"Avempartha" by Michael J. Sullivan

"Avempartha"

by Michael J. Sullivan

Format: Paperback, 344 pages

Publisher: Ridan Publishing

When a destitute young woman hires two thieves to help save her remote village from nocturnal attacks, they are drawn into the schemes of the wizard Esrahaddon. While Royce struggles to breech the secrets of an ancient elven tower, Hadrian attempts to rally the villagers to defend themselves against the unseen killer. What begins with the simple theft of a sword places the two thieves at the center of a firestorm — that could change the future of Elan.

If you ask me which is the book that took me by surprise the most this year I would easily answer, “The Crown Conspiracy”. So after being pleasantly surprised by “The Crown Conspiracy” and after enjoying a lovely reading I went as fast as I could for the second novel in the Michael J. Sullivan’s “The Riyria Revelations” series, “Avempartha”.

“Avempartha” starts pretty much in the same way as “The Crown Conspiracy”, with a mission for the two main characters, Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater, and which is basically the same, to steal one particular sword. However, different from the first novel, “Avempartha” is not offering as many action scenes, but this will not be a drop in the enjoyment of the book. And that is because this aspect is compensated by the development in the depth of the characters, world, history and politics. I was happy to find that with every page the world of Elan, where the action of the series is taking place, became richer and richer and that the characters I loved became stronger and stronger.

Michael J. Sullivan fills the ground of his fantasy world further on in “Avempartha” using conversations and scenes of this novel to reveal further on the history and the customs of his created land, none of them coming to bore the reader, but in a natural way and following a logical course. What I loved even more are the politics and the machinations present throughout the story. There are ambitions and interests put into play, with interesting characters trying to achieve those ambitions and interests. In the world of Elan besides the human characters there are a few non-human presences, one of them only guessed, but present nonetheless. But the author manages to use these characters with success avoiding the trap of the clichés that accompany such presences.

My top pleasure in this reading is once again the meeting with the two main characters. Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater prove once again to be attractive characters and their relationship offered me again the chance to read new delightful dialogues. There are less such dialogues than in the previous novel, but this is due to the fact that most of the time the two characters are not caught in the same location, so it is understandable. Like the world they live in Royce and Hadrian benefit from further development, Michael Sullivan not only continuing to build his characters, but offering a few surprises along the way and teasing us with new secrets which await their veil to be cast away. There is also another character that I began to like, Esrahaddon, and I am certain that I will see more of him in the next novels of the series.

Like I said there are fewer action scenes, but that it is not necessarily a bad thing. However, there are some minor aspects and outcomes that just seem a bit too convenient. Also, two or three scenes are a bit dramatic and seem reaped from a Hollywood movie, with a conversation that is not quite proper for that particular moment. What is encouraging though is that these aspects are very few and if I were not to write this review I don’t believe I would have mentioned in a conversation about the book.

“Avempartha” is the second novel in “The Riyria Revelations”, but like the previous novel, “The Crown Conspiracy”, can as easily be read as a standalone. Also both novels offer a delightful reading, captivating adventures and a very interesting author. I am certain that I will hear more of Michael J. Sullivan in the future.

Cover art - The Riyria Revelations

Among the book covers that I liked lately are those done for the novels in The Riyria Revelations series. I like the simplicity of these covers and the link with the story, “The Crown Conspiracy” and “Avempartha” feature the places found in the central attention of two lovely characters, Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater. I just finished the second novel in the series, “Avempartha”, and I can say that I am pleased when it comes to the connection between the story and the cover artwork. Another very interesting thing is that the artist of the covers is none other than the author of the novels, Michael J. Sullivan. Considering all these aspects and the fact that I enjoyed the first two novels, the third announced title of the series, “Nyphron Rising”, immediately caught my attention and I am very curious to see where these adventures will take me next. Adding the synopsis of the novel and I can easily say that “Nyphron Rising” is one of the titles I am looking forward to read until the end of the year.

War has come to Melengar. To save her realm, Princess Arista must reach the leader of the Nationalists and convince him to join forces. She turns to two trusted mercenaries to provide escort, but finds the team on the verge of dissolution.

Hadrian is tired of his lecherous profession and longs for a just cause. Royce knows a secret which could provide his partner a life’s purpose greater than anything his friend could imagine…but is it true? Or is an ancient wizard using them as pawns in his own struggle for power? To unravel the truth Royce convinces Hadrian to join him for one last mission—what they discover could change the future for all of Elan.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

This movie is out for a while now, but I just managed to see it. The only thing I regret after seeing it is that I didn’t watch it earlier.

In a hospital a daughter at the request of her mother, who is on her deathbed, reads her a diary written by a certain Benjamin Button. As the story reveals, Benjamin Button was born in 1918 in New Orleans, but with the appearance and the maladies of the 80 years old man and as he grows he becomes younger. The diary relates the story of his lifetime.

At first the story looked a bit like “The English Patient” for me. I mean for a person on the deathbed a diary is read, relating a love story from that person’s life. I don’t know if the fact that I’ve seen “The English Patient” some time ago is relevant, but I think I liked “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” more. I liked that the movie is not centered only on the love story between Benjamin Button and Daisy Fuller, but it’s a story about life. And like in life the movie moves through a wide series of feelings, almost every scene and event in the life of Benjamin Button revealing such an emotion.

I loved the metaphor in the curious growing of the main character, although he ages inside, physically he gets younger, but I heard many old people saying that although they are old physically, in their souls they are young or didn’t aged a bit. Also the scene about the destiny, all that series of circumstances that lead to a certain event is wonderful. I pondered on this aspect before seeing this movie, but “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” made me wonder some more. And it’s so true that in the cases of unfortunate events we stay and wonder what if a small action took by somebody in that series of events would have been different would the end be different as well?

I am not fond of Brad Pitt, but I don’t have anything with him either. It’s just until now I wasn’t impressed with any of his interpretations. And although I liked some movies he acted in it seems that this is the first case when he remains in my mind together with the movie he plays in. Cate Blanchett is wonderful in her role as well and the two main actors contribute fully to the success of the movie. And after directing excellent movies like “Se7en”, “The Game” or “Fight Club”, David Fincher makes his mark once again and does a great job with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” too.

With a wonderful story (being the movie adaptation of the eponymous F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story), with a flowing course and with a good team, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is an excellent movie. And with all the respect for “Slumdog Millionaire” (which is not a bad movie) I have to wonder why didn’t this movie won the Academy Award, because I found “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” to be much better.

Looking over the first half of 2009

Half a year has passed. Well, almost since this is the last day of that half of year. I’ll be honest and say that in its majority it was a good year so far. It was a little busy at work, but that is not a bad thing considering the general situation. The family is well, with some little health problems, but nothing worrisome. FC Barcelona won the Champions League and that was a wonderful thing. I’ve met new wonderful people and kept in touch with the others I met through my blog. I’ve got the chance to talk to very interesting artists and authors and to make a debut with my interviews and reviews on the Romanian e-zine, Nautilus (and which brought me great joy). For my readings, although I set a first goal of 100 books, my schedule didn’t change much so I managed to read so far only 23 books. Therefore I don’t think I’ll be able to fulfill it after all. So, I’ll go for the second goal, to read more than 50 books this year (the usual rhythm). Here is a provisional top 5 of my readings in 2009, one that can still suffer changes until the end of the year, depending on my further readings and on my further considerations of the titles you see on this top:

1. “Gunpowder” by Joe Hill

2. “Twelve” by Jasper Kent

3. “Yellow Blue Tibia” by Adam Roberts

4. “Hater” by David Moody

5. “The Crown Conspiracy” by Michael J. Sullivan

How about you? How was your year so far?

2009 Locus Awards

This week-end at the Science Fiction Awards Weekend held in Seattle, Washington, the winners of the 2009 Locus Awards were announced:

Science Fiction Novel: "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson

Fantasy Novel: "Lavinia" by Ursula K. Le Guin

First Novel: "Singularity's Ring" by Paul Meko

Young-Adult Book: "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

Novella: "Pretty Monsters" by Kelly Link

Novelette: "Pump Six" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Short Story: "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang

Anthology: "The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection" edited by Gardner Dozois

Collection: "Pump Six and Other Stories" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Non Fiction/Art Book: "Coraline: The Graphic Novel" by Neil Gaiman, adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell

Editor: Ellen Datlow

Artist: Michael Whelan

Magazine: F&SF

Publisher: Tor

Congratulations to all the winners!

In the mailbox

Once again here are my latest arrivals in my mailbox, including one of the ordered titles, but which I was eagerly waiting:

- "God of Clocks" by Alan Campbell (through the courtesy of TOR UK);

War, rebellion, betrayal — but the worst is still to come. For in the cataclysm of the battle of the gods, a portal to Hell has been opened, releasing unnatural creatures that were never meant to be and threatening to turn the world into a killing field. And in the middle, caught between warring gods and fallen angels, humanity finds itself pushed to the brink of extinction. Its only hope is the most unlikely of heroes.
Former assassin Rachel Hael has rejoined the blood-magician Mina Greene and her devious little dog Basilis on one last desperate mission to save the world from the grip of Hell. Carried in the jaw of a debased angel, they rush to the final defensive stronghold of the god of clocks - pursued all the while by the twelve arconites, the great iron-and-bone automatons controlled by King Menoa, the Lord of the Maze. Meanwhile, in the other direction, the giant John Anchor, still harnessed to his master's skyship, drags that vessel into Hell itself to meet Menoa on his own ground.
But neither Heaven nor Hell is anything they could ever expect. Now old enemies and new allies join a battle whose outcome could be the end of them all. Rachel's ally, the god Hasp, finds himself in the grip of a parasite and struggles against conflicting orders to destroy his own friends; and a dangerous infant deity comprised of countless broken souls threatens to overcome them all. As Rachel travels to the final confrontation she has both sought and feared, she begins to realise that time itself is unravelling. And so she must prepare herself for a sacrifice that may claim her heart, her life, and her soul — and even then it may not be enough.

- "Orbus" by Neal Asher (through the courtesy of TOR UK);

In charge of an old cargo spaceship, the Old Captain Orbus flees a violent and sadistic past, but he doesn’t know that the lethal war drone, Sniper, is a stowaway, and that the past is rapidly catching up with him.
His old enemy the Prador Vrell, mutated by the Spatterjay virus into something powerful and dangerous, has seized control of a Prador dreadnought, murdering its crew, and is now seeking to exact vengeance on those who tried to have him killed.
Their courses inexorably converge in the Graveyard, the border realm lying between the Polity and the Prador Kingdom, a place filled with the ruins left by past genocides and interplanetary war. But this is the home of the Golgoloth, monster to a race of monsters, the place where a centuries-long cold war is being fought.
Meanwhile, the terrifying Prador King is coming, prepared to do anything to ensure Vrell’s death and keep certain deadly secrets buried . . . and somewhere out there something that has annihilated civilizations is stirring from a slumber of five million years.
The cold war is heating up, fast.

- "The Island" by Tim Lebbon (through the courtesy of Allison & Busby);

Kel Boon thinks he has managed to escape his past as an agent in the secret organization the Core, protecting the blissfully unaware Noreelans from the threat of the lizard-like Strangers - creatures from beyond the known world capable of untold destruction. In the sleepy fishing village of Pavmouth Breaks, Kel has become the woodcarver, leaving fighting behind and forming a tentative relationship with trainee witch Namior.

But a storm is brewing and at its center the witches sense something dark, and deadly. What follows in the wake of the storm threatens the Noreelans' very way of life, forcing them to face the fact that life exists beyond the shores of Noreela, and not all of it is friendly. With the people and land he loves in terrible danger, Kel quickly realizes that he cannot escape his past, or his destiny.

- "Pulse" by Jeremy Robinson (through the courtesy of Thomas Dunne Books);

Imagine a world where soldiers regenerate and continue fighting without pause, where suicide bombers live to strike again and again. This is the dream of Richard Ridley, founder of Manifold Genetics, and he has just discovered the key to eternal life: an ancient artifact buried beneath a Greek-inscribed stone in the Peruvian desert.

When Manifold steals the artifact and abducts archeologist Dr. George Pierce, United States Special Forces Delta operator Jack Sigler, call sign King, and his “Chess Team” —Queen, Knight, Rook, Bishop, and their handler, Deep Blue—give chase. Formed under special order from President Duncan, they are the best of America’s Special Forces, tasked with antiterrorism missions that take them around the world against any threat, ancient, modern, and at times, inhuman. With cutting-edge weapons, tough-as-nails tactics, and keen intellects, they stand alone on the brink, facing the world’s most dangerous threats.

Ridley’s plan to create unstoppable soldiers has just made him threat number one. Tension soars along with the body count as the team faces high-tech security forces, hordes of “regens,” the horrific results of Manifold’s experiments, and a resurrected mythological predator complete with regenerative abilities, seven heads, and a savage appetite. The Chess Team races to save Pierce and stop Manifold before they change the face of genetics—and human history—forever.

- "The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (it was delivered yesterday so I'll start reading it real soon).

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man - David Martin - makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books, and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house are letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Then David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realises that there is a connection between this haunting book and the shadows that surround his home. Set in the turbulent 1920s, The Angel's Game takes us back to the gothic universe of the Cemetery of the Forgotten Books, the Sempere and Son bookshop, and the winding streets of Barcelona's old quarter, in a masterful tale about the magic of books and the darkest corners of the human soul.

Thank you all very much!

"Hater" by David Moody

"Hater"

by David Moody

Format: Hardcover, 288 pages

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

For ordering information: Amazon UK & Amazon US

REMAIN CALM DO NOT PANIC TAKE SHELTER WAIT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS THE SITUATION IS UNDER CONTROL Society is rocked by a sudden increase in the number of violent assaults on individuals. Christened 'Haters' by the media, the attackers strike without warning, killing all who cross their path. The assaults are brutal, remorseless and extreme: within seconds, normally rational, self-controlled people become frenzied, vicious killers. There are no apparent links as a hundred random attacks become a thousand, then hundreds of thousands. Everyone, irrespective of gender, age, race or any other difference, has the potential to become a victim - or a Hater. People are afraid to go to work, afraid to leave their homes and, increasingly, afraid that at any moment their friends, even their closest family, could turn on them with ultra violent intent. Waking up each morning, no matter how well defended, everyone must now consider the fact that by the end of the day, they might be dead. Or perhaps worse, become a killer themselves. As the status quo shifts, ATTACK FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER becomes the order of the day... only, the answers might be much different than what you expect....

Two premises made me want to pick up David Moody’s “Hater” and start reading it. First, the novel presentation promises yet another apocalyptic scenario and with all the everyday news that seems to point us toward the upcoming of such an event I am always curious to read such novels. Second, the David Moody’s novel will be adapted into a movie being produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and since two movies that really impressed me lately were “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Orphanage” my curiosity reached new heights.

I’ll start by saying that almost all I’ve imagined and expected from “Hater” were surpassed through a shocking and disturbing story. David Moody writes a horror novel but as I said on other occasions it is not the blood or violence that attracts me the most to such a novel, but the mental fear and the psychological terror. And David Moody manages to create those with masterful talent. The setting of his novel is our every day society and the characters are average members of that society. All the society put in motion in “Hater” is worrisome realistic and the atmosphere of the story is kept almost persistently on claustrophobic and paranoid levels.

Page after page my relationship with the main character, Danny McCoyne, grew tighter and tighter. This is one of the best and realistic characters I met through my readings lately and David Moody excels in building his character. The story is told in day to day chapters and that made me follow Danny’s day to day schedule, almost like following his journal. Every little aspect of the characters’ life breaths realism, every one of his interactions and relationship with the other characters sounds true and is known by every one of us in a smaller and greater degree (well, except the situation in which the story puts him) and I could feel every single Danny’s emotion in the proper way. I also liked a lot the fact that I was as clueless about the whole situation and the outcome of the story as the main character was. The other characters are good as well, but their presence in the novel is not as strong as of the main character.

From the first page the tension builds to its boiling point and the general situation constricted me in a powerful grip. The novel bursts into action in its final part and the respective portion I’ve swallowed in one bite. However, I believe that the novel takes a bit too long until reaching the action point. Although it is not a major problem after reading the final part I would have liked to see more action from an earlier part. Also, I would have liked to know how these events come to happen, the reason that catalyzes these events and why not everybody is affected.

“Hater” offered me from the first setting an exhilarating and thrilling reading. David Moody creates such a realistic scenario and a believable story that I believe that his novel can give reasons for nightmares.