Review: Mort, by Terry Pratchett

Mort, by Terry Pratchett (HarperTorch, 2001)

It’s rare to find a book that prompts a snicker on nearly every page. Mort falls delightfully into this category, and I had to restrain myself from interrupting everyone around me to share the best lines.

The title character, Mort, is an awkward teen whose father decides to apprentice him out instead of putting him to work on the family farm. At the apprentice fair, Mort is the last one chosen… by Death.

As one might expect, Death is a bony fellow, although he rides a living horse (named Binky). Mort is relieved to discover he doesn’t have to turn skeletal himself to take the position.

Mort lives with his employer, along with Death’s adopted human daughter and their butler/cook. As Mort takes on more responsibilities, it leaves Death with more time for himself, and his attempts to relax prompt a sort of midlife crisis (if someone who’s not alive can have such a thing).

When Mort tries to save a girl he’s supposed to help die, reality begins to warp. The harder he tries to fix it, the more desperate things get. And Death can’t be found.

Thank you to my friends who’ve been suggesting I read Terry Pratchett. Starting part-way through his Discworld series may not have been the wisest idea, but Mort stands alone quite nicely and I don’t think I lost anything this way.

If you’re not familiar with the Discworld universe, suffice to say the planet isn’t a sphere. It’s flat and highly unusual. Book one is Going Postal, and since one of my friends said it’s her favourite, that’s the one I’ll read next. [Edit: Thanks to Tamara, who commented that Going Postal is not book one although a fine read. For an overview of the Discworld series, see Terry Pratchett's Discworld at Fabulous Realms.]

The official Terry Pratchett website has plenty of Discworld resources, including an artist’s rendering of what the Disc itself looks like.

[Book from my personal library.]

What Star Trek Race Are You?

What Star Trek race are you? Read the descriptions on Marcy Kennedy’s blog to discover the answer.

Review: Airman, by Eoin Colfer

Airman, by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion, 2008)

In 1878, Conor Broekhart was born in a balloon at the Paris World’s Fair. Some said he was destined to fly.

Airman is the story of his early years in the fictional Saltee islands (off Ireland) and his survival of the treachery that thrusts him into a brutal prison. And his obsession with flight, which led to the impossible.

The novel is set in the age of balloons and early gliders, when the imaginations of many inventors looked ahead to heavier-than-air craft.

It’s written like a factual account, with reference to historical figures like Queen Victoria and Benjamin Disraeli. As such, it opens with a somewhat dry prologue to set the scene. If it was my first Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer novel I might have stopped there, but I decided to give chapter 1 a chance. Within two or three pages, I knew I’d be finishing this book.

Airman isn’t as funny as Mr. Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books, although it definitely has its moments. It’s meant for young adult readers, but carries enough depth to appeal to adults as well. Certain elements stretch reality a bit, but it’s fiction, after all. Swashbuckling fiction, at that.

I’ve enjoyed the Artemis Fowl series, and am happy to see there’ll be one more adventure: Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian, releasing July 2012. He’s also released his first novel for adults, the crime caper Plugged.

[Book from my personal library.]

Introduction to the Wheel of Time Series

Lovers of epic fantasy, have you read the Wheel of Time series yet? If not, here’s an inexpensive way to have a taste. The rest of the books are bound to be in your local library.

Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is amazing, and Brandon Sanderson has proved himself to be the perfect choice to write the final installments after Mr. Jordan’s death (working from detailed notes).

If you’re not familiar with the series, TOR books has a special eBook offer: part one of the first book for 99 cents. [It's a long book.] Start now, or start re-reading now, and maybe you’ll be ready for A Memory of Light when it rolls out … before year-end, I hope.

The TOR site says:

The Wheel of Time is a truly epic fantasy series, spanning three decades and fourteen books, and representing many lifetimes’ worth of creativity both on and off the page. [Read the full post and find eBook purchase links here.]

Writer’s Block

I love writing fiction. I’ve had some short stories published and am revising two novel manuscripts in hopes of publication. This Christmas, my characters “bought” me one of the novelty shirts from Signals.com:

My youngest son, who shares my fiction habit, wrapped it on their behalf. This is the tag he wrote:

(If you can’t make that out, it says “Yours, from the voices.” With a heart.)

Review: Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson

Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson (Tor Books, 2009)

Warbreaker is proof that Brandon Sanderson is one of the best fantasy novelists in the game.

On the surface the story sounds a little like a fairy tale: in a futile attempt to prevent war with a larger nation, a king marries his youngest daughter to its tyrant leader to produce an heir. Then his favourite daughter sneaks into the enemy city to rescue her sister.

Of course there’s much more to it than that. The two countries used to be one, and now each one’s culture defines itself by being “not like them.” The people of Idris dress in brown and make a virtue out of not drawing attention to themselves; the Hallendren are as colourful and ostentatious as can be. In Idris they worship the unseen god, Austre, while the Hallendren have a pantheon of gods-in-the-flesh, ruled by the God King (new husband of the Idrian princess, Siri).

The magic in this world relates to colours and to something called Biochromatic Breath, which can work wonders but comes at a high cost. It’s fantastic and outlandish but it makes sense within the story world, a world that’s so carefully crafted that it’s believably real, with a complex history, mythology and cultures.

One of the viewpoint characters is the god Lightsong, who doesn’t believe in his own divinity. He and two of Princess Vivenna’s contacts, Denth and Tonk Fah, add a lot of humour to the novel. Then there’s the dangerous and mysterious Vasher, with his telepathic black-sheathed sword that likes to kill. And some squirrel shenanigans, but I’ll say no more.

Brandon Sanderson has a way of keeping the nastiest scenes off-camera but yet evoking them well enough that we feel whatever darkness he wants to convey. And there’s nothing gratuitous in the book.

This is one of those satisfying novels where every major plot point took me entirely by surprise, although in hindsight I see all the clues in place. It’s faster-paced than fantasy tends to be, with a rich and fully-developed world.

The Warbreaker project was a bit of an experiment. Brandon Sanderson posted a number of drafts on his website for reader interaction, prior to the final version being released in print. I read one of the final drafts as a free download, but it’s definitely worth the cost of buying a final copy.

Brandon Sanderson may be best known for his Mistborn series and for being the author chosen to finish Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series (which he is doing in a most satisfying way). Visit his website for information and forums on his various books. The Warbreaker Portal includes an introduction, various versions, chapter-by-chapter commentary and deleted scenes.

Review: Undercurrent, by Michelle Griep

Undercurrent, by Michelle Griep (Risen Books, 2011)

In late-tenth-century Norway, Alarik regains consciousness to discover his cousin bleeding and his brother dead by Alarik’s own blade. With no memory of the fight, Alarik must flee or be executed.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Cassie Larson is a career-oriented professor and linguistics expert shepherding a group of university students on a tour of historic islands in England’s Northumberland Strait—until she falls over the side of the boat and surfaces beside Alarik’s small vessel.

Alarik’s cousin, Ragnar, is their village’s only Christian, who longs to convince his people of his Saviour’s reality and Alarik’s innocence. He’s often ridiculed, and his disfigured face keeps him unmarried, yet he dreams of a woman speaking a strange language, who will love him.

In some ways Undercurrent is a historical romance, filled with rich details of Alarik’s place and time. It’s also a time-travel fish-out-of-water story as a self-sufficient woman of our day learns to function in a primitive, male-dominated Viking society.

I enjoyed the characters, the peek into this period in history, and the occasional humour. Ragnar’s sincerity of faith is a good challenge to present-day Christians who may not feel our roles as ambassadors quite as strongly as he does among his people.

Michelle Griep has a fast-moving writing style that drew me in and made me care about the people and their circumstances. You can read a sample chapter of Undercurrent and learn more about Michelle Griep at her website and her blog, Writer Off the Leash. She’s also the author of Gallimore.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Christmas Math

There are 9 letters in “Christmas”.

The letter “i” is only half as wide as the others.

40% of 9 is 3.6

9 minus 3.6 is 5.4

Does that make 40% off Christmas Christ?

Are we cutting back to the reason for the season?

 

Holy GRAIL, Batman, it’s the Moon!

NASA’s latest exploration of the moon involves precision formation flying of the twin GRAIL orbiters… via remote control. GRAIL stands for “Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory” and you can read all about it at NASA’s GRAIL site.

The dynamic spacecraft duo launched in September 2011, and their mission is to unfold from March to May 2012. The GRAIL website explains:

In the course of the mission, GRAIL will conduct two important firsts. This will be the first time any space agency has attempted the complex set of maneuvers required to place two robotic spacecraft into the same precise orbit around a planetary body other than Earth so that they can fly in formation. And it will also provide a unique opportunity for a NASA planetary mission to carry MoonKam–an imager whose photographic targets will be chosen by middle school students under the auspices of Sally Ride Science. [Read full description here and more about the GRAIL mission here.]

You can find images and videos on the GRAIL multimedia page and a cool Eyes on the Solar System video feed of  the GRAIL mission. [Requires a free download for your browser and may take a few minutes to load.]

Review: The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde (Canadian edition, HarperCollins, 2011)

In a world where magic is real—but heavily regulated and used for such mundane tasks as drain clearing, removal of illegally-parked cars, and pizza delivery—we meet Jennifer Strange, acting manager of Kazam, an agency that hires out wizarding services. She’s non-magical, level-headed, and almost 16 years old.

The novel is set in an alternate version of the UK: the Ununited Kingdoms, to be exact (unUK for short). It’s as off-the-wall-brilliant as you’d expect from Jasper Fforde and made me laugh out loud a few times and chortle several more. Thank you, Mr. Fforde!

As if managing a horde of self-focused, absent-minded and quasi-sane wizards wasn’t enough of a challenge for our young heroine, Big Magic is in the air: once-fading magic powers are on the rise, and it’s somehow linked to the foretold and imminent death of the last dragon.

In all the speculation and excitement about the dragon’s upcoming demise, Jennifer discovers she’s the Last Dragonslayer. Problem is, she’d rather not kill him, despite the crowd waiting to claim his land.

The Last Dragonslayer is a fun, light-hearted read that gets in a few good shots at private and corporate greed, politicians and humanity in general. I’ll leave that analysis to other reviewers so-inclined. It doesn’t come naturally to me and it spoils my fun (and brings back bad memories from grade school).

I’m pleased to see the sequel, Song of the Quarkbeast, has already released in the UK and will be available in Canada in 2012. (The Last Dragonslayer introduces quarkbeasts, which it defines as “nine tenths velociraptor and kitchen blender and one tenth Labrador” p.99) Serious Fforde fans in North America can order copies of the UK release now through our local Amazons, but I think I have enough reading material to last me until the lower-priced Canadian version comes out in May.

Jasper Fforde is the acclaimed author of the Thursday Next series, the Nursery Crimes series, and Shades of Grey. You can find all manner of cool stuff at his website, and you can read a preview of The Last Dragonslayer by clicking the icon below.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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