Pieces on Speculative Fiction

2 stars out of 5. Acacia offers complex fantasy world where the line between heroes and villains is blurred. Sadly there are way too many point-of-view characters and the characterization just isn’t very good. Despite the verbose prose there was lack of feeling between me and the book, at no point did I care about what happend to the various people.

The story is about the children of the Acacian King Leodan. Acacia rules the known world and has done so for more than 20 generations. The times are troubled, Meinish assassin is closing in and Acacian troops in Mein are facing a dire new threat. From there on the story slowly unravels.

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4 stars out of 5. The Blade Itself is the first book of a trilogy The First Law. The story is told character drivenly from the points of views of barbarian, fencer and inquisitor, who are fleshed out very well. Everything of the medieval-style world of the Union is shown through a film noir lens. The grander plot takes the backseat when the characters converge to the heart of the Union against the backdrop of impending war with the North. Very entertaining read despite some length issues.

The book starts with Logen Ninefingers, the former champion of the King of the North, fighting for his life. From there on we are given a host of new characters where each chapter is told through one character. This gives great insight to different characters and despite none of the them being really likeable you come to care about what happens to them, which is something that is often lacking(Acacia anyone).

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Three stars. Passion Play is science fiction murder mystery in Christian fundamentalist America. A great actor is found dead and detective Diane Fletcher is called to investigate, who is the protagonist. She is a shaper, she can read people’s emotions and emotional patterns after some interaction. Sadly her ability is explored only perfunctorily. The interesting parts of the book discuss people’s lives in fundamentalist society.

What I liked the most in the book was describing fundamentalists as quite normal and real people, not cardboard cutouts, their motivations are realistic, even if not to my liking. In this respect the books ending leaves something to be desired. I liked the descriptions of Diane’s professional problems in a phallocentric world, where she was doing what was considered a man’s job. The clashes between her job and social life is quite good.

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Last Sunday I set out to do a lot and only wrote a review on World’s End. I did do a lot of reading and bit of traveling, which cut into writing time. Mostly I just chose to read instead of writing. Goal for next week is to get more reviews out and write at the very least one of the bigger posts I’ve intended. Anyway, finished Scott Lynch’s latest Red Seas, Under Red Skies, which was pretty good and quite entertaining read. Till tomorrow then.