thebookishowl.com

Michel Houellebecq at Wikipedia
Order The Map and the Territory HERE

INTRODUCTION:Michel Houellebecq is one of the most acclaimed and controversial French writers of today. With four major novels to date, all controversial in a way or another – though he has written other novels and novelettes, non-fiction including a book about HP Lovecraft, performed psychedelic rap and directed movies – and three Goncourt prize shortlists in 1998 for The Elementary Particles/Atomised, 2005 for The Possibility of an Island and 2010 (won) for The Map and the Territory he is hated, adulated and anything in-between…

While I read his sfnal The Elementary Particles some years back – I liked it but thought that as sf it was not that original – and his very controversial Platform (no comment as such are easily misinterpreted today by the thought control police, just read the book and make your own mind about it) pretty much on English language publication in 2002, I sort of forgot about his work until recently.

I got, read and was very impressed by The Possibility of an Island – very sfnal/review upcoming in a few weeks – but The Map and the Territory was a novel that hit it out the park for me so to speak and I will try to explain why next.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The Map and the Territory starts with an epigraph that reflects the attitude of the author’s alter ego in the book – named also Michel Houellebecq and described as the reclusive author of the novels above, rather than the outlook of the relatively energetic hero of the novel, painter and photographer Jed Martin.

“The world is weary of me,
And I am weary of it.”

While the above epigraph could well reflect the philosophy of his earlier novels, especially of The Possibility of an Island, where the world ultimately becomes tired of humanity so to speak, The Map and the Territory is the tamest Houellebecq novel to date as content goes and the most ironical one, not least because of his self-portrait in the book. It is also “very French” and in turns both a love letter to France and an (occasionally scathing) critique.

The first part of the novel taking place in the early 2000′s and in which we meet our hero Jed Martin, we find out a little about his past and in which he launches himself in the art world with photographs inspired by the Michelin maps of France, while both the title of the novel and the author’s view of France as the ultimate tourist destination for whichever nationalities are on top, like the Englishmen and Americans of the 20th century or the Chinese and Indians of the 21st, are presented, is quite interesting but the true power of the novel resides in the middle part that takes place in the 2010′s.

Through Jed Martin’s paintings and the whole discussion and reaction to them, the author offers a sfnal like assessment of today’s society; I disagree with quite a lot of what the author says here, but his perspective is coherent and I would say Balzacian though of course with 21st century realities and sensibilities.

“Two convinced supporters of the market economy; two resolute supporters also of the Democratic Party, and yet two opposing facets of capitalism, as different as a banker in Balzac could be from Verne’s engineer. The Conversation at Palo Alto, Houellebecq stressed in his conclusion, was far too modest a subtitle; instead, Jed Martin could have entitled his painting A Brief History of Capitalism, for that, indeed, is what it was.”

The structure of these first two parts of the novel as a sort of biography/historical fiction told from the future about a 21st century artist is also very sfnal, while of course the epilogue carries the story to the 2040′s and offers a glimpse of the future geopolitics in addition to continuing Jed Martin’s saga.

“Even if today it is considered a historical curiosity, Houellebecq’s text—the first of this size devoted to Martin’s work—nonetheless contains some interesting intuitions. Beyond the variation of themes and techniques, he asserts for the first time the unity of the artist’s work, and discovers a deep logic in the fact that having devoted his formative years to hunting for the essence of the world’s manufactured products, he is interested, during the second half of his life, in their producers.”

The third part of the book is contemporary and structured as a police investigation with all new characters, while Jed appears in a consulting role and despite the major change in focus and pace, this part works superbly because of its topic which I won’t spoil though you will easily find out about if you read the blurb for example.

The Map and the Territory has lots of great tidbits, scenes and vignettes and the author uses Wikipedia for a lot of information – leading to nonsensical accusations of plagiarism as the use of public information in novels is a traditional one.

“What defines a man? What’s the question you first ask a man, when you want to find out about him? In some societies, you ask him first if he’s married, if he has children; in our society, we ask first what his profession is. It’s his place in the productive process, and not his status as reproducer, that above all defines Western man.”

Michel Houellebecq’s usual themes – aging and death, sexuality and its loss with age, the conflict between generations – appear in droves but here they are more nuanced than in the stark The Possibility of an Island and balanced by a rounded “big picture” analysis of cultural/societal values.

The one niggle that stopped me from ranking The Map and the Territory as my #1 novel of the year to date was the ending from the epilogue which I found a bit dissonant with the rest; a little more ambiguity there would have made the novel even stronger imho.

Overall The Map and the Territory is a great novel well deserving of its Goncourt prize and a top 25 of mine in 2012. While not strictly speaking sfnal despite its taking place in the 1990-2040 period, I strongly recommend it for any sf lover as its big picture themes are very similar (and much better done imho) with the ones in near future sf.

Thus begins the tale of Oscar Britton, who discovers that not all conspiracy theories are false and things are never what they seem to be. The story then moves on to the next phase of his rehabilitation at the hands of the US government which is the true meat of the story and makes this debut such a fantastic one. Author Myke Cole has indeed worked on this story for a long time and it shows vibrantly as the themes which are nuanced within the plot are felt strongly by the reader. The characterization of the main protagonist as well as the fellow character cast is a rich one, perhaps a bit impeded with the third person view chosen. Yet the author resolutely gives the reader a terrific view of the protagonist’s thoughts, feelings and the profound metamorphosis through a narrative prose style which nails the reader’s attention through and through.

Official Paul J. McAuley Website
Official Paul J. McAuley Blog
Order “In the Mouth of the Whale” HERE
Read 12 Chapters from In the Mouth of the Whale
Read FBC Review of “The Quiet War”
Read FBC Review of “Gardens of the Sun”
Order Stories from the Quiet War HERE

INTRODUCTION: As I have read and hugely enjoyed almost all sff Paul McAuley has written to date as well as a few of his near future thrillers, In the Mouth of the Whale has been one of my most awaited novels of 2012. While events in the duology The Quiet War/Gardens Sun impinge a little, this novel takes place far away in time and space and it’s a standalone which can be read independently.

One thing of caution: as the main points of the two above novels are retold here, In the Mouth of the Whale contains huge spoilers for the preceding duology, though to be honest the characters and world building are such a big part of the enjoyment of the author’s novels, that storyline spoilers are ultimately not that important.

And of course I highly recommend you to try The Quiet War and the stories from its universe, part of which the author has recently released inexpensively HERE.

The author describes the novel much better than I can on his website and I will reproduce his “overview” below, while the first 12 chapters can be read at the link above. As Paul McAuley says (and on reading the book I feel this overview presents the book pitch perfect):

“After you die, what do you do for the rest of your life?

ANALYSIS: Structurally, In the Mouth of a Whale is pleasantly symmetric with four main parts in which each of the three threads alternate modulo 3 starting with the unknown god-like narrator of the Child‘s journey, followed by Isak‘s first person narrative and ending with Ori’s thread told in third person pov style. These parts have 12,12,9,12 chapters respectively, while the last part that concludes the stories of our main characters in three final chapters reverses the order, so now Ori’s story is first.

The transitions are handled very well as they make you want to read what comes next in that particular thread, but also what comes next in the upcoming thread and the book maintains this balance to the end. The style transitions well too, from the more serene and slower moving chapters where the unknown entity narrates, to the immediate saga of Isak, the Horse and later Prem, where Isak comes as the typical “naive do gooder but very likable” hero of sf, so you cheer for him, to the action packed, darker story of Ori and the Quicks.

Overall the first three quarters of the novel were the kind I really wanted to just go on and never finish, while also reminding me why sf is still the most interesting literature when done superbly like here; sense of wonder, great characters, and for once the (as genre sff goes of course) stylistic daring I mentioned above. The last quarter was all action and things converged well with a great ending.

A combination of real – space shoot outs, strange habitats with everything from primitive life forms, dangerous animals to post modern grifters – and virtual action – harrowing hells, immersive drone combat -memorable characters and world building involving human/posthuman clades, slavery and superb references (“wreckers”, “the True”…) weave into a rich tapestry that contains hard sf – biology and physics with a sprinkle of math – sociology and politics as well as a deep sense of history and what evolution means, while the speculations about future technologies and future possibilities for humanity are very convincing.

I also want to emphasize the “realistic feeling” that the author’s exquisite world building induced, without info-dumps or too much jargon. I will direct you to chapter eight, so #3 in Isak’s narration for a great example of this, while I will quote a few paragraphs here:

“A steady spout of water poured from a notch in the fountain’s bowl, feeding a stream that ran off along a channel cut in the lawn, rippling clear as glass over a bed of white and gold quartz pebbles. We followed it through a rank of cypresses and emerged at the edge of a short steep slope of loose rock and clumps of dry grass. The parkland I had glimpsed from the flitter stretched away beyond, a mosaic of dusty browns and reds enlivened here and there by vivid green stands of trees. The sky had taken on the dusky rose of sunset, and clumps of stones glowed like heated iron in the low and level light. Rounded hills rising on either side hid the margins of the platform: the parkland seemed to stretch away for ever, like the landscapes of sagas set on old Earth.

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Brian Justin Shier was born in New Jersey, grew up in Las Vegas before attending college in St. Louis. He then relocated to California wherein the medicine bug struck him and he’s now a third year medical student. He was inspired by J. A. Konrath to go the indie route and has had quite a response to his debut novel. He is currently working on the third Zero Sight novel tentatively titled Zero Tango.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: My name is Dieter Resnick. I was planning to turn eighteen in May, but I don’t think I’m gonna make it. I’ve just been drafted into a war. And this war isn’t usual. It’s kinda sorta fought with spells.

Six months ago today, I was my high school’s valedictorian. Now I’m Elliot College‘s newest combat-certified mage, and one of the few to survive a Talmax raid. I’ve got a weft-partner named Rei Acerba, whose hobbies include flaying the skin off her foes and perusing the sunscreen aisle. I’ve got a tutor named Jules Nelson, who spends her evenings talking to trees. And I’ve got a friend named Jay Dante, who tends to vanish when I need him most.

We’re all part of a team called Lambda, and we’ve been ordered into the middle of a battle between North America’s magical factions. The warriors of Talmax are surging up from the South. The Department of Mana Affair‘s once omnipotent DEA agents have been left cowering behind their wards. Our job is to reveal the enemy’s secret weapon–before they take ownership of the entire West Coast!

FORMAT/INFO: Zero Sum is 450 pages long divided over three titled parts and twenty-two numbered and titled chapters. Narration is in the first-person, solely via the protagonist Dieter Resnick. Zero Sum is the second volume in the Zero Sight series and has a standalone plot and while it can be read on its own, it would be preferable to read it after Zero Sight to better understand its nuances & plot points.

November 22, 2011 marked the self publication of Zero Sum by the author. Cover design is done by Jordan Kimura.

CLASSIFICATION: Combining the maverick humor of the Dresden files by Jim Butcher with the school settings of the Harry Potter series, Brian J. Shier’s books can be summed up perfectly as Harry Dresden meets Kvothe Kingkiller with just a generous helping of the Harry Potter charm.

ANALYSIS: Brian Justin Shier’s debut was an eye opener in terms of surprises & debut books. I was truly astonished to see how well written it was and what it hinted about the saga to come ahead. Going into the sequel, I had very high expectations and was waiting to see how it would measure up against its predecessor.

The story begins almost immediately after the events of the climax of Zero Sight. However before the journey begins, we get a crucial glimpse into Dieter’s past which I believe shows how mentally strong Dieter is and how events such as the one shown will play an important role in the future events of his life. The climatic events of the previous book heavily factor in to the start of this book wherein we are introduced to more about the geo-political nature of the current power struggles in North America. Dieter’s unit, the Lambda squad gets outfitted as an attack squad due to the potential of its members. They go through a grueling but short training period wherein they are told of their objective and then broken into smaller groups and sent to Las Vegas to unsettle Talmax and its operatives.

The settings of this tale follow almost the reverse order of Dieter’s journey in the first book and this was a very cool antithesis planned by the author. As with the earlier book Dieter is the sole narrator of the story and once again the reader is regaled by his witty observations, teenage inexperience and overall die-hard nature which makes him the special fool that the readers know and love him to be. One of my points I had raised in my previous review that amongst the cast of characters present in the book, none had been featured very vividly. Well the author has nicely remedied this front as we get to know more of Rei Acerba Bathory, Jules Nelson and a few other members of the Lambda squad. Characterization as with the last book is still a strong point and in this book we get to see more of the people around Dieter and their thoughts & opinions. Some characters from the past book also make an appearance and we learn more about them but the center stage is shared by two of his close friends (Jules & Rei) and Dieter’s bonds with both of them will surely be one of the major plot points of the future books.

The infectious energy of the first book is still present and makes this read an ultra-entertaining one again. Another electrifying feature of the story is that the world is expanded as is the magic system, this particular aspect of the saga is something which is particularly mined in this book and it proclaims the epic-ness of the story rather strongly. The action and intrigue in this story have been escalated as per the direction which the plot is taking and all of this doesn’t seem forced at all. Another particular point which I though was excellent was the usage of a particular point in US-Mexico relations. The author masterfully utilizes history to lay down the entanglements of this particular story and I haven’t seen use of such history in the many urban fantasy novels read. This not only raises the reader’s interest but also raises the question as to what all events in the past will come in to play with the future of this series.

And with everything going on, this time around the climax is a powerful one with several twists to it. Not only does the author end it on a strong note but he manages a poignant one. The particular climatic events not only give us a dramatic feel but raise several questions about the main protagonist and his familial genealogy. Combined with the ending and all the revelations present in this book, Zero Sum manages to overcome reader expectation completely and one-up its predecessor in almost all categories.

With this book I had almost next to nothing to nitpick about its contents, while the last book had a rather weak ending. That situation has been remedied precisely in this book. Maybe some readers would find a few points to nag about when in the middle of the book, certain events occur which can seem like a lull however I believe they stand crucial to the plot and hence add to the strength of the story.

CONCLUSION: A remarkable story in itself and the superb sequel to one of my favorite debuts of this year and it managed to overcome all of my anticipation. Expanding the world and adding depth to the story, Brian has to be lauded for delivering a rich story without shedding its earlier uniqueness. Zero Sum continues the magical journey undertaken by Dieter and beckons the reader to come along and enjoy what is to be, an urban fantasy series to rival the best amongst the ones out so far.

Official Michael Sullivan Website
Order Rise of Empire HERE
Read FBC Review of Nyphron Rising
Read FBC Review of The Emerald Storm
Read FBC Review of Wintertide
Read FBC Review of The Viscount and the Witch
Read FBC Review of Theft of Swords HERE

INTRODUCTION: While we have reviewed the two books that form this omnibus close to their original small press publication, I am re-posting the reviews below. The official (US) publication date of the novel is December 14 but the book is available in stores today as I’ve just seen it in our local B&N here in Ann Arbor, while Amazon also lists it as available.

***********************************************************************

Original 2010 Review of Nyphron Rising:

INTRODUCTION: In the space of a short year and a half, Michael Sullivan has moved from a small press debut author that featured in one of my first “Indie Spotlight Reviews” to a “name” in the fantasy field who sold-out his first novel and is getting both critical acclaim and fan appreciation.

So much so, that when I was doing my “2009 Remarkable Small Press Reads”, I never even thought of including his superb novels there despite that they technically qualified. Instead in my end-of-the-year rankings, Avempartha went head to head against the “big names” and made both my Top 2009 Books list and Cindy’s Top 2009 Book list, while The Crown Conspiracy made Mihir’s Top 2009 Reads too. If you have not done so, read the series to date in order to see why, while Nyphron Rising is another great addition to it.

FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: “Nyphron Rising” stands at about 350 pages divided into 17 named chapters that mainly follow our four main POV’s: Royce, Hadrian, Arista and Thrace aka Modina. The novel starts with two detailed maps of the world and ends with a line that will only heighten the interest for what’s next. While The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha were mostly standalone adventure, though they started putting in place the elements of the “big-picture”, “Nyphron Rising” gets into the heart of the main story of the series, starting three main threads that presumably will converge later on.

After the more adventure-like first two installments, the series moves firmly into epic territory here and while the building block nature of the novel means that it will be fully appreciated only together with at least the next installment “The Emerald Storm”, “Nyphron Rising” moves the series toward the top-line of current fantasy offerings.

ANALYSIS/Cindy: Something about Michael Sullivan’s writing has intrigued me from the start. I have been captivated with this series ever since the first two books came out. Nyphron Rising was something I was looking forward to for a while. I had really high expectations for this book, however it’s a bit “out of the box” from the other two novels in this series.

Michael Sullivan is a masterful storyteller. The world and action that he has build up in his series is amazing. What’s even more amazing is that it was done without having to make the book 600+ pages. Like all great storytellers at some point there has to be a step back from all the action and quest hopping to focus on a major key element in a series: the characters. Nyphron Rising is that book in the series that steps back and develops characterization in favor of a bunch of action sequences.

At first glance it might appear a bit odd that a middle novel would focus upon going back and looking at where the main characters come from and look further into the background that was hinted at within the first two novels, but it oddly fits with the series. If the series focused on non stop action there would be a lack of characterization. if characterization was focused on there would be a lack of action. It seems appropriate that after two up front novels there would be a calmer setting to the third book.

I look at Nyphron Rising almost like a bridge to the other novels to come in this series. It’s a bit more toned down as far as action but very important to the series. It builds up the characters, yet at the same time starts paving the way for the future novels. While at first glance it might not seem important without it the series wouldn’t hold up as well as it does without this type of novel.

Sullivan does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters from the information readers were presented with in the first two novels, yet is able to move the story along without it appearing the plot is growing stale. In a way this approach has made me even more attracted to this series as I can truly say this has all the elements to make it an epic fantasy series.

Although the Riyria Revelations is built up as a group of stand alone novels with common threads. It really is best to have read the first two novels as I don’t feel a reader can fully appreciate what is going on or the build up for some of the plots. There are thread lines that have just started and are not resolved so in my eyes it’s at the point where it could no longer be a stand alone.

Since the bar was set so high with the first two books it might appear as though Nyphron Rising doesn’t match up to the previous two books, but that isn’t the case at all. It just takes a different approach then the previous novels. This novel is still just as much of a page turner and attention grabbing as the other two. The events in this book have set me up to wait anxiously for the next book. I can’t wait to see what happens and where Michael Sullivan will take his readers.

Liviu’s short take: In hindsight I realize that I failed to fully appreciate Nyphron Rising the first time because it took the series to a different place than I expected after Avempartha which now reads more like a standalone as The Crown Conspiracy was; Nyphron Rising finally starts the maneuvers at the heart of the big-picture in the series and on re-read, a lot is much clearer; while the Thrace/Modina thread is not fully formed and Royce and Hadrian have more of an exploratory/back-story role here, though of course they have an adventure or two, the one following Arista is just superb and the ending line of the novel is for the ages.

***********************************************************************

Original 2010 Review of The Emerald Storm:

INTRODUCTION:In the space of a short year and a half, Michael Sullivan has moved from a small press debut author that featured in one of my first “Indie Spotlight Reviews” to a “name” in the fantasy field who sold-out his first novel and is getting both critical acclaim and fan appreciation. In my 2009 end-of-the-year rankings, Avempartha went head to head against the “big names” and made both my Top 2009 Books list and Cindy’s Top 2009 Book list, while The Crown Conspiracy made Mihir’s Top 2009 Reads too.

“Nyphron Rising” started the epic part of the series which had a lot of ground prepared in The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha which were mostly standalone adventures, but here in “The Emerald Storm” the series ramps up considerably and “Wintertide” became of of my top five titles of the second part of the year.

FORMAT/CLASSIFICATION: “The Emerald Storm” stands at about 400 pages divided into 26 named chapters that mainly follow our four main POV’s: Royce, Hadrian, Arista and Thrace aka Modina, alternating between the adventures of Royce and Hadrian and the ones of Arista and Thrace. The novel starts with two detailed maps of the world and ends with a chapter that by itself shows how the series evolved to fulfill its early promise.

While “Nyphron Rising” started getting into the heart of the main story of the series, here the plot thickens, the world expands and we have action from the high seas, to the jungle, to the den of a barbarian warlord with allies in unexpected places and of course to the palace of the “Empress” where the main movers and shakers plot their takeover.

ANALYSIS: Cindy:
When setting out to write a series as Michael Sullivan has it can be quite an undertaking. The ability to keep the momentum going and not lose interest in the process can be very hard. Luckily Sullivan has done just that. In the fourth installment of the Riyria Revelations, the series is still running strong, possibly stronger now then when it first started.

When I read Crown Conspiracy I was amazed at this debut novel. Readers are now on the fourth title, and Sullivan still knows how to amaze readers with every twist and turn of the series. Every element that makes up an epic series is manifesting itself within these novels. After reading Nyphron Rising which gave everyone a bit more background and fleshed out the characters I was prepared to jump into Emerald Storm.

Emerald Storm has the gripping qualities that made me first enjoy this series. It’s quick moving, action packed, but also character driven. There’s a hard balance between action and character development, but Sullivan finds out to balance the two and not drag down the novel with lengthy paragraphs or time consuming character development. The main appeal to this whole series is just how natural the characters are developing, and really how each character grows as the series moves on. The bit of a darker approach to some of the aspects in the series was a nice touch. All threads that have been developing in the past 2 books are starting to really form and take shape, and that it what makes Emerald Storm so spectacular.

Every time I finish a book in this series it makes me want the next one instantly. As stated in Nyphron Rising review, the novels could be read as each individual book really doesn’t properly show the whole picture without reading the series together. Emerald Storm would be a rough read if one didn’t know the background, not an impossible read but it’d be a bit rough if you hadn’t read the other books.

For those that are veteran readers of fantasy there is a little plot twist that will spice up a bit of the novels and makes the next novel something that readers will be waiting in anticipation for.

Michael Sullivan shows that he isn’t just a one book wonder, or that his other novels were random hits. His Riyria Revelations series is taking shape very nicely, and it’ll be amazing to watch where he takes the other novels after this because with each novel there is a new surprise or approach to his writing.

Liviu: “The Emerald Storm” was awesome and it finally realizes the strong potential of the Ryria series; it also made me reconsider Nyphron Rising which sets this one up and reads much more fulfilling once we can continue the story started there.

The part cliffhanger ending makes Wintertide a big asap, but “The Emerald Storm” sits well on its own and lots of things happen, while we have great, great stuff in opening more the world and exploring stranger parts of it, duels, magic, suspense and even the weaker Modina thread started getting much better; the super-twist at the end left me stunned since I really did not see it coming; also the novel is considerably darker than the rest and while it’s no spoiler to know that the main characters (Royce, Arista, Hadrian) survive, the body count including secondary but interesting characters is rising.

“The Emerald Storm” is an A++ and a top fantasy of 2010.