scifi

Review of The Sunrise Lands by S. M. Stirling

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Synopsis:
Young Rudi Mackenzie has grown up knowing that he will one day assume leadership over the Western Oregon survivors of the technological disaster called the Change. But a prophecy made at his birth spoke of an even greater destiny—a destiny that is about to be fulfilled.
           
A mysterious traveler has arrived in the Willamette Valley. He brings news from the East, from Nantucket Island, long rumored to be the source of the Change. He has been sent on a mission to bring back with him the Sword of the Lady from the sunset oceans.
           
As son of the High Priestess, Rudi is the Sword of the Lady. Now, guided by the traveler, he sets out on a quest across the Changed land that was once America. But between Rudi and his destiny lies the Valley of Paradise…and the cult of a madman determined to stop him.

Review:
Honestly, I felt much more at home and enjoyment with this book than the rest of them. I do quite like Rudi, and even Matti! That being said, I really DID NOT enjoy having no idea what a shete was all this time until near the end of the 4th book in the series, when it was finally mentioned to be taken from machete!

It is quite interesting seeing Rudi from so many different angles, and seeing what people think of him. He is very self aware and tries to always think of more than the now, but is still young and learning. He has such high expectations on him given his parentage, that he finds it easy to relate to most people’s struggle to be as much as their parents have been and to overstep the shadows that cling to them from their parentage. Watching him grow and develop into a great leader has been awesome to see so far.

I also think this book has far better pacing than the previous books, in that nothing felt overly long or drawn out. Although there was quite a lot of fighting, there was a lot of plot involved and it wasn’t just a slog of reading about battle after battle in detail. I also quite loved the interplay of religion and how one acts, feels, and what one does when they believe themselves guilty. Matti’s confession with the father had me legitimately laughing.

Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of A Meeting at Corvallis by S. M. Stirling

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Synopsis:
In the tenth year of the Change, the survivors in western Oregon live in a world without technology. Michael Havel’s Bearkillers hold the lands west of Salem in peace and order. To the east, the Clan Mackenzie flourishes under the leadership of Juniper Mackenzie, bard and High Priestess.
           
Together, they have held Norman Arminger—the warlord of Portland—at bay. With his dark fantasies of a neofeudal empire, Arminger rules much of the Pacific Northwest, spreading fear with his knights, castles, and holy inquisition. Even more dangerous, and perhaps Arminger’s most powerful weapon of all, is his ruthlessly cunning consort, Lady Sandra.
           
These factions haven’t met in battle because Arminger’s daughter has fallen into Clan Mackenzie’s hands. But Lady Sandra has a plan to retrieve her—even if it means plunging the entire region into open warfare…

Review:
Long. Long. Long. I felt like it took forever to read this one. The war… was coming, and there was really no way around it. I did enjoy the way the war ramped up and how each side worked together to fight against Arminger. I definitely found myself enjoying this book more than the second, perhaps because I really did like Tiphane once we got to know her a bit better. It was actually really neat getting a glimpse of things from Rudi’s perspective as well. The switch in perspective of getting to see how things were for the people under Arminger’s banner, especially those that weren’t noble showed a lot about the integrity of various characters and how they consider themselves versus others. While I quite agree with the Meeting and stipulations for the truce, I am still heartbroken over a very serious casualty of the war– so for now, I will leave the Emberverse, to return later.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of The Stowaway Debutante by Rebecca Diem

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The Stowaway Debutante
Tales of the Captain Duke Book 1
By Rebecca Diem

Star Rating: 
Genre: Steampunk (Science Fiction/Fantasy)
Number of Pages: 103

Date Started: March 28, 2017
Date Finished: March 28, 2017

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
Airships, pirates, and hidden identities…

When Clara dreamed of running away to seek her own adventures, she never imagined that a chance encounter with the legendary Captain Duke might set her life on an entirely different course.

Armed with her wit and charm, Clara can usually talk her way out of any troubles. But first, she has to get back to solid ground…

—
Clara stole a quiet breath of relief when the loud man’s boots retreated toward the stairwell. She could hear the other two moving about the cargo hold, and hoped that her own thudding heartbeat would not betray her position.

She quickly thought through her options: Could she bribe them? Should she fight? Could she run? She made herself as small as possible and waited, every instinct on high alert. The lighter pair of footsteps was getting closer.

A shuffle. A step. He must be less than four feet from her, only the crate she huddled against blocking her from his view. When his voice called out, the blood froze in Clara’s veins.

“Hey, look over here!”

Review:
Lately I’ve been quite into steampunk and gaslamp fantasy. This did hit that niche, but, there was very little plot involved in this novella. There wasn’t a moment when one was truly worried for the characters. Though entertaining, Clara is very much a Mary Sue, naturally taking to every new task assigned to her. The relationships are quite unrealistic, with everyone taking to Clara, despite her reluctance to explain why she’s run away.

The Tales of Captain Duke could likely be condensed to “The Tale of Captain Duke”, with subsections of the three different stories in the trilogy. Given how short the novella is, and how bare the plot appears, it would have been much nicer, and more cost efficient to the reader, to have all three in one, especially for the print book price.

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
Rebecca Diem is the author of the steampunk adventure series Tales of the Captain Duke.

She grew up in a far-off land known as Chatsworth, ON. It was surrounded by hills and forests and streams and strange metal beasts that tore through the landscape leaving iron in their wake.

Then one day she started to write it all down…