published in 1987

where I got it: library

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I wish I’d read War For The Oaks years ago. I wish this had been the book that had introduced me to Urban Fantasy. People, this is what Urban Fantasy can be. This is what it should be. Lyrical and funny, shadowy and mysterious, War For The Oaks grabbed me on page one and never let go. I kept trying to read bits and pieces of it out-loud to my other half, who kept telling me to quit that, because he wanted to read it next.

The novel opens with last show of Eddi McCandry’s band. Her boyfriend Stuart is a mess, the band isn’t playing what the bar patrons want to hear, a both a band break-up and a romantic one follow in quick succession. Good thing on both fronts, or Eddi would never get the chance to start an even better band with her best friend Carla.

When a Phouka shows up in her life and announces he is her new bodyguard against the Unseelie, Eddi tells him to get lost and threatens to call the cops. She might be recently unemployed, but she’s not crazy. It’s funny, because we’ve all read urban fantasies, we’d all know a pooka or a Sidhe when we see one (or at least like to think we would), but Eddi doesn’t. She’s never read an urban fantasy novel before, and she doesn’t know how these stories go.

War is brewing between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Violence is a hobby of the fae, as they heal fast and rarely die. But when death is necessary, when a battle truly matters, they bring a mortal onto the battlefield. For an hour, an evening, or months at a time, so long as the chosen mortal is alive and breathing on the battlefield, all the present fae are momentarily as mortal as you or I.

Eddi is their chosen mortal, and no matter what anyone says, this isn’t an honor. She’s a tool towards the destruction of creatures she doesn’t understand, and who don’t understand her. Also, the Unseelie would like nothing more than to simply kill her before the war begins.

It takes the Phouka a little while to convince Eddi that he’s not an escaped mental patient and that her life really is in danger. But there are other fae infiltrating her life as well, most of whom mean her no harm. Again, we’ve all read urban fantasy before, so we know what to look for. But Eddi just thinks some of her new acquaintances are weird and a little shy.

War for the Oaks wears the armor of an urban fantasy, but on the inside, it’s a tale about empowerment wound around a love letter to the fashion and music of the 80s. If you grew up in or around Minneapolis, you’ll recognize plenty of landmarks, even those that have been renamed, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the Phouka’s physical appearance and fashion choices remind me of a certain musical prodigy from Minneapolis who was fond of lace cuffs and high heeled boots.

Once the characters are introduced and the plot gets going, there’s no escape for Eddi. I wasn’t able to put the book down, so there wasn’t any escape for me either, and I was fine with that. The fae war begins on May day, and could last until All Hallow’s Eve. Her life is in danger every moment she spends away from the Battlefield, and the formal battles must be scheduled by the fae courts, who have trapped themselves in old patterns of ceremony and manners.

 The world building is very slow, and while that was fine for me, it may frustrate some readers. On more than one occasion, Eddi demands that Phouka tell her exactly what is going on. Nearly every time he responds with vague answers and half truths. You’d think that would stall the story, but it does the exact opposite. I’m practically begging Emma Bull to tell me more, I found myself turning pages faster than I could read them.

 At first blush, War for the Oaks raised a few redflags for me, blaring with urban fantasy tropes that usually annoy me, like the requirement that random fae creatures speak in over-ornamented language, a character’s surprise identity which wasn’t a surprise at all, and the dreaded love triangle. Uggg, a love triangle? Are you kidding me? But that’s the power of Emma Bull. I was looking forward to what strange combination of floral themed phrases would next come out of the Phouka’s mouth, I didn’t mind that only Eddi was surprised by a reveal, and even the romantic plot failed to bother me as I’d expected.

I tend to avoid love triangles like poison ivy. Even in movies, they too often feel contrived and forced, with romantic leads all but screaming “I’m the romantic lead!!!” when they walk into a room. And that’s how Bull got me. No one in this book is interested in a relationship, Bull doesn’t set anyone us as a romantic lead, nothing ever felt like a plot device. The relationships that developed felt the opposite of contrived. They felt like a subtle change of seasons.

There’s so much I’ve left out of this review. So much more I want to tell you about War for the Oaks. I may gripe on Urban Fantasy, but I do love a well told faerie tale. I love how every author gives a slightly different spin on things while staying true to “the rules”. But more than that, I love when an author chooses their words wisely (and Emma Bull does), and the reader can interpret everything how they choose. I don’t want to tell you the best parts of this book because I want to you to come to them fresh, without my interpretation of them. Let it be like the first time you saw a favorite painting in the flesh, or the first time you heard a particular piece of music played live.

 There’s a reason Emma Bull has the following she does. There’s a reason so many fans judge other works of Urban Fantasy against War for the Oaks.

Do yourself a favor and just read it this book. Even if you don’t love it as much as I did, at least now you’ll know what everyone’s been talking about all this time.

Other great folks involved in TBR Topple include Lynn’s Book Blog  and Over the Effing Rainbow. Maybe we can all help each other out.

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Here’s what I got:

Some of the books mentioned below I’ve already cracked open to see what tasty morsels abide within, others I, umm…. haven’t. But I will!  I hope!

From the library:

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, recommended by My Bookish Ways, it’s magical realism/urban fantasy. Kinda Charles deLint-esque?

Mastering Communication at Work – yes, this is something I’m reading for work.  You know how must business books are drier than dust and make you want to die of boredom? This one isn’t. It’s readable, interesting, has a bunch of exercises to do. I’ve read the first 2 chapters and flipped through the rest. I wish I’d read this 10 years ago.  A bit heavy to read all in one go, but I may need to buy a copy of this.

Welcome to Bordertown, edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner – a shared world anthology, ummm… thing? I haven’t even had a chance to crack it open yet. I wonder how many times I can renew it from the library?

and an ARC for review:

Clockwork Phoenix 4, edited by Mike Allen – I’ve read three or four of the short stories in here, been very impressed so far.  The book doesn’t come out for a few weeks yet, so I’ve got a bit of wiggle room!

there’s these too:

Kushiel’s Dart by Jaqueline Carey – this seems like one of those books you can’t put down once you’ve picked up?  I’m not sure how many book there are in the series, but finding book 1 was not easy!

Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks – this is the first Culture book, but it gets mixed reviews. I did get through about 20 pages of it, got frustrated, picked up Banks’ The State of the Art, and did much better. this may go back on the shelf for now.

When the People Fell, by Cordwainer Smith – ya’ll know I love me some Cordwainer Smith, and three cheers to Baen Books for publishing this ginormous short story collection! This is the book for my local scifi book club that meets next week. I’ve read like 3 of the stories in here so far, all very, very good. Smith rights a damn good love story (betcha didn’t think I was gonna say that, did you?). This strikes me as more a “pick up every few months and read one or two entries”, than “blast through in a few days and read every page” type book.

Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson – got this out of the library like 6 years ago, LOVED it! Now I finally own a copy and read at a leisurely pace. Also, it’s a paperback, so it doesn’t weigh nine hundred pounds. unlike the hardback from the library!

Caliban’s War, by James S. A. Corey -  I loved the first one, not sure why I’ve waited so long to read the second. It looks like a really big time commitment.  And it’s autographed. I’m afraid I’ll damage it.

Survival, by Julie Czerneda – been hearing great things about this series. It has lots of science. A friend said “read it just for the aliens”. I do love me some aliens that aren’t just humanoids painted blue!

So that’s the plan.  dabble in these and see how I do, right?

and then my TBR Topple got sabotaged:

- I picked up Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks planning to just read 20 or 30 pages.  that was 2 days ago. Now I’m half way through it, and am planning to stay up way past my bedtime to finish it. This is seriously fan-fucking-tastically good.

- This beauty showed up in the mail:

The photo doesn’t do it justice. This anthology looks like a wedding gown with gold trim and a bouquet with streamers the color of an aurora.

- also, this showed up through Interlibrary Loan:

I won’t even show you the awesomely cool shit I bought at John King Books last week. And did I mention I discovered Paperback Swap?

TBR topple? I am TOAST.

how much time does “content creation” for your blog take? how many hours per week?

Responses ranged from “4-5 hours per week”, to “up to 8 hours per week”, to “it varies”.   But if you are a book reviewer, you’ve got to read the darn book before you can review it, right? so maybe 8-10 hours to read the book, and then 2-3 hours working on a review?

It takes me at least a few days to read the book, sometimes I’m lucky enough that the review practically writes itself in an hour, other times I agonize over a review for days.  So for me, let’s call it 8-20 hours per week. sometimes the book is a fast read, sometimes it takes forever, sometimes I even get two reviews done in a week!  twenty hours a week? Labor of love indeed.

So, to everyone else, on twitter and not, all kinds of bloggers – food/recipe bloggers, webcomic bloggers, TV/movie/anime bloggers, photo bloggers, parenting bloggers, people who  blog about their lives and adventures, people who blog about anything and everything, it’s your turn, and I do honestly want to know.

how much time do you spend, per week, creating content for your blog?

published in 2007

where I got it: gift from a friend

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Iain Banks’ Culture novels were love at first page for me. I didn’t mind being thrown far into the deep end, I was amused by the silly names and dry humor, I adored the drones and the Minds. Succinctly, I love me some Culture books.

But. . . . they are long, and tough to get into, and being tossed in the deep end isn’t for everyone. The State of The Art isn’t entirely Culture short stories, but it’s enough to give someone an easily survivable introduction to The Culture universe and Banks’ writing style. Even better, there’s an entire chapter A Few Notes On The Culture, which is quite a bit more than a few and gives even more indepth info, including what someone can expect if they live in The Culture (and where they’ll live), body modifications, life span, interactions with other civilizations, why everyone has such a long name, and the reason why most Culture novels take place on the edge of their sphere of influence. In fact, I wish I’d read that portion first, even though it’s at the end of the book.  Also, Banks insists on making it very clear that The Culture is completely fictional.  Pretty telling that this is the 2nd scifi book in a row where the author felt the need to do that.

Short enough to be read in a  few sittings, the first story, Road of Skulls, serves as a wry introduction and so should be read first, but other than that you can bounce around and read the rest in any order you please.

here are my thoughts on some of the entries:

The State of the Art – Featuring one of my favorite Culture characters, Diziet Sma, The Culture discovers Earth, circa 1978, and they are trying to decide if they should make contact with us or not. Along with other Culture people who can blend in and look human, Sma and her counterpart Linter are sent to Earth for one year to observe us. Linter goes missing and Sma is sent after him. Has he gone native? Did he fall in love with an Earthling and doesn’t want to leave? What could possibly make an Earth life more attractive to Linter than living in The Culture, where everyone has everything they could possibly want?

 It’s not a spoiler to tell you that she does eventually track him down, because that’s not the point of the story.   There’s some great bits near the end where a minor character on the ship decides to run for captain and insists that everyone vote for him, and the Drone doing the translation has some choice opinions on Sma’s situation, but over all, The State of the Art wasn’t my favorite in the collection.   I’m saddened to report that most of this novella dragged and dragged for me. I found myself interested, but not really caring about what happens. However, I bet that when I reread this collection in a few years, I’ll feel the opposite.

A Gift From the Culture – Wrobik left the Culture years ago (that’s one of the great things about the Culture, you can leave if you want, and no one will stop you), and has been living a quiet life in Vreccis City. Wrobik doesn’t care that some people think or know that he’s an alien, he just keeps the totality of those secrets to himself, who he was, what he could do. He renounced the Culture out of boredom, who wants to life the safe, easy, sterile life all the time?   Blackmailed into using a weapon only he can use, Wrobik has to decide how much and how far he’s truly left The Culture behind. He’s renounced them, but is he capable of taking steps to destroy them?

Descendent – I don’t think this is a Culture story, but there’s some pretty high tech AI, so it could be. An unnamed person falls in an environment suit falls to the planet’s surface, but due to an error, he lands nearly on the other side of the planet from where the Base is. Much of the suit’s technology is still intact, protecting the man from the hostile environment and helping him walk. But he is ill and injured, so it’s up to the suit to keep the man’s spirits up and convince him they can both survive walking all the way to the Base.  Told mostly from the man’s POV, I was surprised at the emotional reaction I had to this story.  Why should an AI suit give a shit if a humanoid dies?  All that extra work? What’s in it for the suit? For a simple conversation between a person and an AI suit, it was shockingly evocative. I remember having a similar reaction to the “under the surface of Mercury” scene in Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312.  I wasn’t sure if one of the characters was going to make it, and the more that person’s illness progressed in more painful ways, the way the word “death” was purposely avoided in that book and here, the more anxious I became.

Cleaning Up – Culture novels certainly aren’t comedies, but damn does Banks have one helluva sense of humor!  Most durable goods in The Culture are made on fully automated manufacturing stations and items that don’t meet the strictest of quality control standards are tossed into the nearest star via aimed transporter.  Except this time the manufacturing station’s transporter messed up and tossed everything to Earth.  Governments of course fight over the alien technology and become a cargo cult.  Matriapoll of the unpronouncable last name and more importantly of the Third Clean Up Squad discovers the mistake and sends a laugh out loud message to the manufacturing station to fix it’s transporter immediately, lest the pathetic Earthlings think they can weaponize alien fly-swatters, a sewer inspection kit, and a kids swingset, among other useless items.

I hope I’ve convinced you that The State of the Art is a great place to start with Iain Banks. Each story is a completely different style, yet all showcase Banks’ wide ranging imagination, his philosophy of where we are and where we’re going, and his famously dry sense of humor. And Congratulations, you’ll be ready to dive into the world of The Culture, and Banks’ other novels as well. but there’s a dark side to this: all the Banks books that are out there? This is all there will ever be, he will never write another one. I understand that nothing lasts forever, but the “finite-ness” of this is deeply saddening to me. It’s something that moves me.

I have the Night Shade Books edition from 2007, and there are other editions that just contain The State of the Art novella.  Good way to tell which one you’re looking at (provided you’re looking at a physical book) is the thickness. The novella is about 100 pages, the entire collection is about 200 pages.

John is a writer, podcaster, editor and all around Creative Storyteller Guy.  Working the bridge the gap between indie authors and authors who publish traditionally, his WALK THE FIRE anthologies are part of the new paradigm of how authors reach their audience.  The second anthology in the series is in the middle of it’s Kickstarter campaign, and features everything from Hugo nominated authors to indie authors, to music and artwork too.

Check out the WALK THE FIRE Kickstarter page for a video about the anthology, info on contributors, how to get yourself tuckerized, stretch goals and more.

Check out John’s blog for a series of interviews with some of the contributors, and a series of podcasts featuring free fiction from the first WALK THE FIRE anthology.

Sounds damn awesome, if you ask me.  But why are we asking me, when we can ask John instead?

Hi John,  welcome to the blog! Can you tell us a little about yourself? What kind of fiction do you write?

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I write mostly science fiction, occasionally fantasy, weird western, horror, sometimes with an adventure or thriller slant and always with a focus on character.

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Are there any specific books or authors that inspired you to start writing speculative fiction?

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Spider Robinson was a writer I absorbed far younger than I probably should have, during trips across the country when my military family relocated. He was the first author I can remember studying for how he constructed things. 

 

Spider’s humor and his atmospheric settings drew me in, but his skill at constructing stories and his compassionate messages are what kept me reading.

 

Bradbury I also loved, for very similar reasons.

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I’m new to shared world anthologies. Give me the run down on WALK THE FIRE. What kind of world is it? What kind of stories can I expect to read?

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WALK THE FIRE takes place in a reality where a very, very few humans called Ferrymen walk through special fires and appear anywhere else a flame from that fire has been transported the normal way. When they walk through, they revert in age and appearance to what they were the first time the ‘crossed’. 

 

Beyond the phenomena of crossing the Flames there are no gods, no aliens, no paranormal abilities in WALK THE FIRE. Just people. A lot more people, spread a lot farther. Some of whom are functionally immortal and pricelessly valuable. 

 

There are two central questions of the series -after, ‘have we told an exciting story?’ 

 

1. What happens to a person’s humanity when they no longer fear poverty, age, disease? And, by extension, what happens to the rest of us in their presence?

 

2. What happens to humanity as a whole when it has spread to a thousand self-sustaining homes? What technology will we discover and what choices will we make differently than here in the cradle of Earth?

 

All the authors are given a bible of key events and rules for how the world works, and are then set loose to enrich it. Characters and events may appear from story to story, and enrich the sense of this world.

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Congratulations on your Kickstarter campaign for WALK THE FIRE Volume 2!   going beyond the standard “book full of words”, volume 2 features artwork by Scott Pond and music from John Anealio. What are some of the advantages and challenges of including so much multimedia in the ebook?

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I’m a big believer in social media to connect writers and readers, and to let people who appreciate a work share it, and things associated with it. That makes things like artwork and songs more than just a gimmick: it’s something they can find for themselves, trade links to, at any time from now until the internet dies. 

 

I’m not sure, though, where I stand on ‘transmedia’, or the art of extending storytelling through several mediums. So the artwork and music are not pieces of the puzzle that need to be understood to solve or complete the anthologies. You can take them as they come.

 

It just seemed natural to me, when I was creating this series, that art and music could be reflections of the shared world. I consider Scott and John true collaborators, the equal to any of the authors.  

 

John wrote a folk song for the first anthology in the series, a hopeful, spiritual song about the Ferrymen and mankind stretching forth. I’ve asked him for something instrumental and thematic, this time… and also something dark, something questioning. 

John got the hopeful aspect so right in his first song ‘The Ferrymen’ is almost felt like a gospel or 60′s hippy song. Now I hope he’ll delve into how the Ferrymen change society, or are changed by it, in ways that aren’t so pretty.

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Thanks to places like Indiegogo and Kickstarter, creators and fans can put their money where their mouth is. With crowdfunding so accessible, what changes do you see in the future of traditional publishing and distribution models?

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When I created WALK THE FIRE I wanted it to be inclusionary and invited kindle best-sellers, new writers and new media innovators. I paid everyone who participated and I believed their careers and reader base would be expanded by coexisting in WALK THE FIRE.

 

For this second volume, I’ve assembled a team that’s even more hybrid: Hugo-nominated and traditionally published authors, as well as a new roster of indies and kindle best-sellers. There’s always a bit of contention (or outright war) between the traditionally published and indie camps, so it seemed natural to do what I could to help break the stigma down a little.

 

That’s a long way of saying I think the future of traditional publishing is in hybrid authors: those who contract with big Houses and those who take on promotion and distribution themselves.

 

Once you get past that dividing line, all of a sudden you have a whole host of options open to you: crowdfunding like Kickstarter can complement traditional advances, ebook sales to different e-ecosystems can supplement foreign sales.

 

Using social media to foster genuine connections with the people interested in your work seems to me to be the lynchpin to it all.

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When we first met, you were crazy for tablets, and I was lugging around  a purse full of beloved dead trees. I’m still a tree killer, but have started to dabble in ebooks. One of my worries with ebooks is DRM. Can you tell us about your decision  to go DRM free and what that means for your readers?

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Still crazy for tablets! Although since abandoning the iPhone for a Galaxy Note II I’m happier using it more than any android or iOS tablet yet. There’s a study somewhere that says we’ve tipped past the point of reading on specialized e-readers and now do more reading on our phones.

 

My phone is the computing device I use most. And as I mentioned above I change it a lot, as new systems come out. In a few years, we might be looking back on Apple and Google’s phone OS’s the way we now look on BlackBerry and Palm: outdated.

 

Although Kindle’s likely to outlast any one platform as an e-reader, I can’t help but worry that someday, Kindle readers will wake up and no longer have access to their ‘leased’ (not owned) material, even the ones authors like me made DRM-free.

 

Offering content in truly open formats like ePub is the only way to be realistically sure that, down the road a few years, you’ll still be able to enjoy the content you’re purchasing today.

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Podcasting, audiobook recording, anthology editing,  kickstarting, not to mention writing writing writing. You are one busy guy!  What do you like to do to relax?

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Re…lax? (grin) I’m a father of three, husband to a patient and amazing wife, and there’s always something that needs doing around the house. I live in a small town, and see friends a couple times a month. My wife and I get an hour or so at night to watch a tv show on Amazon Prime or iTunes (we’re cable-cutters), and I walk the dog with an audiobook or podcast in my ears once a day. 

 

The rest of the time, I guess doing what you love energizes you. I love writing, podcasting and social media are excellent tools to reach an audience and reach out to my interests, and I guess that’ll have to do until I get a bag full of money or a 25th hour a day.

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Many of us got hooked on reading through visits to public libraries or local bookstores.  How about you? Any great bookstore or library stories to share?

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Libraries are where most of my generation discovered new writers and genres. (I’m 42–still waiting for the answers to life, the universe and everything) I found true love:

 

Spider Robinson’s Saloon collections, Robert B Parker’s Spenser mysteries, Robert A Heinlein’s juvenile novels and more. I burned through the shelves with little atom-and-rocket-ship stickers on the spine, and the other Fiction shelves around them.

 

I mentioned before that my father was in the military? My favorite thing to do on holidays and weekends was disappear into a book. The mark of a good vacation was to kill a stack of books from the library before the end of it.

 

I used to walk the long way home in high school so I could check out the used bookstore. I still remember the time I found George RR Martin’s Wild Cards, a superhero/scifi anthology.

 

Cut to today: WALK THE FIRE is a tribute to the libraries and bookstores of my youth, my discovery of Wild Cards, and the social media/ebook-fuelled world of today.

 

I love books, in all forms. I love ideas that stretch beyond their covers. I love danger, romance, twist endings and twisted characters. And I love talking to other writers and readers about the things we love in common. 

 

The best I can hope for WALK THE FIRE is that it will keep readers up way too late, swiping screens until their eyes burn and their devices have to be plugged in, discovering new writers, stories and worlds they’ll go on to love.

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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The Kickstarter for WALK THE FIRE has about a week left, I do hope you’ll head over there and check it out. If you have questions for John about the anthology, or his experience with Kickstarter, or anything, ask ‘em in the comments (and I’ll try to bribe him to visit and answer them. Maybe I’ll offer him a 25th hour in the day?) or tweet him.

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Learn more about John Mierau at

his website and blog Serving Worlds

twitter @johnmierau

his personal tumblr blog

and of course, the WALK THE FIRE Kickstarter

published in 1977

where I got it: purchased used

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I suppose Spider Robinson wasn’t the first guy who started writing because he passionately hated his day job. Not the first, and certainly not the last. But when was the last time I ran into scifi that was so casually inviting?  Reading this short story collection felt more like chatting with a friend over a beer than reading a book.  I finished it in two sittings, which means Jake Stonebender and I will need to have another chat (beer for me, he’ll have a whiskey) soon. Had I know how good it was going to be, I’d have savored it, only allowing myself one story an evening, instead of seemingly rushing through it.

How to describe Callahan’s Saloon? Drinks are cheap, toasts are required,  references to classic science fiction is appreciated, puns are a dime a dozen, and there’s always a story to be told and a laugh to be had, often at the same time, especially if it isn’t a funny story. The bar doesn’t advertise, only accepts cash, and if you need to be there you’ll find yourself at the front door and welcomed in. Anything, and I do mean anything, can happen at Callahan’s.

The stories in this collection are told through Jake Stonebender, a regular patron of Callahan’s who found himself there after blaming himself for the car accident that killed his wife and child.  We’re quickly introduced to the owner of the bar, Mike Callahan, and a few other regulars, including piano playing Fast Eddie, and the incorrigible punster Doc Webster. Each story introduces another character who will be referenced later, so it’s a good idea to read them in the presented order.

Some evenings momentous things happen at Callahan’s, such as when an alien walked in with regret at his mission to destroy the earth, and Mike Callahan ended up offering him a job as a bartender. Other evenings it’s simply the weekly punning contest, which I guarantee will have you laughing out loud, or at least groaning at some truly awful wordplays (and then using them on your friends later!).

Like the regulars at Callahan’s, the stories in this volume are comfortable and gentle, but unafraid to talk about painful truths.  So many of these people are broken inside, carrying around guilt and confusion and anxiety. Even with so much sadness, every story is permeated  with a strong feeling of hopefulness.  As much as I enjoy reading dark fiction, it’s uplifting and refreshing to read something like this, to realize  all that darkness can only be created by something so very bright. Spider Robinson is just as empathic as his characters, and that’s damn rare to find in an SF writer.

The stories in this collection mostly follow a similar pattern: Jake introduces the scene, be it the yearly Halloween party, or just another Tuesday night at the bar; a stranger walks in and has a story to tell; the regulars of the bar dispense advice, and the stranger feels better and is probably on their way to becoming a regular, and the evening continues like nothing unusual happened. I’m a huge fan of the “story within a story” literary device, so I was in story telling mode heaven. Even with the pattern, the stories never feel repetitive, and as soon as I thought I could predict what was going to happen next, something insane and surprising happens. Often followed by a groan-worthy pun.

And oh, the puns!  For those of you who have a habit of reading very late at night or very early in the morning while your loved ones are sleeping, you’ll want to read this during normal business hours. Otherwise your bouts of laughter may wake children and spouses. Mike Callahan and Doc Webster’s love for puns have rubbed off on everyone at the bar, to the point where there are weekly punning contests (and tall tale contests, but that’s a different story, literally) with the evening’s prize being free drinks.

Spider Robinson didn’t impart any special knowledge of universe on me. There’s no jaw dropping twists to these stories. Or at least it didn’t feel like it. But you know what? I felt better about the universe and its inhabitants after reading them. I felt like everything was worth it.  Who’da thought, that just reading about Callahan’s could be as therapeutic as visiting the place?    And okay, there was a smidgen of a twist right at the end, but I wouldn’t call it a plot twist.

Researching the Callahan’s universe on the wiki, it’s tough to figure out exactly how many volumes of short stories there are, as some have been republished as omnibuses (omnibusii?) and others also include stories that aren’t in the Callahan’s universe, and later in the series there are also novels. From what I could find, this is the order of the series:

Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon

Time Travelers Strictly Cash

Callahan’s Secret

The Callahan Touch

Callahan’s Legacy

Callahan’s Key

Callahan’s Con

For those of you currently saying to yourself “she’s just discovering Spider Robinson now? jeez, has she been living under a rock for the last 30 years?” please chime in with more information!

My advice to everyone else is if you run across a copy of Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon, or any other book that even appears to be in this universe, grab it. You’ll thank me, and you’ll understand why the series has such a long lived and rabid fanbase.

published in 2011

where I got it: purchased new

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Whatever you expect this book to be, or to be about, it isn’t. The blurb on the back is fairly useless, making it sound like an action packed revenge story with some magic. I’ll give it that, it is a revenge story, and there is some magic. But at the core, The Diviner is the story of a family who was nearly destroyed, and instead, irrevocably changed the world.

Long review short, Melanie Rawn’s The Diviner is so full of awesome that I don’t even know where to start talking about it. Complex and sprawling, subtle yet epic, The Diviner offers stunning world building, an elegant magic system, and characters who I swear I just spent an endless summer with.  Doesn’t hurt that Rawn’s writing style is poetic yet purposeful, layered like sheer silks that shift and billow in the breeze, offering momentary glimpses of a larger pattern.

The Diviner is all about the details – details that support other details, that are required to make something else work, yet like a cathedral or a fractal, the complexities blend into the background at first blush.  There’s so much I want to touch on, that trying to review this book is like trying to review Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. It would be so much easier if this review could just consist of “you have to read this book!” over and over again until I reach 800 words.

Spanning four generations, the pacing of The Diviner is very fast, but the point of the book requires that time pass quickly. When months or years pass between chapters, we’re often given a passage written by a chronicler who has documented what happened. The chroniclers are just one more subtle architectural detail, it’s easy to see they each have their own style but were trained in the same school. This method of showing the passage of time may not work for all readers, but I found it refreshing and enjoyable.

This review might give away a number of plot points, but I assure you that I haven’t even begun to touch the best surprises the book has to offer.

Once upon a time, in the city of Dayira Azreyq, the ruler Sheyqa Nizzira decided to rid herself of her enemies once and for all. Through poison, assassination, fire, and open murder, she found every al Ma’aliq in her realm.  But one young man, Azzad al Ma’aliq, a wastrel playboy, survived, as he was too busy climbing out his mistress’s bedroom window to be in the path of the assassins.  A wanted man, he flees into the desert where he is saved by the Shagara, a mysterious desert clan. Determined to avenge his family, Azzad humbles himself  before the Shagara and slowly earns a place with them.  They’d be happy to be rid of this ignorant city boy, except for an unexpected and funny event (completely not what you think) that binds him to the clan. Azzad bides his time, and plots sweet revenge.

As the years pass, Azzad beings to acquire his fortune, marries, has children, and starts to understand the Shagara secrets. Through him, knowledge of cities and politics and empires quietly infects the Shagara, slowly but inevitably forcing them towards cultural shifts.

The point of view then shifts to Azzad’s son, Alessid. Torn from his father at an early age, and fed conflicting stories about  Azzad’s youth, Alessid vowes to complete his father’s quest for revenge. Like everyone, Alessid sees what he wants to see, and he sees his father as a weakling who failed to properly avenge his family. The manipulative Alessid promises to be nothing like his father, and that at least, is one promise he keeps.

The Chroniclers make Alessid out to be the ideal leader: strong, driven, inspiring, deserving of respect. As in the case of many historical biographies, the man they write about isn’t quite the man who actually lived.    Props again to Rawn, for making me love certain characters instantly, and just as quickly feel conflicted about others. We don’t get to spend much time with any one person, but the author never lets up on the sheer quantity of sophisticated characterization invested in every sentence.

Soon again, a point of view switch, this time to Alessid’s grandson Qamar. Qamar takes after his great grandfather Azzad in all the ways that matter, and he’s the one  with the potential to finally see Azzad’s dream come to fruition, however in a direction that his family could never have foreseen.

It’s amazing how hard we fight to not be like our parents, isn’t it? We may have free will, but there’s no escaping genetics.

 The Diviner is a character driven story, but Azzad, Alessid, even Qamar would be nothing without the magic of the Shagara.  It was the magic system that brought this book to a whole new level for me. I’ve come across magic systems that are somewhat similar to what Rawn offers, but the way she presents it and connects the magic system to location and family and culture and then shows it as it evolves as generations pass  was truly impressive. I’m loathe to even call it magic, as that word implies something mysterious and unfathomable. The Shagara who have the talent understand very well what they are and what they are supposed to do, and their curse brings them honor in the clan. This isn’t an easy talent to live with, it has heavy costs and requirements, and not just from the person making the protective items.

I’m nearly bursting to tell you more but if I did I’d be spoiling the entire point of the book. Just do yourself a favor, and go read it so we can talk about it. Even if you read it and don’t like it, I’d still love to discuss it with you.

If Melanie Rawn’s name, or the world in the book sound familiar, it’s because The Diviner is a prequel to The Golden Key, written in 1996 with Kate Elliott and Jennifer Roberson. Having read only The Diviner, I am now determined to read The Golden Key.

In the Author’s Note at the end, Rawn mentions her years of studying history. She apologizes to her professors for the use she’s put her history education towards. But you know what? Reading this, I had no idea if I was reading straight up fantasy, or if I was reading historical fiction. I was waiting to get to the end and learn in her Author’s Note how she was inspired to write about Azzad al-Ma’aliq after seeing his tomb somewhere in Morocco or something, or reading an illuminated manuscript about him.  No such luck, it’s all fantasy, he wasn’t a real person and neither are the Shagara.  Still, her history professors should be nothing but proud.

Cuz I was busy making this:

Cinnamon Raisin Bread!

And apparently the secret is rising the dough overnight in the fridge, and not using an entire egg and tons of butter in the cinnamon sugar mix. Blend the softened butter into the bread dough and then when you’re making the filling use just enough egg to dissolve the cinnamon sugar in.

also, this:

Lemon tart!

Note to self: next time you make the lemon tart filling,  beat the eggs before adding sugar  and lemon juice and zest. Otherwise you get those weird unmixed white bits. They still tasty delish, just look funny.

I ended up w/a  ton of unused egg whites.  mmmm…. egg white omelet for me!

meanwhile, I’m busy reading The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaaron and Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson. Gotta be mixing my sf with my f, know what I mean?   And in the meantime, I’m percolating a review of Melanie Rawn’s The Diviner. Although I could easily just say “omg, it was awesome!” over and over again until I hit 500 words.

So, what did you do this weekend?

but, there’s New Stuff!

A Stranger in Olondria was recommended to me by my friend at the bookseller. The debut novel from Sofia Samatar from Small Beer Press, it never hurts to support new authors and small presses. the cover art? eh, bleh.

River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay – after a long discussion with the other half last night about how Kay’s writing has evolved over the years, we decided that even though neither of us were in love with Under Heaven, we should give the pseudo-sequel, River of Stars a try.

New to me stuff! (because I can’t resist a used bookstore!)

Yes, I know the Doctor Who novelizations are kinda hokey. BUT I DON”T CARE I LOVE THEM!

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding – I remember hearing a ton about this when it came out, time to give it a shot.

Kushiel’s Dart by Jaqueline Carey. When 99% of the blogging world is saying this book is a must read, who am I to pass on it?

published in 2010

where I got it: the library

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The entire internet has been afire about Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress series for a while now, and it’s no secret I’ve a major weakness for thieves in fantasy environments, so how could I resist a story about the greatest thief ever?  The first volume wasn’t exactly what I expected, but surprises are always a good thing, right?

The infamous thief (and wizard!) Eli Monpress is certainly the focus of the story, but we learn about the world through Spiritualist Miranda Lyonette. She’s been sent to the Kingdom of Mellinor to keep Eli from stealing an important artifact.  Lucky for us, she’s rather unsuccessful in her mission, otherwise this would be a very short and rather un-fun book.

Upon her arrival at Mellinor, Miranda finds that Eli has completely ignored the artifact and has instead kidnapped King Henrith and is holding him for ransom.  Out of the woodwork steps the King’s brother, Prince Renaud, who claims the throne for himself and convinces everyone that Miranda is secretly working for Eli and against the kingdom.  As Miranda unravels what’s going on, she’ll have to choose which is more important: following the rules, or doing the right thing.

Miranda is a court-trained Spiritualist, which means she’s made binding agreements with the spirits she works with. She offers them physical protection and a portion of her own energy, and in turn she can use their magic upon request. It’s a very formal agreement, and she’d never think of using a spirit against its will, or hurting it in any way.  Wizards who go against their training, who take advantage of the strength of spirits, are known as enslavers, and should be destroyed at all costs.

Eli’s relationship with spirits is completely different. He doesn’t offer protective contracts with them, but he doesn’t force them to do anything either.  He just talks to them, almost as if they were just other people he was having a conversation with. He’s certainly not a spiritualist, nor is he an enslaver. The Spirit Court isn’t sure what to make of him.  And that’s just one reason why there’s a huge bounty on his head.  Eli Monpress, the man who steals everything that’s not nailed down, and when he wants something that’s nailed down, he convinces the nails to give him a hand.

Eli remains a rather mysterious person for most of the book. He’s a supremely talented thief, interested only in stealing things that can’t be stolen and getting his bounty higher and higher. Like most thieves, he’s in it for the long game, not the goods. He barely spends any of the money he steals, lives rather rough, and strikes me as the kind of fellow who just wants to live his life and be left alone.  He seems much more at ease talking with spirits than talking with other people.

I was certainly intrigued by Eli, but I absolutely loved his companions, Josef and Nico.  Josef is a swordsman, who carries an awakened Sword, the Heart of War.  He flat out refuses to use the spirit sword, preferring to win his duels through his own strength, not through some magical sword. But The Heart of War calls to Josef, uses him, enslaves him in a way. And then there is little Nico; a tiny, quiet little girl in a gigantic coat and heavy manacles.  She’s slowly being consumed by a demonseed, which once awakened, will destroy her soul and then begin devouring any other spirit it can reach. The only person who can calm Nico is Josef.  These two are a perfect example of side characters who steal every scene they are in.  Josef and Nico need their own books.

Miranda, on the other hand, annoyed the crap out of me. All she sees is good or bad, black hat or white hat. I get that she’s the moral voice of the story, and she does play an incredibly important role at the end, but she came off as one dimensional and incredibly self righteous.

Aaron’s writing style is light and easy to read, filled with fun dialog and humor.  There’s not much in the way of subtleties or complexities here, it’s a fun fluffy adventure story with plenty of wire-team style action, a bit too much deus ex machina, basically a fun harmless world to escape into for a few hours.   A little like reading the novelization of an action anime, maybe a Lupin III story or some such. There’s plenty of hints of political maneuvering involving The Spirit Court, The Council of Thrones, and The League of Storms, and evidence of secret patrons that I’m sure will become important later.

Quite a bit lighter than what I usually read, it’s nice to come across something I can happily recommend to friends looking for fantasy that’s appropriate for their kids, or anyone looking for a lighter fantasy read. Just because I prefer the weird creepy grimdark doesn’t mean that’s what everyone else is looking for.

The  big question is will I continue reading? More than likely, if only to learn more about Nico and Josef, and their relationship with Eli. And who knows, maybe Miranda will grow on me. I got this out of the library as the three volume omnibus, The Legend of Eli Monpress, which includes the first three books in the series, The Spirit Thief, The Spirit Rebellion, and The Spirit Eater.