Book Review: Artifact Space by Miles Cameron (four stars)

Book Review: Artifact Space (Arcana Imperii #1) by Miles Cameron (four stars)

‘I still don’t get it. Why us? Why me?’ ‘I’m brilliant and you’re lucky.’ ‘That makes sense,’

Almost-an-everyman hero. Makes mistakes. Believable. Artifact space itself better developed and implemented than so many SF shortcuts like wormholes, WARP drives, etc. Even a dollop of the literary. Bad guys too obvious.

‘There was a little gravity …; it was one quarter of a g, or even less, but it did make ‘down’ a reality.’ (Must be more massive than the Moon)

Quibbles: As usual science is more Star Trekkian than should be taught in high school. Numerous errors. Clearly doesn’t understand heat radiation in a vacuum. Nor mass relative to gravity. On the other hand, Cameron got some details right that many authors fumble.

‘No one knows what the f*** they do,’ he said, carefully inserting the word ‘f***’ several times in his sentences, the way the veteran spacers did.’

Abrupt ending. Obvious set up for sequels. Several significant threads not closed. Gratuitous profanity celebrated. Increases as story progresses. Too bad, wanted to give it five-stars despite my quibbles because it’s a genuinely engaging, enjoyable story. (Nice cover art.)

‘We’re all idiots. Viewed by that remorseless logic, we’re all incompetents, struggling to fake competence. Lighten up. You’re working too hard.’

Book Review: Ian Fleming and SOE’s Operation POSTMASTER by Brian Lett (four stars)

Book Review: Ian Fleming and SOE’s Operation POSTMASTER: the Top Secret Story behind 007 by Brian Lett (four stars)

Rather than going through the lengthy and tiresome process of obtaining permission to requisition such a craft, March-Phillipps simply went out and bought one a few days before Christmas of 1940. (Bond would no doubt have done exactly the same.)

Excellent history of a daring and successful British special operation in western Africa. Two problems: it was an unnecessary and potentially ruinous mission, and for the purposes of titling this history Ian Fleming had little to do with the conception or execution of Postmaster. Fleming’s place in the title and text is presumably a marketing ploy.

Perhaps it would not be out of place to observe that one of the chief reasons for the creation of SOE was the desirability of an organization whose actions could be disowned by His Majesty’s Government.

A sad consequence of Special Operations Executive’s flagrant disregard for international norms and neutrality were the cavalier and even more destruction actions of America’s Central Intelligence Agency, itself something of a SOE spinoff, in the decades after World War Two.

Many commandos were trained to kill in ‘Bond’ fashion, but very few indeed had the ability so expertly to deceive.

Despite constant references to Fleming and his later literary creations, he was more observer than actor. Apparently, Fleming recognized the literary potential of this type of mission, which remained classified until after his death. Lett has it backward. Bond wasn’t the inspiration of Postmaster as he knows better but implies; Postmaster inspired Fleming to create Bond, but that is typical for the convoluted logic.

One of March-Phillipps’ pencilled standing orders to his crew reads: ‘Avoid a fight if humanly possible, but resist capture to the last.’

Book Review: The Escapement by J. K. Parker (three stars)

Book Review: The Escapement (Engineer Trilogy #3) by J. K. Parker (three stars)

“That’s the trouble with books,” he added bitterly. “There’s no way of knowing whether what’s in them is valuable practical advice or just someone’s flight of fancy.”

Formulaic. It’s a good formula, but #3 reads much like #1 and #2 with the scope and stakes raised, of course. Disappointing, illogical conclusion cost Parker a star.

“I’ve learned two important things so far. First, you can’t be hit if you aren’t there. Second, if someone’s close enough to hurt you, he’s close enough to be hurt back.

Many characters hide behind the cop out that they have no choice but to act or not is a choice. Unsatisfying female characters. I like when authors include their title in the story, but Parker beats it to death.

‘He told himself, a lie will be good enough, because I love her, because I have no choice.’

Book Review: Seeing Red (Ambassador #1) by Patty Jensen (three stars)

Book Review: Seeing Red (Ambassador #1) by Patty Jensen (three stars)

‘And I knew, deep within me, that I was right and [redacted] and the rest of them were wrong.’

No empathy for protagonist: Oblivious, procrastinating supposed hotshot diplomat who obsesses over everything but does nothing. Emotional age of a teen in puberty. Spends his whole time worrying about his boy/girl friends.

“Why haven’t you seen a medico yet?” (Why, indeed?)

The first two-thirds of the book is the setup, progress begins about Chapter 18. I finished it a week ago and I’ve already forgotten the ending. Gratuitous profanity. Three stars a gift. Nice cover art, has nothing to do with the story.

‘Underneath the differences, we were all the same. If people on Earth had overcome discrimination based on race, then we could also overcome these problems.’

Book Review: Why Soldiers Miss War: The Journey Home by Nolan Peterson (five stars)

Book Review: Why Soldiers Miss War: The Journey Home by Nolan Peterson (five stars)

“When the bullets are flying and shit starts blowing up, you’re not thinking about any of that duty, honor, country bullshit. You focus on taking care of your buddy next to you and making it out alive.” 

A decade of war correspondence strung together chronologically with autobiographical bridge stories. many chapters start in the middle of their story, backtrack to the beginning, conclude the action, then close with some philosophic observation. War, he discovers, is very different in the foxhole than in the cockpit of an American combat aircraft.

What incredible things people do, and what endless suffering they are willing to endure for freedom. It’s true, freedom isn’t free. It’s worth everything. 

Many insights into the nature of war and its impact on humans, but lots of repetition. Broadens our view to include non-soldiers, especially family and civilians, whose lives are torn apart through no fault or choice of their own. Full of memorable epigraphs. The framing story to all this is Peterson’s personal search for home and meaning.

And I won’t let the world forget the good people who stood up for what was right when the world was at its worst. James [Foley] was one of those people, and I won’t forget his story. 

No, it’s not that good, but Peterson shares things you need to hear. Many sites he reported from during the first war in Ukraine have been overrun by Russia since. And the people? Who knows? His current articles may be found on Coffee or Die magazine of which he is senior editor.

Our troops might not necessarily believe that the wars will be won anytime soon, but they all seemed to believe in what they were fighting for. 

(I’m prejudiced. I am a Vietnam, Cold, and Gulf Wars veteran. Scud impact hundreds of yards away was too close.)

Book Review: The Adams Gambit: A Thieftaker Novella by D. B. Jackson (four stars)

Book Review: The Adams Gambit: A Thieftaker Novella by D. B. Jackson (four stars)

“You’re a good man, Kaille. Sometimes I fear you’re too good.”

Excellent historical fiction novella. With a side of the mystical.  Jackson continues to develop Ethan Kaille into a nexus for the unraveling threads of British hegemony in Boston in the 1770s. Players on the great stage of American independence have walk-on parts in this thieftaker tale.

“One grows accustomed to such attention after a time.” “No,” Warren said, “one really doesn’t.”

Characters are varied and well-developed. Ensemble players from the series return and new characters appear. Despite everyone’s agnosticism toward the Salem trials a century before, witches and conjurers abound. And they’re real.

“She won’t be happy with me.” “Well, it wouldn’t be morning in Boston if Sephira Pryce wasn’t unhappy with you over something.”

Quibble: a round trip to Philadelphia would be the stuff of weeks if not months. Travel in general is too fast and too easy. Except when it fits the plot to not be.

“All’s calm just now, but I believe that’s an illusion.”

Book Review: To Hold Up the Sky by Liu Cixin (four stars)

Book Review: To Hold Up the Sky by Liu Cixin (four stars)

People really were stupid in the past, and they really had a tough time.

Excellent collection of science fiction short stories. The opening “The Village Teacher” and closing “The Thinker” stand out. Liu jumps from a then current discovery or trend to extrapolate consequences or possibilities.

The only difference between those reporters and prostitutes is that they sell a different body part.

Liu ranges wide through ethics and consequences. Philosophic and creative. Many tales reflect a distinct point of view. Uses stereotypes to explore deeper realities.

This time, the sun will blast powerful electromagnetic radiation into space in every frequency, from the highest to the lowest. In addition, the powerful X-ray radiation generated by the sun will collide violently with Earth’s ionosphere, blocking off short-wave radio communications, which are reliant on the layer.

Quibbles: “Full-Spectrum Barrage Jamming” betrays numerous errors in astrophysics and micro-electronics. “Sea of Dreams” likewise flunks elementary chemistry and physics. Gratuitous profanity confined to two stories, indicating Liu wanted it there.

“From a certain philosophical viewpoint, this universe is even grander than the one you observe. Even though your universe is tens of billions of light-years wide, it’s been established that it’s finite. My universe is infinite because thought is infinite.”

Book Review: Susanna and the Spy (Susanna and the Spy #1) by Anna Elliott (three stars)

Book Review: Susanna and the Spy (Susanna and the Spy #1) by Anna Elliott (three stars)

Everyone in the Rutherford Household was so very ordinary—so completely what they seemed. Could it really be possible that one of them was a murderer?

Pleasant, if formulaic period romance/mystery. Awkward blend of Jane Austen and Agatha Christie. Readers interested in a Jane Austen mystery might try Northhanger Abbey.

Verisimilitude errors. “Time for those he works for in London to send word as to his veracity. I should think I have a few weeks, at least, the state of the roads and the mail being what it is.” Kent abuts London; verification could be had overnight. “I’ve been an agent of the Crown since war first broke out with France.” England and France had been at war for centuries.  

Fails to convey the period. Errors in details kick the reader out of the spell of the story. One character sustains several bullet wounds but keeps soldiering on.

Her mission, it appeared, was to call on some of the poorer members of the village and do what she could to scold and bully them into prosperity.

Book Review: Evil for Evil by K.J. Parker (three stars)

Book Review: Evil for Evil (Engineer Trilogy #2) by K.J. Parker (three stars)

“The way to a man’s heart … is proverbially through his stomach, but if you want to get into his brain, I recommend the eye socket.” 

Essentially a repeat of the first book with a few new characters. Many insights into what motivates people. Hard to find anyone to like among this cast of self-absorbed nobles and engineers.

A lie, he’d learned long ago, is often the mirror image of the truth; by examining it carefully, you can reconstruct the fact that lie was designed to conceal. 

Modern sensibilities proliferate. Telegraphs most of his cliffhanger climaxes. The usual held breaths of beginner fiction. Internal illogic abounds: “We can cross the desert because there’s a way. A string of oases, each of them no more than two days on from the last one.” The same person says, “You can cross the desert in three days.” 

Their word for trade literally means ‘to steal by purchase.’ 

Verisimilitude right out the window. Parker goes to great lengths to engineer intricate plots and counterplots but forgets the simple logistics of the situations he creates. One example: a fleeing caravan of “carts” sets up and operates a foundry complete with bellows and anvils in the middle of nowhere in an afternoon. “No trees sturdy enough to serve as makeshift gallows,” but enough to melt iron. “We can cross the desert because there’s a way. A string of oases, each of them no more than two days on from the last one.” Later the same person says, “You can cross the desert in three days.” 

“Luck’s a bit like splitting a log. You’re much more likely to succeed if you read the grain and look for flaw-lines.”