Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emrys

Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 4th April 2017

Winter Tide has a very interesting premise, which builds on a short story by Ruthanna Emrys, ‘The Litany of Earth’ (you can find the story free to read online here). It took me a while to get used to what was going on because I hadn’t read that short story, but once I did, things started to fall into place. I do have to say that you’d probably appreciate this more if you’re familiar with Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. Since I’m not, I couldn’t appreciate a lot of the detail and the way Emrys reframes the sexist, racist themes of Lovecraft’s work. From the reviews/commentary I’ve read, that’s really well done.

The problem for me, aside from not having the background in Lovecraft’s work, is that I found it kind of slow-paced. I appreciated the character development, the descriptions, all sorts of things about the world… but I wanted a story that was going somewhere faster. It was worth sticking with it, but I found that I enjoyed ‘The Litany of Earth’ (which I read when halfway through Winter Tide) more satisfying somehow.

Still, I did appreciate that all the markers of monstrosity and so on were subverted here. I think Emrys loved the material and took care with making it more accessible to a modern, diverse audience, and it shows — as well of being a story of its own.

Rating: 3/5

City of Wolves, Willow Palacek

City of Wolves makes a good, quick steampunk/mystery read, but it doesn’t have much depth. It’s competently enough written, but the fact that it zooms along hinders it somewhat from feeling like a fully developed world. I was actually intrigued by the background of the Loyalists and the War of the Wolves, but there was very little solid happening there. It felt like a potential setting for more, with this just being a taster.

It’s enjoyable, and I’d read more set in the same world, but it fails to satisfy, I think. More substance is needed, really — flesh on the bones, so to speak. Also, the revelation at the end… I saw it coming.

Rating: 2/5

The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu, trans. Ken Liu

Since this one pipped The Goblin Emperor to the post for a Hugo, I was very curious to read it. Buuut, a bunch of people who normally share my taste in books found it boring and completely flat, so I was a little apprehensive. Part of the problem is, I think, the cultural translation: Ken Liu added some explanations and footnotes, but the tone still isn’t very Western. The writing feels really flat and simple: this character did this. He took something out of his pocket and did something with it. Then he smiled. It doesn’t flow in the same way as most Western writing, to my mind. The translation works in that it keeps a sense of the original, but I’m not sure that was the best decision in terms of an engaging tone in English translation.

I was intrigued by the story, anyway, and honestly loved the way it was thoroughly rooted in Chinese culture and the Cultural Revolution. I didn’t know that much about it, but I enjoyed learning (and doing some extra reading). The Trisolaris sections are rather odd — suddenly Copernicus? Einstein? What? I didn’t understand what exactly was going on with the characters, though the idea of Trisolaris is compelling. The hard SF concepts were… less easy for me to grasp. You’re unfolding a proton into two dimensions? What, why? I’m confused…

But the central conflict, the idea of there being people who have so far given up on humanity that they called to aliens to invade… yes, that is intriguing, and it’s that plot which makes me want to read the next book. It’s more of an ideas book than one about characters, which is usually less appealing to me, but I’m intrigued enough by the plot that I think I will read on.

(Do I think it should have beaten The Goblin Emperor? Not in a million years.)

Rating: 3/5

Terra, Mitch Benn

This was the perfect read for me at the point when I got hold of it. It’s funny, sometimes silly, but it also has a lot of heart. It’s sceptical about humanity and the way we behave, but hopeful too. There’s all kinds of fun glimpses at the alien culture Terra becomes part of, with its different norms and expectations. And goodness knows, if my dad weren’t pretty awesome and probably a space alien anyway, I’d want Lbbp to be my father-figure.

It’s relatively simplistic and light, written more for a young adult audience, but it was exactly what I needed at the moment I read it. It’s well written, well paced, and has a refreshingly nice take on human (and alien) nature.

I don’t know what to say about it, except that I found it a delight, and my wife had better read it soon.

Rating: 4/5

The Boys from Brazil, Ira Levin

The Boys from Brazil is a bit of a classic; I actually remember my Religious Studies teacher telling us the basic plot and asking us about the moral issues at the centre. So for quite a while, I’ve been very interested to read it. It’s a bit odd to read, because it’s written with a sort of affect-less style: ‘the man did this and then the man did that, and turned to the blond man and said…’ I mean, here’s an actual example of the style:

“The blond man, panting, stopped stabbing, and the black-haired man lowered the surprised-eyed young man gently to the floor, laid him down there half on the gray rug and half on varnished wood. The blond man held his bloody knife-hand over the young man and said to the black-haired man, ‘A towel.'”

Aaargghh.

The actual plot and the thriller aspect is interesting, and the moral dilemma is perhaps more relevant/possible now than it was when the book was written, but I do think it’s dated badly and the writing style does it no favours.

Rating: 2/5

Dark Run, Mike Brooks

Dark Run is a fun, very Firefly-ish sort of story — in that, I mean both the setting (the world situation, the character lineup, the tone) and the actual storyline are quite like Firefly. There are a couple of lines which seem like homages, like the pilot saying “I am a leaf on the wind”… but since that doesn’t lead to disaster in quite the same way as it does in Serenity, it kind of ruins the moment? Like, I read the line and braced myself, and then it was just… a throwaway comment? Hm. It’s things like that which made me wonder how deliberate the references were.

Whatever that situation is, the book is fun enough on its own merits, and it does things Firefly should have done, like introduce more diversity. Asian characters, most obviously, but also a Maori character, which is an interesting choice. I tried not to think too much about how things related to Firefly, and instead enjoy the book for its own merits: the pacing is pretty good, the crew is a mismatched bunch who come together in that endearing sort of way without it being ridiculously easy, there’s interesting background stuff, and there are character backstories which have yet to be unravelled and dug into… In short, there’s a lot of potential.

I’m not sure I succeeded in not thinking of it as an imitation of Firefly, but I did enjoy reading it for what it was as well. Enough that I’ve ordered the second book and am ready to dig into it right away. It’s fun without requiring too much thought, and if you do want a bit of a Firefly feel (though it can be hard for stuff to match up, given the way we’ve all built Firefly up!) then this delivers.

Rating: 4/5