Xeelee: Redemption by Stephen Baxter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay. I'm going to have to caveat the hell out of this novel.

I am BOTH waving my hands over my head like a green muppet AND I'm slamming my fists down on the floor, yelling, "Nooooooo!"

Let me unpack this:

As a long-time fan of Baxter and being a bonafide nerd about the Xeelee universe, I'm also extremely annoyed at Poole and all the relatives of Poole and all the alternate universe versions of Pool. (Although, I'm pretty okay with the software version of Poole. He's all right.)

YES, I get why so many Pooles are necessary and I even enjoyed the gimmick for quite some time, but ALSO as a long-time fan, I just want NEW CHARACTERS with all shiny awesome shit.

And let me be clear: this novel (and the one right before it) are JAMMED PACKED with shiny awesome shit. From the sheer scope, from the inception of the universe to the creation of the Ring (or here, called the Wheel), and far beyond the last star winking out, we've ALSO got multiple do-overs in alternate universes, tons of time-like loops, galaxy-spanning wars (or you'll see, you spoiler hounds,) and so much more. Just read the novel if you want to have all that neat stuff.

It is AMAZEBALLS.

And so that brings me to one of the hardest things I've ever had to say:

NEW READERS, START WITH Xeelee Vengeance (book 16), continue with Xeelee Redemption (book 17).

HUH?

As a new reader, getting to know Poole is no big deal. Baxter has improved his writing over the years, too. If I had read these two novels without ever once knowing ANYTHING about Baxter or the Xeelee, I would have started worshipping him as an SF god.

Do you want a scope like Cixin Liu's recent trilogy? How about some classic Asimov or Clarke? Do you want HARDCORE magical science with good science but taken to totally magical levels? Do you want an obsessive story that has taken on mythical levels?

START HERE.

And here's the good part: you get a total overview of the over-story. If you get hooked and need to fill in ALL the massive amazing blanks, THEN go back and read the entire Xeelee sequence.

It's a total win-win. The best of all worlds.

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Xeelee: Vengeance by Stephen Baxter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Xeelee sequence is one of THOSE huge storylines that I just can't get out of my head. It's a monolith of HUGE HUGE HUGE space and time stories that spread from the inception of the universe to the very end of the universe, countless time-travel re-creations, battle-lines that re-form all of HISTORY many, many times, and often just punch ultimate holes in the universe to GET THE F**K out and into alternate universes.

And through it all, Humans have become the runner-ups in the galaxy-wide conflict while being unable to communicate with the more advanced and inscrutable Xeelee who freaking SHEPHERD STARS or create a naked singularity out of a galactic core. You know. Little things like that.

This particular book, late in the many, many battles and time-rewrites and massive battles, takes us back to a time -- again -- to the Pooles. And between putting a wormhole into the sun to heat remote parts of the Solar System, uncovering and engaging with an ancient Xeelee artifact that had been buried for millions of years despite having come from a very distant future (or discovering that Poole, himself, is a grand hero celebrated half a million years in the future,) (again), things soon go to total s**t again.

The war never ends. Not when time-like loops and vast scales are matched with even more vast scales in multiple timelines.

This is HARDCORE hard SF, folks. I LOVE IT.

So why did I give it only 4 stars?

Because of Poole. The first time we had an alternate timeline with another version of Poole or one of the extended historical Poole family, I was like... okay. This could get very interesting.
The fourth time, it was beginning to look like a gimmick.
The eighth time, I was already begging to just GIVE ME A NEW CHARACTER ALREADY.

If I was going to judge these books on just that one little annoyance, I'd probably say toss it only 2 stars. But when I judge these books on their great over-plots, the tactics and strategy, the mind-blowing physics and scale and creative uses of ... EVERYTHING worldbuilding? I have to give it a full 5 stars. Every time. Every book.

In fact, that's why I keep coming back. It's really awesome. Deeply, deeply satisfying.
And pity humanity.

Even Poole pulls some awesome s**t. Give him some credit.

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How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for stories about immortals. You know, regular, average, everyday immortals who aren't vampires.

The whole idea is rich, in my opinion, and full of almost limitless possibilities. Unfortunately, I've rarely read particularly GOOD tropes like this. They usually feel drawn-out and weak, aimless, and/or unnecessarily wrought with ... too simple emotionalities ... that don't do a life that's LONG any true justice.

There are exceptions, of course, such as The Boat of a Million Years, which I loved. The history was rich and so were the characterizations.

But what about this one?

Honestly? I STILL want to read more complex characterizations, psychology, and books of history along these lines. This wasn't bad -- at all -- and it felt like a really good literary, emotional, and heartbreaking treatment of the idea.

All in all, however, I still want MORE. Like, a lot more. A life that doesn't automatically devolve into "just getting by" or an amorphous ill-defined "carry on". Why? Because it FEELS as if his life is just like everyone else's.

But wait, am I missing the point of OTHER PEOPLE?

I don't know. I don't think so. I thought it was rather sweet. But this didn't give me the full emotional hit that I wanted.



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Snuff by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-read 08/29/20:

Reading this in the light of race relations is rather enlightening. It's a gentle treatment on simply learning to treat people like PEOPLE in the end, but this is a very GOOD thing.

So, honestly? I was sad, enthusiastic, angry, and hopeful as I read this again.

It's a fine novel.



Original Review:

I go through different stages of Pratchettism throughout my life. Sometimes I can't do without Death, other times, I love the witches more than anything else. Then I've got to have my wizards. Lower down on the rung of things, I disliked the Night Watch more than I've ever disliked anything in Discworld; and then something really odd happened: I didn't dislike it at all. In fact, I kept thinking about how interesting all of these goofy characters have become. And then, without my quite realizing it, I loved them.
This is a novel about the Law. And a book named Pride and Extreme Prejudice.
Classic chicanery in the hills during a much-deserved vacation, and all that, and smartly done, too. Right!

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Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ahhh, Catalina and Alessandro. After a few rocky starts, a slow-burning romance, and a major reversal in the previous book, we finally get... more reversals.

There are some really cool magical bits, a nice and nasty antagonist, and enough familial angst and reveals to throw a kitchen sink at, but in the end, this novel IS pretty much a HEA romance through and through.

We THOUGHT we'd get that HEA in the previous one before the rug was pulled out from under us and the rocky start in this one seemed destined to keep that HEA out of our grasp with all the "I'm spurned so, therefore, I'll spurn" standard trope, but this is just a trick.

The novel delivers. In beautiful paranormal romance style.

What? You miss Nevada and Connor?

***psssst. They're here***

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Kings of Paradise by Richard Nell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started this. An epic fantasy using a low magic system, lots of grit and grim, and a fairly expansive world? Sure. That sounds reasonable. And pretty standard.

Pretty soon after we get through a pretty general opening with a downtrodden prince and a few other rather more interesting low characters, I think it started getting pretty good. I wasn't all that impressed with the start. But later on? It definitely drew me in and kept me engaged.

Runes? Count me in. A main character that goes through MANY, MANY changes of life, learning, failing, getting the full reversals, and still keeps on chugging?

I admit I began to LOVE it. No matter what happens, there's high risk, higher consequences, and a chance it all goes to worse hell than ever before. And yet, I'm glued to the page.

At this point, I'm totally hooked. It's not always the ideas that do it. It's the sheer storytelling goodness. I'm reminded fondly of some of the epic fantasy greats. :) Think about a mix between Feist and Rothfuss and you might get an idea.

Give me more!

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Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some odd reason, I've been avoiding reading this book (or the whole series) despite it being well-beloved in general.

Why? I mean, I like a good heist novel and the cockier and the more headstrong the character, the more interesting I find it. So this should be right up my alley, right?

Well, it's YA. MG, even. Okay. So that's a big thing.

Even so, I thought I ought to finally GIVE IT A CHANCE. After all, wasn't there a big movie was made for it?

*crickets* *embarrassed shuffling over at Disney* *more crickets*

OKAY. So my desire to read this is no predicated only on sheer stubborn doggedness. I want to say I did it. That's it.

And so I read it and didn't think it was all that bad. Some fun bits. Fairly reasonable amounts of handwavium but that's okay even in the terms of plot because it's just meant to be FUN.

It wasn't bad. Flashy, genre-bending SF/Fantasy with interesting if simply-portrayed rules in a mythical book. And Action. Lots of action.

It's on par with that old movie Spy Kids. Just add spy tech to an Arsene Lupin kid, throw high-tech fae cops at him, and stir.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my girl to read it past a few pages. This just had to be for me, this time.

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