Title: Zoe's Tale
Series: Old Man's War
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Sci-fi
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: August 19, 2008
Format: Paperback
Pages: 335

 

In a nutshell, Zoe’s Tale follows the same story as The Last Colony. But this time around the story is told from Zoe’s point-of-view. Scalzi is able to accomplish three things by doing this. One, it fills in some of the unanswered questions from the last book. Two, it gives Zoe more character development since she was a little sparse on that before. Three, Scalzi once again shows he is capable of writing very different points-of-view. Across this series, we have gone from standard soldier to spec ops soldier to ex-soldier civilian to teenage girl. And each time he switches up perspectives, it works.

Being written from a teenage girl’s POV, Zoe’s Tale reads very much like a YA novel. She is deeply embroiled in events that will determine the ultimate fate of humanity and countless alien races. At the same time, she is a teenage girl. She has normal teenage girl problems on top of the “save humanity” stuff. Not to mention her tragic background stretching back to the second book. All the while, the adults do not fully grasp what she is going through as they deal with the threats everyone is facing in their own way.

One of the key things about Scalzi’s writing is the lack of descriptions. Sci-fi concepts like unique aliens are barely described, if at all. The ideas are good but the writing is simple to follow. Characters are a bit of a mix between 2D and 3D. There is a big, bad but also “good” government in place to keep order despite committing atrocities. All of these factors are pretty common in YA books. Since Zoe’s Tale is more of a YA book than the rest of Old Man’s War, all of that writing is more in line this time around.

That being said, there is no reason to read Zoe’s Tale if you have not read the previous book. Certain key details from The Last Colony are not mentioned here. This is meant to be an expansion of the previous novel, not a story in and of itself. And while all the extra details are nice to have, it does not really advance the story any. Old Man’s War was originally written as a trilogy and everything past book three really feels tacked on. Not necessarily bad reads, but not on par with the original three novels.

Title: Caina
Author: Joe Albanese
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Mockingbird Lane Press
Release Date: July 5, 2018
Format: Paperback
Pages: 174

 

A copy of Caina was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Caina follows the story of Lee, a man with debts associated with the less-than-savory members of the Los Angeles community. With nowhere else to turn, he reaches out to his estranged twin brother, Grant. But Grant was not entirely the little-goody-two-shoes Lee remembered, and Lee’s problems soon go from bad to worse. For a little novella, Caina was pretty entertaining. It had its ups and downs but was overall a fun little story.

Personally, I am not used to novellas. Most of my reading comes from novels, so that does affect my judgment with Caina. This story seemed like it could have had more to it. The small page count keeps things fast-paced, with things like mid-chapter scene jumps between paragraphs. These transitions are a bit rough and can make it a little tricky to follow the story.

For the limited page count, the characters are very well developed. Lee is a deadbeat but grows throughout the story as he is forced to play the role of Grant. His friends/associates are pulled into this mess with him and none of them are quite the same by the end. Everyone gets a little growth and development instead of being 2D cutouts.

If you read the synopsis, you pretty much know what Caina is about. It follows a fairly by-the-book pattern for this type of mystery-crime story. The short length makes the novella feel more like an episode of a crime drama TV show than anything else. On the whole, it is a good little afternoon read with deeper, underlying tones. If Joe Albanese wanted to expand this into a full-fledged novel, he could do it. There is room here for a lot more, but as it is now the story is still good.

Title: Storm Front
Series: The Dresden Files
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin ROC
Release Date: April 2000
Format: Paperback
Pages: 322

 

A close friend recommended The Dresden Files series to me, which was my main reason for picking it up. This particular friend is very familiar with what I like and do not like in fiction and knows urban fantasy is not really my thing, but he recommended it anyway. With all that in mind, I picked it up based on his suggestion and was happy to be proven wrong. Despite my current attitude towards urban fantasy, I used to love it. Storm Front is far from the first urban fantasy book I have ever read. That all being said, lots of things in this review are going to reflect my own experiences and biases with urban fantasy.

So more about the book itself and less about me. Harry Dresden, wizard and private eye, living in Chicago. Kind of like that one old HBO movie from back in the day, but with magic being low-key. Dresden himself is a somewhat typical urban fantasy protagonist. He is very powerful but shunned by his branch of the supernatural community because of <reasons>. Dresden is a loner, a smart aleck, a man caught up in trouble because of his innate need to do the right thing.

The world-building here is also pretty standard. Supernatural stuff is real and exists just under the surface of regular society. And the more well-known stuff is in pop culture, the better the odds of running into it. Tropes non-withstanding, it is easy to see why fans regard The Dresden Files to highly. The setting and characters are just complex enough. Nothing feels 2D but it is not difficult to follow either. On the whole, everything feels real. People are making decisions in a mix of emotion and logic, not just adhering to one or the other. Other characters are not as dynamic as Dresden himself, but they just have less face time so what are you gonna do?

Storm Front can read like a standalone book, which is true for most of The Dresden Files from what I understand. It will probably take some time before an overarching plot and villain appear. That being said, this is the issue I have seen with many urban fantasy series. They have strong starts but struggle to keep going. Oftentimes, the hero passes up opportunities to stop the villain and end the madness for moral or arbitrary reasons. I plan to keep reading The Dresden Files between other books, so hopefully, it breaks that cycle and holds my interest throughout. On the whole though, Storm Front is one of the best urban fantasy books out there.

Title: The Last Colony
Series: Old Man's War
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Sci-fi
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: April 17, 2007
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320

 

The Last Colony marks the return of John Perry from Old Man’s War, once again making him the central character. Having married Jane and adopted Zoe since the events of the last book, the family lives a peaceful farmstead life. Until the Colonial Defense Force makes them a new offer, filled with honeyed words and half-truths. Whereas the first book was about regular soldiers and the second followed special forces, this third installment focuses on civilians. Being the last book in the original trilogy for this series, The Last Colony has its ups and downs.

On the positive side, Scalzi once again shows people in different lifestyles and new situations. Once again, he demonstrates that he knows how to write more than one type of scenario. We see that while humans are not necessarily the good guys, humanity is much more fractured than most of the alien species. There is merit to what the mad scientist in the previous novel said about the CDF’s corruption. Overall, The Last Colony is a fitting end to the trilogy and a good story. Not quite a great story, but a good one.

The negatives of this book, and the trilogy as a whole, are what keep The Last Colony from being good rather than great. One key issue is the lack of descriptions. There are a fair number of aliens in this series and none of them get described in detail. Some just have a name put to them and that is it. The mental images readers can paint of these aliens is very, very limited. Tying into that, the world building is very light. The limited information is justified as the characters not knowing a lot in the grand scheme of things, but most other series find a way to fit more world building in.

On the whole, the Old Man’s War trilogy is one of the better space sci-fi series out there. Particularly the first book, which had a lot of unique concepts that were well executed. But the magic in that first book just lost momentum as the series went on. This last original installment, particularly, has some holes in it that the fourth book fixes later. And from there the quality of the series continues to dip further. Reading Zoe’s Tale after this book helps but after that, it is safe to stop with this series.

Title: Goblin Slayer, Vol. 1
Series: Goblin Slayer
Author: Kumo Kagyu
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Yen On
Release Date: December 20, 2016 (English); February 12, 2016 (Japanese)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 224

 

Goblin Slayer is a very mixed bag. It is a “love it or hate it” series for the majority of readers out there. The range of reactions to the series mainly seems to do with audience expectations. If you are looking for something that is critical and serious with top-notch world building and character development, this is not necessarily for you. If you are looking for a combination of dark humor/shock value and humor, this can be a just-for-fun story. There are good and bad things about the book and how those factors rank, or whether you consider them good/bad yourself, will determine if this is a book for you.

Starting with the good, Goblin Slayer takes place in a genuine fantasy land. This is not a “trapped in a video game” scenario. By this point, everyone knows we have enough of those. The world here seems to run on D&D-type rules, with adventurers slaying monsters but not being too overpowered. People take quests, magic has limited uses per day, and so on. The other key takeaway is that this is not a “save the world” story. The stakes are rarely high, but they are personal. Goblin Slayer (the character) is driven by an unquenchable thirst for vengeance, not a sense of righteousness.

Now, for the bad bits. None of the characters have actual names. Everyone is referred to by whatever their role is. “Goblin Slayer”, “Priestess”, “Guild Girl”, etc. And their personalities pretty much match stereotypical fantasy roles for whatever character class they use. The other glaring issue is the writing. Saying the writing is bad is a bit of a stretch, but the author is no seasoned professional. It is a very basic style. If your interests lie in great works of literature, look elsewhere.

SMALL SPOILER BELOW

So, the last thing that must be addressed could be considered either good or bad. This one is really a matter of personal preference. And that is the extreme level of violence. Having watched the anime first, I knew what was coming in the book. The violence is not quite on the level of absolute extremes like Higurashi or Elfen Lied, but it comes close. It is dark, it is brutal, and it comes completely out of left field after the soft introduction. Some people are disgusted by it but for others that is the draw of Goblin Slayer. The decision there is up to you.

Title: 11/22/63
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Scribner
Release Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Paperback
Pages: 849

 

11/22/63 is one of Stephen King’s non-horror books, demonstrating his mastery of many genres. Like most of his novels, 11/22/63 is a long book. There are also references to some of King’s previous works, further building the shared universe where his stories take place. The premise of the book is simple: a time traveler attempts to stop JFK’s assassination. In and of itself, that summary sounds like it could be a simple short story. But there are rules to the time travel, namely that protagonist Jake Epping can only go back to a certain date, 5 years before the assassination happens. If he wants to save JFK, he will have to wait out that time. And a lot can happen to a man in 5 years.

Throughout 11/22/63, Jake’s mission to save JFK is more of a motivational device than anything else. At first, he figures he can just wait out the 5 years for the most part. But sitting and just waiting is hard for even a little while, let alone 5 years. A man has to do something in that time to keep himself busy. He has to live life. And life has a way of moving things and changing people. In some ways good and in others bad.

Jake spends his time in the past keeping an eye on Lee Harvey Oswald. But as he lives a new life in the late 50s/early 60s, he begins to meet new people. He builds relationships with the people around him, making friends and enemies alike. There is pain and there is joy, forcing Jake to make hard decisions on whether he should focus on himself or his mission. Ultimately, 11/22/63 becomes a story as much about Jake’s growth as a person as his history-changing mission.

This type of story is hard to review because of its length. It may be a long story, but the page count is not wasted. The book is detailed and a bit of a slow burn, but not overly so. By the end, it comfortably covers the roughly 5-year period of Jake’s mission. There are some bits at the beginning of the book taking place in the town of Derry, which will only fully make sense if you have read IT. While a number of King’s other books end awkwardly, that is not an issue in 11/22/63. By the last page, the story feels complete, and it’s a hell of a ride through America’s heartland and history the whole way there.

Title: The Trench
Series: MEG
Author: Steve Alten
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Pinnacle
Release Date: July 28, 1999
Pages: 352

 

The Trench picks up 4 years after the end of MEG. In that time, the surviving baby megalodon from the first book has grown to rival her mother. Trapped in the artificial lagoon of the Tanaka Institute, she has become an 8^th wonder of the world. That being said, keeping a large thought-to-be-extinct creature captive as a habit of not going well. All the while there are evil, greedy rich people attempting to manipulate the situation to their own ends. And like the first book, this all kicks off in the style of a SyFy Channel original film.

First off, any good monster story has to have a fair amount of time dedicated to the monster. The Meg herself is not a malicious creature. She is an animal driven by instinct, nothing more and nothing less. But she is also an invasive species that could cause catastrophic damage outside of her natural habitat. This time around, however, the Meg is not the only monster lurking beneath the sea.

Following 4 years of lawsuits after the first Meg rampage, the Tanaka Institute fell on hard times. Until the eccentric billionaire Benedict Singer came along. And as we all know, “eccentric” is a synonym used to replace “crazy” when talking about rich people. While Singer is a stereotypical villain, from having a god complex to speaking Latin because it makes him feel smart, his wealth makes him truly dangerous. Accompanying him is Celeste, Singer’s arm candy who is more venomous than any viper. The pair makes dangerous foes that show true monsters often spring from humanity rather than the depths of the sea.

Like the Meg, this is by no means a serious book. If you like cheesy Sharknado-esque monster movies, you will enjoy The Trench. There is a big monster, made-up science, characters who behave kind of like real people, and other classic B-movie tropes. Water monsters are always scary since man is out of his natural element in the sea. And people are still scared of sharks over 40 years after Jaws came out. With stories like The Trench still being released semi-regularly today, that is unlikely to change anytime soon.