the world building. It is so detailed, that I had the feeling like reading a real story, not a fiction. The places were well described. I was not overwhelmed by the history, but always got enough information to be able to place what was happening. The magic, mithology and arkana is worked out well, make sense, not overdone.

At the beginning I thought it flowed slowly for my taste, but then I realised that every event had its importance, and was referred to later. I was sorry when I arrived at the end, and decided to buy the next book in the series.

Where is the pure genre?

I recently read the novella titled His Name In Lights by Patty Jansen. It was refreshing. This is the review I wrote on Amazon:

Real science-fiction story. This is what came into my mind reading this novella. I'm tired of novels I read lately, mixing romance, paranormal and SF. His Name In Lights is a refreshingly original sci-fi story, reminding me of Asimov's robot novels. It raises questions I'm not sure ever would be answered, like: what makes us human, our body, our soul, or both together?; what is the relation between creator and creature?
The story has some aspects reflecting to the desire for political power, which is again, an attribution the mankind cannot get rid of.

I was thinking about the phenomenon I see in more and more books: mixing sci-fi with fantasy, paranormal with sci-fi, romance with paranormal, and so on. I member of the Goodreads and The LibraryThing community, and I received several books for free in exchange of reviews. Some of them were good, some others were average. There were some of this "mixed genre" type books, and while I did enjoy reading them, I could not get rid of some strange feeling.

When I considered one aspect of these books, I didn't find it compelling enough. They were not really sci-fi. They were not really paranormal. They were not really romance. Something was missing, those things which make you say "aha!" or "ooh!". You would think that when all of the aspects are put together, they compose a complex and interesting story. Strangely, it didn't work for me as it should have. I think it's because non of the genre lines were exploited in great depth, like you do writing a pure genre book.

Maybe it's just me, remembering the pure sci-fi books of old days. This is why I enjoyed the book His Name in Lights more.

Change in content

I started this blog to post my book reviews, but decided to strech it a little. I will write about other subjects too, mainly writing - learning to write, that is.

I consider myself a wannabe writer. I started to take writing seriously a year ago, and I'm reading a lot about it, practically everything I can put my hands on. Fortunately valuable sources are available online. I wrote a few short stories, and I'm working on my first novel.

So here I am, learning how to write compelling stuff.

The Dragon and the Lotus by Joseph Robert Lewis

Author: Joseph Robert Lewis

Description: As a child in Kathmandu, Asha was bitten by a dragon and gained the ability to hear the souls of all living things. Years later in India, she uses her strange gift and her training as an herbalist to save people possessed by ghosts, poisoned by legendary beasts, and tortured by the cruel doctors of Ming. And to fight the occasional bear or tiger, of course.

With the help of a beautiful blind nun and a sleepy little mongoose, Asha confronts both victims and predators, including the man who stole her childhood and killed her lover. But when she journeys into the west, Asha discovers that there are fates worse than death and there are human monsters that can only be defeated by a woman with the strength of a dragon. (From the author's web site.)

What I think:

This book takes us to interesting places, interesting time, and interesting alternative reality. For people sitting at home (I mean the country we leave in) almost all the time, Asia itself is an exotic location. I like to learn about foreign cultures and people. This version of the alternative Asia even more exciting.

The book consists of separate stories about Asha and Priya wandering through the land to heal people. First I was not comfortable with reading the separate stories, they seemed not connected, except that they were adventures of the two women, of course. But later there came the connections, references to experiences in the previous chapters, memories of past events, returning characters. And finally the book became a complete story.

Dragons are always compelling. They are big, dangerous (at least most of the time), dreadful, it seems impossible to defeat them. It is also the case with the one in this story, and the way it is defeated is very interesting.

This whole soul-hearing thing is amazing. The way Asha hears the "sound" of living souls is well worked out. During their journey, the two women met with people with very strange illnesses, and Asha had to find cures unheard of.

There is one thing I should mention what I didn't like: I found the dangerous acts short. The reader usually eager to get to the point, and to know what happens, yes. But before the climax, the reader loves to be delayed, and bite the nails in suspense what happens next. So I would like to fidget a little more before the victory comes.

Rating: four stars.

Jewels by Lakisha Spletzer

Author: Latisha Spletzer

Description: "Special Lieutenant Jewels Enbran, a human telepath unable to shield her mind from thoughts, uses telepathic anchors who protect her vulnerable mind. Her current anchor, Colonel Jeremy Lingley, is nearing burnout. An alien race is seeking an alliance with Earth and the pair are assigned the mission of discovering the aliens' secrets.

Crown Prince Dex LoudRoar is a Gatoan warrior and a royal with a terrible secret. His people wage a constant war against their enemy, the Lupinious empire. But the tide of battle is turning and his people seek help from a new source: the humans of Earth.

With an interstellar war looming, Jewels and Dex seek salvation for their planets and find their destinies changed forever." (Amazon)

What I think

I discovered the Adopt an Indie website, and I thought I gave it a shot. I love science fiction, so I picked up this book. Attention: spoilers.

First, I must say I expected a science-fiction story. Telepaths, aliens, warriors, space war - what else it could be? Actually it is more. It is a paranormal romance science-fiction book. Yes, there are telepathy involved, but in a higher level than just "talking with your mind". Yes, there are aliens in the book, though it is funny that cat-like aliens fight with dog-like ones. And yes, there are space ships and war, though that part could last longer for my taste.

Being a man, I'm not expert in romance (didn't I say this earlier?), but as far as I can tell, the romance worked just fine. At the end, I believed that the human woman fell in love with the cat prince, and their love and desire became fulfilled.

I liked that the telepathy was taken to a higher level. Those characters possessing this ability, not only communicated with each other, but could apply bigger mental forces. I found the mental shielding mate role interesting.

I missed some more sci-fi, though. But I know it's just me, being science-fiction fan.

There is one thing I should mention: there were too much telling instead of showing. I would have appreciated more showing during action, it would make the book more dynamic and enjoyable.

My rating: I give three stars. This is just because I'm fan of pure sci-fi. If you like romance and paranormal stories more, you may give it better rating.

The Brass Verdict - Michael Connelly

Author: Michael Connelly (please put some content on the Home page, Mr Conelly!)

Description: From the Author's site: "Things are finally looking up for defense attorney Mickey Haller. After two years of wrong turns, Haller is ready to go back to the courtroom. When Hollywood lawyer Jerry Vincent is murdered, Haller inherits his biggest case yet: the defense of Walter Elliott, a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him into the big time, he learns that Vincent’s killer may be coming for him next.

Enter LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. Determined to find Vincent’s killer, he is not opposed to using Haller as bait. But as danger mounts and the stakes rise, these two loners realize their only choice is to work together."

What I think

I watch thrillers about lawyers and court every now and then, some of them are really good. I liked the Runaway Jury, though, not being American, and really unfamiliar with jurisdiction practices, I could hardly follow the jury selection part. But now I know what happened, because I have red The Brass Verdict, and it explained the process in details. Which was not boring at all, if you might think. Besides that, there are plenty of other details about the judiciary processes and work, really well integrated into the story, without being too educative.

If you are into very fast paced action with dead bodies on every second page, then this book is not for you. But if you enjoy suspense built page by page, I recommend this novel. The characters are alive, well drawn, likable. The narrative and the dialogues are well written. The story unfolds in a good rhythm. Sometimes I found out the next step by myself, but later it turned out that something entirely else was at stake, and the story took a twist. And there is a twist at the end, you can bet.

My rating: five stars, it was a pleasure.