David A Tatum's The Kitsune Stratagem

(First off, some housekeeping. I've been MIA for a few weeks due to problems with my desktop, compounded by the fact that I can't bring myself to write an entire blog on my Nook. I apologize for any inconvenience. But I'm back now, and it's with a vengeance!)

David Tatum's The Kitsune Stratagem is worth your time. It is the first in the Inari's Children Series. The story is one of surprises, war and service. I went into this knowing a little bit about kitsune, the Japanese trickster spirits. I came out knowing more. While this is not intended as an educational work you can learn a lot if you keep your eyes open while scanning the pages. You can also be hugely entertained.

The story starts in the town of follows our heroine, Kieras, a young mixed-breed kitsune through her first year on her own after being forced to leave home, fleeing a marriage to a prince. As she runs she makes new friends, has adventures and finds members of her own family that she has never known. Kieras works hard, plays hard and fights like a champ. I'll admit this too: I'm a sucker for a big with a strong female protagonist. (Yeah, yeah, I know. I don't care about the SJW crap either, but Soz Skolia, Honor Harrington, Katherine Janeway, Katniss Everdeen, etc. are all MASSIVELY entertaining. Badass women are well... bad ass.) Tatum delivers in the form of a shape-changing, trained fighter with an attitude. One who, it should also be noted, is more gifted in shape-shifting magic than any of her siblings or most kitsune period.

Some of the surprises are based on setting. The kitsune is a mythical spirit from Japanese folklore. The story takes place in a setting closer to medieval  Europe than anything in Japanese history. There are legendary creatures from other mythologies as well. It all blends well. The characters are believable and all true to their mythical (or in most cases human) natures.

Is the book perfect? No. I'm thinking of one particular character who acts like a fool, is treated like a fool and is shown to be a man who is intelligent-ish. I still think he's a fool even if he is clearly intended to be shown in a smart light. I just can't buy into him. Her father, Lahti, also seems to have sworn an oath that he should have been far too intelligent to make willingly. Kieras herself seems to be a bit less of trickster than she should be. All in all though, there is nothing so blatant that it detracts from the story or that is not required by the plot. I'd still recommend this to anyone with an interest in reading SF/F and a pulse.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 fake coins.

The Kitsune Stratagem
David A Tatum
Fennec Fox Press, 2014

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

In general, I'm a fan of fantasy before I'm a fan of SF. I know that's sacrilege to some, but it's true. Don't blame me, blame Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It's all their fault. I am also a fan of the Night Angel Trilogy. So when I found out that Brent Weeks was working on a new series, I flipped out. I am an unapologetic fanboy, so keep that in mind while you're reading this review. I may be a bit biased, but I think he's earned it. Stories like this are what keep bringing me back to the genre. What story? The Black Prism by Brent Weeks.

Our hero is Kip, a poor boy from the edge of town. The problem being that Kip is not very hero-like. He's short, fat, of average intelligence, is terrible with girls and is not exactly the bravest of souls. The closest he comes to "heroic" is He is, however, an enterprising young lad and the beginning of the book finds him scavenging for a substance called "luxin" when the invaders approach his hometown. What follows is a nightmare sequence with Kip running for his life, losing his mother, seeing his friends cut down and learning that he can draft.

"Drafting" is the form of magic that Weeks uses in his Lightbringer novels. In essence, a drafter can create luxin based on his abilities (most drafters can only use one or two colors) and the light that is available. So, for example, a green drafter has to see something green in order to use his magic. Different types of luxin have different properties. It takes a minute to get used to all of the permutations, but it's worth it, because in a world with luxin, a drafter can make just about anything at any time. It's both fascinating and frightening in its implications and Weeks does a good job of showing off the good, the bad and the ugly as far as the implications of the magic goes. Sometimes the characters find new things to invent using the luxin and sometimes they use it to recreate technological innovations in the real world. Either way, it's awesome.

The consequences of being a drafter are horrible. As a drafter uses his power, luxin begins to collect in their irises. As more power is used, more power collects. When the "halo" as it is called expands too far it breaks. Once a halo breaks, the drafter is expected to kill himself. Any drafter that fails to do so is hunted down and killed.

Kip, our young hero, is eventually thrust into a world of political intrigue at levels that few ascend to and even fewer survive. Kip himself is targeted. In general, I'm a fan of fantasy before I'm a fan of SF. I know that's sacrilege to some, but it's true. Don't blame me, blame Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It's all their fault. I am also a fan of the Night Angel Trilogy. So when I found out that Brent Weeks was working on a new series, I flipped out. I am an unapologetic fanboy, so keep that in mind while you're reading this review. I may be a bit biased, but I think he's earned it. Stories like this are what keep bringing me back to the genre.

Our hero is Kip, a poor boy from the edge of town. The problem being that Kip is not very hero-like. He's short, fat, of average intelligence, is terrible with girls and is not exactly the bravest of souls. The closest he comes to "heroic" is keeping his drug-addicted prostitute mother alive. At the end of the day though, I like Kip. He got dealt a bum hand. He has nothing and no status but, through it all, he survives. He is also an enterprising young lad and the beginning of the book finds him scavenging for a substance called "luxin" when the invaders approach his hometown. What follows is a nightmare sequence with Kip running for his life, losing his mother, seeing his friends cut down and learning that he can draft.

"Drafting" is the form of magic that Weeks uses in his Lightbringer novels. In essence, a drafter can create luxin based on his abilities (most drafters can only use one or two colors) and the light that is available. So, for example, a green drafter has to see something green in order to use his magic. Different types of luxin have different properties. It takes a minute to get used to all of the permutations, but it's worth it, because in a world with luxin, a drafter can make just about anything at any time. It's both fascinating and frightening in its implications and Weeks does a good job of showing off the good, the bad and the ugly as far as the implications of the magic goes. Sometimes the characters find new things to invent using the luxin and sometimes they use it to recreate technological innovations in the real world. Either way, it's awesome.

The consequences of being a drafter are horrible. As a drafter uses his power, luxin begins to collect in their irises. As more power is used, more power collects. When the "halo" as it is called expands too far it breaks. Once a halo breaks, the drafter is expected to kill himself. Any drafter that fails to do so is hunted down and killed.

Kip, our young hero, is eventually thrust into a world of political intrigue at levels that few ascend to and even fewer survive. But through it all, he continues to either keep his wits or panic just right and get through it all. A revelation about who his father really is changes his life. That's all just the beginning.

Is this story perfect? No. The plot gets really Machiavellian in spots and it's not always easy to follow. Kip is mainly a likeable guy but he can be a little clueless in some areas and I wanted to shake him a few times. The concept of drafting is awesome, but it starts out as a bit confusing until the reader gets the hang of how it works. The mentor in the story is not a very nice guy either, which makes for a nice change of pace but can be grating if it's not what you're expecting. Despite all of that though, I really did enjoy this book.

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of five luxin bricks

The Black Prism
Brent Weeks
Orbit, 2010

Lions Gate's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire starring Jennifer Lawrence

SPOILERS FIRST PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you know what's better than coming out of an arena where you've twenty two of the other twenty-three tributes have just died? Better than watching your last opponent die, ravaged by mutant dogs and begging you to kill him? Better than saving the life of your friend and both of you making it out alive when there has never before been more than one Victor in the games? I'm not sure either, but it damn sure wouldn't be going back in.  In Catching Fire, the second volume of The Hunger Games saga, it's the seventy-fifth anniversary and the third Quarter Quell. This time, it's victors that are sent back in. This time, it's Catniss Everdeen's second chance to get herself killed, but first there is a tour. It's time to run around getting her picture taken with her co-victor, Peeta Melark and acting like she's in love to prevent a full-scale rebellion. Whether it happens or not I won't say. I just don't spoil endings.

The tour is agonizing to both of our heroes. The pair alternate between scared, bored and defiant. Things don't go as well as planned, even when they make an announcement that should solve all of the problems they've created. TV cameras and speeches abound as we follow two young people who would prefer to just be left alone. Catniss, the Girl on Fire, becomes more human in some ways as she watches her world burn around her. The applause can't prevent the nightmares. The cries of the audience got louder and more strident and then... They find out that they'll end up back in the arena, ready to kill or be killed.

The Games themselves are honestly pretty epic. I'm not sure how much they paid the special effects crew for their work on this movie, but they all deserve a raise. Lightning strikes, poison gas and a spinning arena top the bill and each looks believable and stunning. Each Tribute/Victor has their own strengths that are known from previous years. They're all on display, as are their known weaknesses. This is one of the places where the movie falls down in comparison as the book. In the book we get a much better chance to get to know the majority of the Tributes, where the movie only touches briefly on most of them. The book is always better through, right? (One day I'll tell you all about the one exception to that rule... as far as I'm concerned. I don't feel like getting skinned for it today though.)

Reading these books, I somehow got the message confused by one-hundred-eighty degrees. It turns out that Suzanne Collins is a leftist. Regardless of that, this woman can spin a yarn. Even if you don't agree with her voting habits, if The Hunger Games Trilogy can't entertain you, you don't have a pulse. Love, hate, anger, fear, confusion, triumph, happiness and sadness all show up at some time during this movie. If entertainment equals emotional reaction then this movie is sheer entertainment. In actuality, Catching Fire is the book/movie with the most rebellion but the least message anyway. Sure, President Snow is a bad guy. Sure there is some rebellion. There's not a whole lot in the movie to say why from a right/left standpoint. It's the people against a repressive government. The bad guys are shown as overeating and having money, true. It's also true that the average Soviet system lived in a tiny apartment and Stalin had five dachas. I missed the leftism here, but your mileage may vary.

Is the story perfect? No and neither is the acting. Jennifer Lawrence has a wooden face at times. Granted, she's not as bad as Keanu Reeves but neither is she always believable. Josh Hutcherson isn't always a lot better either. Donald Sutherland, on the other hand, is both believable and thoroughly disgusting; a good trait for a villain. I would complain about some of the costumes as well, but they're supposed to be crazy and over the top. I highly recommend this movie.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 arrows

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Lions Gate, 2013

Jeb Kinnison's Red Queen: The Substrate Wars

Red Queen: The Substrate Wars is both a thoroughly entertaining read and a primer on modern day rightism from a member of the rightist movement. Highlighted are the true beliefs of those of us on the right, and not the slanted, stilted cries of RAAAAAAAAACISM!!!! that often come from those on the left. As a matter of fact, I would absolutely recommend this work to anyone on the Left who is interested in taking a look at the rightist point of view as explained in our own words and not as we are slandered by mainstream media outlets like CNN or MSNBC. I don't want to go too far down this road though. Red Queen is, at its heart, a story of Science Fiction and rebellion and one that does a terrific job of entertaining first and delivering message second.



When we meet our hero, Justin Smith, he is hard at work in a computer lab running a simulation of the evolution of a planet full of life. The life in the simulation is, at this point, incredibly basic. It's a concept we'll come back to throughout the story though and makes a good metaphor for the advancement of the plans of Justin and his friends as the story moves forward. As their movement expands and becomes more complex so does the life in the simulation. I'm not entirely certain I'm doing a good job of describing what it adds to the story, but there is definitely something here. It is entirely possible that there was something here that I missed as well, as the interpretation I made at the beginning may have been overridden by later developments. I'll leave it to the sequel to see if I was right or not.



This novel is not the quickest to start, but given the fact that it is the first in the series that is hardly surprising. As a matter of fact, I debated about reviewing it at first because the SF part of the story doesn't really come into play until we meet Steve Duong and find out what he's building. Once it does though, it's off to the races and the plot starts moving very quickly. Our friends find their involvement in things illegal and semi-legal deepening at every step. Government monitoring starts and is gradually increased. A couple of our heroes are arrested and make the kind of escape only possible in an SF novel. Another planet is visited using a method that I won't reveal here, except to say that it is similar in some ways to a spacefold in Robotech and also similar to the method of travel seen in Event Horizon yet totally different in that it doesn't actually involve a ship.


The story eventually turns into one of a revolution aborning. The problem with a story like that is that there is no way that a group of college students could pull off a revolution without making some fairly major mistakes. Kinnison's solution to the problem is to let them make those mistakes in ways that are both believable and entertaining. Sometimes it's a small thing, like a password left written on a notepad. At other times, foul-ups come as major issues like the siren song of another man's woman. Regardless of how they happen, they never fail to move the plot forward and keep things interesting.


The story is not perfect. Kinnison frequently injects political statements into conversations that run a bit longer than they really need to. It seems to me that the characters in the story are a little too quick to understand all of the potential uses and consequences of the quantum computer in the story. Steve Duong picks up on something monumental off-screen and does it in seemingly less time than it takes to talk about it. That much being said, all of these are forgivable as well as probably being plot-necessary. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written story and is prepared to either enjoy or accept some political content to go with it.

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 quantum computers


Red Queen: The Substrate Wars
Jeb Kinnison
Jeb Kinnison Publishing, 2014






On Sunday: Something Hunger Games related. I'm not sure what yet

Like A Mighty Army by David Weber

David Weber's Like a Mighty Army is the latest in his Safehold Series, a post-apocalyptic step back in time. In some ways the older books have read almost like a period piece set in the European Renaissance, although the Harchong Empire does seem similar in ways to feudal China. Like a Mighty Army and, to a lesser extent its predecessor, Midst Toil and Tribulation read more steampunkish. This is a good thing as one of the major goals of the series protagonist, Merlin Athrawes, is to gradually increase the tech base of the planet Safehold until it is capable of fighting against an genocidal alien race known as the Gbaba.




The story itself covers a year of campaigning in a war pitting The Empire of Charis against the Church of God Awaiting and its corrupt leadership, the Group of Four. This war is not new to this book and has in fact been going on for nearly the whole series. Things are looking grim for The Empire of Charis and its ally, the Siddarmarkian Republic. They were pushed back hard in Midst Toil and Tribulation and may crops were burnt in the fields. Hunger stalks the land and several large masses of homeless refugees are putting a strain on not just food stocks, but also the amount of homes available and just about every other conceivable item as well. The Charisians have a higher tech base but they're outnumbered many times over. I wonder if Mr. Weber hasn't done some reading about the Korean War, because the situation is in some ways reminiscent.




That brings up another strength of this story. Weber has very obviously spent hours and hours in research for his series. His knowledge of various subjects is used to make the story believable in ways I would not have anticipated. Fans of Weber's Honorverse will recognize the author's trademark use of naval battle,  this time with a lower tech base. The suspicious part of my mind wonders if perhaps Weber didn't study land based warfare in an effort to shut those of us who wondered if he could write it up. Regardless of why he wrote it, he delivers. Weber's combat scenes are fast-paced, bloody, graphic and utterly believable. His knowledge of early industrial processes is impressive as well.



Weber, mainly through a character named Edwyrd Howsmyn, walks us through every step of the improvement in technology for both sides of the conflict. Some of it is quite frankly above my ability to evaluate for accuracy (he has done the research, I have not) but it all makes sense. He has taken the economy from being powered by wind, water and muscle to hydraulics, pneumatics and steam. It's a fascinating trip.



The characters and their motivations make sense. Merlin Athrawes is a survivor of the war that exterminated most of humanity and is out to save his species when a second round of fighting comes. Cayleb Ahrmahk is the Emperor of Charis and is fighting both to avenge the wrongs done to his people by the church and to improve the standing of both himself and his empire in the world. Maikel Staynair is a priest searching for the true meaning of his religion and steadfast in his faith. Clyntahn Zhaspar is a member of the Group of Four corrupted by power and fully commited to ending the threat to himself, his wishes and Mother Church.



For all of that, the story is not perfect. Readers may have already noticed part of the problem. The naming conventions that Weber uses can make it a bit difficult to read some of the names. This does detract from the story in a fairly significant way. He has admitted this himself in interviews, but states that it's too late to change it now. Also, much of the knowledge I mentioned earlier is presented to the audience in a series of infodumps that are frequently several pages long. The cast of characters is also quite frankly enormous and it does get a bit confusing. There is a dramatis personae at the back but that is a bit more work than I typically like. Also, this book is not by an stretch of the imagination a good place to start the series.


Safehold is a world that is rich and varied but it is not one that is easily understood this far in. I would recommend the first book in the series, also known as Safehold to just about anyone. That much being said, this is one series that it is best to read in order. The relationships between both characters and nations and the history that led to them are best absorbed one step at a time. Start this one at the beginning and you will save yourself some major confusion. All of that being said, I still really liked this book.

Bottom Line: 4 out of 5 cannonballs.

Like a Mighty Army
David Weber
Tom Doherty Associates 2014


On Friday: Jeb Kinnison's Red Queen: The Substrate Wars

Paramount's Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Be well my friends. You're all we've got left.

Granted, I'm only thirty-eight so I haven't seen as much as some. But this story of friendship and courage, of sacrifice and dedication, or risking it all for one of your nearest and dearest, is one of the most powerful I have ever seen. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is an epic tale. It features the struggles of the Enterprise crew to do what they can for the man who saved all of their lives and  who has seen them through adversity on many other occasions. A man who is, and always will be, their friend. And in typical Star Trek fashion it answers, or at least attempts to answer one of life's great questions: When, and to what extent, do the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. And yes, I reviewed it today because of the death of Leonard Nimoy. I'm a nerd. It's a memorial.

This is perhaps the only time we see the ST:TOS crew together in a continuing story arc. ST III begins with one of the final scenes from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The death of Spock is reshown, followed by his funeral and eventual consignment to space, similar to the practice of burial at sea practiced by wet navies for centuries. When the replays end, the plot of the new movie begins and Kirk is informed that he has left something important behind: Spock's soul. What follows is a roller coaster ride.

Kirk and friends sail off into the cosmos, once more on a rescue mission. They once again encounter new lifeforms and old friends. The sacrifices are many: The potential losses include expulsion from Starfleet and/or imprisonment, loss of life and public humiliation. (Spoilers, if you're one of the three people on the planet who haven't seen this yet.) The loss of both Kirk's only son and the Enterprise herself are clearly shown. McCoy risks his own life in order to return Spock's "katra," his soul to his body. There is no sacrifice the crew is not willing to make to save one of their own. And in the end, they do so.

All of that being said, the story is not quite perfect. The action is very tightly plotted and Kirk's actions in defeating a Klingon Bird of Prey and her crew stretch the limits of believability. Given Kirk's history as a character and his relationship with his son it was probably inevitable that he would avoid a complete breakdown upon David's death. The fact remains that both Shatner and the production team could have added something here to make his reaction a bit more realistic. One does not simply shrug off the loss of their own child.

The ending is one of my favorites of all time. The only people who haven't dreamed of being able to see someone they were close to who has passed are people who have never lost anyone. While I certainly envy those people, they're in the minority. It does the heart good to see Spock stand up off of that stone table and walk away. My reaction when Spock stops and recognizes Kirk left me wondering if perhaps the pollen count was a bit higher than I expected even now. I can't help but wonder if maybe, just possibly, this movie and others like it will put the name Roddenberry up among the greats of storytelling. Only time will tell. Bottom line: 4.75 out of 5 phasers.