Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

I liked The Name of The Wind, the first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles for the same reasons I like The Wise Man's Fear. It picks up the story right at the point when the previous book ends.

The author is very good in storytelling; I really enjoyed the way the book was written. (I listened to the audiobook, the voice narration added a lot to the pleasure.) Generally I enjoy more the fast paced stories. In this book the author took his time to build up the plot, and to explain the whys in detail, so I cannot say that the story flows quickly. But it didn't bother me at all. Moreover, I enjoyed that everything what happened had a well-established reason and explanation.

There were more adventures in this book, and they were more interesting. The trouble Kvothe got into were more serious, and the mood of the story grew darker.

The characters were well drawn, alive and believable. It was satisfying that Kvothe was not an undefeatable hero, who always won. He had his talent and also his flaws.

There is a well explained magic system, which makes the whole thing believable.

Sometimes the story got a little bit lengthy, I wouldn't say it was boring, but I could imagine some cuts.

All in all, it was an excellent book; I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

Live Free or Die (Troy Rising, #1) by John Ringo

I listened to the audiobook version.

The story takes an interesting approach to alien contact. An advanced race, the Glatun places a space gate close to Earth, which makes possible to travel huge distances. Doing so, they connect the Earth to the other species. But instead of a big hype, they simply give a "phone notification" to the presidents of the most important countries, and then they leave.

Another unusual turn is that another race, the Horvath oppresses the Earth, taking our valuable metals.

Usually, in other books what comes next is a heroic fight for the freedom of the planet, but not in this one. Vernon takes small steps, first trading with the Glatun to get finance for other projects, and then he buys space ships to mine asteroids. Finally he builds a super asteroid-fortress to defend the Earth from the Horvath. This makes the story more "real", more believable.

Another point, which distinguishes this story from the tiresome hollywood plots is that people die in the fight. Whole cities are destroyed.

The one thing I found disturbing is that the author gave too much scientific details. While it could be compelling to someone working in the research or science field, sometimes it was boring for me.

I think the title really fits the story, because the main character, Tyler Vernon rather dies than let the aliens occupy the Earth. Vernon is not a hero like Superman. He is an ordinary man, but still he has strong values.

I enjoyed this audio book, and recommend for listening.

Redshirts by John Scalzi is out

Old Man's War is my favourite book. If you can get the audiobook version, don't hesitate, it's awesome.

His new book, Redshirts is out. First I was disappointed that the kindle version will come out on 15 November. Who can wait so long? Not me. Fortunately I could buy the Audible version, and I'm looking forward to listen to it.

Review: The sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Being a sci-fi fan, I don't really know why I haven't read this book earlier. It's a classic one.

The Sirens of Titan is very well written, I enjoyed the unmistakable style of Vonnegut. His satiric voice is famous, and is a trade mark of his stories. His choice of words is very good.

Using important subjects, for example religion, the book mocks at the human nature, which sometimes can take strange curves.

The story is funny, and often surprising. Vonnegut don't spare the characters, he gives them hard time.

I suspect that there were more hidden messages behind the front story, which I couldn't really grab. By one hand because I'm not good in deciphering symbols, sometimes I have trouble finding the hidden message between the lines. And by the other hand because the book was written in 1959, in a completely different era, with different problems, different world and all.

Still, there is something strange about the Sirens of Titan I cannot put my finger on - is it intentional? - so I gave four stars.

Zelda Pryce: The Razor's Edge by Joss Llewelyn

Zelda Pryce is a young talented security expert, who uses arcane machines in her work. When she accepts a job to test the security of the British Museum she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy against arcane objects. If these objects would disappear, thousands would suffer, even die, because arcane devices are widely used, for example as prosthetic limbs.

Zelda joins the French secret agent alchemist, racing against time to find the dangerous person behind the misuse of the Checkov Gun, Occam's Razor and other magical devices. A talented thief also appears and helps them time after time. They travel from London to Rome, and from the Castle of Frankenstein to the Taj Mahal.

The story is entertaining, and I found the arcane devices interesting. They are based on real objects, persons and theories, and they moved my imagination.

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.