Title: Rising Tides
Series: Destroyermen
Author: Taylor Anderson
Genre: Sci-fi
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Format: Paperback
Pages: 433

 

Rising Tides kicks off right where Distant Thunders left off, really being Act 2 of this story arc. With several of their people kidnapped, Captain Reddy and his destroyermen must sail Walker into new waters for the rescue. While the Empire seems like a potential ally, having traitors running loose does not make for a good first impression. Given the fact that the Empire was founded by ships from the East India Company at the height of its power, it should come as no surprise how their modern-day “Company” is behaving. Think Pirates of the Caribbean.

What Reddy can’t know, of course, is that the hostages have already rescued themselves. In no small part thanks to Silva. God, I love Silva. And they are now stuck on an island that’s just about as hospitable as anywhere else in this world. This takes us to the part of the story where the author has split the party. In pretty much any grand-scale military sci-fi series, this happens eventually. The war starts to get bigger and Team Protagonist has to split up to fight battles on multiple fronts. It’s now abundantly clear that The Grik are not the only threat in this world and the new enemies will also need to be dealt with.

The action is still a bit toned down here, but not as much as it was in the last book. Some of the action does come from military fighting while the rest is built around natural disasters and the planet’s many super-predators. This all happens on multiple fronts since the characters are scattered around now. Along with the physical danger, getting new factions involved means politics are now playing a bigger role in this war. Not to mention all the implications that the Empire’s existence has for the Lemurian religion and their newfound friendship with Reddy and his crew.

While Reddy and his crew are fully aware that humans can be bastards, this is a new(ish) concept for the Lemurians. Yeah, they’ve already fought against Kurokawa and know he’s helping the Grik. But knowing an enemy is on a ship somewhere is a lot different than talking to the person. Showing that so many other humans can be bastards demonstrates that Kurokawa is not some outlier of normal human behavior.

The events of Rising Tides wrap up a lot of subplots but also open many new doors. This really feels like the turning point where the series goes from being about one ship to being about war. And considering how good these books have been so far, I can’t wait to see where Anderson continues to take his series as it sails into new waters.

Title: The Halfling's Gem
Series: The Legend of Drizzt
Author: R.A. Salvatore
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: January 1990
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336

 

The Halfling’s Gem picks up right where Streams of Silver left off. Bruenor lost, Regis and Guenhwyvar kidnapped, and the remaining companions at a loss. Bruenor may be gone, but Regis and Guenhywvar can still be saved as the companions continue forward. Now, nothing in this book is too surprising. It’s still your standard fantasy fare. That being said, now that the group is out of not-Moria, the plot does start to get more original.

Like the rest of the Icewind Dale trilogy, there are no real surprises here. It’s fairly easy for readers to guess what will happen next, but the characterization and storytelling still make this book worthwhile. Regis’ old boss, Pasha Pook, serves as the key villain here but not really the main one. Entreri is still around and technically working for Pook, but very much has his own agenda. He leads the companions on a merry chase throughout the Forgotten Realms, dangling Regis as bait to lure Drizzt into the rematch he craves.

Despite this series later being coined “The Legend of Drizzt”, things are pretty even among the whole cast here. As I mentioned in my review of The Crystal Shard, Salvatore originally intended Wulfgar to be the main character. People just liked Drizzt better because he’s dark and mysterious but still a good person. The focus does start to lean a bit more towards Drizzt in this book, but the spotlight isn’t on him just yet.

That being said, everyone gets character development here. Regis (sorta) learns to be a better person, Wulfgar continues to learn about civilized lands, and love starts to blossom being Catti-brie and Drizzt. Kudos to Catti-brie for still being a warrior woman badass and not just a love interest. Entreri also takes a more central role as Drizzt’s rival and is sure to be a recurring villain in this series.

R.A. Salvatore’s writing continues to be incredibly detailed. The action sequences are fast-paced but every important little detail is still there. Instead of just saying “this person swings his sword”, Salvatore describes how they swing their sword, why, and what their opponent does in response. It gives a better sense of the immense skill each character possesses with their weapons.

Despite all that, The Halfling’s Gem still feels like a very early story. I wouldn’t go as far as to claim it has Early Installment Weirdness, it’s just…shallow. A standard fantasy adventure in a standard fantasy setting. But considering this series started in 1988 and is still going as of 2020, I assume things pick up a bit later.

Title: The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 6: Nil Admirari
Series: The Saga of Tanya the Evil
Author: Carlo Zen
Genre: Light Novel
Publisher: Yen On
Release Date: August 6, 2019 (English) | July 30, 2016 (Japanese)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288

 

Simply put, Nil Admirari is the weakest book in The Saga of Tanya the Evil so far. The phrase Nil Admirari is Latin for “to be surprised by nothing”. Tanya has spent a lot of this series doing just that thanks to her knowledge of Earth’s military history. And just like certain real-world wars, this book deals with how it’s a really bad idea to invade Russia during winter. The characters know this and everyone on both sides starts to hunker down for the winter. So, that doesn’t leave much room for the fighting this series is really built on. It takes a backseat this book and the story spends most of its time on another component of war: politics.

Personally, I still enjoyed this because politics interest me. But it is very different from what this series has been up until now. It may be a turnoff for a lot of readers who are much more interested in the action.

So, we’ve reached the point where the story is mimicking late-WWII in a lot of ways. Particularly the political failings that affected Germany at the end of WWII. In both real history and this book, there comes a point where people start to realize the war can’t go on forever. Militarily, the Empire is at its limit and they will run out of manpower and resources eventually.

So, when you cannot keep fighting, what’s the next step? Negotiate, of course. That’s the simple, logical solution. But humans are rarely simple, logical creatures. Yes, you can look at material numbers, but how do you justify all the sacrifices it took to get to that point? The generation of young people that have been wiped out by the conflict? Should you get nothing for all the sweat and blood you spent to get here?! Depends on how much you value your pride.

And just because Tanya (and others, mostly others. Tanya’s barely in this book, actually) are debating all this doesn’t mean the war is on full pause. We do still get a few minor action scenes in here plus more battles that are mentioned rather than seen. But it’s clear to everyone that before long something is going to break. The Empire? Their enemies? Time will tell in the next book. And hopefully with more action sequences to pick up the pace.

Title: Field of Dishonor
Series: Honor Harrington
Author: David Weber
Genre: Sci-fi
Publisher: Baen
Release Date: October 1994
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416

 

Field of Dishonor picks up right where the last book left off. Honor has returned home to have her ship repaired after the ass-kicking she gave the Republic of Haven and is hailed a hero as open warfare between Haven and Manticore is finally declared. But despite the war now being on, that’s not really what Field of Dishonor is about. First, we have to get a few unresolved plotlines out of the way, namely the cowardly actions of Pavel Young from the last book.

Field of Dishonor opens up with Young’s sham of a trial due to the politics involved and his family influence. And here we have yet another person who decides it’s in their best interest to take Honor down a peg. Despite her growing history of quickly flipping the table on anyone who tries. Now, this is actually a nice reprieve since Honor Harrington is a space opera series. Field of Dishonor gives us a point where we see less of the “space” and more of the “opera” and that’s always nice if you’re into this type of story.

Up to this point, we’ve seen Honor get hurt physically and still pull off victories. In personal hand-to-hand combat and military ship-to-ship combat, she can clearly handle herself. Field of Dishonor instead deals with her being hurt in a deeply emotional way and having to cope with that. And not because a comrade dies in military service, but because her enemies are specifically targetting her. We already know at this point that her past has been a rough emotionally, but this is our first time seeing her deal with a fresh, new hurt.

And boy, does she deal with it. You’d think it’d be pretty clear to people at this point that Honor does not back down. She is a lioness and will fight to the bitter end to protect herself, her nation, and her people. Yes, she has a gentle soul, but she can be equally merciless when the situation calls for it. And she is smart and strong enough to figure out how to pull it off every time. But her temper also threatens to take her down a dark path. In her quest for vengeance, she starts to get tunnel vision and becomes almost obsessed with it, consequences be damned.

I can’t go into too much detail about what happens in this book without spoilers, but it is heart-wrenching. And while Honor doesn’t stop being a badass, it gives her some much-needed character development to make her more than a cut-and-paste Mary Sue. There are going to be consequences for her actions here and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out in the next book.

Title: The Rising of the Shield Hero, Volume 7
Series: The Rising of the Shield Hero
Author: Aneko Yusagi
Genre: Light Novel
Publisher: One Peace Books
Release Date: April 18, 2017 (English) | September 25, 2014 (Japanese)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400

 

The Rising of the Shield Hero, Volume 7 continues the new story arc that began in Volume 6. The end of the last book made it pretty clear that things were far from over with this latest threat. And that’s 100% what Volume 7 is about: dealing with the latest threat. I hope you enjoyed the world-building in the last book because there’s very little room for more of that here. This entire book is just one massive fight scene. It was almost like an overly long shonen story arc.

Now, the issue is basically what the series is now compared to what it was. The big draw for me initially was how Naofumi was the underdog. The world sucker-punched him in the gut, and he resolved to get through it through his own grit. And then, he did that. We’re past it now. He still has his allies but is now bolstered by national support since the other heroes have fouled things up so badly by this point. He’s not the underdog anymore. Which, I mean, I’m not saying he should have wallowed in misery forever, but things turned around pretty completely for him fast. Even if the whole experience did leave him pretty jaded.

Maybe it’s more the translation than anything else, but the writing in this series has always just been ok. I don’t want to call it bad but it’s very…direct. The ideas are there but they’re not being handed to the reader so much as thrown at them. Since this volume is just a fight and not many new ideas are introduced, it struggles to hold up to the previous volumes. Yeah, we get to meet the new bad guy but he’s so generic. Basically, just your standard cocky villain. And Rishia gets a big character development moment at the end but that’s kind of it. Everyone else is just doing their usual thing here.

This is very much a transition point in the current story arc. It’s not the most exciting part of the story but it does need to happen to bridge the more interesting bits together. The epilogue was extra neat too and shows that things are going to pick back up in Volume 8. I’m just hoping at this point that Shield Hero doesn’t jump the shark the way a lot of other long-running series do eventually. Here’s to hoping.

Title: Streams of Silver
Series: The Legend of Drizzt
Author: R.A. Salvatore
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: TSR Inc.
Release Date: January 1, 1989
Format: Paperback
Pages: 349

 

Streams of Silver was originally written as part 2 of a trilogy, but its predecessor really felt like a standalone book. We’ve got a lot of the same characters from book 1 but most of the plot is all new. With the whole Crystal Tower thing resolved, Bruenor can now focus on reclaiming his ancestral home. Now, I know what you’re thinking. A dwarf and his small band of friends seeking to reclaim a lost underground homeland. You might be tempted to think it feels like a Tolkien ripoff. And you’d be right.

The Tolkien homage notwithstanding, a lot of other stuff does happen in Streams of Silver before the party makes it to the mine. It’s not like Bruenor’s ancestral homeland is right next door. They have to make it through dangerous lands filled with monsters first. Along the way, they’ll make new friends & new enemies and have a chance to grow.

Since this is a sequel, our protagonists are not new characters. With the tedious character introductions out of the way, there’s more time to focus on character development. Which is a godsend considering how everyone was a generic fantasy stereotype in book 1. The new characters all get treated well though.

Now, one thing that bothered me in the last book was how inconsistent the monsters are in terms of strength. There’s a lot of Conservation of Ninjutsu here but after seeing it in the first book, I’m more willing to just roll with it this time. Not to mention the characters get some crazy-powerful magic items, on top of the ones they already had from the last book. Since this is a novel, not a game, those choices make sense. Games have to maintain a sense of balance while other stories can let the heroes hack through armies of mooks to reach the Big Bad.

The other big difference is how Streams of Silver ends. There were still a few loose threads at the end of The Crystal Shard, but the story was more or less over. This time around, the story is left very much incomplete by the end. There’s a lot of stuff that’s still unresolved and the protagonists are a little worse for wear by the end. It’s far from the “the day is saved” ending that The Crystal Shard gave us. Which shows a great deal more comprehensive planning on the author’s part. Or it could just mean Salvatore got renewed for 2 books at once, I don’t know.

Either way, this book was fun and it seems like the next one will be the same way. Especially if you’re a D&D fan. Considering people are still playing D&D today (including me), it’s hard to remember this book is older than I am. Just another 30 or so years of lore to catch up on now, whew.