Master Alvin: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Book Seven by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now, while I can't say I liked this nearly as much as the rest of the Alvin Maker series, I can say that it has a lot going for it. Specifically, it remains true to the crunchy granola ideals it began with.

That is: true Christian ideals where you love your neighbor, help your neighbor, and protect your neighbor even if they are out to hurt you. It's good. Of course, when you get to Alvin by this point in the series, after he created the Crystal City and brought together all those with magical knacks to protect them from assholes who'd burn them for witches in frontier-era America, you know he's pretty beast. Almost godlike.

So now we have the conclusion of his legend, and I guess my only complaint is that it came so many years after the previous book.

I will specifically point out that there's nothing objectionable in this novel. The good guys protect the downtrodden and protect women, blacks, and anyone that is considered different. One can easily read into the text that those with knacks could very well be lgbtq, and how they are treated, and Alvin could be a true martyr for them.

Indeed, if one knew nothing of the author and just went by the novels, one might start raving about just how DECENT and GOOD all the messages are, and how interesting the story is, and how satisfying it turned out--even as a semi-tragedy.

But that's mythos for you. And I suppose I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the whole series because it truly was magical and a clever twist on historical fantasy. Seventh Son through Master Alvin was right up there for me along with Ender's Game.

For those who criticize, I just want to reiterate: separate the art from the artist. The art may have dropped off some, but the message is still true--irrespective of the artist.

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Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well now. This was surprisingly pretty great. And while I don't know the actual science or biology nearly as well as this author seems to, I couldn't find anything wrong with any of it.

And that is terrifying.

Just to imagine getting swallowed by a sperm whale. Surviving.

Of course, there's a lot more story here, and it's a good horror in all the old traditions. As body horror, it ought to reign pretty supreme. Whose body, though? Muahahahahahaha

Definitely worth the read.

I definitely do NOT know how they'll adapt this to a movie where you can get all the internal stuff from the page onto the screen, but I'm pretty sure they'll get the other internals pretty well.

Don't eat before seeing this movie. I'm sure this will be reasonable advice.



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Couriers Outbound by Pirateaba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My favorite endless tale continues. And when I mean endless, it's merely a wish, because even though it's a truly enormous tale, with each book being huuuuugeeee, it's still one of the most enjoyable, heart-warming, edge-of-seat, anger-enducing, honorable, well-rounded, and amusing novels (or novel series) out there.

At least, I can't believe how invested I am in it. Or just how much sleep I'm willing to eschew in order to keep reading. Or how excited I am for each new novel. Or how invasive the thought is that I should want to start re-reading this monstrous series from the start again for the sheer joy of it.


In particular, I'd say that this novel and the one directly preceding it are heavily entwined, but that's not quite true. All of the characters have wonderfully huge story arcs that are epic and fantastic in their own rights and are heavily interwoven in each and every novel that comes out. It's impossible to separate them directly and I wouldn't want to, even if they generally have little to do with other arcs except as glancing blows. But that doesn't mean much when it builds such a huge amount of worldbuilding that lives and breathes and gives heart and beauty even to those who would be endless enemies to other characters.

The point is, it's all people. Even when they're different races. drakes, gnolls, stitch people, witches, insects, goblins, dragons, humans. Those from this world or from Earth. Each with their own load of baggage. And yet... strange, beautiful intersections between them all. Endlessly fascinating. And NOT derivative. :)

There's a reason why I love the series. And it's mostly due to its heart.

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William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even better than A New Hope, Shakespeare-style. Or rather, I guess my preference for Empire Strikes Back got the better of me here, too. :)

But either way, I love having a full dramatization, Shakespearian-style, of one of my favorite movies. It just WORKS. All the classic themes... and even the monsters get soliloquies. :)

So yummy. Pure pleasure.

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Crimson Alliance by James A. Hunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm trying to decide whether I honestly like this LitRPG setup. It feels like a rather global and simplified massive multiplayer rpg now, with equally simple factions compared to some other rather impressive LitRPGs I've read.

The whole shadow realm magic system is okay, but not really that impressive, either. It's more on the level of World of Warcraft 1, but with Earth refugees making things unnecessarily difficult. You know, as usual.

So far, it's just... kinda plain. I may give it one more try.

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Cataclysm by James A. Hunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty standard LitRPG with a standard setup. Get online to escape a cataclysm, die, and be reborn. Find a class and level up. Quests.

While it isn't bad, it doesn't stand out much yet. Shadow skills. Very Skyrim-like. I just hope it gets better, story-wise, but it's not bad. Just average.

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Last of the First by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I generally look forward to these Saga of Recluse books for one thing in particular: Slow and Steady Rational Thought and Action. The characters almost always wind up being truly excellent individuals excelling where everyone else gets muddle-headed or mired in their old momentum.

It's REFRESHING to see rational people get ahead so easily. It warms my heart. And this one is no different from ANY of the others. Indeed, it feels almost exactly like all the others. How many characters started out from lowly beginnings only to learn to harness order magic or chaos magic, join the military, learn they have a knack, only to trounce over everyone and rise in the ranks only to trounce all the old guard magicians at their own game and come out on top?

Um, really, it's a massive trend. Massive. Anyway. I enjoyed this a LOT right until the point nearing the end where we just up and upended EVERYTHING. Or rather, the author did. As if it was just too much bother to do the slow build and slow grind as usual. And just... decapitate the progress.

I GUESS that's an end? Most of the previous books were set pieces so this kind of blowout is kinda expected and then it all wraps up for another look at another time period with another set of suspiciously similar MC's. But this was kinda special because we've stuck with THIS character for much longer than expected. And, indeed, after reaching the capitol and JUST NOW getting his bearings on the intrigues, I fully expected it to go on at least another book or two.

And you know what? I would have had a good time.
It's a COMFORTING read. They always had been.

So, I guess I'm just scratching my head. I hope the author is okay.


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